T.J. Syner Makes Up for Size with Strength

 

photo by Bridget Samuels/bridgetds

 

T.J. Syner, a free agent attending UMass-Amherst, is an interesting player in this year's development camp. He possesses staggering speed and is built like a football player, with one exception: he's 5'6".

Looking up to smaller players who succeed in the NHL like Martin St. Louis has given Syner the motivation to make himself the best hockey player he can. "The guy's done unbelievable as a career, especially for his size," Syner says of St. Louis. "Going out there and being able to battle like he does every night just amazes me. I definitely look up to him and the style he plays."

Syner has explosive speed, and works hard to keep it that way. Before coming to camp, he says he "did a few power skating lessons just to get back on the ice." He worked with a coach near his hometown who also coaches figure skating, which might explain Syner's smooth stride. He's also very strong, which is important for a smaller player, as it makes him that much more difficult to knock off the puck.

His speed is also valuable on special teams, and UMass head coach Don Cahoon feels comfortable putting him on the ice in all situations. Last year, Syner scored four power play goals and one shorthanded goal. 

 

The one area where he's been trying to improve is his scoring. While his point total has increased each year at UMass-Amherst (27 points last season), Syner is looking for his upcoming senior year to be the best yet in a big way. His coach has urged him to shoot more so the scoring will come.

"I've been trying to make steps, hopefully a bigger step next year, [my scoring] only increased a little bit each year," Syner said. "I played a lot last year and hopefully I'm going to get that same opportunity this year. It will play a big factor, a little bit more confidence, and definitely shooting the puck more, and hopefully produce points."

Syner is also looking to remain a mentor for younger players coming into the UMass program. A co-captain last season, Syner hopes to have a captaincy role again. Even if not, he's happy to play the role of an older player leading by example. 

"We had 13, 14 freshmen last year so I kind of played that [leadership] role all last year," Syner said. "Every freshman looks up to a senior coming in, so you definitely gotta play the role and hopefully being a captain again, they'll look up to you and you just got to set the example for them."

Syner will be heading into his senior year with an NHL development camp under his belt - another learning experience to impart on younger players. Not to mention a boost of confidence that may just help him score the goals he's looking for. With one day left to go, Syner has found camp difficult but rewarding.

"It's been awesome; it's tough. I'm going to be honest, it's a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. The skating's been really hard and challenging, but it's a great way to get in shape," Syner said. "This overall experience has been unbelievable."

Observations from Scrimmage #2

Just a couple of quick notes as today was the second scrimmage and also the shortest day of development camp.

• Travis Boyd is unbelievable. He has incredible hockey sense and vision way beyond his 17 years. He has the innate ability to see exactly how a play is forming, and set up several chances and goals.
• Dmitri Orlov is very strong and makes great hits, but if he has the puck, he carries it way too far into the zone, nearly to the crease sometimes. It leaves just one defenseman back at the blue line, and if a breakaway forms the other way, Orlov is totally behind the play and in trouble. He has to learn how to reel in his excitement for contributing offensively and find a balance between contributing while remaining defensive-minded. I'm sure the coaches will try to get him to adjust that aspect of his game.
• Someone I may try to talk to at some point is T.J. Syner. He's very small (probably 5'6") but he's incredibly fast and very strong. I'm not sure if he's contributed any points in scrimmages (scoring is not being announced in the rink after goals), but he has an interesting skill set.
• Garrett Mitchell's shootout goal was gorgeous. A Twitter follower compared it to Matt Hendricks' chosen shootout move, and I don't disagree. He scored the lone shootout goal to win the scrimmage for Group A.
• Philipp Grubauer has been getting better every day. He was very sharp in the scrimmage. He stopped all shootout attempts, even boldly slapping away with his stick Stanislav Galiev's attempt. (a wonderful YouTube user got video of the whole shootout, catching Mitchell's lovely goal at about 0:48 and Grubauer slapping the puck right out out Galiev's grasp at 1:19)
• There were two fights in today's game, both involving Scott Wietecha. He fought both Garrett Mitchell and later, Danick Paquette. The fight with Mitchell was fairly tame, just a little bit of grappling, and the two were separated. The fight with Paquette was much more spirited. Paquette, in his area of expertise, was not hesitant to throw punches. Paquette got the take down, and Wietecha had to go to the dressing room for repairs. When he returned, his right eye was already massively swollen and it looked like he also had a cut above his eye.

Danick Paquette met the media after the scrimmage, and went to the main focus area in front of all the cameras and lights. As he approached the microphone, he was slightly awed that he was getting the attention, and said (my audio was not on at the time), "I feel like President!"

And now, presented without further comment: Danick Paquette.