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WHL Medicine Hat Tigers

Lewington Shining in Hershey

February 8, 2016 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release


Hershey Bears' defenseman Tyler Lewington is of average size by hockey standards at 6'1" and weighing in at about 200 pounds. He doesn't possess an overwhelmingly powerful shot, nor will he dazzle you with his speed or amaze you with his stickhandling abilities. However, if you get a closer look over the course of time, you will see what people in the hockey world have come to find out about him--his strength lies in his work ethic and in the intangibles that don't show up in statistics.

Lewington's mettle first shone brightly at the 2013 NHL Scouting Combine, a showcase for prospective players eligible for the NHL Entry Draft to show their skills and their strength. Although he had a solid sophomore season with the Western Hockey League's Medicine Hat Tigers, a season in which he tallied 26 points and accumulated 131 penalty minutes and finished plus-14, there were still plenty of doubters. But when the dust settled and the testing had concluded, the results showed that the native of Sherwood Park, Alberta, had surprised many skeptics by finishing first in three strength categories: push strength, pushups, and the bench press. On the heels of his testing success, later that month the Washington Capitals took a flier on Lewington by choosing him as their last pick in the draft in the 7th round, selecting him with the 204th (of 211) overall pick.

"I think that being drafted was a real important time for Tyler. It made him really believe he had an opportunity when somebody showed the confidence to draft him," said Shaun Clouston, the Tigers' head coach who guided the club to an impressive 167-104-9-8 record when Lewington patrolled their blueline. "Before that he was a very motivated player, but that motivated him even more and created even more drive."

In each of the following two seasons in "The Hat," Lewington established career highs in goals, assists, and points, and he also added the role of team captain to his resume in his final season of junior hockey.

"It was something that definitely evolved," said Clouston, who is in his sixth season as the Tigers' bench boss and fourth season in the dual role of Head Coach/General Manager when asked if he always saw captain capabilities in Lewington. "I think his confidence in his ability grew as he developed, and I think that was the one thing that allowed him to eventually excel in a leadership role. He was always a hard worker and a heart and soul guy, but over time he became a much more confident player. That confidence made him a great captain."

Lewington finished his tenure with the Tigers with solid career numbers: 250 games played, including appearances in over 95% of the their games over his final three campaigns, 18 goals and 112 points, 411 penalty minutes served, and an impressive plus-86 rating. Incidentally, the Tigers is the same franchise that former Bears Dan Kordic (a member of the 1988 edition of the club that captured the Memorial Cup) and Al Conroy (whose franchise record in career assists (288) and points (446) still stands thirty years after he last donned the Tigers' colors) played their junior hockey before eventually making their way to Chocolatetown.

"The progression was impressive. He went from a player who started competing at a basic level. He then became a physical player, a battler, who went from that to a player that excelled in all areas.  He became a player who not only was our captain, but was also is relied on in all situations, including offensively. Not only did he excel on the physical side of the game, but by the end of his career he had improved his playmaking skills and his puck skills dramatically," said Clouston.

That leads up to this past fall and the Capitals' rookie tournament held in Florida that featured draft picks and undrafted free agents from the Caps, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, and the Nashville Predators. It was in that tournament that Lewington made a lasting impression on Spencer Carbery, the head coach of the Bears' East Coast Hockey League affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.

"I had seen him the previous year, but this summer going down to Florida and watching him in the rookie tournament down there, I definitely noticed him. There wasn't much conversation about him coming to South Carolina or where he would land. It was more about he's a young prospect that the Caps have coming into the organization from the WHL. He was a presence, and I was impressed with his play. Sometimes at those rookie tournaments, it's a display of skills and those guys' talent and some top draft picks putting their skills on display. But I was impressed by Tyler. I could tell right away the type of defenseman he was with the edge that he played with and the physicality. I was impressed by what I saw," said Carbery, who has led club to Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of his four seasons, including last season when they lost in the finals to the Allen Americans who were coached by former Bear Steve Martinson.

Lewington made the Bears' opening night roster, but did not play, and was assigned to the 'Rays in time to appear in their season opening weekend series against the Reading Royals, whose bench boss is former Bear, Larry Courville.

"...I'll tell you a funny thing, and this is a credit to Tyler. I remember those first two games he played. He was sort of kind of, you just didn't really notice him. It was no big issue; he still played his game, played hard, and didn't make many mistakes, but he didn't have that physical presence I saw in Florida, that compete, that hard to play against," said Carbery of Lewington, who was a combined minus-3 in the pair of games.

Carbery continued, "The next week, we had a talk and talked with Olaf Kolzig and some guys in Washington, and from those two games on, you noticed him. He was involved physically, he was competing. I think it just took him a weekend to accustom himself to being a pro and being down here and realizing he's in the ECHL, but once he settled in, he did a great job and really showed what kind of defenseman he is, a physical, battling, reliable defenseman."

Lewington said that when he was sent south to join the Rays, he was not given a timetable on how long he would be among Carbery's charges before being brought back up to the Bears, but that it would be dictated by the speed of his development and the Bears' needs on their blueline. And all totaled, his stay in the "Low Country" consisted of only twelve outings (one goal, one assist) before the Bears called, but that was plenty of time for Carbery to see vast improvement in his play.

"I saw the most growth in his poise with the puck, and what I mean by that is his decision making under pressure. A lot of times during a game, defenseman are faced with forwards bearing down on them on the forecheck, either in the neutral or defensive zones. And a lot of times, young pro defensemen give away pucks and they just throw, meaning they just go back and the rim it. I was really impressed with the way he grew to handle those situations, keeping his poise with the puck, making decisions under pressure, and holding onto it an extra second, and by doing so, options opens up. I didn't know Tyler had that until I saw it firsthand. That is going to be a big part of Tyler's game, and it's coming along quickly in his first year, which is a big positive," said Carbery, who captured the Kelly Cup as a player with the Rays' in 2009.

Mann explained the original plans he and his staff had for Lewington and his assessment of the rookie rearguard now that he has been able to witness his play for a quarter of the schedule.

"We had a plan going into the season where we wanted to go with seven defensemen, and we didn't want two or three rookies sitting in the stands every night. So we eased Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos into the lineup, sitting them out as healthy scratches the odd game here and there early, and we thought it was best for Lewington to start in South Carolina."

Mann continued, "He's as advertised. He's just a blue-collar player who works hard and has some jam, some physical attributes that you like, and he's certainly not afraid to drop the mitts. Once we got him up here, we've been able to play him regularly. He's coming along, and certainly his foot speed and stick positing are some things we can work on, but overall, him being a physical presence and being able to play on the penalty kill and drop the gloves have added a nice dimension to our team."

Imagine all of the obstacles that Lewington has faced thus far in his first year as a pro-- relocating to a new country and learning to live on his own for the first time while sharing living quarters with fellow rookies Jakub Vrana and Djoos, having moved twice in just a few months, and let's not forget making the jump not only from junior hockey to the ECHL, but then the subsequent jump from the ECHL to the AHL. He's handled it well so far, and his track record says his strength to overcome adversity and the odds and force others to notice him will be key factors in the future as he continues to establish himself as a legitimate prospect and fulfill every professional hockey player's dream of playing in the NHL. Clouston, who saw the dream begin to unfold when he first coached Lewington as a 16-year old rookie with the Tigers, counts his fondest memory of Tyler's time in "The Hat" as "when he signed his pro contract", sums up perfectly the formula that has led Lewington to the point where he currently is in his rookie season, just a small step away from the NHL.

"...The goal of each player coming in is to develop and get that opportunity to be a pro. It was very rewarding to see a player improve as much as Lewie did. He just willed himself to get better each day and continued to pursue his dream to play professional hockey at the highest level."

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