With this being my first players, last IIHF tournament for the great country of Canada, I thought this would be a great time to look back on Lyle Odelein III’s international career.

Young Lyle got his first call from team Canada in S47 to represent his country in the WJC tournament. The records of these early tournaments are no longer around, but this is when Lyle got his first taste of gold, winning the gold medal with his Team Canada teammates.

The next season, S48, was Lyle was selected again, and Team Canada repeated their previous seasons gold medal and Lyle was named the top defender in the tournament, getting his name engraved in the Harvey Danger trophy, which would be the only individual award Lyle would receive during his career.

Season 49 saw Lyle doing double duty for his country. He played in the World Junior tournament for Team Canada, but this go round the young Canadians were unable to medal in this tournament. But, Lyle was also selected to the senior team for the Canadians, so he played in both tournaments that season. His first time with the main team wasn’t totally memorable for Lyle or Canada. The team failed to medal and in 12 games, young Lyle only played 74 minutes and only recorded 2 shots and 2 blocked shots.

Season 50 saw Lyle Odelein III record his first IIHF point and his first medal. His time on the ice greatly increased with 165 minutes in the round robin stages, where he recorded 1 assist, 3 hits, 3 shots and 10 blocked shots. All capped off by a bronze medal to close off the tournament.

Season 51 had Lyle improve slightly on his individual stats with 1 goal, 1 assist, 7 hits, 10 shots, 10 blocks in 196 minutes of ice time. The following season, S52, once again had Team Canada on the outside looking in missing the podium again. Lyle improved personally again, with 3 goals, 2 assists, 9 hits, 28 shots and 12 blocked shots.
Up to this point, this has all been SimonT era, S53 on in the FHM era, so, I will have a little more stats to look at going forward.

S53, with the new Sim engine, Team Canada remained the same, they once again missed out on a medal, even after a 11-0-1 round robin. Team USA won the gold, their 3rd in 4 seasons. It seemed the new aim didn’t do any favours for the Canadians. Lyle had 2 goals, 3 assists, 17 hits, 25 shots and 13 blocks.

S54 was a different story, Team Canada went 9-1-2 in the round robin, 2nd overall to the United States. In the knockout round, Canada was matched up against Team Switzerland. They beat the Swiss by a score of 3-1. In the semifinals, it was Team Canada against Team Japan and they won that game with a score of 2-1. Team Great Britain was the other team to make it to the gold medal game. It was a great contest that saw the Canadians win the game 3-2, giving them the gold medal. Lyle had 1 goal with 6 assists, 25 hits, 34 shots and 23 blocks.

S55 was very similar to S54. The Canadians were 2nd in the round robin with a record of 9-3, this time behind the team from the UK. In the knockout stages, Canada played Team Germany first and the high scoring affair had the Canadians winning 6-4. In the next round, Team Canada played Team Canada in another high scoring game. Great Britain won that game 7-5. Canada did go on to win the bronze against Sweden. Lyle had 0 goals, 6 assists, 20 hits, 34 shots and 28 blocks.

S56 saw the Canadians have the best record in the round robin, having a record of 10-2. Canada beat Ireland, 5-1 and then defeated Team Sweden 6-1, setting up a rematch from last seasons semifinals against GBR. Canada came out on top this time, winning gold with a score of 3-1. Lyle had 2 goals, 6 assists, 14 hits, 37 shots and 21 blocks.

S57 was another round robin 1st place finish, another 10-2 start. A 4-0 win against Czechia and then a 7-1 win against Germany, the Canadians once again matched up against the Brits. Canada dominated the game winning their second consecutive gold medal. The final score was 7-1. Lyle had 1 goal, 8 assists, 14 hits, 46 shots and 34 blocks.

S58 was tougher for Team Canada. A record of 8-3-1, Team Canada finished 6th overall. The knockout games is when the Canadians came alive. A 5-1 win against Czechia started everything off and that was followed with a 10-5 win against Russia. And then, for a third time in a row, Team Canada played Great Britain for the top prize in the tournament, the gold medal. Canada completed the three-peat, winning their 3rd gold in a row and 4 out of the last 5 seasons. Luke had 3 goals, 4 assists, 21 hits, 33 shots and 44 blocks.

The next 2 seasons weren’t all that kind to the Canadians, the defending champions did not medal in S 59 or the following S60. Lyle had 1 goal, 9 assists, 23 hits, 49 shots and 62 blocks in those two tournaments.

S61 saw the Canadians place 2nd in the round robin with a 10-2 record, behind GBR. Canada snuck by Team Norway with a 1-0 win. Then it was a thrilling 6-5 overtime win against Team Japan to send the Canadians back in the gold medal game against no other than Team Great Britain. GBR came out on top with this one, winning in overtime, 3-2. Lyle had 0 goals, 4 assists, 29 hits, 32 shots and 25 blocks.

S62 saw Team Canada with a great round robin round, taking 1st place with 2 record of 11-1. Next round was a 4-0 win against Team Switzerland and then a win against Japan, 4-1. This gold medal match was against Team Finland. The Finns took the game 3-1, taking the gold and the Canadians the silver. Lyle had his best numbers this tournament, with 5 goals. 6 assists, 28 hits, 42 shots and 46 blocks.

Team Canada posted a 9-3 round Robin in S63, only second to the undefeated Team Sweden. Canada made it past Austria, 3-2, in the first knockout round but fell to the USA, 5-1. They did win the bronze against Japan. Lyle had 1 goal, 5 assists, 18 hits, 24 shots and 30 blocks.

S64 had the Canadians win the round Robin round with a 11-1 record. A 5-1 win against Team Czechia put the Canadians against team Finland who beat them with a score of 3-1. They did win the bronze again and once again versus Team Japan

S65 is now underway, this will be the last tournament for Lyle Odelein Iii. So far, Team Canada is 6-1 after 7 games and Lyle has yet to score but has 3 assists, 11 hits, 13 shots and 25 blocks. Lyle is hoping for one last medal hopefully another gold to add to his collection.

So, that’s it. Almost 19 seasons of international hockey, Lyle has earned 2 WJC gold medals, 1 WJC individual award, 4 IIHF gold medals, 2 IIHF silver medals, 5 IIHF bronze medals, 16 goals, 61 assists, 253 hits, 416 shots and 385 blocks. I think that is a pretty decent run. It's been a great and I thank all of the teammates and GMs that I've had the pleasure to play with. Here's to hoping he finishes everything off with a great tournament now. For one last tie, go Canada go!!!

Word count 1325 - 2x IIHF media