Derek Ryan’s Unexpected but Amazing NHL career

Gregor: Your ability as a player must have changed a little bit before getting to the NHL. What did you focus on in Europe that allowed you to become a better player and maybe re-open the eyes of NHL scouts that you were a legitimate prospect?

Ryan: I think that’s another advantage that I had having my journey, kind of touching every rung of the ladder and different ladders along the way. I guess you could say I was able to change and adapt and grow in my game. I grew a lot as a Golden Bear on and off the ice. I matured, went to Austria, which is a pretty high-flying, high-scoring league — 5-4 or 6-5 games — so I think I learned a little bit of the offensive part of the game there, how to score and how to make plays. And the transition from Austria to Sweden was incredibly hard because Sweden is the opposite.

If it is a 1-0 game and Sweden then that is the best hockey game ever, so it’s really defensive, big goalies, big defensemen, strong, hard to get to the net. So, that’s the point in my career where I think I learned to play the defensive side a little bit more. I learned to grow my game, play the 200-foot centerman role, and I learned to score in hard, tight areas. That’s how you have to score there, so yeah I went from there and then, I mean, the change from European hockey to North America is huge.

The size of the ice is obviously different and the game is a little bit rougher here and more grinding along the boards, and the American League’s definitely a lot of that. I had to learn that and incorporate that in my game as well. So, as you see, every step in the journey, it kind of added a layer to my game and I grew and adapted, and the same is true for my time in the NHL. I’ve had to grow and adapt what I can do and what I can provide for the team here.

Gregor: Every coach I’ve ever talked to that’s had you as a player, the one repeated comment is your hockey smarts. Where do you think that comes from and can you describe for how important that is maybe for young players to really get a sense of how to play the game?

Ryan: Well, I think it’s huge, especially in today’s day and age where kids have so many resources to hone their skills. Every kid growing up now can skate, can shoot, can handle the puck way better than I could have back then just because of their training resources and what they’re able to do. However, I think quite a few of them struggle with how to play the game and kind of how to put it all together. They have all the tools, but they can’t put it all in the toolbox, so to speak.

Where did I get that? I don’t know. I mean, I think it just kind of came natural to me.

I guess it’s something that’s maybe god-given a little bit, but you kind of learn, as a guy, a player like I am. I’m not the fastest guy. I’m not Connor McDavid. Nobody is, but I don’t have his speed or his hands or his vision. You kind of have to grow your game a little bit a piece at a time, and I see guys like him, and I can add a piece of his game. Maybe I can see his vision or his poise with the puck, and then you see Leon (Draisaitl).

I don’t have his big body. I can’t protect the puck like he does, but I can see a little bit of layers that I can add. I can’t be like him, but I can add a little piece of his game, so I think I’ve just been good at that. I’ve been good at seeing other players, what they’re good at, and trying to, not emulate them, so to speak, but just add a little bit of their game to my game.

Gregor: You mentioned how you learned how to score in Sweden in small spaces. What did you learn? How do you become successful at scoring in small spaces?

Ryan: I think you’re just, well, there’s a lot to that as well, but the simplest thing is you have to be willing to get inside, get to the net, get to the scoring areas. Coaches across the league in the NHL, I’m sure, know the stats of where goals are scored from. There are not many guys who can score from outside the big house or whatever you call it. I don’t have the Ovie shot (Alex Ovechkin) or, I mean, even Kapi (Kasperi Kapanen) has an amazing shot. I don’t have that. So, you have to find ways to get inside.

And I don’t have a huge body either, so I can’t just go get to the net and stay there. The guys are going to be able to push me out. So, it’s working on timing, getting there at the right time when the puck’s going to be there, kind of meet it there.

There’s just lots of little things that I learned in Sweden because on the big ice in Sweden, they protect the middle. You can fly around the outside all day long. They’ll give you that, but you have to learn how to penetrate that, how to get in the middle and get to those scoring areas and get there when it counts.

Gregor: You’ve created something you’re very good at. You’re an elite face-off guy, and many of the best face-off guys are big. I don’t know if you want to give away tips at it, but what allowed you to get better as a smaller guy on face-offs?

Ryan: Well, with today’s video, I don’t think there’s any secrets that I could be hiding to keep me at the top or wherever I am, but I don’t know. I’m smaller, so I guess that gives me a little bit of leverage. I can get underneath people.

I’ve kind of grown and added layers to that in my NHL career as well. I started my career in Carolina and getting a lot of O-zone face-offs, and it’s a lot easier to win draws in the O-zone. You can [put your stick] down second.

You have an advantage there, and there are guys in Carolina like Jordan Stahl, Jay McClement, who are taking a lot of D-Zone draws, so I could watch them. Obviously, they’re bigger bodies, and they have a different style than I do, but again, I can see what they’re doing, tying guys up or trying to get over the dot a little bit more, owning the dot, so to speak. That’s what Rod Brind’amour liked to preach.

I could speak for hours on the intricacies of face-offs, but I’ve just tried to get better and better as I’ve grown here in the NHL. There’s a lot of people that come in and out of the NHL. It’s hard to stay here, and so I feel like you have to add valuable pieces in order to stay here for a long time — 600 games for myself, starting at 29.

That’s pretty good. I’m pretty proud of that.

Gregor: Your son’s big into hockey. He loves it. He’s old enough now to kind of understand what dad does. Kids can learn lots from their parents, just a work ethic, whether you’re a farmer, engineer, whatever. How important is that for you that your son can see your commitment, your perseverance without you having to say much?

Ryan: Yeah, I think that’s important. I think that’s part of the legacy that I’m trying to leave Zane and not just Zane, but my nephews and whatever family and friends, people I don’t know. It’s the impact that I try and leave on the hockey world, but I think he’s a little young still.

I think he sees that dad isn’t the flashy player that maybe some of the other players are, which is fine, but I think later in life he can look back when we’re looking at 97’s jersey in the rafters and knowing that dad played with him and was a part of something special here. That’ll hit him later in life, as most things do as your perspective changes. You grow and mature and all those things, but I think he’s learning a little bit.

He’s seeing what dad has had to do to stay in the league, what I’ve done to get here in the first place. It’s not something I preach to him for sure, but it’s something that he can see on his own.

Gregor: I’m told you were top-five in fitness testing at the start of the season again. You can’t stay in the league in your late 30s without being in good shape. Is that part of your motivation and can you put into perspective what game number 600, and now every other game, what it truly means to reach that type of milestone and become only the second guy to ever do it after making your debut at 29 years old? And does it motivate you to try and get to 700 games?

Ryan: I try not to do that because that’s kind of the message the whole career. I’m not looking towards the next step. I’m not looking towards Sweden or the American League or the NHL.

I’m looking towards what’s important right now. For me, obviously, I’m older, different perspective, but I think a lot of guys have the same perspective that we think we have something special here and that’s what we’re focusing on. We’re trying to do something special here.

I think that’s a big part of it. Obviously, fitness has been a big part of who I am the whole way. It’s a big part of my identity. As you get older, it just gets more and more important. I think my fitness has changed a little bit. I’m not getting under a 400-pound squat barbell anymore.

I’m just working more on my conditioning, trying to maintain some quickness and skill and all that kind of stuff. It’s all important. It’s all layers to the whole onion that I’m trying to put together, which is my identity as a hockey player. That’s a small layer of the onion of who I am as a person too. I guess that’s it.

Gregor: Lastly, Derek, everybody in this room is ultra competitive. You don’t get to the NHL without that drive, but now you are in a depth player role. Some nights you’re in, some nights you’re out. I’m sure deep down you’re disappointed any game you don’t play. How do you put that aside at this stage to make sure that you can be the best teammate even if you don’t play every night?

Ryan: Yeah, that’s a good question. I think the biggest thing for me is that I’ve been around long enough now that I’ve seen both sides of that. I’ve seen the guys who are in and out of the lineup and they’re moping around, they’re sad, they’re mad, they’re pouting, whatever it is.

That’s just an energy suck. Nobody wants that around. Like I said, I’m trying to be part of something special here.

Whether that means I’m playing every night or every third night or whatever it is, I’m trying to focus on what’s important now, which is what’s right in front of me. What can I do today if I’m playing? What can I do to help the team win? If I’m not playing, then that’s great too. What can I do to get better and be ready when it is my turn to play?

FINAL CHAPTER…

Ryan played his 603rd NHL game on January 11th. He was placed on waivers on January 19th, cleared on the 20th and will now report to Bakersfield in the American League. He hasn’t played in the AHL since November 10th, 2016. Ryan will go to the AHL, be a mentor for young players, but also keep working hard in case the Oilers need him. He won’t look too far ahead or worry about the future.

His focus has always been on where he is at, and in Bakersfield he’ll be a mentor with many stories and lessons to share with young players who would love nothing more than to have as successful of an NHL career as Ryan’s.