For home games during the 2017-18 season, the Carleton Place Canadians will be profiling one player from the team. This time, the profile is on Zach Tupker.
Quick Bio
Birthdate: Dec. 23, 1999
Hometown: Collingwood, Ont.
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 175 lbs
Shoots: L
Position: F
Tupker is in his second season with the Canadians and, after a year spent between Carleton Place and CCHL2 with the Athens Aeros, has found himself a consistent spot in the line-up.
Before coming to Carleton Place, he spent his minor midget and first major midget seasons with the North Central Predators AAA team.
“It was definitely the right place for me to go because I don’t think I was ready for the bigger boys of junior hockey after my minor midget year,” Tupker said. “It gave me another year to develop, get faster, get bigger, get stronger and I think ultimately be ready for junior hockey.”
After being in and out of the line-up to start the 2016-17 season, Tupker was sent to Athens to help improve his game and to give him playing time. He took full advantage of that as he had 18 points – six goals, 12 assists – in his 13 games with Athens.
“[Last year] was an awesome learning experience, great time learning from the older guys who have been in the league for some time. Guys like (Andrew) Dodson, (Connor) Merkley showed me the ropes and taught me what it’s like to be a junior hockey player in a successful program,” he said.
Tupker said he calls himself a two-way player in an effort to help his team win.
“Play pretty hard in the defensive zone so we can go to the offensive zone. I think I’m a pretty good playmaker, I like to set up a lot of plays. I win a lot of draws too, I take a lot of pride in face-offs,” he explained.
Early this season, Tupker has put up three goals and four assists in 21 games. It was announced in September that he and his brother Ben Tupker have committed to Cornell University, heading there for the 2019-20 season.
