Interesting piece about Terry Ryan

[calder candidate]

Sad that he didn't make but you can't be sorry for the guy he didn't really help him self. Not trying is one thing showing up drunk and all theat other crazy stuff is pure sabotage...

 

[Habs]

Oh Jesus, not hard to tell. Chance to be a star with the Canadiens and threw it away over Pejorative Sluriness(read his book you will know then). He was on the cuff of being a top Hab, but yet all he wanted to do was get loaded and naked with a bunch of prostitutes. Bit of Bryan Fogarty and touch of Theo Fleury.

Wasn't just pissing in the trainer's apple juice or hooker's nailing him with bananas. It was constant like that with him. From showing up to practice loaded to going to a movie dressed only in a cowboy hat and his underwear.

By time he set out training camp, trying to force Habs to trade him, no team would touch him. He wasn't even bright enough to know it.

Terry Ryan couldn't skate, and his hockey IQ was non-existent. Montreal scouting was about the same calibre as Douglas Murray's speed.

 

[Scintillating10]

Terry Ryan couldn't skate, and his hockey IQ was non-existent. Montreal scouting was about the same calibre as Douglas Murray's speed.

What has happened is scouting has become more of a science than it was 20 years ago. And still evolving. So these mistakes occur less and less. Ryan said Habs never interviewed him and Jersey only team to give him VO2 test. Both standard tests today.

 

[Beige Van]

Just finishing last two chapters of Ryan's book. Couple of the stories. He said he use to carry a few 1000 bills in his wallet. Never spent them, just for going into bars in different cities, pick out best looking ladies and buy them a drink. Let them get a glance in his wallet so they think he is rich. Said it worked many times to get him laid. One time he was in Quebec City, try this, worked good, took the lady back to his room. He was loaded, passed out when he came to she was gone and his 1000 dollar bills also. Another time he picked up this chick at a bar, he was drunk. They made out, but then she said it was wrong time of month. So, she gave him oral sex, next day he told his teammates and they were like...what? That was a guy in drag. Ryan was so drunk he didn't know the difference.

The last year he played in ECHL, he had chipped a tooth playing ball hockey before camp. He never had no money to get it fixed. He knew the team had insurance on their players in case of injury during camp. He was drunk and came up with this idea to knock the tooth out with a hammer and say it happened in practice. He couldn't knock it out at first, so he switched to a maul. But he hit himself too hard it knocked out 4 front teeth. So, he taped his teeth to himself and when to practice, skated behind the net got a teammate to shoot puck in his vicinity. He went down on ice and tossed the teeth on the ice and cut his lip. Making it look like he got hit with a puck. So he could get his teeth fixed free.

This made me laugh uncontrollably for a few secs

 

[K9]

Great link. Thanks.

The article points out, contrary to wide held belief, that the ECHL is a very good league. Most drafted players have at least one or two outstanding skills or traits(skating, shooting, quickness, etc.) but just lack the total package needed to move up the hockey food chain.

Former Canadien 2nd round draft pick Cory Urquhart had a wrister which most NHLers would envy. His skating was decent enough to get him to the NHL level, but his laxness defensively and his below average passing ability (vision/hockey IQ) prevented him from ever getting above the AHL level. But, he was still a very talented player and fun to watch. In the former run-and-gun era of the NHL in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, I think a player like Urquhart had a place on an NHL roster.

Many undersized players (Desharnais-size AND SMALLER) populate ECHL rosters. Plenty of skill and savvy, but lacking the all important size portion of the equation. Many future NHL goaltenders (Quick, Reimer, Thomas, the writer of the linked article and more) spent significant time in the ECHL as well.

Certainly, there are slugs galore in the ECHL, but there is enough talent overall which make the ECHL game much more highly-skilled than commonly perceived. But, Terry Ryan, by the time he fell to the ECHL, wasn't even a standout at that level.

A few years ago, I played in a decent league in Dallas and one night we had an open shinny night and an ECHL player dropped in to play with us. He was miles above everyone else, it wasn't even funny. Was going half speed and if he didn't want, no one else touched the puck. It was amazing to think just how good you have to be in the ECHL, let alone the show. Truly incredible.

Edit: back on topic, I've already pre ordered Terry's book on my iPad and can't wait to read it. I always find it very refreshing when people can honestly reflect on their failures. Derek Sanderson's book was great and touching for the same reason.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Lol reading those stories, sounds like a pretty big meathead.

 

[smon]

Just finishing last two chapters of Ryan's book. Couple of the stories. He said he use to carry a few 1000 bills in his wallet. Never spent them, just for going into bars in different cities, pick out best looking ladies and buy them a drink. Let them get a glance in his wallet so they think he is rich. Said it worked many times to get him laid. One time he was in Quebec City, try this, worked good, took the lady back to his room. He was loaded, passed out when he came to she was gone and his 1000 dollar bills also. Another time he picked up this chick at a bar, he was drunk. They made out, but then she said it was wrong time of month. So, she gave him oral sex, next day he told his teammates and they were like...what? That was a guy in drag. Ryan was so drunk he didn't know the difference.

The last year he played in ECHL, he had chipped a tooth playing ball hockey before camp. He never had no money to get it fixed. He knew the team had insurance on their players in case of injury during camp. He was drunk and came up with this idea to knock the tooth out with a hammer and say it happened in practice. He couldn't knock it out at first, so he switched to a maul. But he hit himself too hard it knocked out 4 front teeth. So, he taped his teeth to himself and when to practice, skated behind the net got a teammate to shoot puck in his vicinity. He went down on ice and tossed the teeth on the ice and cut his lip. Making it look like he got hit with a puck. So he could get his teeth fixed free.

Hahaha. That actually made me laugh out loud.

He can write a very entertaining book, give him that.

 

[Kimota]

The ECHL guys are pros.....they're just a million miles away from the big time Desharnais' first contract was for $400 per week, housing, per diems and exciting bus tours of the American midwest to incredible destinations like Wheeling, West Virginia.

I thought that Cedrick Desjardins had a very good chance to make it to the NHL. But, the one guy who I saw and I thought had every tool to make it to the NHL is a defenseman named Adam Comrie who is now playing in the AHL.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=99547

Comrie played a very short time in Cincinnati before he had some what I'll call "difficulties" when he quit the team and walked away from his entry-level NHL deal with the Florida Panthers. He has size, can skate well, has an excellent shot, decent vision of the ice and a bit of a mean streak. I don't follow his career as he was such a short termer in Cincinnati so I don't know how he is progressing as a player.

Greg Stewart, who was the toast of Montreal for a day in his brief stint with the Habs, was a guy who made it and I (and his coach in Cincinnati) were stunned that he ever wore an NHL sweater. Frederic St. Denis had some time Cincinnati and ultimately had a cup of coffee with the Canadiens but he didn't have the feel of an NHLer to me. Solid player but didn't see the NHL tool box in him.

As I've gotten older and can appreciate (and better identify) potential role players, there was a kid named Garrett Wilson who played in Cincinnati for 2 years who looked like he might have what it took to be an energy liner in the NHL. He got his first call up recently for the Florida Panthers.

Oh, and there's this kid named Torry Gajda who I just knew was going to get a shot in the NHL. His career ended a year later after never getting a call up to the AHL. So went my scouting career

Oh man Gregory Stewart. I don't know if it was he who self-destructed or if it was the Habs who missed the boat with him. I know that at one point he seemed like a real spark plug and then at the end he wasn't even a good grinder. I think it was either Carbo or Jacques Martin who coached him. And on his first game, he dropped the gloves and impressed everybody. The next day he was sent back down to the minors. I wonder if it's the reason that screwed him up. Like maybe he thought "hey maybe they didn't like that that I did that". I always find that curious. But little by little his game started to lose "personality" and at the end he didn't even fight anybody.

 

[Scintillating10]

Now know why fighters by 30 or so are not the same ie. BGL or Parros. Their bodies are so beatup

 

[FinnHab]

Do i remember correctly that Ryan is still very bitter towards Therrien? When Bergy hired MT, Ryan(?) gave absolutely ****st** interview about MT in Tony Marinaro radio-show?

 

[Scintillating10]

Do i remember correctly that Ryan is still very bitter towards Therrien? When Bergy hired MT, Ryan(?) gave absolutely ****st** interview about MT in Tony Marinaro radio-show?

In his book...he's not bitter. Ryan says its all water under the bridge now

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Oh man Gregory Stewart. I don't know if it was he who self-destructed or if it was the Habs who missed the boat with him. I know that at one point he seemed like a real spark plug and then at the end he wasn't even a good grinder. I think it was either Carbo or Jacques Martin who coached him. And on his first game, he dropped the gloves and impressed everybody. The next day he was sent back down to the minors. I wonder if it's the reason that screwed him up. Like maybe he thought "hey maybe they didn't like that that I did that". I always find that curious. But little by little his game started to lose "personality" and at the end he didn't even fight anybody.

Stewart's moment of glory in his first game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwX5udID13M

I don't know what happened to Stewart in Montreal, but he really never had the size to be an enforcer in the NHL. He was listed at 6'2" 185 lbs. He was an ok fighter in the ECHL as best I recall, but nothing special.

His career ended up going full circle. His last season in north america he ended up back in the ECHL.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=76908

 

[donghabs98]

I just got the book in the mail today and I'm excited to read it!

 

[yoyo999]

A few years ago, I played in a decent league in Dallas and one night we had an open shinny night and an ECHL player dropped in to play with us. He was miles above everyone else, it wasn't even funny. Was going half speed and if he didn't want, no one else touched the puck. It was amazing to think just how good you have to be in the ECHL, let alone the show. Truly incredible.

Edit: back on topic, I've already pre ordered Terry's book on my iPad and can't wait to read it. I always find it very refreshing when people can honestly reflect on their failures. Derek Sanderson's book was great and touching for the same reason.

I used to play shiny in Oakville, ON and have heard hockey stories from guys who were friends with Steve Mason. When Steve was in the OHL he'd come out and play with them and he would play out as a player. Even as a player, it wasn't even close.

 

[Scintillating10]

http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand-3/A-Tale-Of-A-First-Round-Nothing-pts-20140417-Interview.mp3

 

[FerrisRox]

I just finished this last night.

I really enjoyed the book. Ryan shares his stories with a brutal level of honesty and instead of looking back on his career with regret about what could have been he instead chooses to be really proud that he made it to to the NHL and, most of all, that he got to play for the Montreal Canadiens.

I'd definitely recommend this book to any Habs fans, though really much of the book deals with his time in junior and minor pro.

 

[FerrisRox]

None of those are worse than Brett Lindros, who in his draft year had 10 points in 15 games with 94 PIM. That's all he had and that was good enough for Mike Milbury to draft him 9th overall. Why? Because he was Eric's little brother, he was 6'4" and weighed 245lbs.

To put into perspective, Steve Nimigon had 13 points in 39 games with the Niagara Falls Thunder in his draft year. 6'3" winger over 200lbs. His draft position? 265th overall in 1994.

Brett spent the bulk of his draft year playing for the Canadian National team, playing with and against players much older and more experienced then he was.

 

[FerrisRox]

Alexandre Daigle is the biggest bust imo

The guy scored 20-goals three times in his NHL career, including as an 18-year old rookie. Regardless of the hype around him, there's no way a multi-20 goal scorer is the biggest bust ever, especially when he played 10 years in the league.

 

[FerrisRox]

He was from Quesnel... typical behavior from that region. Quesnel BC, where most family trees have no branches.

He's from Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, not Quesnel. Just went there to play a season so he'd be eligible to play in the WHL.

 

[Scintillating10]

In the FAN interview he says much of his NHL failure was being drafted by Savard regime and Houle wanted to go with his own guys. Compares his junior career to guys like Tucker and Asham and how they did well after leaving Montreal. Why he wanted out but Houle refused to move him. Then he had the personality conflict with Therrein in AHL. Which some do ie. Subban. Concussions he never touched on it book but mentions here, kind of surprising. Then he suuffered a high ankle sprain which officially ended his NHL career.

 

[Drunk World Order]

I ran into Terry Ryan today in Toronto at a Tim Hortons in downtown. He was promoting his book in a few different TV interviews. He was very friendly and open and engaging. I know he made some bad choices but seemed very humble and engaging when I met him. He's very excited about his book he said he is doing very well in presales and that its has receieved some good reviews. He talked about a possible documentary about first round bust he said he's unsure if he wants to be a part of it but its being shopped to him. He did mention that it would include the likes of Patrick Stefan, Daniel Tkaczuk and Alexandre Daigle to name a few.

He states he's still a fan of the Canadiens and that he believes they could go deep into the playoffs. He said that he believes Carey Price is the best goaltender in the league. He also mentioned that he does not like Thierien as a coach and that the habs should have taken Roy over him. He does not believe that the habs will be able to sign Subban as he does not have a good relationship with Thierien and if the relationship cannot not be fixed he will not re-sign in Montreal. He did however state that he believes Vanek will sign in Montreal as his line has been one of the best in the league. Also stated that the habs should sign both Markov and Gionta to deals and also believes that Gallagher should be the next captain in about 2 years.

I spent about 20 minutes with him and there was another guy who recognized him and asked him a bunch of questions. He was a really nice guy I hope this book will change his life for the better.

 

[LaP]

IMHO, the best part for the Habs drafting Terry Ryan was.........Serge Savard passed on Jerome Iginla to pick RYAN!

Iginla was playing for one of the best junior team in the last 20 years. The year he was drafted he was not really a top player in this team. It was probably hard to evaluate how good he was because other players in this team had the spotlight on them.

 

[TheCanasianfrasian]

Article about this book today on lapresse.ca

There is an exerpt about TR's 1st meeting with MT hahaha i burst out laughing.
Too lazy to translate

Au milieu de notre repas de poulet, pâtes et légumes, nous pouvions sentir une odeur de fumée quelqu'un avait allumé une cigarette. À la table d'à côté, Therrien fumait une cigarette après son repas. Je trouvais cela étrange, pour ne pas dire non professionnel. (...) Mike a remarqué mon visage stupéfait et m'a fait signe de venir m'asseoir à côté de lui. Son accent demeure gravé dans mon lobe frontal comme une mauvaise chanson qui ne nous sort pas de la tête. C'était un mélange unique de français et d'anglais avec un soupçon d'ignorance et de narcissisme, mêlé au son râpeux du fumeur en série. «Sais-tu pourquoi je fume? a-t-il demandé. Because I ****ing can. Et je peux t'envoyer dans la ECHL demain.» Ç'a été ça, mon étrange première rencontre avec Michel Therrien.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

In his book...he's not bitter. Ryan says its all water under the bridge now

This sounds pretty bitter to me :

Anyhow, halfway through our staple meal of chicken, pasta and veggies, we could smell smoke - someone had lit a cigarette. When we looked at the next table, Therrien was having a smoke after eating. I thought this was odd, not to mention unprofessional. (It may even have been illegal - I can't remember if smoking in a hotel conference room that served food was against the law back then, but I sure as hell know nobody else present would have had the balls to try to pull it off.) Mike noticed my glare of amazement and called me over to sit across from him. His accent remains drilled into my frontal lobe like a bad song that won't go away. It's a unique blend of French and English, with a dash of ignorance and narcissism, mixed witha chain-smoker's rasp. "Do you know why I am smoking?" he asked. "Because I ****ing can - and I can send you down to the ECHL tomorrow." This was it, my strange introduction to Michel Therrien.

Also said MT was the only coach who gave him "the tap" to go fight. Which MT denies.

The guy seems really bitter about MT to me.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

I followed Ryan's career quite a bit and was happy we drafted him but no question the Habs ruined him like they have with many of their picks in the 90s with poor player development starting with trying to put square pegs in round holes, Pacs is probably the only one that stood up and said no he'd rather play top minutes in the minors than 4th line in the NHL. Ryan was a 50 G scorer in junior and Habs try to make him into a goon cause the old boys club wouldn't play rookies in prominent roles until they earned it

No questions uh ? No other possibilities ? It's not the booze, drugs, hoes, lack of respect to his coach, lack of brains ? The habs ruined him...