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Tyler Myers

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Tyler Myers
Myers with the Buffalo Sabres in 2009
Born (1990-02-01) February 1, 1990 (age 34)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Height 6 ft 8 in (203 cm)
Weight 229 lb (104 kg; 16 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Vancouver Canucks
Buffalo Sabres
EC KAC
Winnipeg Jets
National team  Canada
NHL draft 12th overall, 2008
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2009–present

Tyler Paul Myers (born February 1, 1990) is an American-Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round, 12th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Myers won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best rookie.[1] Standing at 6 feet 8 inches tall, he is the tallest active player in the NHL and was nicknamed "The Big Easy" or "Big Tex" when he started his NHL career because he was born in Houston, Texas.[2] After moving to Vancouver, Myers earned the nickname "Chaos Giraffe" from fans.[3]

Born in Houston, Texas, Myers grew up in Calgary, Alberta. He has opted to play internationally for Canada. Representing Canada twice as a junior and once on the men's team, he has won gold medals at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, 2009 World Junior Championships, and 2023 IIHF World Championships.

Playing career

Junior

In the 2005 Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft, Myers was the Kelowna Rockets first round selection, 19th overall.[4] Prior to playing in the WHL, Myers continued minor hockey at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame with the Hounds, a AAA midget team.[5][6] Myers began his major junior career with the Rockets in 2005–06. Following his NHL draft year in 2007–08, Myers was ranked fourth among North American draft-eligible skaters by the NHL's Central Scouting Services.[7]

He was selected 12th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, after they traded the LA Kings a third-round pick to move up from the 13th spot. The following season, Myers helped the Rockets to a 2009 Ed Chynoweth Cup championship following a junior career-high 42-point regular season. Scoring 20 points during the Rockets playoff run, Myers was instrumental the franchise's third WHL title and was selected as the WHL Playoff MVP. Following Myers' WHL championship win with the Rockets, he was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres on May 11, 2009.[8]

Professional

Buffalo Sabres

Myers warming up prior to a game on Veterans Day 2011

Myers started the 2009–10 season with the Buffalo Sabres. He recorded his first NHL point, an assist, on October 8, 2009, against the Phoenix Coyotes. Eight days later, Myers scored his first NHL goal against Dwayne Roloson of the New York Islanders. It was also his first multi-point game, as he recorded an assist as well. On October 24, Myers was used in the sixth round of a shootout against the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored the game winner. After a strong first nine games with the Sabres, the club decided to keep him in Buffalo rather than return him to the Rockets, initiating the first year of his contract.[9]

Myers quickly established himself as the top defenseman on the Sabres roster, leading the club in average ice time per game in his rookie season.[10] On December 16, 2009, he registered 28:32 of ice time in a regulation loss to the Ottawa Senators despite being one of a much-publicized group of Sabres players struck with food poisoning the night before.[11] The following month, Myers recorded his first multi-goal game on January 8, 2010. He scored twice on the powerplay, including the game-winner, as the Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2. He also assisted Tim Kennedy on the Sabres' first goal.

Scoring 10 points and leading all rookies in average ice time (24 minutes and 42 seconds per game) for contests in January 2010, Myers was named the NHL Rookie of the Month.[12] He completed his first NHL season leading league rookie defensemen, as well as Sabres defensemen, playing every game that season with 11 goals and 37 assists adding up to a career high of 48 points and getting 1 point in the playoffs from 1 goal. In the off-season, Myers was awarded with the Calder Memorial Trophy on June 23, 2010 at the NHL Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas, beating out forward Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche and goaltender Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings.

On November 15, 2010 Myers scored his fifth goal of the season in a 4–3 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks. Myers got another overtime goal in a 3–2 win against the Florida Panthers on February 10, 2011. Myers finished the season missing only 2 games with 10 goals and 27 assists adding up to 37 points and getting 6 points in the playoffs from 1 goal and 5 assists. On September 15, 2011 the Sabres signed Myers to a 7-year, $38.5 million contract. On March 13, 2012, Myers was suspended for 3 games for boarding Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez on March 12, 2012. On October 14, 2012, Myers signed with Klagenfurt AC of the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League during the 2012 NHL lockout.[13]

On April 12, 2013, the Sabres announced that Myers had broken a bone in his leg during the team's 5–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens the night before and would miss the remainder of the season.[14]

Winnipeg Jets

On February 11, 2015, Myers, Drew Stafford, Brendan Lemieux, Joel Armia and a conditional first-round pick (used to select Jack Roslovic) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, were traded to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and the rights to Jason Kasdorf.[15]

Myers’ 2015-16 season was ended early by hip and knee surgeries announced by the Jets on March 24, 2016.[16]

During the 2016–17 season, Myers would play in 11 games before he suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury (unrelated to the hip and knee surgeries he had the previous offseason) in a 3–2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on November 11, 2016. Surgery was not initially expected to be required, however after being out of the lineup for 3 months, it was announced that Myers would in fact have surgery to repair the lower body injury, ending Myers second consecutive season due to surgery.[16]

Myers would stay healthy for the duration of the 2017–18 season, playing in all 82 regular season games for the first time since his rookie season, and scoring 6 goals and 30 assists for 36 points while averaging 21:26 of ice time as the Jets finished 2nd in the Central Division, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2014–15. The Jets ultimately made it to the Western Conference Final, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.

Vancouver Canucks

On July 1, 2019, Myers signed as a free agent to a five-year, $30 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks.[17] Later, on December 7, 2019 Myers scored his first goal as a member of the Canucks in a 6–5 overtime win versus the visiting Buffalo Sabres, one of Myers' former teams.

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Finland/Latvia
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Ottawa
IIHF U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Kazan

Despite being born in Houston, Texas, Myers plays internationally for Team Canada, as he moved to Calgary, Alberta when he was 10 years old and holds dual citizenship.[2] Making the decision in his youth, he has credited moving to Canada as a large influence in his development as a hockey player, stating he would "be playing a different sport had I stayed in Texas,” presumably basketball as many NHL and analysts from other sports leagues have speculated. [2]

Myers was a part of the national team that earned gold at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships in Kazan, Russia. He was later named to the Canadian under-20 team for the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa, along with Kelowna Rockets teammate Jamie Benn, and helped Canada to a record-tying fifth straight gold medal. On April 29, 2010, Myers was named to the Team Canada roster for the 2010 IIHF World Championship.[18] He was part of a young squad that finished without a medal.

Personal life

Myers was born on February 1, 1990, to parents Tonja Stelly and Paul Myers III. When Myers was 6-years-old his father took him to his first hockey game, watching the Houston Aeros of the International Hockey League. Myers quickly became interested in the game after watching it, and started to play soon after. In 2000 Paul moved to Calgary, with Tyler joining him; Tyler would later acquire Canadian citizenship.[19]

His younger maternal half-brother, Quentin Grimes, is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks.[20] Grimes and Myers are the first set of brothers to play in the NHL and NBA.

Myers and his wife Michela were married in 2014. The couple have two children together.[21]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2005–06 Notre Dame Hounds AAA SMHL 34 4 6 10 78 — — — — —
2005–06 Kelowna Rockets WHL 9 0 1 1 2 8 1 0 1 2
2006–07 Kelowna Rockets WHL 59 2 13 15 78 — — — — —
2007–08 Kelowna Rockets WHL 65 6 13 19 97 7 1 2 3 12
2008–09 Kelowna Rockets WHL 58 9 33 42 105 22 5 15 20 29
2009–10 Buffalo Sabres NHL 82 11 37 48 32 6 1 0 1 4
2010–11 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 10 27 37 40 7 1 5 6 16
2011–12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 55 8 15 23 33 — — — — —
2012–13 EC KAC EBEL 17 3 7 10 37 — — — — —
2012–13 Buffalo Sabres NHL 39 3 5 8 32 — — — — —
2013–14 Buffalo Sabres NHL 62 9 13 22 58 — — — — —
2014–15 Buffalo Sabres NHL 47 4 9 13 61 — — — — —
2014–15 Winnipeg Jets NHL 24 3 12 15 16 4 1 0 1 2
2015–16 Winnipeg Jets NHL 73 9 18 27 72 — — — — —
2016–17 Winnipeg Jets NHL 11 2 3 5 13 — — — — —
2017–18 Winnipeg Jets NHL 82 6 30 36 48 16 4 3 7 8
2018–19 Winnipeg Jets NHL 80 9 22 31 63 6 0 0 0 4
2019–20 Vancouver Canucks NHL 68 6 15 21 49 10 0 0 0 24
2020–21 Vancouver Canucks NHL 55 6 15 21 51 — — — — —
2021–22 Vancouver Canucks NHL 82 1 17 18 66 — — — — —
2022–23 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 1 16 17 76 — — — — —
NHL totals 918 88 254 342 710 49 7 8 15 58

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2008 Canada U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 1 1 2 10
2009 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 1 0 1 2
2010 Canada WC 7th 7 0 2 2 4
2014 Canada WC 5th 8 0 2 2 6
2023 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 1 0 1 10
Junior totals 13 2 1 3 12
Senior totals 25 1 4 5 20

Awards and honors

Award Year
WHL
WHL West Second All-Star Team 2009
Playoff MVP 2009
Ed Chynoweth Cup 2009
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2009 [22]
NHL
Calder Memorial Trophy 2009–10

References

  1. ^ "Duchene, Howard and Myers Nominated for Calder Trophy". TSN. The Canadian Press. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b c LeBrun, Pierre (18 March 2010). "'The Big Easy' is here to stay in Buffalo". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  3. ^ Chris Faber and David Quadrelli (28 May 2022). "Episode 266 "The Chaos Giraffe thing" ft. Wyatt Arndt AKA The Stanchion" (Podcast). Canucks Conversation. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  4. ^ "2005 WHL Bantam Draft Round 1". WHL.ca. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Tyler Myers, Sabres". Buffalo Sabres. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  6. ^ "2009 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship Media Guide". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Myers stands tall in strong year for Calgary area talent". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  8. ^ "WHL playoff MVP signs with Sabres". CBC. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Myers will remain with Sabres". Buffalo Sabres. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
  10. ^ "Ice Time". National Hockey League. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Sabres notebook: Rock-solid Myers has a tough stomach". Buffalo News.
  12. ^ "Sabres' Myers Named NHL Rookie of the Month". sabres.nhl.com.
  13. ^ "Tyler Myers News: Myers has agreed to a contract with Klagenfurt AC of the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League, sportsnet.ca reports". The Score.
  14. ^ "Sabres' Myers breaks bone in leg, out for season". NHL.com. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Kane, Bogosian dealt to Sabres in eight-player blockbuster deal". TSN. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Winnipeg Jets' Tyler Myers has surgery to fix lower-body injury".
  17. ^ "Canucks sign defenceman Tyler Myers to five year deal". Sportsnet.ca. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Myers, Smyth, Del Zotto join Team Canada". CBC News. 29 April 2010.
  19. ^ McGran, Kevin (27 May 2008). "Big defenceman would love to play in Toronto". Toronto Star. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  20. ^ Smith, Cam; Jordan, Jason (10 May 2018). "The brothers Myers-Grimes: How Tyler Myers and Quentin Grimes could become the first brothers to play in the NHL and NBA". USA Today High School Sports. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  21. ^ Conner, Shawn (17 September 2021). "Raise-a-Reader: Tyler Myers found magic in the Harry Potter series". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Memorial Cup All-Star Teams". Memorial Cup. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Calder Trophy
2010 		Succeeded by
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