[mile]

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hoc...eshman-scoring

“Just before their season started, I got on the phone with Ethan and we were talking about his development plan,” relayed Ray Edwards, the Flames’ director of player development. “We have a goals and objectives part of that plan and we were talking about it and he said to me, ‘Ray, I want you to put 20 goals and 20 assists on there.’ I was like, ‘Really?!? That seems a little lofty.’ But he said, ‘No, I want that on there.’

Rather than pat himself on the back for his 31 points in 22 games so far, he’s actually adjusted his aims a little higher.

“My goal is to win freshman of the year,” Wyttenbach declared. “That’s something I kind of have my eyes set on. I’m obviously in the mix right now, but a strong second half is pretty important to stay in that race.

“Obviously, Ethan is doing really well for us,” said Rand Pecknold, the highly-regarded head coach at Quinnipiac. “There are a lot of kids, as you watch them at 18 or 19 or 20, that come up through the ranks that have the ability to make plays. I think the thing that separates Ethan is not only does he make plays, but he finishes plays. He finds ways to score that goal. He finds ways to put that in the perfect spot that the guy he’s passing too can finish the play and score a goal.

“I guess that’s the best way to describe it — he finishes plays, and it’s a very unique skill-set. You can’t teach that type of offensive vision and the ability to finish, both the passing and the scoring.”

By his recollection, he wasn’t tapped for any defensive-zone starts through his first 10 games or so at Quinnipiac, a sign that the coaches weren’t quite ready to trust him in those scenarios.

“He’s still rounding out the rest of his game,” Pecknold said. “You know, he’s not a 200-foot player yet. He has a little ways to go in that. But he’s made good progress. Probably the biggest thing he needs to keep working on is physically. He’s still a ways away from playing in the NHL. We have a great strength coach. I would say it’s an elite strength program. It’s one of the best things we do at Quinnipiac. So we’ll put some muscle on him over the next few years and he has a great chance to play in the NHL one day.”