WestLEAFfan
12-11-2007, 07:13 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107803&Itemid=564
Difficult times watching Cyr, who has given so much, struggle through final junior season
(Sports) Monday, 10 December 2007, 23:20 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor -- LINEUP CARD COLUMN
At the risk of seeming to go soft -- I reserve the right to fight against all that is evil in sports -- my heart is aching for someone.
His name is Real Cyr.
Whether you’re close to the team or a casual observer, it has been very hard to watch the overage goaltender suffer setback after setback in what is supposed to be his crowning junior season.
Instead of watching Cyr go out in a blaze of glory, it’s been impossible not to cringe as puck after puck, goal after goal, tarnishes what was a commendable junior hockey career.
It’s a cutthroat world, this game called hockey, and particularly for goalies. Numbers equal production and -- in the name of mercy, those numbers will be left out today; they’ve been mentioned enough -- Cyr’s statistics are among the worst in the WHL.
So many things have been so memorable for Cyr. He will leave this franchise with more shutouts than any other (12 and counting), and will be right there with Chris Mason, Scott Myers and Billy Thompson in nearly every other category. Along the way, Cyr pushed both Justin Pogge and Scott Bowles out of the starting job, then struggled once given the reins full-time.
Cyr’s play in last year’s playoffs, sweeping Kamloops in the first round and shocking Everett in the next round, was Mason-esque. And this past summer, he was a free agent invitee to a Detroit Red Wings prospects camp.
It all pointed to a great season as a dressing room leader, with somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 starts heading his way.
It hasn’t turned out anything like that.
In his 19 appearances this season, three or maybe four have gone the way he visualized. For a goaltender expected to win games on his own, playing behind an inexperienced team that needed that backbone, he has done the old stand-on-his-head routine maybe twice.
Not for a lack of effort, or for a lack of desire.
“I’m trying to work hard and keep positive,” said Cyr.
“For awhile, it was hard, and I was having trouble sleeping. I’m trying to leave the game at the rink and refocus for the next time I’m on the ice.”
Beyond all that, though, is something more important.
Real Cyr is a tremendous person, the kind of young man any parent would be proud to call ‘son.’ He is a hard worker, a team player, a positive influence, an unselfish teammate, and he has done a lot for this franchise both on the ice and in the community.
After every game he plays, Cyr emerges from the dressing room and faces questions head on. He’s not the kind to sneak out a side door -- no one has to teach this 20-year-old the meaning of accountability. This isn’t the type of character that gets asked a legitimate question about trade rumours and goes running to management to complain about the media.
With Tommy Tartaglione a year younger and showing he can be a No. 1 goalie, and this team in full rebuilding mode, it’s not hard to wonder if Cyr will be here after the Jan. 10 trade deadline. If anything, his puffy statistics make him hard to trade, an ironic twist that could cement him in Prince George through graduation.
“Whatever happens (with the trade deadline), it happens, you learn that things like that are out of your control,” Cyr said Saturday after yet another disappointing evening, this one a 3-2 overtime loss to the Prince Albert Raiders.
“That one hurt. I was feeling good out there, trying to stay at the top of my crease and cut down angles, and it all went down the gutter at the end. Games like that, it’s hard because you have a good chance to get the two points and come up with half, or nothing...”
His voice trails off, as though the answer is still out there. Saturday stabbed deeper because he’s from the Prince Albert area, and played his midget hockey there.
The sentamentalist hopes Cyr finishes the schedule as a Cougar and makes it four complete seasons -- a tremendous accomplishment for an undrafted bantam who used a breakout midget season to hit a WHL protected list.
The hope is still there that he’ll regain his form and lead this team back into the playoff picture. Adding to the snowball of pressure, it’s more and more apparent that’s what the Cougars need to get back in the hunt.
Mr. Swanson, I appreciate your honest, subjective article. Every team needs a character guy like REAL CYR. I too, hope he can finish his season strong, but more importantly with his confidence and self-respect intact. REAL's parents have been right along with him this season through every huge save and every disappointing goal against. I'm sure they'll appreciate the article too. Mr. Swanson, if I could shake your hand , I would. applause
Difficult times watching Cyr, who has given so much, struggle through final junior season
(Sports) Monday, 10 December 2007, 23:20 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor -- LINEUP CARD COLUMN
At the risk of seeming to go soft -- I reserve the right to fight against all that is evil in sports -- my heart is aching for someone.
His name is Real Cyr.
Whether you’re close to the team or a casual observer, it has been very hard to watch the overage goaltender suffer setback after setback in what is supposed to be his crowning junior season.
Instead of watching Cyr go out in a blaze of glory, it’s been impossible not to cringe as puck after puck, goal after goal, tarnishes what was a commendable junior hockey career.
It’s a cutthroat world, this game called hockey, and particularly for goalies. Numbers equal production and -- in the name of mercy, those numbers will be left out today; they’ve been mentioned enough -- Cyr’s statistics are among the worst in the WHL.
So many things have been so memorable for Cyr. He will leave this franchise with more shutouts than any other (12 and counting), and will be right there with Chris Mason, Scott Myers and Billy Thompson in nearly every other category. Along the way, Cyr pushed both Justin Pogge and Scott Bowles out of the starting job, then struggled once given the reins full-time.
Cyr’s play in last year’s playoffs, sweeping Kamloops in the first round and shocking Everett in the next round, was Mason-esque. And this past summer, he was a free agent invitee to a Detroit Red Wings prospects camp.
It all pointed to a great season as a dressing room leader, with somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 starts heading his way.
It hasn’t turned out anything like that.
In his 19 appearances this season, three or maybe four have gone the way he visualized. For a goaltender expected to win games on his own, playing behind an inexperienced team that needed that backbone, he has done the old stand-on-his-head routine maybe twice.
Not for a lack of effort, or for a lack of desire.
“I’m trying to work hard and keep positive,” said Cyr.
“For awhile, it was hard, and I was having trouble sleeping. I’m trying to leave the game at the rink and refocus for the next time I’m on the ice.”
Beyond all that, though, is something more important.
Real Cyr is a tremendous person, the kind of young man any parent would be proud to call ‘son.’ He is a hard worker, a team player, a positive influence, an unselfish teammate, and he has done a lot for this franchise both on the ice and in the community.
After every game he plays, Cyr emerges from the dressing room and faces questions head on. He’s not the kind to sneak out a side door -- no one has to teach this 20-year-old the meaning of accountability. This isn’t the type of character that gets asked a legitimate question about trade rumours and goes running to management to complain about the media.
With Tommy Tartaglione a year younger and showing he can be a No. 1 goalie, and this team in full rebuilding mode, it’s not hard to wonder if Cyr will be here after the Jan. 10 trade deadline. If anything, his puffy statistics make him hard to trade, an ironic twist that could cement him in Prince George through graduation.
“Whatever happens (with the trade deadline), it happens, you learn that things like that are out of your control,” Cyr said Saturday after yet another disappointing evening, this one a 3-2 overtime loss to the Prince Albert Raiders.
“That one hurt. I was feeling good out there, trying to stay at the top of my crease and cut down angles, and it all went down the gutter at the end. Games like that, it’s hard because you have a good chance to get the two points and come up with half, or nothing...”
His voice trails off, as though the answer is still out there. Saturday stabbed deeper because he’s from the Prince Albert area, and played his midget hockey there.
The sentamentalist hopes Cyr finishes the schedule as a Cougar and makes it four complete seasons -- a tremendous accomplishment for an undrafted bantam who used a breakout midget season to hit a WHL protected list.
The hope is still there that he’ll regain his form and lead this team back into the playoff picture. Adding to the snowball of pressure, it’s more and more apparent that’s what the Cougars need to get back in the hunt.
Mr. Swanson, I appreciate your honest, subjective article. Every team needs a character guy like REAL CYR. I too, hope he can finish his season strong, but more importantly with his confidence and self-respect intact. REAL's parents have been right along with him this season through every huge save and every disappointing goal against. I'm sure they'll appreciate the article too. Mr. Swanson, if I could shake your hand , I would. applause