Stevie Lyle (born 4 December 1979 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) is a British former 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 h ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. Lyle started and finished his career playing for the Swindon Wildcats of the English Premier Ice Hockey League. Lyle also played at international level for the

Great Britain national ice hockey team The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team (also known as Team GB) is the national ice hockey team that represents the United Kingdom. A founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1908, the team is control ...

Playing career

Lyle began his career as a teenager for his hometown Cardiff Devils. He had a brief junior career in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

for the

Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They played out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, a suburb of Detroit until 2015 when they were relocated to Flint, Michigan. History The Whalers ...

in 1997 before returning to Cardiff. In 2001, the Devils went bankrupt and left the

British Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...

, forcing Lyle to find a new club. He signed with the Manchester Storm, but in 2002, the Storm folded due to financial problems and Lyle returned to Cardiff, who were now playing in the British National League. In 2003, Lyle joined the

Guildford Flames The Guildford Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Guildford, Surrey and they play their home games in the Guildford Spectrum. They compete in the top-tier of hockey in the United Kingdom, the Elite Ice Hockey League. Founded in ...

as their starting goalie. In 2004, he played two games in the Elite League (which replaced the defunct Superleague) with the

Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...

, and spent the remainder of the season in the National League with the

Bracknell Bees The Bees Ice Hockey Club are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1 ...

. Lyle then had spells in Italy and France before returning to the UK in 2007 with the

Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...

, but after just 11 games with the team, he signed with the

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cha ...

as a replacement for

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 ...

Philippe DeRouville who was cut from the team due to poor performances. Lyle performances for the Giants earned him their player of the year award. Lyle re-signed with the Giants for the 2008–09 season along with

Nathan Craze Nathan Craze (born 26 November 1986 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales) is a Welsh former professional ice hockey netminder. He played in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Cardiff Devils, Belfast Giants and the Edinburgh Capitals. He also played for th ...

and Adam Cree, before returning home to the Cardiff Devils for the 2009–10 season on a three-year contract. After spending the 2012–13 season with the

, he joined the Swindon Wildcats as the first choice goalie. On 17 February 2015, it was announced that Lyle would replace Ryan Aldridge as Swindon's player/head coach following the conclusion of the 2014–15 season. Lyle retired after the 2016–17 season and was inducted into the UK Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018

International career

Lyle also served as the starting goalie for Great Britain.

References

External links

*
Stevie Lyle Goalie CampStevie Lyle INTERVIEW *BBC Berkshire*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyle, Stevie 1979 births Basingstoke Bison players Belfast Giants players Bracknell Bees players Cardiff Devils players Guildford Flames players HC Morzine-Avoriaz players Living people Manchester Storm (1995–2002) players Plymouth Whalers players Sheffield Steelers players Sportspeople from Cardiff Welsh ice hockey goaltenders British expatriate ice hockey people Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Canada Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Italy Welsh expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Expatriate ice hockey players in France Expatriate ice hockey players in Italy British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees