One-time Habs prospect ready to lace up alongside Shoresy

A former professional hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens has found himself back on the screen.

Terry Ryan is once again finding himself in front of the camera for the third season of the spin-off of popular TV series "Letterkenny."

“Shoresy” follows the fan-favourite character from Letterkenny as he joins a senior AAA hockey team in Sudbury, Ont., with a hope to never lose again. On Shoresy’s team is none other than Hitch, who’s played by Ryan.

In an interview with CTV’s Ana Almeida during his recent visit to Halifax, Ryan said the show dives deep into the character of Shoresy.

“It really goes deep on the character of Shoresy, in Letterkenny its lighthearted fun, but there is, I think, a bit of depth to Shoresy,” he said.

“We’re playing senior hockey, he never wants to lose a game again, so he calls in some recruits from all around Canada, and I’m the Newfoundland player.”

Ryan said the transition from hockey to acting was not one he had planned.

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“I wasn’t even really looking at it. My hockey career ended early, earlier than I thought because of an injury,” said Ryan.

Ryan was the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Despite being a promising prospect, an injury would take him out of the game in 1999 with only eight NHL games under his belt.

He would eventually go back to school, but during that time he found a job which piqued his interest.

“I was going to go into education, but I landed a job on a film set.”

He moved through different roles behind the scenes, before making his way into working stunts.

Eventually, Ryan’s lack of a tooth from his years of playing hockey would lead to him getting approached to work in front of the camera.

“I ended up getting some roles, you know, like little parts, gangsters, most of it was background. Anyway Jared Keeso and Letterkenny, I’m assuming, heard of it at some point,” he said.

He’d eventually appear in multiple on-camera roles, something Ryan never expected he’d do.

“It was beneficial to do those stunts, but it wasn’t really in preparation of anything, I wasn’t looking to be an actor. It worked out, I’m happy, but I was more crew, I was more behind the scenes than anything,” he said.

“It was definitely a goal of mine to be involved, but more like producing than anything. I got lucky.”

While there has yet to be a set release date, Ryan said people can expect to see the new season of Shoresy in around a month.