TRAVERSE CITY -- One is named Swan and has gone from the Ducks to the Wings.
The other used to live in Patrick Roy's house.
Both are former second-round draft picks who the Detroit Red Wings are hoping can turn it around.
Bryce Swan and Joey Ryan were picked 10 spots apart in the 2006 NHL Draft. Neither was picked by Detroit, but now both are wearing the winged wheel.
Swan was picked by the Anaheim Ducks and Ryan by the Los Angeles Kings in 2006. Both have since moved on from those organizations for different reasons.
Ryan was let go by the Kings because they had depth at defense in their system -- something he could face in Detroit as well. Swan never signed with the Ducks during two injury-plagued seasons.
Giving players like Swan and Ryan another chance has paid off for the Red Wings in the past, as evidenced by such players as Dan Cleary, Boyd Devereaux, Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper.
"We get wrapped up in these kids when they're 18 or 19 and when they're not setting the world on fire when they're 20, we think it's too late," Nill said. "Really, you're coming into your own when you're 21 or 22. That's why we like to invite these kids. They had something there to get drafted. Maybe there was injury factors or who knows what since then, but you can't give up on these kids. People forget we didn't bring Kronwall or Datsyuk over here until they were 22 or 23. Then they took a couple more years to develop. You've got to be patient with these kids."
Swan song
Bryce Swan picked a fight with the New York Rangers' Justin Soryal in Detroit's first game in the prospects camp.
That's just the kind of player he is.
In 2005, he suffered a shoulder separation, a broken thumb in a fight and a groin injury. He still managed 25 points in 34 games and the Duck drafted him in the second round, 10 spots ahead of Ryan.
The headline in a local paper read, "Swan lands in Duck pond."
Then he injured his knee in preseason and didn't end up finding out it was a meniscus tear until he was back with his Junior team at Halifax.
"I went there my first year and I didn't know what to expect and I was a little star-struck and nervous," Swan said. "And then last year, I had a knee injury, so it was kind of tough. But as an organization, they treated me well. They were so deep and I decided it was best to move on.
"Detroit called me soon after and I'm hoping to get a spot. I've got to get my foot in the door. All I need is a chance."
After not signing with the Ducks, Swan was eligible to be selected in this summer's draft. He's happy he was bypassed in this year's draft.
"I got to pick where I wanted to go and pick the best situation," Swan said. "It worked out Detroit called me. I thought this would be the best place for me to go.
"Now the ball is in my court to make it happen."
His mother and host family from his junior days in Halifax are coming to Traverse City to see him play in the tournament.
Ryan express
It didn't take long at all when they'd heard that the L.A. Kings had let Joey Ryan go that the Red Wings were on the phone.
"They had a lot of D," Ryan said. "I was kind of upset, but I have to take what I can get."
The Red Wings also have a lot of depth on defense, but that didn't stop the 20-year-old from signing with Detroit.
"They decided not to sign him, and as soon as we heard that, we decided to offer him a tryout," Nill said. "We got on the horn right away. He's a big kid who plays hard.
"He's in your face and plays a tough style. He's a real gritty defenseman."
While with the Quebec Remparts, Ryan was taken under the wing of none other than Patrick Roy -- who isn't exactly the most popular person in Detroit.
Ryan even lived with Roy for part of his time with the Remparts, a team for which Roy serves as coach and general manager.
"I'm excited to be here," Ryan said. "It's a huge opportunity. Not too many people get this many chances. So I just want to come out, play how I can, play tough and hopefully they see how I can play."
Ryan knows what it's like to hoist memorable trophies.
While with the Remparts, he won the 2006 Memorial Cup, the Canadian junior hockey championship trophy that north of the border is almost as sacred as the Stanley Cup.
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