Michael Ryder question for Dobber or others

[fzusher]

Looking to figure out the Calgary cap situation vis-a-vis the imminent Phaneuf signing I noticed that Calgary\'s Dan Ryder is Michael Ryder\'s brother and that he has recently taken time off hockey for \'personal reasons\'. I don\'t know what those reasons are and maybe it\'s something that needn\'t be discussed in public (players are people like us and deserve the privacy of their private lives), but could those \'personal reasons\' also be impacting Michael\'s play and if so is there any sense of how long they\'ll keep doing that?

[Dobber]

From what I have heard, the two brothers are two very different people. Dan is quite troubled.
You may be onto something though...

[jpguy13]

From what I\'ve heard on RDS, drugs appear to be Dan\'s problem. I do not believe it to be idle speculation. And there may be something to your conclusion simply because Ryder has just been dreadful so far. He was always pretty unidimensional (offensively of course) and now he doesn\'t even have that. He\'s a floater out there. The brothers Kostitsyn, Latendresse, Higgins, and obviously Kovalev are all outplaying him on the wing. He\'s gotta count himself lucky that there are no more good wingers in Hamilton...

[Cartman]

I posted a while back on what I have heard on the rock regarding Dan Ryder (Newfoundland is a small place)...

And to go along with this, I dont think Dan\'s situation is having the kind of influence on Michael\'s season as most of you may think. Michael tries to be a role model for Dan but Dan is the kind of piss in your face young fellow that causes problems. Michael is very humble, hard-working, and grateful for the opportunity to play hockey for a living. From what I have heard from some of his close family members is that he honestly belives his days in Montreal were numbered - right from the start of the season and in training camp and this was a big distraction for him. That coupled with the Montreal media dogging him and saying he was expendable and Coach Carbs continously limiting his ice time has been a big thing. According to those close to him, he really likes Montreal and has all the respect in the world for Gainey and the organization - however he feels like he (and never was) part of their plans, and the reason for the team offering up a one year deal was to use him as bait for the trade deadline. He knew he was just \"filler\". Its hard to play in those kind of circumstances. Word is he and a small faction (you would be surprised who else) do not like Carbs but they love Gainey. The names continously pop up on some trade circles.

Anyways, Dans distractions aside, Ryder will explode again when he gets moved. He is a perfect buy low candidate. Watch for him to go to Tampa or Florida in the offseason... (Tampa may not be able to afford him or anyone else unless they move a big contract...).

[Torture]

Don\'t know much about Michael, but I really get the impression that Dan Ryder will not be returning to Hockey. He\'s suspended from the Quad City Flames, and while there\'s been very little information about him I don\'t get the sense that his heart is in it.

[The Comish]

Cartman wrote:

Ryder will explode again when he gets moved. He is a perfect buy low candidate. Watch for him to go to Tampa or Florida in the offseason... (Tampa may not be able to afford him or anyone else unless they move a big contract...).

I definitely agree with Cartman. M.Ryder will be fine once he\'s in a different location. Tampa Bay would be crazy for Ryder, maybe developing some chemistry with B.Richards. With Ryder\'s pending UFA status and his season numbers to date, I would think that he could be had relatively cheaply.

If Ryder did move to TB, I bet it wouldn\'t take much to resign him for a couple of seasons without breaking the bank. I would think he would jump at the chance to play with a top centre.

Thanks for the post Cartman.

[repenttokyo]

you mean vice-versa (torture)

[fzusher]

thanks for the info, Cartman. Karma be to you ...

One thing made me curious in your post, though:

do you think he gets traded to Tampa or Florida by the deadline, gets traded to another team but does not resign there and goes to one of those two teams in the offseason, or stays with the Habs until the offseason?

[Torture]

repenttokyo wrote:

you mean vice-versa (torture)

Haha, yeah I realized that after I posted it. My bad!

[jpguy13]

Cartman wrote:

From what I have heard from some of his close family members is that he honestly belives his days in Montreal were numbered - right from the start of the season and in training camp and this was a big distraction for him. That coupled with the Montreal media dogging him and saying he was expendable and Coach Carbs continously limiting his ice time has been a big thing. According to those close to him, he really likes Montreal and has all the respect in the world for Gainey and the organization - however he feels like he (and never was) part of their plans, and the reason for the team offering up a one year deal was to use him as bait for the trade deadline. He knew he was just \"filler\".

That is bang-on mostly, but I think there are also issues here of playing with a much, much slower Koivu than last year. Also, I realize that his ice-time is being limited, but he still got to play on the Hab\'s second line during the last week, which he doesn\'t deserve, not with his performances.

And I do think it\'s sad, but you are right, he is being left out to dry. I don\'t think that as a team Montreal is strong enough yet to have a pure sniper in their ranks. They need more complete players, à la S. Kostitsyn. I gotta say that he made me feel very proud of this hockey team on saturday when he decked the guy that went after Higgins.

He\'s a goner for sure.

[Cartman]

fzusher wrote:

thanks for the info, Cartman. Karma be to you ...

One thing made me curious in your post, though:

do you think he gets traded to Tampa or Florida by the deadline, gets traded to another team but does not resign there and goes to one of those two teams in the offseason, or stays with the Habs until the offseason?

I dont believe he will be traded to TB or FLA but he has stated (to close family members) that he would love to play in the sunshine state, so I see him signing there in July. Whoever gets him for a playoff run may be pleasantly surprised. This is definetly and off year for him but mostly because he feels like the odd man out in a bad situation.

He is the type of player that can score you goals when you need them... anyone remember the Habs last game of the season last year? He was insane, scoring 3 goals against the Leafs.