On Thursday, October 1st, the Kalamazoo Wings announced the re-signing of Canadian centreman Justin Taylor. The two sides agreed to terms on a standard player contract for the upcoming season. As Taylor returns to the hockey club, 2020-21 will be his eleventh of pro hockey.
It’s hard to think of the K-Wings and not immediately think of Justin Taylor. He has been a huge part of the hockey club over the course of the last 11 seasons. Last season, he set the franchise record for games played on October 23rd.
That night, at Wings Event Center, Kalamazoo defeated the Komets by a 6-4 final with Justin Taylor contributing. Not only did he score a goal, but he was also named first star of the game. The very next game at home, Taylor was honoured by the K-Wings as they welcomed in the Tulsa Oilers.
That night, the game was tied 3-3 in overtime when Justin Taylor took a snapshot high in the slot and went top shelf where mama hides the cookies. This gave the hockey club a 4-3 victory in overtime. Again, he was named first star of the game, and quite frankly, you couldn’t have scripted it any better.
Over the course of his career, Taylor has scored 213 goals and 239 assists in 542 games. He trails retired winger Kevin Schamehorn, now just 71 points behind. Kevin played in the late 70’s and early 80’s in the IHL.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor started giving free hockey lessons to local children on their driveways in Kalamazoo. This program is completely free and gives each child 30-45 minutes of one-on-one lessons to help sharpen their hockey skills.
Speaking with WWMT channel 3, Taylor, a native Mindemoya, ON, said, “I’m trying to keep it for before high school for the driveway stuff. That’s where you can get creative and it doesn’t get too repetitive or redundant. You can keep it really light and fun. When you get to the older kids, obviously you need more structure and maybe more analytics so they can see their development and progress. With the young kids, it’s a little more fun, a little more lax and you get them laughing and having fun and they don’t know they’re working as hard as they are.”
Taylor is a class act both on and off the ice and K-Wings fans are happy to have him back for his 11th season in the ECHL. Speaking of which, the 2020-21 season is tentatively scheduled for the fourth of December.