John Ramage (ice hockey)

John Ramage
Born	(1991-02-07) February 7, 1991 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Professional ice hockey defenceman
Years active	2013–present
Known for	Playing for Grizzlys Wolfsburg in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga; NHL debut with Calgary Flames

John Ramage (born February 7, 1991) is a professional ice hockey defenceman holding dual Canadian and American nationality, currently playing for Grizzlys Wolfsburg in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He was chosen 103rd overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames.

Ramage spent four years competing with the Wisconsin Badgers and earned two medals representing the United States men's national junior ice hockey team: a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and a bronze as captain at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He began his professional career in 2013 and made his NHL debut in 2015.

Early life

John Ramage was born in Mississauga, Ontario during the time his father, former NHL player Rob Ramage, was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He grew up in Chesterfield, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. He is the son of Rob and Dawn Ramage and has two older sisters.

His youth hockey experience includes playing for the St. Louis Blues minor program and participating in the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. Prior to joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP), he played with the St. Louis Bandits in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). As part of Team USA, Ramage contributed to winning gold at the 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships.

Although recruited by several NCAA teams and the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Ramage opted to accept an athletic scholarship to the University of Wisconsin in 2009. While playing for the Badgers, he pursued a degree in life sciences communication and completed his studies.

College

Ramage represented the Wisconsin Badgers for four seasons from 2009 through 2013. In his freshman year, he recorded 2 goals and 10 assists over 41 games and was selected for the U.S. junior national team at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he contributed 3 assists across 7 games en route to a gold medal. He captained Team USA during the 2011 tournament, leading them to a bronze finish. Although drafted 103rd overall by Calgary in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Ramage remained with Wisconsin, serving as team captain in the 2011–12 season and achieving a personal best of 20 points in 42 games during his senior year. His collegiate career totals include 14 goals and 53 points across 157 contests.

Professional

Following college, Ramage inked a two-year deal with the Calgary Flames organization and began the 2013–14 season with their AHL affiliate, Abbotsford Heat, where he tallied just one assist in 50 appearances before being reassigned to the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. With Alaska, he took on increased responsibilities and played a key role in securing the Kelly Cup championship by recording 4 goals and 13 assists over 20 playoff games.

In the subsequent season (2014–15), Ramage suited up for Calgary’s relocated AHL affiliate, Adirondack Flames, compiling 14 points in 53 games before making his NHL debut on April 11, 2015. After that season, Calgary chose not to tender him a qualifying offer, rendering him an unrestricted free agent. On July 3, 2015, he signed a one-year two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets and contributed to their AHL affiliate Lake Erie Monsters’ Calder Cup victory during the 2015–16 campaign.

During his third year within Columbus’s system in 2017–18, Ramage was traded first to the Arizona Coyotes and then shortly thereafter to the Nashville Predators. He was assigned to Nashville’s AHL team, Milwaukee Admirals, where he added three assists over 21 games.

On July 1, 2018, Ramage agreed to a one-year two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils but spent that entire season with their AHL affiliate Binghamton Devils. There he set new personal bests with 12 goals and a total of 31 points across 74 games but did not receive an NHL call-up.

As a free agent in May 2019, Ramage transitioned to European hockey by signing a two-year contract with Eisbären Berlin of Germany’s DEL. After assisting Berlin in capturing their eighth league championship during his second season, he signed a one-year deal with Schwenninger Wild Wings on May 14, 2021.

Ramage played two seasons for Schwenninger Wild Wings, serving as team captain throughout the 2022–23 DEL campaign while appearing in every regular-season game and accumulating four goals along with twenty-two points. He departed from Schwenninger following the conclusion of his contract in March 2023.

Personal life

On July 11, 2015, he wed Emily Ramage (born Butrym) in Libertyville, Illinois.

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2007–08	St. Louis Bandits	NAHL		45	4	5	9	75		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	U.S. National Development Team	Ind.		54	2	8	10	44		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		41	2	10	12	51		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		37	1	10	11	59		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		37	3	7	10	62		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Wisconsin Badgers	WCHA		42	8	12	20	65		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Abbotsford Heat	AHL		50	0	1	1	46		—	—	—	—

	Alaska Aces	ECHL	6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 20 |-		Adirondack Flames	AHL | 57 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Calgary Flames	National Hockey League (NHL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |-		Lake Erie Monsters	AHL | 68 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |— |— |— |— |— |-		Cleveland Monsters	AHL |69 |4 |21 |25 |67 |— |— |— |— |— |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Cleveland Monsters	AHL |33 |2 |7 |9 |37 |— |— |— |— |— |-		Tucson Roadrunners	AHL |12 |2 |1 |3 |16 |— |— |— |— |— |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Milwaukee Admirals	AHL |21 |0 |3 |3 |12 |— |— |— |— |— |-		Binghamton Devils	AHL |74 |12 |19 |31 |59 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Eisbären Berlin	Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) | 40 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 76 |-		Eisbären Berlin	DEL | 38 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Schwenninger Wild Wings	DEL | 49 | 2 | 23 | 25 | 57 |-		Schwenninger Wild Wings	DEL | 56 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 88 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"		Grizzlys Wolfsburg	DEL | 52 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 54 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |-		Grizzlys Wolfsburg	DEL | 51 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 44
NHL totals			2	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Tournament	Outcome		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2009	United States	WJC18	Template:Gold1		7	0	1	1	2
2010	United States	WJC	Template:Gold1		7	0	3	3	5
2011	United States	WJC	Template:Bronze3		6	0	0	0	2
Junior career totals					20	0	4	4	9

Awards and honors

Award	Year
ECHL
Kelly Cup (Alaska Aces)	2014
AHL
Calder Cup (Lake Erie Monsters)	2016
DEL
Champion (Eisbären Berlin)	2021