Donovan back for last hurrah

Duluth East senior and Mr. Hockey hopeful spurned junior hockey to return to Greyhounds

By Louie St. George III lstgeorge@duluthnews.com

Ryder Donovan was wearing a goofy aviator hat festooned with a Minnesota Twins logo, its furry ear flaps touching his shoulders, before the Duluth East hockey team held its second practice of the season Nov. 13 at Heritage Center. Donovan had his sweats tucked into his socks and grinned throughout a 10-minute interview as his teammates filed into the locker room, laughing as they passed.

This was one of the things that lured Donovan back to high school hockey — one more chance to enjoy the camaraderie of longtime buddies as they chase a state championship.

Practically minutes after the Greyhounds received their runner-up ribbons on the ice at Xcel Energy Center last March 10, where they had fallen to Minnetonka in the Class AA final, speculation commenced regarding Donovan’s status for his senior year. Already a North Dakota commit, and coming off a 62-point campaign, he had options.

Would the 6-foot-4 puck-distributing forward return to the Greyhounds or jet off to juniors?

Last spring, he said he couldn’t foresee a scenario in which he wouldn’t be wearing an East sweater. Other standouts have made similar declarations in the past, only to backpedal.

Donovan said he never wavered.

“No, there was no way,” he said. “The last four years here, I just kind of always had it in my head that I wasn’t going to go anywhere.”

Likewise, Greyhounds coach Mike Randolph said he never doubted Donovan’s commitment to skating a fifth varsity season.

“Ryder is a very honest person,” Randolph said. “He told me he was coming back, and I took his word for it.”

That didn’t change even as Donovan was pressured to leave. The Dubuque Fighting Saints of the

United States Hockey League wanted him on their roster — something the North Dakota coaching staff likely would have preferred — and the U.S. National Team Development Program made a push to get Donovan to Plymouth, Mich.

“I remember a conversation we had on the phone when the U.S. team was going after him,” Randolph explained. “He said, ‘I’m getting a lot of pressure.’

“And I said, ‘Ryder, I want you to think about something. You got a rink in your backyard. You’ve grown up on that rink, and you got one more year on it. Because if you go to Dubuque or you go to (Plymouth), you’re not gonna be able to walk out your door and go on that rink. So think about that.’ ” continued on page 8

That would be “the Vault,” Donovan’s backyard sheet that resembles something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. It’s where Donovan has polished his game, which includes uncanny vision and a knack for making plays out of seemingly impossible situations, according to teammate Ricky Lyle.

“It seems like he’ll get caught in the corner and the second he slips free, you’re like, ‘Oh, OK,’ and you just have to drive to the net,” Lyle said. “And he’ll make a play wherever you are, so you have to always have your stick on the ice. People just get points off of him, goals off of him, because he can distribute the puck like that.