Former Flyers goalie Alex Lyon finds success elsewhere, wins AHL’s Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves
The 29-year-old Lyon, who spent five seasons with the Flyers organization, stopped all 28 shots for a shutout in Saturday night's clinching game against Springfield.
After five years in the Flyers organization, goalie Alex Lyon signed with the Carolina Hurricanes last July. A year later, as a member of the Chicago Wolves (Carolina’s AHL affiliate), he’s now a Calder Cup champion.
The undrafted netminder, who signed with the Flyers in 2016 after playing three standout seasons at Yale, stopped all 28 Springfield Thunderbirds shots on Saturday night in the Wolves’ Calder Cup-clinching Game 5 victory.
» READ MORE: The Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champs. Here’s what the Flyers can learn from them.
During his five years in the Flyers organization, Lyon split his time between the Flyers and the Phantoms, logging a 6-7-2 NHL record and 75-54-22 AHL record. After three contract extensions, the Flyers let him loose as an unrestricted free agent last summer.
“I loved my time in Philadelphia. I wish I could’ve stayed there, to be perfectly honest with you. But that’s the nature of professional sports,” Lyon said. “Things happen. People move on. Circumstances change.”
Although he started only 15 career games for the Flyers, the Minnesota native said he felt the unwavering support from the fans behind him.
“What makes Philly special [is] if, as a player, you give everything you have, no matter what it looks like, good, bad, or ugly, [the fans] will respect that and embrace you at the end of the day, as an athlete, like how much more can you ask for?” Lyon said. “So not that I was a big deal there in any capacity, but they were great to me.”
The Carolina Hurricanes picked him up on a one-year, two-way deal and the 29-year-old seized the opportunity and put together one of his best seasons. Lyon posted a record of 18-7-3 with the Wolves, posting a career-best 2.16 goals-against average, a .912 save percentage, and three shutouts.
For his performance, Lyon won the Hap Holmes Award, given to the goalie or goalies with at least 25 appearances for the team with the lowest team goals against average. He also started two NHL games with the ‘Canes.
“I was lucky enough to find an opportunity in Carolina, and they’ve been great to me since I’ve gotten here,” he said. “I really can’t speak highly enough about them.”
Lyon’s numbers for the Wolves were even better in the postseason, as he went 9-3 with a stellar 2.03 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. After being replaced following a Game 1 loss against Springfield when he allowed five goals on 35 shots, Lyon bounced back.
Rookie Pyotr Kochetkov started the next three games between the pipes, as Chicago defeated Springfield, 6-2, 4-0, and 4-2, and seized a commanding 3-1 series lead.
With one win standing between the Wolves and the title, head coach Ryan Warsofsky went back to the veteran Lyon for Game 5 on the road.
» READ MORE: Which Flyers Should Stay or Go? Swipe and Decide
And he was perfect. Lyon shut out Springfield on 28 shots as Chicago cruised to a 4-0 win. The Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate won the Calder Cup for the second straight time, as the club’s former affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, won in 2019. (The AHL did not crown a champion in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic.)
“You’ve got to be better than the person in front of you. And then once you get there, you’ve got to be better than the person in front of them or in front of you again,” Lyon said. “It’s a never-ending process.”
*Note: Alex Lyon was suspended on Tuesday for two future AHL games after gesturing with his middle finger following Chicago’s clinching win on June 25.