Bobby Ryan was angry.
After being held scoreless and getting little ice time in the Ducks' first two playoff losses to Dallas he was told he wouldn't be in the lineup for Game 3. He had been assigned to their American Hockey League farm team in Portland, Maine, a fine place but not where he wanted to be.
"I just felt I belonged here for the playoffs," said Ryan, who started the season with the Ducks but was sent down twice and recalled twice.
"I kind of wanted to stick it to them, is probably the best way to play it. I took it personal."
He also took General Manager Brian Burke's parting words to heart.
"He said, 'Go down there and carry the team and really make a name for yourself in that league so you don't have to go back to it,' " Ryan said.
With Portland he was everything the Ducks envisioned he might be when they drafted him second behind Sidney Crosby in 2005, a level he hadn't come near while scoring five goals and 10 points in 23 NHL games last season.
He was physical but skillful, forceful but not reckless, dominant in scoring eight goals and 20 points in 16 games.
"It was something I had to do to state my case," Ryan said, "and I think they were happy with it."
On the strength of that performance -- and a summer workout program that melted 19 pounds off his 6-foot-1 frame and cut his body fat percentage from 17% to 9% -- he's making a compelling case to become a top-six forward and end the scoring woes that contributed to the Ducks' early playoff exit last spring.
Coach Randy Carlyle, rarely inspired to compliments and critical of Ryan's poor fitness last season, almost smiled in noting that Ryan no longer struggles to keep up with teammates. That means he can maintain the fast-paced cycling and puck-control game Carlyle wants the Ducks to play.
"Instead of it coming naturally things were happening and then he was reacting," Carlyle said. "He wasn't involved. The puck was over here you'd see him like, 'I've got to go over there and get it.' "
Now, Ryan is pursuing his big chance.
"It's not a make-or-break year but it's time for Bobby Ryan to step onto the big stage," Burke said.
Ryan, a right-handed shooter, has helped his cause during training camp by learning to play the left side and becoming comfortable on his backhand. A good effort in the Ducks' exhibition opener against the San Jose Sharks tonight at the Honda Center would make it clear that the New Jersey native doesn't want to go back to the AHL this season -- or ever.
