From a 50,000 foot level, it looks like Daniel Ryder's time as a Flame has ended before it even begun. No less than a year ago, Ryder was one of the brightest young prospects in the Flames system. Now, for reasons as yet unknown, Ryder has been suspended by the Baby Flames and removed from the team's roster. This all comes on the heels of Ryder mysteriously refusing to attend the Flames training camp earlier this year for "personal reasons".
Nothing substantive has come to light regarding the nature of the personal issues Daniel is battling and why they are placing his promising hockey career in jeopardy. What we do know is that a rising star has seemingly been snuffed out - quite a blow to an organization that is suddenly hemorrhaging quality kids for one reason or another. In a matter of weeks, the Flames have lost Giordano and Taratukhin to the Russian league and now Ryder to...whatever it is that's ailing him.
As a Junior, Daniel was a bit of a sensation. Some scouts placed him above his older brother, Michael, in terms of overall skill and hockey sense. He scored 307 points in 253 regular season games with the Peterborough Petes and Plymouth Whalers in the OHL, and added another 60 points in 53 play-off games. During the Petes run to the Memorial cup in 05/06, Ryder scored 31 points in 19 games and won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the play-offs most valuable player. I considered him one of the Flames top 3 prospects with Irving and Boyd until recently.
His pro career had a decent beginning to it as well, if you ignore the training camp thing. He scored 1 goal and 5 points in this first (and, probably only) 6 AHL games, despite the fact the QC Flames have struggled in the early going. I was actually feeling fairly secure that Ryder was back on track until the recent announcement of his suspension.
It's pointless to speculate about what Demons Ryder may or may not be facing right now. It could something as simple and benign as burn-out or lack of interest and it could be something deeper, more complex and more pathological. Im disappointed that he won't be able to fulfill the promise he showed as a Junior, but wish him the best as he moves forward in his life - even if it's one away from the rink.
