Farynuk staying sharp for Blades
By Kevin Mitchell - Vernon Morning Star
Published: April 07, 2013
With a double engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Brad Farynuk is well prepared for the job market. Hockey, however, is keeping the Enderby product from joining the work force full time.
Farynuk, a 31-year-old former Edmonton Oilers farmhand, just helped the Tohoku Free Blades shock the top-ranked OJI Eagles in the Asian Ice Hockey League playoff championship series.
He and his wife, Kathy, leave next week to Australia to sightsee and visit Brad’s aunt, a trip postponed in 2011 due to the Tohoka earthquake/tsunami the Farynuks witnessed first-hand.
After a season in Italy last year and a few seasons of minor-pro, Farynuk has experienced a few different hockey cultures and he’s in no hurry to give up the game.
“I’m going to take a month or so to assess my life ambitions and hockey,” he told The Morning Star. “I plan on working at AMS Solutions when I get back, an automation engineering company in Enderby headed by ex-Viper/North Okanagan King Richard Vetter and electrical engineers Roland Davyduke and Ron Pobuda.
“AMS has projects all over North America and many with Tolko. I have played professionally seven years now so I’m preparing myself for the transition to an engineering career. The only problem with the idea of retiring is that I love hockey so much. Once I’m back and see what hockey offers are available to me, I’ll weigh out my career options.”
Farynuk, a defencemen, racked up 105 points in 135 games with the BCHL Vernon Vipers from 1999-2002, getting 19 goals and 59 points his final season. He racked up 79 points in four years at RPI in Troy, N.Y.
In the best-of-five Asian finals, Farynuk scored both goals in Game 2 as the Free Blades bounced the Eagles 2-1 in overtime after losing the opener in OT. He finished with 5-7-12 in eight playoff tilts, earning three game winners.
Farynuk pocketed 16 goals and 43 points in the regular season, where the Blades lost 13 games and finished second behind the Eagles, who lost just twice in regulation. He made the first all-star team while missing just four games with a tricep tear.
“My dee partner’s name is Kyohei Kikuchi and is a very steady, hard-working defensive player so I can play very offensive,” said Farynuk, a 6-foot, 210-pounder who wears No. 44. “He speaks very little English but we both understand each other when communicating on the ice, using a mix of Japanese and English hockey terms.
“We had a very hard in-season training program that wore on us bigger players just trying to keep up with our speedy Japanese teammates who never stop working. Practices are usually at least 45 minutes longer than North American pro standards but you only play 42 regular-season games.
The Blades had U.S. defenceman Justin Fletcher and forward David Wrigley of Toronto. They both played in the DEL (Germany’s top pro loop) the past few seasons.
They also had a very eager d-man from China who constantly questioned Farynuk on hockey in hopes of improving his game.
Farynuk goes to a computer to keep track of what’s happening in the NHL.
“Part of being a pro hockey player is constantly trying to be better everyday and learn from what the best are doing. I watch the highlights on TSN.ca almost daily and I can usually watch the third period of Canucks games when I get home from our daily workouts/practices. It’s tough with the time change here as our mornings are when games are on so pubs/restaurants don’t cover much.”
Farynuk is impressed at how Japan has moved forward since the major carnage of 2011. Close to 16,000 people were killed and 129,000 buildings were knocked down. The World Bank’s estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in world history.
“The Japanese are a resilient people,” said Farynuk, who rushed out of an arena, with his skates on, to avoid being hurt in the earthquake. “The way the people handled the tsunami and quake was phenomenal. It isn’t in the Japanese culture and discipline to panic or overreact – even in sport.
“I couldn’t believe how calm people remained during the catastrophe, and have held such demeanor and strength through their rebuilding of the Tohoku coast. There are obviously many people who lost family members and their homes, which was so upsetting, but if there is any country in the world that could rebound from that, it is Japan. The clean-up jobs near cities like Sendai have been tremendous but the rebuilding process will be slow especially with the economic recession here as well.”
Catching up with family and friends, and doing some fishing, are also on his offseason menu.
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