Giants draft pick coached by former Vancouver assistant
Lethbridge’s Michael Dyck helped develop Bowen Byram
Michael Dyck is back helping out the Vancouver Giants’ development, albeit from a distance this time.
Dyck, a former Giants assistant coach, has been the bench boss for the bantam Lethbridge Golden Hawks the past two winters, helping the development of Bowen Byram, the defenceman that Vancouver selected third overall in Thursday’s WHL bantam draft.
Dyck has also coached the son of former WHLer and one-time New York Islanders draft pick Shawn Byram for four spring seasons.
The younger Byram, 14, lists himself at 6-foot, 170 pounds. The Cranbrook native recorded 22 goals and 37 assists in 34 regular-season games last season with the Golden Hawks, who went on to finish third at the Western Canadian bantam championships.
“He’s by far the best defenceman available,” said Dyck, who was an assistant with the Giants from 2002-05 and came back as a scout and adviser from 2010-12 after a stint running the bench of the rival Lethbridge Hurricanes.
“He can play any way you want to play. He has an edge to his game. If you want to play physical, he can certainly play physical. But he also has the ability to jump into the rush, and he can get creative once he gets past the opposing blue-line.”
Asked what he told Byram about the Giants, Dyck said: “Vancouver is a great place to play. They take care of their players. And the city is a pretty exciting place.”
Byram, who wants to be a “twoday defenceman and not just a stayat-home guy,” tagged being drafted by the Giants as “exciting.” He also said that he thought having someone in his corner who knows the Giants organization was probably a benefit, “because he could pass along some good words about me.”
Shawn Byram played three seasons in the WHL, split between the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders, on his way to being selected in the fourth round, 80th overall, of the 1986 NHL draft by the New York Islanders. He got into five NHL games in his career.
The Giants, who announced earlier this week that they’ll play their games out of the Langley Events Centre instead of the Pacific Coliseum starting this fall, are still looking for a coach to replace Lorne Molleken, who was fired with two games to go in this season, and a general manager to replace Scott Bonner, who resigned in December but agreed to stay on until this week.
Director of player personnel Jason Ripplinger ran the draft day for the team.
The Giants have talked to Dyck about rejoining their staff in the past, particularly when they were looking for a coach midway through last season to replace the fired Troy Ward. Dyck’s not keen on leaving Lethbridge, though.
Dyck’s son, Carson, has been a teammate of Byram’s the past two bantam seasons and the forward was the 26th overall pick by the Swift Current Broncos in Thursday’s draft.
Thursday’s picks aren’t eligible to be full-time WHLers until the 2017-18 season. Byram said that he’ll likely play midget this coming campaign in Lethbridge, and the elder Dyck is expected to coach that squad.
The Kootenay Ice made left winger Peyton Krebs of Okotoks, Alta., the first pick Thursday, while the Saskatoon Blades selected forward Kirby Dach from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., with the second pick.
Vancouver had that choice initially but dealt it to Saskatoon early Thursday morning for No. 3, No. 36, No. 113 and a 2017 seventh rounder. The Blades received No. 50 and No. 147 Thursday as well.