Ryan Callahan

Ryan Callahan (born March 21, 1985) is an American ice hockey forward and captain of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career
Callahan played one year of high school hockey for Hilton High School. He began his junior career with the Rochester Junior Americans of the Empire Junior B Hockey League where he played for two seasons, 1999–2001, then moving on to the Syracuse Jr. Crunch and Buffalo Lightning of the OPJHL before moving onto a four-year Ontario Hockey League (OHL) stint with the Guelph Storm, where he played alongside future Ranger teammate Daniel Girardi. Callahan turned professional with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played most of the 2006–07 season.

Callahan received his first NHL call-up to the Rangers on November 28, 2006, making his NHL debut on December 1, but he would only play in that one game before being sent back down to the Wolf Pack. He was called up for a second time on December 19, but would again only play in one NHL game in that stint. Towards the end of the season, Callahan was called up for the third and final time on March 15, 2007, after scoring 35 goals in 60 AHL games, and he would stay with the Rangers through the postseason. Two days later, on March 17, he scored his first two NHL goals against Joey MacDonald of the Boston Bruins. He scored his first career assist on March 21 and first career game-winning goal on April 1. He scored his first two NHL playoff goals in a 7–0 win in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17, 2007.

After scoring one goal in the first eight games of the 2007–08 season with the Rangers, Callahan was out for a month with a Grade two knee sprain. He never gained his full strength back at the NHL level, going his next 16 games without a goal, so the Rangers sent him back to the Wolf Pack on January 7, 2008. After 11 games in Hartford, he was called up on February 3 to replace an injured Brendan Shanahan in the Rangers' line-up against the Montreal Canadiens. Callahan tallied his second career two-goal game against the San Jose Sharks on February 17. Callahan scored the game winning goal with 20 seconds remaining to help clinch the Victoria Cup for the Rangers during an exhibition game in Switzerland.

2008–09 was a breakout year for Callahan. On October 1, 2008, Callahan scored the game winning goal for the New York Rangers with 20 seconds left in the inaugural Victoria Cup. The Rangers defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk by a 4-3 tally. In the regular season, he was third on the Rangers with 22 goals and fifth on the team with 40 total points during the regular season. Callahan was awarded the Rangers' Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for his hard work throughout the season, and scored the winning goal in the team's playoff-clinching win in the final home game of the season. Callahan was re-signed by the Rangers on July 13, 2009.

Callahan was named an alternate captain of the Rangers on October 2, 2009. On January 1, 2010, he was named to the United States Olympic team, with whom he earned a silver medal in Vancouver.

Callahan suffered a broken hand on December 15, 2010 in Pittsburgh when he blocked a shot. He missed nineteen games while recovering.

On March 6, 2011, Callahan scored four goals and one assist as the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0, simultaneously achieving the first hat trick, four goal game, and 5 point game of his NHL career. He then suffered a broken ankle in the team's 79th game of the season against the Boston Bruins after blocking a Zdeno Chara slapshot in the final minutes.

On September 12, 2011, at the age of 26, Callahan was named the 26th captain in the history of the New York Rangers. Making him the fifth youngest captain in team history; and the first homegrown player to be named captain since Brian Leetch in October 1997.

Transactions

 * June 27, 2004 — Drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round, 127th overall.


 * July 27, 2011 - Signed a three-year contract worth $12.825 million with the New York Rangers.


 * September 12, 2011 - Named the 26th team captain of the Rangers.

Awards

 * 2004–05: Third All-Star Team (OHL)
 * 2005–06: Second All-Star Team (OHL)
 * 2005–06: Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy (OHL)
 * 2006–07: All-Rookie Team (AHL)
 * 2008-09: Extra Effort Award (NHL)