Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Last Thursday night, Ryan, the player chosen immediately after Sidney Crosby in the 2005 NHL draft, finished his fourth and final junior hockey season with the Owen Sound Attack.
Saturday night, he put on a Portland Pirates jersey for the first time in nearly a year, recording two assists in a 5-1 victory at Springfield.
Sunday, Ryan, who turned 20 last month, notched his first pro goal since last May to help the Pirates edge the Falcons 3-2 at the Cumberland County Civic Center to keep their playoff hopes alive.
"He's picked up a lot since last year," Portland Coach Kevin Dineen said.
"His game last year had a lot of junior (hockey) in it. He had a little junior in his game in the first period the other night (in Springfield), and I think he got away from that pretty quick. It was a positive thing for him. He's come a long way as a player in a year."
Already, Dineen has noticed specific improvements in Ryan's game.
"A lot of things I felt he needed to work on last year, it seems he's taken those steps," Dineen said.
"He's got a quicker first step. He's shooting the puck harder. His one-on-one battles have improved. Instead of using his hands to try to put the puck between somebody's feet, he's using his size to protect the puck. A lot of good things we're seeing out of him right now."
Ryan, who had a goal and seven assists in 19 playoff games for the Pirates last spring, scored 43 goals and 59 assists in 63 games for Owen Sound. But it was definitely time for him to move on.
"You can always take something away from every year you play there," Ryan said. "I learned some good things there in my time."
Now Ryan must adjust to life in the AHL.
"Your first assessment is that everything's a lot quicker," he said. "As time goes on you kind of get used to the pace."
Ryan, who participated in his first practice with the Pirates on Tuesday, still has a way to go.
"Positioning is something we have to work on," Dineen said. "There are guys here who have had a 60- or 70-game window to learn exactly what we expect out of them in different situations.
"When you come from the University of Denver or you come from Owen Sound and all of a sudden you get into a situation, it's almost like speaking a different language."
Still, Ryan appears to have the right instincts.
"There may be a little bit of stutter-step in there but the natural guys Š they go to the open space,"
Dineen said. "When we have the puck he goes to the open space."
ANAHEIM RECALLED Portland center Mark Hartigan on Tuesday.
In 25 games with the Pirates, Hartigan had nine goals and 16 assists since arriving in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in January.
In a previous call-up with the Ducks, Hartigan, who has 28 AHL goals, went scoreless.
In another move, Anaheim assigned center Tim Brent to the Pirates. Since his call-up to the NHL in January, Brent had one goal in 15 games for the Ducks. In 42 games with the Pirates, Brent had 14 goals and 13 assists.
PORTLAND GOALIE David McKee was named AHL player of the week after stopping 78 of 81 shots over three victories to help keep the Pirates' playoff hopes alive.
McKee, who started 52 ECHL games with the Augusta (Ga.) Lynx before joining the Pirates 12 days ago, has won his first four AHL games with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .953 saves percentage.
Several former Pirates also were nominated, including Hershey left wing Chris Bourque, Houston goalie Dieter Kochan, Philadelphia defenseman John Slaney and Syracuse left wing Curtis Glencross.
AHL AWARDS: Troy Brouwer of Norfolk was named AHL rookie of the month for March after scoring 12 goals to total a team-record 34 goals for the season.
Portland goalie David McKee also was nominated....
Chicago Wolves forward Brett Sterling won the AHL milestone of the month award for March after becoming the fifth rookie in league history to score 50 goals in a season.
Previous AHL rookies with 50-goal seasons were Patrick Lebeau (50 in 1990-91), Stephan Lebeau (70 in 1988-89), Brett Hull (50 in 1986-87) and Mitch Lamoureux (57 in 1982-83).
MAINEIACS UPDATE: Lewiston's quest for the Memorial Cup resumes Friday and Saturday nights at the Colisee in Lewiston.
The top-seeded Maineiacs will play the Halifax Mooseheads, who beat the Moncton Wildcats 3-2 in double overtime Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.
A week ago, Lewiston wrapped up its first-round series with Shawinigan, sweeping their best-of-seven series in four games.
Rookie forward David Perron scored five goals and defenseman Chad Denny added three goals during the brief series.
While starting all four games, goalie Jon Bernier, the Los Angeles Kings' first-round pick in last June's NHL draft, allowed a total of 10 goals.
THE PIRATES are accepting bids for their special "Go Red" game-worn jerseys to benefit the American Heart Association.
For more information, visit www.portlandpirates.com.
TICKET PLANS for the 2007-08 season will go on sale today at the Pirates' office at 94 Free St.
Ticket pricing for next season will include a rescaling of the house, added season-ticket holder benefits and a new early-season flex ticket.
For more information, visit www.portlandpirates.com.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
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I was at that game, and he did have a little OHL in his play... But I think he realized that in the AHL you can't try and beat out 3 defenders every time... The quality of opposition is higher, and as is the quality of his teammates...
Hearing about Mark getting his call-up is one part good and 2 parts bad for us Pirates fans...
On one hand Mark is getting a chance at the NHL, and that is what the AHL is all about...
However, the two parts bad is that Mark has pretty much anchored the Pirates since his arrival and he's been a huge benefit to the rest of the team with his experience...
I won't get all pessimistic, but the Pirates chances of the playoffs significantly better with Mark in a Pirates sweater than they are with him in a Ducks sweater...report abuse
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