Dylan St-Cyr has committed to play at University of Michigan. The 16-year-old netminder is the son of famed women’s goaltender Manon Rheaume, who was the first woman to play in an NHL pre-season game. His father, Gerry St-Cyr, played several years of minor pro hockey.
Goaltender Dylan St-Cyr, son of Manon Rheaume, commits to MichiganIt’s not all that rare to hear of an NHLer who has followed in his father’s footsteps, but 16-year-old goaltender Dylan St-Cyr is trying to follow in the footsteps of someone else: his mother, Manon Rheaume, who was the first woman to play in an NHL pre-season game.
To get there, St-Cyr is going to be going the college route.
It was announced Thursday that St-Cyr, who spent this past season with the Detroit Honeybaked program, has committed to play with the Michigan Wolverines for the 2018-19 campaign. Born in Las Vegas but having spent his past three seasons tending goal with Honeybaked, it’s not all that far from home for the 16-year-old netminder.
It’s not just about location, though — St-Cyr can play. This past season with Honeybaked, St-Cyr posted a 2.05 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 20 games. He led the High Performance Hockey League with 16 wins and four shutouts.
And if having a mother who is renowned throughout the hockey world isn’t enough, St-Cyr’s bloodlines get even better considering his father, Gerry St-Cyr, was a WHL standout and played several years of professional hockey throughout the minor leagues. The elder St-Cyr’s best season came with the then-ECHL Charlotte Checkers in 1995-96, when he scored 13 goals, 25 points and 190 penalty minutes in 35 games.
But the younger St-Cyr, who takes after his mother in goal, might have a serious shot at making it to the big leagues. He’ll be looking to join the United States National Team Development Program in the USHL next season, where he’ll have competition from three other goaltenders his age.
In an interview with THN’s Ken Campbell in late 2013, Rheaume said she sees a lot of similarities between herself and her son.
“I see a lot of myself when I watch him play,” Rheaume told Campbell. “Making a glove save at the end of every warmup, I used to do exactly the same thing. And I never even told him about that. It’s a little bit scary, actually.”
Unfortunately, another of those similarities is size. St-Cyr stands 5-foot-7 and 154 pounds and if he’s done growing he’ll be much shorter than today’s NHL standards. According to Hockey Graphs’ Benjamin Wendorf, the average height of a goaltender today is 74.1 inches, or slightly under 6-foot-2.
Luckily, height isn’t all that matters, and when he needs some pointers, St-Cyr has a ready-made goalie coach whenever he needs her.
