March 21--Jim Kyte

Jim Kyte

Selected by Winnipeg Jets round 1 #12 overall 1982 NHL Entry Draft.

Kyte was an inspiration to deaf and hearing-impaired hockey players throughout his pro career, because he was the NHL's only player who wore hearing aids during games and the first legally deaf player to play in the NHL. To protect his hearing aids, Kyte wore a helmet that had special flaps covering the center of his ears. Born with a hereditary hearing deficiency that caused degeneration of his audio nerve, Kyte began slowly losing his hearing as a 3-year-old. Throughout his career Kyte was very active in charitable causes involving hearing impairment. He learned sign language even though it wasn't necessary for him to communicate, and during off-seasons in his early NHL career, he worked with deaf and hearing-impaired children at a special camp run by Stan Mikita in Chicago. He also ran his own summer hockey school for deaf and hearing-impaired kids in Toronto. He eventually opened the Jim Kyte Hockey School for the Hearing Impaired in Ottawa, a business which he continued to run after his retirement.

 Forced to retire in summer of 1998 due to a concussion suffered in a 1997 off-season automobile accident. He was unable to play during the 1997-98 season and chose not to keep pursuing comeback. He continued to suffer post-concussion syndrome for many years after his retirement.

CAREER NHL STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1982-1996 WIN, PIT, CGY, OTT, SJ 598 17 49 66 1,342 CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1984-1995 Winnipeg, Calgary, S.J. 42 0 6 6 94

Received this blue ink signed card TTM.