Feature Story

A homegrown pro: Wayzata’s J.T. Wyman

 

By Andrew Vitalis

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

 

If you want to know how unstable minor league hockey can be at times, just ask Wayzata native J.T. Wyman about a day in early January. When reached on the phone early on a Tuesday morning, Wyman had just enough time to spit out a sentence, “I’m at the airport, I was just sent down to Cincinnati.” Considering that Wyman had traveled from Hamilton, Canada to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the span of 12 hours, that’s about all the time he had to talk.

Now, almost two months later, back with Hamilton (AHL), Wyman was finally able to catch his breath enough to answer a few questions.

“Going through that experience, it definitely puts it into perspective just how quickly things can turn around. It really doesn’t even sink in until it happens to you,” remembered Wyman, when asked about his mid-season demotion. “Obviously, at first, I was pretty disappointed. Now looking back on that experience though, I think with this game, just like in life, there are a lot of times where you need to take a few steps back to move forward.”

It was just one of many lessons the former Blake star has learned during his first full season as a pro. After four seasons at Dartmouth College, Wyman went right to Hamilton and finished off the year with the Bulldogs last season. It was a brief eight game glimpse at the pro level. Still, he knew the real challenge was going to be how he, and his body, was going to handle a full season in the pros. Despite little bumps along the way, so far so good.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I definitely expected to learn a lot and I have. Just the number of games is a huge adjustment. In college, you would play two games every weekend. I remember thinking after a Friday night game how tired I was going to be the next night. Here, you’re playing an 80 game season and you have to be on your game every night. Consistency is one of the biggest things up here,” mentioned Wyman. “It takes awhile but you have to learn how to adjust your body to the style of play. You have to learn how to mold your game to the timeline of the season. There are certainly a lot of factors that come into play.”

No question, Wyman has been asked to adjust. Earlier this season, Wyman, a forward, was even asked to play several games at defense. As he puts it, whatever he’s asked to do, he’ll do.

“After being sent down to Cincinnati, I was able to get into the line-up and play every night. That experience certainly gave me more confidence with the puck,” remarked Wyman. “I played a few games at defense when I was in college. I think the organization presented it as more of a career move. I played a lot of defense when I went down to Cincinnati and it was a good experience. I wasn’t playing much in Hamilton and going down there really helped my confidence.”

Now back with the Bulldogs, Wyman is an everyday fixture in the Hamilton line-up. In addition, he’s found himself with more responsibility on the ice. Considering that the Bulldogs are engaged in a playoff push, just the fact that the 23 year-old rookie is even on the ice says something. The fact that he’s also skating on special teams and in late game situations screams it.

“In terms of the organization, (being sent down) it helped with the coaching staff in Hamilton I think. In areas where they didn’t have a lot of confidence in me earlier in the season, now I’m seeing time on the power play and I even had a few overtime shifts,” stated Wyman. “At the beginning of the season, I think my biggest fault was that I didn’t create a role for myself right away. Not everyone can be the guy scoring all of the points out there. I think recently, I’ve been able to find a role. Usually the guys who make it to the NHL are guys who have been able to find a niche and they do those things really well. I knew coming into the year that I probably wasn’t going to make it to the NHL right away. It’s a process and it takes a lot of work. When it comes to this career, I have realized that actions speak louder than words.”

Let the speaking begin.

 

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