This past Friday, the hockey community lost former Boston Bruins forward and former Boston sports radio host Lyndon Byers, who passed away at the age of 61. And while countless personalities in sports media were saddened by his passing, Greg Hill, Byers’ radio co-host for over two decades, understandably took the loss as hard as anyone.
For 23 years, Hill hosted the Hill Man Morning Show at WAAF in Boston alongside Byers before Hill left for WEEI in 2019. But even after the two broke up as on-air partners, Byers remained a close friend to Hill up until his passing.
Kicking off Monday’s edition of The Greg Hill Show at WEEI, Hill explained how the passing of his longtime colleague provided an example of why you should always check in with people close to you who aren’t feeling great, which Hill explained was the case with Byers back in February.
“I will say, this show is predominantly sports,” said Hill at the beginning on Monday’s show. “But I will also be unapologetic about this show today probably being full of a lot of L.B.. So, I am gutted by the passing of our pal, Lyndon Byers, over the weekend. L.B. and I were friends for 34 long years and coworkers on the same radio show for 23 years. So there is a lot to talk about when it comes to L.B., who passed away on Saturday.
“We last had him on this show in February. L.B. was a leap year baby, so he was celebrating his birthday. It was probably a month ago or so that I mentioned I had spoken to him and he was in the hospital dealing with this. It’s always a good lesson about making sure that when someone isn’t feeling great, you are always checking in with that person. Because you just never know. There is a lot to get to when it comes to L.B. on this show.”
As Hill alluded to, the majority of Monday’s show would be dedicated to honoring all that Byers meant to Hill specifically, and to Boston sports as a whole. A number of Byers’ former teammates, including Bob Sweeney and Ray Bourque, appeared on The Greg Hill Show on Monday to offer some kind words and share their favorite moments with their longtime teammate.
Hill also offered some further comments about his late colleague, explaining how Byers was one of the most giving people he has ever met, going into detail about his charitable work in the community.
“I will argue til I’m blue in the face, which I probably already am anyway, that there’s nobody who did more of that than L.B.,” said Hill. “You told him that you were trying to raise money doing something somewhere, he would show up and he’d hang out for five hours with everybody and have a blast. He might be late getting there, but he would have a great excuse. Nobody has a better excuse for missing work than L.B.”
Clearly, Byers’ impact went far further than his career in the NHL or his two-decade long radio career. The Boston Bruins issued a very touching statement on social media, describing Byers as someone who is “forever a part of the Bruins family.”
“The Boston Bruins are deeply saddened by the passing of Lyndon Byers,” the Bruins statement read. “Lyndon was a fan favorite across his nine seasons in the black and gold thanks to his rough-and-tumble style and was a key cog on the B’s teams that made trips to the Stanley Cup in 1988 and 1990.
“Following his playing career, Lyndon spent some 25 years as a local radio personality, entertaining scores of New Englanders every day with his quick with and boisterous voice. A son of Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Lyndon became a true Bostonian and we will miss him dearly. He is forever a part of our Bruins family. Our thoughts are with his wife, Annie, and his son, Will, during this very difficult time.”