Imagine being a kid and turning down a chance to go to Walt Disney World. No way, right? Well, that was exactly what Ryan St. Louis and his younger brothers, Lucas and Mason, once did. They had good reason, though. The alternative was skating at St. Pete Times Forum, now called Amalie Arena, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Their father, Martin, spent 13 of his 16 National Hockey League seasons as a Lightning right wing in a playing career that included winning the Stanley Cup in 2004 and being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
“My dad had a weekend off, and we chose to skate at the Lightning arena almost every time it was offered,” remembered Ryan, now 17 years old. “Growing up around the game is different and with that childhood it meant not wanting to go to Walt Disney World, where most other kids would want to go.”
Ryan still loves being at the rink, and the 5-foot-10, 168-pound center’s passion for the sport shows in his stat line. As of April 8, St. Louis had 31 points (13-18-31) in 43 games with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program Under-18 team this season. He also appeared in one match with the Under-17 squad. Last season, the left-handed shooter totaled 22 points (11-11-22) in 45 contests with the Under-17 club.
“Ryan is a really intelligent hockey player, very detailed, hardworking,” Under-18 team head coach Dan Muse said. “He plays a mature game. His hockey IQ, his sense for the game and his feel for the game make him an extremely effective player. He can slow the game down if he needs to, but he’s also got quickness and can play a speed game when he wants to as well. He’s been utilized and entrusted in a lot of different situations over the course of this year — five-on-five, special teams. He can play both wings. He can take faceoffs. He can play in the middle. He has a really strong overall game. He has really good sense with the puck offensively, knowing where guys are and where options are, and also really good sense without the puck in terms of finding space and being able to attack that space.”
Earlier this campaign, Ryan was given a ‘C’ rating by NHL Central Scouting on its preliminary players to watch list for the 2021 NHL draft, indicating that he’s a candidate to be selected in the fourth, fifth or sixth round.
“Being drafted would be cool, but there’s a lot more to playing than just being drafted,” Ryan said. “You have to work your way up to playing and having a career in the NHL. I won’t be satisfied with just being drafted and will push for more, knowing that I’m just scratching the surface. I will try to get better every day. Being drafted is just the first step.”
It’s difficult to believe now, but if Ryan is drafted it would represent a first for the family. His dad went undrafted and spent four seasons at the University of Vermont before turning pro.
“Having my family there if I’m drafted would definitely be cool because they have sacrificed so much for me,” Ryan said.
Drafted or not, with his dad by his side, Ryan started skating when he was 3 years old. One year later, he started playing hockey with the Brandon Junior Bulls before suiting up for the Florida Alliance. After Martin was traded to the New York Rangers in March 2014, the family moved to Riverside, Conn., where Ryan played for the Mid Fairfield Jr. Rangers and Brunswick School.
Each step of the way, Martin has done his best to help Ryan grow as a player and as a person.
“He’s made me realize that you’re not the best and to stay humble,” Ryan said. “You have to figure out what you can do to better yourself or better someone else and try to help other people be the best that they can be. You also have to be a sponge on the ice and try to learn from other people, seeing what they do well and trying to add that to your game.”
Ryan’s favorite moment of his father’s career was his overtime winner in Game 4 of the 2014 Eastern Conference final against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden. The victory gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the series, which they won in six games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
“I wasn’t there; I saw it on TV,” Ryan recalled. “I knew how big of a goal that was and how much it impacted the series. When I look back on it now, I realize how cool that really was. My grandma (Martin’s mom, France) passed away a few weeks before that, so the playoff run was more emotional than it would’ve normally been. It was cool to watch and realize he was playing through all that.”
There’s no question how important Martin has been to Ryan throughout his hockey journey. However, Ryan declares that his mom, Heather, is the “MVP of our family.”
“I truly believe that,” Ryan asserted. “She does literally anything for me, my two brothers and my dad. When we were younger, she was up early driving us to the rink for an early morning practice or staying late when we had a later practice. She was always driving us no matter how many hours it took to get to some game at some random rink. She was always doing the best she could to support me and my brothers. Even the little things around the house, if she wasn’t there they definitely wouldn’t be done. She’s a really big influence on my life, especially away from the rink, and has helped me become the person I want to be.”
Ryan also has tremendous supporters in Lucas and Mason. The trio of siblings are always cheering for each other and pushing each other during the summer to make each other realize their full potential.
In February, Ryan was able to watch Lucas compete in a USA Hockey evaluation camp for about two dozen players born in 2005.
“It was cool watching him play against some of the other best players and seeing how his game compares to them,” he said.
While Ryan enjoys witnessing the rise of his brothers, the moment that stands out for him from his own youth hockey days came in 2018 when Mid Fairfield competed in the U-14 nationals.
“We didn’t win, but it being my last ride with those guys I had been playing with for over four years meant a lot,” Ryan said. “We lost in the semifinals, which was better than we were expecting. Having that last run with them is something that I’ll never forget.”
Ryan’s experience on a grander hockey stage paid dividends when he was accepted into the NTDP, where he’s been able to play in international competitions. One of them, the 2019 Under-17 Four Nations tournament, where the United States captured the title, goes down as his favorite moment at the NTDP so far.
“That was special since we lost to Russia at the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge a month before that and then went to Russia and beat them in the final,” Ryan reminisced. “It was a big deal for us after all the travel and all the hard work we put in. To win after losing to them was definitely rewarding.”
Ryan’s overall experience at the NTDP has been rewarding in its own right. He anticipated that upon his arrival he would be challenged more than ever to improve by practicing with some of the other top players in his age group in the U.S. Turns out, he was right, except he was pushed even harder than he expected.
“I try to take every opportunity head on, make the most of it and improve myself every day at the rink,” Ryan said. “It’s awesome being here and practicing and working on your game with the same guys, some of the best players in the country, every day.”
Ryan feels he’s become more of an offensive zone threat after nearly two years of being at the NTDP.
“I try to possess the puck more and use my IQ and my speed to create opportunities for myself or my teammates to help the team win,” he said.
What aided Ryan in developing this aspect of his game doubles as the toughest hurdle he’s had to overcome in his young career — the long layoff between the end of last season, which ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the beginning of this campaign.
“Being away from the rink and the guys for that long was harder than I would’ve ever imagined,” Ryan explained. “But I also took that time to train more and work on parts of my game I needed to work on. I tried to make the most of this strange opportunity. I worked on my hands and my shot, especially in the spring when everything was shut down and we couldn’t skate. My brothers and I — and my dad joined us, too — did shooting and stickhandling in our garage. It really impacted me on the ice once we started skating again. I was playing with more confidence.”
In addition to fine-tuning his craft at the NTDP, Ryan added that he works on becoming a better person, too. In fact, he asserts that he’s grown more in this area than as a player since entering “The Program.” In particular, he notes that he’s become more supportive of his teammates than he ever was previously.
Said Ryan: “I realize now how the days can be long at the rink, there are long bus rides, and sometimes guys aren’t 100 percent. They might be worrying about something else. So, I try to help everyone the best I can, make sure their head’s on straight and make sure they’re confident in their abilities, which can affect them on the ice. I’m always trying to be there for somebody, no matter how down they may seem, trying to cheer them up.”
Muse considers Ryan “mature beyond his age.”
“Much like his on-ice game, Ryan is very detailed off the ice as well in terms of his approach,” Muse elaborated. “He takes everything he does very seriously, in a good way, whether it’s academics, meetings, the way he takes care of himself or his preparation.”
Ryan is hoping for more victories and tournament championships as the season progresses. And once his time at the NTDP is complete, his focus will shift to the next place he will call his hockey home — Northeastern University.
“It was hard to pass up going to the city of Boston,” Ryan said. “The coaching staff at Northeastern drew me in and the way the team plays definitely fits my style. I’m excited to play there and see how things shake up.”
And if given the option of skating at a local rink or seeing Beantown’s many sights, history shows Ryan will choose the former. Just ask Mickey Mouse.
