Tyler Sikura (born May 18, 1992) is a Canadian 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

who is currently playing for HC Bolzano of the

ICE 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 ...

(ICEHL)

Playing career

Tyler Sikura played midget hockey in the

Markham Waxers The Markham Waxers were an Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The Waxers name is still used by the Markham Waxers minor hockey club with the Eastern AAA Hockey League, a sub league o ...

system, then played two years of Junior A hockey with the

Newmarket Hurricanes The Newmarket Hurricanes were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Newmarket, Ontario. They played in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. The franchise existed from 1972 until 2019, based in Newmarket starting in 1975. History In 1972, the Seneca Fly ...

. Sikura played four years for the

Dartmouth Big Green The Dartmouth College Big Green are the varsity and club athletic teams representing Dartmouth College, an American university located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

, where he was named a first team Ivy League All Star in 2013. He captained the Big Green for his final two seasons. Following his collegiate career, he played a pair of games for the Springfield Falcons of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL). He spent most of the next two years with the

Toledo Walleye The Toledo Walleye are a professional ice hockey team based in Toledo, Ohio. The Walleye are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL. The Walleye were founded in 1991 as the Toledo Storm and play their home games at ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

before being traded to the Manchester Monarchs. In 2017, Sikura landed a spot on the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, the AHL affiliate of the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. He scored over 20 goals and earned a contract from the Blackhawks for the following season. As well, he tied a franchise record for most consecutive games with goals scored with five. At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, Sikura was named the teams Most Valuable Player. On July 1, 2019, Sikura continued his tenure with the Rockford IceHogs, returning on a one-year AHL contract. He was subsequently named an alternate captain alongside Jacob Nilsson and

Matthew Highmore Matthew Highmore (born February 27, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, currently playing with the Belleville Senators in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League ( ...

. In the 2019–20 season, Sikura posted 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points in 63 appearances with the IceHogs before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. As a free agent, Sikura left the IceHogs to sign a one-year contract to continue in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters on October 14, 2020. In the pandemic shortened

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Sikura increased his offensive output, registering 21 points in just 29 regular season games. On July 28, 2021, he was signed by the Monsters' NHL affiliate, the Columbus Blue Jackets to a one-year, two-way contract. After two seasons within the Blue Jackets organization, Sikura left as a free agent and continued his career in the AHL, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliate to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

, on October 3, 2022.

Personal life

Sikura's brother Dylan was drafted by the

in 2014 and is currently playing within the organization. Sikura is half Slovakian. His grandfather escaped Czechoslovakia and arrived in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in the 1950s. He ran a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm, Hill 'n' Dale Farms, until his death, in which it was taken over by Sikura's uncle and father.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sikura, Tyler 1992 births Living people Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Aurora, Ontario Canadian ice hockey centres Cleveland Monsters players Dartmouth Big Green men's ice hockey players Iowa Wild players Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) players Portland Pirates players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Springfield Falcons players Toledo Walleye players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players