Tales of a First-Round Nothing
My Life as an NHL Footnote
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4.3 • 22 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Terry Ryan was poised to take the hockey world by storm when he was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 NHL draft, their highest draft pick in a decade. Expected to go on to become a hockey star, Ryan played a total of eight NHL games for the Canadiens, scoring no goals and no assists: not exactly the career he, or anyone else, was expecting.
Though Terry’s NHL career wasn’t long, he experienced a lot and has no shortage of hilarious and fascinating revelations about life in pro hockey on and off the ice. In Tales of a First-Round Nothing, he recounts fighting with Tie Domi, partying with rock stars, and everything in between. Ryan tells it like it is, detailing his rocky relationship with Michel Therrien, head coach of the Canadiens, and explaining what life is like for a man who was unprepared to have his career over so soon.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 NHL draft, Ryan seemed designed for greatness and a long career. Instead he was a self-described "flop," a player whose career was marked by injuries and catastrophically bad decisions. A decade later, he was a former NHL player; today he plays senior hockey for "three figures" a week. The author provides a stream of wry anecdotes, which offer snapshots of his life as he evolved from a promising recruit to a has-been, from a callow young man to a contented family man. Many people might be embittered by such a turn of events, but Ryan takes a more positive approach; he may have played just eight games with the Canadiens but he did have an NHL career. Not someone to bitterly obsess over "if only," Ryan acknowledges his own role in the set-backs that beset him while celebrating the genuinely good consequences of his career and its aftermath, not least of which is his marriage. With forewords by NHL veteran Arron Asham and singer-songwriter Jim Cuddy of the iconic Canadian band Blue Rodeo, the work is sometimes unpolished but genuinely endearing. Agent; Brian J. Wood
Customer Reviews
Good Read
Kinda bounces around quite a bit but I would expect nothing less from the chatty one, Terry Ryan. It was a cool read that gives a great perspective of what professional hockey players go through. I remember being a jr American youth hockey player looking up to Terry Ryan when he was killing it in the W. He was a ball of fire that was a pleasure to watch. Glad he’s living a life of happiness after a rough patch in the professional hockey world. I definitely would recommend the read, as it is entertaining.