Former Golden Bear plays 600th NHL game

Former Golden Bear and current center for the Oilers, Derek Ryan, just played his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) game. This is quite a milestone for a guy who didn’t make it to the pros until he was 29.

Though on his way to every hockey player’s dream, Ryan grew a lot with Bears.

“It was definitely a part of my development as a person, maturing and then hockey. I think it’s underrated. I think it’s really good hockey,” Ryan said.

Ryan’s time with the Bears

You can assume that any player good enough to play in the NHL absolutely blew it out of the park in college hockey. And you’d be right.

Ryan earned 146 points with the Bears over 109 games, but his career high of plus-25 in 28 games might be his biggest college highlight. Aside from winning a national championship his rookie year, of course.

But Ryan acknowledged that U Sports is a tough league, and for the most part, underrated.

“It’s not an easy league to score points in or have success in, so it definitely helped me to take that step to be a pro hockey player later in my career.”

But could Ryan have joined the pro’s earlier? Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch seems to think so.

“The fact that he plays his first NHL game at 29 and then plays 500-plus since, tells me that he probably could have made the NHL before 29. It was just that he was overlooked,” Knoblauch said.

Ryan has had an interesting career on his way to the NHL

Ryan didn’t jump straight to the NHL from the Bears — he earned is way up. In fact, he spent four years in Europe, then played a season in the American Hockey League (AHL). And just like his time with the Bears, that development added a layer to his success.

As most will agree, playing hockey in Austria and Sweden is not the same as playing in North America. The ice is bigger and the game is less physical. Even the difference between Austria and Sweden is profound.

Games in Austria are offensive heavy, and 10-plus goal games are not uncommon. Conversely, in the Swedish Hockey League — largely considered the third best hockey league in the world — games are typically low scoring.

Why does this matter? Development. Every time Ryan switched leagues, he had to adapt his style of play. This made him a reliable and consistent player that can adjust to playing against the young, emerging talent in the NHL.

So he’s in the NHL, what does this tell us?

Anytime U Sports athletes are compared to professional leagues, there’s one common factor — college players bring the experience from a longer developmental arch. We saw this when U Sport selects played world junior hopefuls, and we see this with Ryan in the NHL.

“You’re not going to get the players out of U Sports that are going to go to the NHL and be star players, but there are definitely a lot of players that can move on to the American League and then move on and be a NHL player,” Knoblauch said.

By the time Ryan made it to the NHL, he became a role player, perfectly suited for fourth line duty. Keep in mind that these spots are rare and need to be filled by very capable players. At 600 games, it’s worked out pretty well for him.