Former Boston Bruins tough guy Lyndon Byers dies at 61
The Bruins said he died on July 4, though they didn't list a cause of death.
"Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the Black & Gold thanks to his rugged, rough-and-tumble style," the team said in a statement.
Advertisement
Byers played for the Bruins from 1983-1992, racking up 959 penalty minutes, 11th in team history. He was part of the Bruins teams that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1988 and 1990, playing a total of 28 games in those postseasons.
Byers' best season was in 1987-88, when he had 10 goals, 24 points and 236 penalty minutes. He had another 62 penalty minutes in the playoffs.
According to hockeyfights.com, Byers had 92 career fights, including a total of 30 in the 1987-88 regular season and playoffs.
He also played for the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93 before finishing his professional hockey career with two seasons in the International Hockey League. He had 28 goals, 71 points and 1,081 penalty minutes in 279 NHL games.
Advertisement
After retiring, Byers spent about 25 years as a radio host for Boston's WAAF. He also appeared in four episodes of the television show "Rescue Me" and had small roles in "Shallow Hal," "Stuck on You" and a few other movies.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lyndon Byers, former Bruins tough guy, dies at 61
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Latest ‘Tiger King' twist finds ‘Doc' Antle sentenced to 1 year in prison for animal traffickin
Animal stories Endangered lifeFacebookTweetLink Follow 'Tiger King' star Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle was sentenced on Tuesday to one year and a day in federal prison and fined $55,000 for trafficking in exotic animals and money laundering after pleading guilty in November 2023. Antle's fate was resolved in a federal courtroom in Charleston, South Carolina, five years after the true crime documentary 'Tiger King' captivated a country shut down by COVID-19. Three others who pleaded guilty in his investigation received either probation or a four-month prison sentence. Antle's sentence is the final true-life chapter of the Tiger King saga. The Netflix series debuted in March 2020 near the peak of COVID-19 restrictions. The show centered on dealers and conservationists of big cats, focusing on disputes between Joe Exotic, a collector and private zookeeper from Oklahoma, and Carole Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida. Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 21-year federal prison sentence for trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin. Antle, who owns a private zoo called Myrtle Beach Safari, appeared in the first season of the documentary and was the star of the third season. Antle's zoo was known for charging hundreds or thousands of dollars to let people pet and hold baby animals like lions, tigers and monkeys that were so young they were still being bottle-fed. Customers could have photos or videos made. Antle would sometimes ride into tours on an elephant. Myrtle Beach Safari remains open by reservation only, according to its website. Antle had remained out on bail since his arrest in June 2022. Antle's federal charges were brought after the 'Tiger King' series. Prosecutors said he sold or bought cheetahs, lions, tigers and a chimpanzee without the proper paperwork. And they said in a separate scheme, Antle laundered more than $500,000 that an informant told him was being used to get people into the U.S. illegally to work. Antle was used to having large amounts of money he could move around quickly, investigators said. The FBI was listening to Antle's phone calls with the informant as he explained a baby chimpanzee could easily cost $200,000. Private zookeepers can charge hundreds of dollars for photos with docile young primates or other animals, but the profit window is only open for a few years before the growing animals can no longer be safely handled. 'I had to get a monkey, but the people won't take a check. They only take cash. So what do you do?' Antle said according to a transcript of the phone call in court papers. Two of Antle's employees have already been sentenced for their roles in his schemes. Meredith Bybee was given a year of probation for selling a chimpanzee while Andrew 'Omar' Sawyer, who prosecutors said helped Antle launder money, was given two years of probation. Jason Clay, a Texas private zoo owner, pleaded guilty to illegally selling a primate and was sentenced to four months in prison, while charges were dropped against California ranch owner Charles Sammut. Antle was also convicted in 2023 in a Virginia court of four counts of wildlife trafficking over sales of lions and was sentenced to two years of prison suspended 'upon five years of good behavior.' An appeals court overturned two of the convictions, ruling that Virginia law bans the sale of endangered species but not their purchase. Antle was found not guilty of five counts of animal cruelty at that same Virginia trial.


Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Lukas Nelson's New Album Is ‘A Love Letter To The Country That Raised Me'
Lukas Nelson performs onstage for day one of the 2024 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival at The ... More Park at Harlinsdale Farm on September 28, 2024 in Franklin, Tennessee. Lukas Nelson took his first steps on a tour bus. He grew up on highways shadowed by towering grain silos and roads that twisted through ragged hills. He's not sure there's an interstate in the U.S. that he hasn't seen. Sometimes people ask where he grew up. He's not sure how to answer. 'I grew up traveling on the roads since I was a baby,' said Nelson, a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and the 36-year-old son of Willie Nelson. 'I feel like America really raised me." Nelson decided to write about his experience of being raised on the road for American Romance, a 12-song solo album that debuted last month via Sony Music Nashville. A departure from his longtime band Promise of the Real, American Romance comes billed as the solo debut for Nelson, a tenured musician who's worked with Neil Young, Lady Gaga and Lainey Wilson, among others. For the album, Nelson wanted to write 'a John Steinbeck-equse narrtive of my upbringing and travels,' he said. Listeners hear the result on a collection of rich, detailed songs that chronicle restless life lessons and open-hearted adventures. 'The diners and truck stops, Thanksgiving dinners away from home … I wanted it to feel like each song is a chapter in a great American novel. A love letter to the country that raised me," Nelson said. For American Romance, Nelson recorded at Sunset Sound Recording Studio in Hollywood alongside another second-generation song-maker – Shooter Jennings, a sought-after producer who was behind the board for standout releases from Brandi Carlile, Charley Crockett and others. Working with Jennings? It's comfortable, Nelson said. 'He brought out what I feel like what the best sonic quality you can get,' Nelson said. He continued, 'The ideas he had, in terms of how to present the music, and to bring out the best in me, performance-wise … I felt really grateful for his influence.' The album blends shades of undeniable country influence (on the fiddle-drenched number 'Outsmarted') with ambitious heartland rock ("Runnin' Out of Time") and time-tested folk storytelling (none more evident than the title track, 'American Romance'). He enlists guest features from troubadour Stephen Wilson Jr. – on the sobering cut 'Disappearing Light' – and Sierra Ferrell, who harmonizes on 'Friend In The End,' an endearing number where the two sing 'I guess I just found me a friend/ I think I can call you my friend in the end.' American Romance begins with a declaration from Nelson. In the chorus of the robust opening number 'Ain't Done,' he sings 'God ain't done with you" – five words that remind listeners of the highs and lows that come with living another day. Nelson co-wrote 'Ain't Done' with sought-after Nashville songwriter Aaron Raitiere. 'We fleshed that [song] out in an hour or less. It really wrote itself," Nelson said. He added, 'Sometimes, the good ones come quick and easy and you don't really overthink it too much.' And the album ends with 'You Were It,' a tender-to-the-touch country tune that Nelson said he wrote as an 11-year-old learning his way around a song. 'That song, when I wrote it, my dad heard it and Kris Kristofferson heard it,' Nelson. 'My dad loved it so much he recorded it. He put it on his album It Always Will Be. That really got me the confidence I needed to be a songwriter. That and Kris said, 'Are you going to be a songwriter?' I said, 'I don't know.' He said, 'well, you don't have a choice after that song.''


New York Times
19 minutes ago
- New York Times
Mike Brown on coaching the Knicks: ‘Nobody has bigger expectations than I do'
Mike Brown walked in confident and eager. His trademark thick glasses rested on the brim of his nose. A navy blue suit, orange pocket square and Knicks pin were part of his wardrobe. A smile as long as the ride from Madison Square Garden to Tarrytown, N.Y., where the Knicks practice, was plastered across his face. This was the look of a man in the moment, embracing each second. Advertisement A new journey was just beginning. Brown has had several of those throughout his 25-plus years in the NBA. He coached Kobe Bryant. He coached LeBron James. He's been to the NBA Finals. He was sitting in the passenger's seat in Golden State, along for the greatest ride the NBA has seen in some time. He made a disastrous franchise respectable, only to be fired less than three years in. Brown has been fired several times, twice after a single season. He's seen it all. Well, not yet. As Brown sits, he's the new head coach of the New York Knicks, a starved franchise with as much support as any in sports. Comparing this job to others he's held wouldn't be fair. Winning a title with the Knicks would be an achievement that can't be measured until it happens. New York was on the doorstep of its first NBA championship in more than 50 years and fired the man who helped build them up to that point. New York, a franchise with little to celebrate over the last two decades, decided that getting close under Tom Thibodeau wasn't good enough. Now, Brown becomes just the second head coach this decade to sit behind this exact microphone, and he becomes the first Knicks head coach in at least 20 years to face this kind of pressure. Welcome to New York. 'Nobody has bigger expectations, first of all, than I do,' Brown said. 'My expectations are high. This is the Knicks. I talked about Madison Square Garden being iconic. I talked about our fans. I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it. I'm looking forward to it.' Brown's name was circled at the start of the Knicks' coaching search. His experience as both a head coach and assistant intrigued New York's decision-makers. His work with some of the NBA's biggest stars was appealing. When the two sides finally sat down, Brown's willingness to collaborate with his assistants and the front office was a selling point that stuck with the people in charge, per league sources. Advertisement New York's winding search for a head coach lasted several weeks. It featured the organization reaching out to currently employed head coaches and being denied by all of their teams. It featured interviewing current assistant coaches, as well as holding conversations with college coaches, such as South Carolina's Dawn Staley. Ultimately, Brown was the only candidate to get a second interview for the head coaching vacancy, per league sources. The Knicks want to win a championship as soon as possible, and they have the talent to do that. Now, they believe they have the right coach, even if the process to get there included knocking on other doors along the way. 'I respect Leon's (Rose) process,' Brown said. 'I feel like I'm a detailed guy, thorough with everything I try to do. It's no different here. I was just myself throughout the process. I had great conversations with (James) Dolan and, obviously, Leon and his group. My whole thing is that I want to form a partnership with (Leon). I want to do this together. It's impossible to do it on your own. 'The outcome, obviously, is exciting for me because I'm sitting in the seat that I wanted to be in.' It's not every day that a newly hired head coach walks into a locker room with the talent level of the Knicks. Jalen Brunson is Batman and Karl-Anthony Towns is an overqualified Robin. OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges are as good a wing trio as you'll find without a single All-Star appearance. Miles McBride is a scorer and point-of-attack defender off the bench and Mitchell Robinson just wrapped up a postseason where he was as dominant as anyone on the roster. Over the last week, New York added more firepower to its second unit by bringing in Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele. The Knicks can still add one more veteran-minimum player to the roster this offseason. Advertisement The foundation is there, and it's on Brown to best maximize the talent. New York finished the regular season with the fifth-best offense in the NBA, but that number was a bit deceiving. The Knicks had just the 16th-ranked offense from Jan. 1 to the end of the regular season (Brunson did miss a month in March due to injury). The Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll never truly terrorized defenses like it was supposed to. The offense as a whole struggled against premier defenses when healthy, even in the playoffs. This New York team was designed to be one of the best offenses in basketball. It never consistently hit that point last season. For the Knicks to secure an elusive championship, they'll need this offense to be humming. And that's where Brown comes back into play. While widely known for his defensive acumen, Brown coached one of the most efficient offenses in modern NBA history in his first season in Sacramento and has had a top-10 offense six times as a head coach. 'I thought what this group did this past year in the playoffs, it just shows their potential, not just defensively but offensively, too,' Brown said. 'I'm looking forward to putting a plan in place and working with those guys on both ends of the floor. I love their length and I love their versatility. So, implementing my vision is very exciting for me and, hopefully, it is for everyone else. I think the ceiling is high on both ends for the group.' There's a lot beyond talent that goes into winning an NBA championship. Just ask the Thunder and Pacers. Injuries, luck and timing all play into the equation. Brown might have been brought here to win a championship, but only so much is in one man's control. The Knicks made it clear that what the old head coach could dictate, despite being the most successful head coach the franchise has had in 20-plus years, didn't get the job done and wouldn't have going forward. New York's braintrust believes that either Brown's voice or the change in imagination — they're hoping for both — will raise the franchise to where those in charge believe it should be. Brown, who said he will collaborate with Rose throughout the offseason to finalize his coaching staff, enters a situation where the spotlight will be on him simply because of the expectations of his bosses. Whether that is fair or not, that's the reality. Brown will either be a hero in the greatest city in which to be one, or he'll just be another coach trying to find room in the revolving door. We're just a few months away from beginning to see which direction this thing will go. 'Our goal, starting with (James) Dolan, to Leon, to the players, all the way down to the fans is to build a sustainable, winning culture that produces championships,' Brown said. 'That's why I'm here.'