How Alex Lyon came from rowing a boat to always being ready for Detroit Red Wings

BOSTON — Alex Lyon dodged the wadded-up tape like a pro, because that's who he is: Always ready to face the elements, from remote Minnesota schoolhouses to the demands of being on an NHL roster.

A gregarious man, Lyon talked his way through multiple interviews after Saturday's morning skate, happy for a change to talk about being at ice level for a game. For the first time this season, he was designated to be backup for the Detroit Red Wings in their evening game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

"It's a good opportunity to replicate a game," Lyon said. "I don't know when that time will come, but I just want to be as prepared as possible. It's nice to be able to treat it like a game day, and mentally and physically get as close as you can. It's nice to have that stimulation."

Lyon, 30, is third on the Wings' depth chart, behind Ville Husso and James Reimer. Reimer's solid play (.939 save percentage in three starts) has kept him in the primary backup role, and having Lyon back up against the Bruins was "purely to get him around the process," coach Derek Lalonde said. "But we’d be confident with him going in. We would like to get him in, but really strong play from our position this year has curtailed that a little bit. It’s a good luxury right to have right now, three guys."

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The Wings signed Lyon to a two-year, $1.8 million contract in July, giving him a year more than Reimer. Both were strategic signings, added in the hopes the Wings avoid what they went through last year, when Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg both struggled to back up Husso. Lyon has spent most of his career in the minor leagues, but had a good showing last season with the Florida Panthers. He started the first three games of their first-round series against the Bruins after going 6-1-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average and .943 save percentage down the stretch run of the regular season.

The deal with Reimer already was in place when Lyon agreed to terms, but the opportunity still swayed Lyon.

"A lot of my motivation was seeing an up-and-coming team," Lyon said. "I've been on teams that have been really good, and I've been on teams that have been really bad. It's not an enjoyable experience to spend nine months on a bad team. This team speaks for itself with the way we have started. I think it's a credit top to bottom. They do a really good job here, and for me, that was very appealing."

Lyon was talking to reporters when a member of team personnel threw the balled-up tape at him, prompting him to joke that, "I always stay ready." He described his routine as, "show up and work hard and not think about it too much. I think that's really the healthiest way to play goalie. You can't get too far ahead of yourself. But I've been a third goalie my entire career, and I've been playing in the AHL a long time, so just having the ability to stay ready is something I take a lot of pride in."

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Lyon grew up in Baudette, Minnesota, a rural spot near the Canadian border with a population around 1,000. He played collegiately at Yale, turning pro after three years. His father, Tim, is a Yale graduate who instilled a love of intellect in his son, and an appreciation for enjoying one's work.

"My dad moved to remote Minnesota and he's still a professional fishing guy," Lyon said. "My sister and I grew up on an island, and went to a small school. At one point, we took a rowboat to school."

Lyon began his professional hockey career in the Philadelphia Flyers' organization, and also has played in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. He came to the Wings with 39 NHL games on his resume, a 3.05 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. Though it is unusual for an NHL team to carry three goaltenders, it's a good spot for Lyon to be in, and while he may be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint at some point, the Wings are likely to keep Lyon on their roster because if they put him on waivers to send him to Grand Rapids, he almost certainly would be claimed by another team.

Watching the Wings from press boxes, as he did for the first seven games, helps Lyon stay ready, too.

"We joke about it all the time, but when you're watching from the press box, the game seems super easy," he said. "But from first-hand experience, it's fast, and there are big strong guys and they're getting paid as well. Things happen very quickly on the ice. It's a good learning experience in the press box, because you're like, OK, you do have more time than you think, so I always try to think about that. You can get value from really any experience."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' Alex Lyon a ready-made fit as No. 3 goaltender