Yaschyshyn motivated to finish job with Kings

Bryson Yaschyshyn had his time watching from the bench, and now he’s eager to thrive in the driver’s seat.

The Dauphin Kings netminder could only look on from the sidelines during last year’s run to the Turnbull Cup final, as his team, led by goaltending star Cole Sheffield, would eventually fall to the Northern Manitoba Blizzard in heartbreaking fashion with an overtime loss in Game 7.

It was a long summer for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s runners-up, but now they’ve come back this season with a vengeance, and Yaschyshyn is at the helm.

“Coming up short last year, it just sucked,” the 19-year-old said on Tuesday. “Knowing we’re putting our mind to it and we’re going after it again this year, all the returning guys are on the same page, and we want to be that example for the new guys here and kind of lead the way that way, so we’re ready to go and we’re feeling good.”

Yaschyshyn is now the starter this year for Dauphin after Sheffield landed an NCAA Division I spot with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and it is a big step up for him, considering it’s only his second full year in the MJHL. In 10 appearances last season, Yaschyshyn recorded a 6-3-1 record to go along with a 2.93 goals against average and an .888 save percentage.

Yaschyshyn feels the pressure that comes with being a starter in this league but believes last year’s run has prepared him for what’s to come.

“It was definitely eye-opening not just for me, but for a lot of us. It kind of shows you what it takes to win a championship and just the resilience we had to show to, you know, get us there,” said Yaschyshyn. “I was fortunate enough to experience that opportunity last year, seeing what it takes to get there, so now it’s going to be fun. There’s a lot of pressure on myself to step up and succeed in that role, like Cole did, but I’m very excited for it and really fired up to go on that same run and prove people wrong. I just know I want to help the team as much as I can, and I’ll do anything for the crest.”

Yaschyshyn and Dauphin are already off to a great start this year, as his club carries a 6-1 record through their first seven games with a first-place hold in the West Division. He has four of those wins with a 1.60 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. The five-foot-10, 170-pound product of Morden is an ultra-competitive athlete who’s constantly motivated by two things: his hatred of losing and being underestimated.

He said the latter happens a lot when being under the threshold size at the goaltending position.

“Coaches and scouts, they look for that six-foot mark,” he said. “There’s definitely just a label on guys under the six-foot mark, just being a small goalie, so you have to be good day in and day out. You can’t have an off day like those taller guys because they have something to fall back on. As a smaller guy, you have to show your compete, grit and make up for it in other ways.”

Yaschyshyn said he looks up to Nashville’s Juuse Saros and Calgary’s Dustin Wolf, two goalies at the pro level who are also among the shorter group of guys in the crease. But when it comes to modelling his game after athletes he’s seen up close, there’s no reason to look further than his partner from last year, Sheffield, who averaged a .921 save percentage across three seasons with the Kings, all while being on the smaller end as well at five-foot-11.

“Cole is a great goalie and definitely the best goalie I’ve ever played with,” Yaschyshyn said. “It was pretty easy to play behind him last year and cheer for him day in and day out, being another small goalie like myself. You know, whether we’re doing goalie skates or just watching him in practice, I just picked up some little things. Even like on a road trip in the hotel or just hanging out with a couple of guys, just breaking down some goalie stuff and talking about plays, he was a great role model for me and definitely helped me with my game.”

Yaschyshyn also gave mention to Carson Cherepak, the Kings starter between the pipes a handful of years ago who helped Dauphin secure the Turnbull Cup in 2022 and now plays U Sports with Lakehead University. Yaschyshyn wants to be known as an elite goaltender like Cherepak and Sheffield when his time with the Kings organization is all said and done.

“I definitely would like to be a part of the list of great goalies that played for this organization,” he said. “I have that chip on my shoulder as a small goalie where you kind of just want to prove people wrong, and that’s a big thing about my game. I love proving people wrong. I show them what I got and shove it right back in their face and eat their words.”

The Winkler Flyers got a taste of that in February last season, when Yaschyshyn made 34 saves en route to a 2-1 win against his former team, who traded him to the Kings in November for a player development fee. Winkler had one too many goalies last year with six-foot-five monster Leif Ekblad and Liam Ernst already on the roster, so they ruled Yaschyshyn as the odd man out, and he’s bled blue ever since.

“We like to call it the ‘revenge game,’ and we ended up beating them, so it was pretty unique and definitely a special win. My family was there as well, so that was super cool too, and coming up with the win was just the icing on the cake,” he said.

“Dauphin gave me an opportunity, and it’s just been a grind, and, you know, showing what I got and proving to them they made the right decision to bring me over here, but it’s all worked out.”

And as Yaschyshyn works to get one per cent better every day in hopes of finishing what Sheffield and the Kings couldn’t last year in the postseason, he will always be reminded of his journey to get here.

“On my water bottle, it says, ‘Smile.’ It’s just a simple reminder that I’m playing a game that I love doing day in and day out and just not to forget doing what I do best.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com