Steve: Ryan, I would like for you to tell me a little bit about where you’re from and a little bit about your family.

Ryan: I am from Fairway, Kansas; it is a suburb of Kansas City. I live on the Kansas side. I have got a sister who is 21 and goes to Tulane University down in New Orleans and my parents, Chris and Lynn. My dad is a lawyer and my mom is a high school Spanish teacher.

Steve: Tell me a little bit about how you started hockey.

Ryan: When I was about in kindergarten, they sent home a pamphlet asking if you wanted to learn how to play hockey. I brought it home and asked my parents and they signed me up, and ever since I have been playing.

Steve: Were you the first one in your family to play?

Ryan: Yeah, I was the first one to play hockey.

Steve: So what did they think about it? Did they enjoy it?

Ryan: Oh, they love it. They love hockey. It has grown on them. They are big hockey fans.

Steve: Have they come up to see you play at all this year?

Ryan: Yeah, they come up to almost all the home games. It is only about two hours and 45 minutes away, so it is not too bad of a drive.

Steve: What about some of the other teams you’ve played for? Tell me about those.

Ryan: Last year I played for the Soo Hawks, which is a midget AAA team in the Great Lakes League up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Before that I played in the Iowa High School Hockey League my freshman, sophomore, and junior years with the Kansas City Junior Blades. Before that I just played travel throughout Kansas City and traveled throughout the country. In the summer I played for Team Northwest out of Grand Forks, North Dakota. We were a really good team. A bunch of the guys are playing in the USHL right now or the OHL or in college.

Steve: When you were playing with travel teams and you moved on up to the Soo, how did that all come about? When did you decide that you were going to break out of the high school ranks and go up to something a little bit higher level?

Ryan: Two years ago I came up to Des Moines try outs and Coach Owens and Krueger said it would be a good idea to go to the Soo Hawks because they were the protected team of the Buccaneers last year. So I went up there, so then I would be protected by Des Moines, which I am here now.

Steve: So what kind of experience was it to move way up from Kansas way up to Upper Michigan?

Ryan: Yeah, it was a change, I mean, from like two inches of snow to six feet of snow. It was a town of 15,000 on the United States side, and then the Canadian side had about 50,000 to 60,000. So putting them together, it was a decent size place. It was an experience.

Steve: I would imagine they are a lot more into hockey up there.

Ryan: Oh, yeah.

Steve: Did you notice that?

Ryan: You have Lake Superior State University there and you’ve got the Greyhounds, which is the OHL team where Gretzky played. You’ve got the midget team, high school leagues. There is so much hockey for just not that many people compared to Kansas City where there is not too much hockey.

Steve: For that size of a city.

Ryan: Yeah.

Steve: How did you hear about the USHL and the Bucs, in particular, then?

Ryan: Well, I just knew from playing in the Iowa High School League. Pretty much all the places we played for there were where USHL is. I knew about the Bucs. I think when I was around 12 I saw Sioux City play when we were up there for a tournament, the Sioux City Musketeers junior team. I knew about the USHL.

Steve: Were you hoping to go to the Bucs then?

Ryan: Yeah, the Bucs were pretty much my main team I wanted to go for. I signed in the NAHL, which is another junior league, with Grand Rapids but I didn’t ever want to go there. I just did it so I wouldn’t go into the draft they had.

Steve: I guess that is a whole kind of a thing we haven’t talked about much. Each league has their own kind of draft, and you can kind of sign with one team and then go with another league.

Ryan: Right. Yeah, I signed with a North American team but that doesn’t have anything to do with the USHL. So even though I signed with them, I could still go and play for a USHL team but I was protected by the Buccaneers, so I couldn’t talk to any other USHL team.

Steve: I see. How long then can you play for the Bucs?

Ryan: I can play next year. I am 19 right now, so next year and almost all of the season after, but probably just one more year.

Steve: Do you have any plans after that?

Ryan: College. Play college hockey and then do whatever I do after college. I don’t know yet.

Steve: Do you have any colleges you would rather go to if you could or does that matter? East, West, Central, I mean, does it matter?

Ryan: I am open. I wouldn’t mind staying closer to Midwest schools, but there aren’t too many. Back East is fine. I’ve moved around so it really doesn’t bother me.

Steve: When you’re not playing hockey, what do you do?

Ryan: Hang out with friends, go to concerts, work.

Steve: Do you have any hobbies?

Ryan: I play golf and I like baseball and soccer, a lot of sports.

Steve: Do you have a nickname?

Ryan: Yeah, I have one, Stine.

Steve: I forgot to ask earlier, do they have a nickname for Matt Weber?

Ryan: Yeah, we call Matt Weber Lenny.

Steve: I will put that in.

Ryan: Yeah, put that in.

Steve: I forgot to ask Matt this too. Is there something that the fans don’t know about you that you would like to say?

Ryan: I think we got stuck on this last time.

Steve: How about something that they don’t know about Matt Weber that they should know about?

Ryan: Geez. He needs a haircut.

Steve: He needs a haircut?

Ryan: Yeah, he needs a haircut bad.

Steve: Well, is there anything else you would like to tell the fans?

Ryan: It’s just great to have so many supporters for a team compared to last year when you only have 50 people come to your games. It’s really nice; it’s a change. It’s good.

Steve: I appreciate it so much.

Ryan: All right, thank you.

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