Two things are above all for Reggie Taylor — family and
sports.
Together they are helping fuel the 16-year-old forward’s
success with the U16 AAA Whitby Wildcats. Support from his mother and brother
off the ice feed into his ability to perform on it.
“Countless hours she works for me. If it weren’t for her,
I wouldn’t be here,” Taylor said of his mom. His older brother, meanwhile,
“really drives me to be good at what I do... he just pushes me every day to
become a better person on and off the ice.”
The hockey ties run deep for the 5-foot-10 winger. His
uncle Lee Fogolin played 13 seasons (1974-1987) with the Buffalo Sabres and
Edmonton Oilers.
Aside from hockey, Taylor also enjoys football and
basketball, while he played baseball before finding a love for hockey.
He first put skates on at age three and, coming from a
hockey family, learned how to skate young, kept skating and kept scoring.
“I like using my shot as much as I can in games,” he said
of a skill he works on tirelessly.
His goals include becoming faster skating with the puck
although he concedes all areas of his game can improve.
“Nothing’s perfect,” he said.
Taylor’s favourite player is Connor McDavid as he enjoys
watching the Edmonton Oilers superstar’s speed, vision, relentlessness and
hockey IQ.
But he models his game after another elite talent,
Matthew Barzal of the New York Islanders.
“He’s a really fast right-shot, plays the same position
as me,” said Taylor. “He has good hockey sense, thinks the game fast.”
Wildcats head coach Geraid O’Kane says notes that since
Taylor joined the team a year ago, he’s taken big strides in how well he sees
the ice and understanding the play “as it develops.”
“He’s fast, he’s big, he uses his body well… he sees the
ice well, he’s good with his teammates,” O’Kane continued. “It’s team-first for
him… he doesn’t take shifts off.”
Taylor is eagerly anticipating the upcoming OHL draft but
there’s also an understanding that the process can be unpredictable.
Taylor is a great player but knows there are many other
talented minor hockey players.
“I’ve worked so hard for it for my whole life so I’m just
excited to see what happens,” he said.
In 35 games played this season, Taylor has 20 goals and
12 assists as well as 12 penalty minutes.
In 10 playoff appearances, he has three goals and six
assists for nine points as well as four penalty minutes.
About the author: Sully Khan is a student in the Sports Journalism post-grad program at Centennial College.