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Triton
02-24-2005, 07:24 PM
It hasn’t exactly been a dream season for the Moose Jaw Warriors. With the 2004-05 Western Hockey League regular season winding down, the Warriors, with just 12 victories to their credit all season, find themselves clinging to the last playoff spot in the East division.

Keep in mind, this is a Warriors team that won their first-ever East division title on the strength of a 41-win campaign in 2003-04, and made it to the second round of the 2004 playoffs.

However, there have been a few bright spots for the Warriors this season. One has been the play of center Dustin Boyd.

Boyd, an 18-year-old product of Winnipeg, MB, has quietly put together a solid campaign and shown he can play with the league’s elite.

“I’m definitely happy with my progress,” said Boyd, in his third WHL season. “I’m averaging a point per games and I’m skating on one of the top lines in the Eastern conference.”

An offensive phenom coming through the Winnipeg minor hockey ranks, Boyd had trouble tapping that side of his game at the WHL level in his first two seasons.

However, he obviously had something special in him that made scouts take notice as he wound up being selected in the third round (98th overall) by the Calgary Flames in the 2004 NHL entry draft.

Being drafted, combined with an invite to Hockey Canada’s national junior team summer development camp in Calgary last August, perhaps gave Boyd the confidence he needed to become an impact player for the Warriors night in and night out.

One only has to look at his numbers to see a difference. After scoring 11 and 18 goals respectively in his first two seasons, Boyd has already tallied 24 this season. Boyd's addition to the star-studded Team WHL roster for the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge further indicates how he has progressed this season.

Yet, despite his personal success, it has been a tough go for Boyd and the Warriors. The team kicked off the 2004-05 season with a 19-game winless streak and didn’t manage their first victory until November.

However, several personnel changes – both in the lineup and behind the bench – combined with some solid play on the ice and Regina’s freefall in the standings have enabled the Warriors to turn things around in the second half of the season and get into a playoff spot.

“I think we’ve started to play better as a team,” said Boyd. “Our lines have started to gel a bit, and we’re getting our chances.

“Ever since Steve Young became our coach at Christmas, the team has definitely picked it up,” added Boyd, who also points to key acquisitions like forward Blair Jones and defenceman Stuart Kerr as being important to the team’s resurgence.

While 2004-05 may not be the season he was expecting with the Warriors, Boyd believes the pieces are there for the team to be a dominant force in years to come.

“Kenndal McArdle obviously is going to be a big player down the road…he’s already having a breakout year,” said Boyd about his line mate. “Riley Holzapfel is one of the top 16-year-olds in the league and will be really good, too.

“Guys like Carter Smith and Brennan Wray are coming along and looking very good,” he added.

And if Boyd’s own development continues to progress into next season as it has this year, he’ll definitely be among the league's cream-of-the-crop in 2005-06.