George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Ryan Oulahen’s hockey path took him to Flint instead of Detroit.

A former Red Wings draft pick, Oulahen was introduced at news conference in Flint on Tuesday after being hired last week by the Ontario Hockey League as coach of the Firebirds.

Oulahen, a former captain of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, suffered a career-ending hip injury during the 2008-09 season and began coaching in 2011.

He has spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach for the Battalion, the team he once played for in the OHL. He returned to the Brampton Battalion for the 2011-12 season and stayed on when the team moved to North Bay before the 2013-14 season.

The OHL recently took control of hockey operations for the Firebirds after suspending owner Rolf Nilsen after he fired the coaching staff twice in the same season. The OHL hired longtime league coach and former Edmonton Oilers coach George Burnett as general manager, Oulahen as coach and former Philadephia Flyers forward Eric Wellwood as assistant coach.

“I want to create a hardworking environment where the opposition has to know the Flint Firebirds are going to give it all they got,” Oulahen said. “Hard work can win you a lot of games, and we have to create that right from the get-go. I’m a big believer in playing both sides of the puck. You gotta be able to be a 200-foot player. I want to be extremely aggressive, really, really fast and structured.”

Oulahen was developing into a possible fourth-line grinder for the Wings before his hip injury.

Wings general manager Ken Holland remembers him as a hard worker who was liked by teammates.

“I thought he had the potential to be a bottom-six forward, a checker, a penalty killer,” Holland said. “He was an honest worker, a hard worker, but more on the defensive side.

“When he retired as a player, made it as an assistant coach in the OHL. He’s obviously paid his dues and waited his time for an opportunity.”

“There’s so many moments,” Oulahen said when asked about his time as a Wings prospect. “I can remember my very first training camp, getting into your first scrimmage in Traverse City, playing against Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan.

“We had some good teams in Grand Rapids. I was able to be a captain one year and played with a lot of good players. The Jimmy Howards, the Darren Helms, the Kyle Quinceys, Jonathan Ericsson … we shared a lot of great moments as players. It’s kind of neat to be just an hour up the road from those guys.”

Being a captain on an AHL club in his mid-20s taught Oulahen “how to manage a team dynamic.”

Oulahen said that experience gave him the idea that coaching could be in his future when his playing career ended. He just didn’t anticipate it ending as soon as it did.

Oulahen remembers everything about the day he suffered the left hip injury.

“I can remember the date very vividly, it was March 27, the day after my birthday,” Oulahen said. “It was kind of an eerie game. With about 5 minutes to go in the (first) period, one of the refs had a freak accident in one of the corners. His throat got cut by a skate, and there needed to be some major medical attention to him, and there was a big delay. We were going to go off, have intermission at that point and then finish off the first period, then start the second period right away.”

Oulahen said he was injured on the second shift of the second period.

“It was just on a forecheck, I was trying to keep a puck on the wall,” Oulahen said. “My skates just kind of got caught into a rut and both legs went in different directions, and I was wedged right against the boards. Something had to give, and my hip went out. Believe it or not, it was about 3 feet away from where the ref had his freak accident. It was kind of bizarre.”

Oulahen knew his left hip was out of place at the time, but not that he’d never play again. Oulahen spent three months on crutches. Once he started light rehabilitation, he knew the hip wasn’t right, went for more tests, and doctors discovered severe cartilage damage.

Oulahen had surgery that sidelined him 6-8 months in an attempt to repair the damage.

“The closest I got was about 10 minutes into a warm-up in practice, where the cartilage damage was so severe I couldn’t go any further,” Oulahen said.

He had a second surgery, but the doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to continue playing hockey.

Oulahen can skate on the ice, but compares it now to “going for a walk.”

“If I can just cruise around, I’m OK,” he said. “I can’t squat or work my legs or do a lot of things to return to being a professional athlete.”

Oulahen wants to help the next generation of hockey players reach their goal of making the NHL.

“We gotta come to the rink every day as if it’s our last and put the work in,” he said. “See where things can go. But you never want to think you have more time, because sometimes your time is taken away.”

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!