Patrick J. C. Ryan (born September 28, 1955 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

) is a Canadian curler originally from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Ryan is a former

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

skip, and three time

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Bri ...

champion. Ryan lives in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Career

Ryan appeared in his first Brier in 1979 when he was the second for Paul Devlin's

team. They finished 6-5. In 1985, Ryan returned to the Brier, as a skip of Team Alberta. His team of Gord Trenchie, Don McKenzie, and

Don Walchuk Donald J. Walchuk (born March 6, 1963 in Melville, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian curler from Edmonton, Alberta. For many years Walchuk played third for Kevin Martin's team. On Martin's rink, Walchuk was known especially for his "high heat" - his ...

had an impressive 11-1 performance, their only loss coming in the final against

Al Hackner Allan A. Hackner (born July 18, 1954), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a retired Canadians, Canadian Hall of Fame curling, curler from Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was born in Nipigon, Ontario. He is a two-time the Brier, Brier and World Curling Champion ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

. Two years later, Ryan would return to the Brier. His new team, which included

Randy Ferbey Randy S. Ferbey (born May 30, 1959) is a Canadian retired curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Ferbey is a six-time Canadian champion and a four-time World Champion. He currently coaches the Rachel Homan women's team. Born in Edmonton, Albert ...

(whom he played with at the 1986 Canadian Mixed Championship) and Roy Herbert along with Walchuk finished with a disappointing 6-5 record. At the 1988 Labatt Brier however, Ryan's Alberta foursome (now with Don McKenzie as lead instead of Herbert) would win the championship defeating

Eugene Hritzuk Eugene Hritzuk (born c. 1949) is a Canadian curler from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is a former World Senior men's champion skip. Hritzuk has won two provincial championships as skip, once in 1985 and again in 1988. This qualified him f ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in the final. Ryan's team had a perfect 12-0 record. At the World Championships however, Ryan's team would be undefeated all the way to the final against

Eigil Ramsfjell Eigil Ramsfjell (born 17 March 1955 in Oslo) is a Norwegian curler, world champion and Olympic medalist. Many consider him one of the pioneers in modern curling. He received a bronze medal as skip at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

which he lost. Ryan returned to the 1989 Labatt Brier, which he won again, albeit with three losses along the way. Ryan would this time be able to win the 1989 World Championships, again with three losses. He defeated

Patrick Hürlimann Patrick Hürlimann (born 9 July 1963) is a Swiss curler, Olympic champion, and Vice-President of the World Curling Federation (WCF). He received a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the final. Ryan was nicknamed the Ryan Express for his team's ability to peel rocks which led to many low scoring games, but gave the team two straight Brier championships. This strategy was perceived as boring, and elicited jeering from crowds, and forced the rules of curling to be changed with the implementation of the

free guard zone Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

. 1993 would be Ryan's next Brier appearance. This time Ryan had moved from

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

to Kelowna, British Columbia. In 1993, Ryan played third for

Rick Folk Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

which lost the final to

Russ Howard Russell W. "Russ" Howard, CM, ONL (born February 19, 1956 in Midland, Ontario) is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, but originally from Midland, Ontario. He lived in Moncton, New Brunswick from 2000 to 2 ...

from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Ryan and Folk would return to the

1994 Labatt Brier The 1994 Labatt Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 13 at the Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta. In the final, former Brier champion Rick Folk of British Columbia, who won the Brier in 1980 representing Sa ...

where they won, getting their revenge against Howard in the final. At the 1994 World Championships, Ryan would win his second World Championships, as their team defeated Jan-Olov Nässén of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the final. Ryan and Folk would return to the Brier again in 1995, however they finished 6-5. Ryan wouldn't return to the Brier until 2002. By now, Ryan was the skip of team British Columbia, and his team of

Deane Horning Deane may refer to: Places * Deane, Greater Manchester, an area of Bolton and a former historic parish * Deane, Hampshire, a village * Deane, Kentucky Ships * USS ''Deane'' (1778), US Navy frigate named after Silas Deane * HMS ''Deane'' (K551 ...

, Kevin MacKenzie, and

Rob Koffski Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ...

would finish 6-5 at the

2002 Nokia Brier The 2002 Nokia Brier was the Canadian men's curling championship. It was held from March 9 to 17, 2002 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. It was won by the Albertan foursome headed by Randy Ferbey. Ferbey threw third stones through ...

. Ryan's last Brier to date was the 2003 Nokia Brier, where his team of Horning, MacKenzie and

Bob Ursel Robert (Bob) "Bobby" Ursel (born February 12, 1965) is a Canadian curler and curling coach. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ursel curls out of Kelowna, British Columbia. Curling career In 1984, Ursel skipped his native Manitoba to a Canadian J ...

finished 7-6 Ryan moved back to Alberta, and won his first Canadian Senior Curling Championship (for curlers over 50 years old) in 2007 as the skip for Team Alberta. In 2008, Ryan skipped Canada to a World Senior Curling Championship. He moved to Toronto in 2008, and played alternate for

Peter Corner Peter J. Corner2017 Brier Media Guide: Previous Rosters (born May 20, 1968 in Brampton, Ontario) is a Canadian curler from Burlington, Ontario. Career Corner was a member of the 1993 "dream team" of his cousin Wayne Middaugh and the brothers ...

's team at the

2009 TSC Stores Tankard The 2009 TSC Stores Tankard was the 2009 edition of the Ontario provincial men's curling tournament. It was held on February 2-8 at the Woodstock District Community Complex in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. The winning team represented Ontario at th ...

Personal life

Ryan is currently employed as a chartered professional accountant. He is married and has two children. Ryan also writes and performs

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

solo and performing with his daughter

Lynsay Lindsay or Lindsey () is an English surname and given name. The given name comes from the Scottish surname and clan name, which comes from the toponym Lindsey, which in turn comes from the Old English toponym ''Lindesege'' ("Island of Lind") ...

. He has released two CDs, ''Old Dog - New Tricks'' and ''Little Bit of Trouble''.

References

External links

* * Video: {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Pat 1955 births Living people Brier champions Canadian people of Irish descent Curlers from British Columbia Curlers from Edmonton Curlers from Winnipeg Sportspeople from Kelowna World curling champions Canadian accountants Canadian male curlers Canadian curling coaches Canada Cup (curling) participants