Jim Kyte

Jim Kyte
Date of birth	March 21, 1964
place of birth	Ottawa , Ontario , Canada
size	196 cm
Weight	95 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1982 , 1st lap, 12th position Winnipeg Jets
Career stations
1980-1981	Hawkesbury Hawks
1981-1983	Cornwall Royals
1983-1989	Winnipeg Jets
1989-1990	Pittsburgh Penguins
1990-1992	Calgary Flames
1992-1993	Ottawa Senators
1993-1995	Las Vegas Thunder
1995-1996	San Jose Sharks
1996-1997	Kansas City Blades

James G. "Jim" Kyte (born March 21, 1964 in Ottawa , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey player who, in the course of his active career between 1981 and 1997, among other things, 640 games for the Winnipeg Jets , Pittsburgh Penguins , Calgary Flames , Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks has played in the National Hockey League on the position of defender . Kyte was the first deaf player in NHL history.

Career

Kyte first played for two years from 1981 to 1983 with the Cornwall Royals in the Ontario Hockey League . Although he did not shine in these two seasons with special offensive statistics, the Winnipeg Jets selected the defender due to his defensive qualities in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft in the first round in twelfth position.

Because Kyte suffered from deafness , many believed that he had very little chance of a career in the National Hockey League . But at the end of the 1982/83 season , the Canadian played his first two games for the Winnipeg Jets, making him the first deaf player in NHL history. From the 1983/84 season , Kyte was an integral part of the Jets' squad before he had to go to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a six-player transfer deal in the summer of 1989, although he had played the best of his career in the season that had just ended . There he was also a member of the NHL squad in the 1989/90 season . In the 1990/91 season he was deported to the farm team of the Penguins at the beginning of the season and a little later transferred for Jiří Hrdina to the Calgary Flames , where he made the jump back into the NHL. After his contract expired after the 1991/92 season , he signed a contract with the newly founded Ottawa Senators as a free agent . Despite his experience, Kyte surprisingly did not get a place in the defense of the Senators, as they mainly bet on young players, and only played four times for the team from the Canadian capital. After almost three years in the higher-class minor leagues American Hockey League and International Hockey League , the San Jose Sharks signed the Canadian at the end of the 1994/95 season , which was shortened due to the lockout . He remained in San Jose for the following season, but had to join the farm team again in the 1996/97 season. After that season, Kyte retired from his active career due to a concussion he suffered in a 1997 car accident.

disability

Kyte was the first player in NHL history to play games in the NHL despite severe hearing impairment. Because of his disability, he wore a hearing aid during games , which he hid under a specially designed helmet with protectors over his ears.

Although Kyte was not hearing impaired at birth, it was discovered by the age of three that he was already completely deaf. Due to his disability, he has been particularly active during his career at charity events related to hearing impairment.

Achievements and Awards

• 2018 induction into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1981/82	Cornwall Royals	OHL		52	4th	13	17th	148		5	0	0	0	10
1982/83	Cornwall Royals	OHL		65	6th	30th	36	195		8th	0	2	2	24
1982/83	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
1983/84	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		58	1	2	3	55		3	0	0	0	11
1984/85	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		71	0	3	3	111		8th	0	0	0	14th
1985/86	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		71	1	3	4th	126		3	0	0	0	12
1986/87	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		72	5	5	10	162		10	0	4th	4th	36
1987/88	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		51	1	3	4th	128		-	-	-	-	-
1988/89	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		74	3	9	12	190		-	-	-	-	-
1989/90	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		56	3	1	4th	125		-	-	-	-	-
1990/91	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		1	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
1990/91	Muskegon Lumberjacks	IHL		25th	2	5	7th	157		-	-	-	-	-
1990/91	Calgary Flames	NHL		42	0	9	9	153		7th	0	0	0	7th
1991/92	Calgary Flames	NHL		21st	0	1	1	107		-	-	-	-	-
1991/92	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	IHL		6th	0	1	1	9		-	-	-	-	-
1992/93	New Haven Senators	AHL		63	6th	18th	24	163		-	-	-	-	-
1992/93	Ottawa Senators	NHL		4th	0	1	1	4th		-	-	-	-	-
1993/94	Las Vegas Thunder	IHL		75	2	16	18th	246		4th	0	1	1	51
1994/95	Las Vegas Thunder	IHL		76	3	17th	20th	195		-	-	-	-	-
1994/95	San Jose Sharks	NHL		18th	2	5	7th	33		11	0	2	2	14th
1995/96	San Jose Sharks	NHL		57	1	7th	8th	146		-	-	-	-	-
1996/97	Kansas City Blades	IHL		76	3	8th	11	259		3	0	0	0	2
OHL total				117	10	43	53	343		13	0	2	2	34
IHL total				258	10	47	57	866		7th	0	1	1	53
NHL overall				598	17th	49	66	1342		42	0	6th	6th	94

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Jim Kyte at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Jim Kyte at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Jim Kyte at hockeydb.com (English)