Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Myers growing for gold

Monday's Calgary Herald had a short preview on 6'7 Tyler Myers and his quest to win WJC gold for Team Canada.
"Every time we weigh and take the height of our guys, Tyler always seems to get bigger," said a laughing Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, who has known Myers since he joined his Western Hockey League club at age 15. "There was a point last year when he'd had his height taken again and he got mad because he grew a little more. "He wanted to stop growing; he said, 'I'm tall enough. That's enough.'" But besides buying pants and driving go-karts, Myers' height hasn't been a total hindrance. Most recently, the Calgarian's size and ability got him noticed and he was selected to patrol Canada's blueline for Pat Quinn's gang at the world junior championship, which starts on Boxing Day in Ottawa. While he's been Kelowna's "everything" man -- playing upwards of 30 minutes per game on the power play, killing penalties, and being a leader on the team's back end--Myers is expected to be a physical presence when paired with six-foot-six 2007 Calgary Flames draft pick Keith Aulie. But Huska said it's Myers' skating ability that puts him with the elite. "For a guy that's as big as Tyler is, I think one of his biggest and best strengths is his skating ability,"he said. "He skates very well for a big man."