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Tigers’ Tyler Shaw is bound for Connecticut

April 30, 2013   ·   0 Comments

By Jeff Doner

Over the next few weeks, The Auroran is doing a series of Q and As with some of the Aurora Tigers Junior A players who are moving on to the next step in their hockey and academic careers. This week is stalwart defenceman Tyler Shaw, who is off to Sacred Heart University in Connecticut to play division one college hockey.

Born: Sudbury, ON

Age/birthday: January 24, 1992 (21)

Seasons with Tigers: 1. Tyler missed a large portion of the season with a high ankle sprain, but was still an important part of the Tigers defence corps.

Shoots: Left

Position: Defense

Past hockey career: Played first two years of junior with the Markham Waxers before joining Tigers.

Season Stats with Tigers: GP 38 – G 2 – A 17 – PTS 19 – PIM 22

Best memory playing with Tigers? “Going to Vermont at the start of the season was definitely a good one. Coming in at the start of the season as a new player to the team, it was definitely something nice to see – taking the players to a resort in Vermont to spend a few days to bond as a team. Getting the opportunity as a new guy to meet and bond with the guys, that was a great way to start off the season. Also to come back from 15 points behind and win the division title!”

What’s on tap for next season? “I’ve recently accepted a scholarship and committed to Sacred Heart University in Connecticut to play division one hockey and possibly study sports management.”

Why this school? “I just thought it was a good fit between academics and athletics. From what I’ve been told and what I’ve seen it’s known as a pretty high end academic institution and on the hockey side of things, the team seems to have struggled the last few years, but they’ve made some changes and brought in a lot of new players, including Tiger David Iacono. The opportunity to step in right away was something that I looked at and I’m excited about it.”

Hobbies? “Going to the gym for sure. It’s something you have to constantly do, especially in the offseason to keep in shape. We’ve got a pool in the backyard so I like to hang out in the backyard with family and friends and have an opportunity to just relax and have some fun. Also going up to our camp for fishing.”

Any other sports? “Growing up I tried quite a few sports: soccer, elementary school I played volleyball, basketball, tennis, track and I also tried lacrosse and baseball.”

Favourite movie? The Hangover.

Favourite sports movie? Miracle.

On your iPod? “I’ll be honest, I don’t listen to a lot of music. Whatever the guys have on in the room is fine with me.”

Favourite hockey team and why? “The Ottawa Senators. Why? That’s a good question. I started liking them a long time ago, back when they had Havlat and Hossa. I remember going to a game when I was real young with my dad and Wade Redden flipped the puck over the glass to us. I remember that moment still and after that he became my favourite defenceman for a while.”

Who will win the Stanley Cup this year? “I think I’d have to go with Chicago in the west and in the east it’s hard to go against Pittsburgh. I’m going to say Pittsburgh, especially if Crosby comes back, they would definitely beat Chicago.”

Favourite NHL player: “I’ll go with Shea Weber from the Nashville Predators. I can relate to him and the game he plays. A great leader on the team and he plays a great two-way game and is looked to, to shut down other team’s top lines and I feel like that’s the role I’ve been given in my Jr. career. And also Erik Karlsson on the Senators, it’s pretty incredible to see what he can do every night when he’s on the ice and how offensively talented he is, especially at such a young age.”

Which super hero would you want to be, why? “I guess I would say Spiderman.”

Who is your hero/idol/role model? “My grandma. She kind of got me into hockey. She used to come over and babysit me when I was little and one day she brought over some mini sticks and we started hitting the ball around in the basement together.”

Best thing about playing for the Tigers: “Just the group of guys we had as a whole. We were a tight-knit group and we really bought into what we had to do and that was apparent with winning the division and unfortunately we couldn’t continue that success into the playoffs, but as a whole we all got along and we had no issues in the dressing room. I think when guys are getting along it makes it more fun to play and makes it enjoyable showing up to the rink every day, so that was a big part of it. In the three years of Jr. I played; this was probably the strongest dressing room.”

What will you miss about it? “From an organization stand point, it was just a high-end and first class organization with the way we were treated as players by everyone, from coaches to ownership to volunteers as well. Also the amount of community service and activities we got involved in throughout the year to give back to the community and help out some local charities like the food bank – that was important.”

Who is the funniest guy on the team? Any prank stories? “Maybe not the funniest guy going, but a guy that liked to stir the pot was Angiolella.”

What type of hockey player are you, what are you known for? “I think you could say I’d be known as a two-way defenceman, with defensive zone being my strong suit for sure. I feel like I can be counted on as a leader and be out there to play important minutes and shut down other teams’ top lines. But I can also bring a little offense as well.”

Best accomplishment on and off the ice: “Committing to school over the last week and finally the opportunity to commit to school and get a Division 1 scholarship. It’s been a goal of mine that after my three years [in Junior] I would find myself playing at the Division 1 level. I can’t thank JR (Tigers coach James Richmond) enough for all the help.”

If you had a slogan or motto, what would it be: “Strength does not come from winning, your struggles develop your strength, when you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.’ My mom sent that in a card to me during the season. It was definitely something I referenced back to in the season when I was injured. Some days definitely got frustrating and being able to read that and just persevere and pull through, it helped.”

Are you superstitious? “Yeah, I’m definitely superstitious. I have a few things I do on game days that I like to keep the same. I always dress the left side of my body first, I eat the same pregame meal every game day, it’s always spaghetti and chicken or salmon and rice. We would always go for breakfast game day mornings – myself, Kyle Liu and Adam DiBrina – and that would be followed up by a stop at Starbucks and home for a nap.”

Stance on fighting in hockey: “I think there is definitely a place for it in the game still, to a certain extent those staged fights could definitely be eliminated or have an extra penalty attached to it, but I think if a guy gets hit and he doesn’t like it, I don’t see a problem with it. If both guys want to drop the gloves after an incident has happened, I think you do it, get it over with and move on from it.”

Should all NHL players be made to wear visors? “I would definitely wear one for sure. At the NHL level, if you look at Marc Staal’s incident where he took a shot off the face and injured his eye and him and his brothers have all come back now wearing them, so I definitely think visors should be made mandatory eventually.”

If you were GM of Team Canada, who would be your top forward, defenceman and goalie? “My top forward would be Sidney Crosby, Shea Weber on defence and Carey Price in net.”

Message from Tyler: “I just want to thank the Tigers organization for bringing me in and giving me every opportunity and helping me get to where I am today and I wish them all the best going forward.”

Coach’s comment [James Richmond]: “We will have a big pair of skates to fill with the loss of Tyler on our back end. He played in all situations, even strength, penalty kill and power play and excelled in all three. Tyler played half a season due to injuries but still led the defence in scoring. He blocked more shots than any other player I’ve seen in this league in seven years. All in all, Tyler Shaw was a leader on and off the ice and I couldn’t be happier to see him moving on to play Division 1 hockey next year. We wish him the very best.”

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