The Richmond Hill, Ontario native credits his close proximity to Toronto’s practice facility and getting to know the Maple Leafs as a reason for progress in his development.
Ryan Tverberg certainly knows his hockey history.
Among the final cuts last winter to represent Team Canada at the 2022 World Juniors, the 20-year-old dropped a hockey reference from 22 years before he was born to describe the experience.
“Being the Ralph Cox didn’t feel good,” Tverberg said. “But of course there’s lots of things to take away being around great players there and after that just striving to do more.”
Cox was the final cut for the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team that shocked the world by winning gold. And while Tverberg’s missed opportunity wasn’t as extreme, it’s one example of how he managed to turn a setback into a positive experience.
“I can’t say enough about Ryan,” Maple Leafs assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser said of Tverberg last week. “The way that he has put the time and effort over the last year. He’s in every day skating in our facility. He’s very dialed into his own development.”
A seventh-round pick (213th overall) by the Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL Draft, Tverberg has spent the last two off-seasons at the club’s practice and training facilities in Etobicoke. Born and raised in Richmond Hill, he’s just a driving distance away from being around the NHL club.
Tverberg feels that’s been a big reason for the rise in his development.
“I think that’s been real key,” Tverberg said. “Just playing in mini games with NHL players and seeing how they train in the gym. Just being around that atmosphere makes you want to be better and be just like them.”
Initially shy, Tverberg was amazed at how easy it was to strike up a conversation with any of the Leafs around the facility. Given Tverberg’s obscure hockey reference, it wasn’t a surprise to learn that he bonded well with Jason Spezza.
“I would always steal things from him, which is crazy because he was such an old guy and it’s kind just cool how I’m running outside on the track with him and just being on the ice and seeing how he skates how his hands were,” Tverberg said. ”How he can shoot the puck was just crazy to me at such an older age than me.”
Tverberg just completed his sophomore season at the University of Connecticut where he led his team in goals (14) while finishing the season with 32 points. In January, he was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, awarded annually to the top men’s hockey player in NCAA.
He’ll return for his junior year this fall, but before that happens, Tverberg has been given another chance at the World Juniors.
After the winter tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Team Canada will hold another camp in Calgary to determine their roster ahead of the tournament start on August 9 and Tverberg is expected to be invited to camp. He’ll join that squad as a better player than he was in December.
There are ares in Tverberg’s game the Leafs want to work him to work through. Particularly, his agility while adapting to different speeds of the game.
“[I’m] trying to make plays, slow down the puck as they are always emphasizing,” Tverberg said. “You don’t always have to play at 100 percent pace. Just slow down the puck and make plays as best as you can.”
During development camp, Tverberg’s improvement was evident with each passing day. It culminated with his performance during the scrimmage where he helped set up a goal for Team White by carrying the puck out of his own zone before finding a teammate on a 2-on-1 situation.
Tverberg’s tenaciousness and willingness to learn from others is what has made this seventh-round draft a real dark horse in Toronto’s prospect pool and someone to keep an eye on.
“He has certainly improved a lot and I give him a lot of credit,” Wickenheiser said. “It’s been all him.”
