Ryan Hollweg
Hollweg with thePortland Pirates in 2011
Born	(1983-04-23)April 23, 1983 (age 41) Downey,California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Czech team Former teams	HC Škoda Plzeň New York Rangers Toronto Maple Leafs Phoenix Coyotes
NHL draft	238th overall,2001 New York Rangers
Playing career	2005–2018

Ryan Alexander Hollweg (born April 23, 1983) is a former American-Canadian professionalice hockeyforward. He was playing his last season withHC Škoda Plzeň in theCzech Extraliga (Czech).

As the son of aBrazilian father of German descent andCanadian mother, Hollweg chose hockey oversoccer.^{[citation needed]} Even as a young boy, he assumed that someday he would be a professional hockey player. Because hisSouthern California hometown did not have a hockey program, his mother would drive him to neighboring cities to attend hockey clinics.^{[citation needed]} He played in the 1996Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Team Californiaminor ice hockey team.^[1] He left Downey at 14 to playjunior hockey inBritish Columbia, and was impressive in scoring 54 points in 58 games in 1998–99 for theLangley Hornets (BCHL). In 1999, he was drafted #1 by theMedicine Hat Tigers (Western Hockey League). There, he was known as both a scorer and a tough player, even winning Player of the Week honors twice in his four seasons.^{[citation needed]}

The 5'11", 212-pounder was drafted by the New York Rangers in the eighth round (238th overall) of the2001 NHL Entry Draft. Ex Rangers coachTom Renney, who was director of player personnel at the time, states that although he had doubts about Hollweg's small size, his heart was the difference. "You want to give him a try. You just don't discount the heart and the character of a guy like that. Because these kinds of people will themselves into those opportunities."^{[citation needed]}

Playing with theMedicine Hat Tigers in theWHL, Hollweg missed most of the2002–03 season due to a severeconcussion, but bounced back to score 57 points in2003–04. He spent2004–05 with theHartford Wolf Pack (AHL), and amassed 239 penalty minutes while earning a reputation as a gritty forechecker and occasional fighter.^{[citation needed]} He did not make the New York Rangers team at training camp in 2005 but in November, after 7 games in Hartford was called up to the team, where he was part of the forechecking 4th line withBlair Betts andColton Orr.^{[citation needed]} Ryan has achieved all of these accomplishments while suffering fromasthma since the age of 5.[1]

On March 8, 2007, at 13:25 of the third period of a game between the Rangers and theNew York Islanders, Ryan Hollweg delivered a check onChris Simon, sending the sizeable forward into the boards head-first. After recovering, Simon proceeded to intentionally hit Hollweg in the jaw with the middle of his stick. Hollweg later recovered and left the ice under his own power. He received two stitches on his chin and returned to the game later in the third period. Subsequently, Simon was assessed a 25-game suspension for his actions, one of the longest suspensions in hockey.^[2]

On January 10, 2008, Ryan Hollweg had the first two-goal game of his career against the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. He scored his first goal of the 2007–2008 season at 4:43 of the first period and added his second goal at 7:42 of the first period. Hollweg had not scored a goal since February 9, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

On February 3, 2008, Hollweg was assessed a five-minute penalty and ejected from a game against theMontreal Canadiens after intentionally checking left wingSergei Kostitsyn head first into the boards. The incident occurred after Hollweg was hit with an elbow by CanadienAlexei Kovalev, which was missed by referees.^{[citation needed]}

On July 14, 2008, Hollweg was acquired by theToronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 5th round pick in the2009 NHL Entry Draft. In the2008-09 season, on October 6, 2008, Hollweg was suspended by the NHL for 2 games because he was assessed a boarding major on young defencemanAlex Pietrangelo in a game against theSt. Louis Blues. Because he had two boarding majors last season, there is a provision for an automatic two-game suspension as a result of the accumulation. On October 13, 2008, in his first game back from the previous suspension, Hollweg was issued a five-minute major penalty for boarding followed by a game misconduct after checking a St. Louis Blues player into the boards from behind early in the second period. Done while the Leafs were ahead 3-1, the play was seen as a momentum-breaker. The Blues scored twice on the ensuing powerplay and eventually won in the shootout, 5-4. Spectators were heard booing the hit and cheering Hollweg's ejection. On February 13, 2009, Hollweg was placed on waivers by the Maple Leafs. After clearing waivers a day later, he was sent down to their AHL farm club, theToronto Marlies for the remainder of the year.^{[citation needed]}

Hollweg was signed as a free agent by thePhoenix Coyotes for the2009-10 season. He appeared in 3 games over the course of the year with the Coyotes however was primarily assigned to AHL affiliate, theSan Antonio Rampage.^{[citation needed]}

After an additional season within the Coyotes organization, Hollweg left the NHL and signed a contract abroad with Czech club, HC Plzeň of the Czech Extraliga on July 30, 2012.^[3][4]

Following the death ofTom Petty, Hollweg took to the ice with Czech club, HC Plzen, played guitar and sang "Free Falling".^{[citation needed]}

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000	United States	U17	4th		6	1	1	2	6
2000	United States	U18			3	1	0	1	4
2002	United States	WJC	5th		7	2	3	5	33
Junior totals					16	4	4	8	43

• WHL Player of the week (March2000, January2004)
• CzechELH title withHC Škoda Plzeň (2013)

• Biographical information and career statistics fromNHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

• 1983 births
• Living people
• American men's ice hockey left wingers
• American sportspeople of Brazilian descent
• American people of German descent
• American sportspeople of Canadian descent
• Hartford Wolf Pack players
• Ice hockey players from California
• Langley Hornets players
• Langley Thunder players
• Medicine Hat Tigers players
• New York Rangers draft picks
• New York Rangers players
• Phoenix Coyotes players
• HC Plzeň players
• Portland Pirates players
• San Antonio Rampage players
• Sportspeople from Downey, California
• Toronto Maple Leafs players
• Toronto Marlies players
• American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada
• American expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic
• 21st-century American sportsmen

• CS1 Czech-language sources (cs)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2025
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019