He was within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup finals.
He’s played in NHL rinks all over Canada and the United States.
But Dana Tyrell still remembers his roots.
The Airdrie native is back in the city for the summer and took time out from his off-season training schedule to share the ice with a group of young novice and atom-aged hockey players at the Ron Ebbesen Arena, June 22.
“I love coming out here with the kids,” Tyrell said while concurrently working the gates for the youngsters. “I was here when I was young, so I know how they feel and how much they love the game. When I was their age, I always looked up to the guys in junior and in the NHL and it was special when I got to step on the ice with them. It’s good experience for all of us.”
“Once they realized who it was, their interest definitely sparked up,” said Airdrie Elite coach Jeff Seegmiller. “He talked to a few of them, signed all the jerseys, talked to some parents and shook some hands. He’s a really good kid.”
Tyrell recently completed his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals 1-0 to the Boston Bruins.
He said it was a great experience, despite missing four weeks with a broken first metatarsal in his foot.
“It’s the shortest summer I’ve ever been a part of – I’m usually home by March,” Tyrell said. “It was a long playoff run, but it’s nice to be back now, get a few months to recover and focus on training. I want to have a real strong year next year, so this summer is very important for me, especially leading into my contract year.”
Tyrell took a couple weeks off, but began his summer training regimen on June 20 alongside a few other familiar names.
“I know it’s going to be a tough summer, but I’ve talked to my trainer and guys like Mike Green, (Zach) Boychuk, (Jordan) Eberle – we’re all training together – so we’ll have a strong summer,” he said. “We all have a lot to prove next year.”
Seegmiller said he was happy to have Tyrell come out and join the young players, like he has for the past three years, as their final skate will be on June 29.
“The drills in our four-on-four off-season program are a little bit higher level than you’ll find in community hockey,” he said of Airdrie Elite, who also raise food and money for the Airdrie Food Bank. “We also start to introduce dryland training because a lot of the kids haven’t done that yet.”
“I usually work on skills with the older players and this is the first time I’ve been out with the younger ones,” Tyrell said. “They mostly ask me questions about playing in the NHL and playing against stars like Crosby and Ovechkin. But being back on this ice does bring back a lot of memories. I played on this ice surface growing up through minor hockey, all the way through bantam, so it’s exciting.”
