Ryan Gardner (born April 18, 1978) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He last played for

HC Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

, Fribourg-Gottéron,

SC Bern Schlittschuh Club Bern ('' Ice-skating Club Bern'' in English) is a professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rin ...

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and played at the ...

and

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and blues). Though they have never won the leagu ...

in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL). He won the Swiss national championship four times. Representing the Swiss national team, he captured a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships. Gardner was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

during his father's time with the Cleveland Barons, but grew up in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the 1980s and then

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridge ...

(late 1980s and 1990s).

Career

While his father Dave Gardner was playing professionally in Switzerland, Gardner played in the country as a youngster. Later, he spent time with the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

and North Bay Centenntials in the OHL, before moving back to Switzerland. He made his debut in the top-flight

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

(NLA) at

during the 1997-98 season. In 2001, he signed with

, where he stayed until 2007. During his time in Lugano, he captured the 2003 and 2006 Swiss championships. He then spent three years with the

, winning the NLA title in 2008 and the 2008-09 Champions Hockey League. From 2010 to 2015, he turned out for

, winning another championship in 2013 and the Swiss cup competition in 2015. After the 2014–15 season, on April 2, 2015, Gardner was traded by

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The team was the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015–16 season wit ...

in exchange for Timo Helbling. In April 2016, he signed a deal to return to

, where he played until the conclusion of the 2016-17. Gardner announced his retirement from professional ice hockey in February 2018.

International career

Gardner has represented

internationally at the

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the E ...

and

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. He won silver with the Swiss team at the 2013 World Championships.

Personal info

He comes from a hockey family: His father Dave Gardner, uncle Paul Gardner and grandfather

Cal Gardner Calvin Pearly "Ginger, Red, Torchy" Gardner (October 30, 1924 – October 10, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. In 1943, after playing professional hockey for three years and winning the Memorial Cup, he joined the Canadian mili ...

all played professionally.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Ryan 1978 births HC Ambrì-Piotta players HC Lugano players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players from Ohio Lausanne HC players Living people London Knights players North Bay Centennials players Olympic ice hockey players for Switzerland SC Bern players Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio Swiss ice hockey centres ZSC Lions players