On the Mark - Part 4

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Each year The Pipeline Show is excited to bring you entries to our blog written by players in their draft year and 2009-10 is no exception. So far we've heard from Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Mark Pysyk and Prince George Cougars forward Brett Connolly.

Today we're able to bring you the 4th chapter in Pysyk's ongoing series that we've called 'On the Mark'. The member of the Edmonton Oil Kings represented the team at the annual CHL Top Prospects Game in January but missed the last two months of the season with a cracked bone in his foot and that's where we'll pick things up with Mark... (Photos: Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings)

Hey everyone, Mark Pysyk from the Edmonton Oil Kings here and its been a while.

I’ll start off just around the end of January when I blocked a shot against the Prince Albert Raiders. It hit the inside of my foot and I didn't think much of it but it turned out that it was broken and would keep me out of the lineup for the remainder of the season.

It is definitely something I would never like to experience again but its hockey and stuff happens.

What really surprised me about not playing for such a long time was that I was driving to a friends house and on the way he texted me and told me I moved up in the Central Scouting rankings to 7th! I was in shock. I thought for sure a broken foot would hurt my ranking and as much as I try to not follow that stuff, its kind of tough when your friends keep telling you. After he told me I wasn't scared to look but if he'd told me I went the other way on the listing I definitely would not have looked.

As for the World U18 Championship in Belarus, I had been hoping to crack that lineup ever since playing in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament last summer. I saw it as the next step on the way to the World Juniors (U20) which is the next goal of mine with team Canada. Unfortunately my foot injury kept me off the roster for the tournament which is taking place right now but I can say that my foot is feeling a lot better and I've started working out preparing for the combine.

I am very nervous about all the fitness testing because who really loves fitness testing? The interviews might be a little intimidating but it will be really cool to be talking to NHL teams and I hope I can make a good impression and do well in the fitness part.

Mark Pysyk is ranked 7th overall by NHL Central Scouting in their Final release. The 6'2, 178 lb defenceman ended the year with 7 goals, 17 assists for 24 points in 48 games with the Oil Kings. Pysyk was Edmonton's first pick in modern franchise history, selecting him 3rd overall in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft.