As an Alberta native, Ryan Shepard always loved watching Mike Izzy play for the Blizzard and then the Dragons. He wanted to be similar on the ice, but just wasn't very good at getting the puck in the net so he went in a different direction. When Shepard was about 11, a center that caught a lot of people's eyes caught his as well. That center was Max Mauldin who now plays for the Los Angeles Panthers. Both Shepard and Mauldin share passing, skating, puck handling as strengths and checking as a weakness. However, Shepard has been working with the coaching staff in Kelowna and has considered changing skating for defense later in his career. Other than strengths, Mauldin is nearly as good as he can be at faceoffs, which is something Shepard would like to be a defining part of his character as he continues to grow. Sadly he cannot improve too much more on his faceoffs until he reaches the SHL as there is the well known plateau everybody hits during their time in the SMJHL.