A Rising Star In Boston: Tyler Seguin
Tyler Seguin
The Boston Bruins’ have one hell of a rising star on their team. Tyler Seguin, who plays RW/C for the Boston Bruins, may be one of the youngest and one of the newest players on the team, but the kid has mad skill and a lot of passion. His skill, passion, personality and lightheartedness, are very refreshing in the NHL. He simply radiates both on and off the ice. I personally feel that Seguin is going to go far as a professional hockey player. Not only is Seguin a great player, he also makes the time for his fans to show his appreciation. That’s not something you see every day. He is very down to earth and very personable. Mark my words, this kid is going to be a ‘star player’.
Tyler started playing Hockey at a very young age. He grew up in a hockey household, with both of his parents playing hockey and his 2 younger sisters following suit as well. Tyler spent several years playing hockey, in both the minor and major junior leagues. Tyler has said that when he was younger, he had idolized Steve Yzerman from Detroit. It has been said by others that Seguin’s playing style is somewhat similar to Yzerman’s.
Seguin got his big break while playing for the OHL Plymouth Whalers in the 2009-2010 season. Due to his determination, dedication and his impressive hockey playing skills, the NHL Central Scouting named him to be the top prospect for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Soon afterwards, he slipped down to 2nd, behind Taylor Hall. Hall was drafted 1st overall to the Oilers and Seguin was drafted 2nd overall to the Bruins, using a pick acquired from Toronto in a trade for Phil Kessel. Seguin officially signed his entry-level contract with the Bruins on Aug 3, 2010.
Seguin’s first game with the Bruins, was on October 9, 2010 and in his second game with the Bruins, on October 10th, he scored his first goal as a professional hockey player. Being a rookie, he had to prove himself and that’s exactly what he did during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tyler was a ‘healthy scratch’ for the first 2 rounds of the playoffs. He was equally frustrated and upset by this, because he wanted to play. Seguin was quoted as saying, “You feel like you don’t belong, but you want to so badly. You have to figure out that fine line between a dream and a goal.”
A few things that stand out about Tyler are, the way he handles the puck (he’s is very good with the puck), he’s quick on the ice and the kid can score. Fellow teammate Brad Marchand was quoted as saying, “He does absolutely ridiculous things with the puck.”
Some of the players would hang around on the ice, after practices and practice ‘shoot outs’ and have competitions, on end-to-end rushes, ‘who’ could make the most goals and accuracy. Tyler always did really well during the ‘after practice play’, in fact, he won most of the time. The fact that they still didn’t put him in the line up to play, continued to frustrate and upset him. He just didn’t understand why they wouldn’t put him in.
Tyler patiently waited, as he was assured by both Cam Neely (President of the Bruins franchise and Hockey Legend) and his Coach Claude Julien, that he would be playing soon, but they intended to bring him on slowly and he needed to be patient. During this time, Seguin received a lot of advice from fellow teammates. One of which was Shawn Thornton. Thornton assured him that his time would come and asked him to stay on the ice after practice. Many might not know this, but Thornton was a private coach to Seguin, when he was younger. Hearing the reassurance from Shawn Thornton, helped a great deal.
During game 5 of the 2011 NHL Playoffs against the Flyers, Patrice Bergeron had suffered a concussion and was taken out of the game. It was decided that Bergeron would be out for multiple games. Tyler’s time had finally come. Although, it was certainly not the way he had hoped it would happen. It was bitter-sweet. Seguin took the opportunity to show what he was made of and by the time the playoffs were over, he had definitely impressed the masses with his quickness, goal scoring and his ability to be a two-way player. Tyler became the first teenager to score 4 points in a NHL playoff game since Trevor Linden, in 1989. The Bruins won the Stanley Cup that year. Not too bad for the kid’s first year as a professional hockey player. Tyler had finally ‘cemented’ his place in the line-up, right beside Marchand and Bergeron.
When asked what he did with the Stanley Cup the day that he had it, during an interview with NESN, Tyler excitedly recalled his day with the Stanley Cup and said that he first took the Cup to the Toronto’s Sick Kids Hospital, then he took the Cup to the Westwood Arena (which is where he played hockey growing up) and after that, he brought the Cup to his Godfather’s house to share it with family and friends and he then brought the Cup to Downtown Toronto and shared it with a bunch of his friends. He kept the Cup to himself, for the last 30 minutes that it was in his possession and just admired and enjoyed it, until it was taken away at Midnight.
On November 5, 2011 Tyler scored his first hat trick. Seguin was named NHL’s “First Star Of The Week”, for 4 goals and 2 assists that helped the Bruins win 3 games. Tyler’s 100th career game was on Dec 8, 2011. The Bruins were in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Seguin continued to impress with his goal scoring, and finished the season as the Bruins’ leading scorer.
Tyler Seguin signed a 6 year contract extension with the Bruins, in September of this year. The Bruins’ recognize an ‘up and coming star’ when they see one.
At this point in time, Tyler Seguin is playing hockey for EHC Biel because of the NHL lockout. As soon as the lockout is over, he’ll be back in black and gold with his fellow Bruins, where he belongs.
In Tyler’s spare time, he does a lot of charity work. He has stated that he really enjoys helping other people. He also loves going to the movies and hanging out with family and friends. In my opinion, aside from admiring Seguin’s ‘hockey playing skills’, I really believe that Tyler Seguin is a great guy. He has a big heart and he genuinely cares about other people. He has a bright future. He’s going to be a star.
Information in the above article, was obtained from 3 sites:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Seguin
NESN
ESPN Boston
http://espn.go.com/boston/nhl/story/_/id/7316642/boston-bruins-tyler-seguin-fast-track-nhl-stardom
Shannon Navarro
I’m a BruinFanatic from California