Tim Ramholt

Tim Ramholt (born November 2, 1984) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenceman who last played under contract for EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League (NL). He began his professional career with the ZSC Lions before moving to North America in the hopes of a National Hockey League (NHL) career. Ramholt was selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round, 39th overall, at the 2003 NHL entry draft. He played one NHL game for the Flames and after spending three years in the American Hockey League (AHL), returned to Switzerland for 2009–10. Internationally, Ramholt represented the Swiss junior team on four occasions. He won a silver medal at the 2001 IIHF World U18 Championships in Finland, then represented the U20 team three times between 2002 and 2004, with his best finish being a fourth-place result in 2002.

Playing career Ramholt played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a youth team from Zürich. He developed as a defenceman playing for his hometown Zürich in the Swiss junior and Nationalliga B (NLB) leagues. He was a member of the silver medal-winning Swiss team at the 2001 IIHF World U18 Championships, where he scored one assist in seven games. He made his top level debut for the ZSC Lions in 2001–02, appearing in 37 games and scoring three goals. Ramholt played 30 more games for ZSC in 2002–03, but also spent considerable time with their NLB team, the GCK Lions as the 17-year-old struggled to gain ice time with ZSC and began to contemplate moving onto another team.

He was ranked as the 16th best skater by NHL Central Scouting entering the 2003 NHL entry draft. Ramholt was selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round, 39th overall, who felt his strong skating and puck moving ability made him ideally suited for the North American game. Ramholt, who had played in Calgary before – he was named the top defenceman at the 2002 Mac's AAA midget hockey tournament – looked forward to playing on the smaller North American ice surface. and chose to play the 2003–04 season in Cape Breton where he scored 9 goals and 27 assists for the Screaming Eagles. Ramholt admitted that he hoped he would better develop his game as a player in the Swiss top league rather than the North American minor leagues. After admitting that that decision might have been a mistake, he signed a three-year contract with the Flames and returned to North America in the summer of 2006. He played only one shift, a total of 45 seconds, before being returned to Quad City. No longer in their plans, he was traded by the Flames to the Philadelphia Flyers for minor league forward Kyle Greentree on June 30, 2008. He was assigned to Nashville's minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, where he played 59 more games, scoring two goals and eight assists.

International play

The Swiss junior team called upon Ramholt to play in World Junior Hockey Championships three times. He played seven games in the 2002 tournament, scoring one assist, as the Swiss finished fourth.

He returned for the 2003 and 2004 tournaments, playing six games each, as the Swiss finished seventh and sixth, respectively. Ramholt expressed disappointment in his team's results, as the Swiss had hoped to follow their 4th-place finish in 2002 with a medal in 2003.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1999–2000 Grasshopper Club Zürich SUI U20 35 2 9 11 26 4 0 2 2 4 1999–2000 Grasshopper Club Zürich SUI.2 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1999–2000 SC Küsnacht SUI.3 2000–01 Grasshopper Club Zürich SUI U20 17 3 6 9 10 — — — — — 2000–01 GCK Lions SUI.2 37 0 2 2 38 3 0 0 0 4 2001–02 GCK Lions SUI U20 5 2 2 4 4 — — — — — 2001–02 GCK Lions SUI.2 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2001–02 ZSC Lions NLA 37 3 0 3 14 15 0 3 3 2 2002–03 GCK Lions SUI U20 6 2 2 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 2002–03 GCK Lions SUI.2 12 0 4 4 6 — — — — — 2002–03 ZSC Lions NLA 30 3 0 3 12 9 0 1 1 6 2003–04 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles QMJHL 51 9 27 36 26 5 0 1 1 4 2004–05 ZSC Lions NLA 41 1 3 4 36 15 0 0 0 8 2005–06 Kloten Flyers NLA 42 0 1 1 46 11 0 1 1 8 2006–07 Omaha Ak–Sar–Ben Knights AHL 67 2 10 12 61 6 0 1 1 10 2007–08 Quad City Flames AHL 77 4 20 24 73 — — — — — 2007–08 Calgary Flames NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 59 2 8 10 36 8 0 1 1 8 2009–10 HC Davos NLA 50 2 12 14 44 6 0 2 2 4 2010–11 HC Davos NLA 50 9 15 24 42 14 1 4 5 10 2011–12 HC Davos NLA 50 1 8 9 82 4 0 0 0 4 2012–13 HC Davos NLA 50 2 13 15 40 7 0 0 0 8 2013–14 EV Zug NLA 45 3 8 11 58 — — — — — 2014–15 EV Zug NLA 50 9 10 19 48 6 0 0 0 0 2015–16 EV Zug NLA 50 7 11 18 36 4 0 1 1 2 2016–17 EHC Kloten NLA 22 0 5 5 51 — — — — — 2017–18 EHC Kloten NL 31 1 3 4 28 — — — — — NL totals 548 41 89 130 537 91 1 12 13 52 NHL totals 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — AHL totals 210 8 38 46 170 14 0 2 2 18

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2001 Switzerland WJC18 7 0 1 1 4 2002 Switzerland WJC 4th 7 0 1 1 6 2002 Switzerland WJC18 7th 8 1 4 5 12 2003 Switzerland WJC 7th 6 2 2 4 2 2004 Switzerland WJC 8th 6 1 1 2 4 2014 Switzerland WC 10th 2 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 34 4 9 13 28 Senior totals 2 0 0 0 0