Published: March 17, 2016
SCORING MACHINE
West Bend Bombers forward averaging more than 2 points per
game
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
Tanner Tryggestad of the West Bend Bombers likes the idea of
being compared to NHL superstar Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
Tryggestad does admit it’s a lofty comparison.
However, Scott Holtz, the Bombers’ player/coach, believes
there is some truth to it.
“He brings a grittiness (to the team),” Holtz said. “He’s
not a soft guy on the ice.
“Sometimes you get goal scorers that are pretty out there,
but he’ll go dig in the corner (for a puck).”
He’s also a difference-maker.
Tryggestad leads the Bombers in scoring with 59 points,
including a team-high 32 goals. He is also tied for the team lead in power-play
goals (three) and shorthanded goals (two), and is fourth in assists (27).
As the Bombers get set for their regular-season finale at 8
p.m. Friday against Monroe at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center in West Bend,
Tryggestad has 19 points in the Bombers’ last five games — nine goals and 10
assists.
Tryggestad, 23, joined the Bombers before the 2014-15 season
and quickly made a mark. In 17 games, he scored 11 goals and had eight assists.
And in last season’s playoffs, he had three goals and an assist in four games.
“Not only does he bring the scoring, but he’s also very
dedicated, he’s hard-working,” Holtz said. “If he’s not scoring goals, he’s
usually in the play otherwise or he’s hitting somebody.”
Since he joined the Bombers, Tryggestad has 43 goals and 35
assists for 78 points in 38 games — an average of nearly 2.1 points per game.
A gritty player that can score a lot of points is something
Ovechkin is known for being in the NHL.
“If I can be in the same conversation (with Ovechkin) that’d
be unbelievable,” Tryggestad said with a smile. “I’d be making a little bit
more money.”
Tryggestad offered another player he admires and believes is
a better description of his style: Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers.
They are similar in stature. Giroux is 5-foot-11, 172
pounds, while Tryggestad is 5-8, 170 pounds.
“Tough and in the corners, but he can also score,”
Tryggestad said when asked why he admires Giroux.
“I’ve always liked to be more of a physical player,” he
added. “I don’t like to dump (the puck) in the corner and let other people do
the work. I like the contact.”
The grittiness may also come off as a chip on Tryggestad’s
shoulder.
Originally from Amery, Tryggestad attended Concordia
University in Mequon to play on the Falcons’ hockey team. He had a respectable
freshman season in 2011-12, scoring six goals in 23 games — including three
power-play goals — under then-coach and former Milwaukee Admirals star Tony
Hrkac.
In 2012-13, the Falcons got a new coach — Jasen Wise. In the
next two seasons, Tryggestad played in 10 games, scoring one goal.
Unfortunately for Tryggestad, Wise brought in players that
better fit the system he liked to play and slowly shuffled out players from the
Hrkac regime. That left Tryggestad on the outside looking in, scrapping for
playing time.
After his junior year, he followed some of his teammates who
were like him — scrapping for playing time — to West Bend to play with the
Bombers.
Since then, Tryggestad has been re-energized and reminded
why he loves to play hockey.
“You always know the next day you’ve got a spot in the
lineup,” he said. “When we were playing for Wise, you make one mistake, you
were gone. You wouldn’t take any chances.
“It’s really revitalized my love for the game.”
Holtz believes players on the team feed off the energy, the
enthusiasm and the grit a player like Tryggestad competes with.
The first time Holtz saw Tryggestad play, he was impressed.
It was an exhibition game about four years ago when the
Bombers played a collection of then-current Concordia players.
Saying he was impressed was maybe an understatement.
“I think he had like six goals against us,” Holtz said. “The
guys on the team said he was going to come out next year (for the Bombers) and
I said, ‘That’s great.’ “I’m not sure what he had for assists, but I’m sure he
had a few of those, too.”
At the junior and collegiate levels, the type of play is
more structured than it is with the Bombers and the Great Lakes Hockey League.
With the Bombers, he’s afforded the luxury of playing more to his comfort.
In his first game with the Bombers on Nov. 15, 2014, against
Monroe, Tryggestad showed what he could do, scoring two goals with two assists.
“It was seamless,” Holtz said of any transition for
Tryggestad.
With Tryggestad helping to lead the way, the Bombers are
38-7 in the last two seasons.
“He really brings everything,” Holtz said, adding he called
Tryggestad a natural hockey player. “He plays defense, he plays offense.”
But when it comes down to it, Holtz and his teammates love
what Tryggestad brings to the team the most: points.
“He’s on the score sheet every night,” Holtz said.
Tryggestad has scored in 20 of 21 games this season,
including scoring goals in 18 of 21 games. His seasonbest showing was three
goals and four assists Nov. 28 against Fox Cities. He has eight games where
he’s scored at least four points in a game.
He also has four hat tricks this season.
“He’s just got that ability to be a difference-maker in the
game,” Holtz said. “He brings it every night, reliability.”
And Tryggestad wasn’t just a hockey player. He also played
football in high school at Amery, which likely explains his love for contact.
He had offers to play football at University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and St. Thomas (Minnesota).
How Tryggestad landed on hockey is interesting. His dad and
a brother played basketball. He also had another brother and he played hockey.
“He started when he was 6 and I was 3 at that point,”
Tryggestad said.
Then the tale gets funny.
“My mom said it’s kind of miraculous that I stuck it out
because apparently in my first year I cried every time I went to the rink,”
Tryggestad said. “I didn’t want to be there. But I got hooked on it. I’m glad I
never looked back on it.”
The moment he realized hockey was fun was when he saw the
parents cheering after scoring a goal.
“It makes you want to come back,” Tryggestad said.
The Bombers are glad he stuck with it, too.
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