All-Delco Hockey Player of the Year: Springfield’s Riddle ready to hit road after a standout season

SPRINGFIELD >> Tyler Riddle hates flying. He admits this as he recalls an especially grueling stretch of a hockey season where he would play 87 games, the same as his sweater number, across high school and club commitments.

It was Feb. 3 and his Springfield Cougars battled Garnet Valley at Ice Works. The Jaguars led the game 3-1 and 4-3 before Riddle took over. The reigning Daily Times Player of the Year scored four times in the game, twice in the third period. The hat-trick goal showcased Riddle’s next level ability. He collected a pass at the Garnet blue line, fought off two defensemen then buried a shot blocker side as he fell to the ice. The Cougars eventually skated away with a 7-4 victory.

The next morning Riddle was on a plane to Minnesota, a long layover in Chicago the source of his frustration. Riddle’s 18U Jr. Flyers team played Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, the largest skating complex in the world with eight sheets of ice. Sunday night, there was another flight, another layover and finally, Riddle was back in Springfield in time for class Monday.

“Long, tiring,” he remembers. “Long, tiring.”

Riddle hoped to avoid such weeks when he informed head coach Phil Eastman in the late summer that he wouldn’t be playing high school hockey this season.

“(The Jr. Flyers) were either on a bus, a plane or driving five, six hours to Boston,” Riddle explains of his initial decision. “In my junior year, missing practices and coming late to Sunday practices from road trips and stuff. And then the beating I took last year, being hurt all the time. (My teammates and coaches) got it.”

His retirement from Cougars hockey lasted one game. Riddle returned for the final 24 contests and put on a show no one will soon forget. He scored 64 goals and added 38 assists for 102 points. Springfield, thought to be rebuilding, finished second in both the Central League and the A Flyers Cup.

For his individual efforts and contributions to a team that greatly exceeded expectations, Tyler Riddle is once again the Daily Times Player of the Year. Riddle, the only returner, is joined on the All-Delco Team by six newcomers.

His Cougars teammate Jimmy Schickling nabbed one of the two defensemen spots along with Ridley captain Nate Dunning. The Green Raiders, after a 19-2-1 campaign, placed four players on the First Team. Joining Dunning are goaltender Brendahn Brawley and forwards Michael Giampapa and Nick Catona. Haverford High’s Shane Moran completes the group.

The All-Delco Team and Player of the Year are selected by the Daily Times staff with consultation from area coaches.

Following the conclusion of both his hockey seasons, Riddle tendered with the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League. He’ll play in the Eagles prospect tournament in May before heading to the Pacific Northwest for the main camp at the end of the summer.

“If I go away six hours, I might as well go 42 hours,” Riddle said of his autumn destination. As one might expect, he measures distances by car ride rather than in frequent flier miles.

But with the Eagles, Riddle has a chance to impress college coaches as he competes in Canada’s top Junior A league.

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