Robert Shane Ryan ( Stevenson; March 17, 1987) is an American former professional ice hockey winger. He played for the Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted second overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
He played six seasons with the Ducks before being traded to the Senators in 2013, and one season with Detroit in 2020–21. He has also represented the United States in international and Olympic hockey.
In the following 2008–09 season, Ryan once again made the opening roster, but was to be sent down to the Ducks' new AHL affiliate, the Iowa Chops, due to salary cap issues. He was recalled during the season and recorded a natural hat trick, the first hat trick of his NHL career, on January 8, 2009, against Los Angeles at the Staples Center in a 4–3 loss. In doing so, he became the first rookie in Ducks history to record a hat trick, it being the fastest of any player in the 15-year history of the franchise. On March 22, 2009, Ryan broke the franchise rookie point record set by Dustin Penner after tallying two assists for his 46th point in an Anaheim win over the Arizona Coyotes.
On April 22, 2009, Ryan was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy, along with Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks—Mason ultimately won the award.
On September 14, 2010, just prior to the 2010–11 season, the Ducks signed Ryan to a five-year, $25.5 million contract extension. On December 12, during a game against the Minnesota Wild, left-handed captain Mikko Koivu stole Ryan's stick while in the Ducks' offensive zone, whereupon the right-handed Ryan picked up Koivu's stick and scored a goal with it. The play was later named number one on TSN's SportsCentre's "Top 10 NHL Oddities" list.
On November 24, 2012, Ryan participated in Operation Hat Trick, a charity hockey game at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims.
On October 2, 2014, the Senators announced they had signed Ryan to a seven-year, $50.75 million contract extension, a deal that would keep him with the team through the 2021–22 season. Ryan responded with his first All-Star Game appearance after being selected to represent Team Nick Foligno at the 2015 NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, on January 25, 2015.
Ryan struggled during the 2016–17 regular season earning only 25 points in 62 games while also coping with injuries. However, he proved to be an asset to the team in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring four goals in six games during the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Bruins, helping the Senators to move onto the second round against the New York Rangers. He finished the playoffs with six goals and nine assists as the Senators were eliminated in double overtime in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In the 2019–20 season, Ryan missed approximately three months while attending an NHL player assistance program. It was later revealed by Ryan that he had entered the program due to ongoing struggles with Alcoholism. He returned to NHL action on February 25, 2020, in an away game versus the Nashville Predators. In his first post-rehab home game two days later, Ryan made headlines by scoring his fifth career Hat-trick. On September 7, Ryan was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the NHL for perseverance and dedication to hockey.
On September 25, 2020, Ryan was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the final two years remaining on his contract with the Senators. The following day, Ryan cleared waivers and became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Ryan scored his first goal for the Detroit Red Wings in a 4-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 16, 2021.
Ryan was offered a professional try-out in the Red Wings' 2021 training camp, but he was released at the end of camp. Ryan did not officially retire from pro hockey at that point, although he joked about being retired in a tweet. He was still receiving his buyout money from the Senators and if he officially retired, he would have forfeited that money. Ryan's buyout money ended in 2024.
Four years later, Ryan was selected to Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on January 1, 2010. He scored the U.S.' first goal of the tournament at 18:59 of the first period in their opening match against then-Ducks teammate Jonas Hiller of Switzerland. Team USA eventually lost to Canada in the gold medal game, earning Ryan and the Americans a silver medal. He scored one goal and one assist in the tournament.
In 2014, Ryan was passed over by the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team despite his strong play during the first half of the 2013–14 season. This snub created somewhat of a controversy surrounding Ryan's play and the U.S. Olympic Team.
On October 29, 1997, Ryan's father, Bob Stevenson, badly beat Ryan's mother, Melody, in a drunken rage, leaving her hospitalized with four broken ribs, a skull fracture and a punctured lung. Ryan's father was charged with attempted murder and jumped bail, fleeing to Canada. His wife later forgave him and she and Bobby joined him in Canada, living under assumed names. Stevenson had picked the surname Ryan after watching Saving Private Ryan, and his son followed it. The family eventually relocated to El Segundo, California so that Ryan could play in an elite youth hockey feeder system. In February 2000, Ryan's father, who had been supporting the family as a professional gambler, was arrested at home by the United States Marshals Service; he was sentenced to five years in a Camden prison.
Ryan played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Los Angeles Junior Kings minor ice hockey team.
In December 2022, Ryan joined as co-host of a Senators-based podcast called 'Coming in Hot' with Brent Wallace and Jason York. In April 2024, after Ryan made dozens of controversial posts in social media insulting women's sports, Ryan and the Coming in Hot podcast parted ways.
OHL | 52 | 2 |
OHL | 51 | 8 |
OHL | 44 | 14 |
OHL | 66 | 2 |
AHL | 6 | — |
NHL | 6 | 2 |
AHL | 38 | 18 |
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NHL | 33 | 0 |
NHL | 81 | — |
NHL | 61 | 2 |
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Allsv | 8 | — |
NHL | 17 | 0 |
NHL | 45 | — |
NHL | 24 | 0 |
NHL | 28 | — |
NHL | 24 | 14 |
NHL | 14 | — |
NHL | 33 | — |
NHL | 22 | — |
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2006 | United States | WJC | 4th | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
2010 | United States | OG | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
2012 | United States | WC | 7th | 8 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
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