Following in His Brother's Footsteps

Shmyr came to the Gulls late last year from the Alberta Junior Hockey League and joined his brother Jason. He had an amazing start that season by adding three goals and two assists in only seven games. Fans have yet to see his full potential this season, but should rest assured by knowing that Ryan is one of the hardest working players on the team arriving early and staying late for practice. He also spends endless hours in the gym when he is not on the ice. Stick around for more to come from Shymr next season.

William Overin: At what age did you start playing hockey?
Ryan Shmyr: I started skating when I was two or three. I’ve been playing hockey since about five.

WO: Who was your biggest influence as far as getting you to play hockey?
RS: Both my dad and my brother. We grew up on a farm and just skated on the ice every day.

WO: Where in Canada was that?
RS: I’m from Northern Alberta. We have ice on there about seven months out of the year outside. Outdoor rinks are where I did most of my skating.

WO: So your dad, did he play hockey too?
RS: Not really – he coached too. He helped us out, he helped us practice, and coached us too.

WO: Did you play any other sports?
RS: I played baseball and volleyball. I played golf. I play all sports.

WO: Was there ever any big competition between you and your brother?
RS: Not really. He was a couple of years older. He was always playing in the age group above me. It was good to have him there to learn from. We didn’t ever really compete against each other – I don’t think.

WO: Was it just you and your brother playing hockey?
RS: No, we had neighbors we always played with. He’d go with one neighbor and sometimes we’d play two against two. Those games would get pretty competitive because we’d keep score and hold tournaments.

WO: You started out as goalie originally didn’t you?
RS: Yeah, I was a goalie until I was nineteen. This is my third year playing forward.

WO: How did that transition occur?
RS: I played Junior with my brother, and you can only play Junior until you are twenty. It was his last year when I was there – the first year I was there. I played goal with him. The next year he wasn’t going to be there, and the team was looking for a big guy and they asked me if I thought about playing forward. Started out as kind of a joke, but it turned out I did some skating and worked on it. I ended up coming back and playing forward the next year.

WO: What type of hobbies do you have?
RS: I like golfing.

WO: What type of music do you like?
RS: I listen to all kinds of music. Alternative or Hard Rock – I even like some country. I like a wide range of music.

WO: What do you think of San Diego since you’ve been here?
RS: It’s probably the best city to play hockey in. The people are good – the weather is good. Nice arena – good team.

WO: What about the fans?
RS: Great fans.

WO: Do you ever miss Canada?
RS: I miss the seasons. It’s weird here (in San Diego), it’s like summertime here all the time for me because I’m used to six months of minus forty weather up in Canada.

WO: Do you go back to visit?
RS: Oh yeah. This is my first winter away from Canada. I’ll probably go home this summer for I don’t know how long. At some point anyways.

WO: Do you have any plans of playing roller hockey like your brother?
RS: I’m thinking about it. There’s no final plans now, but it’s one thing I’m thinking about for sure.

WO: Did you have any favorite players when your were growing up?
RS: I grew up close to Edmonton, so I liked the Edmonton Oilers. I liked Wayne Gretzky, and Grant Fuhr was one of my favorite goalkeepers. I got involved with the Edmonton Oilers when they were in their heyday back in the eighties.

WO: Do you still follow the Oilers now or do you have any favorite players?
RS: I like the Oilers because they are like the hometown teams. I don’t really have any favorite players so much – there are a lot of different players that I like.

WO: As far as enforcers, who do you think is the best?
RS: Tony Twist is tough, he’s one of the best. Probert is a classic. There are a lot, but those two stand out. I like Domi – he’s a little guy, but he’s tough.

WO: What do you do to mentally prepare yourself for a game?
RS: There are just some things that I need to go through in my mind, so that when you’re in those situations, you’ve already been through them. So I like to take a few minutes before a game to think about situations that I’m commonly in, and how I want to react to those situations.

WO: How would you characterize your style of play?
RS: Right now my goal is to be a power forward who works the corners and get the puck in front of the net - work in front of the net and get the garbage goals as they call them: rebound goals, tip-ins – stuff like that. That’s the kind of goals that I like to score and just be the kind of guy who helps out his teammates when they get in trouble.

WO: What types of things are you doing to improve your game right now?
RS: I work on my skating and my shots. I’m usually the first guy out for practice and the last guy off. I work out everyday; I usually spend three hours in the gym. One maybe one and a half-hours on the ice and two or three hours in the gym after that. I work on my strength and my speed.

WO: Where you surprised by your performance last year when you came up from the juniors (where he had three points and two assists in seven games)?
RS: I play the kind of position where you can get on a good streak in games where you can score four or five goals in (successive) games and then you can go on a twenty game drought without any goals. The rebounds aren’t there or the tip shots aren’t there. If the games aren’t your style of play, you’re not going to be scoring goals. I came here last year and got lucky. I feel I’m doing the same things this year; it’s just the opportunities haven’t been there.

WO: You’ve also got that Rookie rule going on, how does that work?
RS: I’ll be a rookie again next year as long as I play less than 34 games. I have three left. If I play three or less games this year, I’ll be back as a rookie next year. Every team needs three or more rookies in their line-up, so Marty will need to find two more for next year then.

WO: What types of things are you doing now to refine your fighting technique?
RS: I watch game tapes. A big thing is strength and a lot of it is mind too – thinking about what you need to do and that comes from watching game tapes and seeing mistakes you’ve made.

WO: I’d like to do is throw some names at you of some other fighters in the league and have you tell me what you think of them. Wade Brookbank (of Alaska)?
RS: He’s a young kid. He likes to throw ‘em. He’s a pretty good fighter. He’s a lot better fighter this year. He’s quick. He’s got some weaknesses that I’m not going to tell you. There’s a few things that I’d tell him if I were playing with him.

WO: How about Jonathan Shockey (of Idaho)?
RS: I fought him once. He’s a pretty good fighter and I couldn’t get a hold of his jersey. He’s a good kid, but I don’t think I’d have a problem fighting with him again. I just couldn’t get a hold of his jersey. He got a few shots in. He doesn’t worry me.

WO: Who was that guy from Tacoma that you knocked out?
RS: Jim Gattolliat. He was just running around like an idiot, so I just punched him in the face.

WO: Jacques Mailhot (of Fresno)?
RS: I haven’t fought him, but he’s got really strong legs from what the guys on our team tell me. He’s got a strong upper body. He’s thirty- seven years old, he’s smart, and has been in about two thousand fights in his life. He’s got the experience and he knows what he’s doing. You have to get on him early and get a bunch of quick shots in on him early. Otherwise, the longer the fight – the better the chance he has of winning it.

WO: Chris Droeske (of Bakersfield)?
RS: He was probably my best fight of the year. He didn’t play for two months after I fought him. He just wasn’t a very good fighter.

WO: Jason Simon (of Colorado)?
RS: He’s a pretty tough guy. Me and him had like a two minute fight when they came here. He was pretty tough. He’s an older guy that’s been to the NHL and has a lot of experience.

WO: Any others?
RS: (Trevor) Converse, he got traded from Colorado (to Fresno) he’s pretty tough. (Brett) Duncan from Tacoma he’s pretty tough. He’s a lefty as well. Those are pretty much the tougher guys. It’s those older guys – I’m not too worried about the younger guys because they don’t have the experience. The older guys have the experience, and you never know what they have hidden in their trunk of tricks. You never know what they are going to do.

WO: Do you have any predictions for yourself for next year?
RS: I see myself having a good year next year. My first year of Junior was a rough year. I didn’t get many points –I had kind of a tough season. When I came back the next year, I had a pretty good season my second year. I’m hoping I can do the same with my pro career – hopefully.

WO: Do you have any predictions for the team this year?
RS: I see us taking the cup again. We’ve got a strong team. We’re starting to play really strong right now. We’ve won six out of our last seven games. We beat a lot of good teams in that stretch. We beat Anchorage three in a row. We beat Tacoma last weekend (February 19). I see us winning it again.

DOB: 4/29/77
BIRTHPLACE: Fairview, AB
HEIGHT: 6'6"
WEIGHT: 230
POSITION: Left Wing
SHOOTS: Left