Roblin’s Jayce Hawryluk has played a lot of hockey in his lifetime. He’s also scored a lot of goals and helped others score a lot. That trend began in the 2010-11 season with the Russell Bantams Bantam A team. In 54 games played that season, Jayce had an incredible 138 goals and 126 assists for 264 points. That’s an average 4.8 points-per-game.
After that season, Jayce was drafted in the second round, 32nd overall by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL Bantam Draft.
In the 2011-12 season, Jayce joined the Parkland U18 Rangers, his home region AAA team where he had a lot of success. He scored 31 goals and had 36 assists in 40 games.
After that season, Hawryluk packed up his bags as he was Wheat City bound. Jayce made the Wheat Kings out of training camp and he immediately produced at a high level. He had 18 goals and 43 points in 61 games in his rookie WHL campaign.
He also had the chance to play on Team Canada that year at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Things only got better from there for the Roblin native. He had 64 regular season points the next season and another 12 playoff points and he also played for Team Canada again. This time it was at the World Junior U18 Championships.
Jayce was also drafted by the Florida Panthers in the second round, 32nd overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Remember, he was drafted in the same spot by Brandon three years prior.
In the 2014-15 season, Jayce helped Brandon advance to the WHL Final with another top notch season. He had 65 regular season points and another 19 in the playoffs, but Brandon fell short against an extremely talented Kelowna team.
Determined to come back even better after another off-season, that’s exactly what Jayce did and the 2015-16 season will go down as one he will never forget. He absolutely tore up the league with 106 points in the regular season and he had 30 points in the playoffs. In the end, Hawryluk was one of the biggest pieces to Brandon winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup. They beat Seattle in the final.
Winning a league title is an amazing way to end your junior career, but that was just the start of what has become a professional career for Jayce.
Fast forward:
The Florida Panthers have welcomed back Jayce to their team this season.
After starting the season in the American Hockey League last year, Jayce has made the team out of training camp this year. He’s now played four games with the club.
“Things are going well. We’re off to a pretty nice start here, splitting a home-and-home with Tampa to start the season was definitely a nice step for our team,” added Hawryluk. “I’m feeling good. I’m getting opportunities here to start this season and I’m looking forward to playing when I get the chance”
“I just have to play my game. If I come to the rink every day and try to get better, that’s going to help me,” he added. “I’ll try to keep it consistent and show them I can play all the time.”
Jayce had 12 points in 42 games last year with Florida. He made his debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada. His first goal career goal came against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“For myself, I’m just really focused on being in the lineup every night and being a guy that the coaches can trust,” said Hawryluk. “If I get playing time consistently, I think some points will come along the way.”
Jayce‘s professional career didn’t start in the National Hockey League. He played 142 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds and six with the Manchester Monarchs.
Now that he’s playing in the show, he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“I love the game. I’ve loved it since I can remember,” he continued. “I get to do something I love for a living, I don’t even look at it as a job. I’m going to give it all I have.”
Jayce will make the trip back to Manitoba in March. The club is in Winnipeg on March 17 to take on the Winnipeg Jets.
“For now, I’m just trying to focus on what is happening right now, there’s a ton of time before that,” he concluded. “With that said, that is a date that I have circled on my calendar, it’s going to be a super special day.”
“There will be a ton of family and friends at the game, so it’s going to be pretty unreal,” he added. “Our team is also really solid. We have a ton of really good players so it’s going to be exciting for the other fans as well to watch them.”
