By Mike Stackhouse
Layne Young has been fortunate to play his Junior ‘A’ hockey near his hometown of Frenchman Butte so to say he has scored everywhere he has gone is, somewhat, misleading.
Nevertheless, Young has put up major offensive numbers at every level, including his Bantam AA season of 2012 with the Battlefords Barons when he had 20-goals and 43-points in 24-games. From there he stepped into Midget AA and terrorized goalies with 23-goals in just 22-games. He went on to play two seasons at the Midget AAA level with the Stars, graduating in his final year with 30+ goals and 30+ assists in 43-games played.
As a rookie, it was almost easy to forget Young was a first year player as he showed almost no characteristics of it. He was a top six player almost immediately and was consistent from the start of the year until the finish, culminating with points in 20 of his final 21 games. He won the SJHL Rookie Of The Year Award and also led all first year players in shorthanded goals, indicating his versatility to play in all situations.
Young says, “I’ve always had really good coaching at every level of hockey. That helps with the transition whenever you are moving up a level. When I moved up to Junior, I felt that I really needed to work on my skating and that was my focus in the summer.”
North Stars head coach Nate Bedford has seen Young, only this season, but has seen enough to know this player is the real deal. “Layne is a dedicated teammate that puts the success of our team before anything else. He does everything a coach would want from his top offensive player and more. Layne’s ability to make plays at full speed is incredible. He is going to be an excellent student athlete in the near future.”
Young feels his vision is the strongest asset to his game. “I’ve always felt that when I see a teammate open; I’m confident I can get him the puck.”
Young is an 80% student in high school with an SAT of 1280. His love outside of hockey is in agriculture. “I’ve grown up with it my whole life and at the end of the hockey road, I still myself as a farmer. It’s not really explainable as to why I like it so much; but I’ve always just enjoyed being around my family.”
Young’s future in hockey could be in the NCAA or in Canada with U Sports. “I’m undecided but I’ve talked to a few schools already.”
You can view his stats at http://sjhl.hockeytech.com/player?playerId=1718
Tag(s): Home Player Profiles
