The hockey career of Port Moody’s Ryan Tattle is going to the dogs.
No, the second-year forward for the Coquitlam Express hasn’t hit an extended slump or demoted to the fourth line.
Tattle is headed to the University of Connecticut Huskies next season.
Tattle leads the Express in scoring during the team’s pod season. He has 14 points in 11 games. In his rookie season, he scored 14 points in 20 games.
Express general manager Tali Campbell said Tattle is ready to take the next step.
“Tats has worked so hard to make this happen,” he said in a press release. “Every practice, every shift in a game and off the ice, he’s the hardest working guy.”
Tattle, who graduated from Heritage Woods secondary school, played Major Midget for the Vancouver North East Chiefs before joining the Express in 2019.
The Huskies play in the Hockey East conference of the NCAA Div. I that includes perennial powerhouse Boston College that’s one 11 championships. UConn has yet to win a title.
The team’s most prominent player to graduate to the NHL is Todd Krygier, who toiled nine seasons from 1989-’98 for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks.
Meanwhile, the Express will try to put the brakes on a five-game losing skid tonight, when they play the Surrey Eagles at 8 p.m. at the Scotia Barn in Burnaby.
During the slide, Coquitlam has been outscored, 31-9.
The team’s latest loss was a 4-3 setback in overtime to the Powell River Kings on Saturday. After trailing 3-2 heading into the third period, Tyler Schleppe was able to tie it with a power play goal midway through the frame.
But the Kings’ Ethan Riesterer hands the Express its third overtime loss of the pod season when he scored 3:12 into the extra frame.
Austin Fraser and Tattle also scored for Coquitlam, while Dylan Kruss faced 41 shots in the Express net.
