If at first you don’t succeed…

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This article was published 02/04/2020 (2194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He never suited up for his hometown Winnipeg Jets, nor does he have a community centre named after him, but Ryan Garbutt’s unconventional path to the NHL is a story that all young hockey players should hear.

After an average four-year on-ice career at Brown University, most people would’ve taken their Ivy League degree and headed into the workforce. His 29 goals and 29 assists in 116 career games at the NCAA level didn’t scream NHL prospect. Neither did the fact the Western Hockey League passed him over a couple of years prior, which led to him playing two seasons in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for the Winnipeg Blues.

No one pegged Garbutt as a legitimate professional hockey player, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

“You need to persevere through things. I really thrive off the opportunity to prove people wrong,” said Garbutt, 34, who also played high school hockey in the city for Vincent Massey Collegiate.

“My experience at Brown was great academically, but not the best athletically. It kind of left me with the hunger to pursue something I didn’t close the door on. I really used that as fuel to push myself to get better.”

After Brown, Garbutt tried out for the Manitoba Moose, but the centreman didn’t make the cut. Moose general manager Craig Heisinger recommended Garbutt take his skills to the Corpus Christi IceRays of the Central Hockey League. The CHL was a mid-level professional league (which folded in 2014) that was one step below the ECHL.

Garbutt was officially a pro — making $400 a week — but he was nowhere near the best league in the world.

“I give a lot of credit to my parents for letting me try one last year at hockey. I worked harder in those summers than I had in previous summers,” Garbutt said. “I figured I was going to take it year by year and work as hard as I could in the summers and was definitely fortunate to have the chance to go to Corpus Christi and pursue the career that I wanted.”

After a solid season in the Texas city, Garbutt moved up to the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL in Duluth, Ga., where he had 10 goals and 17 assists in 10 games. Their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, took notice and called Garbutt up for the rest of the season and he potted 19 goals and added 18 helpers in 65 games while leading the team with a plus-27 rating.

The Dallas Stars liked what they saw from the undrafted Winnipegger and they inked the forward to a two-way deal in the off-season. After spending the first 50 games with the farm team in Austin, Texas, the Stars called Garbutt up. It didn’t hurt that Garbutt had the game of his life in front of Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk the week before, which perhaps led to his call-up coming sooner than expected.

“Joe Nieuwendyk had just come down to watch us play in Austin. I had a hat trick in a game against the Milwaukee Admirals and I got a phone call about a week later that I had been called up. It was all a whirlwind from there,” said Garbutt, who was 26 when he made his NHL debut on Feb. 18, 2012.

“First game was in Phoenix, the second game was at home against Nashville, and then in my third game, I scored on the road against Montreal with my dad in the building. I think as soon as I scored my first NHL goal, I definitely felt like I belonged in that league and I didn’t want to give that up.”

That goal got past Carey Price, one of the premier goalies in the league. But when you type Garbutt’s name into YouTube, the first couple of videos to pop up aren’t of him scoring that goal, or any others. Instead, you’ll find some questionable incidents on the ice that led to disciplinary action.

On Oct. 20, 2013, he hit Anaheim Ducks forward Dustin Penner in the head. Penner suffered a concussion and Garbutt was suspended five games. The next season, Garbutt was suspended for two games for a knee-on-knee hit on then-Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall. But the one Jets fans will likely remember happened a couple of weeks later. Garbutt slew-footed Dustin Byfuglien as the two were chasing down a loose puck in a game in Dallas. That one earned him a three-game suspension.

“Things happen fast on the ice. I think I was one of the fastest players in the league in my prime. Sometimes, things happen that you don’t intend to do. I never had the intention of hurting anyone I was playing against,” Garbutt said.

“I’m actually neighbours with Dustin Byfuglien now and we laugh at the incidents we had on the ice, because we had a few. He was always fun to play against and he kept the game easygoing. But I definitely wasn’t intending on hurting anyone.”

Garbutt wasn’t shy to drop the gloves or deliver a big hit, but make no mistake — he could play hockey. His best season came in 2013-14 where he had 17 goals and 15 assists to go along with 106 penalty minutes in 75 contests. Dallas rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $5.4 million. But at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, a year where Garbutt’s numbers dropped slightly to eight goals and 17 assists in 67 games, he was traded along with teammate Trevor Daley to the Chicago Blackhawks for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns.

Garbutt spent half a season with the Blackhawks before they shipped him off to Anaheim for Jiri Sekac. Garbutt struggled with his third NHL team, registering 11 points in 64 games for the Ducks before they placed the 31-year-old on waivers. He’d finish 2016-17 in the AHL with the San Diego Gulls before heading to Russia to play in the KHL the following season. The sixth and final stop in Garbutt’s professional career came last year as he played in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey League.

Garbutt decided to hang up the skates for good at the end of the season to return home to Winnipeg with his fiancée, Kelle, who’s originally from Michigan. Even though his playing days are behind him, Garbutt isn’t kicking up his feet and relaxing just yet. Throughout his career, Garbutt was known for his elite fitness level and work ethic in the weight room. Now, he can show others how to work out like a pro when he opens a gym in St. James called Metabolik Fitness — a high-intensity interval training camp that he said is for “anyone that wants to better themselves.”

The plan was to officially open this week, but obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into the plan.

“I’ve definitely put a lot of heart into it. It was disappointing to not have the opening come sooner rather than later, but I’m not in any position to feel sorry for myself,” he said.

“One of the things that helped me in my hockey career was persevering and taking things that are negative and using them as positives. I hope everyone else out there can do the same thing and use this to get better.”

Garbutt’s aspirations to be a successful gym owner didn’t get off to an ideal start, but if his pro hockey career showed anything, he’s able to overcome obstacles.

“It definitely tastes that much better. You only get out what you put into it and if you put in enough work to achieve what you want, you can feel it,” said Garbutt, explaining how his long journey to the NHL made it extra special when he got there.

“That was just a feeling I’ll never forget and it’s something I’ve been working to achieve with Metabolik Fitness. I think the team we’re going to have assembled once everything is finished with COVID-19, you’re going to see that same perseverance and willingness to make everyone around them better from our team.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31