'TBF' Backstopping Bay Reps' Title Hopes as Exciting Future Takes Shape
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2026
Tyler Boynton-Fischer knows his high school ice hockey career could end any day now.
He also knows, or at least hopes, his playing days are far from over. Many, including his coaches, believe he’ll play at the next level and just maybe in the National Hockey League.
Boynton-Fisher is the record-setting goalie for the Bay Area Reps, a hockey co-op hosted by Traverse City St. Francis that includes athletes from Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Kingsley, Lake Leelanau St. Mary, Mancelona and Suttons Bay. He’s a senior at Traverse City St. Francis, and he finds himself in a familiar position.
The Reps are in the Quarterfinal for the second time over three years with Boynton-Fisher as their starting goalie. They advanced to the Regional Finals last season with Boynton-Fischer in net and his older brother Thomas, a senior then, and Grant Lucius leading an explosive attack.
Regardless of what happens when they take on Freeland on Saturday in Gaylord, the 6-foot-2 and growing goalie should play on. He’s been dreaming of playing in the NHL as far back as he can remember – and maybe longer.
“If I can, playing in the NHL would be really cool,” Fisher-Boynton said. “I am just excited to see what I can do and see what level I can play at.”
The dream could have begun as an infant when he was literally placed in the Stanley Cup as it visited Traverse City in 2008. From a photo, it almost looks like he was dreaming about making a kick save.
And while scientists continue to debate exactly when children start dreaming, Boynton-Fisher’s started in or before he was in first grade. His first-grade teacher, Kim Tumey, and his mother, Alysia Boynton-Fischer, recall having a follow-up discussion on a lesson at Willow Hill Elementary School in Traverse City.
Fisher-Boynton declared to his entire classroom he was going to play in the National Hockey League. Tumey, now retired, said the declaration was in response to how the students thought they could make money when they’re older. Tumey recalled further questioning Boynton-Fisher, and he said his mom would provide financially for him if he didn’t.
Boynton-Fisher is already making arrangements to play juniors – competitive amateur level for players aged 16–21 (but primarily 18–19) designed to develop skills for college and or professional hockey. His older brother Thomas went on to play for the juniors team in Saskatchewan after setting the Reps’ single-season assists record at 38 and finishing his high school career high on the Reps’ all-time career assists and scoring lists.
Their cousin, Dyson Drake, is playing juniors right now in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Drake is the son Dallas Drake, a member of the 2008 Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings. Fisher-Boynton often gets ice time with his uncle and cousin.
The former Red Wing was the first to hoist the cup on the ice, and he brought it to his Traverse City residence late that summer. He believes Boynton-Fischer has what it takes to play at the next level. The family and doctors believe the senior is still growing, giving him even more puck stopping capabilities.
“Tyler’s very athletic, and he's had a great high school career,” Dallas Drake said. “I know he wants to move on. I'm looking forward to see what he does.”
Drake is quick to point out Boynton-Fisher and his entire family has had to overcome challenges to get to today.
“We had a big loss in the family with his dad passing away,” Drake acknowledged. “He's gone through a lot in the last four or five years, and he's obviously adjusted very well, and he's a great kid. He works hard.”
Boynton-Fisher’s father Toby died unexpectedly before he started high school, causing him to step away from hockey briefly. He returned to the game with his brother knowing their father would want it that way.
“Everything was perfect – I was playing hockey, having so much fun. … We were in the summertime, and then he passed away,” Boynton-Fisher recalled. “It’s pretty traumatic when you realize you're not going to have a dad.”
Keeping the brothers playing hockey, and his sister Izzy in travel volleyball, has been a priority and a challenge for his mother.
“My number one goal after Toby passed away was to make sure that the trajectory of the kids’ sports wouldn’t change – Toby would hate that more than anything,” Alysia Fisher-Boynton said. “I could have never done that without all the help and love we received from all of our sports families.”
The loss led to Boynton-Fisher’s life motto.
“Through some rough things you can still have fun and live life to the fullest,” he explained. “(Dad) was a good guy, always was having fun joking around. If he wanted us to be happy, why would we just grieve him all the time when you can laugh instead of crying?”
Boynton-Fisher – who earned Division 3 all-state honorable mention last season – is known as “TBF” by many. He’s taken the nickname in honor of his father’s initials. Toby was the owner and operator of the Traverse City Golf Center. He also was known for his sense of humor.
Today, TBF’s coaches describe him as a pretty loose, easy-going kid loved by his teammates. They are quick to add he has prototypical goalie build features – long arms and legs – with incredible hand-eye coordination.
Competitiveness is his major strength, along with his demeanor and character. His coaches believe he’s the best Division 3 goalie in Michigan. Continuing the Reps’ run will bring Boynton-Fisher much deserved recognition, they say.
“His best quality is just his competitiveness, and he's very athletic too,” pointed out Reps coach Mike Matteucci, who also played in the NHL and was on the 1994 NCAA national champion Lake Superior State hockey team. “He loves the heat of the moment. He's just a very fiery, competitive person who wants to win.”
Matteucci grew up in the same area of British Columba as Drake and played against Drake as well. He too believes TBF can play professional hockey someday.
“It takes being in a situation where everybody's doing well and you get noticed,” he said. “He's durable, and I think he does have a good opportunity to continue to play with the attitude that he has and not getting too rattled in that spot.”
Fisher-Boynton leads Division 3 goalies in most stat categories. He’s top in goals-against average at 1.22, save percentage at .929, and shoutouts with six. He’s the Reps career shutout record-holder and the winningest goalie in the co-op’s history.
He’d like to add a Finals championship too.
TBF is a captain, rare for a goalie in Reps history. He owns the program record for most wins for a career, now at 38, the career shutout record of 12 and the single-season shutout records of five.
Really, the only program record he doesn’t own is for wins in a season. He had 16 his sophomore year, which is second all-time.
Boynton-Fischer and his older brother Thomas were both selected as Rookie of the Year by the Reps’ coaching staff after their respective first years in the program, and their names are stacked on the plaque.
Longtime assistant coach and former Reps head coach Ryan Fedorinchik recalls vividly the first time TBF was exposed to high school hockey. His new teammates, led by Thomas, gave him a quick orientation during a summertime skate.
They pretty much scored at will that day, but never again. It didn’t take long for Fedorinchik to believe the Reps had a top-notch goalie.
“I didn't know to what level Tyler's competitive nature was, and once the season started, it became immediately apparent that he was not only incredibly athletic, but extremely competitive,” Fedorinchik said. Fast forward to the end of the season and we go to the final four, and Tyler had a great year.”
Matteucci is hoping the Reps continue to improve with their record-setting goalie. Marquette, Houghton, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, East Grand Rapids, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Dearborn Divine Child are the other Division 3 quarterfinalists.
“As a coaching staff we like to talk about improvement and putting us in a situation where at the end of the year we've improved, and we have a chance,” Matteucci asserted. “If we're playing like we can, we have an opportunity for sure.”
The Reps are 15-12-1 on the season, coming off a 3-1 win over Petoskey in the Regional Final. Colton Davidson, Thatcher Beaudoin and Madden Pateman all scored against Petoskey. Picking up two assists was Chase Kent, while Luke Schulte, Jake Ingersoll and Nolan Ziecina each had one helper.
Boynton-Fisher stopped 22 shots in the Regional Final.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse Bay Reps goalie Tyler Boynton-Fischer guards his team’s net during a game this season. (Middle) Boynton-Fischer “kick-saves” in the Stanley Cup in 2008. (Below) Boynton-Fischer stands tall for the Reps, who have advanced to a Saturday Quarterfinal. (Action shot courtesy of the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Other photos are courtesy of the Boynton-Fischer family.)
DCC Repeats as 'Family' Meets in D1 Final
March 14, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
PLYMOUTH — There was a championship to be won. That was the focus. That's how Ryan Fischer would have wanted it.
So, it's understandable that following player introductions before the MHSAA Division 1 Hockey Final on Saturday night at Compuware Arena, many on the Grandville team didn't notice the tribute that came their way from the Detroit Catholic Central student section.
Chants of "Ryan Fischer ... Ryan Fischer" came from the young men in the Shamrocks' student section, a reference to the Grandville captain who died in his sleep the morning of the teams' Semifinal game on March 7, 2014.
"Honestly, (pregame) was a blur to me, but it also doesn't surprise me," Grandville coach Joel Breazeale said. "It's an amazing community of young people."
The teams put emotional bonds aside when the puck dropped, as Catholic Central jumped out to a 3-0 lead, had its advantage cut to one goal in the second period, then pulled away to repeat as Division 1 champion with a 5-2 victory.
The two teams formed a bond following the death of Fischer. Catholic Central traveled to Grand Rapids on Feb. 7 to play Grandville before 3,000 fans at Van Andel Arena in a game that didn't have the feel of the high-stakes rematch for the Division 1 championship.
"It was a really unusual game there," Catholic Central coach Danny Veri said. "It felt like you were playing a pickup game against a bunch of your family members. The intensity wasn't there. There was only one penalty. Everyone went through the motions. The event was really the focus and the game was almost secondary."
That wasn't the case Saturday night. The victory gave Catholic Central its 11th MHSAA title in the last 19 years and 12th overall, which ranks third behind Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood's 17 and Trenton's 14.
"It was really ironic that they were there," Veri said of the Bulldogs. "You almost feel bad winning against them. The team is nice people, the parents are all nice people. When we went there, they opened up their arms to us like we were family. We made it clear in the locker room we have a game to win and let's move forward."
Breazeale appreciates the support shown to the Grandville community by those at Catholic Central, but also respects the commitment to put that aside temporarily to play a physical sport the way it should be played.
"I don't know if you could ever ask for a better example of competitive sportsmanship that goes right to the level of passion, but somehow manages to keep the respect of the game in there," Breazeale said. "It's a remarkable example between both sports communities and certainly the young men who compete. It's very impressive, especially given what's at stake."
Honoring Fischer's memory was a catalyst for Grandville as it reached an MHSAA Final for the first time after making the Semifinals on two other occasions.
"It's been 53 weeks since March 7 of last year," said sophomore forward Connor Fischer, Ryan's brother. "It's been a journey on the ice and off the ice. We couldn't have made it this far without the support of the community and the support of the 20 kids in that room. It's been a good journey, a trying journey."
Catholic Central (24-5-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on first-period goals by JoJo Mancinelli and Andrew Spiegel and a rebound goal by Luc Krasicky at 6:30 of the second.
Grandville goalie Myles Madden stopped two breakaways in the first six minutes of the second period before Krasicky jammed one by him.
The Bulldogs (25-4-2), who were generating some good scoring chances early in the period, got back in the game in a hurry with two goals 14 seconds apart late in the second.
Jacob Baum caught a high rebound, put the puck down and scored with 3:10 left in the second period to put Grandville on the board. As that goal was being announced, Gianni Vitali cut the deficit to 3-2 when he banged in a rebound with 2:56 to go in the period.
The Bulldogs' momentum was short-lived, as Evan Rochowiak blasted a shot from the blue line past Madden on the power play with 1:50 remaining in the period.
"First of all, it was a great play on the power play by Blake (Veri)," Rochowiak said. "When they put two goals in and were one goal behind us, we were getting a little bit nervous. The goal took a little pressure off of us and let us start playing the way we did in the first period."
Rochowiak put the game away by burying a shot under the crossbar with 3:10 left in the third period.
"It's been unbelievably stressful," senior defenseman Andrew Lane said of Catholic Central's bid to repeat. "There's a lot of pressure from the school, parents, family, friends. Everyone's relying on you, especially this year. Last year, we had (injured teammate Matt) Sorisho to play for. This year we were kind of on our own without anyone to help us. Luckily, we had a team that all bought in to one program. It was unbelievable winning again. It was probably the best feeling in the world."
Grandville had only six more shots on goal after cutting Catholic Central's lead to 3-2 late in the second period.
Madden finished with 42 saves for Grandville, while Spencer Wright had 22 for Catholic Central.
"Today was the first day I saw him smile," Veri said of his goalie. "He's so even keel. Today literally was the first day I saw him smile. It was after the game when we were singing our song."
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central players hoist an MHSAA championship trophy for the second straight season. (Middle) Grandville’s Noah Weigle works to win a face off Saturday. (Photos by Andrew Knapik/Southgate).