Ryan Flinn built a career as a professional hockey player based, in part, on beating people up.

These days, as one of Surprise's newest firefighters, Flinn is in the business of saving lives and mending injuries rather than inflicting them.

Flinn, a 31-year-old who earned a fierce reputation as a fighter during his 11 years in the National and American Hockey Leagues, graduated from the fire academy in August.

West Valley firefighter cadets graduate



As the "enforcer" on his teams, Flinn served as a watchdog and delivered the occasional serious pounding to anyone who played dirty against a teammate.

"You're there to basically protect your teammates," he explained. "You know - be physical, play physical and take care of the boys."

And take care of the boys, he did.

A search of Flinn's name on Youtube.com calls up a bounty of violent fight videos in which he can be seen delivering - and receiving - numerous cringe-inducing blows during his time with both the major and minor leagues.

In one December 2008 fight between Flinn and Jon Mirasty of the Syracuse Crunch, Flinn can be seen throwing more than 20 punches before the two tumbled to the ice.

A different fight in the NHL marked his last game in the big league.

It was Nov. 26, 2005. Flinn, who was playing with the Los Angeles Kings, went toe to toe with Chicago Blackhawks player Jim Vandermeer.

Toward the end of the 18-second fight, Flinn's helmet went flying before he fell to the ice - head first.

He was knocked out cold and wheeled out of the arena on a stretcher.

The fall, and the serious concussion that resulted, spelled the end of his time in the pros.

"That was the last time I played in the NHL," he said. "For whatever reason, I never got back."

Flinn went back to play four more seasons in the American Hockey League, which is the minor league in the hockey world.

His last season was 2009-10, playing for the Rockford, Ill., Icehogs.

It was during that season that Flinn started considering pursuing a job in his other dream career - fighting fires.

"Hockey wasn't going to last forever," he said. "I was looking for something that I would want to do for the rest of my life."

Flinn started doing ride-alongs with an ambulance company in Illinois in between games.

"When I came home from that season, my wife and I talked and I told her this is what I want to pursue," he said.

The career switch turned out to be better for his family.

Flinn's friends and family said the seven to nine months he had to spend away from his wife and daughter while he played hockey took a toll on him. His family had lived in Phoenix since 2006. But Flinn had to live far away during hockey seasons.

"You can't play hockey forever, and I think he felt like it was time," said Bracken Kearns, a former teammate and forward for the Florida Panthers. "I think he missed his daughter quite a bit."

Flinn's wife, Danielle Flinn, said sometime two months would pass before the two saw one another.

"Knowing that he's never going to win a Stanley Cup or anything, I think you just burn out," she said.

Flinn was hired by the Surprise Fire Department and started a grueling 13-week training program at Glendale's Public Safety Training Center in March.

Although temperatures were in the mid-80s when training started, they climbed as training went on. The man born in Nova Scotia was jogging every morning, hustling up multiple flights of stairs with 60 pounds of equipment and learning to swing an axe in 110-degree heat.

"He never complained about it once," Danielle said. "He's so excited to be doing this job, he doesn't care."

Flinn said his previous career has generated a lot interest from fellow firefighters, especially when it comes to his role as the team's enforcer.

"There are jokes about it and stuff like that," he said. "It's all in good fun. It's just guys being guys."

To him, hockey was just another job.

"To me, I'm like 'no big deal,' " he said. "It doesn't define me at this point. My goal now is to become the best firefighter I can be and learn as much as I can about this craft and be as good at it as I can."

Flinn said he feels the same sense of brotherhood and camaraderie with his fellow firefighters as he did his teammates.

There is a difference.

"When you really look at it, hockey's just a game," he said. "When the (alarm) tone goes off here, you know it's all business."

Kearns said firefighting is a natural career switch for a lot of hockey players, so he wasn't surprised when Flinn told him that's what he was going to do.

"You're with the guys every day," he said. "It's kind of a team atmosphere."

Kearns said being a firefighter will come naturally for his friend, too.

"Enforcers are typically good guys that step up for guys when they're in trouble," he said. "That's kind of what a firefighter does."

Despite Flinn's tough exterior and intimidating 6-foot, 5-inch stature, Kearns said Flinn has another side.

"I think he's got a soft heart for helping people," Kearns said.