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40 // APRIL 2021 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM t he pl ayer t a ken a f t er Sid ney C r o s b y ? W i t h t h e D u c k s , h e s t r u n g t o g e t her f ou r 3 0 - g o a l seasons in a row. He played for t he Un it e d St at e s i n t he 2 010 Olympics, winning a silver medal. "Getting to wear that jersey is something I'll never forg et, probably the highlight of my career," he said. Ryan also has the distinction of scoring perhaps the weirdest goal in NHL history. In a 2010 game against the Wild, he got tangled of up with Miko Koivu, who grabbed Ryan's stick, but also lost his own. The right-handed Ryan picked up Koivu's leftie stick and then slapped in a loose puck. "The Wild were mad," Ryan laughed. "They wanted a penalty before the goal, but I said well then we both go into the box because he took my stick before I took his." I n 2 01 3 h e wa s t r a d e d t o O tt awa , a n d helped the Senators in their thrilling run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2016- 17. During that season, his mother passed away, and he penned a heartfelt piece in The Player 's Tribune that moved players and fans alike. L a st s e a s o n , h e t o o k a l e a v e f r o m t h e Senators to undergo rehabilitation for alco- hol addiction, a brave move. After three months away, in his first home game back in Ottawa, he collected a pass from behind the net and snapped it in. Then he redirected a shot from the point. An emp- ty-netter completed the hat trick. As the crowd chanted "Bobby, Bobby," Ryan removed a glove to wipe the tears from his eyes. He wasn't the only one in the build- ing crying, either. "It was one of my last games on the home ice in Ottawa, so I will always have that memory," he recalled. "It was a build up to that with everything I have been building on in my personal life, learning and therapy, no alcohol, abstaining." Now he's writing a new chapter in Detroit. At t h e e n d o f h i s e s s a y i n T h e P l a y e r 's T r i b u n e , R y a n w r ot e t h a t h i s l i f e c o u l d have gone a lot of different ways, and despite what came before, he's been able to realize all his dreams. "I still feel that way, even more so," he said. "Winning a Stanley Cup is up there and I haven't crossed that off, but it becomes secondary to having a healthy family, a little boy and a girl, a wife who helped me to get the help that I needed. So, the dreams have shifted a bit, but I continue to realize them through them." P Neal Boudette is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Bobby Ryan has brought an element of goal- scoring ability and veteran leadership to a rebuilding Detroit Red Wings team. R Y A N ' S H O P E "He's been a highly touted, high draft player who has gone the gamut of being a top-line player, a fourth-line player, a healthy scratch. I think he can really help out the group, whether he's in the lineup or not." —Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Jeff Blashill