Darryl Sydor, perhaps the most important mid-season acquisition of the Tampa Bay Lightning during its Stanley Cup season, faces two counts of drunken driving involving endangerment of a child in Minnesota.
Sydor, 43, who said last spring he was a recovering alcoholic, was arrested Thursday evening when he failed field sobriety tests after being stopped by police. Tests showed he has a blood alcohol reading of 0.30 percent, almost twice the legal limit of .16.
Sydor, now the assistant coach of the Minnesota Wild, was driving his 12-year-old son to his hockey game. He was released after his bail was set at $12,000.
In April, Sydor said he had sought treatment for alcoholism last summer. He had the dates of his sobriety tattooed on each hand between his thumb and forefinger as a reminder that he should not drink. However, police stopped him for driving erratically. He had trouble finding his driver’s license, and officers said his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. One of the officers drove the child to his game, and arrangements were made with his coach to get him back home.
Twice in his playing career, once with Dallas and once with Tampa Bay, Sydor was a member of a Stanley Cup winning team.
Sydor, the seventh overall pick in 1990 by the Kings, played 18 seasons for six different teams. He is part owner of the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers. He came to the Lightning in the 2003-04 season and played 111 games over two years, scoring five times but adding a steadying defensive presence.
