IceHogs Year in Review: Dylan Olsen

                      Position: Defenseman         Shoots: Left
                      Height: 6'3"                      Birthday: January 3, 1991
                      Weight: 220                     Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

2010-11 Stats
GP   G   A   PTS   +/-   PIM   PPG   SHG   SOG   S%
42    0   4     4      -18     10      0        0       40     0

The Hogs received an unexpected arrival on the blue line in January when Dylan Olsen signed an entry level contract on the first of the year and was assigned to Rockford. When he played his first game with the Hogs on January 14th, he was coming off of winning a silver medal at the World Junior Tournament where he represented Team Canada. Before World Juniors, Olsen was patrolling the blue line as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he tallied 13 points [1G, 12 A] in 17 games.

In his first couple of games in Rockford, it wasn't too hard to tell that jumping from college to the AHL was a big transition. He wasn't very physical at first and made some rookie mistakes, but he settled in nicely as time went on. He began to use his big frame and gradually became more physical. His ice time increased, especially when Ivan Vishnevskiy and Jassen Cullimore went down with injuries, and it was obvious that head coach Bill Peters showed more confidence in him down the stretch. He made smarter decisions with the puck and by the time the season ended, he looked much more comfortable out there.

When he was drafted by the Hawks in the first round (28th overall) in 2009, some compared his style of play to Brent Seabrook's. As he continues to develop and his physicality increases, he definitely will be a Seabrook type player, which he has shown flashes of this year.

Olsen will be back on the Hogs' blue line next year, barring a very big summer and an opening in the Hawks' top 7 defensemen.

Olsen during a faceoff on Jan. 22nd on Pink in the Rink night at the MetroCentre.