| Ryan O'Byrne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 O'Byrne in December 2013 | |||
| Born | (1984-07-19)July 19, 1984 (age 41) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) | ||
| Weight | 234 lb (106 kg; 16 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Montreal Canadiens Colorado Avalanche Toronto Maple Leafs HC Lev Praha HC Ambrì-Piotta HV71 | ||
| NHL draft | 79th overall,2003 Montreal Canadiens | ||
| Playing career | 2006–2016 | ||
Ryan David O'Byrne (born July 19, 1984) is a Canadian former professionalice hockey player who played in theNational Hockey League (NHL) from 2007 to 2013 with theMontreal Canadiens,Colorado Avalanche and theToronto Maple Leafs. During this time, O'Byrne founded the Ryan O'Byrne Charity Camp, a non-profit hockey camp for youth.[1] At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, O'Byrne went on to play in theKontinental Hockey League (KHL), SwissNational League (NL), andSwedish Hockey League, before retiring from a ten-year professional hockey career in 2016.
After returning toCornell University to complete his undergraduate degree,[2][3] O'Byrne earned hisMBA from theKellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.[4][5] Staying close to sport and wellness, he worked as a Brand Manager atGatorade before joining digital physical therapy startupSWORD Health.[6]
O'Byrne was born and raised inVictoria, British Columbia and attendedSt. Michaels University School. After playing two seasons ofjunior in theBCHL with theVictoria Salsa andNanaimo Clippers, O'Byrne opted to playU.S. collegiate hockey atCornell University.
Prior to his freshman year at Cornell, Ryan was drafted in the third round, 79th-overall, by theMontreal Canadiens in the2003 NHL Entry Draft.[7] In his sophomore season of 2004–05, O'Byrne helped Cornell regain the ECAC Championship with a 3–1 win overHarvard before losing in the West Regional Final to theUniversity of Minnesota.[8]
In his junior year, O'Byrne entrenched himself as a top defender within Cornell's ECAC leading defence corps to be selected as a First Team All-Ivy player.[9] Despite missing nearly a month to injury, O'Byrne led all Big Red defenceman with 7 goals and 13 points in 28 games and was named in the All-ECAC Third-Team.[10] O'Byrne was selected by Cornell Coach Mike Schäfer as analternate captain, but decided to forgo his senior year to begin his professional career signing a two-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens on August 9, 2006.[11]
O'Byrne played 308 regular season and 25 playoff games in theNHL for theMontreal Canadiens,Colorado Avalanche, andToronto Maple Leafs.
After attending his first Montreal training camp, O'Byrne was assigned toAmerican Hockey League affiliate, theHamilton Bulldogs, for the2006–07 season. As a stay-at-home defensive-defenseman, Ryan produced 12 assists in 80 regular-season games with the Bulldogs. During the playoffs, he scored his first professional goal, which clinched the series over theRochester Americans, advancing the Bulldogs to the Conference Semi-finals. In the Championship Final, he then produced his second game-winning goal a game three win over theHershey Bears en route to claiming theCalder Cup.[12]
In the following2007–08 season, O'Byrne made his NHL debut, recording two assists, in a 4–2 victory over theBoston Bruins on December 6, 2007.[13] Ryan missed a month of the season after suffering a broken thumb, before returning to health and scoring his first NHL goal in a 6–4 defeat to theSan Jose Sharks on March 4, 2008.[14] He finished the season, while splitting time between Hamilton and Montreal, to finish with 33 games.
O'Byrne was then re-signed to a three-year contract with the Canadiens on July 16, 2008.[15] He made the Canadiens opening night roster for the2008–09 season, appearing in 37 games for five assists, with two stints in the AHL.
In his second game of the2009–10 campaign with the Canadiens, Ryan suffered a knee injury causing him to miss 20 games. Upon his return, O'Byrne established himself as a regular within the defence corps. On December 4, 2009, he changed his jersey number to 20 due to retiring of the number 3 in honour ofEmile Bouchard for theCanadiens Centennial celebrations. Similar to Ray Bourque's homage toPhil Esposito in Boston, Ryan wore the number 20 jersey underneath his number 3 jersey and as a surprise, unveiled his new number during the banner hanging and presented Bouchard his jersey as a token of being the last to wear the number 3 for the Canadiens.[16] O'Byrne finished his first full NHL season, appearing in a career high 55 games and 13 post-season games as the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference finals.
To begin the2010–11 season, O'Byrne was a depth defenceman on the team's blueline. In the final year of his contract he was traded by the Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche for forward prospectMichael Bournival on November 11, 2010.[17] In his first game with the Avalanche, O'Byrne recorded a career high in ice time in a 5–1 win over theColumbus Blue Jackets on November 12.[18] On December 15, in a 4–3 win over theChicago Blackhawks, O'Byrne was the subject of a controversial hit on Blackhawks’ wingerViktor Stålberg, resulting in a concussion for the latter.[19] O'Byrne was given a two minute minor penalty from the play but was not disciplined by the league.[20][21]
During the2012–13 NHL lockout, O'Byrne served as an assistant coach for theVictoria Grizzlies of theBCHL as a coach,[22] but left the position to join theFlorida Everblades of theECHL to get some ice time and effectively work in his position as theNHLPA's representative for the Avalanche.[22] He rejoined the Avalanche at the conclusion of the lockout.
In the midst of the shortened2012–13 season and in the final year of his contract at the trade deadline, O'Byrne was dealt by the Avalanche to theToronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the2014 NHL Entry Draft on April 3, 2013.[23] On April 8, 2013, O'Byrne scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf.
His last NHL game was the Leafs-Bruins Game 7 on May 13, 2013, in which the Leafs surrendered a 4–1 lead in the third period, and they would go on to lose 5–4 in overtime to lose the series in seven.
After experiencing a first round defeat to theBoston Bruins with the Leafs, O'Byrne was released to free agency. O'Byrne agreed to his first contract abroad, signing a two-year contract with Czech-basedHC Lev Praha of theKontinental Hockey League on September 2, 2013.[24] In the2013–14 season, O'Byrne enjoyed a largely successful season in Prague as a mainstay stay-at-home defenseman. In 43 games he contributed with 2 goals and 9 points before helping Lev Praha advance to theGagarin Cup finals in the playoffs.
O'Byrne's intention to fulfill the second year of his contract was terminated as Lev Praha declared bankruptcy and folded immediately in the off-season. On July 7, 2014, he opted to remain in Europe but moved to Switzerland in signing a one-year contract withHC Ambrì-Piotta of theNational League A.[25] After one season with Ambri, O'Byrne moved as a free agent to the Swedish Hockey League, signing a two-year deal with HV71 on July 30, 2015.[26]
On July 21, 2016, O'Byrne announced his retirement from professional hockey to attend theKellogg School of Management.[27]
While playing professionally, O’Byrne founded and ran the Ryan O'Byrne Charity Camp (ROCC), an annual five-day hockey camp for 60 children aged 9–12 years in Victoria, BC.[28][29][30] All proceeds from the camp were donated toKidSport Victoria, an organization that helps unprivileged children enroll in sport.[31] The camp also included the Lorelei O'Byrne Awards, named in memory of Ryan's mom, in which a pair of recipients based on passion for sport and financial need attended the camp at no charge.[32]Several other NHLers from the area — includingTyson Barrie,Jamie Benn,Matt Irwin,Manny Malhotra,Paul Bissonnette andBoyd Gordon — also volunteered at O'Byrne's annual camp.[33]
After retiring in 2016, O'Byrne returned toCornell University to complete his undergraduate degree and graduated in January 2017.[2][3] After completing his undergrad degree, O'Byrne earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from theKellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.[4][5] After graduation, O'Byrne worked in marketing atGatorade in Chicago.[6]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2000–01 | Victoria Salsa | BCHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Peninsula Panthers | VIJHL | 41 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Victoria Salsa | BCHL | 52 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Victoria Salsa | BCHL | 32 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Nanaimo Clippers | BCHL | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Cornell University | ECAC | 31 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Cornell University | ECAC | 33 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Cornell University | ECAC | 28 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 80 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 129 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32 | ||
| 2007–08 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 20 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 33 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 37 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09 | Hamilton Bulldogs | AHL | 18 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 55 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 74 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 2010–11 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 64 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 74 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Florida Everblades | ECHL | 16 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 34 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14 | HC Lev Praha | KHL | 43 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 51 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 60 | ||
| 2014–15 | HC Ambrì–Piotta | NLA | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | HV71 | SHL | 28 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 78 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NHL totals | 308 | 5 | 34 | 39 | 369 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||||
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Calder Cup | 2007 | |
| All-ECAC HockeyThird Team | 2005–06 | |
| ECAC HockeyAll-Tournament Team | 2006 | [34] |
