John Arthur Byce (born August 9, 1967) is a retired American ice hockey player. He played in 21 regular season games and in 8 playoff 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 ...

with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

between 1990 and 1992. The rest of his career, which ended in 2000, was spent in various minor leagues. Internationally Byce played for the American national team at the 1992 World Championships

Career

Collegiate career

Having been drafted 220th overall by the

in the

1985 NHL Entry Draft The 1985 NHL Entry Draft was the 23rd NHL Entry Draft. It was the first draft outside Montreal. The event was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and attended by 7,000 fans. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams sele ...

directly out of Madison Memorial High School, Byce walked-on to the Wisconsin Badgers team, where he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for his freshman season. After a largely unproductive sophomore season, Byce played well in his third year at Madison, scoring 34 points in 41 games as the Badgers claimed the WCHA Championship. In his fourth year on campus Byce was named as an alternate captain for the team and further increased his scoring; tallying 55 points in 42 games. The Badgers lost in the play-off semi finals, however Byce was named as a Second all-team wcha all-star. Byce would continue as an alternate captain during his final year in Madison, and would again increase his scoring, totalling 71 points in 46 games. Wisconsin would again win the WCHA championship, and Byce would again be named as a Second All-Team WCHA All-Star. The Badgers would go on to win the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

, which Byce scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the championship final. For his efforts, he would be named to the All Tournament Team. In addition to hockey, Byce was also a talented baseball player, playing as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. During the 1987 season, he set a school record for 9 consecutive hits, and also earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

Professional career

Upon the culmination of his collegiate career, Byce was signed by the

and played in the Stanley Cup Finals. Thus he became the first player to have won an NCAA Championship and compete for the Stanley Cup in the same season. His first taste of regular season play was during the 1990–91 season, where he played 18 games for the Bruins, registering 4 points. The majority of his season was spent with the Bruins AHL affiliate team, the Maine Mariners, for whom Byce registered 48 points in 53 games. Byce would again spend most of his time in the AHL for the 1991–92 season, featuring in only 3 Bruins games. In February 1992, Byce and Mariners teammate Dennis Smith were traded to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

in exchange for Brent Hughes. As a result, Byce finished the season with the Capitals AHL affiliate

Baltimore Skipjacks The Baltimore Skipjacks were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The Skipjacks originated in 1979, and played as the Baltimore Clippers in the Eastern Hockey League (1978–1981), Eastern Hockey L ...

. Byce would return to the Skipjacks for the 1992–93 season, tallying 79 points in 62 games. The 1993–94 season saw Byce move to Europe, playing for the Jönköping-based

HV71 HV71 (), often referred to as just HV, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Jönköping, playing in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. The team played in the 2008–09 Champions Hockey League ...

of the

SEL Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including ...

, playing 33 games, registering 12 points. Mid-way through the season, Byce returned to North America and joined the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

in the IHL. Byce would play for three teams during the 1994–95 season, the Admirals, the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

also of the IHL and the AHL's Portland Pirates. Byce would remain in the IHL for the 1995–96 season, playing for the

Los Angeles Ice Dogs The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season. History The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Di ...

where he had a career best season, registering 85 points in 82 games. The team would then relocate to Long Beach, under the name Long Beach Ice Dogs, where Byce would put up 58 points in 80 games. The Ice Dogs would go on to win the

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

, defeating the

Detroit Vipers The Detroit Vipers were an International Hockey League team. The team was founded in 1994, and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Their mascot was a polar bear named Vipe-bear. History Beginning The Vipers were originally formed as the S ...

4 games to 2. Byce would return to Long Beach for the 1997–98 season, playing only 17 regular season games. Byce would return to Long Beach for the 1998–99 season, playing 31 games and scoring 17 points. In January 1999 Byce, along with defenceman Andy Roach were traded to the

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

in exchange for Rene Chapdelaine and Chris Kenady. During his stint in Utah, Byce scored 31 points in 35 games. Following his time in Utah, Byce, along with former Ice Dog team-mate Rob Kenny, would move to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in order to play for the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

in the BISL. His season in London would be a successful one, with the team leading the league for much of the season, before finishing 4th, as well making the finals of the Benson & Hedges Cup. The team would then go on to win the Play-off final, beating the Newcastle Riverkings 7–3. Following his season in London, Byce retired.

International career

Byce was named to the US National Team for the 1992 IIHF World Championships. Byce played 6 games, registering 2 points, as Team USA finished 7th overall.

Personal life

Byce graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Business Administration, and subsequently completed an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at the same institution. Since retiring from professional ice hockey he works for

RBC Wealth Management Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000 ...

. His son, Ty Pelton-Byce, also play hockey and as of June 2020, plays for the Wisconsin Badgers, having transferred from Harvard.

Awards and achievements

* WCHA Champion (1988, 1990) * NCAA (WCHA) Second All-Star Team (1989, 1990) * NCAA Champion (1990) * NCAA All championship team (1990) *

Big Ten Medal of Honor One of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics, the Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics ...

(1990) * BISL Playoff Champion (2000)

Career Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byce, John 1967 births Living people American men's ice hockey right wingers Baltimore Skipjacks players Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players HV71 players Ice hockey people from Madison, Wisconsin Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ice Hockey Superleague players Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players London Knights (UK) players Los Angeles Ice Dogs players Maine Mariners (AHL) players Milwaukee Admirals players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions Portland Pirates players San Diego Gulls (IHL) players Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players