[4][5] Staying close to sport and wellness, he worked as a Brand Manager at Gatorade before joining digital physical therapy startup SWORD Health.

[7] In his sophomore season of 2004–05, O'Byrne helped Cornell regain the ECAC Championship with a 3–1 win over Harvard before losing in the West Regional Final to the University of Minnesota.

[8] In his junior year, O'Byrne entrenched himself as a top defender within Cornell's ECAC leading defence corps to be selected as a First Team All-Ivy player.

[9] Despite missing nearly a month to injury, O'Byrne led all Big Red defenceman with 7 goals and 13 points in 28 games and was named in the All-ECAC Third-Team.

[10] O'Byrne was selected by Cornell Coach Mike Schäfer as an alternate captain, but decided to forgo his senior year to begin his professional career signing a two-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens on August 9, 2006.

[11] O'Byrne played 308 regular season and 25 playoff games in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the Championship Final, he then produced his second game-winning goal a game three win over the Hershey Bears en route to claiming the Calder Cup.

[13] Ryan missed a month of the season after suffering a broken thumb, before returning to health and scoring his first NHL goal in a 6–4 defeat to the San Jose Sharks on March 4, 2008.

In the midst of the shortened 2012–13 season and in the final year of his contract at the trade deadline, O'Byrne was dealt by the Avalanche to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft on April 3, 2013.

[32] Several other NHLers from the area — including Tyson Barrie, Jamie Benn, Matt Irwin, Manny Malhotra, Paul Bissonnette and Boyd Gordon — also volunteered at O'Byrne's annual camp.