Bryan Jurynec

Bryan Jurynec has been given the nickname "Baby Willis" at the Kalamazoo Wings after taking over Tyler Willis' spot as the Wings' fighter. Bryan played hockey with former Wings, Adam Elzinga and Josh Elzinga as a kid in Chicago. Bryan was also the Captain of American International College's hockey team for the 2007-08 season. Bryan's father was also a hockey player, Mickey Jurynec. Bryan is the likely winner of the Kalamazoo Wings' Fan Favorite Award for the 2008-2009 season.

Interview with the Kalamazoo Wings:
NICKNAME: Journy
EXPERIENCE: Rookie
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Entourage
HOBBIES: Golf, Movies, and Bugs
FAVORITE MusicAL ARTIST: The Killers and O.A.R.
FAVORITE FOOD: Steak
PLANS AFTER HOCKEY: Commercial Banking
CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Atlantic Hockey League Association All-Academic Team for 4 Years

Hockey Career

Junior Hockey

Jurynec played 3 seasons in Junior hockey for the NAHL. He started with 44 games with the Capital Centre Pride during the 2001-02 season. Jurynec scored 3 goals, made 12 assists, and gained his first 57 penalty minutes with the Pride. Jurynec stayed with the Pride for most of the 2002-03 season playing another 35 games and having a more productive season with 11 goals, 6 assists, and 69 penalty minutes.

After playing a partial season with the Capital Centre Pride for the 2002-03 season, Jurynec was moved to another NAHL team, the Springfield Spirit. Jurynec made 3 goals and 3 assists, and sat in the box for 42 minutes during his 19 game season with the Spirit. For the 2003-04 season, Springfield changed their name to the Springfield Junior Blues, where Jurynec stayed to play 50 games, score 4 goals, make 19 assists, and sit another 59 minutes in the box.

College Hockey

Jurynec played hockey during all four of his college years at American International College located in Springfield, Massachusetts. In Jurynec's first season with American International(2004-05), he made 2 goals, 7 assists, and had 12 penalty minutes in 29 games. In the 2005-06 season, Jurynec played 32 more games with the Yellow Jackets, scoring 4 goals, making 6 assists, and sitting 27 minutes in the box. In his third season for American International, Jurynec accumulated 6 goals, 9 assists, and 26 penalty minutes in 34 games. In his final season with the Yellowjackets, Jurynec was named Captain of the team, and played 31 games scoring 4 goals, making 10 assists, and sitting in the box for 22 minutes. Jurynec missed a total of 6 games in his career with American International.

Professional Hockey

IHL

Bryan Jurynec made his professional hockey debut for the IHL's Kalamazoo Wings in the 1008-09 season. Jurynec is currently out on injury, hoping to be back in April, after injuring his ribs. Jurynec has played 53 games with the kwings thus far, scoring 6 goals, making 7 assists, and sitting in his beloved box for 108 minutes.

Fights

Bryan has been in a total of 16 fights in his first season in professional hockey. "Baby Willis" had two fights in the IHL preseason, one for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, and one for the Kalamazoo Wings. Bryan's first fight was against Kalamazoo's Justin Nattress, and his second against Fort Wayne's Brad MacMillan. Bryan has gotten in 14 fights during the regular season with the Wings, against Fort Wayne's Brad MacMillan, three versus Flint's Justin Styffe, Flint's Rob Voltera, Muskegon's Frank Littlejoh, Luke Stauffacher, and two against Alex Lamontagne. Jurynec also fought Port Huron's Robert Cowan and Jason Selleke, as well as Bloomington's Russell Smith, and twice with Sam Miller.