Trey Taylor has followed his brother’s footsteps to the Vernon Vipers.
The 16-year-old defenceman from Richmond has cracked the roster of the B.C. Hockey League club and was in the line-up for season opening games against Wenatchee and Merritt.
Taylor enjoyed an impressive 2017-18 campaign in the Delta Hockey Academy with the Elite 15 program — finishing with 28 points in 35 games, including 12 goals. The 6-foot-1, 165-pounder was also selected in the ninth round of the 2017 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft but has opted to go the BCHL route.
His older brother Ty enjoyed a couple of outstanding campaigns in Vernon — capping the stint by earning BCHL Goalie of the Year honours last season thanks to a sparkling 1.87 goals against average, .931 save percentage and seven shutouts in 31 games. That helped to earn him a full-ride scholarship to the University of New Hampshire where he is now embarking on his freshman season.
Ty was also selected in the seventh round by the Tampa Bay Lightning in June’s NHL Entry Draft.
Icing…
-Richmond’s Josh Bourne has been named an alternate captain with the Nanaimo Clippers. The 19-year-old is in his first full season with the BCHL club after joining the team midway through last season, soon after Darren Naylor was named GM and head coach.
Bourne led the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League in scoring with 54 points in 28 games at the time. He went on to post 19 points in 22 games with the Clippers, including 10 goals.
Bourne had a goal and two assists in Saturday’s 6-2 season-opening win over Cowichan Valley.
-Taylor is not the only Richmond rookie d-man to crack a BCHL roster this season. Ben Wozney, 17, is with the Powell River Kings after playing last season with the Burnaby Winter Club Midget Prep team.
