Austin Connelly, For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON- Jordan Taupert's sensational rookie season continues to trend in the right direction for the Griffins after a three-point weekend against Red Deer College last weekend.
Taupert secured two assists in MacEwan's 4-2 victory last Friday over the Kings in Red Deer, including setting up the game-winning goal.
He then followed up that performance up by scoring the double OT winner in a 4-3 victory on Saturday in Edmonton that allowed the Griffins to pull within three points of the Kings for second place in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference standings.
The solid showing has been a microcosm of Taupert's rookie year which has him sitting tied for 11th in league scoring, second in team scoring and third in rookie scoring.
"He's continued to develop his game at the ACAC level," says Griffins interim head coach Sean Ringrose. "He's definitely been able to contribute a lot throughout the year already and it seems like he's the type of player who elevates his game and be a guy to be relied upon or step up in the moment to score a big goal. We saw that both nights this weekend."
Taupert and the Griffins (11-5-0-0) will continue their quest to climb into one of the top two spots in the league for a first-round bye in the playoffs when they visit Concordia (7-7-1-1) on Friday (7 p.m., Clareview Arena, ACAC TV), before finishing the weekend series at home Saturday (6 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, ACAC TV).
Last Saturday's double overtime winner over Red Deer College was one of the biggest goals Taupert has ever scored; he fondly compares that moment to scoring an OT winner with Drumheller against the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he played for the past three seasons.
"I got a pretty big goal against the Brooks Bandits in overtime in Drumheller, so that was pretty cool as well," says Taupert.
It was in Drumheller where Taupert really started to shine with the Dragons, netting 189 points in 174 games over the past three seasons after spending his first two years with the Drayton Valley Thunder.
"I think my coaches gave me a lot of confidence and gave me the opportunity to play, so I think that was really big for me," says Taupert on his increased point production.
Unknowingly, Taupert would play with future teammates as a 16-year-old in Drayton Valley when he was in the lineup with Griffins Brett Smythe and Marc-Olivier Daigle. That was among the reasons why he committed to MacEwan University.
Taupert also chose to become a Griffin because his mother had moved back to Edmonton from Ontario and he had the opportunity to live at home while going to school.
"Their winning culture – the past three years in a row they've done amazing," says Taupert. "I talked to the coaches as well and they said they believed in me, they really wanted me to come down, too, and I knew a couple buddies here that were coming to the team, and I just kind of felt comfortable with that decision."
Some of those friends include Kole Gable – one of his linemates at the start of the season. To start the campaign, Taupert was playing consistently with Gable and Brett Smythe, but he's lately been working with Colin Schmidt and Zach Webb – a line that produced the winning goal in both games last weekend.
"I thought we kicked it off pretty good," says Taupert. "We were playing really well together kind of finding each other all over the ice so, I think that worked well."
Added Ringrose: "He goes out there and he competes hard every night. He's not afraid to engage in battles and let's his play speak for itself. He's a high character guy who goes out there and works hard and he's just the type of player you need on your team to be successful."
