Ryan Clifford McGill (born February 28, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, and current assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the 151 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Edmonton Oilers between 1991 and 1995. McGill's playing career ended prematurely as a result of an eye injury.

Ryan McGill
McGill coaching the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018
Born (1969-02-28) February 28, 1969 (age 55)
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Chicago Blackhawks
Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers
NHL draft 29th overall, 1987
Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career 1989–1995

Playing career

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McGill is a native of Sherwood Park, Alberta. A second-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1987 NHL Draft, he played a total of 151 career NHL games over a seven-year career with the Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers. His professional playing career also included the American Hockey League and International Hockey League. As a player in the Blackhawks development system, he was a member of the 1990 Turner Cup Champions which was then coached by Darryl Sutter.[citation needed]

As an Edmonton Oiler, McGill was struck in the left eye by a puck and was declared legally blind in that eye. He was forced into early retirement at the age of 26.[1]

Coaching career

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McGill served as an assistant coach for the Edmonton Ice in the Western Hockey League during the 1996–97 season. When the team began the 1997–98 season with nine losses and one tie, head Dave Siciliano was fired on October 24, 1997, and replaced by McGill.[2]

McGill coached 350 games in the Western Hockey League, capping it off by steering the Kootenay Ice to the 2001–02 Memorial Cup title, the championship of all Canadian Major Junior hockey.[citation needed]

He guided the Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers AHL affiliate) team to the 2003–04 regular season Eastern Conference title, tying for first place overall with a 44–24–12–2 mark for 102 points. That year, his team fell short of a trip to the Calder Cup Finals, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.[citation needed]

McGill joined the Calgary Flames as an assistant coach in June 2009 after four seasons as the head coach for the Flames AHL primary affiliate team in Quad City and Omaha.[citation needed]

He was named head coach of the WHL's Kootenay Ice on July 4, 2012.[3] On July 28, 2015, he was named head coach of the OHL's Owen Sound Attack. He was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year in April 2017.[4] McGill stepped down as head coach in June 2017 to become an assistant head coach for the NHL expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights.[5]

On June 29, 2017, he was named an assistant coach with the Vegas Golden Knights.[6] He was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights.[citation needed]

On July 29, 2022, McGill was named an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Sherwood Park Crusaders AJHL
1985–86 Lethbridge Broncos WHL 64 5 10 15 171 10 0 1 1 9
1986–87 Swift Current Broncos WHL 72 12 36 48 226 4 1 0 1 9
1987–88 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 67 5 30 35 224 15 7 3 10 47
1987–88 Medicine Hat Tigers M-Cup 5 1 0 1 13
1988–89 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 57 26 45 71 172 3 0 2 2 15
1988–89 Saginaw Hawks IHL 8 2 0 2 12 6 0 0 0 42
1989–90 Indianapolis Ice IHL 77 11 17 28 215 14 2 2 4 29
1990–91 Indianapolis Ice IHL 63 11 40 51 200
1990–91 Halifax Citadels AHL 7 0 4 4 6
1991–92 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 9 0 2 2 20
1991–92 Indianapolis Ice IHL 40 7 19 26 170
1991–92 Hershey Bears AHL 17 3 5 8 67 6 1 1 2 4
1992–93 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 72 3 10 13 238
1992–93 Hershey Bears AHL 4 0 2 2 26
1993–94 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 50 1 3 4 112
1994–95 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 12 0 0 0 13
1994–95 Edmonton Oilers NHL 8 0 0 0 8
IHL totals 188 31 76 107 597 20 2 2 4 71
NHL totals 151 4 15 19 391

References

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  1. ^ "RECENT EYE INJURIES". The Globe and Mail. March 13, 2000. Retrieved February 12, 2018. Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ryan McGill was struck in the left eye by a puck, was declared legally blind in that eye and retired at 26
  2. ^ Turchansky, Ray (October 25, 1997). "Coach Siciliano bumped off ice". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. 34. 
  3. ^ Darren Dreger [@DarrenDreger] (July 4, 2012). "Great to see Ryan McGill back coaching. Named head coach of the WHL's Kootenay Ice" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Attack's Ryan McGill Named OHL Coach of the Year". ontariohockeyleague.com. April 20, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "Ryan McGill steps down as Head Coach". attackhockey.com. June 29, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  6. ^ "Golden Knights Name Ryan McGill Assistant Coach". NHL.com. June 29, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
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