Former ice hockey player Jim Kyte is best known for his time with teams including the Winnipeg Jets, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Calgary Flames. He is the first and only legally deaf player to have competed in the National Hockey League (NHL), and is today a sports writer, educator, and champion for accessibility. He has been inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame, and was selected to the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s Diversity 50 cohort.

Hailing from a sporting background, Kyte is the son of former university athlete John Kyte and the brother of Canadian national track athlete Aynslee Kyte. He showed early promise on the hockey rink, and was drafted to the NHL in 1982, joining the Winnipeg Jets and commencing what would be a 17-year professional playing career. He played with the Jets for six seasons, reaching the playoffs four times, before playing seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Calgary Flames and the Ottawa Senators. Kyte completed his distinguished playing career with stints at the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, the American Hockey League’s New Haven Senators, and International Hockey League teams Las Vegas Thunder and the Kansas City Blades.

During his career, Kyte earned two nominations for the Masterston Trophy, awarded to an NHL player who demonstrates exceptional sportsmanship and perseverance, and was further nominated for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, in recognition of his leadership and humanitarian contributions. After leaving professional sport, Kyte established Algonquin College’s Sport Business Management postgraduate programme, later became Academic Chair of the college’s Marketing & Management Studies Department, and studied for an MBA at Royal Roads University, where he earned two of the college’s top awards. Today he is Dean of Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism, and is a member of the AODA Postsecondary Education Standards Committee.