|
|
FILE PHOTO
The sun was gleaming in the California sky, encouraging the natives to skip work and spend their time on the beach. Tall blonde women in bikinis were all over the place, making for a college guy's paradise.
Michigan defenseman Mike Van Ryn lived this frat-boy fantasy this past summer, as he worked as an intern for an advertising firm in California. With all this time to play and look at the beautiful women, what did Van Ryn do? Work.
"I was working too much, so I really didn't get a chance to see all the girls, really," Van Ryn said. "I was all over the place, I was in Chicago, Montreal, Las Vegas - I really didn't get too many weekends to sit on the beach."
Although Van Ryn was jetsetting all over the continent, he did get a chance to pick up one sport that is prevalent in California - surfing.
"I didn't go to the beach too often during the day," Van Ryn said. "I usually went at night because that's when the surf is pretty good. I'd just go out at night and surf."
A hockey player with a surfboard? When one thinks of hockey players from London, Ont., blue-line passes , two-minute roughing penalties and forechecking come to mind, not 'Hanging 10' or skin-tight Body Glove wetsuits.
Stereotypes aside, Van Ryn learned quite a bit about the art of surfing. His teammates, used to icy rinks as opposed to breaking waves, have been fairly supportive of Van Ryn's new sport.
"A lot of the guys think its pretty cool," Van Ryn said. "You don't meet many kids from Canada that actually know how. It was fun - I really enjoyed it and I hope to do it again next summer."
And Van Ryn needs all the support he can get, because apparently he won't be sponsored by Ocean Pacific any time soon.
"I'm not good at all," Van Ryn said. "I just got the basic idea of how to do it this summer and I hope to do it more next summer."
Van Ryn even bought a surfboard this summer, but it didn't make the trip back to Ann Arbor.
Somehow, the thoughts of surfing Lake Erie and tanning on Toledo beaches weren't enough inspiration for Van Ryn to clear the hockey sticks out of his closet in lieu of a surfboard.
Van Ryn did make a little time between working and kicking back to play some hockey. California was the host of the World Inline Hockey Championships, and Van Ryn represented his home country, Canada, and helped the team win the gold medal.
"The inline championship was great," Van Ryn said. "Any time you get to represent your country it's an honor, and to win the gold medal was just great."
Van Ryn wasn't done, though. Along with winning a gold medal and picking up a tan, he also was a first-round pick in the June NHL Draft.
The New Jersey Devils, home of former Michigan standouts Brendan Morrison and John Madden, selected Van Ryn.
"Being drafted is always something you dream about," Van Ryn said. "It's good to be one step closer, but I have a lot of work still to do.
"The best summer I had by far was this year. I met a lot of new people and did a lot of cool things."
Although Van Ryn is now property of the Devils, don't expect him to buy a lot of Devils paraphernalia right off the bat.
Being from London, which is almost exactly between Detroit and Toronto, Van Ryn had a difficult choice of who to root for - Red Wings or Maple Leafs?
Van Ryn went with the popular choice of the students at Michigan - the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.
"I'm a Wings fan," Van Ryn said. "It's tough. My mom and one sister were Leafs fans, and my dad was the Wings fan, and I just followed Dad, so I'm a true Wings fan."
Being from Canada, Van Ryn had to choose sides - he couldn't be neutral. While hockey in the United States fights for popularity, hockey in Canada is basically a religion.
It is rumored that Canadian parents give their sons a puck and a stick in the hospital right after they are born.
While that may be a myth, many Canadian boys are in skates and on the rink right after learning how to stand.
Van Ryn was no different, as his father threw him onto the ice at an early age.
"I started off just like almost every other kid in Canada on the pond back home," Van Ryn said. "I learned how to skate almost as soon as I could walk, and I started playing hockey when I was four."
Van Ryn's parents must have seen something special in their son - they catered to his hockey talents throughout his childhood.
"My parents have been really supportive of me," Van Ryn said. "When I was younger, my practices would be at six or seven in the morning, and my parents would make sure that I woke up and got there on time."
Luckily for Van Ryn, Michigan coach Red Berenson doesn't have practices at the crack of dawn - in fact, Michigan practices don't start until 3 p.m. most days. Not only has Van Ryn been awake and to practice on time, he also has looked to Berenson for guidance in every aspect of life.
Berenson "has been like a father to me," Van Ryn said. "He is a very knowledgeable man, probably the smartest person that I know. He seems to know everything about any subject you bring up."
That kind of knowledge was what Van Ryn was looking for when he was visiting colleges two years ago. Although Van Ryn was sought after by nearly every hockey-playing school in the country, Van Ryn wanted to attend one school.
And it wasn't Michigan State.
"This is where I wanted to go, so I really didn't visit any other schools," Van Ryn said. "I visited this school, decided that I wanted to go here, and I didn't visit any of the other schools."
With a national championship ring from last season, one could say that Van Ryn was pretty accurate in making his choice. While Van Ryn would likely agree, coming to Michigan did cause him to change his style of play.
In high school, Van Ryn was an offensive defenseman, looking to score a lot of goals along with clearing the puck out of the zone.
On a Michigan team that had prolific scorers such as Bill Muckalt and Matt Herr, Berenson asked Van Ryn to concentrate more on defense.
Van Ryn did as Berenson asked, helping solidify the defense in front of Marty Turco and scoring just four goals.
"If you would have asked me last year, I would have said my style was offensive," Van Ryn said. "When I came in, I was more of an offensive-minded defenseman, but I learned how to play the defensive game last year. I would consider myself a two-way player now."
The newfound versatility raised his stock enough to make him a first-round draft pick. Although Van Ryn could leave now, take the money and perhaps become an NHL regular, he is at Michigan to stay - for now.
"Michigan is everything I hoped it to be," Van Ryn said. "While it's an honor to be drafted, I plan to stay in school and have something to fall back on when I'm done with hockey. If I do think about leaving, I'll talk to coach and we'll decide what my best option is."
With a national championship, a surfer's tan and a gold medal, Van Ryn has picked the right options thus far in his life.
Along with those things, Van Ryn wants one other thing - another national title.
"Our goal is to work harder than we did last year," Van Ryn said. "Everyone wants to beat the University of Michigan, especially since we are defending champions. But we aren't defending anything - we are going out to win another one this year."
10-07-98
| Previous Article | Next Article |
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |