NIPAWIN — Nipawin’s Taran Kozun had a whirlwind hockey season.
The goaltender played for seven teams in two different leagues during the 2020-21 season. He was traded as well as loaned. He spent most of the season in the ECHL – a minor league two steps away from the National Hockey League.
“With the ECHL you never know what’s going to happen with the goalie situation,” Kozun was quoted as saying on the Sound of Hockey website. “When other teams sign a guy and guys get sent down there’s never a guarantee that you’re going to stay. I kind of knew there’s always the possibility of changing teams and that you’re never really set in stone to play for one team.”
A former Nipawin Hawk Junior A player, Kozun went on to play with Kamloops and Seattle in the Western Hockey League. He spent one season in the pros and another in senior hockey before an accolade-loaded three-year stint at the University of Saskatchewan. He was twice the U Sports Goaltender of the Year and was named the U Sports Player of the Year in 2020.
This past season, Kozun played 10 games for the ECHL’s Wheeling (W.Va.) Nailers and four for that league’s Allen (Texas) Americans. He saw action in one game each for the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Pensacola (Fla.) Ice Flyers and the ECHL’s Kansas City (Mo.) Mavericks, Indy Fuel (based in Indianapolis), Rapid City (S.D.) Rush, and the Orlando Solar Bears, where he was teammates with his brother Tad.
