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Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2008
Ams rookie was the answer to injuries
ANNIE FOWLER HERALD STAFF WRITER
The Tri-City Americans have relied heavily on balanced scoring this season, with 20 of their 21 skaters scoring goals and eight players scoring 15 or more of the team's league-high 262 goals.
Rookie Adam Hughesman is one player who has elevated his game since the start of the season, scoring 17 goals with 24 assists and a plus-17 rating.
"That was probably the turning point of my season," Hughesman said of being called upon to skate with the veterans. "It gave me a lot of nerves, but I was excited Don (coach Nachbaur) picked me to go up there. I was pretty proud of that.
"Playing with Yellow, who's the top player in the league, I didn't want to hold him back. Kruise took me under his wing and I took in what he told me on the ice. I respect him a lot for that."
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Hughesman, who turned 17 on Feb. 28, was called up after Taylor Procyshen suffered a concussion Nov. 23 against Chilliwack.
"He was the most likely of the young guys to step into the role," Nachbaur said. "He has a lot to learn about defense and playing without the puck, and playing with a guy like Yellow Horn can be intimidating, but he handled it well.
"This has happened all year. Kids have stepped up with big goals or big plays. Adam's been a complement to what we've done and it's helped him to become a better player."
Hughesman, who had just four points before being moved to the top line, scored a goal the next night with his new linemates against Spokane. He added two goals and five assists in December and one goal and five assists in January before Procyshen returned to action.
"We didn't know who we were going to play with," Reddick said. "Don put a couple of guys there, and when we got Adam, we gelled right away. He did awesome. He stepped in and put up big goals when we needed them. I knew what he was going through because I got called up to play on the top line last year. I told him not to worry about it."
Hughesman's play continued to improve when he rejoined his fourth-line mates, scoring 12 goals with 10 assists during February and March.
"Playing the fourth line is my role and I accept that," said Hughesman, who has two assists in two playoff games against Kamloops. "Playing with Radek (Meidl) and the younger guys, we just try and contribute where we can."
Notes
The Americans will play Game 3 of their first-round playoffs series with Kamloops tonight at Interior Savings Centre. Game 4 is Wednesday at Kamloops and Game 5, if necessary, will be at Toyota Center.
The Americans lead the best-of-7 series 2-0 and have outscored the Blazers 10-2.
"You'd rather have a 2-0 lead than be down 0-2," Nachbaur said. "That puts pressure on them -- their backs are against the wall. We win Game 3, we'll get to them mentally."
Kamloops C Alex Rogers (flu) did not play in the first two games against the Americans. He also missed the last three games of the regular season after being injured after a hard check from Spokane's Justin Falk on March 12. Rogers, who had 45 points this season, is questionable for Game 3 tonight.
Former Americans F Ian McDonald scored the game-winning goal Sunday in a 3-2 win over the University of New Brunswick and earned University Cup MVP honors after leading the University of Alberta to its 13th national title. Former Tri-City players Dylan Stanley and Ben Kilgour also play for the champion Golden Bears.
WHL Chairman of the Board and Kootenay Ice owner Ed Chynoweth, 66, has kidney cancer, and though he continues to battle the disease, his health is declining.
"Throughout the whole process, the one thing my father has always been is a strong person,'' Dean Chynoweth, head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, told The (Regina) Leader-Post. "He tackles this the same way he tackles everything else. He just marches forward. You never hear him complain.''
In honor of Ed Chynoweth, the WHL has renamed the President's Cup to the Ed Chynoweth Cup, awarded to the WHL champion.
