The former Central Oklahoma transfer will play for Team USA at the World University Games.
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series featuring the Ohio Bobcats hockey team’s seniors.
Three Ohio hockey players selected to play for Team USA at the World University Games were honored on the ice in front of the Bird Arena crowd before a game on Jan. 17 against Iowa State.
For forwards Michael Harris and Joe Breslin, the decision to play overseas meant taking a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the middle of their Bobcat careers.
Although it’s still a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for senior defenseman Tyler Benson, it also meant forgoing the final six home games of his Ohio career. It meant that he had to celebrate senior night four weeks early and begin the process of saying goodbye to a crowd that Benson has grown close to during the past three years.
“I’ve accomplished a lot more here than I ever expected,” Benson said. “Coming into a program like this, that was ranked fourth at the time I started here, I kind of expected to be at the bottom of the totem pole. Thankfully, I’ve been able to climb up that ladder significantly.”
Benson is from Crystal Lake, Illinois, a city about 45 miles northwest of Chicago, where he played hockey for Prairie Ridge High School. After high school, Benson moved on to play three years of junior hockey for the El Paso Rhinos, a fledgling, yet successful, program in the Western States Hockey League that came within one goal of a national title in Benson’s final season.
Benson finished his age-20 season in El Paso with 38 points in 50 games.
At the start of his college career, Benson remained down south, playing his freshman campaign with another American Collegiate Hockey Association power, Central Oklahoma.
Despite a strong freshman season, Benson felt a change was necessary.
“We had a great group of kids, but the school just wasn’t right for me,” he said. “I wanted more of a college experience that could be a bit isolated from everything else. With Central Oklahoma being set in a big city in the suburbs, it just wasn’t a good fit for me. Once I visited here, it was a no-brainer where I wanted to be.”
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In his three years at Ohio, Benson has been an instrumental part of a defense that has become accustomed to more and more success in each of the defenseman’s seasons. The 1.4 goals Ohio is giving up per game is far and away the best number in the country, something Benson, team captain Michael Kretz and second line defensemen Paul Sergi and Tyler Pecka, along with three remarkable goalies, have played a significant role in.
“I think he does a great job of leading by example,” said coach Sean Hogan. “He’s very dependable and reliable, and that’s one of the best things you can say about a defender. He makes a great first pass, he doesn’t turn the puck over and his habits are just very consistent.”
The 2015 World University Games will be the second straight to feature an Ohio defenseman. Last season, Benson’s linemate, Duncan Green, was selected to play for Team USA.
“I just told (Benson) to work hard and focus on playing fast and making good passes,” Green said. “The European style of hockey is a lot different from North American hockey. It’s a lot less physical and more fast-paced, which Tyler will do just fine with since he’s such a strong skater. And his size and physicality are going to be big advantages.”
Benson picked up those strong skating skills by working with coaches from the Chicago Blackhawks, while his size is a natural attribute that has served him well throughout his career. At 6-foot-2, Benson will be the second-tallest defenseman on the Team USA roster and at 24 years old, he will be the oldest.
What sets him apart, however, to teammates and opponents alike, is his intensity. On a team full of guys who are more apt to keep things light-hearted than remain as cold as the ice they skate on, Benson is rarely the first to crack.
“Even in practice, he’s all business,” Green said. “I would hate to play against him since he’s always smacking guys with his stick and doing whatever it takes to get inside people’s heads and doing everything he can to take the puck away from you.”
That level of intensity, perhaps, makes the end of Benson’s career at Bird Arena all the more appropriate.
Following a 4-1 win against Iowa State, Benson was the last player off the ice, sharing a tearful hug with his parents after presenting his mom with a bouquet of flowers.
“Going out on a pinnacle note like this is bittersweet,” Benson said after the game. “It was a risk transferring to a new school. Playing here in such a unique atmosphere, and getting to go out there on the ice in front of those fans, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
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