Ryan Oulahen (born March 26, 1985) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

player and current head coach for the

North Bay Battalion The North Bay Battalion is a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, Ontario, Nipissing District, and takes ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL). Oulahen was drafted in the fifth round of the

2003 NHL Entry Draft The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was the 41st NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21 and 22, 2003. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This wa ...

by the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. He previously served as the head coach of the

Flint Firebirds The Flint Firebirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in Flint, Michigan. The team plays home games at the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center, and operates as a member of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team began play for the ...

of the OHL.

Playing career

Junior

Oulahen was drafted in the fourth-round of the 2001

OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

Priority Selection by the

Brampton Battalion The Brampton Battalion were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. The team was based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and started playing in 1998. As a result of consistently having among the lowest attendance in the OHL (last plac ...

. On September 20, 2004, Oulahen was named captain of the Battalion. Oulahen spent three seasons with the Battalion, where he recorded 65 goals and 71 assists in 182 games. His 136 points ranked 16th on the club's career list, while he was ninth in goals, third all-time in power-play goals with 16 and tied for fourth with six shorthanded goals.

Professional

On July 29, 2005, the

signed Oulahen to a three-year entry level contract. During the 2007–08 season, Oulahen served as a co-captain of the

Grand Rapids Griffins The Grand Rapids Griffins are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and play home games at Van Andel Arena. They are the AHL affiliate to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey Lea ...

, where he recorded 14 goals and 16 assists in 75 games. On July 23, 2008, the Red Wings signed Oulahen to a one-year contract extension. On March 27, 2009, Oulahen suffered a dislocated hip after getting his skate caught in a rut in the ice during his second shift of the second period, ending his season. He finished the 2008–09 season with 19 goals and 12 assists in 73 games. On July 22, 2009, the Red Wings signed Oulahen to a one-year contract extension. He attempted a comeback after two surgeries and months of rehabilitation, however, lingering soreness prevented him from ever taking the ice, thus ending his playing career. He finished his career with 53 goals and 54 assists in 302 career games for the Griffins.

Coaching career

In January 2011, Oulahen was named an assistant coach for the

of the

(OHL), a position he held for five seasons. In May 2016, Oulahen was named the head coach of the

of the OHL. On October 12, 2018, Oulahen announced he was stepping down as head coach of the Firebirds due to personal and family reasons. On December 10, 2019, Oulahen was named the interim head coach of the

of the OHL. He was named the permanent head coach on March 24, 2020, after the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Team Canada

Oulahen served as an assistant coach for Canada Red at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, where the team finished in sixth place at the tournament. In May 2015, Oulahen was named an assistant coach for Canada Black at the

2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge The 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge was an ice hockey tournament held in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada between November 5 and 11. The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is held by Hockey Canada Hockey Canada ...

, where the team finished in eighth place at the tournament. In May 2017, Oulahen was named head coach of Canada White at the

2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge The 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge was an ice hockey tournament held in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada between November 5 and 11. The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is held by Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (wh ...

, where the team posted a 2–3–1 record and finished in fourth place in the tournament. In June 2018, Oulahen was named an assistant coach for

Canada men's national under-18 ice hockey team The Canadian men's national under 18 ice hockey team is part of a three-stage Program of Excellence beginning with the Under-17 regional teams and ending with the National Junior Team. The primary objectives of the Under-18 program are to identif ...

at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and won a gold medal.

Career statistics

Coaching record

Ontario Hockey League

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oulahen, Ryan 1985 births Living people Brampton Battalion coaches Brampton Battalion players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Detroit Red Wings draft picks Flint Firebirds coaches Grand Rapids Griffins players Ice hockey people from Ontario North Bay Battalion coaches Sportspeople from Newmarket, Ontario