Ryan Potulny (born September 5, 1984) is an American 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He is currently an assistant coach for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

men's ice hockey team.

Playing career

Potulny was drafted in the third round, 87th overall, at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

after playing two years with the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. History ...

. He spent the next three seasons playing collegiate hockey with the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

, recording 68 goals and 50 assists for a total of 118 points in 100 games. Potulny ranked first in the nation with 38 goals and 63 points during his last season with the Gophers, 2005–06, and was named an All-

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

First Team Honoree and was a finalist for the

Hobey Baker Memorial Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

. Potulny signed a 2-year entry level contract with the Flyers on March 29, 2006. He played his first two professional games with the Flyers at the tail-end of the 2005–06 season, making his

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

debut on April 7, 2006 and also recording his first point. He split the 2006–07 season with the Flyers and the AHL's

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum. During schedule ...

. On April 24, 2008, Potulny scored the game-winning goal at 2:58 in the fifth overtime in Game 5 of the East Division Semifinals. The game's total time was 142:58, at that time an AHL record for longest game. Potulny was traded from the Flyers to the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

on June 6, 2008 in exchange for

Danny Syvret Danny Syvret (born June 13, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 59 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Syvret was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2005 NHL Entr ...

. He then signed a one-year deal with the Oilers on June 14, 2008. On September 8, 2010, Potulny signed a one-year

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks. He ultimately played in only three games with the Blackhawks, spending much of the season with their AHL affiliate in Rockford. On February 28, 2011, Potulny was traded to the Ottawa Senators along with a second round draft pick in the 2011 entry draft in return for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2012 entry draft and

Chris Campoli Christopher Campoli (born July 9, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Dundas Real McCoys of the Ontario Hockey Association's Allan Cup Hockey. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, and ...

. On July 1, 2011, Potulny signed a two-year two-way contract worth $525,000 dollars per year with the second year on a one-way basis, with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

. He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

for the duration of his contract with the Capitals. Upon completion of his contract with the Capitals, Potulny signed in Russia as a free agent on a one-year deal with

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (russian: ХК Авангард, links=no, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental H ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

on May 30, 2013. Potulny sought a release from his contract with Omsk just three months later, having never featured in the KHL, before belatedly returning to the Bears for the remainder of the season on December 22, 2013. After three seasons with the Hershey Bears, Potulny signed a one-year AHL contract with the

Hartford Wolf Pack The Hartford Wolf Pack are a professional ice hockey team based in Hartford, Connecticut. A member of the American Hockey League (AHL), they play their home games at the XL Center. The team was established in 1926 as the Providence Reds. After a ...

, an affiliate of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

on August 6, 2014. On June 11, 2015, Potulny left North America to sign a one-year contract with Finnish club,

Lahti Pelicans The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. Founded in 1996, they play in the city of Lahti at Isku Arena. The team is co-owned by (among others) former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurmine ...

of the top-tier

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. On 28 August 2017, Potulny agreed a deal with the

Braehead Clan Glasgow Clan (formerly ''Braehead Clan'') is a Scotland, Scottish professional ice hockey team. It was formed in 2010 as the UK Elite Ice Hockey League expanded into the west of Scotland market, and are based at the Braehead Arena in Renfrewshir ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...

. Potulny retired at the conclusion of the season to take up an assistant coach role at the University of Minnesota. Grant & Ryan Potulny

Family

He is the younger brother of

Grant Potulny Grant Martin Potulny (born March 4, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is currently the head coach of the Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey team. Potulny was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the 5th round ...

, a Senators' draft pick in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

formerly an assistant coach with the

ice hockey team. Grant is now the head coach of Northern Michigan University men's hockey program.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potulny, Ryan 1984 births American men's ice hockey centers Binghamton Senators players Braehead Clan players Chicago Blackhawks players Edmonton Oilers players EHC Black Wings Linz players Hartford Wolf Pack players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from North Dakota Lahti Pelicans players Lincoln Stars players Living people Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Ottawa Senators players Sportspeople from Grand Forks, North Dakota Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Springfield Falcons players Stadion Hradec Králové players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans