Bound For Glory: The Tyler Cote Story

[Ball 453]

 

Tyler Cote

Center

#19

From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Height: 6'2”

Weight: 208 lbs.

 

Maybe it was the swift dekes and bone crushing hits. Or possibly the way the stadium would erupt when the puck hit the back of the net. Whatever it was, from the moment he stepped into the Air Canada Centre, Tyler Cote became hooked on the game of ice hockey. That night, the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing the Detroit Redwings and you could see the excitement in young Tyler's eyes. While his father's favorite team was the home town Maple Leafs, Tyler seemed drawn to the Redwings and one player in particular, Steve Yzerman. Not only did he win the 1997 NHL Finals, the first Finals Tyler ever watched with his father, watching Yzerman play was like poetry in motion for Tyler. He had Yzerman's jersey, his poster on his wall, and watched every Redwings' game he could. He dreamed he'd become the next best player to come out of Canada, hoping to become half the player his childhood idol was.

 

Tyler learned early that he was gonna get knocked around as a talented offenseman, so why not return the favor?

 

Tyler wouldn't play organized hockey until he was 10, but you could always find him down at the local pond or on his street, playing pickup games with his friends. When he was 12, Tyler's father enrolled him in the North Toronto Hockey's Bantam A division, where Tyler became a fan favorite throughout Toronto. He was always bigger than everyone else, so he dominated the competition around him for multiple seasons. He was a natural born leader, who led off the ice by getting good grades in school, and on the ice with by scoring goals and sitting opponents down with huge hits. The people around him, fans and friends alike, thought Tyler was destined for big things until a knee injury a few weeks before the OHL Entry Draft caused teams to shy away from the young center. Projected to be a late 2nd – early 3rd round pick, Tyler slid all the way into the 10th round before the Saginaw Spirits decided to take a chance on him.

 

Tyler Cote quickly became a crucial piece for the Spirit, the only team willing to take a chance on the gifted center.

 

Not being in the lime light really had a negative effect on Tyler. The kid who was practically a hero back in his hometown of Toronto was now just Tyler Cote, fourth line center and occasional penalty kill specialist. He stopped working hard at practice and began drinking and partying with friends nightly. For the first half of the season, he struggled offensively, only recording two assists in 30 games. While he was a machine in the defensive zone, 3rd on the team in hits and 6th in blocked shots, his coach saw he was slacking off and benched Tyler for a few games. He told Tyler, unless he saw improvement in practice, he wasn't gonna touch the ice again. Tyler, furious that he almost let his dream slip away, began giving it his all on the ice and in the weight room. After seeing huge improvements in both his attitude and his game, Saginaw's coach let Tyler return to the team and even gave him third line minutes on occasion. It seemed that the time away payed off, as Tyler played out of his mind the last 20 games for the Spirit, scoring 6 goals and adding 15 assists to his season totals. His late season improvements would earn him a spot on the second line the following season and after an injury to the first line center, John Ford, Tyler was thrust into the starting center role. He would show the world why scouts had him as a second round pick before the draft, as Tyler would lead the team in scoring with 88 points and assists with 62. He was also second on the team in hits and won over 50% of his faceoffs. In his third and final season with the Spirit, Tyler would rise to the top, leading all centers in the OHL in points, hits, and assists. His 111 points were good for fifth in the league and he was regarded as arguably the best player in the OHL. It seemed the young center was back on track and ready to make the next step into his career.

 

Now with the Lynx, Cote will look to make a name for himself in the VHL.

 

Now 20 years old, Tyler had a big decision to make. While he had received a few calls from NHL teams interested in drafting him, his newly signed player agent, Sebastian Ball, had another idea. The VHL. A former player in the VHL, Sebastian Ball had a decent rep as a player and agent in the league and suggested that Tyler check it out before he made any decisions. Tyler fell in love with the league and on June 9th, he declared his eligibility for the S40 VHL Entry Draft. A day after the Ottawa Lynx of the VHLM placed a claim on Tyler and now, 8 games in, he has 2 goals and 2 assists for the Lynx, who will be looking to make some noise come playoff time.

 

Pros:

 

Hockey I.Q.- Tyler is what many would call a “student of the game”. From a young age, he studied the game for hours on end, watching game tapes and going to games constantly. All the time and dedication spent on learning the game has payed off for the young center. Tyler rarely makes mistakes on the ice and knows when to take the shot or create a scoring chance for his teammates.

 

Leadership- Even as a child, Tyler's peers always looked up to and respected the young man. He is a great leader both on and off the ice, often earning the captain's patch wherever he plays. He is a great locker presence and often takes the younger players under his wing and shows them the ropes. He tries to make everyone around him better and his teammates see this and want to play their hearts out.

 

Physicality- Ever since Tyler started playing hockey, he has always been one of, if not the biggest, players on the ice. Being one of the bigger players on his team, he was taught early on how to use his size to his advantage. Tyler can deliver vicious, bone crushing hits, stripping the puck from the opponents and creating offensive opportunities for his teammates. These opportunities created by Tyler's physicality can change the momentum of the game in an instance, making him a valuable piece for any team.

 

Cons:

 

Scoring- Tyler has never been a scorer in his young career and he knows it. Though he doesn't take that many shots to begin with, even when he does, his motion looks very awkward. This usually results in a wild shot, sailing a good couple of feet from the net. While he has been working on his technique, he still looks uncomfortable firing off shots. If he doesn't address this soon, we could see a very short career for Cote.

 

Discipline- Tyler is a very aggressive player, using his size to his advantage to try to sway the game in his favor. But, his aggressiveness often hurts him, as he occasionally takes stupid penalties. Even worse, when he is sent to his penalty box, it often throws off him off his game. If he could learn to be aggressive without getting to carried away, he could turn out to be an excellent two way center. But he needs to stay out of the box.

 

Maturity- At times, Tyler seems more like a ten year old rather than a full grown man. He let's little things get to him and holds a grudge for too long. He misses practice constantly, tends to make stupid life decisions, and stops him from working on becoming a better player. This leads to him taking unnecessary penalties and ultimately forgetting the number one goal, picking up the win. If he can't grow up, no one will ever take him seriously as a player.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Overview- 3/3

1,370 words. I enjoyed this biography and all the finer details that you included in here. You had excellent things you touched on and not only was it lengthy, but it wasn't too draggy either where you're just filling the thing out with pointless material. This was excellent overall. Good luck with Cote.

Grammar- 2/2

Small items.

 

offensemen = ?

school, = school

gonna = going to

payed = paid (x2)

in, = in;

let's = lets

to = too

Presentation- 1/1

Very nice work.

Pros- 2/2

235 words. Great work.

Cons- 2/2

249 words.

Overall- 10/10