Jerry Byers is one of only a handful of Annapolis Valley born players to reach the NHL. An all around athlete, Jerry came into prominence as an outstanding scorer in the local minor ranks and as a member of Kings County Academy (KCA) interscholastic team. The KCA team won provincial high school hockey titles in 1968 and 1969 with Byers in the limelight.

Byers then spent a couple of very productive seasons with Kitchener of the powerful Ontario Junior “A” League. He was then drafted 13th during the summer of 1972 where he joined the Minnesota North Stars affiliate the Cleveland Barons. He scored 31 goals and 47 assists in 62 games with New Haven of the AHL in 1973-74. Byers was also named to the Second All-Star Team that year.

He scored his first NHL goal with the Atlanta Flames and later skated with the 1977-78 New York Rangers. He returned to Nova Scotia as a member of the Voyageurs from 1979 to 1981 where he then went on to spend a couple of seasons in Austria in the European League. Recurring injuries took their toll and forced Byers into retirement. Jerry Byers was elected into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1990.