Rich Ryerson
Year Inducted: 2018
Birthdate: January 11, 1958 -
Town/City: Concord, NH
Rich Ryerson stood out at St. Paul’s School before moving on to Dartmouth College and helping the Big Green reach the Frozen Four in back-to-back seasons.
Growing up in Concord, Ryerson left his mark at St. Paul’s, competing on the varsity team for four seasons. For his last three seasons, his coach was Legends of Hockey Hall of Famer (Class of 2006) Bill Matthews, who took over the program in the 1973-74 season and called Ryerson one of the fi nest players he ever coached.
“Rich had a burning desire to win and (was) always unselfish,” said Matthews. “He helped, along with several other Concord-area players, to get St. Paul’s hockey back to a place of respect in New England hockey. I’m honestly surprised he had anything left in the tank for college hockey, as I had him on the ice all the time – 6-on-6, man down, power play.”
After a freshman season that saw St. Paul’s go 11-2, Ryerson helped the team finish second in the Northern Division as a sophomore. In his junior year, he scored 38 points and the team reached the Southern Division championship game, losing to Thayer, 5-2.
As a senior, he served as co-captain and received the Gordon Medal at the end of the year for being the school’s best all-around athlete.
After that it was on to Dartmouth, where he would end up skating in 111 games, including at least 25 in each of his four seasons.
He burst onto the college scene by scoring 11 goals and adding seven assists as a freshman. In his sophomore year, he added another eight goals to his total and finished with 10 points.
In his junior and senior seasons, he was a key part of some superb teams that featured fellow Class of 2018 Legends Hall of Famer Bob Gaudet in goal. Ryerson, who primarily skated on the wing, was known as a player who could be relied upon to perform in all situations.
As a junior, he was part of a Dartmouth team that reached the Frozen Four in Detroit, where it lost to North Dakota, 4-2, at the Olympia Stadium. Ryerson assisted on a goal in a 7-3 win over UNH in the third-place game.
The next year, in the ECAC Hockey semifinal game against Clarkson in the old Boston Garden, he scored two goals to propel Dartmouth to a win and a trip to the championship against Cornell. The Big Green also returned to the Frozen Four in Providence, R.I., where they fell to North Dakota again, 4-1. Ryerson’s last college point was an assist in the third-place game against Cornell.
He finished his Dartmouth career with 29 goals and 26 assists for 55 points. He is currently the associate director of admissions at Kimball Union Academy.