Jerry William Byers (March 29, 1952 – December 25, 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward.

Career

Byers was drafted in the first round, twelfth overall, by the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. He played forty-five games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

: twenty-four with the North Stars in the 1972–73 and 1973–74 seasons, fourteen with the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

in the 1974–75 season, and seven with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in the 1977–78 season. He left North America in 1980 to join HC Salzburg in the Austrian Hockey League. He then spent two seasons in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

National League B The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

for EHC Grindelwald before finishing his career in the Japan Ice Hockey League for Jūjō Ice Hockey Club. As a youth, he played in the 1963 and 1964

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

s with his Kentville

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1952 births 2006 deaths Atlanta Flames players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian ice hockey forwards Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Ice hockey people from Nova Scotia Jacksonville Barons players Kitchener Rangers players Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States NHL first-round draft picks New Haven Nighthawks players New York Rangers players Nippon Paper Cranes players Nova Scotia Voyageurs players Omaha Knights (CHL) players People from Kentville, Nova Scotia Providence Reds players EC Red Bull Salzburg players {{canada-icehockey-player-stub