Despite his puppy eyes and his charming smile, Dane is not someone you can trust. Used to making his own path into this world, he is resourceful and clever, but he is also selfish, thinking about his own interests before anyone else’s. When he gets closer to someone, it is always hard to know if he is genuine or if he is trying to get something out of the relationship. But despite those bad sides, Dane remains the life of the party, always down for shenanigans.
Born from an Italian mother and an American father, Dane grew up near the water. Soothing by the sound of the sea, the young boy had no issue making a place for himself in the world, creating some strong friendships and idealizing his life in Honolulu, knowing that this was the best place in the world and the only location he could ever live in.
But at the age of 12, he had to move. As his father got a new job opportunity on the East coast, the whole family had to leave the island in order to head to the mainlander part of the US. Such a big change in his life combined to puberty created a new Dane, less inclined to obey his parents – with whom he already had some issues – and more focused on doing stupid things. They did not know it back then, but what was supposed to be a positive change in the Byers life turned into the beginning of a nightmare. As the teenager was doing his best to make his parents pay for the move, the father became more and more addicted to alcohol. His job opportunity was not as great as he thought it would be, but the family had spent their entire savings to make the move from the island to the East coast, making Dane’s father turn towards his bottles in desperation. While the one-glass per day slowly turned into more as the months went by, the dad changed, too. He couldn’t bear critics nor remarks, he couldn’t bear his teenage son calling him a coward and a loser. Dane still remembers those late nights. He still remembers the fights and the abuse he would suffer, his father making sure that he would find in this dynamic the power he had lost in his job even though it meant hurting his own child.
At the age of 18, the male escaped from his messy family by taking a job as a mechanic in a garage nearby. That is where he met Grant, a fifty-something who put enough faith in Dane to let him repair his vintage car. Happy with the result, the older male started to recommend the mechanic to his friends, allowing the younger man to create a network. Building a life of his own, Dane started traveling through the East coast, wherever someone would need him to rebuild their car until he eventually started to sell them, too. In his hands, a vintage car could get a second life and he could make dollars out of it.
But everything was not safe in his hands. Dane’s charming smile was a trap and he became one to Vivienne. She was beautiful, wild, younger… and naive. With her, he felt free. With her, he felt powerful. For the first time, he was not the one being submissive. For once, he was the one with power, the one in charge. Dane fell for her for the wrong reasons, unable to see that he was toxic to the girl. He could only see the benefits he was getting from this relationship, convinced that she was on the same wavelength. And yet, there was no doubt in his mind when things went south and Vivienne got arrested. Dane had too much to lose. He sacrificed his girlfriend.
Feeling guilty about it in his loneliest nights, the male went back to his life, expanding his network and making a name for himself. Eventually, a new job offer came to him. Someone needed his skills in Merrock, Viv’s hometown. And although the money was big, knowing that his ex-girlfriend might be there was another good reason to accept the deal.
personality: Despite his puppy eyes and his charming smile, Dane is not someone you can trust. Used to making his own path into this world, he is resourceful and clever, but he is also selfish, thinking about his own interests before anyone else’s. When he gets closer to someone, it is always hard to know if he is genuine or if he is trying to get something out of the relationship. But despite those bad sides, Dane remains the life of the party, joking around and always down for shenanigans.
BACKGROUND / BIO
tw: alcoholism, abuse, toxic relationship
Born from an Italian mother and an American father, Dane grew up near the water. Soothing by the sound of the sea, the young boy had no issue making a place for himself in the world, creating some strong friendships and idealizing his life in Honolulu, knowing that this was the best place in the world and the only location he could ever live in.
But at the age of 12, he had to move. As his father got a new job opportunity on the East coast, the whole family had to leave the island in order to head to the US. Such a big change in his life combined to puberty created a new Dane, less inclined to obey his parents – with whom he already had some issues – and more focused on doing stupid things. They did not know it back then, but what was supposed to be a positive change in the Byers life turned into the beginning of a nightmare. As the teenager was doing his best to make his parents pay for the move, the father became more and more addicted to alcohol. His job opportunity was not as great as he thought it would be, but the family had spent their entire savings to make the move from the island to the East coast, making Dane’s father turn towards his bottles in desperation. While the one-glass per day slowly turned into more as the months went by, the dad changed, too. He couldn’t bear critics nor remarks, he couldn’t bear his teenage son calling him a coward and a loser. Dane still remembers those late nights. He still remembers the fights and the abuse he would suffer, his father making sure that he would find in this dynamic the power he had lost in his job even though it meant hurting his own child.
At the age of 18, the male escaped from his messy family by taking a job as a mechanic in a garage nearby. That is where he met Grant, a fifty-something who put enough faith in Dane to let him repair his vintage car. Happy with the result, the older male started to recommend the mechanic to his friends, allowing the younger man to create a network. Building a life of his own, Dane started traveling through the East coast, wherever someone would need him to rebuild their car until he eventually started to sell them, too. In his hands, a vintage car could get a second life and he could make dollars out of it.
But everything was not safe in his hands. Dane's charming smile was a trap and he became one to Vivienne. She was beautiful, wild, younger… and naive. With her, he felt free. With her, he felt powerful. For the first time, he was not the one being submissive. For once, he was the one with power, the one in charge. Dane fell for her for the wrong reasons, unable to see that he was toxic to the girl. He could only see the benefits he was getting from this relationship, convinced that she was on the same wavelength. And yet, there was no doubt in his mind when things went south and Vivienne got arrested. Dane had too much to lose. He sacrificed his girlfriend.
Feeling guilty about it in his loneliest nights, the male went back to his life, expanding his network and making a name for himself. Eventually, a new job offer came to him. Someone needed his skills in Merrock, Viv's hometown. And although the money was big, knowing that his ex-girlfriend might be there was another good reason to accept the deal.
Merrock would like to welcome DANE BYERS! D (he/him, cis man) was born on July 4, 1991 in Honolulu, Hawaii and has been in town for one week (July 9, 2022). Currently, they live in the Coast & Pier and are working as a car seller and a mechanic. They look a little bit like Matthew Daddario, no? – written by: Ana, she/her, gmt, 25.
Welcome to Merrock, Ana! We’re so excited to see D here in town. Have a look at our welcome page, and be sure to send in your account within 48 hours, and your bio form as soon as possible. Thank you! xx
CANTLON: WOLF PACK GROWING STRONGER IN TIGHT 2-1 WIN OVER HERSHEY
BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT - Steven Fogarty had a goal and an assist and provided strong team play allowing the Hartford Wolf Pack to collect their ninth win of the season while maintaining their status as the AHL’s best team as they took the first of a weekend's three-games-in-three days with a 2-1 win over visiting Hershey Bears.
The Wolf Pack (9-1-0-3) play on Saturday night at 7:30 pm on the backend of a hockey doubleheader with UCONN. Hershey (6-5-1-1-) heads to Allentown, PA to play the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Wolf Pack caught some early puck luck to start the third period.
A broken play allowed Fogarty to snatch a Hershey clearing attempt off the glass, and then while off-balance got a shot toward the net.
Darren Raddysh cut through the right-wing circle and was able to get enough of a piece of the puck to get the red light turned on with what proved to be the game-winner at the 22-second mark.
"Any time you get the puck to the net, you’ll get rebounds or a deflection or something. I just threw it at the net and was fortunate Raddysh was able to get a piece of it,” Fogarty, with six points in his last five games, said.
Raddysh, who was coached by current Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch, while playing in juniors, felt his play tonight was not something he hadn’t seen before. “He does so many things. He did a great job managing the puck and getting it up to our forwards tonight.”
The Pack did so many of the small things needed to win this game. Rookie Nick Jones won two late faceoffs from veteran center Mike Sgarbossa. Boo Nieves blocked a late-in-the-game shot while Raddysh played a strong two-way game.
“We’ve been rewarding him (Jones) with the play. He has earned it. We've been having him take the right side draws, and it worked well, and those were big draws. We rely on him on the penalty kill and late in the game,” Knoblauch said of his rookie centerman out of the University of North Dakota.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin continued to show his net mastery and calm demeanor in key situations. He stopped Hershey’s Alex Jonsson-Fjallby twice in the last five minutes with two strong left-wing chances.
“Shesterkin reads the play well and anticipates what the other team is going to do so well. He’s got a lot of hockey smarts,” Knoblauch said with a smile.
Hershey broke the scoreless contest in the second period just after the Wolf Pack's third powerplay ended.
The Bears rearguard, Christian Djoos, was at the left point and saw an open lane as Ville Meskanen peeled off to go cover the right point. Djoos was able to launch his shot with the red-hot, Sgarbossa in front. Sgarbossa was credited with the tip-in for his sixth goal of the season with a strong position on defenseman Vincent LoVerde at 7:27.
Hershey effectively kept the Wolf Pack to the boards for a majority of the second period. After three early shots on net, the next six were spread out until the last minute of the period when the Wolf Pack tied the game.
Nieves won a critical offensive zone draw from Sgarbossa. The puck came back to defenseman Joey Keane at the right point, who waited patiently for the play to develop.
Keane scooted around the Liam O’Brien and zipped a cross-ice pass to Fogarty who was wide-open. Fogarty deposited his third of the season over a fallen Bears goalie, Vitek Vanecek.
“He showed so much composure (Keane) to make that play. He had a chance to shoot it, but we didn’t have anybody up-front at the net (yet) and it wouldn’t have been a quality scoring chance. He faked the shot, moved to the right, and he slipped it back door to Fogarty. It was just a heck of a play,” Knoblauch stated.
The Pack's best scoring chance didn’t count as a shot when LoVerde rang one off the pipe at 6:53.
It was a chessboard hockey game over the first 10-minutes of the game with Hershey having the lead in shots, 2-1.
The teams finally got some space to operate with which got the crowd into the game.
The first quality chance came with Ty Ronning taking a perfect lead pass from Keane before going backhand-to-forehand but Vanacek denied him at 10:39.
Hershey defenseman, Martin Fehervarty, turned the puck over deep in the Bears zone while on the powerplay. With Jones heavily forechecking, he took the puck away and looked first for Tim Gettinger who was coming in backdoor off the right-wing side. Instead, Jones caught the trailer LoVerde, but he was stopped.
65 seconds later at 15:25, Gabriel Fontaine was flying off the left-wing and eluded the check of Bears defenseman, Connor Hobbs. Fontaine spotted Vinni Lettieri who was open at the right side of the net and he missed the open left side slipping it past the post.
In the waning seconds of the first period on the Wolf Pack’s second powerplay, Phil DiGiuseppe was on the right-wing and sent a cross-ice pass dead center to Patrick Newell, who made an open-blade redirect that Vanecek stopped with his right pad with about 13 seconds to go.
The Pack held the shot advantage at 9-6 heading into the first intermission.
NOTES:
The Wolf Pack powerplay remains dead last in the AHL at 8% and has not scored a PPG since Keane's tally on October 26th in Bridgeport. The current streak now sits at 0-21 over a six-game span.
LINES:
Nieves-Fogarty-DiGiuseppe
O’Regan-Lettieri-Fontaine
Gettinger-Jones-Newell
Ronning-Meskanen-Zerter-Gossage
LoVerde-Raddysh
Day-Ebert
Geersten-Keane
SCRATCHES:
Matt Beleskey (upper body)
Jeff Taylor
Ryan Dmowski.
Pack Fan Jersey of the Night:
#34 Dane Byers. a one time captain who is now retired
#81 Fedor Fedorov, who didn't exactly have a good run with the team.
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