A commitment to off-season training was a big factor in winger Bobby Ryan cracking the Anaheim Ducks' roster this season at age 20. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press))

Bobby Ryan doesn't want to become a one-goal wonder with the Anaheim Ducks in his rookie NHL season.

He also doesn't want to get too comfortable with their American Hockey League affiliate in Portland, Me., where the highly touted right winger was sent on Oct. 6 after opening the season with the Ducks.

"Extremely," was Ryan's answer to CBCSports.ca when asked how confident he was of a return to Anaheim this season. "They have assured me I will get another opportunity if I prove myself here [in the AHL]."

In other words, Ducks management wants the 2005 first-round pick to work hard, become a responsible two-way player and regularly put up points.

"They want me to be better away from the puck and work on my defensive game," said Ryan, who was given the news of his demotion by Anaheim's vice president of hockey operations, Bob Murray, and coach Randy Carlyle.

Ryan, a former star forward in the Ontario Hockey League with the Owen Sound Attack, had a minus-1 rating in four games with Anaheim. He wondered if he got comfortable too early in his NHL career.

"I think I was standing around too much, which is something I was able to do [in the AHL and junior], but you can't take a shift off in the NHL," he said. "It's not like I wasn't fighting hard on the ice, but I can't be hesitant."

Ryan gained an appreciation for the fitness level of NHLers when he travelled with the Ducks last spring during their Stanley Cup run and came to training camp in September with a reshaped body.

He was a more fit 220 pounds after transferring some upper-body mass to the trunk area by focusing on balance and strength exercises while working out in August with veterans Todd Bertuzzi, Todd Marchant and Chris Pronger.

Body fat at 10.5 per cent

"I had some ground to make up," said Ryan, 20. "I had never done the type of workouts that NHLers do.

"My body fat has improved. The year I was drafted I had 16 or 17 per cent body fat on a 220-pound frame. That's a football player's shape. I came into camp this year at 10.5 per cent [body fat] and weighed 215 pounds."

Ryan was partially motivated by the opportunity he saw to crack the Ducks' lineup. With Teemu Selanne pondering retirement, restricted free agent Dustin Penner signed by Edmonton to an offer sheet and Samuel Pahlsson recovering from injury, the defending Cup champions had at least two openings at the forward position.

Fellow youngsters Drew Miller and Ryan Carter got a chance to impress Carlyle last spring in the playoffs, so Ryan knew he had to go above and beyond anything they did at camp.

"I just wanted to bring a positive attitude and outwork everybody," said Ryan, who entered this season as a candidate for NHL top-rookie honours. "My work ethic on and off the ice is night and day from the last couple of years.

"I was one of those guys [in junior] that went to the gym and fooled around for 10 to 15 minutes. Now, I'm on a program to get myself in better shape."

It wasn't until late in this year's pre-season when the six-foot-one Ryan found himself on a line with Ryan Getzlaf and a trimmed-down Bertuzzi that he began to raise some eyebrows.

Ducks general manager Brian Burke told Hockey Night In Canada that Ryan played himself on the team in the final two exhibition games. He scored against San Jose and picked up four assists in a Sept. 23 home game versus the Vancouver Canucks.

A big fan of Bertuzzi since the late 1990s, Ryan said they found instant chemistry as linemates. Similar in size and playing style, Bertuzzi and Ryan have a nose for the net, and that helped them find each other on the ice.

Hesitant to play with Bertuzzi

Ryan, left, and Todd Bertuzzi found instant on-ice chemistry when they were put on the same line at training camp. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)

"I was a little hesitant playing with him at first. I didn't want to step on his toes," Ryan conceded. "But he told me to 'play the game the way I can, we'll feed off each other and have success.'"

Ryan and Bertuzzi looked comfortable in the Sept. 29 season opener in London, England, cycling the puck well low in the Los Angeles Kings' zone and combining with Getzlaf for eight shots.

One of Ryan's three shots made it past rookie goaltender Jonathan Bernier for his first NHL goal, a power-play marker that cut into a 3-0 Kings advantage.

"Even though [the first goal] came overseas where the fans aren't as passionate as in your hometown, it was a good crowd and atmosphere. I worked a long time for it," said Ryan, who gave the puck to his mother Melody.

While Ryan said he would have travelled further than London to make his NHL debut, he admitted the subsequent travel to Detroit and Columbus upon the team's return to North America may have affected his play.

As a result, Ryan's ice time was cut from 15 minutes in the opener to eight-plus minutes in a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jackets on Oct. 5.

"There were a couple of games where things weren't clicking [for my line], and being a rookie you take the brunt of that," Ryan said. "I learned that you have to show up every game if you want to keep your spot in the lineup."

For now, Ryan is a member of the AHL Pirates, with whom he played 19 games in the 2006 playoffs and posted eight points.

"The Ducks have been fair to me, easing me into the lineup and giving me time to mature and lose weight," Ryan said. "I just have to focus on things down here. It's really on my shoulders whether I'm going to be there [in the NHL]."