Ryan Gardner (born April 18, 1978) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He last played for

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

, Fribourg-Gottéron,

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern (''Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English language, English) is an ice hockey team based in Bern, Switzerland. They play in the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. ...

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and playe ...

and

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...

in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL). He won the Swiss national championship four times. Representing the Swiss national team he captured a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships. Gardner was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

during his father's time with the Cleveland Barons, but grew up in the

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 1980s and then

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridges ...

(late 1980s and 1990s).

Career

While his father Dave Gardner was playing professionally in Switzerland, Gardner played in the country as a youngster. Later, he spent time with the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

and North Bay Centenntials in the OHL, before moving back to Switzerland. He made his debut in the top-flight

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

(NLA) at

during the 1997-98 season. In 2001, he signed with

, where he stayed until 2007. During his time in Lugano, he captured the 2003 and 2006 Swiss championship. He then spent three years with the

, winning the NLA title in 2008 and the 2008-09 Champions Hockey League. From 2010 to 2015, he turned out for

, winning another championship in 2013 and the Swiss cup competition in 2015. At the conclusion of the 2014–15 season, on April 2, 2015, Gardner was traded by

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). The team is the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015/16 season with 6,156 spectators. History The ...

in exchange for

Timo Helbling Timo Helbling (born July 21, 1981) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National League (NL) for HC Davos, Kloten Flyers, HC Lugano, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, SC Bern, EV Zug, SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, Oulun Kärpä ...

. In April 2016, he signed a deal to return to

, where he played until the conclusion of the 2016-17. Gardner announced his retirement from professional ice hockey in February 2018.

International career

Gardner has represented

internationally at the

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

and

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. He won silver with the Swiss team at the 2013 World Championships.

Personal info

He comes from a hockey family: His father Dave Gardner, uncle Paul Gardner and grandfather

Cal Gardner Calvin Pearly "Ginger, Red, Torchy" Gardner (October 30, 1924 – October 10, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the NHL. In 1943, after playing professional hockey for three years and winning the Memorial Cup, he joined the Ca ...

all played professionally.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1978 births HC Ambrì-Piotta players HC Lugano players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lausanne HC players Living people London Knights players North Bay Centennials players Olympic ice hockey players for Switzerland SC Bern players Ice hockey players from Ohio Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio Swiss ice hockey centres ZSC Lions players {{Switzerland-icehockey-bio-stub