Tye Austin: The brick wall behind the Petes

Being a goaltender in hockey comes with a lot of pressure, the position puts a lot of eyes on one single player and requires a very unique skill set. For the Petes, that position is filled by veteran Tye Austin who has seen it all during his four years with the Petes. 

Austin was introduced to the game of hockey by his father and originally played out of the net to try and be just like his older brother. Austin admitted that he wasn’t a very good player initially and made the move into the net where he experienced success and never looked back. 

After a successful minor career, Austin came into Petes’ training camp in 2018 trying to accomplish the difficult task of making an OHL roster as a 16-year-old goalie. Austin was able to impress the Petes staff during training camp and win the spot of backup goalie for the 2018-19 season. 

When reflecting on his experience, Austin said, “Going into the year, I was super excited. I came into the camp just wanting to impress the coaches without a spot on the team secured or anything. I just wanted to try my best and have fun and luckily, I was able to secure a spot in the lineup.”

It all started with Austin ????????????@tye32austin stops McKinney to pick up his first assist of the season on Sproule’s tying goal!#GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/fdQIwbcRFE

— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 13, 2022

While making the Petes roster was an incredible feat in itself, the tests for the young netminder would only get tougher as his OHL career began. While Austin was understandably nervous in his first few career starts, he had very little time to settle in before facing serious tests in his third and fourth career starts. His third career start was against the Owen Sound Attack who were led by current Montreal Canadiens, Nick Suzuki and he followed that game up with a matchup against the London Knights who had a number of future NHLers on their roster. 

The Pembroke, Ontario product was able to build on a good rookie campaign and had begun to hit his stride in the OHL right before the 2019-20 season was suspended and eventually cancelled. While most players weren’t able to hit the ice last year, he was given the opportunity to train with the Belleville Senators of the AHL while they played out of Ottawa. The netminder said that the opportunity was a great learning experience and opened his eyes as to what pro hockey looks like. 

“It was great to be around pro guys and see what they are doing every day and how they conduct themselves. It changed the way I trained in the summer and some of the things that I’m doing this year.”

Austin has come back to Peterborough this season in a very different role as he is one of the oldest players on the team and the only goalie with an OHL season under his belt. Austin has been able to mentor the Petes’ two younger goaltenders, Michael Simpson and Liam Sztuska, this season while also focusing on his own game both, physically and mentally. 

The number for Crime Stoppers is 1-800-Austin ????????????‍♂️#GoPetesGo | @tye32austin pic.twitter.com/j0kfnRPhqb

— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) February 11, 2022

A goalie is without a doubt the most mentally demanding position on the ice as they must be able to shake off goals against and stay locked into the game for a full 60 minutes. While each goalie has their own specific routine when it comes to gamedays, Austin focuses on visualization before the team hits the ice and breathing exercises to keep himself at his best on the ice. 

“I do a lot of breathing exercises and visualization right after the coach is done talking. One of the big things I do is I’ll try to visualize the other team’s power play because it’s one of the last things we go over in film, so that’s something I try to focus on.”

While the veteran netminder has been impressive on the ice in the past three seasons, his accomplishments off the ice have been just as impressive. Austin was the recipient of the Petes scholastic award in both 2019 and 2020 effectively being able to balance a busy hockey and school schedule. He was also awarded OHL’s East Division Academic Player of the Month for December 2019 and OHL’s Academic Player of the Month in January 2020.

As Austin moves towards the end of his third OHL season, he identified that his future beyond this year is still up in the air. The 19-year-old would be able to play an overage season in the OHL next season but he also has his eyes set on a future in professional hockey in North America or overseas in Europe. 

Wherever the next stop is for Tye Austin, the fans there will surely be treated to the same flashy play the Petes fans have come to expect from the big Petes netminder over the past three years.