There’s a big banner hanging in the Chilliwack Chiefs dressing room, a picture of players huddled around head coach Brian Maloney during a timeout.
Brett Rylance looks at it several times a day and smiles each team he does.
There haven’t been a lot of homegrown guys on the Chiefs roster in recent years, and the 17 year old takes a lot of pride in being one of two (along with Ethan Bowen) on this year’s team.
“I’ve always wanted to put on the (Chilliwack Chiefs) jersey and play in front of the fans, and it’s a great experience every time I’m out there,” he said. “Growing up watching their games, this is what I wanted to do, and this is a dream come true.”
Rylance played his first regular season home game at Prospera Centre Sept. 15 and described the experience as ‘breathtaking.’
“I was sitting on the bench talking to Ethan saying, ‘This is incredible,” Rylance recalled.
The teenager scored his first career junior A goal at home in late October, a memorable moment he’ll never forget.
“Oh yeah,” he said when asked whether he remembered it. “I was driving the net and I think it was Harrison (Blaisdell) passing it over to me and I just whacked it in.
“I actually didn’t think it went in, but Harrison came over to me screaming, ‘You scored!’
“And I remember looking at him and saying, ‘Did I, actually?'”
That goal came in his 16th game as he struggled to find his way in the BCHL.
Standing just a tiny bit over five-foot-eight, Rylance had to adjust to life facing six-foot-something behemoths who aren’t just big but can also move pretty well.
“When you get the puck, the amount of time you have, you lose a split second because guys are faster,” Rylance said.
His philosophy then, and now, is that you can’t hit what you can’t catch.
“Guys are coming to take you’re head off, so it’s good to be able to spin off checks,” he said. “Speed is a huge thing. Keep your feet moving so you don’t get caught in a bad spot.”
And yet, Rylance doesn’t seem to be a small player who is allergic to contact. In last Sunday’s game he drove straight to the net and got cross-checked onto the goalie as a Brett Willits shot went in.
The goal was waved off and Rylance was still shaking his head about it the next day, but it was still an example of him going where many players wouldn’t.
“It’s always been second nature because my dad taught me to get to those dirty areas,” he said.
It’s fair to say no one benefited more from Kevin Wall’s six game suspension than Rylance.
With one of Chilliwack’s star scorers sidelined, Rylance picked up extra ice time and made the most of it. No. 6 in red has been a very noticeable player the last few weeks, sending people scrambling to the interwebs to figure out just who this kid is.
“A lot of people have been talking about that, and I did get a lot more opportunities when Kevin was out. I was put in some different situations and gained a lot of confidence,” Rylance acknowledged. “But everyone to step up because he’s a one of our best players and that was a big hole to fill.”
Wall was booted from a game against Trail just 2:15 in, so he effectively missed seven matches.
Over that stretch, Rylance produced three goals and six points. In the previous 30 games he had two goals and nine points.
Maloney recently said that if the Sardis secondary student had been getting the same level of ice time from day one his emergence wouldn’t surprise anyone.
“Well yeah, but that’s the same with everyone,” Rylance reasoned. “It’s when you get the opportunity right?
“You’re only out there for 30-45 seconds and it’s whatever you can do in that short time. But being out there more, you get to know the game and what you can get away with and what you can’t do.
“I got that chance.”
With different coaches that might not work, but Maloney and Cam Keith are more likely to let a guy learn from mistakes than others might.
Maloney’s been consistent in his statements about the BCHL being a development league.
“He’ll try some things that he probably wouldn’t get away with playing for other coaches at his age,” Maloney admitted. “But he’s a smart enough kid that I don’t have to bark at him.
“He’ll come back to the bench and I’ll say, ‘Brett. Do you think that was the right decision there?’ And he’ll go, ‘No,’ and explain it to me.
“He gets it.”
Maloney is measured in his praise of most players, but he doesn’t hold back discussing his rookie forward.
“I am a huge fan of Brett Rylance, not only the hockey player but the kid in general,” the coach said. “He’s a kid who’s super humble and incredibly low maintenance, but he cares a lot about everything and where the Chiefs are going.
“All of our kids are good, but he’s probably the biggest helping hand around here. He’s liked by every single teammate and it’s hard to not like a kid like that.”
On the ice, Maloney says Rylance’s hockey IQ is off the charts. Every game he’s seeing something new, from button-hook turns in the offensive zone to highlight-reel dangles and dekes.
Rylance is getting noticed elsewhere too.
Two prominent NCAA programs phoned Maloney Monday.
“When I was training in the summer I didn’t expect anything other than to work hard and be in and out of the lineup,” Rylance said. “Just to hear that some of these programs are asking me about me, that’s great to hear.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but that’s great motivation.”
Team success set aside, Rylance has a couple numbers he’s chasing as the Chiefs enter the final third of their schedule.
“I’ve been looking at Blaisdell’s points last year and I think it’d be great to match those,” Rylance said. “He’s a great player and someone I look up to, so it’d be big to get that.
Blaisdell had 49-9-12-21 in 2017-18 and Rylance has 38-5-9-14 so far in 2018-19.
The chase is on.
– The Chiefs have a pair of road games this weekend, visiting the Surrey Eagles Friday and Sunday.
The next home game is Wednesday versus Coquitlam.
