Boston University had chipped the puck into Northeastern’s end and the race was on.
Buffalo Sabers goalie prospect Devon Levi got to it first, but before he could get a pass off, Terriers freshman Ryan Greene came up from behind him and poked the puck away. Greene, a right-handed shot, gathered it a few feet away behind Northeastern’s net and skated with it on his backhand to circle to his left.
With a defender following him step by step and attempting to dislodge the puck, Greene carried it along the right boards, across the blue line and then along the left boards. Near the top of the left circle, he sped up, creating a little more time and space to move the puck to his forehand. He accelerated a little more and launched a shot off his right foot from the lower circle. Levi made a difficult pad save and then two more saves from Greene’s teammates on rebounds.
Nothing would beat Levi on the night. He was special. But it was that sequence leading up to Levi’s series of saves that spoke of Greene’s ability and his potential to be special in his own right for BU — and maybe someday for the Chicago Blackhawks. Even early into Boston’s practices this season, there were signs that Greene wasn’t going to be an ordinary freshman.
“We, actually, as a staff noticed like right away, even basically like the start of training camp or practices, he stood out pretty quickly,” Boston coach Jay Pandolfo said. “He was really calm with the puck. You could tell he had confidence with it. I mean, there’s obviously still little things you need to work on defensively and stuff like that, but with the puck, he was really good. And you know, he’s kind of earned more and more ice time because of the way he’s played. So I don’t know if we expected him to be this good this soon, but he’s been really good for us.”
Pandolfo isn’t the only one surprised. Greene had a solid draft year playing for Green Bay in the USHL, but it’s not like he tore it up. The 6-foot-1 center was ranked 46th among North American Skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final list, and was selected with the 57th pick by the Blackhawks in the 2022 draft. But the assumption was that he would need some time to adjust to college hockey.
The Blackhawks did know Greene was in good hands, though, in part because Pandolfo was an old teammate of Blackhawks assistant general manager of player development Mark Eaton.
“(Pandolfo) knows what it takes to become a pro, to become an everyday NHL player and he’s not gonna give his young guys anything, he’s gonna make them earn it,” Eaton said. “And (Greene’s) earned his opportunities and he’s taken advantage of it. Those are approaches that are going to serve him well as his career progresses… I think he’s good on both sides of the puck, has that element of speed that we’re looking for. Those are his biggest assets.”
Greene wasn’t envisioned to be a point-a-game player (top three on the Terriers in goals and points while playing to a positive goal differential) or earn the trust to be in all situations so early as a freshman, though. But he has and it’s led to more opportunities at BU and even beyond with a recent invite to Canada’s selection camp for the 2023 world juniors.
🎥 | Ryan Greene scored twice, Joshua Roy scored on the power play, and 🇨🇦 closed out selection camp with a 3-2 win over @USPORTSca.
📊 https://t.co/NgoZXWVDzl
#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/JSZu3s4VVo— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 12, 2022
And the Blackhawks are still pleasantly surprised.
“I think (he’s been a surprise), not because we didn’t think he could do it, but it’s just a hard transition going to college,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “Especially USHL to college as a freshman is not the easiest transition. One, he’s going into a good program where playing time might not be available to him. His production has been there. I saw him a couple of times when they came to Michigan. He plays with pace, plays hard. He’s comfortable with the puck and without the puck. He’s done really well, and I think he’s proven to the coaches there that he’s worthy of a bigger role.”
But this is what Greene envisioned. When he looks back on last season, he was dissatisfied with his play — even after leading Green Bay in points with 51 in 59 games, one better than Sharks second-round pick Cam Lund, who now coincidentally plays for those Northeastern Huskies.
Still, although he always tried to be a two-way forward and be counted on for the Gamblers, but his confidence never felt fully there. Something was missing, and he isn’t exactly sure why.
But as his post-draft freshman season began, Greene made a point of finding that confidence again and maintaining it. He’s gotten better in some areas and developed as he’s gotten older, but the confidence factor has been huge.
“I’ve honestly been super confident since the start of the season,” Greene said. “And I think our team’s success has led to that a little bit. But, you know, I’m just trying to play with as much confidence as I can. I think last year I didn’t play with enough of it. I think I’ve changed it.”
Where do you see that confidence? Largely in his puck possession. That much was clear against Northeastern when he held onto the puck as long as he did, in areas where it could have resulted in a breakaway the other way, showing the patience to create something dangerous himself — in the third period of a 0-0 game, no less.
“Personally, just trying to be a little more selfish and hold on to the puck a little more,” Greene said. “I think that’s something I lacked a bit last year, so I think I’m doing more of that this year. It helped me.”
Although Greene didn’t make Canada’s roster for this year’s world juniors, his play in Moncton at its selection camp was the continuation of a strong post-draft season, punctuated by a two-goal performance in the last of the camp’s two games before he was among the final 10 cuts.
It was also a continuation of another piece of Greene’s story: He’s one in a wave of recent successes out of the island of Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province, with its population of just over 500,000.
His minor hockey team, the TriCom Thunder, actually produced two invites to Canada’s selection camp in him and his teammate Zach Dean (who made the Canadian U20 team). Devils forward Dawson Mercer and Avalanche forward Alex Newhook also came up in Newfoundland just in front of him, and have trained and skated with him in the summers.
His invite also followed what Team Canada’s management group lead James Boyd called an “excellent” summer camp with Hockey Canada in Calgary.
Greene’s production at BU isn’t even what initially drew their interest, either (although a five-point game he had against UMass in November certainly held it). How dependable he is as a teenager at the college level.
“He’s a responsible player, he’s a 200-foot player, he’s got a powerful stride, he’s a tremendous penalty killer, and he’s having a pretty good season offensively as well as playing a key role in the NCAA as a freshman on that team at BU. ,” Boyd said. “It’s fair to say that he has taken it to the next level in the first half of the season. You can tell that coach loves him, he’s in all situations, he’s relied upon late in games, he’s a PK guy, and he’s got a lot of responsibility there at a pretty good program.”
It probably doesn’t hurt, either, that Dennis Williams, the head coach of this year’s Canadian world juniors team, played and coached at the collegiate and USHL levels before he became the head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
“Having coached and played in it, it’s very hard for freshmen to make that jump. And I know he’s a point a game, but really his strength is his 200-foot game, his speed, his hockey sense, his hockey IQ,” Williams said. “I’ve been able to watch a few games online of him and some of the stuff he has been able to do at that level, the average age is 21-22 for those teams and he has had great success playing against older guys and has been able to adjust to the pace and physicality.”
That adjustment comes as no surprise to Pat Mikesch, who was the head coach and general manager of the Gamblers during Greene’s three seasons in the USHL.
“Sometimes there’s still so much growth that has to happen. I think that his hockey IQ allows him to be thrown into any lineup,” Mikescha said. “Ryan being in every situation for us allows him to be ready to play at that next level in multiple situations, which not everybody can do.”
It was Mikesch who scouted Greene when he was a star at Connecticut-based South Kent School’s Selects Academy and drafted Greene with the No. 3 pick in the 2019 USHL Futures Draft. It was also Mikesch who welcomed Greene into his home as both his player and billet.
So there are few who are as familiar with the kid or prospect. He has nothing but good things to say about both, too.
The kid is quiet, but with a nice sense of humor and a mature calm to him.
“There’s not a lot of highs and lows with him,” Mikescha said. “He carries himself well.”
The player is the complete one that grabbed Hockey Canada and the Blackhawks’ attention. Mikesch insists Greene’s the player who makes others better. He also pointed out that he played Greene in all situations right away as a 16-year-old because of his advanced understanding of the way the game is played. As a result, his development became more about filling out his frame than teaching the game (Greene is now 171 pounds).
“He came to us prepared. And he grew into one of the most well-rounded players in the USHL. He played head-to-head against Adam Fantilli basically every time we played Chicago and he’s extremely strong in the faceoffs and he’s a great penalty killer,” Mikesch said.
“He’s going to play and it’s just where in an NHL lineup he’s going to play.”
With reporting in Boston and Moncton, NB
(Top photo: Matt Woolverton/Boston University)
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