Former hockey pro Terry Ryan gets one last call-up on 47th birthday

Terry Ryan is what the hockey world cruelly calls a bust.

In 1995, he was drafted eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens — his favourite childhood team. Commentators called the 18-year-old gritty, determined and a star in the junior leagues.

However, despite his impressive seasons in junior, Ryan never remained at the top level of hockey. He often disagreed with management, and he now says injuries were a big factor in derailing what was once a bright future.

"It was a high ankle sprain," Ryan says. "So I never went out on my own terms."

On Sunday, for one night only, Ryan received an opportunity to do it all over again. The 47-year-old suited up for one game with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL — a mid-level professional ice hockey league — dropping the gloves in his professional hockey swan song.

"My last shift, I’ll go out after having stood up for a teammate that’s a good friend of mine," he said. "And I couldn’t ask for anything better."

His call up came in the early hours of Sunday morning. Ryan admits he had already drank a few beers, and first thought the calls coming from Newfoundland Growlers players and coaches were prank calls.

"It was my birthday, so the beers were flowing, right?" he said.

Meanwhile, a flu was moving through the team, making the Growlers bench short of players. Hockey Canada regulations dictate that anyone in Newfoundland and Labrador’s amateur hockey leagues would have had to sacrifice the rest of their season to play in one professional game.

Ryan was happy to make that sacrifice.

"I got a cab home right away," he said. "I had a lot of water, something to eat. I couldn’t really sleep much because I — you know, nervous energy."

Some things have changed in the sport since Ryan last played professionally in 2003. He said there’s not as much physicality as there used to be.

But Ryan brought that element on his own. With 9:30 left in the third period, having seen a teammate of his just take a big hit, he instigated a fight with Zack Walker, a player 21 years his junior.

"I wasn’t trying to prove a point," he said on Wednesday, a few days removed from the action. "They also hired me to do a job here, right?"

"It wasn’t for publicity. They needed my services as a professional hockey player. So that was instinct kicking in."

He wasn't sure if head coach Matt Cooke would even play him at all, Ryan said, and his nerves only really settled after his first shift when he felt he could keep up with the pace of play.

"I do keep myself in good shape, I skate five times a week… but this is professional hockey. A lot of these guys are on NHL contracts."

Things have changed in Ryan’s life, too.

He never gave up on the sport — he played for years in amateur leagues in Newfoundland and Labrador — but has now moved into media production. He went to university, received a degree, and works as an actor and podcaster.

She had seen the tapes and heard the stories, but on Sunday evening, Penny-Laine Ryan, Terry’s 13-year-old daughter, got the chance to see her father play professionally for the first time ever.

"Everyone was cheering for him, but he was like my dad," she said. “I loved watching it.”

She wasn’t shocked when her father dropped the gloves — she said she suspected that would happen all along.

“If someone was throwing punches, he’d (be) the first one to step in for his team,” she said.

The pair shared a moment on the drive to the rink in downtown St. John’s.

Ryan said he had hidden from mostly everyone how nervous he actually was, but he didn’t hide it from his daughter.

"I was kind of shaking a little bit and she took her hand and she put it there and she said 'Dad, I’m proud of you either way.'"

Ryan's now re-entering retirement on his own terms. He may have played for any travelling team that needed an extra body, but the Growlers are what made the story complete.

"It’s like a reset, and not only that, I get to retire as a Newfoundland Growler and I’m a huge fan of the team. So I feel connected like I never was," he said.

"For a little snippet of time, I was those guys' teammates."