Ryan Whitney

Ryan Whitney (born February 19, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently the co-host of two Barstool Sports podcasts, Spittin' Chiclets with former NHL enforcer Paul Bissonnette and The Unnamed Show with Kirk Minihane & Dave Portnoy. In 2019, New Amsterdam collaborated with Whitney to create a pink lemonade-flavored vodka called Pink Whitney.

Whitney represented the United States in international competitions, winning a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Upon completing his freshman year at Boston University, Whitney was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins fifth overall in the 2002 NHL entry draft. Following three seasons with the Penguins' minor league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Whitney played his NHL rookie season in 2005–06. Whitney remained in Pittsburgh for three-and-a-half seasons, helping the club to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. During the 2008-09 season, Whitney was traded mid-season to the Anaheim Ducks and played 1 1/2 seasons. During the 2009-10 season, Whitney was traded again mid-season to the Edmonton Oilers. Whitney completed 3 1/2 seasons with Edmonton and joined the Florida Panthers for one season 2013-14, his last NHL season. On September 20, 2015, Whitney announced his retirement from professional hockey.

Playing career

Early years As a youth, Whitney played in the 1997 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from the South Shore.

Whitney enrolled at Thayer Academy, a college-prep school in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1998, and logged significant playing time with their hockey team. Head Coach Jack Foley often paired Whitney, a freshman, with senior Brooks Orpik, his future rival in college (being on separate ends of the Boston College-Boston University Rivalry), and later his teammate on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Whitney's size and skill drew the attention of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. After initially resisting the programs invitations, he left Thayer Academy for the program, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his senior year of high school.

After graduating from high school, Whitney accepted a full scholarship to play for Boston University under Jack Parker. He recorded 21 points in 35 games in his freshman year and was named to the 2002 Hockey East All-Rookie Team. He was then selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins, as the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NHL entry draft. Upon completing his third year with Boston, he opted to forgo his senior year of college eligibility to turn professional. He was subsequently assigned by Pittsburgh to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, for the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs. He played in 20 games, recording 10 points, however, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was defeated by the Milwaukee Admirals in the finals.

Following his professional debut in the AHL playoffs, Whitney joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2004–05 season. Under head coach Michel Therrien, Whitney played in 80 games in 2004–05, recording 41 points and 101 penalty minutes.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Whitney made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh in the 2005–06 NHL season, playing in 68 games. He was called up on October 31, 2005, to replace injured defenseman Dick Tärnström and remained on the team until the season ended. His first NHL goal came on December 1, 2005, against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. Whitney finished the season with six goals and 32 assists.

In his second NHL season, Whitney emerged as a top offensive defenseman in the league with 59 points in 2006–07. Under the guidance of new general manager Ray Shero, the Penguins improved from a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference the year before, to a playoff berth, with Whitney part of the youth movement in Pittsburgh that included forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and goaltender Marc-André Fleury.

During the 2007 off-season, Whitney signed a six-year, $24 million contract with a no-trade clause, avoiding his pending restricted free agency. His offensive production dropped in the subsequent 2007–08 season, posting 40 points in 76 games. However, the Penguins finished second in the Eastern Conference and Whitney contributed six points in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as Pittsburgh made it to the Finals against the Detroit Red Wings. Pittsburgh was defeated in Game 6 of the series on June 4, 2008.

In the 2008 off-season, it was revealed that Whitney had been suffering from a chronic foot injury throughout the season. It was later discovered Whitney was born with abnormally high arches (hollow foot) in both of his feet. After an attempt using orthopedic inserts in his skates failed, Whitney underwent osteotomy, a surgical procedure to realign the bones in his left foot, on August 15, 2008. It was expected Whitney would miss five months of the 2008–09 season. After playing one game with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, as part of a conditioning stint, Whitney made his return to Pittsburgh, in a 2–0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, on December 23, 2008.

Anaheim Ducks On February 26, 2009, Whitney was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi. He scored one goal and five assists during the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, as the Ducks made it to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, losing to the Detroit Red Wings.

Edmonton Oilers On March 3, 2010, Whitney was traded along with a 2010 sixth round draft pick (Brandon Davidson) to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Ľubomír Višňovský. The deal marked the second time that Whitney had been traded within a year, even though he had a no-trade clause in his contract.

Whitney underwent a second osteotomy in May 2010, this time to realign the bones in his right foot.

On December 28, 2010, in a game against the Buffalo Sabres, Whitney suffered from a right ankle injury. It was later announced that Whitney would miss the remainder of the 2010–11 season, needing surgery.

On April 28, 2013, it was announced Whitney would not be returning to the Oilers for a fifth season.

Florida Panthers On September 29, 2013, Whitney signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers. Whitney appeared scoreless in seven games with the Panthers to begin the 2013–14 season before on November 8, 2013, he was placed on waivers. Unclaimed, Whitney was assigned to the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, for the remainder of the season.

Abroad Whitney was an unrestricted free agent following the 2013–14 season. After failing to sign a contract with an NHL team, Whitney made a move to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and on October 16, 2014, he signed a contract with HC Sochi. In the 2014–15 season, Whitney scored 19 points in 42 games in the inaugural season for Sochi. As a free agent, Whitney left Russia after one season and signed a one-year contract with Swedish club Modo Hockey of the SHL on June 24, 2015. Whitney announced his retirement on September 20, 2015 via Twitter. He and his team were runners-up and won the Silver Medal. It was Whitney's former teammate, Sidney Crosby, who scored the game-winning goal, which saw Canada defeat the United States 3–2, in overtime. Whitney played in all six games, not collecting any points.

During this time, Whitney also wrote a blog and hosted a podcast on Barstool Sports throughout the games, sharing his thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Post-playing career After completing his hockey career, in October 2016, Whitney began hosting the Spittin' Chiclets podcast at Barstool Sports alongside Brian "Rear Admiral" McGonagle.

In partnership with Barstool Sports, Whitney launched a liquor brand known as Pink Whitney, which was an E & J Gallo Winery brand liquor under their New Amsterdam label.

Alongside his Spittin Chiclets co-hosts, Whitney became part-owner of an ECHL team, the Greensboro Gargoyles.

Personal life Whitney's younger brother Sean played collegiate hockey at Cornell University from the 2008–09 season to the 2011–12 season.

In June 2022, Whitney went viral on social media for posting a video on Twitter about his frustrations during his time at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Whitney is an avid golfer and participated in the inaugural Internet Invitational, a Youtube golf event organized by Barstool Sports.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1999–00 Thayer Academy HS–Prep 22 5 33 38 — — — — — — 2000–01 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 40 7 23 30 64 — — — — — 2000–01 U.S. NTDP Juniors USHL 20 2 8 10 22 — — — — — 2001–02 Boston University HE 35 4 17 21 46 — — — — — 2002–03 Boston University HE 34 3 10 13 48 — — — — — 2003–04 Boston University HE 38 9 16 25 56 — — — — — 2003–04 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL — — — — — 20 1 9 10 0 2004–05 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 80 6 35 41 101 11 2 7 9 12 2005–06 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 9 5 9 14 6 11 1 4 5 8 2005–06 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 68 6 32 38 85 — — — — — 2006–07 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 81 14 45 59 77 5 1 1 2 6 2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 12 28 40 45 20 1 5 6 25 2008–09 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 28 2 11 13 16 — — — — — 2008–09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 20 0 10 10 12 13 1 5 6 9 2009–10 Anaheim Ducks NHL 62 4 24 28 48 — — — — — 2009–10 Edmonton Oilers NHL 19 3 8 11 22 — — — — — 2010–11 Edmonton Oilers NHL 35 2 25 27 33 — — — — — 2011–12 Edmonton Oilers NHL 51 3 17 20 16 — — — — — 2012–13 Edmonton Oilers NHL 34 4 9 13 23 — — — — — 2013–14 Florida Panthers NHL 7 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 2013–14 San Antonio Rampage AHL 45 7 16 23 52 — — — — — 2014–15 HC Sochi KHL 42 6 13 19 23 4 0 1 1 0 2015–16 Modo Hockey SHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — NHL totals 481 50 209 259 383 38 3 11 14 40

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2000 United States U17 4th 6 1 0 1 2 2001 United States WJC18 6th 6 0 1 1 8 2002 United States WJC 5th 7 1 2 3 20 2003 United States WJC 4th 7 1 4 5 14 2010 United States OG 6 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 26 3 7 10 44 Senior totals 6 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East Rookie Team 2001–02 2007 NHL YoungStars Team 2007