It’s rare to play your entire career in one location, but so far Edmonton Oil Kings’ forward Travis Ewanyk has managed to achieve just that.
In his second season with the team, the St. Albert minor hockey product has already generated more points than his previous campaign in the Western Hockey League with 12, including seven goals, in only 28 games.
“They started to go in more this year, which is always nice to see,” said Ewanyk, listed 19th among skaters in the NHL Central Scouting preliminary rankings for WHL players eligible for the 2011 entry draft.
The sudden surge in production on the ice can be related to his off-season training.
“I tried working on my skills and went back to the basics,” said the six-foot-one left winger, who scored once and added four assists in 42 games in his WHL debut.
Oil Kings’ head coach Derek Laxdal has seen significant growth in Ewanyk’s game and expects to see even more in the near future.
“Travis is one of those players who is going to get better and better every game. He wears his heart on his sleeve and has that internal motor that doesn’t quit running,” said Laxdal.
Continuing his breakout season, Ewanyk posted another goal in the Oil Kings 8-4 humbling of the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. Friday’s game at Rexall Place featured two former midget AAA Raiders from St. Albert in Ewanyk and Wheat Kings’ starting goaltender, Liam Liston. The chance to see Liston and score the first goal of the game against him was an opportunity Ewanyk relished.
“It’s always nice playing the game with people you’re close with. I have played with Liam my entire hockey career and have been on his team endless times,” he said.
With the Oil Kings currently in fifth place in the Central Division with 26 points, Ewanyk believes the team has to continue winning key games like they have in the last couple of weeks if they hope to make the playoffs for the second time in the modern history of the franchise.
“We need to keep playing like we are right now,” he said. “As long as we keep preparing for games and playing the 60 minutes, we have a good chance.”
Although the Oil Kings are currently out of a playoff spot, Ewanyk said they a have better chance to qualify for the playoffs than in previous years.
“We have more quality guys on our team right now. A lot of the guys want to be hockey players. The team is really tight, too.”
