CdnSailor
09-29-2011, 09:10 AM
As one of only two NHL drafted players on the Victoria Royals’ roster, along with forward Kevin Sundher, 19-year-old defenceman Tyler Stahl realizes he occupies a unique niche with this group.
“I know I have a mentorship role to help the younger guys on this team,” said Stahl, a sixth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2010.
He will have plenty of time to impart some of that knowledge during the long bus trip today to Prince George, where the Royals meet the Cougars on Friday and Saturday before playing the Blazers in Kamloops on the way back Sunday.
One of the tutorials can be about the importance of timing in hockey and life, and how it cuts both ways. Stahl missed most of Royals training camp with an upper-body injury. It also denied him his second opportunity to skate in Hurricanes rookie camp after attending last year.
“I had worked out hard all summer for it [Carolina camp] and obviously wasn’t happy about the timing of the injury,” said the six-foot-two, defensive-oriented native of Drumheller, Alta., who has an assist, 10 penalty minutes and an even plus-minus rating after the Royals first two games.
So last year’s experience will have to suffice when Stahl is asked about the difference between junior and the pros.
“The pros are older and so much bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than even the top-end guys in this league [WHL],” said Stahl, entering his third season with the Royals franchise, the first two spent in Chilliwack when the team was known as the Bruins.
“It makes you realize you have a lot of work to do to get to the pro level.”
Working up to that standard is what this season is about for Stahl, who had six assists, 146 penalty minutes and a minus-15 rating in 59 games for the Bruins in 2009-10, and a goal and nine assists with 182 penalty minutes and a minus-15 rating in 67 games last season.
“My strengths are work ethic, effort and passing to get the puck out of our zone,” said Stahl, an avid golfer who also played baseball, basketball and volleyball growing up.
Stahl came into the Bruins-Royals orbit when he was taken by the franchise in the fourth round of the 2007 WHL bantam draft.
Positionally strong, Stahl plays within himself by not taking irresponsible gambles. He knows his limits. As for physicality, his penalty numbers speak for themselves. But he usually takes an opposing player with him to the box, as attested by his more than 25 career fights in the WHL.
He was “back in the Drum” when the off-season move of the Bruins from Chilliwack to Victoria was finalized. But this is a guy who left Drumheller to pursue better Alberta bantam and midget rep opportunities in places like Strathmore and Airdrie, so he knows a thing or two about moving about. And if he wants to check, the Hurricanes are located in far-flung Raleigh, North Carlina, with AHL and ECHL affiliates in Charlotte, and Naples, Florida, respectively.
Roots are not something aspiring young hockey players can plant in any one place. Unless he is forced to defer the start of his pro career and returns as an overage 20-year-old, this will be Stahl’s first and only season in Victoria.
“I had heard about Victoria being one of the most beautiful places in the country and the city has been great . . . plus the fan support we’ve received has been awesome,” he said
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Hurricane+warning+issued/5473770/story.html#ixzz1ZM1t5oAD
“I know I have a mentorship role to help the younger guys on this team,” said Stahl, a sixth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2010.
He will have plenty of time to impart some of that knowledge during the long bus trip today to Prince George, where the Royals meet the Cougars on Friday and Saturday before playing the Blazers in Kamloops on the way back Sunday.
One of the tutorials can be about the importance of timing in hockey and life, and how it cuts both ways. Stahl missed most of Royals training camp with an upper-body injury. It also denied him his second opportunity to skate in Hurricanes rookie camp after attending last year.
“I had worked out hard all summer for it [Carolina camp] and obviously wasn’t happy about the timing of the injury,” said the six-foot-two, defensive-oriented native of Drumheller, Alta., who has an assist, 10 penalty minutes and an even plus-minus rating after the Royals first two games.
So last year’s experience will have to suffice when Stahl is asked about the difference between junior and the pros.
“The pros are older and so much bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than even the top-end guys in this league [WHL],” said Stahl, entering his third season with the Royals franchise, the first two spent in Chilliwack when the team was known as the Bruins.
“It makes you realize you have a lot of work to do to get to the pro level.”
Working up to that standard is what this season is about for Stahl, who had six assists, 146 penalty minutes and a minus-15 rating in 59 games for the Bruins in 2009-10, and a goal and nine assists with 182 penalty minutes and a minus-15 rating in 67 games last season.
“My strengths are work ethic, effort and passing to get the puck out of our zone,” said Stahl, an avid golfer who also played baseball, basketball and volleyball growing up.
Stahl came into the Bruins-Royals orbit when he was taken by the franchise in the fourth round of the 2007 WHL bantam draft.
Positionally strong, Stahl plays within himself by not taking irresponsible gambles. He knows his limits. As for physicality, his penalty numbers speak for themselves. But he usually takes an opposing player with him to the box, as attested by his more than 25 career fights in the WHL.
He was “back in the Drum” when the off-season move of the Bruins from Chilliwack to Victoria was finalized. But this is a guy who left Drumheller to pursue better Alberta bantam and midget rep opportunities in places like Strathmore and Airdrie, so he knows a thing or two about moving about. And if he wants to check, the Hurricanes are located in far-flung Raleigh, North Carlina, with AHL and ECHL affiliates in Charlotte, and Naples, Florida, respectively.
Roots are not something aspiring young hockey players can plant in any one place. Unless he is forced to defer the start of his pro career and returns as an overage 20-year-old, this will be Stahl’s first and only season in Victoria.
“I had heard about Victoria being one of the most beautiful places in the country and the city has been great . . . plus the fan support we’ve received has been awesome,” he said
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Hurricane+warning+issued/5473770/story.html#ixzz1ZM1t5oAD