Tyler Sikura (born May 18, 1992) is a Canadian 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who is currently an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He most recently played for

HC Bolzano HC, hc or H/C may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Medicine * Health Canada * Hemicrania continua * Hyperelastosis cutis or hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia Chemistry * Hemocyanin, a metalloprotein abbreviated Hc * ...

of the

ICE Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

(ICEHL).

Playing career

Tyler Sikura played midget hockey in the

Markham Waxers The Markham Waxers were an Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The Waxers name is still used by the Markham Waxers minor hockey club with the Eastern AAA Hockey League, a sub league o ...

system, then played two years of Junior A hockey with the

Newmarket Hurricanes The Newmarket Hurricanes were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Newmarket, Ontario, Newmarket, Ontario. They played in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (1972–87), Ontario Junior Hockey League. The franchise existed from 1972 until 2 ...

. Sikura played four years for the

Dartmouth Big Green The Dartmouth College Big Green are the varsity and club College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing Dartmouth College, an American university located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth's teams compete at the National ...

, where he was named a first team Ivy League All Star in 2013. He captained the Big Green for his final two seasons. Following his collegiate career, he played a pair of games for the

Springfield Falcons The Springfield Falcons were a ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and played in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the MassMutual Center. In 2016, the Falcons' franchise was purchased by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Arizona Co ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). He spent most of the next two years with the

Toledo Walleye The Toledo Walleye are a professional ice hockey team based in Toledo, Ohio. The Walleye are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Walleye were founded in 1991 as the Toledo Storm and play their home games ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

before being traded to the

Manchester Monarchs Manchester Monarchs may refer to: *Manchester Monarchs (AHL) (2001–2015) *Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) The Manchester Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL which began play in the 2015–16 ECHL season, 2015–16 season. Bas ...

. In 2017, Sikura landed a spot on the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, the AHL affiliate of the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

. He scored over 20 goals and earned a contract from the Blackhawks for the following season. As well, he tied a franchise record for most consecutive games with goals scored with five. At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, Sikura was named the teams Most Valuable Player. On July 1, 2019, Sikura continued his tenure with the Rockford IceHogs, returning on a one-year AHL contract. He was subsequently named an alternate captain alongside

Jacob Nilsson Jacob Nilsson (born 12 October 1993) is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre currently playing for EHC Visp in the Swiss League (SL) in Switzerland. Playing career Nilsson made his Swedish Hockey League (SHL) debut during the 2017–18 seaso ...

and

Matthew Highmore Matthew Highmore (born February 27, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previous played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and Ott ...

. In the 2019–20 season, Sikura posted 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points in 63 appearances with the IceHogs before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. As a free agent, Sikura left the IceHogs to sign a one-year contract to continue in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters on October 14, 2020. In the pandemic shortened

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, Sikura increased his offensive output, registering 21 points in just 29 regular season games. On July 28, 2021, he was signed by the Monsters' NHL affiliate, the Columbus Blue Jackets to a one-year, two-way contract. After two seasons within the Blue Jackets organization, Sikura left as a free agent and continued his career in the AHL, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliate to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

, on October 3, 2022.

Personal life

Sikura's brother Dylan also plays professional hockey and was drafted by the

in 2014. Sikura is half Slovakian. His grandfather escaped Czechoslovakia and arrived in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in the 1950s. He ran a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm,

Hill 'n' Dale Farms Hill 'n' Dale Farms is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm with operations in Canada and the United States. History Hill 'n' Dale was founded in 1960 in Ontario, Canada by Czechoslovakian immigrant John Sikura Jr. Following John's death in an ...

, until his death, in which it was taken over by Sikura's uncle and father.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sikura, Tyler 1992 births Living people Bolzano HC players Canadian ice hockey centres Cleveland Monsters players Dartmouth Big Green men's ice hockey players Iowa Wild players Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) players Ice hockey people from Aurora, Ontario Portland Pirates players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Springfield Falcons players Toledo Walleye players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen