Tyler Graovac’s Road to Professional Hockey
BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO – The road to playing in the National Hockey League is a path not easily trodden, especially without lots of support.
Tyler Graovac, a native of Brampton, Ontario, had substantial support from his family along the route to playing professional hockey. He first began playing hockey on his backyard rink at the age of three. It was natural that he would be hitting the ice early in life, as his father was a hockey player.
Tom Graovac was a goaltender with the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for three seasons. He won back-to-back Memorial Cups in the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
Tom was a major influence on his son’s hockey career.
“My father was a big influence on my game, and playing hockey early,” said the younger of the Graovacs. “He played junior and in the [QMJHL], and won two [Memorial] cups… he sees the game very, very well.”
Graovac’s whole family, not just his father, played large roles in seeing him through minor hockey, the Ontario Hockey League, and into professional hockey where he currently plays in the American Hockey League for the Minnesota Wild’s farm team, the Iowa Wild.
“Both my parents have been very supportive, even in my junior career and my first year here in Iowa and they were at almost every game,” said Graovac.
Graovac was not just a one-sport athlete. He also played lacrosse, winning a national Peewee championship with Team Ontario in 2005. It was a lasting memory for Graovac.
“That was a very memorable moment for me. I played hockey and lacrosse… I played Team Ontario and won a gold there when I was young, ” said Graovac. “It was actually pretty funny, a lot of the players I played with I played hockey with growing up and they’re doing very well as well.”
Some of these players include Seth Griffith of the Boston Bruins, Brett Ritchie, a Dallas Stars prospect, and Ben Thomson, a New Jersey Devils prospect.
Lacrosse has been a factor in the development of many hockey players, such as Wayne Gretzky and John Tavares.
Playing lacrosse definitely shaped the hockey player that Graovac is today.
“I think I got a lot of feel of the puck through lacrosse, to be honest with you.” He attributes it to the development of his hand eye coordination and his fitness, while keeping him competitive.
Eventually the time came to choose between sports.
“It was a big decision for me… I loved both sports but I figured there was more opportunity in hockey and I really loved being at the rink,” said Graovac. His minor midget year, when he was drafted to the OHL, was when he decided to put down the lacrosse stick.
Graovac constantly had support from his family. And it was not limited to his immediate family. His cousin, Kelley O’Neill, would travel four hours to see the future NHL draft pick play when they were younger.
“We lived in Cornwall, so we used to travel up to four hours to watch him in Toronto, watch tournaments,” said O’Neill. “Whenever he was the age of like nine, ten years old you see him as one of those players that scores five, six goals a night.”
O’Neill said that when he was watching the young Graovac, he was most impressed with how much bigger and more skilled he was than the other players.
“Everyone just kind of gave him the puck and said ‘it’s your turn, I guess, and you do whatever you can do,’ and he usually got the job done.”
In 2011 Graovac was selected by the Minnesota in the seventh round with the 191st overall pick.
He has continued to grow not only as a player, but also in stature. Once seen by his cousin as big amongst fellow minor hockey players, currently at 6’5” and 200lbs, he has potential to turn into a physical presence at the NHL level.
In Graovac’s minor midget year on the Mississauga Reps, he was drafted to the Ottawa 67’s. He didn’t register a lot of points his first two years of junior, but he found his way onto the radar of NHL scouts.
Not highly ranked, Graovac decided that instead of attending the NHL draft that year in St. Paul, Minnesota, he would go to his high school prom.
“I wasn’t ranked too high,” said Graovac. ”I decided to be with family and friends that weekend… and I was actually at my prom when I got picked.”
It wasn’t until his fourth year of junior that the Brampton-native started scoring a lot. Halfway through the season he was traded to the Belleville Bulls who were looking to make a playoff run.
“[Graovac] got a taste for the net,” said Belleville Bulls assistant coach Jake Grimes. “Obviously he already had the skills.”
Graovac is turning heads amongst Minnesota’s crop of young talent.
Mike Russo, who covers the NHL and the Minnesota Wild for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, said that the Wild brass is excited about Graovac’s development.
“Chuck Fletcher, the Wild [general manager], basically said that he thought he was the most improved player in the organization (this preseason),” said Russo. “He just seems like an absolutely great guy, character guy. That’s a big thing with the Wild.
“All the young guys you see in the NHL (with Minnesota) right now are all good character people.”
Grimes was impressed with Graovac’s professionalism and skill when he joined the Bulls.
“(Graovac was) very solid, very pro guy. A guy dedicated to improving what he needs to improve to become a pro. Tall rangy skilled guy with a great shot, great pass.”
Grimes believes Graovac has the tools to compete at the highest level.
“[Graovac]’s got the size, he’s got the hockey intel, he’s got the social skills to be in an NHL environment,” said Grimes. “Like I say he’s very professional.”
Graovac’s character fits the mould for a young character on the Wild.
“He was kind of looked at like a leader and a lot of guys would bounce things off him because he just carried himself as if he had even more experience than junior already,” Grimes said. “Guys who are ready to go pro, you can tell.”