Trupp's five game-winning goals included a highlight-reel
overtime goal against Minnesota on Feb. 1. |
| Index
of Profiles
|
Key Statistics: In 32
games as a freshman, Trupp had 13 points, scoring eight
goals and sharing the team lead with five game-winners.
He missed the last 11 games of the season after being
sidelined by an ankle injury on March 1. North Dakota
was 7-1-0 in games where Trupp scored.
What He Does: Trupp has
bulked up to 170 after coming to Grand Forks as a 155-pound
freshman, and has what his coach terms “wiry strength.”
That commodity goes along with offensive instincts and
puck-control skills that made him the anchor of North
Dakota’s second power play unit as a freshman.
With a year of experience, Trupp is expected to play
a bigger role in filling the offensive holes in the
Sioux lineup.
The Bigger Picture: A
three-time state high school champion (for two different
schools) and the 2005 prep player of the year in Alaska,
there was some pressure on Trupp to play close to home
for Alaska Anchorage, or to follow his father’s
collegiate footsteps to Fairbanks. Trupp opted instead
for the British Columbia junior ranks (where he was
rookie of the year in 2006), then admits that an official
visit to palatial Ralph Engelstad Arena cemented his
decision to play college hockey in the Lower 48. His
2008 injury marked the third year in a row in which
Trupp has missed the end of the season due to a medical
issue (it was an inflamed appendix in 2007 and a separated
shoulder in 2006). As a sophomore he’s striving
for more speed, more strength, more health and a fifth
straight Frozen Four trip for the Sioux.
North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol
on Trupp: “Size and stature-wise, he
and Ryan (Duncan) are very similar. They’re intelligent
and think the game very well, and they flat-out make
a lot of plays. Evan is a money-type player. When you
need a big play, he seems to always be there in the
clutch.”
—
Jess Myers |
