At only 16 years old, Ty Mueller becoming one of the most important players on the Sherwood Park Crusaders, the number one ranked team in the CJHL.
Mueller made the jump to junior hockey in his first year of eligibility much like his teams the Cru’s/Crusaders’ Carter Savoie and Michael Benning did the year before. While Mueller didn’t wow the Sherwood Park Arena with 30+ goals as Savoie did, he instead brought a much more well-rounded game immediately to the Sherwood Park lineup.
Mueller is a great two-way forward who controls the play down the middle of the ice. He’s got an excellent defensive mind which helps him steal the puck with ease and turn the puck down the ice quickly and into an offensive chance. He plays with a high level of maturity, and after watching him, it becomes pretty clear why the University of Nebraska-Omaha committed to him so early.
It didn’t take long for the Cochrane native to light the lamp though. In only his second game, Mueller took advantage of a turnover at centre ice and then took himself out wide a fired it over the goaltender’s left shoulder. Mueller dressed in all but eight games for the Crusaders in the 2020 season, scoring six goals and a total of 30 points.
Check out that goal here: Mueller vs Lloydminster Bobcats Sept 14
He spent the majority of his time centring on the second or third line. With injuries striking the Cru throughout the season, he also found a couple of opportunities to play on the top line and first unit powerplay.
As we now look ahead to next season, the Crusaders will need Mueller to take that next step and help fill the void left behind by the numerous stars that have left the team.
Obviously, those are some big boots to fill; however, nobody is asking him to be a 100 point guy like Arjun Atwal, or score 50 goals like Carter Savoie. The team just needs him to be the steady, reliable player he has already proven to be.
The 2020-21 season will also be Mueller’s NHL draft year so a more prominent role with the team will help his draft stock.
