Ryan O'Marra

Ryan O'Marra
Born (1987-06-09) June 9, 1987
Tokyo, Japan
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Right
Played for Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
Coventry Blaze
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 15th overall, 2005
New York Islanders
Playing career 2006–2015

Ryan O'Marra (born June 9, 1987) is a Japanese-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player. O'Marra played professionally from 2006 until 2015. A first round pick of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL), O'Marra played 33 games in the NHL and finished his career playing in European leagues.

Personal life

O'Marra was born to Irish Canadian parents in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to Canada when he was one year old.[1] O'Marra was also a student at Athabasca University.[2]

Playing career

Amateur

O'Marra attended Mentor College Primary School and Lorne Park Secondary School both in Mississauga, Ontario. He played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Erie Otters. In two seasons with the Otters, he has earned 95 points (41 goals and 54 assists) in 127 regular season games. He has also scored 15 points (nine goals and six assists) in 15 playoff games with the Otters. O'Marra was then drafted in the first round, 15th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He became the first Japanese-born Canadian player selected in the first round of an NHL Entry Draft.

Professional

On March 30, 2006, at the conclusion of the 2005–06 season, O'Marra was signed to a three-year contract by the New York Islanders.[3] He then joined the Islanders' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, scoring two goals in his professional debut,[4] to complete the year.

O'Marra was then returned to the Otters for his final junior-eligible season, in 2006–07. The Otters got off to a slow start, and he was traded to the Saginaw Spirit in late November in exchange for promising centre Zack Torquato. On February 27, 2007, O'Marra's NHL rights were dealt in a trade to the Edmonton Oilers, along with Robert Nilsson and the Islanders' first-round draft pick in the 2007 (Alex Plante), in exchange for Ryan Smyth.[5]

After two difficult seasons with the Oilers' minor league affiliates, the Springfield Falcons and Stockton Thunder, O'Marra made his NHL debut with Edmonton in the 2009–10 season. He played six minutes and was a –1 plus-minus in a game against the Ottawa Senators on November 10, 2009.[6] O'Marra later recorded his first career NHL point on an assist of a Colin McDonald goal against the Vancouver Canucks, on November 28; the goal was also McDonald's first career NHL point.[7] O'Marra scored his first career NHL goal on December 26, 2010, against Cory Schneider of the Canucks. On March 17, 2011, due to multiple injuries to Oilers players, O'Marra was again recalled to the NHL, along with fellow Oklahoma City Barons – Edmonton's new AHL affiliate – teammates Alexandre Giroux and Chris VandeVelde.

During the following season, 2011–12, O'Marra was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Bryan Rodney on February 16, 2012.[8]

On July 27, 2012, with the impending 2012–13 NHL lockout, O'Marra signed his first European contract on a one-year deal with Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish SM-liiga.[9] However, after only eight games into the 2012–13 season and enduring a diminished role within the roster, O'Marra was mutually released from his contract on October 4, 2012.[10] O'Marra then played nine games for HC Fassa in the Italian Serie A in the regular season before moving to Vålerenga in Norway for the rest of the regular season and playoffs. With Vålerenga, he had seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 15 games in the playoffs.

After playing one season in Italy with Val Pusteria HC, O'Marra signed with Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) team Coventry Blaze in the United Kingdom for the 2014–15 season.[11] After playing one season with the Blaze, O'Marra announced his retirement from professional ice hockey on March 26, 2015.

International Play

Ryan O'Marra
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2006 Vancouver
2007 Mora
IIHF U18 Championships
2005 České Budějovice

O'Marra played in his first international tournament with Canada Ontario in the 2004 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, defeating Canada Pacific to earn the gold medal. He then won a gold medal as the alternate captain for Team Canada at the 2004 U-18 Junior World Cup. He also played on the Canadian under-18 team that finished with a silver medal at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships in Plzeň, Czech Republic.

O'Marra was selected and played a part of the consecutive gold medal-winning Canadian teams at the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[12]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Erie Otters OHL 63 16 16 32 68 9 5 5 10 6
2004–05 Erie Otters OHL 64 25 38 63 60 6 4 1 5 0
2005–06 Erie Otters OHL 61 27 50 77 134 — — — — —
2005–06 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 8 4 1 5 4 3 0 1 1 2
2006–07 Erie Otters OHL 13 8 6 14 26 — — — — —
2006–07 Saginaw Spirit OHL 33 18 19 37 48 3 2 1 3 4
2007–08 Springfield Falcons AHL 31 2 7 9 31 — — — — —
2007–08 Stockton Thunder ECHL 24 11 9 20 45 6 2 7 9 10
2008–09 Springfield Falcons AHL 62 1 9 10 49 — — — — —
2009–10 Springfield Falcons AHL 74 12 6 18 59 — — — — —
2009–10 Edmonton Oilers NHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL 21 1 4 5 13 — — — — —
2010–11 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 53 2 20 22 49 6 0 2 2 0
2011–12 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 40 8 9 17 58 — — — — —
2011–12 Edmonton Oilers NHL 7 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
2011–12 Syracuse Crunch AHL 18 1 2 3 29 4 0 2 2 0
2011–12 Anaheim Ducks NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Pelicans SM-l 8 0 1 1 8 — — — — —
2013–14 Val Pusteria HC Italian League 37 11 15 26 85 14 0 8 8 8
2014–15 Coventry Blaze EIHL 58 18 33 51 78 - - - - -
NHL totals 33 1 6 7 17 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Ontario WHC17 6 3 4 7 8
2005 Canada WJC18 6 5 0 5 12
2006 Canada WJC 6 0 2 2 18
2007 Canada WJC 6 0 2 2 8
Junior int'l totals 24 8 8 16 46

References

  1. ↑ "islesinfo - Ryan O'Marra profile". Islesinfo.com. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  2. ↑ "Athabasca University - au.world". Athabasca University. 2007-07-01. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  3. ↑ "2005 first round pick O'Marra signs three-year deal". New York Islanders. 2006-03-30. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  4. ↑ "O'Marra impressive in debut". New York Islanders. 2006-03-31. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  5. ↑ "Unable to reach new deal, Oilers trade Smyth to Isles". ESPN. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  6. ↑ "Jason Spezze scored deciding goal in shootout as Senators top Oilers". CBS Sports. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  7. ↑ "Canucks rout Oilers 7-3". Yahoo! Sports. 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  8. ↑ "Oilers acquire Rodney from Ducks for O'Marra". The Sports Network. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  9. ↑ "Pelicans sign Canadian Ryan O'Marra" (in Finnish). Lahti Pelicans. 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  10. ↑ "Pelicans and O'Marra form difference" (in Finnish). Lahti Pelicans. 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  11. ↑ http://www.coventryblaze.co.uk/index.php/news/latest-news/1027-former-nhler-joins-blaze
  12. ↑ "Ryan O'Marra and Canada win Gold". New York Islanders. 2007-01-05. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
Preceded by
Petteri Nokelainen		 New York Islanders first round pick
2005 		Succeeded by
Kyle Okposo
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.