Ugh, the Story of Taylor Chorney's Young Pro Career

24gp. 0-5-5 -13 27sog. 12pim.

Not exactly the numbers that I was expecting of the former American WJC Captain. At 21 years of age, 2 WJC tournaments and 3 NCAA seasons under his belt, why is this highly touted rearguard struggling so badly?

I mean a -13? Only Mathieu Roy (-10 in 15gp.) can also boast a - in the 10's on the Falcons. Chorney is not producing offense to offset his even strength play. This is a guy that can move the puck around like nobodies business on the PP and a guy that I had pegged as a potential AHL All star heading into the season.

Chorney started the season with some offensive confidence (as 2 assists in his first 2 pro games clearly shows). Since then he has 3 assists in his last 22 games. I do not understand why he is being asked to play a defensive game and curb his natural instincts to play a 2-way game from the blueline.

When looking at the Falcons defensive core prior to the season, I saw an offensive group. Let's see what they've done thus far...

Peckham 21gp. 4-7-11 +5
Bisaillon 20 3-5-8 +7
Wild 15 1-4-5 +6
Chorney 24 0-5-5 -13
Roy 15 1-3-4 -10
Bina 11 0-3-3 -2
Hrabal 11 0-1-1 +1

Out of this group, only Peckham has met or exceeded expectations and I suppose Bina to a lesser extent. What could've been a free wheeling team from the blueline has been far from it. Outside of set offense on the PP, the offensive production from the blueline has been minimal.

Maybe the coaches philosophy discourages the d-men to jump into or even lead the rush? Why else would a guy that is 3rd in defense scoring and a +6 be a HS 10 times?

Back on track here, Chorney's offensive confidence is gone and IMO as a result he is focusing too much on reacting instead of forcing others to react to his speed and puck movement out of the zone. There has to be a happy medium somewhere and it needs to be found, because a guy that should be a very good AHLer right now is struggling to stay afloat.