Last season shook Tyler Digby’s confidence. Understandably, too. 

“Last year was a really tough year for me in general,” Digby said. “As you may think, I had some doubts with a performance like that.”

Digby, now with the New England Black Wolves, hadn’t scored less than 22 goals in his four previous years in the league. The former Canadian football star eclipsed the 30-goal mark twice in his first three seasons, putting him in the company of the best young forwards in the league.

That was until 2018.

Digby scored only six times in his third season with the Calgary Roughnecks, suddenly becoming a minor piece in the Riggers’ offense.

So what happened?

“I think it was a few different things,” Digby said. “Fitness maybe played a bit of a role. It can be tough in this league, having a day job and also I live in Pittsburgh and I was traveling. I think it really fell on me. ... I was a little bit heavier and a little bit slower, which means that defender was just a little bit closer.”

As he struggled to find the net, his usage also went way down. By the end of the season, he shot only 40 times, 63 shots less than his previous career low and less than every other Calgary forward who played more than five games.

The offseason was a time to refocus, both mentally and physically. In a way, his diminished fitness was a saving grace for the mental side since he had an obvious deficiency to target.

“I did a lot of self reflection and that’s kind of the one thing that I kept coming back to,” Digby said. “I was hoping that that would be the difference. So far in the first couple games, I think it’s helped out.”

On July 23, the Roughnecks officially decided to move on from Digby. Calgary traded the British Columbia native to the eastern-based Black Wolves, which saw last season as the anomaly Digby hopes it was.

“I think with a lot of players, and Tyler too, when your confidence takes a bit of a hit, it takes a while to build that back up,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said. “He’s got a great opportunity with us to reestablish that.”

Digby said he wasn’t begging for a change in scenery. He enjoyed his time in Calgary and has nothing bad to say about the organization. But a move closer to his home removed a major hurdle in his ability to stay in shape.

“An hour and a half flight and no time change compared to six, seven hours of flying, eight, nine, 10-hour travel days,” Digby said. “It definitely makes a difference.”

Through two games in New England, Digby is halfway to his 2018 goal total. He scored all three goals in the opener, a 16-12 loss to Georgia, but thanks to two assists that night and two in the Swarm’s upset of Saskatchewan two weeks ago, he ranks third on the team in points.

“I like his game,” Clark said. “He gives us a piece that we didn’t necessarily have, that big body presence that’ll create space inside and he moves very well and catches very well in traffic. I think he has an opportunity to establish himself as a real focal point of our offense.”

As for Digby, he’s starting to take those first steps back toward confidence.

“Three goals might be a stretch for me per game, but I think I’ve shown better about my game and trying to get back to the numbers that I’ve historically hit,” Digby said. “To have those first few go in in Georgia, it was a big weight off my shoulders.”