Bruins mourn the passing of Lyndon Byers

The Bruins area is mourning at the passing of one of the great characters in the club s century-long history Lyndon Byers who died on Friday at the age of Byers passing was publicized on Facebook by his wife Annie who wrote that she and their son Will were still processing the complex news and sought for space as they do so Please know or as LB would have declared not for nothing we recognize how various people loved and cared for him and considered him a friend Keep LB in your memory remember his smile and know how much he cared about all of you she wrote A cause of death was not straightaway known though he had been battling fitness issues Byers was part of the late s early s Bruins squad that eventually broke the Montreal curse beating the Canadiens for the first time in a playoff series in years and went to two Stanley Cup Finals A high-scoring forward in junior hockey he had points in games in his last season with the Regina Pats he was drafted in the second round by the Bruins in But he detected his niche in the NHL a much different setting from the one we see in the modern day the hard way He dropped the gloves with any and all comers much to the delight of fans and teammates He played games for the Bruins before finishing his career with the San Jose Sharks In three seasons from - he amassed penalty minutes in games A comment from the club read in part Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the Black and Gold thanks to his rugged rough-and-tumble style and was a key cog on the B s teams that made trips to the Stanley Cup final in and A son of Nipawin Saskatchewan Lyndon became a true Bostonian and we will miss him dearly He is forever a part of our Bruins family Andy Brickley NESN analyst and former teammate of Byers held his former teammate in the highest regard LB was one of my all-time favorite teammates for a number of reasons for the protection he gave everyone on the ice including the high-end skill players He was unfailingly a team-first contestant and he absolutely loved being a Boston Bruin stated Brickley Whenever I heard that LB was in the building in the alumni box I made a point of rushing down from the booth in between periods to say hi that s how much I respected and admired what he did He played hard and lived hard and he did everything he could to be a professional hockey performer in Boston And because he was so socially approachable off the ice he would come into the locker room and regale us all with the stories of a life well lived During his career with the Bruins Brickley played throughout the lineup sometimes on the top line and sometimes down in the lineup with Byers He made sure that we felt that our line as every bit as key as any other line on the club disclosed Brickley Former teammate Bob Sweeney now the President of the Boston Bruins Foundation visited Byers in the hospital lately Much like Brickley Sweeney remembered Byers as the ultimate standup guy as a performer and person someone who was dependably available for charity work A lot of people don t realize this but LB was a really skilled performer in junior and was a second-round pick But when he got to the NHL he uncovered a different path He had all of our backs And he was a guy who would do anything for any of us revealed Sweeney Byers who had a post-playing career in radio at WAAF was known for his gregarious personality and sense of humor Brickley relayed a story from when Brickley was still a member of the New Jersey Devils Brickley was on the ice getting ready for a faceoff when then-Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld called him off and replaced him with tough guy Dave Maley who cozied up next to Byers The predictable ensuing fisticuffs was one of the rare occasions that Byers absorbed a lopsided L On his way to the penalty box Byers skated by the bench and yelled Why didn t anyone tell me he was a lefty True story noted Sweeney with a chuckle He was yelling at all of us Added Brickley But that was LB He knew it was all part of his job and you win specific you lose several And he could laugh about it Arrangements for a celebration of life will be made in the coming days