Ryan Zapolski

Ryan was a three-time Atlantic Hockey All-Conference selection at Mercyhurst University. He represented the United States on four different occasions, including being the starting goaltender on the 2018 USA Men’s Hockey Olympic Team in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The Erie native began his hockey career at Cathedral Prep where he holds Pennsylvania state high school record for saves in a game (88). Prior to college he spent two years playing Junior A hockey for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms, where he was named first team All-NAHL in 2006-07 and registered the league all-time season wins record (42). He was a three-time All-Conference selection (second team twice and third team once) at Mercyhurst. After graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology, Ryan began his 10-year professional career that took him all over the world. He started in the ECHL where he was named the 2012-13 Rookie of the Year, Goaltender of the Year and League MVP while playing for the South Carolina Stingrays. Ryan moved overseas in 2013 to play in the top professional league in Finland for Lukko Rauma, where he won the bronze medal in 2013-14 and holds the league record for career shutouts by a foreign goaltender with 25. He moved to the KHL, the top league in Europe in 2016 and led the league in shutouts in the 2017-18 season while being named to the All-Star Game. That year he represented the United States in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang as the starting goaltender. His last full season was the pandemic shortened 2019-20 year spent with the Vienna Capitals in Austria. Following that year he moved back home with his wife Elizabeth Fisher of Erie and has two daughters, Elinor and Millie.