After a fifth consecutive win, on a early spring afternoon in April, Taylor Fedun, Captain of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, sat down with the Calder Times to talk about his college days, leadership aspects, and working his way to the NHL.
College Days
Playing in college is an experience that many players who are in the minor league system have gone through. Fedun played his college hockey for Princeton University. In his time with Princeton, he dressed in 127 games. Over the course of those games, he tallied 20 goals with 48 assists.
In the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 seasons, Fedun was nominated to the ECAC All-Academic Team, and in 2009, he was also chosen for the Florida College Classic All-Tournament Team. In the 2010 season, he was honoured with selections to the Second-Team All-ECAC, Second-Team All-Ivy, and UConn Holiday Classic MVP and All-Tournament Team. During the 2011 season, Fedun was nominated to the First-Team All-Ivy, First-Team All-ECAC, ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year Finalist, and Second Team All-America. Fedun speaks on what Princeton taught him and what it helped with in his development.
“It taught me how to manage my time. i was pretty raw coming out of high school. i had a few moments where i had to learn the hard way how to manage my time early on. As time went on, one of the biggest things i learned was how much i was able to accomplish if i managed my time. i saw how the guys had to manage class loads, projects, extracurriculars, as well as being a full time athleTE. By the time i was done with my four years, i was like “wow, it is possible”. That was the biggest takeaway for me. It sounds weird now, but my goal growing up was to play hockey until i could get an education. The last 13 years have been a nice bonus for me.”
Fedun speaking on Princeton and his development
Watching Friends
Hockey is a small world. Players know other players either from growing up in the rink together, playing in juniors or in college. To be able to watch someone’s career and say “I’ve known them from the start”, is a great feeling. Fedun has played with players such as Laurent Brossoit, Troy Grosenick, and Brendan Gaunce. Fedun speaks on what it’s like to watch those players blossom within their own careers.
“It’s cool to see where their games were back then and how they’ve worked and established themselves as good players and made a nice career out of it. It’s cool to look at other rosters and see guys that i played with that long ago do well for themselves.”
Fedun on playing with Brossoit, Grosenick, and Gaunce
Aye, Aye, Captain
Being a professional hockey player is a privilege, and being named a captain is even more so. The Captain may not be the best player, skater, or scorer on the team. The most important characteristic for a Captain is to be the leader on and off the ice. If the Captain is one of the older players on the team, that player is setting the best example for the rookies and younger players in the locker room, and often show them how to be a pro.
“I bring experience into the locker room. i’M able to draw on situations that i’ve been in before, that i think a lot of other guys haven’t quite done yet. The more time i spend in the locker room, i think i have been able to pick up on things in the game. There is even times where i think in terms of x’s and o’s. i can see things almost more from the coaching side of it than the playing side of it because i have been around for so long. those are things that i try to stay on top of and make an impact that way.”
Fedun on being Captain and his leadership style
Family Man
Going to college and graduating college is a massive accomplishment. For Fedun, once his family started to grow, his degree from Princeton faded in comparison. Fedun is married to his wife Katie, who is an accomplished athlete in her own right, participating in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympics on the Women’s Field Hockey team. Fedun and his wife have 3 children.
“I used to say my degree from princeton, but i just recently had my third son, so i would say my growing family right now, for sure.”
Fedun on his biggest accomplishment outside of hockey
Welcome To The NHL
Fedun has experience in the NHL: 131 games to date. Fedun has played for the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the span of those 131 games in the NHL, Fedun has tallied eight goals with 27 assists. Fedun speaks on what his “Welcome to the NHL moment” was for him:
“It was right away. It was my first game i played. Just the spectacle. Everything in the nhl is a whole other level than what we get to see down here [in the ahl]. i was very fortunate in my very first [nhl] game, i scored a goal. it was extra emotional, because prior to that, a season before, i broke my femur and missed an 11 month stretch. So to work back from that and finally get into my first game, and have it go well, was pretty surreal.”
Fedun on his NHL experience
Idols
Growing up, most players have a favourite player, some of whom they even try to model their game after. Fedun talks about Scott Niedermayer, who played for the New Jersey Devils for 13 seasons and the Anaheim Ducks for five seasons.
“My absolute favorite player growing up was Scott Niedermayer. i would love to play with him. i think he would make the game easy on me if i was to play with him.”
Fedun on his favorite player growing up
Playing Against The Competition
As a defenseman, Fedun’s job is to keep the other team from getting shots on your goaltender. The competition a player faces is more intense every time you step up a league. Communicating with teammates on the ice and the ability to make quick decisions plays a major part into what makes a good defenseman. Fedun speaks on who the hardest players were that he has ever had to defend.
“Every time we used to go into carolina and play, i would always come out of just astonished that more people weren’t talking about how hard the staal brothers are to play against. they are just so big and strong, regardless of where my game was at, I just felt like i was always chasing them around and could never get the puck off their sticks.”
Fedun on who has been the hardest to defend
Game Day
Every player’s game day routine is different. Some players are strict on what they do, some are go with the flow. No matter what, game day is sacred to players. Once Fedun gets to the rink, he has a set routine he goes through to get ready for the game ahead:
“When i get to the rink, i change, tape my sticks, get my drinks ready for the game. we have a meeting [for a 7pm game] at 5:15. I go into the gym and get my warm-up going. I have a pretty extensive warm-up that i make sure i get through everyday. it takes me around 40-45 minutes, that takes me to right about 30 minutes on the game clock. i have 15 minutes to get ready for the on-ice warm-up.”
Fedun on his Game Day Routine
Dream 3 on 3
A fun subject to talk about amongst players is who their 3 on 3 overtime line-up would be, and there are some pretty unique answers. Fedun’s answer is pretty… lethal shall we say?
“crosby, mackinnon,makar. it’s pretty easy one,two, three. I don’t think you’re losing many games if they’re out there.”
Fedun on his 3 on 3 overtime lineup
Fedun has played in a total of 41 games in the regular season for 2023-2024. He has notched 1 goal with 11 assists. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. This weekend, the team is playing for seeding purposes, and they are likely to face down rivals, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who haven’t clinched a spot yet but are 1 magic number away.
