Bobby Ryan going back to the basics in search of greater success

The smile on Bobby Ryan’s face grows a bit bigger each time he hits a target in the net. After a tough ending to last season, the Ottawa forward is reenergized, rejuvenated and ready to regain his scoring touch.

On an off-day during the first week of the NHL regular season, Ryan is at the Hockey Hall of Fame to talk about his new relationship as hair ambassador for Head & Shoulders shampoo (he’s part of the company’s “Shoulders of Greatness” campaign) and some hockey. As part of the event, interviewers were given the opportunity to go one-on-one with the 28-year-old winger in a light-hearted target-shooting competition.

Knocking down the targets (in this instance, shampoo bottles) with relative ease, a relaxed Ryan spoke of his year-end struggles, specifically, going goalless in his final 12 games and one tally in his last 20 in 2014/15. He didn’t look to meditation for clarity during the summer at his Idaho home, but Ryan, who had 18 goals and 36 assists last season, did a rewind of sorts before training camp began.

“I watched a lot of our games from last year,” says the New Jersey native. “I looked at the last 20-25, especially, to see what I could learn from it. There were games that I didn’t score that I thought I played well. That you can live with – you gave the effort and put yourself in a position to do well.

“There were other games where I looked at my body language and how I looked on the ice and I saw that I was cheating offensively,” he continues. “I was getting away from the things that I think made me successful. Some of what I saw, to be honest, I almost wanted to throw up. It was frustrating to watch.”

Which is why Ryan is going a little retro, so to speak.

“I looked at what I saw as a learning experience,” he notes. “I don’t want to go through that again, but at the same time, if it makes me better, that’s the most important thing. I tried to get back to the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid) method. It’s strange that when you are playing at the highest level, it’s the basics and fundamentals of the game that you can draw so much from. I’m going to apply a lot more of that this year.”

While he didn’t score in Ottawa’s 3-1 road win in Buffalo on Thursday night, Ryan added an assist on the final goal. He recorded one shot in 17:16 of ice time. He then had one of the Senators’ shootout goals in Saturday’s victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As for when he nets his next regulation-time goal, don’t expect to see an animated Ryan wildly pumping his fists or doing a lengthy Theo Fleury-type slide along the ice.

“That won’t happen,” he says with a laugh. “I remind myself that I scored (twice) in Game 5 of the playoffs last year. So, it’s only been two games since I haven’t scored. It’s been a long time on the calendar, but other than that, I just tell myself it’s going to come. It will be a normal celebration when it does.”

If the skills he displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame are any indication of what’s in store for Ryan in 2015/16, he could be on target for the kind of season he’s looking for.

Another bonus? He’ll also enjoy much more poring over the videotape next summer.