page_title: Ryan Kesler
section_title: International play
hierarchical_section_title: Ryan Kesler / International play
caption_attribution_description: English: Anders Bastiansen of Norway and Ryan Kesler of the United States face off during the 2010 Winter Olympics
context_page_description: Ryan James Kesler is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Selected in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Kesler spent the first ten years of his NHL career with the Canucks. He was traded to Anaheim on June 27, 2014. He is best known for being a two-way forward, winning the Selke Trophy in 2011, as well as for his agitating style of play.
  Kesler played junior hockey with the U.S. National Team Development Program from which he then accepted a scholarship to play college hockey with the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. In one season with the Buckeyes, he was an honorable mention for the CCHA All-Rookie Team and was named CCHA Rookie of the Week three times and CCHA Rookie of the Month once. In addition to the U.S. National Team Development Program and the Ohio State Buckeyes, Kesler has also suited up for the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, where he was named to the 2005 AHL All-Star Game.
context_section_description: Throughout his career, Kesler has represented the United States at various international ice hockey tournaments. He first competed internationally at the 2001 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in New Glasgow and Truro, Nova Scotia, where he helped the American team to a gold medal victory over Team Canada Pacific, finishing the tournament with one goal and five assists in six games.
  Kesler participated in his first International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned event at the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships in Piešťany and Trnava, Slovakia. He finished the tournament with seven points in eight games, including two goals in a 10–3 defeat over Canada in the final round. The Americans won their first U18 title, with Kesler being awarded the Best Player Award for the tournament. Later that year, Kesler was named to the United States national junior team for the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia. He finished the tournament second in team scoring behind Zach Parise with seven points in seven games as the United States lost 3–2 to Finland in the bronze medal game. During the tournament, Kesler was twice named the United States' player of the game: in their quarter-final game versus the Czech Republic and in the bronze medal game versus Finland.
  In December 2003, Kesler was released by the Vancouver Canucks to play in the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Kesler's second World Junior tournament. Kesler scored two goals as the Americans went a perfect 4–0 to win Pool A and advance to the semi-finals. There they defeated Finland 2–1, the team that had defeated them in the previous year's bronze medal game, to advance to the gold medal game versus Canada. In the gold medal game, Kesler scored the game-tying goal 6:58 into the third period to even the score at 3–3. After Canadian goaltender Marc-André Fleury cleared the puck off of teammate Braydon Coburn and into his own net, the Americans took the lead 4–3 and went on to win their first IIHF World U20 Championship in the tournament's history. Kesler's play in the tournament was praised as he often took critical faceoffs and played on the Americans' most offensive line despite suffering a facial injury early in the tournament.
  Kesler was named to the orientation camp for the American team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin held from September 5–8, 2005 in Colorado Springs, Colorado at World Arena. Kesler, one of the youngest players at the camp, did not make the final roster for the Games. Rather, Kesler made his national men's team debut three months after the Olympics at the 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships in Riga, Latvia. Kesler finished the tournament with one point in seven games, assisting on a Yan Stastny goal in the United States' 3–0 victory versus Denmark. He was named the United States' player of the game in their 6–0 quarter-final loss against Sweden. Kesler formed a part of the  United States men's national ice hockey team during the 2010 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal with the team during that years' Olympic tournament. Kesler also formed a part of the U.S. men's national team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
  Having developed into a top defensive forward in recent seasons, Kesler was an early candidate to be selected to the American team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, at the time the city in which he played his NHL hockey. The United States played Canada in the final game of the preliminary round to determine top spot in the pool. With United States up by a goal in the final minute, Kesler dove past opposing forward Corey Perry to score an empty-netter and secure the 5–3 win.  In a rematch between the two teams in the gold medal game, Kesler scored in the second period on a deflection from Patrick Kane, ultimately losing by a score of 3–2 in overtime on Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal.
caption: Kesler with the U.S. men's national hockey team, taking a face-off during the 2010 Winter Olympics
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