The Neepawa Natives are pleased to announce that they have received a commitment from Tyler Larson, a 6 foot 5, 200 pound forward from Moorhead, Minnesota for the upcoming season.
Larson has a tremendous blend of size, skill, athletic ability and intellect on the ice - enough to have found himself on the NHL's Central Scouting watch list for much of the past season.
"Tyler is another player we are thrilled to sign and have commit to our program," said Natives coach Bryant Perrier. "You can't teach Tyler's ability and size. Anyone we talk to, from NHL to NCAA, speak of Tyler as being a legitimate prospect."
With having been on Central Scouting's watch list this past season, Perrier says that Tyler's abilities cannot be questioned.
"He is an elite talent," Perrier said. "But, he will need to make the adjustment to being great against men in our league. Obviously, we think he can."
Recommended by an NCAA head coach, Perrier took the drive down to Minnesota on a few different occasions to see and meet with Larson and his parents - Royce and Janice - and he liked what he saw.
"This is a player that won a state scholarship for his dilligence in academics, and he is highly decorated as an athlete (also one of Minnesota's pro prospects for baseball). We are glad to have him."
The plan, according to Perrier, is about reaching for the stars developmentally.
"Tyler will get our best and we want to see him reach his goal of playing in the NHL."
When asked about how The Natives were able to land a player of Larson's pedigree, Perrier explained it came down to basics.
"We don't have a blimp flying around our rink and we don't have a five story shopping mall in Neepawa," he said. "We serve perogies and coffee in our building, you won't find sushi. But, we have passion for the game, we have a track record of developing players as a staff, and we are fortunate to have some colleges who think highly enough of us to help us bring in a player like Tyler."
"This is about hockey."
Perrier expects Larson's time in The MJHL could be short.
"I think Tyler could be a one (year) in and one out player. If that happens, we have done our job and we have obviously gotten a great effort from him. We could live with that."
