Tyler Willis (ice hockey)

Tyler Willis (born April 8, 1977) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Enforcer who is currently Retired. He most recently played with the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL. He was voted the K-Wings "fan favorite" for seven years in a row. Tyler was originally selected as an 8th round draft pick, 196th overall, for the Vancouver Canucks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Hockey career

Junior Hockey

Tyler Willis played his first Junior Hockey season in 1993-94, at 16 years old, for the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League. In Willis' first season with the Broncos, he earned 19 goals, 26 assists, and 263 penalty minutes in 71 games. Tyler stayed with the Broncos for a second season in 1993-94, playing another 71 games and earning his team 21 more goals, 29 more assists, and of course 284 more penalty minutes. Tyler stayed with the Broncos for the 1994-95 season, playing 40 games, scoring 9 goals, making 38 assists, and landing in the box for another 196 minutes.

During the 1995-96 season, Willis was traded to another WHL team, the Seattle Thunderbirds, where he played 15 games and accumulated 1 goal, 3 assists, and 71 penalty minutes. Willis stayed with the Thunderbirds for a second season in 1996-97 and played 72 games with the team. In his second season for the Thunderbirds, Willis had 12 goals, 40 assists, and an incredible 302 minutes in the penalty box.

Professional Hockey

ECHL

Tyler Willis made his professional hockey debut in the 1997-98 season with the ECHL's Baton Rouge Kingfish. Tyler played 21 games with the Kingfish and had 4 goals, 10 assists, and 112 penalty minutes.

Tyler head back to the ECHL for the 1999-2000 season when he played 19 games for the Peoria Rivermen. Willis scored 5 goals, made 9 assists, and had 89 penalty minutes for the rivermen. After being called up to the AHL for most of his first season with the Rivermen, Tyler Willis returned to play 58 more games with the team in the 2000-01 season. In his second season with the Rivermen, Willis scored 14 goals, made 18 assists, and landed himself in the box for 251 minutes.

After being called back up to the AHL for the very end of the 2000-01 season, Willis returned to the ECHL to play for the Augusta Lynx. Willis added 9 goals, 23 assists, and an astounding 320 penalty minutes to his record in 66 games.He also played for the Kalamazoo wings once again in his last season of hockey.

AHL

Tyler Willis made his American Hockey League debut in the 1997-98 season with the Worcester IceCats. In 24 games with the IceCats, Willis gained the team 2 goals, a single assist, and 140 penalty minutes. Willis stayed with the IceCats for the 1998-99 season, playing 55 more games with the team. In those 55 games, Willis accumulated 8 goals, 10 assists, and 227 penalty minutes. Tyler played a stint with the Peoria Rivermen of the ECHL before heading back to the IceCats during the 1999-2000 season. In his third season with the IceCats, Willis pulled off 3 goals, 10 assists, and 98 minutes in the box within 32 games. Willis went back to the ECHL with the Rivermen at the beginning of the 2000-01 season, but headed back for 16 more games with the IceCats, giving the team 2 goals, 1 assist, and 50 penalty minutes.

WCHL

Tyler Willis has played one season in the WCHL in his career, which would be his 2002-03 season with the Long Beach Ice Dogs. Willis played 64 games with the Ice Dogs scoring 15 goals, making 17 assists, and sitting in the box for an outstanding 380 minutes.

UHL

Tyler Willis played 4 seasons with the UHL, all of which were with the Kalamazoo Wings. Willis' first season with the Wings was the 2003-04 season in which he played a total of 53 games and scored 11 goals, made 22 assists, and added an incredible 344 more penalty minutes to his incredibly large record. In his second season with the Wings(2004–05), Willis scored 15 goals, 30 assists, and landed himself in the all too familiar box for 306 minutes within 74 games. In the 2005-06 season, Tyler Willis played 69 games for the Wings, accumulating 20 goals, 46 assists, and 304 minutes in the box. In Willis' last season with the Kalamazoo Wings (in the UHL), he played 50 games, scored 8 goals, made 31 assists, and had 168 penalty minutes.

IHL

Tyler Willis stayed with the Kalamazoo Wings even through their league change in the 2007-08 season. In the 2007-08 season, Willis played 58 games with the Wings, scoring 6 goals, making 33 assists, and sitting in the box for 216 minutes. Willis left the Wings for a small portion of the 2008-09 season before returning to be named an alternate captain replacing former NHL player, Jeremy Stevenson. Been out on injury for a majority of it. So far, Tyler has played 22 games with the Wings during the 2008-09 season, and earned his team 7 goals, 7 assists, and 65 penalty minutes

European Hockey

EIHL

Tyler Willis played a partial season for the EIHL on the Newcastle Vipers. Willis played 22 games with the Vipers earning 4 goals, 5 assists, and 65 penalty minutes, before coming back to America to play for the Kalamazoo Wings.

Fights

Tyler Willis has a total of 48 fights logged in his professional hockey career. As a Kalamazoo Wing, Willis has been known for his fighting, and every time he throws down, "Little Willy won't go home" plays over the speakers, for all of the fans to sing.

Willis logged 17 fights for the Kalamazoo Wings in the 2005-06 season, against various teams. Willis logged another 13 during the 2006-07 season for the wings, and yet another 14 during the 1007-08 season. Willis settled down a tad during the 2008-09 season, recording only 4 fights for the Wings.

Playoff Experience

Tyler Willis has been to the playoffs 10 times in his hockey career. In his first season with the Swift Current Broncos, Willis played 1 playoff game and logged no points, or penalty minutes. Willis went to the playoffs with the Broncos again in his second season with them, this time playing 6 games and logging 20 minutes in the box.

Willis went to the playoffs again in the 1995-96 season in which he played for the Seattle Thunderbirds. In 5 playoff games with the Thunderbirds, Willis scored 1 goal, made 5 assists, and had 13 penalty minutes. Willis made the playoffs in his second season with the Thunderbirds as well, this time playing 15 games, scoring 1 goal, making 7 assists, and sitting in the box for 68 minutes.

Willis played his first time in the professional hockey playoffs with the Worcester IceCats of the AHL in the 1999-2000 season. In 9 playoff games with the IceCats, Willis scored a single goal, assisted two goals, and earned himself a low 8 minutes in the box.

Willis played 14 playoff games with the Peoria Rivermen in the 1999-2000 season as well accumulating 1 goal, 2 assists, and 45 penalty minutes.

Willis has gone to the playoffs with the Kalamazoo Wings during 4 different seasons spanning from 2003-2007. In the 2003-2004 season, Willis played 5 playoff games, scored twice, assisted 3 goals, and sat in the box for 16 minutes. Yet again Willis skated through the playoffs with the Wings in the 2004-05 season, playing 5 more playoff games, scoring a single goal, and earning a low 13 penalty minutes. After losing the playoffs with the Wings two years in a row, Tyler and the wings finally saw a victory in the 2005-06 season where Tyler played 13 games, scoring one, gaining 7 more assists for his team, and spending 37 minutes in the box. Tyler and the Wings hoped to repeat their luck of the year before in the 2006-07 season playoffs, but they did not succeed. Willis played 16 playoff games with the wings in 2007, scoring 3 times, assisting another 11 goals, and spending 60 more lonely minutes in the penalty box. The Wings did not make the playoffs in the 2007-08 season, but are hopefuls for the 2008-09 season.

References

External links

• Tyler Willis's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database