Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994 TAG: 9402060139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"If somebody wants to come in my house, it's going to cost them. I make sure of it," said the Roanoke Express goalie.
At 6 feet wide and 4 feet high, Ryder's place isn't big. But add a feisty tenant and an onrushing intruder, and it becomes 24 square feet of hockey hell.
Still want to visit Dan's Demolition Den? Better bring some lumber with you.
"Dan Ryder won't back down from anybody," said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. "He's very excitable when he's in net. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and he doesn't take any crap from anyone."
Perhaps no other ECHL goalie is as protective of his turf as Ryder. Roam near the Roanoke goal mouth when No. 30 is home, and you're begging for confrontation.
"I felt like when I came here that there were a lot of guys in the league who think they own the league," Ryder said. "Well, they have to realize that when players come down or come in from other leagues that they have to be tested.
"In my opinion, from the blue line to the crease is mine. And if something is going on - I know Frank does not like this, and he has talked to me over and over about this - I feel like I can't be a goaltender who just stays in the crease, sits there and does nothing.
"I have to get out there and I have to be aggressive. When I'm aggressive, I play well. And if it takes a couple of penalties to get me going, well, then I have to do it."
Ryder has delivered his message to the ECHL, ringing up 42 penalty minutes, tops among league goalies.
"When I first got here, I told everyone here that I wasn't going to take any crap from anybody," Ryder said. "If somebody high-sticks one of my players, and there's no one there but me, I'm just like any other player . . . I can easily get in there. I'm not afraid to fight anyone in this league. There's no one out there that scares me."
Ryder's swagger, not to mention his play in net, has been a key to the success of the Express as an expansion team. After a slow start, the San Jose Sharks' farmhand has won 13 of his past 19 decisions. Roanoke has ridden "Rydes" right into contention in the ECHL East Division.
"At the beginning of the season, the team wasn't playing that well, and I and the other goalies here needed to be there," Ryder said. "Well, we weren't exactly spectacular, so it sort of made it: bad goalie, bad team team, bad overall.
"Now the team is playing a lot better, and I feel as though I'm playing a lot better. It sort of goes hand in hand."
Ryder's 17 victories - he's 17-11-0 overall - rank fourth in the league. His 3.96 goals-against average ranks ninth among goaltenders who have played in at least 20 games.
At first, Ryder wasn't thrilled about trucking down to Roanoke and the ECHL. He spent the majority of last season in a backup role behind former ECHL goalie Wade Flaherty with Kansas City of the International Hockey League.
"It was tough because San Jose expected me to play well once a month," Ryder said. "That was really tough, because in junior hockey I played 50 games a year. I had always been the man, so to speak, then I go to a team where I wasn't the man."
During their September training camp, the Sharks decided to send their fifth-round pick in the 1991 NHL entry draft to Roanoke.
"They said I was good enough to stay in KC, but they didn't want me going through another year like last year," Ryder said. "I didn't want to be in the ECHL, though. I wanted to be in the IHL."
Ryder was shipped to Roanoke along with San Jose sidekick Brian Schoen. Ryder could handle it; Schoen couldn't.
"I think Brian came to this team with an attitude," Ryder said of Schoen, who was traded to Toledo in November. "Brian just felt he shouldn't be here and that he should be in the NHL."
Ryder said it didn't take him long "to smarten up" and realize that seeing a lot of ice time in Roanoke would be much more beneficial than working the bench gate in Kansas City, Mo.
"It's much better for me to come down here and play hockey rather than go up there and sit on the bench," Ryder said.
"I have a four-year contract with San Jose, and I'm in the second year. I'm 21 years old, and I'm in no rush. Heck, maybe one in a million makes it to the NHL.
"People keep saying, `Why are you doing this?' Well, I'm getting paid a large sum to play hockey, something I want to do. So as long as San Jose is paying me, I'm going to stay here, whatever league it is."
Unlike Schoen, who was known to flash his fat NHL paycheck in front of his $300-per-week Express teammates, Ryder has been a good fit in Roanoke. He may drive a sleek new sports car, but he's still one of the boys.
"We're all on the same team, and it doesn't make any difference what you're making," Ryder said. "Besides, I pick up the tab every now and then. That's what money is for - to be spent. And who better to spend it on than my teammates."
The biggest tab for the 6-foot-1, 184-pound Kitchener, Ontario, native lies in the net.
"To play goal, you have to have flexibility, eyesight and you've got to be a little crazy," Ryder said. "You know if the puck is going in the net and your head is in the way, you're going to have to use your head to block it. I think to be a good goaltender you have to be a little crazy - not overly crazy, we're not all wacko - and be quick.
"Plus, I really like the pressure of being a goaltender. It's just like a pitcher in baseball or a quarterback in football. At other positions, you can go out and stink up the joint and the fans don't even notice it. But if the goaltender stinks the joint up, everyone knows it. You can't hide behind the mask."
Dan Ryder hide? Not in his house. No chance.
by CNB