Ron Ryan

Ron Ryan

Sport(s)	Ice hockey
Biographical details
Born	July 11, 1938 Welland, ON, CAN
Playing career
1959–1962	Colby
Position(s)	Right Wing
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1964–1965	Merrimack
1965–1972	Colgate
1972–1973	New England Whalers (assistant GM)
1973–1975	New England Whalers
1975–1977	New England Whalers (GM)
Head coaching record
Overall	80-92-4 (.466)

Ronald "Ron" Ryan (born July 11, 1938) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach and executive.

Biography

Ryan played junior hockey with the Guelph Biltmores and then enrolled in Colby College. He had 245 points in 73 games with his college hockey team. Ryan earned a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania before taking a job as an assistant athletic director at Merrimack College in 1964.^[1]

In 1965, Ryan was hired as head coach of the Colgate University hockey team. He took a job with the New England Whalers in 1972, serving as assistant general manager during their initial season of World Hockey Association play. After the Whalers won the Avco Cup during its first year of existence, coach Jack Kelley, who also served as general manager, moved into solely a front office position, and Ryan was hired as head coach. Ryan coached the Whalers to a division title in 1973–74, but his team was upset in the first round by the Chicago Cougars.^[2] He was relieved of his coaching duties and replaced by Kelley with five games left in the 1974–75 season, despite having his team sitting in first place once again. Ryan then briefly served as a scout, but he was elevated to the position of general manager in December 1975, holding this role for two seasons. Ryan then worked in several other front office roles for the Whalers and later served as president of SportsChannel, a cable sports network.^[3]

Ryan joined the Philadelphia Flyers in 1988 as an executive vice president, and was named the chief operating officer of the team in 1991. He was named the team's president in 2003 and held that position for three years until his retirement.^[4]

Personal life

He is married to Brenda, a French teacher,^[5] and the father of actress Blanchard Ryan, who is also an avid ice hockey fan. She was also married to hockey player Neil Little, whom she divorced, without children.

Awards and honors

Award	Year
All-ECAC Hockey First Team	1961–62
AHCA East All-American	1961–62
ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Second Team	1962

College Head Coaching record^[6]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Colgate Red Raiders (ECAC Hockey) (1965–66–1971–72)
1965–66	Colgate	16-11-1	8-7-1	7th	ECAC Quarterfinals
1966–67	Colgate	11-15-0	5-11-0	12th
1967–68	Colgate	12-11-0	9-8-0	10th
1968–69	Colgate	12-13-0	6-10-0	12th
1969–70	Colgate	14-7-3	7-7-3	8th
1970–71	Colgate	7-17-0	4-13-0	15th
1971–72	Colgate	8-18-0	5-14-0	14th
Colgate:		80-92-4	44-70-4
Total:		80-92-4
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

WHA coaching statistics

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
New England Whalers	1973–74	78	43	31	4	90	1st in East	Lost in Semi-Finals
New England Whalers	1974–75	73	40	28	5	(85)	1st in East	Fired
NHL Total		151	83	59	9

References

• 2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers Media Guide. Philadelphia Flyers. p. 32

5. Keck, William (August 5, 2004). "Blanchard Ryan walking on 'Water'". USA Today.
6. "Colgate hockey Record Book" (PDF). Colgate Raiders. Retrieved 2014-08-15.

External links

• Ron Ryan's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Ron Ryan's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
• Ron Ryan's coaching record at Hockey-Reference.com