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St. Paul man pleads guilty in death of Bloomington hockey coach outside bar

nick ferraro, pioneer press
·3 min read

A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for throwing a punch that caused the death of a high school hockey coach at a downtown bar in 2021.

Ryan John Whisler, 45, had faced second-degree unintentional murder for punching 48-year-old Mike Ryan, leading him to fall down a flight of stairs and hit his head at Herbie’s on the Park.

Ryan, who was head coach of the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars girls hockey team, died the next day of a brain injury. He was survived by his wife and two teenage daughters.

Last week, Whisler reached an agreement with prosecutors that dismisses the murder charge in exchange for pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter. The case had been set to go to trial next month.

The manslaughter charge carries up to a 15-year prison term. Whisler’s plea petition states he will face no more than just over seven years in prison at sentencing, which is set for Aug. 7.

Started with dispute

According to the criminal complaint, two friends who were with Ryan at Herbie’s on the Park on Washington Street and Kellogg Boulevard told police that Ryan went to the restroom at the same time as Whisler. Some urinals were covered with cellophane to encourage social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Whisler punched a hole in the cellophane and took a cell phone video of himself urinating at the covered urinal,” according to the complaint, which went on to say Ryan “was agitated with Whisler, but he didn’t say anything to Whisler at the time. (Ryan) called Whisler out for his behavior in the men’s bathroom as they were leaving the bar which led to a verbal confrontation.”

Surveillance video outside the bar showed Whisler grabbed Ryan’s shirt and Ryan held onto a railing trying to pull away. Whisler apparently struck Ryan as Ryan’s mask fell from his face.

A man with Whisler got between him and Ryan, after which Whisler punched Ryan’s head “with a large, sweeping motion,” the complaint said. “The video, when played frame by frame, shows Whisler pushed (Ryan) towards the stairs. (Ryan) flew through the air to the bottom of the stairs and his head hit the concrete.”

Officers called to the bar about 11 p.m. found Ryan on his back at the bottom of a flight of nine concrete stairs.

Paramedics took Ryan to Regions Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a brain injury he couldn’t survive, the complaint said. He was put on life support to allow for notification of his family.

Whisler was gone, but police were able to get his name from the bar because he used a credit card to pay. Whisler, who was at a Minnesota Wild game before going to the nearby bar, turned himself in to police the next day and declined to give a statement to an investigator.

Ryan graduated from Bloomington’s Jefferson High School in 1991 and went on to play hockey at Gustavus Adolphus College. He had been Jefferson’s girls’ varsity hockey coach for five years.

The hockey community rallied around Ryan’s family following his death, providing emotional and financial support. A GoFund page raised more than $212,000.

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