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 a fourth-place result in 2002.

Tim Ramholt
Born (1984-11-02) November 2, 1984 (age 39)
Zurich, Switzerland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for ZSC Lions
EHC Kloten
Calgary Flames
HC Davos
EV Zug
National team   Switzerland
NHL Draft 39th overall, 2003
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2001–2018

Playing career edit

Ramholt played in the 1998 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a youth team from Zürich.[1] 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,[2] where he scored one assist in seven games.[3] He made his top level debut for the ZSC Lions in 2001–02, appearing in 37 games and scoring three goals.[4] 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.[5]

He was ranked as the 16th best skater by NHL Central Scouting entering the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.[6] Ramholt was selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round, 39th overall,[7] who felt his strong skating and puck moving ability made him ideally suited for the North American game.[8] 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.[6] He was also selected by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in the 2003 Canadian Hockey League European draft,[9] and chose to play the 2003–04 season in Cape Breton where he scored 9 goals and 27 assists for the Screaming Eagles.[4]

Ramholt returned to Switzerland to play with ZSC in 2004–05 and then the Kloten Flyers in 2005–06,[4] a decision that the Flames organization did not agree with.[10] 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.[10] The Flames assigned him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights for the 2006–07 season, where he scored 12 points in 67 games.[4]

He continued in the AHL in 2007–08, playing 77 games with the Quad City Flames, scoring 24 points.[4] An injury to Adrian Aucoin earned Ramholt a call-up to Calgary, and he played his first NHL game on November 29, 2007, against the Anaheim Ducks.[11] He played only one shift, a total of 45 seconds, before being returned to Quad City.[12] 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.[12] Ramholt began the 2008–09 season in the AHL with the Philadelphia Phantoms, but after playing just seven games, was again traded. The Flyers sent him to the Nashville Predators for Josh Gratton.[13] He was assigned to Nashville's minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, where he played 59 more games, scoring two goals and eight assists.[4] Following the season, Ramholt returned to Switzerland, signing a two-year contract with HC Davos.[14]

International play edit

Medal record
Representing   Switzerland
Ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championships
  2001 Finland

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,[15] as the Swiss finished fourth.[16]

He returned for the 2003 and 2004 tournaments, playing six games each,[17] as the Swiss finished seventh and sixth, respectively.[18][19] 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.[5]

Personal edit

Ramholt's elder brother, Arne was a draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2000.[6] He played one year in the AHL, for the Norfolk Admirals in 2000–01, in between a ten-year career in the Swiss leagues.[20]

Career statistics edit

Regular season and playoffs edit

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 edit

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

References edit

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  2. ^ "Final ranking – 2001 IIHF World U18 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  3. ^ "Switzerland roster – 2001 IIHF World U18 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Tim Ramholt player profile". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  5. ^ a b Loonen, Joeri (2003-02-04). "The various crossroads of Tim Ramholt". Hockey's Future. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  6. ^ a b c Cruickshank, Scott (2003-06-22). "Flames also nab an 'explosive' European". Calgary Herald. p. B4.
  7. ^ Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (2009). 2009–10 Calgary Flames Media Guide (PDF). Calgary Flames Hockey Club. p. 131.
  8. ^ Sportak, Randy (2003-06-23). "Size, grit common theme". Calgary Sun. p. S4.
  9. ^ Bailey, Lawrence (2003-06-29). "Ramholt looks forward to North America". Hockey's Future. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  10. ^ a b Sportak, Randy (2006-07-19). "Swiss miss". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2010-01-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "Giguere returns, helps Ducks to comfortable victory". ESPN. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  12. ^ a b "Ramholt traded after 45 seconds of playing time with Calgary Flames". Calgary Herald. 2008-06-30. Archived from the original on 2008-08-04. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  13. ^ "Preds make two trades". National Hockey League. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  14. ^ "Ramholt zu Davos - Brunner zu Ambri" (in German). Blick.ch. 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  15. ^ "Switzerland roster – 2002 IIHF World U20 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  16. ^ "Final ranking – 2002 IIHF World U20 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  17. ^ Hanlon, Peter; Kelso, Sean (2007). 2007–08 Calgary Flames Media Guide. Calgary Flames Hockey Club. p. 92.
  18. ^ "Final ranking – 2003 IIHF World U20 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  19. ^ "2004 IIHF World U20 Championship". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  20. ^ "Arne Ramholt player profile". The Internet Hockey Database. Retrieved 2010-01-03.

External links edit