Former Viper Earn's NCAA Notice:

Scofield’s skills earn NCAA notice

Written by Ted Clarke, Citizen staff

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Physically, Tyler Scofield says he hasn’t grown much since his junior hockey days as a high-scoring playmaker in B.C. Hockey League rinks. He’s still the five-foot-eight, 150-pound jitterbug he was when he left Prince George four seasons ago to begin his NCAA college career with the Bemidji State University Beavers. While there’s been no Incredible Hulk transformation to change his genetic makeup, Scofield has left a huge carbon footprint on the pages that document his college career. He’s one of the most productive forwards in the school’s history. With four games left this season, Scofield is six points shy of 100 in his career, a milestone only four other Beavers have reached. “I hadn’t thought about that until our coaches brought it up but it’s definitely exciting,” said Scofield, 24. “It’s a nice benchmark and I’m in good company up there but first things first, I want to win a championship. If I can accomplish that (100 points), that’s a bonus.” Scofield ranks second in team scoring with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 26 games. The Beavers currently lead the College Hockey America conference with a 9-4-1 record (13-14-1 overall), and are two points ahead of second-place Niagara (8-3-1) who hold two games in hand over the Bemidji State. “For the most part we’re right where we want to be in a race for the championship right now and we just have to win the rest of our games and hopefully we can take first place,” said Scofield, from his home in Bemidji, Minn. Like every NCAA player, Scofield’s dream is to be in Washington, D.C. for the Frozen Four championship tournament April 10-12. Even if the Beavers fail to qualify, there’s a chance he will be there. Scofield is among 68 finalists in the Frozen Four Skills Challenge, from an original list of 140. The selection committee will now pair the list to 16 (eight from the East, eight from the West) for the skills competition. On-line voting for player selections ended Wednesday. Considering his speed and soft hands around the net, Scofield would be a logical choice for either the fastest skater contest or breakaway challenge events. Any scouting report on Scofield would include the phrase, “small, but quick,” and his skating
skills continue to allow him to thrive in the NCAA. “I’m the exact same size I was in the last year I played for the Spruce Kings but I’m definitely stronger,” said Scofield. “My coaches harp on that and they have quite the strict off-season training regimen. We only play on the weekends so you get a lot more practice than games.” Scofield played all his minor hockey in Prince George, which led to a four-year B.C. Hockey League career in Vernon, Prince George, Alberni Valley. He finished off his junior A career in Manitoba, with the OCN Blizzard. He signed a scholarship agreement with Bemidji State in 2005, after the season ended at OCN. “They called me right near the final signing deadline to say they had some scholarship money left and it’s been awesome,” Scofield, a business major. “I didn’t really have anything going on and I didn’t know if I was going to continue to play hockey. It was the best thing I’ve ever done and the most fun four years of my life. I’ve made great friends that I’ll never forget. “They gave me a chance to play every game of my freshman year, something I wasn’t expecting. The big emphasis in college is defence and they definitely improved my defensive game immensely and that’s the biggest thing I’ve changed since juniors. We won a championship my first year and made it to the NCAAs (final-16 playoffs) and hopefully we can do that again.” Scofield says he hasn’t crossed paths this season with many of his former Prince George teammates but stays in touch with them regularly through email. “I played against Keenan Hopson last year when we started the year off in Maine,” said Scofield. “Mark Nelson is one of my best buddies and we were hoping we’d play each other once in the four years but we never did. He’s at Quinnipiac. We’ll have to meet in the Sweet 16 (playoffs).” Scofield is considering his pro options next season in either Sweden or Finland and plans to stay in northern Minnesota for the summer where he can continue to train.