Alex Lyon, the new goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, has taken on a significant role early in his tenure with the team. After starting the first six games of the season, Lyon has posted a .924 save percentage while facing an NHL-high 198 shots and recently recorded his fifth career shutout against Florida.
A native of Baudette, Minnesota, Lyon grew up watching the Western College Hockey Association and comes from a family with a long history at Yale. Despite winning Minnesota Senior Goalie of the Year in high school, he was not recruited by local colleges and ultimately attended Yale, following in the footsteps of his father and other relatives.
Lyon’s professional journey began when he signed as an undrafted free agent with Philadelphia in 2016-17. Over seven years, he moved between the AHL and NHL before earning a full-time role with Detroit prior to joining Buffalo. He describes his mentality as that of an underdog, something he says has shaped his approach to the game.
Reflecting on his path, Lyon said, “I think what you learn is it’s not worth worrying about things that just don’t matter. Being able to control what you can control. At the end of the day, I keep a job if I can keep the puck out of the net and I can win games. So that’s always where my focus remains.”
Regarding his decision to attend Yale, Lyon noted, “I’m actually quite a bit of a contrarian by personality so I didn’t really want to go there. I talked to them pretty early on in the process. This is all 15 years ago now but I was the kid who was like, ‘Oh, my dad went there, there’s no way I want to go.’ For sure happy now, but I don’t think that my family is the type of family where we live and breathe Yale Bulldogs. It’s not the kind of person I am, that’s not the kind of person my dad is. It’s cool for sure. Obviously you’re proud of going to that kind of institute.”
On representing his small hometown and honoring its roots while playing professionally, Lyon said, “Like anybody in your 20s, you kind of stray away from it and maybe explore different avenues of life. But, the older I get, the more I find myself wanting to find those roots. When you’re from a small town, it’s just a different way of life. Especially Northern Minnesota, we were so isolated, and it’s just what’s normal to me, and I try to embody that blue-collar mentality especially and try to bring that to any team that I play on.”
He also spoke about his high school experience playing multiple sports: “I would say golf probably is the most similar, just because it’s so individualistic. Goalie is largely an individual sport wrapped in a team sport; it’s like being a pitcher or quarterback that way, but the mental side is so important.
“But I will say playing football especially taught me how to play sports with emotion. Football is a very emotional game. I think it really helped me to be to use emotion and enjoy playing with emotion and getting excited. I like that aspect. I like playing with emotion and passion. I think it’s really important.”
Describing his childhood living on an island in Lake of the Woods before moving back to town at age six or seven, Lyon clarified common misconceptions: “The story actually stretches further every time somebody writes about it.” He added: “Well, my sister went there for a period of time. We left the island when I was six or seven, and I don’t really remember living on the island…My parents manage a resort and you see stories – I’ll tell the story, and then all of a sudden…they’ll be like, ‘They rowed [to school] in a splintery wooden rowboat.’ That’s not what happened…We had electricity and normal human living conditions…but certainly a cool story to have.”
Lyon recounted participating in what became known as the longest AHL game ever played during the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs with Lehigh Valley: “It’s grueling honestly. It’s brutal…That was actually the second night of a back-to-back so that made it significantly more tough…Afterwards physically mentally you’re pretty worn out but we also won the game so I always think about that game…”
He won an AHL championship with Chicago Wolves in 2022 and reflected on what it takes for teams to succeed: “Winning a championship is very difficult no matter what league or if it’s youth or whatever…Those two years really just taught me a lot about championship habits championship mentality confidence belief.
“I would say that those two teams—the single most common thing they had was just belief…Florida was different because we had just snuck in…at the time we were just living in the moment and enjoying ourselves but they’re also grinding as well.”
On mentoring younger goalies such as Colten Ellis coming up through professional ranks: “Goalie is really hard just in general…You fail a lot more than you succeed…I never view myself as somebody who’s mentoring a young guy. I learn a lot of things from him…Goalie is just evolving so much all the time…it’s just about bringing good habits every day…and being a great teammate.”
Addressing how he compensates for being smaller than many NHL goalies: “For sure have to always be cognizant of trying to present bigger and play bigger…As a small guy you always have to find ways overcome adapt…But it’s also about belief…having confidence…that’s really what it comes down to.”
Lyon received recognition from teammates after being awarded player-of-the-game honors following Wednesday’s victory over Detroit: “Game days things for me get a little weird…I looked like a crazy person in that picture…Just relief when you go 0-3…It’s stressful…But especially that first few games…I was just relieved and happy for guys…they put everything they had into that game…So just really happy for boys.”
Explaining his nickname “Lion King,” Lyon said: “That’s just my name honestly…It goes all way back…every arena starts playing lion roar when make save…It’s just natural life cycle things…”
When asked about superstitions among goaltenders Lyon stated: “I’m anti-superstitious…I got to point where…it was almost crippling mentally…I made conscious effort…If you have great habits…the most important thing for goalie…it’s daily 365-day-a-year grind…I learned from guys played with: Bob [Sergei Bobrovsky], Cam Talbot Brian Elliot…They’re diligent workers hard great work ethic diligent workers…And it’s really characteristics best goalies I’ve been around.”
