MUSKEGON - Reeths-Puffer hockey fans are grateful that Hayden Taylor will be playing on their side on Wednesday night, when the Rockets face off against Mona Shores in a big Division 1 regional championship game.
That almost wasn’t the case.
A few years back, Taylor’s older brother, Landon Taylor, played for the Mona Shores hockey team.
Young Hayden rooted for that team, of course, and planned on playing for the Sailors, as well, when he reached high school.
Working with his parents, he actually applied to go to Mona Shores as a school-of-choice student back in the fall of 2023, before his freshman year. But for some reason, his application was not approved.
R-P's Hayden Taylor
So Taylor remained a student at Fruitport, and since Fruitport has a co-op agreement with Reeths-Puffer for hockey, Taylor became a Rocket – and the rest is happy history.
After an injury-filled freshman season that still showed some promise, Taylor has become a major offensive force for the Rockets.
He had 22 goals and 24 assists for R-P last year as a sophomore, and leads the Rockets with 24 goals, along with 19 assists, this season.
“I thought I was committed to Shores,” Taylor said. “I was talking to the coach a lot. I honestly thought I was going there, then I was not accepted.
“It was pretty disappointing at the time, since I had a bunch of friends on the Shores team. But the friendships I have made at Reeths-Puffer are just as good, probably better.”
Now that he’s a well-established standout for the Rockets, Taylor is excited about playing the Sailors again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena, in a really big matchup between the two top high school hockey teams in the area.
Mona Shores won the first matchup between the teams this season, 3-1, then Reeths-Puffer won the rematch by the same score.
The winner of Wednesday night’s game will collect a regional trophy and move on to the Division 1 state quarterfinals, while the loser will be done for the season.
“I am pretty excited,” Taylor said. “They’re our crosstown rivals. I think it’s going to be a low-scoring game, and very physical, for sure.”
There’s no doubt that the Sailors will be very wary of Taylor, because they know how explosive he can be when he gets on a roll.
He has scored at least one goal in 16 of the Rockets’ 26 games this season, and also has
at least two goals in six different games.
Taylor was on an absolute tear for several weeks this season – between Dec. 13 and Jan. 9 - when he scored a whopping 15 goals in just seven games.
It started with a three-goal hat trick in a game against Chippewa Hills, then continued with a four-goal explosion in the next game against East Kentwood.
He scored two against Forest Hills Northern, one against Mona Shores, one against Grand Rapids Catholic, then two against West Ottawa and two against the FNV Griffins.
Taylor credits his linemates at the time – brothers Eli Cuti and Tyler Cuti – for helping him produce all of those goals in such a short time.
“I just feel like my line was rolling pretty good at the time,” he said. “We just got some momentum and got it going. Something just clicked in our heads.”
Taylor’s scoring pace has slowed a bit in recent weeks, and he was not playing with the Cuti brothers for a while, partly because both of them incurred injuries.
They were back on the ice as a line last week, however, when the Rockets beat Grand Haven 3-1 in the opening round of regionals, and they will be together against Mona Shores, according to Taylor.
“We’re back together now, and we should be able to get it going again,” he said.
Nobody is happier to have Taylor on the roster than R-P head coach Bill Zalba.
He started coaching Taylor a few years before he was in high school, when he played in the Muskegon Junior Lumberjacks travel program, and calls him one of his favorite players to work with.
"He’s tall, and he has long strides, a quick shot and a great hockey IQ,” Zalba said. “He thinks the game on a very high level, and that helps us in a lot of situations. It’s tough to play against a 6-foot-4, 185-pound kid who can see the ice that well.
“He did great in his freshman year, then last year he took a big jump, and this year he’s taken another jump. Next year he could end up being the all-time leading scorer in the area.
“When he gets going, he’s really tough to stop. I really hope he’s going tomorrow night!”
Zalba likes to tell people about the two Hayden Taylors – the nice, easygoing kid off the ice, and the intense competitor who pushes hard to win every time he puts on the skates.
“He’s misunderstood because he is such a laid-back, carefree kid, but he plays with an emotion that’s infectious,” the coach said. “He cares a great deal. He’s emotional, he’s physical. He does not have an off button. He wants to win and will do whatever it takes.”
Taylor said there is a simple explanation.
“I just feel like that sense I have kicks in – I am very competitive and I never want to lose, so I try to go as hard as I can,” he said.