Dane Byers

Dane Byers
Born (1986-02-21) February 21, 1986
Nipawin, SK, CAN
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
DEL team
Former teams		 Kölner Haie
New York Rangers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Ilves Tampere
Lahti Pelicans
NHL Draft 48th overall, 2004
New York Rangers
Playing career 2006–present

Dane Byers (born February 21, 1986) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing with Kölner Haie of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany. He was drafted by the New York Rangers 48th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Junior

Byers began his junior hockey career with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL in 2002-03, where he scored eight goals and 14 points in 49 games. Byers returned to the Raiders in 2003-04, as he scored nine goals and 17 points in 51 games, then he added a goal and three points in six playoff games. Byers appeared in 65 games with the Raiders in 2004-05, scoring 11 goals and 20 points, while accumulating 181 penalty minutes. Byers had a strong playoff run, scoring four goals and 10 points in 17 games. Byers broke out offensively in the 2005-06 season, scoring 21 goals and 48 points in 71 games; however, the Raiders failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Professional

After his junior season ended with the Prince Albert Raiders, the New York Rangers assigned Byers to the Hartford Wolf Pack to finish the 2005-06 season. Byers had two assists in five games with Hartford. He spent the entire 2006-07 season with the Wolf Pack, where Byers had 17 goals and 47 points, along with 213 penalty minutes in 78 games. In seven playoff games, Byers scored two goals. Byers returned to Hartford for the 2007-08 season, where he had 23 goals and 46 points in 73 games. In five playoff games, Byers had a goal and three points. He also made his NHL debut during the 2007-08 NHL season, going pointless in one game with the New York Rangers.

Byers missed most of the 2008-09 season due to a knee injury suffered during a game against the Worcester Sharks on October 31, 2008. In nine games, Byers had four goals and seven points, and he returned for the playoffs for Hartford, where Byers had three goals and four points in six games. Byers rebounded from his injury shortened season in 2009-10, as he had 25 goals and 52 points in 74 games with the Wolf Pack. Byers also appeared in five games with the Rangers, scoring his first NHL goal against Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild on October 30, 2009.[1] Several days later, Byers was given an automatic one-game suspension by the NHL for instigating a fight with forward Tanner Glass in the final five minutes of a 4–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on November 3.[2]

Byers began the 2010-11 season with Hartford, where in 16 games he had three goals and nine points. On November 11, 2010, the Rangers traded Byers to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Chad Kolarik.

The Blue Jackets assigned Byers to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, where Byers had nine goals and 25 points in 48 games. Byers was once again on the move, as on February 28, 2011, Byers and Rostislav Klesla were traded from the Blue Jackets to the Phoenix Coyotes for Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepisto. As a result of the midseason trades, Byers was able to set an AHL record for most games played in a season, with 84.[3] But, on July 11, 2011, he was signed to go back to the Jackets. On January 16, 2012, Byers was given a three-game suspension by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Andrew Desjardins during a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks on January 14, 2012.[4]

On July 5, 2012, the Edmonton Oilers signed Dane Byers to a one-year, 2-way contract.[5] He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, to begin the 2012–13 season. On April 2, 2013, Byers was traded by the Oilers to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Garrett Stafford.[6]

On June 26, 2013, despite no contract extension with Washington, Byers signed a one-year contract to remain with the Capitals AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.[7]

After two seasons as Captain of the Bears, Byers left North America and signed a try-out contract with Finnish club, Ilves Tampere of the Liiga on September 22, 2015. In his first stint overseas, Byers recorded two goals in 6 games with Ilves before signing with League rivals, Lahti Pelicans for the remainder of the season on October 12, 2015.[8]

On May 23, 2016, he signed with Kölner Haie of the German top-tier Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[9]

Family

Byers' brother Cole Byers is also a professional hockey player who plays for the Hull Stingrays of the British Elite Ice Hockey League . The brothers are also cousins of former NHL enforcer-turned-radio host Lyndon Byers.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2002–03 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 49 8 6 14 46 — — — — —
2003–04 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 51 9 8 17 134 6 1 2 3 17
2004–05 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 65 11 9 20 181 17 4 6 10 18
2005–06 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 71 21 27 48 157 — — — — —
2005–06 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 5 0 2 2 6 — — — — —
2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 78 17 30 47 213 7 2 0 2 16
2007–08 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 73 23 23 46 184 5 2 1 3 2
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2008–09 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 9 4 3 7 18 6 3 1 4 7
2009–10 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 74 25 26 51 100 — — — — —
2009–10 New York Rangers NHL 5 1 0 1 31 — — — — —
2010–11 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 16 3 6 9 25 — — — — —
2010–11 Springfield Falcons AHL 48 9 16 25 95 — — — — —
2010–11 San Antonio Rampage AHL 21 3 9 12 41 — — — — —
2011–12 Springfield Falcons AHL 61 16 23 39 108 — — — — —
2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 8 0 0 0 29 — — — — —
2012–13 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 58 6 4 10 144 — — — — —
2012–13 Hershey Bears AHL 5 0 0 0 11 1 0 1 1 0
2013–14 Hershey Bears AHL 73 15 22 37 211 — — — — —
2014–15 Hershey Bears AHL 43 7 12 19 91 — — — — —
2015–16 Ilves Liiga 6 2 0 2 25 — — — — —
2015–16 Lahti Pelicans Liiga 41 8 5 13 127 7 0 1 1 8
AHL totals 564 128 176 304 1247 19 7 3 10 25
NHL totals 14 1 0 1 60 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Canada WJC18 4th 7 0 1 1 8
Junior totals 7 0 1 1 8

References

  1. ↑ "Wild edge Rangers for first regulation victory this season". CBS Sports. 2009-10-30. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  2. ↑ "O'Brien and Byers handed one-game suspensions". The Sports Network. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  3. ↑ Berlet, B. (April 9, 2011). "Sound Tigers Defeat Whale in GEICO Connecticut Cup Finale, 4-3: Former Wolfpack Captain Byers Sets AHL Record". Connecticut Whale. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  4. ↑ "Blue Jackets' Byers suspended three games". NHL.
  5. ↑ Willis, Jonathan (2012-07-05). "Edmonton Oilers sign forward Dane Byers". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  6. ↑ "Oilers acquire Stafford from Capitals for Byers". The Sports Network. 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
  7. ↑ "Bears bring back Byers for 2013-14". Hershey Bears. 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Dane Byers confirmed to Pelicans" (in Finnish). Lahti Pelicans. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  9. ↑ "KEC verpflichtet Stürmer Dane Byers | Kölner Haie". www.haie.de. Retrieved 2016-05-23.

External links

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