Former Airdrie Xtreme forward Dustin Taylor was the hero for his new squad.
The 21-year-old led his University of Victoria Cougars with two goals, including the overtime winner, and an assist in a 4-3 defeat of Simon Fraser University in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) final, March 18.
Taylor, who grew up and played his entire minor hockey career in the city, said the provincial championship was a surprise considering the team’s 10W-11L-3T regular season record.
“We went into the playoffs under .500 and as a huge underdog,” he said. “Timing was a big thing and I’ve never seen so much character in one room before. The work ethic we had on our team definitely won it for us.”
Taylor is in his third year, studying for a bachelor of commerce at UVic, but it is only his second year on the hockey team. He took a year off from playing the sport and then found out about the Cougars and tried out successfully during his sophomore year.
“The transition from not playing to playing was pretty difficult,” he said. “Once I got into it, it was good. If you ask anyone who’s played hockey before, it’s just nice to keep playing. And it definitely makes university a lot easier, by having the groups of guys that we do out here.”
Although UVic is a Canada West school, its hockey team plays in the BCIHL against six opponents. The squad is run by the students and funded entirely through fundraising efforts.
Taylor said a coaching change between his first and second years really helped him improve his game this season. He also cited two of his former Airdrie coaches as inspiration.
“I have to attribute a lot of my success to Ron Ebbesen and Terry Keogh – those are two of the impacting coaches I had,” Taylor said. “I didn’t really get the ice time I wanted to last year. But I was able to play a lot more minutes this year. It turned out for the best – a big improvement.”
Taylor is unsure whether he will continue to play with UVic next season, as he has plans to study in Sweden for a semester this fall.
“After that, depending on where I get a co-op, which is another work term as part of my degree in either Victoria or Calgary, I’ll play with the team again,” he said.
“My education is definitely the priority. It’s fun to play, and it’s not at a crazy competitive level, so it’s nice to have that.”
