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By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com February 5, 2007 A couple of months ago, Johan Ryno looked nothing like the highly-skilled, top-line player the Detroit Red Wings hope he’ll become. The 6-foot-5, 209-pound forward had off-season back surgery in June and wasn’t permitted to do any activity until a week before his first Swedish Elite League training camp started with Frolunda in August. “He wasn’t allowed to do anything and he could hardly move at all,” said Red Wings director of European scouting Hakan Andersson. “He could only stand or lie down — he couldn’t even sit in a chair for the first month.” “He was way behind in terms of summer training and the coaches had no respect for that,” Andersson said. “Frolunda hit the ice and they just threw him in there like anyone else and said, ‘Try to make the team.’” Ryno has since turned his season around. After a brief stint with AIK at Sweden’s second level, where he had nine points in 14 games, Ryno transferred back to the top league with Timra, Henrik Zetterberg’s former club. The 20-year-old rookie had nine points in his first 11 games, and although he has slowed down recently, with 11 points in 19 games overall, Andersson said Ryno and Russian winger Igor Grigorenko likely will be the organization’s top signing priorities out of Europe this summer. “I project him as a top two line player,” Andersson said. “He’s a 6-foot-5 guy with very good hands and hockey sense. He’s got real upside. He’s the guy who has the biggest chance out of Europe to be an impact player in Detroit.” Ryno was an unknown when the Red Wings drafted him from his hometown team in Kumla, where he played at Sweden’s third level. He remains slender and needs to get stronger, but Andersson expects that to come. “He played hockey in a not-so-serious league when we drafted him, so he has some catching up to do fitness-wise,” Andersson said. “He knows that himself. He was going to work hard this summer and then came the back problems.” KINDL BOOED: Defenseman Jakub Kindl (Kitchener, Ontario Hockey League) was booed on home ice last weekend in a 3-2 victory in which he assisted on both the tying and winning goals. “I’m trying my best every game,” Kindl told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record afterward. “They don't know how hard I work off the ice and practice to get used to the next level. I don't want to say we have bad fans but they should sometimes maybe appreciate what you do out there, right?” The former first-round pick has 39 points in 39 games this season. Rangers head coach Peter DeBoer told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that Kind’s treatment from the fans was “disgraceful.” “He’s one of the most skilled players I’ve ever coached,” said DeBoer, whose former players include Bryan Berard and Paul Mara. “He’s one of the hardest workers (on the team). I’ve never been embarassed to be the coach of the Kitchener Rangers behind the bench until tonight.” HOT: Forward Shawn Matthias (Belleville, OHL) has been scoring at a torrid pace lately, with seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in his last seven games ... Forward Dick Axelsson (Huddinge, Sweden’s second level) is also on a tear, with 13 goals and six assists in his last 18 games. Axelsson missed the start of the year because of a contract dispute, but his pro-rated totals would tie him for the league goal-scoring lead at age 19. COLD: Forward Mattias Ritola (Borlange, Sweden’s second level) went without a point in three games, an underwhelming week in a league he is capable of lighting up ... Defenceman Miroslav Blatak (Mora, Swedish Elite League) has one point in his last eight games. NOTES: Defenseman Derek Meech (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) went without a point and was a minus-2 in Canada’s 7-6 loss to PlanetUSA in the AHL all-star game on Monday in Toronto ... Defenseman Logan Pyett (Regina, Western Hockey League) has 45 points in 51 games and has already matched his 71-game total from last season. Pats general manager Brent Parker told the Regina Leader-Post that the highly-skilled Pyett has “a ways to go, but has improved drastically” in the defensive end. The following is this season’s statistical report to date:
The following is this season's statistical report for goaltenders to date:
LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; ECHL -- East Coast Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; RUS-2 -- Russian second level; FIN -- Finnish Elite League; FIN-J20 -- Finnish under-20 junior league; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-3 -- Swedish third level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 junior league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; NCAA -- National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1; USHL -- United States Hockey League. |
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