Ryan VandenBussche

Ryan VandenBussche (born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey right winger. He played a career total of 9 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was known for his pugilistic skills.

Career
Before playing in the NHL, VandenBussche played 2 seasons with the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

He was drafted with the 173rd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He spent most of his first seasons between the OHL and the American Hockey League (AHL) with the St. John's Maple Leafs, Springfield Indians, and Binghamton Rangers.

On August 22, 1995, he signed a contract with the New York Rangers after he became an unrestricted free agent. After he spent two seasons in the AHL with the Rangers AHL-affiliate team, the Binghamton Rangers, VandenBussche made his NHL debut on December 13, 1996 in a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres.

After 27 games with the Rangers over 2 seasons, the Rangers traded VandenBussche to the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Risidore on March 24, 1998. With the Blackhawks, VandenBussche played 263 games over 7 years with them.

On July 12, 2004, he signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an unrestricted free agent.

He only played 20 games with the Penguins before he was signed for a try-out by Jokerit of the SM-liiga on September 25, 2006.

He signed with the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League (CHL) as a player/coach on November 5, 2006. On January 17, 2007, he announced that he was retiring from playing professional hockey because of medical reasons.

During his career, VandenBussche was mainly known as an enforcer. He is known for ending the career of Nick Kypreos during a fight in a pre-season game in September 1997.

After retiring, he decided to sell real estate with his wife Lisa, and under the direction of his father Ron, in Norfolk County.

On July 3, 2006, VandenBussche was charged with three counts of assaulting police and one count of uttering a death threat after a fight at a bar in Turkey Point. He was later cleared of the charges.

References

 Other websites 

Category:1973 births
Category:Living people
Category:Binghamton Rangers players
Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers
Category:Chicago Blackhawks players
Category:Hartford Wolf Pack players
Category:Ice hockey people from Ontario
Category:International Hockey League (1945–2001) players
Category:New York Rangers players
Category:Norfolk Admirals players
Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players
Category:Portland Pirates players
Category:Springfield Indians players
Category:St. John's Maple Leafs players
Category:Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players
Category:Ontario Hockey League players