"Brian Burke has made a few important telephone calls to Bobby Ryan over the years, and the news he delivered in those conversations has cut both ways.

Before the Ducks practiced Friday morning, Burke gave Ryan more life-changing news that the young winger has hoped he would get since he was growing up in southern New Jersey.

Ryan, 22, was selected to the 23-man U.S. Olympic men's hockey team that will compete in the Winter Games next month in Vancouver. It's his first such selection and his first international competition since the 2006 World Junior Championships.

"I'm thrilled," he said. "It's an unbelievable feeling. It's the dream of any American player to be able to represent his team in the Olympics. I know it's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid.""