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

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 The 1972 NHL Amateur Draft was the 10th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Richard Brodeur, who played his last NHL game in the 1987–88 s ...

. He played forty-five games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

: 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 the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in the 1977–78 season. He left North America in 1980 to join

HC Salzburg EC Red Bull Salzburg is a professional ice hockey team based in Salzburg, Austria, that currently plays in the ICE Hockey League. The club play their home games at the Eisarena Salzburg. History The history of ice hockey in Salzburg at the highe ...

in the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), 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 currently f ...

. He then spent two seasons in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

National League B The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, the ...

for EHC Grindelwald before finishing his career in the

Japan Ice Hockey League The Japan Ice Hockey League (JIHL) (日本アイスホッケーリーグ) was an annual ice hockey league that began in 1966 and ended in 2004 when it was replaced by Asia League Ice Hockey. Only Japanese teams competed in the JIHL. Baseball an ...

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 (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

s with his Kentville

minor ice hockey 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 contact, vary from cla ...

team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* 1952 births 2006 deaths Atlanta Flames players 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 National Hockey League 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