Tri-City defenseman T.J. Fast is such a multi-faceted player, it overshadows his short tenure in the league.
Check out his resum to date: Team captain. Western Conference All-Star. Candidate for WHL defenseman of the year. And, most importantly, scorer of the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory Saturday over Spokane to lead the Tri-City Americans to the U.S. Division title and the Scotty Munro trophy.
Not bad for a guy who's played just 97 regular-season games in the Western Hockey League heading into tonight's first-round playoff game with Kamloops at Toyota Center.
"For me, he's a very, very complete player," said Spokane general manager Tim Speltz. "He's the leader of the defensive corps and he's enough of a threat himself to generate offense. He's a good player who joined a good team. He was a pretty refined product when he came in."
It just took the Calgary, Alberta, native awhile to find the door.
Fast was not taken in the WHL bantam draft, but was listed by at least half the teams in the league before Americans general manager Bob Tory put the 6-foot-1, 195-pound defenseman on the team's protected list in 2005.
But Fast, 20, wasn't quite ready for the fast lane. He decided to take the college route and ended up at the University of Denver, which had just won its second NCAA national title.
"I remember picking between schools and looking at records and Denver won the title," Fast said. "That made it easier."
Tory was a bit disappointed that Fast did not come to the Tri-Cities right away, but he never stopped trying to lure the smooth-skating defenseman.
"When they do join your team, it's a big boost to your program," Tory said. "When you get a player of T.J.'s caliber who you didn't have to give up anything for, is a bonus. We are a better team with T.J., but it's not about one player. It's about players parking their egos at the door and creating an atmosphere of success."
College life suited Fast, but college hockey did not.
After being drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2005 NHL draft, Fast headed to Denver, where he had one goal and six assists in 39 games his freshman year, while playing limited shifts.
He played just 19 games of his sophomore year with four assists before leaving the Pioneers for the WHL in January 2006.
"I was dealing with not playing in Denver," Fast said. "Every time I talked to Bob (the WHL) sounded better. I came in (to Tri-Cities) the day of the trade deadline with nothing but my skates and sticks. That day a couple of guys were traded. I didn't know that part of the game until then. I felt like it was my fault."
Denver coach George Gwozdecky said he was impressed with Fast the first time he saw him play and was sad to see him leave.
"T.J. has good skills. He's a good skater and is good with the puck," Gwozdecky said. "You could see that given time, he could be a good player for us. His development was starting to come around when he left. The only disappointment we have is he left our program before he graduated."
Denver may have been disappointed, but Tri-City coach Don Nachbaur has been nothing but pleased with what Fast has brought to the ice.
"Any time you can add a premier player, any coach would be excited about that," Nachbaur said. "He adds overall depth to your team and he brought maturity to our lineup and back end immediately.
"T.J. put his past behind him, jumped into our team and what he does on the ice and with personal appearances, he put his heart into it. Your leaders are the heartbeat of your team."
He not only earned the respect of the coaches, but his teammates. He was named team captain this season, an honor that appeared in the form of a "C" on his jersey, but came without fanfare. His name just appeared on the captain's wall one day, making the decision final
"It's a new experience for me," Fast said. "A lot of guys could have worn it. I'm honored. There's not a lot of pressure. The older guys have stepped up and not everything is on my shoulders."
But on the ice, Fast shoulders a lot of responsibility. He played upwards of 40 minutes Saturday in the division title game against Spokane, and for the season, has 17 goals, 37 assists and a team-high plus-29 rating.
"Hopefully I set an example for them to follow and that my experience will wear off on the younger guys," Fast said of his work ethic. "I take a lot of pride in my plus-minus number -- that's what you take most pride in as a defenseman."
WHL commissioner Ron Robison will present the Americans with the Scotty Munro trophy before tonight's game, but once the trophy changes hands, the new season begins.
"There's not much time left," Fast said of the season. "The relationships I have with the coaches, the guys and the community, it feels like I've been here since I was 16."