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By Don Klepp
At age five, Malcolm Lyles was stranded for “a couple of hours,” waiting for a ride to take him to his karate lesson. Disconcerted, he switched to ice hockey where he could join his brother Milton.
Milton now plays lacrosse for the North Carolina Tar Heels, but Malcolm stuck with hockey and eventually ended up with the 2009 NCAA champion Boston College Eagles. The 5’ 10”, 180 lb. defenceman had trouble cracking the deep Eagles lineup – he suited up for just 13 games in his two years with Boston College.
As a result, he has decided to take the same route as Kyle Murphy and last year’s 20-year-old find, Dan Nycholat. Like those two, Malcolm will take a full load of university classes this year to earn an associate of arts degree. By doing so, he will be able to transfer to another NCAA hockey program next year.
Combining a full university load with junior hockey can be quite daunting, but Malcolm has faced long odds before. He’s one of a handful of Floridians to play Division I college hockey.
He was fortunate to have a rink 15 minutes from his family home in a north Miami suburb. However, he supplemented his Florida minor hockey with summers playing the game in the Boston area.
After Bantam, he enrolled in prep schools an hour or so west of Boston, first at Eaglebrook School and then at the Deerfield Academy. A speedster like his brother, he also was a football running back and a sprinter on the track team.
Kevin Kraus, who faced Malcolm Lyles in the midget ranks, calls him “just about the fastest skater I’ve ever played against.”
When questioned about his strong points as a player earlier this week, Malcolm also referred to his speed. “That’s my best feature, I guess. I pass pretty well, too, and I think I have a decent shot.”
He’s come to Vernon to work on his game: “I want to become a more consistent player, a smarter player, and a reliable defenceman.” The lack of consistency, shift to shift, was an issue for him at Boston College.
At the Viper training camp, he has instinctively joined in rushes, feeling that his speed will allow him to cover up for lost pucks, but he has sometimes been trapped in the offensive zone while the opposing players wheel the other way.
He’s delighted to be in Vernon. “I want to play more than I did at college, and I can see why this team is top ranked in Canada.” Also, he likes the pace of life here. “The people are so nice here; there’s a fair amount of road rage in big cities like Boston, so I appreciate the calm attitudes I see here. Food’s great, too.”
He was surprised by the calibre of play he’s seen so far. “I heard there were lots of new players this year, but when I first stepped on the ice with them, I was surprised at how together the guys seemed. High tempo, very high tempo, and the passes are crisp and tape to tape. It looked to me like these guys have been together for ever.”
Under the tutelage of Mark Ferner and Jason Williamson, who know how to develop defencemen, Malcolm Lyles could well become a top D-man in this league. Flashes of that development were evident in the opening games of the season as Malcolm dished out some heavy checks.
