Red Deer Rebels goaltender Rylan Toth was named the Vaughn鈥檚 Western Hockey League goalie of the month for February.
The Saskatoon native spent the past two seasons with the Battlefords AAA Midget Stars, including backstopping the Stars to the SMAAAHL finals against the Notre Dame Argos last season.
After posting a 4-3-0-1 record to go along with a 2.46 GAA and a .922 save percentage in February Toth received the honour, which came as a surprise.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really expect it to be honest,鈥� Toth admitted. 鈥淚 thought I had a pretty good month but there鈥檚 a lot of good goalies in this league so it鈥檚 pretty tough to get I guess. When I saw the tweet I was pretty excited but the main focus is the team getting wins. It鈥檚 nice to get but we need to make a push and get some wins.鈥�
Toth says much of the success he鈥檚 had is thanks to his goalie coach.
鈥淔or one, a lot of hard work. This isn鈥檛 an easy league to play in and it takes a lot of commitment, a lot of hard work and self belief, just believing you can get there,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut also my goalie coach Taylor Dakers has been outstanding. He helped me a ton from the start of year until now with the technical stuff and confidence.鈥�
He says the two years he spent playing at the Civic Centre helped him prepare for the rigors of major junior.
鈥淎fter my first year I wasn鈥檛 quite ready,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淐oming back and having a really good and fun season my last year of midget was something I was really happy to be able to do. It was a great couple of years with great coaches and great teammates.鈥�
He also recalled some of his favourite memories during his two years spent in the Battlefords.
鈥淚 think my second shutout was at home in Saskatoon. We won 5-0 over the Contacts,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or sure going to the league finals last year was pretty incredible, too.鈥�
Now that he鈥檚 playing at the major junior level, Toth鈥檚 game is being recognized by the National Hockey League as he was recently ranked 12th among North American goalies for the upcoming NHL entry draft.
While it鈥檚 nice to see the recognition, Toth says he tries not to focus on it.
鈥淚 definitely hoped I鈥檇 be on there but I didn鈥檛 really expect it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o see my name on there and see it that high is pretty exciting. But I know it doesn鈥檛 mean anything, you try not to worry about it too much. My play will dictate if and where I get drafted.鈥�
It was announced in the first week of October that Red Deer was named as the host city for the 2016 Memorial Cup, meaning the Rebels get an automatic entry into the Canadian Hockey League鈥檚 top tournament.
The tournament is a four-team event featuring the host team and the champions from each the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior League.
Toth says while it鈥檚 exciting to know they鈥檒l be in the tournament no matter what, you can鈥檛 focus on it when it鈥檚 so far away.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely exciting and it鈥檚 hard not to look forward to,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think when it was announced we were a little distracted by it, but now we have to make sure we鈥檝e just forgotten about it and we want to try and go as far as we can for the 20-year-olds this year who won鈥檛 have a chance to be here next year.鈥�
Despite playing in Alberta, Toth might make some Battlefords residents cheer for his Rebels in May of 2016.
