By Regan Bartel

Rockets alumni motivated to win

Tyler Myers speaks to RocketsFAN about dealing with Connor McDavid/Bedard and forest fires

Sep 7, 2023 | 8:02 AM

Tyler Myers is entering his 15th season in the NHL.

The former Kelowna Rockets defenseman spoke to RocketFAN last week about several things, including reaching 1,000 games at the NHL level, where he is just 82 games shy of that milestone.

“That will be pretty cool”, Myers admitted. “If I am fortunate enough to hit it, that would be a pretty special accomplishment.”

Myers has played with only three teams since being drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. After six seasons there, he was eventually traded to the Winnipeg Jets where he spent five seasons before signing a five-year 30-million-dollar deal with the Vancouver Canucks in the summer of 2019.

“When I came into the NHL, they were bigger and stronger and were more developed as players”, Myers said. “The depth of every team was very strong, but my time with the Rockets in my junior days, when I made that jump to Buffalo, I was very surprised at how similar how things were run between the Rockets and the NHL.”

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That may explain why Myers put up a career-high 11 goals and 48 points in his first year with the Sabres and was promptly named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

“I thought the NHL was going to be a big difference because as a young kid, you are jumping into a pro league. I think it really goes to show how well things are run in Kelowna. I think it is a big reason why you see a lot of guys come out of the Rockets organization and are able to jump into the NHL or another pro league.”

Myers made his debut with the Sabres in the fall of 2009, after helping the Rockets win the WHL championship, where he was promptly named playoff MVP.

“You almost have less pressure put on yourself as a young kid,” Myers said about being a NHL rookie. “You are oblivious to a lot of the things going around you. You don’t understand fully all the politics of hockey. The pressure is almost less.”

In a Canadian market like Vancouver, where the team is often scrutinized heavily, having missed the post-season in seven of the last eight seasons, Myers remains focused on improving his game.

“You learn a lot every year”, the 33-year-old father of three continued. “You want to stay hungry. You want to stay motivated to learn new things and to work on new things, so I am learning more and more the longer I go.

“Especially the way the league is going, it is getting a lot younger”, Myers added. “It is more of a speed, skill game as opposed to when I first broke into the league. You learn more about your body and how to take care of yourself better. In my current state, I feel good.”

Myers looks at 18-year-old Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, as one young player who will cut his teeth with the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

“If he makes it”, Myers said with a chuckle when RocketFAN suggested he and the Canucks are scheduled to face the highly skilled phenom in late November. “There is no question he is a special player. Watching him at the world juniors and seeing highlights of him last season, he is going to jump into Chicago, and they are going to put him in good positions to succeed.”

Dealing with Bedard will be a handful for Myers when the time comes, but let’s not forget, the 6’8 defender has faced Edmonton Oilers speedster Connor McDavid more than a few times over his career.

“It isn’t very fun”, Myers chuckles when asked what its like to skate against #97. “He is something that doesn’t seem real. The way he thinks the game, the way his hands can keep up with his foot speed, it is amazing. He is tough to stop.”

Myers is fortunate to be able to play against a generational player like McDavid yet missed out on facing the NHL’s all-time best player, Wayne Gretzky.

“I think there will always be those guys whatever generation it is,” Myers continued. “We missed out on [Wayne] Gretzky, [Mario] Lemieux, and Bobby [Orr], but we have [Sydney] Crosby and Ovi [Alex Ovechkin], [Connor] McDavid and [Nathan] MacKinnon, and I am sure there will be another handful of guys that will come into the league long after I am gone. The group that I play against now, is pretty amazing.”

Evacuated from his summer home in Kelowna during the recent forest fires in West Kelowna, Kelowna, and Lake Country, Myers admits it was scary.

“It was a wild week”, Myers sympathized with those who had to leave their homes. “It was really sad. I remember that night, I was already in bed and my wife came into the room after she saw the fire across the lake. I don’t know lots about how fires operate, but it was amazing how fast it can spread.”

Myers took refuge with his family at his father-in-law’s home, Kim Gellert, a long-time skills coach with the Rockets organization and recently retired NHL scout.

“It was amazing the work the firefighters and first responders did and are still doing for the entire area.

“It is a sad story but a lot of good with how the people came together and got through it.”

(The complete audio version of this conversation with Tyler Myers will be heard on 104-7 – The Lizard – Kelowna Rockets broadcasts this season).