Ducks’ Bobby Ryan? A star is born (OK, chosen, not born)
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If Brian Burke were still with the Ducks, Bobby Ryan might not be, so at least one good thing came out of Burke’s departure from Anaheim.
When Burke resigned as the Ducks’ general manager, he was deep into trade discussions involving Ryan, who had an impressive training camp but started the season in the minor leagues because of salary cap considerations. Ryan was promoted after Francois Beauchemin suffered a serious knee injury and was placed on injured reserve, opening cap space.
Since his Nov. 16 debut, Ryan has been the most productive rookie scorer, recording 12 goals and 26 points in 26 games, including a hat trick against the Kings last week. That performance led NHL public relations and hockey operations executives to honor him as one of the league’s three stars of the week ending Jan. 11.
Colorado left wing Wojtek Wolski was No. 1, based on a four-goal, six-point week (including two game-winning goals) that helped the Avalanche go 3-0-0. Ryan was No. 2 because of his league-leading five goals in the week and his swift hat trick, scored in a span of 2:21. They were the fastest three goals by an NHL rookie since 1938, when Detroit’s Carl Liscombe scored three against Chicago in 1:52.
The third star was Florida center Gregory Campbell (son of NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell). Gregory had two goals and six points and a plus-6 plus/minus rating in contributing toward the Panthers’ three-game winning streak.
Ryan scored a memorable goal in the Ducks’ 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, carrying a defender on his back as he rifled a wrist shot past Scott Clemmensen. Through Sunday’s games, Ryan ranked fourth among rookie scorers: Chicago’s Kris Versteeg was the leader with 13 goals and 33 points in 39 games, followed by St. Louis’ Patrik Berglund (13 goals, 27 points in 36 games) and Boston’s Blake Wheeler (13 goals, 27 points in 42 games).
At this pace, Ryan could overtake the leaders, but he said he’s not focused on that.
‘I’m climbing the charts, I guess,’ he said Sunday, smiling. ‘But I’m still a ways off, so I’m not looking at it too much.’
-- Helene Elliott