Born: 11 Jul 1938, Welland ON
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Regular Season & Playoff Coaching Record (key)
| Regular Season | Playoffs |
| year | team | finish | finish | |||||||||
| 1973-74 | New England | 1-E | SF | |||||||||
| 1974-75 | New England | DNF | ||||||||||
• Relieved on March 29, 1975 due to medical reasons. Succeeded by General Manager Jack Kelley.
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Ryan Faces Rookie Season • by Dick Dew • The Hockey Spectator • September 1973
Like the nervous bridegroom, rookie pro coach Ron Ryan will stress two words when the defending champion New England Whalers hit their new training camp in Tyngsboro next month. But unlike the bridegroom, Ryan's words won't be "I do." Instead, they will be "unity" and "competition." The bridegroom could use one of those words, a spinoff of "union," but he wouldn't have much use for the competitive aspects. Anyway, those are Ryan's words and the former assistant coach who is charged with defending the World Cup championship won by Jack Kelley's squad plans to stick with them. Ryan, no stranger to operating from behind the bench after a long and highly successful collegiate career, grabs the competition word first as he talks about the 1973-74 season. "What we've accomplished during the off-season is good from our point of view because we have signed guys who will create a real challenge to the regulars, especially at the forward position." Ryan was talking about the Whaler acquisition of several seasoned professionals as New England avoided the ridiculously-priced amateur market and chose to deal instead with seasoned professionals. They sent Brit Selby to Toronto in exchange for Bob Charlebois and then went out and signed Al Karlander of the Red Wings and the veteran Don Blackburn, who played last season for the New York Istanders and Minnesota North Stars. All three have a similar capability in that while they are essentially left wings, they can also play center. In addition, the WHA champs inked large Hugh Harris, strictly a left winger, from Buffalo. "We think the players we have signed can definitely help our club," Ryan said in low grade understatement. "We now have enough competition so that the players will have to come to camp in pretty good shape. "Our veterans will know that the players we've signed can make our club and that they have the ability to earn a spot in our lineup Our primary concern was strength at forward, particularly center and left wing. This is not to say the fellows who played last year weren't satisfactory." "But we needed more depth. We became aware of that fact during the playoffs when the injuries hit us, especially at. center. I think the most impressive thing about the men we've signed is their versatility. We felt we had to shore up one position and we signed the versatility to help us in several places." "I can't tell right now where everybody's going to play. That's more or less up to them. The one thing I want the veterans to realize is that we were certainly not making change for change sake. We think the players we've acquired have the ability to earn a spot and help our club." "We were not trying to shake up the Whalers. We've been very pleased with the club and particularly its unity. I do hope that unity won't be destroyed. Competition is good for professionals. They know they'll have to work for a position. But the unity the players had last season was very important to our success and it's something we have to keep alive." |
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Excerpts from Zander Hollander's Guide to Pro Hockey, 1973-74 (by Reyn Davis & Charley Hallman)
Took the coaching reins this season from Jack Kelley, who remains as general manager and longtime friend ... They first met in 1958 was coach of the Colby College hockey team ... Ryan soon became his star player, setting NCAA season scoring record, 104 points ... Went on to coach teams at Pennsylvania, Merrimack and Colgate ... Followed Kelley to Whalers, serving as assistant GM. |
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