Former Oiler Tyson Barrie aims to resurrect NHL career with Flames: ‘I’ve got a lot of game left’ Achi-News

As the 2024-25 NHL regular season approaches, a playmaking defenseman who has accumulated 505 points in 809 regular season games in the league finds himself working to prove he can continue to compete at hockey’s highest level.

“I want to get to 1,000 games and try to win the Stanley Cup,” Tyson Barrie told Global News this week.

The 33-year-old blueliner who hails from Victoria, BC is on a professional tryout agreement with the Calgary Flames, with the goal of securing a roster spot.

“I certainly don’t want this to be the end of the line for me.”

Spending much of his NHL career as a team’s power play quarterback, Barrie put up impressive offensive numbers during seasons when he played for the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers.

But when the player, a popular team member during his time with the Oilers, was traded by Edmonton to the Nashville Predators late in the 2022-23 season, he experienced challenges he had not faced before in his career NHL.

“I was scratching healthy for the first time in my career and I was a bit surprised,” he admitted. “That was something I did not agree with.”

Barrie said the struggles he had in Nashville and the offseason were something he wanted to face head on.

“The key was to talk through it and use some resources — whether it’s family or therapists — just to discuss what’s going on,” he explained. “It does wonders for mental health.

“If you want to stay in this league, you have to dedicate yourself and put in the work and that’s what I did this summer.

“I hope to prove some people wrong and show that I have a lot of game left.”

Barrie finds himself competing with a number of players, including some talented prospects, for a spot on the Flames’ blue line as the club rebuilds its roster, in part by trying to inject more youth into its ranks. list.

The person Barrie needs to make the biggest impression is Flames head coach Ryan Huska, a man he knows well as he served as his coach when he played junior hockey with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

“(Tyson) would probably tell you the same thing: this is the hardest he’s worked to make sure he puts himself in a position to win a contract,” Huska said. “He doesn’t take anything for granted, and I like his attitude.

“Tyson has a very special skill set.”

Huska noted that the key is for the coaching staff to figure out how they could try to incorporate that skill set into the roster. The Flames are looking to see if Barrie can play on the left side of the blue line, even though he is a right shot defenseman.

“(The key) is to be flexible and try to learn and add to your game,” Barrie said. “You never know where the next opportunity is going to be.”

— with files from Moses Woldu of Global News

& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.