Troy Ryan (born January 26, 1972) 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 ...

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 ...

coach. He currently serves as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Canadian national women's hockey team. In July 2020, he was hired to serve as the head coach for the Dalhousie Tigers women's ice hockey program.

Playing career

Growing up in

Spryfield, Nova Scotia Spryfield is community within the urban area of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. History The land now known as Spryfield was first occupied by the Miꞌkmaq people, who hunted and fished at Beaver Lake (now called Long Lake). The Miꞌkmaq would ...

, Ryan competed at the AAA level with the Halifax McDonald's Midget team before joining the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

Halifax Mooseheads The Halifax Mooseheads are a Canadian major junior ice hockey club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The team was founded in 1994 and began play in the Dilio Division of the QMJHL from the 1 ...

. After his stint with the Mooseheads, Ryan played university hockey with two different programs. From 1993 to 1995, he skated for the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, followed by a pair of seasons with the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

Coaching career

At the university level, Ryan would also gain his first major coaching experience. Starting in 2001, Ryan would enjoy a pair of seasons with the

Acadia Axemen The Acadia Axemen and Axewomen are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The on-campus sports facilities used by Axemen teams include Raymond Field for various field sports and An ...

men's varsity hockey program. Following his initial coaching foray in university hockey, Ryan would join the Maritime Junior A Hockey League in 2003, becoming general manager and head coach of the Antigonish Bulldogs. Afterwards, he would serve in those dual roles from 2004-09 with the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, taking the team to the semi-finals of the 2008 RBC Cup. From 2013-16, Ryan served in multiple capacities with the Maritime Hockey League’s (MHL) Campbellton Tigers, including head coach, general manager, and president. He also served in the same roles with the league's Metro Marauders from 2009-11. Sandwiched in between those two stints in the MHL, he was the head coach for the St. Thomas University Tommies men’s hockey team of the

Atlantic University Sport Atlantic University Sport (AUS; french: Sport universitaire de l'Atlantique) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and pr ...

conference.

Women's Ice Hockey

In 2015, Ryan took on head coaching duties in two different women's ice hockey events. At the

2015 Canada Winter Games The 2015 Canada Winter Games, officially known as the XXV Canada Games, is a Canadian multi-sport event that was held from February 12 to March 1, 2015, in Prince George, British Columbia. Sports Alpine skiing 2007 Canada Winter Games The 2007 Canada Games, Canada Winter Games were held in Whitehorse, Yukon, from Friday 23 February 2007 to Saturday 10 March 2007. These were the first Canada Games held ''Northern Canada, North of 60'' (in the northern territories). The game ...

. For the 2015 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, Ryan served in the same role with Team Atlantic, finishing fifth. One year later, Ryan was named Atlantic Canada's female coach mentor with the Canadian Sport Centre Atlantic.

Hockey Canada

With the Canadian women's national under 18 ice hockey team, Ryan enjoyed his first experiences as a head coach in the Hockey Canada program. August 2016 would see Ryan serve as bench boss for a three-game series in Calgary between the Canadian and American Under-18 programs. Ryan would serve in the same role, leading the Canadian contingent to a silver medal at the

2017 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship The 2017 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship was the tenth Women's U18 World Championship in ice hockey. The tournament was played in Přerov and Zlín, Czech Republic. For the third straight year the United States defeated Canada for the gold, w ...

in the Czech Republic. Later in 2017, Ryan served as an assistant coach on

Perry Pearn Perry Pearn (born June 6, 1951) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. He is a former assistant coach in the National Hockey League, most recently with the Vancouver Canucks. In 2022, he became the head coach of the Japanese national ice ho ...

's staff with Canada's National Women’s Team at the 2017 4 Nations Cup in Tampa, Florida, a silver medal finish. He would gain another silver as an assistant coach at the 2018 4 Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Sask. During 2019, Ryan took on two different roles with Hockey Canada. In August 2019, Ryan was the head coach for the Canadian National Women’s Development Team, facing off against the United States during a three-game series hosted in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

. Additionally, Ryan was part of the coaching staff that gained a bronze medal at the

2019 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was contested in Espoo, Finland from 4 to 14 April 2019 at the Espoo Metro Areena. The United States won their ...

Espoo, Finland Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi whil ...

. In May 2021, it was announced that Ryan would serve as head coach for the Canadian women's team that shall compete in

Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics The ice hockey competitions of the 2022 Winter Olympics was played at two venues located in the Beijing cluster. The Beijing National Indoor Stadium, which seats 18,000, is one of what are being called Olympic Green venues. The Wukesong Arena, s ...

Awards and honors

* Fred Page Cup (2008) *Maritime Junior A Hockey League Coach of the Year: 2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09 *MHL Coach of the Year (2015-16) *Hockey Nova Scotia Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) *Sport Nova Scotia Coach of the Year (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Troy Halifax Mooseheads players Living people 1972 births Canadian ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Nova Scotia