DYLAN SYDOR HAS BECOME A LEADER
BY TRU JOURNALISM STUDENT – EAGLE ANDERSEN
Dylan Sydor has become a leader and top scorer for his hometown Kamloops Blazers.
Aiming for a professional career, the 20-year-old forward has moved into a mentoring role while enjoying representing his city in his graduating season.
Sydor, who recorded the first hat-trick of his WHL career during a 6-3 loss to the hometown Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 11, leads the Blazers with 15 goals and is third in team scoring, with 25 points.
“We only carry three 20-year-olds. He’s one of [them] we really rely on,” Don Hay, associate coach for the Blazers, said of 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 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 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.
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 from an individual standpoint for Sydor.
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 2016.
Frequent migration was due to his father, Darryl, a former NHLer with nearly 1,300 games played in the league between 1991 and 2010.
Darryl toiled for the Blazers and is now part-owner of the club.
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 of 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 in which champions of each major junior hockey league in Canada compete. Both Sydor and his father’s best Blazers’ moments came during that event.
Darryl hoisted the cup in Seattle 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.
While the Blazers were unable to reach the final, Sydor said moments from the Memorial Cup are etched into his mind for life.
“I scored a goal in one of the games and it was just crazy,” Sydor said. “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.”
Hockey players dream of the NHL, but Sydor said he is eying a pro career in Europe as his agent has already been in contact with potential suitors overseas.
“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.”