Jordan, Schneider, Boychuk Line Making A Big Impact
First things first: yes, they’re big.
In fact, it might be the biggest line in the league: Stefan Schneider (6’4”, 206 pounds) centering a line between Riley Boychuk (6’5”, 208) and Tayler Jordan (6’6”, 200). Put them on the hardwood, and they wouldn’t be out of place on most basketball teams.
But much to the chagrin of their opponents, they’re on ice. And the three of them remind their opponents of that at every possible opportunity.
“We like to chip it behind the defense because they look at us and we know they don’t want to turn and get that puck,” said Schneider. “We play a really simple game, we use our big bodies and crash and bang and so far it’s shown for us.”
Indeed, it has to be frustrating as an opponent to look over at the Winterhawks’ bench and see those three jumping over the boards time and time again over the course of a game. And over the next month, the U.S. Division teams will be seeing plenty of the Boychuk-Jordan-Schneider line.
The Winterhawks are in the midst of a stretch where they’re playing nine divisional opponents in a row, and 13 of 14 intradivision games leading up to the new year. It began last week with a loss in Tri-Cities and two wins over Seattle. In a division where the top four teams are separated by five points, and fifth place Seattle is making noise, this is an important stretch of the season. While the players know they control their own destiny by winning, they’ll admit to doing a bit of scoreboard watching.
“Obviously we’re taking a look at it, it’s a tight division,” said Jordan. “But we’re not worried about where we are in the standings right now, we just know we have some big divisional games coming before Christmas and we have to do well in those to set us up for the second half.”
If the Winterhawks are to come out of this stretch successful, the Boychuk-Jordan-Schneider line will play a key role. Not only can they wear down opponents during a game, but by the second or third time they play a team in a short stretch they’ll have their opponents thinking more about them than what they’re supposed to do.
“We’re really on the same page right now,” said Jordan. “We’re skating well together, we know our role and we’re playing it real well right now. When we stay out of penalty trouble we can roll four lines and really wear down the other teams.”
While their main goal is to keep opponents off the scoresheet, the Boychuk-Jordan-Schneider line is also capable of generating their own offense. Schneider has 13 points this season, already near his mark of 16 for all of last season. He has points in three straight games, including a two-goal effort in Tri-Cities last week.
Meanwhile, Boychuk’s 16 points are already just one fewer than he had in 2008-09, and in nine games played in November he had points in eight of them.
“Last year was a bit of a change because it was my first year (in the WHL). But this year I knew what was going on so I came in with a mindset that I have to work hard to keep up and that’s what I’ve done so far, so hopefully I’ll keep it going,” said Boychuk of his increased point production. “Whatever we can do to help the team. We’ll go out there and play our roles, but at the same time if we can put a few behind their goalie then that’s great.”
And whether the other teams in the division like it or not, they’ll be seeing lots of them over the next month.
