Ryan Callahan Ryan Callahan ( born March 21 , 1985 ) is an American ice hockey forward and captain of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Playing career . Callahan played one year of high school hockey for Hilton High School . He began his junior career with the Rochester Junior Americans of the Empire Junior B Hockey League where he played for two seasons , 1999 – 2001 , then moving on to the Syracuse Jr . Crunch and Buffalo Lightning of the OPJHL before moving onto a four - year Ontario Hockey League ( OHL ) stint with the Guelph Storm , where he played alongside future Ranger teammate Daniel Girardi . Callahan turned professional with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League ( AHL ) , where he played most of the 2006 – 07 season . Callahan received his first NHL call - up to the Rangers on November 28 , 2006 , making his NHL debut on December 1 , but he would only play in that one game before being sent back down to the Wolf Pack . He was called up for a second time on December 19 , but would again only play in one NHL game in that stint . Towards the end of the season , Callahan was called up for the third and final time on March 15 , 2007 , after scoring 35 goals in 60 AHL games , and he would stay with the Rangers through the postseason . Two days later , on March 17 , he scored his first two NHL goals against Joey MacDonald of the Boston Bruins . He scored his first career assist on March 21 and first career game - winning goal on April 1 . He scored his first two NHL playoff goals in a 7 – 0 win in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17 , 2007 . After scoring one goal in the first eight games of the 2007 – 08 season with the Rangers , Callahan was out for a month with a Grade two knee sprain . He never gained his full strength back at the NHL level , going his next 16 games without a goal , so the Rangers sent him back to the Wolf Pack on January 7 , 2008 . After 11 games in Hartford , he was called up on February 3 to replace an injured Brendan Shanahan in the Rangers ' line - up against the Montreal Canadiens . Callahan tallied his second career two - goal game against the San Jose Sharks on February 17 . Callahan scored the game winning goal with 20 seconds remaining to help clinch the Victoria Cup for the Rangers during an exhibition game in Switzerland . 2008 – 09 was a breakout year for Callahan . On October 1 , 2008 , Callahan scored the game winning goal for the New York Rangers with 20 seconds left in the inaugural Victoria Cup . The Rangers defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk by a 4 - 3 tally . In the regular season , he was third on the Rangers with 22 goals and fifth on the team with 40 total points during the regular season . Callahan was awarded the Rangers ' Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for his hard work throughout the season , and scored the winning goal in the team ' s playoff - clinching win in the final home game of the season . Callahan was re - signed by the Rangers on July 13 , 2009 . Callahan was named an alternate captain of the Rangers on October 2 , 2009 . On January 1 , 2010 , he was named to the United States Olympic team , with whom he earned a silver medal in Vancouver . Callahan suffered a broken hand on December 15 , 2010 in Pittsburgh when he blocked a shot . He missed nineteen games while recovering . On March 6 , 2011 , Callahan scored four goals and one assist as the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7 - 0 , simultaneously achieving the first hat trick , four goal game , and 5 point game of his NHL career . He then suffered a broken ankle in the team ' s 79th game of the season against the Boston Bruins after blocking a Zdeno Chara slapshot in the final minutes . On September 12 , 2011 , at the age of 26 , Callahan was named the 26th captain in the history of the New York Rangers . Making him the fifth youngest captain in team history ; and the first homegrown player to be named captain since Brian Leetch in October 1997 .