Byron Ritchie

This article is about the ice hockey player. For the U.S. Representative from Ohio, see Byron F. Ritchie.

Byron Ritchie
Ritchie in 2013
Born	(1977-04-24) April 24, 1977 (age 46) Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Carolina Hurricanes Florida Panthers Calgary Flames Vancouver Canucks Genève-Servette HC HC Dinamo Minsk Modo Hockey SC Bern
NHL Draft	165th overall, 1995 Hartford Whalers
Playing career	1996–2017

Byron Ritchie (born April 24, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, and grew up in North Delta, British Columbia. ^[1] Ritchie saw action in a total of 332 games in the NHL ^[2] and also played in Sweden, Switzerland and Belarus.

Playing career

As a youth, Ritchie played in the 1990 and 1991 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from North Delta. ^[3]

Ritchie was drafted in the 7th round (165th overall) by the Hartford Whalers in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes.^{[ citation needed ]} He was named to the Western Hockey League East Second All-Star Team in 1996 and 1997.^{[ citation needed ]}

On May 13, 1997, after a major junior game in the Memorial Cup refereed by a Francophone from Quebec, he was caught by an RDS camera yelling: "Fuck you, you fucking Frogs! Fuck them all!" He apologized the next day at practice stating "Whether the camera was on me or not doesn't make it right." ^[4] For the remainder of the tournament, he was booed mercilessly by the fans in Hull, Quebec, where the tournament was taking place.^{[ citation needed ]}

His rights transferred to the Carolina Hurricanes when the Whalers franchise relocated in 1997. On December 21, 1998, Ritchie made his NHL debut with the Hurricanes against the Buffalo Sabres.^{[ citation needed ]} On October 26, 2001, he set a Lowell Lock Monsters franchise record for points in a game with six (2 goals, 4 assists).^{[ citation needed ]} He was named the American Hockey League Player of the Week on October 29, 2001.^{[ citation needed ]}

On January 16, 2002, he was traded to the Florida Panthers with Sandis Ozolinsh for Bret Hedican, Tomas Malec, Kevyn Adams and a conditional 2nd round selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. On July 4, 2004, he was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Calgary Flames. On July 2, 2007, Ritchie signed with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played for one season.^{[ citation needed ]}

After the Canucks chose not to re-sign him, he signed as a free agent to play in Europe for Geneve-Servette HC of the NLA and signed a one-year contract. After a very good season in Switzerland during which he earned 60 points and took the fifth place of the overall top-scorer rankings, Ritchie, again a free agent, decided to sign with the Dinamo Minsk of the Russian KHL. In the 2009–10 season, Bryon was hampered by injury and played in just 12 games posting 3 goals for Minsk.^{[ citation needed ]}

On June 14, 2010, Ritchie remained in Europe and signed a one-year contract to return to Sweden with Modo of the SEL. ^[5] After a single season in Sweden, Ritchie signed to return to the Swiss NLA with SC Bern for the 2011–12 season. He won the Swiss championship with Bern in 2013.^{[ citation needed ]}

After four seasons with Bern, finished the 2014–15 season as team captain, Ritchie left the NLA and signed for a second spell with Modo Hockey of the SHL on May 10, 2015. ^[6] He announced his retirement in March 2017. ^[7]

Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing   Canada
Spengler Cup
	2012 Davos

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1993–94	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		44	4	11	15	44		6	0	0	0	14
1994–95	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		58	22	28	50	132		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		66	55	51	106	163		4	0	2	2	4
1995–96	Springfield Falcons	AHL		6	2	1	3	4		8	0	3	3	0
1996–97	Lethbridge Hurricanes	WHL		63	50	76	126	115		18	16	12	28	28
1997–98	Beast of New Haven	AHL		65	13	18	31	97		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Beast of New Haven	AHL		66	24	33	57	139		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		26	0	2	2	17		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Cincinnati Cyclones	IHL		34	8	13	21	81		10	1	6	7	32
2000–01	Cincinnati Cyclones	IHL		77	31	35	66	166		5	3	2	5	10
2001–02	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		4	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Florida Panthers	NHL		31	5	6	11	34		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL		43	25	30	55	38		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Florida Panthers	NHL		30	0	3	3	19		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	San Antonio Rampage	AHL		26	3	14	17	68		3	1	0	1	0
2003–04	Florida Panthers	NHL		50	5	6	11	84		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Rögle BK	Allsv		30	17	16	33	111		2	0	0	0	4
2005–06	Calgary Flames	NHL		45	4	2	6	69		7	0	0	0	0
2006–07	Calgary Flames	NHL		64	8	6	14	68		1	0	0	0	10
2007–08	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		71	3	8	11	80		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Genève–Servette HC	NLA		45	22	38	60	62		3	0	0	0	14
2009–10	Dinamo Minsk	KHL		12	3	2	5	8		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Modo Hockey	SEL		53	23	21	44	72		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	SC Bern	NLA		47	22	21	43	50		17	2	12	14	18
2012–13	SC Bern	NLA		46	19	30	49	36		20	7	15	22	20
2013–14	SC Bern	NLA		43	11	16	27	84		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	SC Bern	NLA		50	14	29	43	38		11	1	1	2	6
2015–16	Modo Hockey	SHL		16	3	2	5	2		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Modo Hockey	Allsv		35	4	15	19	51		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				324	25	33	58	373		8	0	0	0	10
NLA totals				231	88	134	222	270		51	10	28	38	58

Awards and honours

Award	Year
WHL
East Second All-Star Team	1996
East Second All-Star Team	1997

References

1. "You're right Byron Ritcheis mom you know your boy best". The Province . 2013-01-04. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
2. "Byron Ritchie Stats and News". NHL.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
3. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
4. "Memorial Cu". Canadian Hockey League. 2005-03-01. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
5. "Canadian Bryon Ritchie to Modo Hockey" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. 2010-06-14. Archived from the original on 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
6. "Byron Ritchie returns to Modo Hockey" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
7. "Byron Ritchie avslutar sin karriär". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-03-16.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database
• Stats & Bio from The Hockey News ^{[ permanent dead link ]}