Whatever Happened to...? A Laker Alumni Update

Whatever happened to Ryan Scott?

Scott was a goalie from Williamsville, New York born on April 18, 1983.  He was five feet ten inches tall and weighed 195 pounds.

Scott was an outstanding goalie in high school, but he went undrafted and attempted to sign a contract with a Juniors team in Canada.  When that didn't pan out, Scott instead signed with the Buffalo Lightning in Amherst, New York, who played in the OPJHL at the time (the team is now known as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres).  Scott played in 29 games for Buffalo that season but was unremarkable in net.  Buffalo decided not to retain Scott at the end of that season and he was unable to find a contract with a Juniors team elsewhere.

Scott went to work on his Uncle's farm for a year as he was unable to find a spot on a hockey team anywhere.  After a year he decided to attend Oswego State University, in part because he was offered a tryout on the standout Division II/III Lakers.  The tryout was probably a lie told to him by a shameless recruiter as Oswego scouts its players extensively and typically sets its roster well before the beginning of the season, but Scott nonetheless arrived for the tryout and impressed head coach Ed Gosek enough where he made the team.

Scott played in 17 games his freshman year, posting an 11-5-1 record and a 0.926 save percentage.  He played in 25 games his sophomore year and posted a 16-7-1 record and a 0.896 save percentage.  He played in 25 games his junior season and posted a 19-3-3 record and a 0.921 save percentage, leading the Lakers to a National Championship.  In his senior season he played in 23 games and posted a 15-6-1 record and a 0.921 save percentage.

Scott went undrafted out of college but quickly signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was sent to the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. 

Scott's NHL career never got off the ground though, as he rode the bench as the third string goalie for Wheeling and only played in three games in his first pro season, going 1-1 and posting a save percentage of 0.879.  Following the season he was not retained by Pittsburgh and became a free agent.

Following his release from Pittsburgh he quickly signed a contract with the independent Amarillo Gorillas of the CHL.

Scott played in eight games with Amarillo before being released, going 2-5 with a 0.886 save percentage.  He quickly signed a contract with the independent Richmond Renegades of the SPHL after his release from Amarillo.  With Richmond he played in 33 games and went 14-13-3 and posted a 0.898 save percentage.

After the season Scott signed a contract with the independent Pensacola Ice Flyers, also of the SPHL.  For Pensacola, Scott played in 37 games and posted a 15-17-5 record and a 0.903 save percentage.  He returned to Pensacola the next season and played in 38 games, going 17-20 and posting a 0.901 save percentage. 

Scott tired of the long bus rides and small venues and retired after the 2010-2011 season.  He returned to Western New York where he works in customer service for Verizon.