The Kalamazoo Wings have been on a tear as of late, winning six of their last seven games. Last week, Kalamazoo’s leading scorer Reid Gardiner was recalled by the Utica Comets, the team’s American Hockey League affiliate. This opened the door for someone to step into the role as the top guy up front. One of those candidates could be Tanner Sorenson.

Sorenson turned pro towards the end of the 2014-2015 season after a four-year career with the Michigan State Spartans. His sophomore year in East Lansing saw Sorenson’s best numbers, as he scored 13 goals and eight assists for the Spartans.

The Anchorage, Alaska native joined his hometown Aces for a three-game stint at the end of 2015, before making his way onto the Kalamazoo roster the following year. Sorenson finished 10th in team scoring with 29 points in his first full season in the ECHL. He then improved greatly in his second season. Posting 43 points in 71 games, to rank fourth on the K-Wings in scoring.

Following the 2016-2017 season, Sorenson decided to play in Europe, as he joined Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk of the Supreme Hockey League (VHL) in Russia.

“It was a great opportunity,” Sorenson claimed. “It isn’t uncommon for players to leave North America and go over to Europe, and it was a great life experience and a chance to help grow my game.”

Sorenson also made a point that playing on the bigger ice surface while overseas helped develop his game as an offensive weapon.

“It’s a skill game over there. The bigger ice opens the game for offensive guys like myself, it gives you more time to create opportunities to make plays.”

Following a rather productive season with the Torpedo where Sorenson put up 31 points in 45 games, he signed with EHC Winterthur of the Swiss B-League. However, an injury sent him back across the pond. After a couple months off the ice, he decided he wanted to come back with the team that gave him his break in professional hockey.

“I talked to Head Coach [Nick] Bootland and [Assistant Coach Joel] Martin, and we set it up for me to come back and play [in Kalamazoo]. Once I healed up and felt like I was ready, I came back to join the club.”

While the K-Wings stumbled to a 5-10-1 start through November, Sorenson made his season debut with the team on November 30th, when they visited the Reading Royals.  He had six points in his first six games to kick off his impressive return to the US.  In the 29 games since the hot start, Sorenson has amassed an additional 39 points. This included a hat trick against Cincinnati on January 5th, and an outstanding six-point night against Fort Wayne just over a week later. There is no question Sorenson is one of the hottest players in the league. Sorenson is sure to mention that his success has not been without the help of others.

“I have a couple good line-mates, playing with Gardiner was great…being with Chris Collins and the way he plays it gives us room to create plays, and we feed off each other really well. That’s really what gives our line a lot of success.”

Sorenson’s 45 points have him tied for 29th most in the league. Only the recently called up Gardiner (53) and rookie forward Chris Collins (49) have more points for the K-Wings this season. Sorenson’s overall points-per-game of 1.29 is fourth in the ECHL. Had Sorenson started the season with the K-Wings and continued at this pace, there is a definite argument that he could be one of the top scorers in the league.

Of course, Sorenson knows that team success is at the forefront. With the amount of offense up and down the lineup, the K-Wings seem pretty comfortable heading into April.

“If we keep getting our spread out scoring like we have, we will be good. Our line of Kyle Thomas, Kyle Blaney, and Brendan Bradley has developed into a top line in this league, and they’re scoring almost every night. With them scoring, and our line scoring, and the third line putting up points as well, it is just all starting to click for this team right now heading towards the postseason.”