Ryan Joseph Vesce (born April 7, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the San Jose Sharks.
Playing career Vesce was born in Lloyd Harbor, New York. As a youth, he played in the 1995 and 1996 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with minor ice hockey teams from New York. He attended Portledge School and played high school hockey at Portledge School in Locust Valley, and attended Cornell University, playing hockey for the Big Red from 2000 until 2004. He served as captain in his senior year and was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. After graduation, Vesce played for Rögle BK of the Swedish second league HockeyAllsvenskan. He returned to North America, and played two seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Springfield Falcons and Binghamton Senators. He returned to Europe for one season with HIFK of Helsinki.
In 2008, he returned to North America to sign with the Worcester Sharks of the San Jose Sharks organization, where he was the team captain. He made his NHL debut on February 11, 2009 with San Jose against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh. His first career NHL goal was scored on October 17, 2009 against Martin Biron of the New York Islanders.
On June 28, 2010 he again crossed the ocean and signed a two-year deal with Russian team, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod, of the Kontinental Hockey League.
After splitting the 2012–13 season between Sweden and Finland, on May 29, 2013, Vesce returned to the KHL signing a one-year contract with Croatian team KHL Medveščak Zagreb.
Vesce spent 6 seasons abroad before returning to North America as a free agent. On September 19, 2016, he signed a professional try-out contract to attend the training camp of the Edmonton Oilers. At the conclusion of training camp and heading into the pre-season, Vesce was released from his try-out with the Oilers on September 28, 2016.
Vesce joined Swiss club HC Lugano for the Spengler Cup in Davos and after the tournament landed a deal with HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NL on January 18.
Vesce remained in Switzerland for the following 2017–18 season, agreeing to terms with EHC Olten of the lower tiered Swiss League (SL). He appeared in just 10 games with Olten before leaving the club and effectively retiring from professional hockey due to lingering concussion symptoms.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2000–01Cornell UniversityECAC337202710————— 2001–02Cornell UniversityECAC3510203010————— 2002–03Cornell UniversityECAC3619264516————— 2003–04Cornell UniversityECAC2710162614————— 2004–05Rögle BKAllsv4320254551————— 2005–06Springfield FalconsAHL8018496750————— 2006–07Binghamton SenatorsAHL9016355151————— 2007–08HIFKSM-l5626184442————— 2008–09Worcester SharksAHL672447712812371022 2008–09San Jose SharksNHL100004————— 2009–10Worcester SharksAHL351416302063140 2009–10San Jose SharksNHL93250—————2010–11Torpedo Nizhny NovgorodKHL5125234818—————2011–12Torpedo Nizhny NovgorodKHL1846108811242012–13Skellefteå AIKSEL2224612—————2012–13Espoo BluesSM-l1424610—————2013–14KHL Medveščak ZagrebKHL5415203518401122014–15Dinamo MinskKHL5617274432512322015–16Dinamo MinskKHL4018153312—————2016–17Traktor ChelyabinskKHL71012—————2016–17HC Fribourg-GottéronNLA90006————— 2017–18EHC OltenSL103588————— AHL totals 262 72 147 219 149 18 6 8 14 22 NHL totals 19 3 2 5 4 — — — — — KHL totals 226 80 91 171 90 17 2 4 6 8
Awards and honors Award Year CollegeAll-ECAC Hockey Second Team2002–03NCAA (ECAC) Second All-Star Team2002–03 All-ECAC Hockey Second Team 2002–03
References
External links