by Chris Faber | AHL On The Beat
The transition from living with a billet family to living on your own can be a tough one for an AHL rookie, but do you know what makes everything better?
Cats.
Abbotsford Canucks defenseman Sawyer Mynio spent four seasons away from home during his junior career in the Western Hockey League, one which saw him play three and a half seasons in Seattle and a half season in Calgary.
He now feels as if he is building a home. Mynio is back in British Columbia, in his girlfriend Liv’s hometown, and one of the first big life decisions the couple made as adults was getting a kitten they named Marvin.
But why have one cat when you can have two?
They decided to get a second cat because Mynio would come home from the rink or Liv would come home from her job, and little Marvin looked like he needed some company.
That’s where Teddy came into the equation.
“We kind of felt bad for Marvin,” said Mynio. “He was all alone, so we went out and got him a little sister. We live in a townhouse, so it’s very up and down, as it is three stories. The cats are always just sprinting around every story of the house.”
The cats are big fans of their dad and enjoy watching all the action on the television when Mynio is on the road.
“Sometimes they are just looking at the TV during the games, but Liv has said that there are funny times when they are jumping up at the TV too,” he said.
“I’ve seen some stuff about Jason Robertson saying every goal he scores is for his cats. Obviously, he scores a lot more than me, but yeah, I’d say my three this season are for Marvin and Teddy.”
With a new hockey schedule as a pro and figuring out how to be an adult, the cats help bring some relaxation time into Mynio’s life. Though the duo can be quite a handful when either Liv or he is cooking in the kitchen, the couple is grateful for the smiles they bring to the household.
The transition to being a full-time AHL player has been a multi-year effort from Mynio and the Canucks organization. In each of the previous two seasons, the young defenseman has pounced at the opportunity to skate as a “black ace” with the Abbotsford Canucks.
“Those two playoff runs were definitely a great jump-start for me,” he said. “Meeting the guys, the coaches, and the rest of the staff was great for me. It was a great head start for this season.”
Mynio experienced Abbotsford’s entire Calder Cup run last season and happened to be the last player to touch the cup before handing it off to head coach Manny Malhotra.
Being a rookie in the AHL has its ups and downs, but Mynio has been able to scratch and claw his way into being a player that Abbotsford’s coaching staff trusts to run their power play. He gives credit for the early success on the power play to assistant coach Harry Mahesh.
“He runs the power play and mentioned to me last year to take notes on the Calder Cup team’s power play,” Mynio said. “Christian Wolanin was a great guy to watch last season, and that gave me some new ideas for running a unit.”
Moving up to the top of the power play was a new position for Mynio, who typically was used as a one-timer option on the right-half-wall during his junior days.
The AHL has a litter of rookie defensemen who are thriving in the league, and Mynio – a third-round choice by Vancouver in the 2023 NHL Draft – sits in the top 10 for points in a group that features first-round picks such as Dmitri Simashev and Carter Yakemchuk, a former junior teammate of Mynio’s.
“Seeing these young defensemen around the league have success is fun to watch,” Mynio said. “I think of one of my buddies, Tanner Molendyk with the Milwaukee Admirals, and it’s always fun watching him too. He’s such a good player.
“I think it’s sometimes rare for young defensemen to have early success in the AHL, but it’s great to see so many of us succeed this season. And honestly, it gives us more competition. We see how each other is all doing and make a little bit of a battle out of it.”
A rookie season can be a grind, but Mynio’s home life helps him decompress between practices and games. The 20-year-old is hyper-focused on landing on his feet in the NHL one day, locked in on that goal like a cat following a laser pointer.
