PRINCETON, N.J. - Former Mississippi and current Montreal right wing Michael Ryder is the DIRECTV/NHL� CENTER ICE� ECHL Alumnus of the Month for December.
The DIRECTV/NHL� CENTER ICE� ECHL Alumnus of the Month is awarded to a former ECHL player currently playing in the National Hockey League.
There have been 234 former ECHL players that have gone on to play in the NHL. Ryder, who was runner up for NHL Rookie of the Month for December, scored two goals and had nine points in 15 games in December. He had a two-point game (1g-1a) and scored the first game-winning goal of his NHL career in Montreal's 3-1 win at Carolina on December 6. He had a three-game scoring streak (1g-2a) from December 22-27 and assisted on the game-winning goal in Montreal's 4-1 win at Toronto on December 22. The 23-year-old Ryder, who made his NHL Debut on October 9, entered the week leading all NHL rookies with 17 assists and 26 points in 40 games. He was tied for third among rookies with three power-play goals and ranked fourth in goals with nine.
Selected in the eighth round (216th overall) by Montreal in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Ryder scored 14 goals and 27 points in 20 games with Mississippi in 2001-02. The 6-1 and 195-pound Ryder was chosen to represent Mississippi in the 2002 ECHL All-Star Game, but was unable to participate after being called up to Quebec of the American Hockey League where he scored 11 goals and 28 points in 50 regular season games and had an assist in three postseason games.
In 2002-03, he led Hamilton of the AHL with 34 goals and ranked second on the team in scoring with 67 points (34g-33a) in 69 regular season games and ranked second in playoff scoring with 17 points (11g-6a) in 23 postseason games.
The best way to follow ECHL alumni in the NHL is with DIRECTV/NHL� CENTER ICE�.
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