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Product Description Terry Ryan was poised to take the hockey world by storm when he was selected eighth overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1995 NHL draft, their highest draft pick in a decade. Expected to go on to become a hockey star, Ryan played a total of eight NHL games for the Canadiens, scoring no goals and no assists: not exactly the career he, or anyone else, was expecting. Though Terry’s NHL career wasn’t long, he experienced a lot and has no shortage of hilarious and fascinating revelations about life in pro hockey on and off the ice. In Tales of a First-Round Nothing, he recounts fighting with Tie Domi, partying with rock stars, and everything in between. Ryan tells it like it is, detailing his rocky relationship with Michel Therrien, head coach of the Canadiens, and explaining what life is like for a man who was unprepared to have his career over so soon. Review “I never thought of Terry Ryan’s pro hockey career as memorable until I picked up a copy of his soon-to-be-published book, Tales of a First-Round Nothing: My Life as an NHL Footnote … The book is an honest, poignant and often funny look at the life of a player on the fringe.” ― Montreal Gazette “The title shows that he’s willing to have fun with his career, while the book shows that he’s willing to have fun with almost anything.” ― Sports Book Review Center About the Author Terry Ryan played professional hockey for nearly a decade, and now plays in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League. He currently works as a production assistant on the hit CBC show Republic of Doyle and lives in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland, with his wife and their two children. Arron Asham was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1996 and has played more than 850 NHL games for the Habs, Islanders, Devils, Flyers, Penguins, and New York Rangers. Jim Cuddy is a singer, songwriter, and founding member of the internationally acclaimed Canadian band Blue Rodeo. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. From the Introduction I have two separated shoulders, an ankle that’s been damaged beyond repair, and unstable knees. Irritating the elbows they were once attached to, numerous bone chips float inside me. The outside part of my right hand has been numb since 2001, when a skate lacerated my forearm’s tendons. On cold days my joints hurt nearly all of them but especially my knuckles and even more specifically the ones on my right hand. To date I’ve absorbed over 150 stitches, and my nose is crooked from being broken a half dozen times. Sometimes it hurts to breathe, and I am pretty certain it is due to the fact I once broke my ribs collapsing a lung and played through it. Scars line my body and pain lives under them. I am a former professional hockey player, an eighth overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. I am also the answer to this Useless Sports Trivia” classic: What Montreal Canadiens first-rounder went three picks ahead of Jarome Iginla in 1995? My name is Terrence William James Ryan, Junior. And I am what would be considered in hockey circles hell, in any sports circle a first-round flop.” I currently play senior hockey for a very modest three figures a week. Why, you ask? For the same reason I wrote this book. I love the game: the team concept, the finesse, the toughness, the camaraderie . . . the whole experience. The game is beautiful. Most of life’s important lessons can be taught on the ice and in the values that make a player a good teammate. Learning to win is about learning to lead and succeed through unity. It requires acts of unselfishness that make you not only a better player but a better person. Hockey is a great metaphor for life because the attributes it takes to be successful on the ice mirror the realities of the everyday grind. Life is full of ups and downs and so is a hockey career. Learning to deal with it can be difficult and rewarding. I want to point out that this isn’t a traditional autobiography. These are sim