ECHL: Interview With Adirondack Thunder Defenceman Ryan Wheeler

The Adirondack Thunder are adding a few new faces to their blueline ahead of the 2023-24 season, and one of the names they are bringing in is Ryan Wheeler, who signed with the team on August 10th after spending last season with the Iowa Heartlanders and Cincinnati Cyclones. Wheeler got into the game of hockey as most of his family played as well, “Both sides of my family were both pretty interested in hockey. All my uncles and my grandpa on my mom’s side played, and then on my dad’s side, him and his brother both played, and it was just two big families that loved the game and played hockey growing up; around here it’s cold in the winter, and it’s pretty easy to get pushed into playing hockey, and once I stepped on the ice I loved it” said Wheeler. There’s no question that family is a big part of Wheeler’s life, and there’s a special connection between him and his dad, and it shows along with his love for tattoos, “I’m still working on my sleeve, I have about 3/4 of my arm done, and it’s mostly stuff that me and my dad have bonded over or stuff I’ve dedicated to him, so one thing he’s always taught me is to always be hungry in my pursuit of what I’m doing so I have a lion with a scar over his eye cause he’s blind in one eye, and that happened in an accident when he was younger, on the inside of my arm I have another lion that represents the relationship that we have, then I have some Irish stuff on my upper arm” Wheeler said.

The Lancaster, NY native played his Collegiate hockey at UConn before joining the Iowa Heartlanders at the end of the 2021-22 season but now has a chance to play in his home state after signing with Adirondack, “Obviously, last year, I was a little bit far from home when I was in Iowa, and even when I was in finishing up in Cincinnati, I was still about six hours away, so this is the closest I’ll be to home since youth hockey so it’s awesome and I know my parents are looking forward to seeing some games and it will definitely be a lot easier to get them and my family and friends down to the Adirondack area, I’m super excited, and I can’t wait, It’s definitely cool to play for a team in New York state and be able to represent them not only on the ice but off the ice as well” Wheeler said. When asked if he was looking to move closer to home when the 2022-23 season ended, Wheeler said, “It was more opportunity based, just looking for an opportunity for me as a person and player, and I definitely want to be in a culture and organization that’s gonna push me to be better as a person and player, and I think Adirondack will do that for me.”

One of the big things that Head Coach Pete MacArthur preaches is guys who can not only perform on the ice but have great character off the ice as well, and in 2017 he was named awarded the NAHL Community Service Award, “It’s something I got into when I played juniors in New Jersey, it wasn’t a crazy small town, but it wasn’t the biggest town in the world, just getting the opportunity to give back, I know when I was younger, I looked forward to meeting played I aspire to be like and guys from the area, just being able to give back and the game’s given me so much so being able to give back and bond with kids and be a role model for them is something I look forward to every day, something, especially after high school I was a quieter kid, I looked forward to, and I’m excited to continue that in Glens Falls.”