Dane Byers

Dane Byers (born February 21, 1986) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for and captained Manchester Storm of the UK's EIHL.[1] He was originally drafted by the New York Rangers 48th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Dane Byers
Born (1986-02-21) February 21, 1986
Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 204 lb (93 kg; 14 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Hartford Wolf Pack
Springfield Falcons
San Antonio Rampage
Oklahoma City Barons
Hershey Bears
Ilves Tampere
Lahti Pelicans
Kölner Haie
Manchester Storm
NHL Draft 48th overall, 2004
New York Rangers
Playing career 2006–2019

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 Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild on October 30, 2009.[2] 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.[3]

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 in exchange for Chad Kolarik.

The Blue Jackets assigned Byers to the AHL's Springfield Falcons, where he 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 in exchange for Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepistö. As a result of the mid-season trades, Byers was able to set an AHL record for most games played in a season, with 85.[4] 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 against the San Jose Sharks on January 14, 2012.[5]

On July 5, 2012, the Edmonton Oilers signed Byers to a one-year, two-way contract.[6] He was assigned to the Oilers' AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, to begin the 2012–13 season. On April 2, 2013, he was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Garrett Stafford.[7]

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.[8]

After two seasons as captain of the Bears, Byers left North America and signed a try-out contract with Finnish Liiga club Ilves on September 22, 2015. In his first stint overseas, Byers recorded two goals in six games with Ilves before signing with rivals Lahti Pelicans for the remainder of the season on October 12, 2015.[9]

On May 23, 2016, Byers signed with Kölner Haie of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[10]

On 1 June 2017, Byers moved to the United Kingdom to sign for Elite Ice Hockey League club Manchester Storm.[11]

Byers played for two years in Manchester, the second as captain, before retiring in April 2019.[12]

Family

Byers' brother Cole Byers was also a professional hockey player who played for the Hull Stingrays in 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
2016–17 Kölner Haie DEL 49 7 5 12 119 7 0 0 0 14
2017–18 Manchester Storm EIHL 55 24 46 70 107 2 0 2 2 2
2018–19 Manchester Storm EIHL 56 29 26 55 182 — — — — —
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. "Former NHL'er Dane Byers joins the Storm". Manchester Storm. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  2. "Wild edge Rangers for first regulation victory this season". CBS Sports. 2009-10-30. Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. "O'Brien and Byers handed one-game suspensions". The Sports Network. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  4. 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. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  5. "Blue Jackets' Byers suspended three games". NHL.
  6. Willis, Jonathan (2012-07-05). "Edmonton Oilers sign forward Dane Byers". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  7. "Oilers acquire Stafford from Capitals for Byers". The Sports Network. 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
  8. "Bears bring back Byers for 2013-14". Hershey Bears. 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  9. "Dane Byers confirmed to Pelicans" (in Finnish). Lahti Pelicans. 2015-09-22. Archived from the original on 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  10. "KEC verpflichtet Stürmer Dane Byers | Kölner Haie". www.haie.de. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  11. "Storm sign former Rangers draft pick Byers". Elite Ice Hockey League. 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  12. https://www.manchesterstorm.com/dane-byers-retirement/
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