Ryan Potulny (born September 5, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He is currently an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota men's ice hockey team.

Ryan Potulny
Potulny with the Edmonton Oilers in 2010
Born (1984-09-05) September 5, 1984 (age 40)
Grand Forks, North Dakota, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers
Chicago Blackhawks
Ottawa Senators
Lahti Pelicans
Mountfield HK
EHC Black Wings Linz
Braehead Clan
National team  United States
NHL draft 87th overall, 2003
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 2006–2018

Playing career

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Potulny was drafted in the third round, 87th overall, at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers after playing two years with the USHL's Lincoln Stars. He spent the next three seasons playing collegiate hockey with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, recording 68 goals and 50 assists for a total of 118 points in 100 games. Potulny ranked first in the nation with 38 goals and 63 points during his last season with the Gophers, 2005–06, and was named an All-WCHA First Team Honoree and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.[1]

Potulny signed a 2-year entry-level contract with the Flyers on March 29, 2006.[1] He played his first two professional games with the Flyers at the tail-end of the 2005–06 season, making his NHL debut on April 7, 2006[2] and also recording his first point. He split the 2006–07 season with the Flyers and the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms.

On April 24, 2008, Potulny scored the game-winning goal at 2:58 in the fifth overtime in Game 5 of the East Division Semifinals. The game's total time was 142:58, at that time an AHL record for longest game.[3]

Potulny was traded from the Flyers to the Edmonton Oilers on June 6, 2008 in exchange for Danny Syvret.[4] He then signed a one-year deal with the Oilers on June 14, 2008.[5]

On September 8, 2010, Potulny signed a one-year two-way contract as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks.[6] He ultimately played in only three games with the Blackhawks, spending much of the season with their AHL affiliate in Rockford.

On February 28, 2011, Potulny was traded to the Ottawa Senators along with a second round draft pick in the 2011 entry draft in return for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2012 entry draft and Chris Campoli.[7]

On July 1, 2011, Potulny signed a two-year two-way contract worth $525,000 per year with the second year on a one-way basis, with the Washington Capitals.[8] He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears for the duration of his contract with the Capitals.

Upon completion of his contract with the Capitals, Potulny signed in Russia as a free agent on a one-year deal with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League on May 30, 2013.[9] Potulny sought a release from his contract with Omsk just three months later, having never featured in the KHL, before belatedly returning to the Bears for the remainder of the season on December 22, 2013.[10]

After three seasons with the Hershey Bears, Potulny signed a one-year AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack, an affiliate of the New York Rangers on August 6, 2014.[11]

On June 11, 2015, Potulny left North America to sign a one-year contract with Finnish club, Lahti Pelicans of the top-tier Liiga.[12]

On 28 August 2017, Potulny agreed a deal with the Braehead Clan of the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League.[13] Potulny retired at the conclusion of the season to take up an assistant coach role at the University of Minnesota.[14]

 
Ryan (right) with his brother Grant in 2007

Family

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He is the younger brother of Grant Potulny, a Senators' draft pick in 2000 formerly an assistant coach with the Minnesota Golden Gophers ice hockey team. Grant is now the head coach of Northern Michigan University men's hockey program.

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
2000–01 Red River High School USHS
2001–02 Lincoln Stars USHL 60 23 34 57 65 4 1 0 1 2
2002–03 Lincoln Stars USHL 54 35 43 78 18 10 6 11 17 8
2003–04 Minnesota Golden Gophers WCHA 15 6 8 14 10
2004–05 Minnesota Golden Gophers WCHA 44 24 17 41 20
2005–06 Minnesota Golden Gophers WCHA 41 38 25 63 31
2005–06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 2 0 1 1 0
2006–07 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 30 12 14 26 34
2006–07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 35 7 5 12 22
2007–08 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 58 21 26 47 51 12 3 5 8 10
2007–08 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 7 0 1 1 4
2008–09 Springfield Falcons AHL 70 38 24 62 62
2008–09 Edmonton Oilers NHL 8 0 3 3 2
2009–10 Springfield Falcons AHL 14 3 5 8 8
2009–10 Edmonton Oilers NHL 64 15 17 32 28
2010–11 Rockford IceHogs AHL 58 18 23 41 30
2010–11 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 3 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Ottawa Senators NHL 7 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Binghamton Senators AHL 13 3 5 8 4 23 14 12 26 12
2011–12 Hershey Bears AHL 61 33 32 65 32 5 2 2 4 0
2012–13 Hershey Bears AHL 66 19 22 41 30 5 0 2 2 2
2013–14 Hershey Bears AHL 38 3 7 10 10
2014–15 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 25 2 3 5 10 7 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Pelicans Liiga 60 13 23 36 30 9 2 2 4 4
2016–17 Mountfield HK ELH 18 3 5 8 8
2016–17 EHC Black Wings Linz EBEL 35 12 17 29 14 5 1 0 1 0
2017–18 Braehead Clan EIHL 37 7 18 25 14
NHL totals 126 22 27 49 54
AHL totals 433 152 161 313 257 52 19 21 40 24

International

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Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2010 United States WC 13th 6 2 2 4 0
Senior totals 6 2 2 4 0

Awards and honors

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Award Year
USHL Dave Tyler Junior Player of the Year Award 2002–03 [15]
All-WCHA Third Team 2004–05
All-WCHA First Team 2005–06
AHCA West First-Team All-American 2005–06
WCHA All-Tournament Team 2006 [16]
AHL All-Star Classic 2008–09'

References

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  1. ^ a b "Flyers Sign Ryan Potulny to Contract". PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  2. ^ PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, Forsberg and Nedved Out for Friday; Potulny to Debut
  3. ^ "Wolf Pack sign Potulny to AHL deal". Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  4. ^ "Oilers acquire Potulny from Flyers". oilers.nhl.com. June 6, 2008. Archived from the original on August 12, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  5. ^ "Oilers sign Ryan Potulny to one-year contract". oilers.nhl.com. June 14, 2008. Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  6. ^ "Potulny signs a 1-year, two-way contract with Blackhawks". The Sports Network. September 8, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  7. ^ "Sens trade Campoli and pick to Blackhawks for Potulny and pick". The Sports Network. February 28, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  8. ^ "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  9. ^ "Striker Potulny in Avangard" (in Russian). Avangard Omsk. May 30, 2013. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  10. ^ "BEARS SIGN RYAN POTULNY TO AHL DEAL". Hershey Bears. December 22, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  11. ^ @BenHankinson (August 7, 2014). "Congrats Ryan Potulny signing w Hartford @WolfPackAHL. Provides depth for @NYRangers. Ryan has 150G in 408 #AHL gms .37 & has 126 #NHL gms" (Tweet). Retrieved August 7, 2014 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Pelicans announce latest acquisition" (in Finnish). Lahti Pelicans. June 11, 2015. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  13. ^ @ClanIHC (August 28, 2017). "SIGNING NEWS: Glasgow's Braehead Clan are delighted to announce the signing of former NHL forward Ryan Potulny for…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Ben Gordon, Ryan Potulny, Stu Bickel will be Gophers hockey assistants". Star Tribune. October 1, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  15. ^ "White named USA Hockey's Junior player of the year". USHL. June 3, 2010. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  16. ^ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by NCAA Ice Hockey Scoring Champion
2005–06
Succeeded by