Scout
12-03-2008, 08:02 PM
Procyshen and Americans looking to top last season's success
By Jesse Watts,
The Tri-City Americans enjoyed the best regular season in the history of the franchise in 2007-08, winning the U.S. Division title and finishing first overall in the WHL standings with 52 wins and 108 points.
Yet, losing a hard-fought seven-game series to the eventual WHL and Memorial Cup Champion Spokane Chiefs in the 2008 Western Conference Championship series meant a disappointing end to what otherwise was an outstanding season.
Nearing the halfway point of the 2008-09 campaign, the Americans are again proving to be an elite team in the WHL and currently find themselves in their familiar spot of first place in the U.S. Division. For team captain Taylor Procyshen, the memories of the team’s tough loss to Spokane serve as motivation for himself and his team to not only get back there again, but to close the deal this year.
“We have a lot of guys returning from last year who still have a bitter taste in their mouths from that seven-game series versus Spokane,” said Procyshen, who has seen the Ams go from an ordinary .500 unit to one of the top teams in the WHL over his four-year career.
“It was pretty heartbreaking, but I think we all learned a lot from it,” added the emerald Park, SK, native. “Guys learned what needs to be done in order to win, and I think we have a little bit of an extra incentive to battle hard and make sure we give ourselves the opportunity to get there again.”
14 players remain from last season’s Scotty Munro Trophy-winning team, including key players like Jason Reese, Kruise Reddick, Jarrett Toll, Chet Pickard and Procyshen, himself. Yet, the team also saw several high-profile players depart such as top scorer Colton Yellow Horn, veteran Shaun Vey and top rearguard T.J. Fast.
Like all WHL teams, player turnover from year to year is a fact of life. Procyshen says that although the Ams may have lost some top-end talent, the team’s younger players have stepped up to fill the void.
“Our rookies have been really good this year,” said Procyshen, whose Ams features seven first-year players, including three 16-year-olds. “Our 16-year-olds – Justin Feser, Jordan Messier and Brooks Macek – have stepped up and done a really good job.
“It seems like we get different guys stepping up every night, and when our top guys aren’t going we’ll get contributions from the younger guys, whether it be a goal, a big hit or a blocked shot,” he said.
Procyshen, too, has had to step up and take on more responsibility this season. An offensive player with tremendous speed, work ethic and offensive instincts, Procyshen has been a productive player on the score sheet for the Ams over the last couple of seasons, netting back-to-back 30-goal campaigns. This season, the 5’ 10”, 167-lb winger has added the major leadership role of team captain to his list of responsibilities.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the guys going and get them ready to play,” said Procyshen, who was an assistant captain last season.
“I’m lucky to have some great guys in the room who are assistant captains, and a lot of older guys who don’t wear letters but still provide that leadership to the team,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got a good mix of older and younger guys, and with how good our young guys are playing, it’s a recipe for success.”
At 20 years old, Procyshen is in his last season of WHL eligibility. While he may not be thinking too much about what lies ahead of him after his WHL career is over, Procyshen says he hopes he can continue playing hockey at a high level, whether at the professional level or at the University level.
“Obviously, I love to continue playing hockey…that would be my first choice,” said Procyshen. “I’m trying to have a good enough year to hopefully get a contract offer somewhere, but if not, I have five years worth of WHL Scholarship to fall back on.”
For now, Procyshen chooses to not think too much about what the future may hold after he finished his WHL career with the Americans. His immediate concerns rest with doing everything he can to help the team not only have as good a season as they enjoyed last season, but take it to the next level.
“I really want the team to do well,” he said. “We raised a couple of banners last season, and it felt really good. I’d love to do that again this year and maybe get the ones we missed last year.”
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© Canadian Hockey League 2008
By Jesse Watts,
The Tri-City Americans enjoyed the best regular season in the history of the franchise in 2007-08, winning the U.S. Division title and finishing first overall in the WHL standings with 52 wins and 108 points.
Yet, losing a hard-fought seven-game series to the eventual WHL and Memorial Cup Champion Spokane Chiefs in the 2008 Western Conference Championship series meant a disappointing end to what otherwise was an outstanding season.
Nearing the halfway point of the 2008-09 campaign, the Americans are again proving to be an elite team in the WHL and currently find themselves in their familiar spot of first place in the U.S. Division. For team captain Taylor Procyshen, the memories of the team’s tough loss to Spokane serve as motivation for himself and his team to not only get back there again, but to close the deal this year.
“We have a lot of guys returning from last year who still have a bitter taste in their mouths from that seven-game series versus Spokane,” said Procyshen, who has seen the Ams go from an ordinary .500 unit to one of the top teams in the WHL over his four-year career.
“It was pretty heartbreaking, but I think we all learned a lot from it,” added the emerald Park, SK, native. “Guys learned what needs to be done in order to win, and I think we have a little bit of an extra incentive to battle hard and make sure we give ourselves the opportunity to get there again.”
14 players remain from last season’s Scotty Munro Trophy-winning team, including key players like Jason Reese, Kruise Reddick, Jarrett Toll, Chet Pickard and Procyshen, himself. Yet, the team also saw several high-profile players depart such as top scorer Colton Yellow Horn, veteran Shaun Vey and top rearguard T.J. Fast.
Like all WHL teams, player turnover from year to year is a fact of life. Procyshen says that although the Ams may have lost some top-end talent, the team’s younger players have stepped up to fill the void.
“Our rookies have been really good this year,” said Procyshen, whose Ams features seven first-year players, including three 16-year-olds. “Our 16-year-olds – Justin Feser, Jordan Messier and Brooks Macek – have stepped up and done a really good job.
“It seems like we get different guys stepping up every night, and when our top guys aren’t going we’ll get contributions from the younger guys, whether it be a goal, a big hit or a blocked shot,” he said.
Procyshen, too, has had to step up and take on more responsibility this season. An offensive player with tremendous speed, work ethic and offensive instincts, Procyshen has been a productive player on the score sheet for the Ams over the last couple of seasons, netting back-to-back 30-goal campaigns. This season, the 5’ 10”, 167-lb winger has added the major leadership role of team captain to his list of responsibilities.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the guys going and get them ready to play,” said Procyshen, who was an assistant captain last season.
“I’m lucky to have some great guys in the room who are assistant captains, and a lot of older guys who don’t wear letters but still provide that leadership to the team,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got a good mix of older and younger guys, and with how good our young guys are playing, it’s a recipe for success.”
At 20 years old, Procyshen is in his last season of WHL eligibility. While he may not be thinking too much about what lies ahead of him after his WHL career is over, Procyshen says he hopes he can continue playing hockey at a high level, whether at the professional level or at the University level.
“Obviously, I love to continue playing hockey…that would be my first choice,” said Procyshen. “I’m trying to have a good enough year to hopefully get a contract offer somewhere, but if not, I have five years worth of WHL Scholarship to fall back on.”
For now, Procyshen chooses to not think too much about what the future may hold after he finished his WHL career with the Americans. His immediate concerns rest with doing everything he can to help the team not only have as good a season as they enjoyed last season, but take it to the next level.
“I really want the team to do well,” he said. “We raised a couple of banners last season, and it felt really good. I’d love to do that again this year and maybe get the ones we missed last year.”
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© Canadian Hockey League 2008