A hometown player in his fourth season for the Kamloops Blazers, Dylan Sydor has become a leader and top scorer for the team — even fulfilling his dream of playing in the Memorial Cup.
“I scored a goal in one of the games and it was just crazy,” Sydor said on having Kamloops host the tournament last season. “I knew my family and my dad would be so proud of me. I kept the puck, I [wrote] the date on it. I think that’ll stick with me forever.”
Although he was born in Dallas, Texas, and moved to various cities growing up, Sydor’s roots are undeniably deepest in the city of Kamloops. Sydor has lived full-time in the city since moving back in 2016.
Frequent migration was due to his father, Darryl, a former NHLer with nearly 1300 games played in the league between 1991 and 2010, who spent his junior career in Kamloops and now is part owner of the Blazers.
Sydor said growing up in an NHL family was unique but has provided him with opportunity.
“He’s played a huge role in my hockey career and just my life,” Sydor said on his dad. “If I ever have questions, or I’m feeling down he’s always there to pick me up.”
Junior hockey’s holy grail is the Memorial Cup, a tournament hosted each year where the champions of each major junior hockey league in Canada compete. Both Sydor and his father’s best Blazer moments came during that event.
Darryl hoisted the cup in Seattle with the Blazers back in 1992, while his son played in the 2023 tournament hosted in Kamloops.
“The fans and the atmosphere was crazy in Kamloops. The whole city got together… It really was a dream come true,” Sydor said about being a part of the host team last year.
Sydor’s goal allowed him to relieve some undeniable pressure that Blazers alumni and fellow hometown guy, Aaron Keller says comes with representing the city at the titular event.
“For me it was a dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime event for me to play at home in front of friends and family,” Keller said of his Blazers team hosting the Memorial Cup in Kamloops in 1995. “We were lucky enough to win it which made it even better, but there was an extreme amount of pressure.”
While Sydor said he recognized that there was pressure on him at the tournament, he tried to push out the noise and enjoy the festivities as much as possible.
A quarter-final elimination in the 2023 tournament meant that Sydor’s goal would likely be his defining moment from his major junior career as the Blazers sit at the bottom of the standings currently and are not poised to return to the tournament.
With that being said he is trying to parlay that success into individual play this season.
In the first 21 games of this 68-game season, Sydor has a team-high 14 goals and sits second in total points with 19. The right-winger scored his first career hat-trick during a Nov. 11 loss to the Spokane Chiefs and he is closing in on his career high of 28 points that he set last year.
“I’m a smaller guy, I’m faster,” Sydor said on what he credited his success to so far. “As long as I can keep my feet moving and get to net, pucks should be going in.”
In the WHL, athletes can only play up until the year of their 20th birthday, meaning that the 20-year-old Sydor is in his final season with his team.
“We only carry three 20-year-olds. He’s one of [them] we really rely on,” Don Hay, associate coach for the Blazers, said about Sydor. “He’s got great speed. He really brings his speed and skill to the game every night. He’s grown into a leader.”
A Kamloopsian, Hay also played for the Kamloops junior team during the 1970s and has had a storied coaching career at the professional and junior level over the past 40 years.
“It’s good and bad,” Hay said about playing junior hockey for the hometown team. “Everything is comfortable where you’re living. You have your mom cooking good meals every night… [but] sometimes you don’t mix in with the other guys as well.”
Sydor acknowledged that this can be a challenge, but he said the veteran players who mentored him in his early years made an effort to include all teammates. Now he has taken up that veteran role and is leading players on and off the ice.
“I’ve always been wanting this moment, waiting for this moment, and preparing for it,” Sydor said. “Being able to take on that leadership role and being able to take the young guys under my wing has been a lot of fun.”
Whether he’s taking new Blazers out for lunch at Jacob’s Noodle and Cutlet — his favourite restaurant in town — or performing on the ice, this season has been successful for Sydor.
Hockey players dream of the NHL but even with this year’s performance, Sydor said an NHL career is unlikely immediately. With his play, Sydor said he thinks that other professional leagues aren’t out of the question.
“I’m looking to hopefully get a contract over in Europe,” Sydor said of his plans after this season. “I think it’s pretty good hockey over there.”
With training partners who play in Europan leagues and an agent who has already been in contact with potential suitors overseas, Sydor is excited about what the future holds.
Sydor and the Kamloops Blazers (7-16-3-2) will be in Saskatchewan to take on the Regina Pats (11-15-1-1) next on Friday, Dec. 8 as they try to bounce back after losing their past two games. This will be the first and only matchup between the teams this season.
