Skilled 16-year-old defenceman Zac Robins has been a key addition to the Tisdale Trojans blue line this season.
鈥淲e are really happy with what he has brought to our hockey team,鈥� head coach Darrell Mann said. 鈥淗e is a guy who is definitely one of our top four defencemen and we are expecting him to get better as the season goes.鈥�
Last week Robins helped the Trojans go 2-1 against some of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League鈥檚 top teams. The squad scored a huge win last Wednesday as they shut out the league-leading Saskatoon Blazers, 5-0, on the road. On the weekend, the Trojans lost to the Regina Pat Canadians, 52, on Saturday and beat them 5-2 on Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 huge,鈥� Mann said. 鈥淚t gives our guys confidence to know that they can beat these hockey clubs... We are going to have to play them in the playoffs if we are going to have a chance of winning the league. To get that confidence against those guys in the regular season definitely carries over and gives us confidence in the playoffs.鈥�
Through the weekend the Trojans had won seven of their last eight games. As of Sunday, Tisdale had a 17-3-2-1 record. The Trojans鈥� 37 points put them second in the league standings to the Blazers, who had 39.
鈥淭he best part of playing here is how close all the boys are off the ice. We all get along very well and have lots of fun together and, on top of that, we are having a very successful year so far, which is great,鈥� said Robins, who billets with Dean and Michelle Corbett and their sons Carter and Jordan.
The Trojans are pleased to have the 5-foot-10, 175-pound blue liner from Weyburn. Through 23 games, he has two goals and four assists. Mann praised Robins鈥� speed, how he moves the puck, and said that he is solid defensively.
鈥淩obbie is a great skating, smart, skilled defenceman,鈥� the head coach said. 鈥淗is skillset and his skating is as good as anyone鈥檚.鈥�
Robins brings some experience to the Trojans. Last season he played with his hometown midget AA team as well as the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals.
鈥淧laying in Moose Jaw last year helped me elevate my game to the next level and helped me get used to the league,鈥� Robins said. 鈥淚 think that played a big role into this season, because nothing was really a surprise. I knew what the league was like beforehand.鈥�
Last season he also got into a game with his hometown Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. In 2017, Robins was a fourth-round draft pick of the Western Hockey League鈥檚 Spokane Chiefs. He has competed in camps with the major junior team.
鈥淕oing there to camp really gives me an idea what to work on and what it鈥檚 like to step up to that next level and it helps me make goals and gives me a good sense of where I stand,鈥� said Robins, whose step-brother, Cordel Larson, currently plays for the Chiefs.
