Though undrafted, he was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets and assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League at the end of the 2001–02 season.

[1] Sloan spent the next seven seasons bouncing around the minors, playing for the Dayton Bombers and Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, as well as the AHL's Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears.

[4] A month later on July 28, Sloan was signed as a free agent by the Nashville Predators on a one-year deal.

Tyler used the dedication his sister showed in attempting to win a spot on the Canadian Olympic team as inspiration in his own hockey career.

[1] His sister's journal of her attempts to qualify for the Olympics motivated Tyler: "Swimmers are tremendous athletes.