RWC REPORT: Ryno producing as AHL rookie

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / November 5, 2007

Johan Ryno is off to a productive start in North America.

The 6-foot-5, 209-pound left-winger is showing flashes of his upside as an American Hockey League rookie with the Grand Rapids Griffins. He’s picked up two goals and three assists in his first eight games.

Ryno, who had an assist in five NHL pre-season games with the Detroit Red Wings, has seen top-line ice time with the Griffins, regularly lining up with center Mark Cullen and right-winger Carl Corazzini.

The 21-year-old spent last season in the Swedish Elite League and was placed on the top line to complement Cullen and Corazzini, both under six feet tall.

“He’s got to be more consistent — he’s got the skills and stuff, now, you’ve got to apply it every game,” Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “That’s just a learning process. He’s got great upside — size, good skill. He’s just got to work on his skating and get stronger.”

Mattias Ritola, another forward who came over from Sweden this summer, hasn’t been so productive. He’s scoreless with just two assists in nine games with the Griffins, despite seeing some time on the second line.

The 20-year-old had two goals in five NHL pre-season games and was one of the last cuts from Detroit’s camp. The Wings loves his skill and feel he has a higher offensive ceiling than Ryno, but there are no guarantees.

“His whole thing is consistency, playing hard every night,” Nill said.

Grand Rapids is an even 5-5 this season.

— Goaltender Jimmy Howard was sent back to Grand Rapids from Detroit. He didn’t see any ice time during his brief NHL stay.

— Winger Jan Mursak (Saginaw, Ontario Hockey League) continues to struggle in a surprisingly slow start. The 5-foot-11, 173-pounder had no points in a pair of games and has just 14 points in 16 games so far this year.

“He’s been struggling,” Nill said. “He had an average camp, coming off a strong AHL playoff (in 2006-07). He put on almost 15 pounds in the off-season and it might be affecting him. It might be taking him a little time to grow into his body.”

— Defenseman Nils Backstrom (Alaska-Anchorage, NCAA) is OK after suffering what was initially suspected to be a broken leg. The 21-year-old sophomore defenceman has a goal in five games.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	3	5	8
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	2	3	5	7
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	2	3	5	12
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	2	2	4	4
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	1	3	4	6
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	0	3	3	12
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	2	2	12
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	0	0	0	4
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	24	2	4	6	20
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	12	1	0	1	10
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgardens	SWE	12	5	4	9	0
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	17	0	5	5	4
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	15	2	10	12	12
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	20	9	9	18	23
Cory Emmerton	Kingston	OHL	16	7	8	15	2
Jan Mursak	Saginaw	OHL	16	4	10	14	4
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	19	5	7	12	10
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	15	3	6	9	27
N C A A
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	6	1	5	6	6
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	7	3	2	5	23
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	5	1	0	1	2
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	7	0	0	0	0
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	8	0	0	0	2

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgardens	SWE	14	--	1.98	.924
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	3-1	3.00	.902

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.