"This is weird and sad" - NHL fans react to former Senators star Bobby Ryan for his bizarre take on women's March Madness viewership

NHL fans aren't pleased with former player Bobby Ryan and his take on the women's March Madness.

Ryan responded to a tweet on social media talking about the women's March Madness game between Iowa and LSU, which did monster viewership. The game produced ratings of 12.3 million, but Ryan asked fans if they could even name seven players, as he took shots at the women's March Madness.

"Name 7 players. Not 1. Not 2…5-7. First and last names…go for it," Ryan wrote on X.

Several fans expressed their displeasure with Ryan's comments following his post:

"This is weird and sad."

"Why are you as a former NHLer trying to shit on women’s sports? Does it really matter if people like me who can probably name like 5 players total are entertained by it? There are people that probably just got into hockey that can’t name 5 NHLers," one fan wrote on X.

"Of all the things to go after on Twitter you’re going after a fan of women’s basketball? You could just keep scroll man…," another fan wrote."

"Come on Bobby you’re better than this," one fan responded.

"What’s the endgame here Bobby," one fan wrote.

"Name 7 events that couldn’t match the viewership from last night’s Iowa-LSU game. Not 1. Not 2…5-7. Year and event names…go for it," another fan added.

"Better catch up with the country bud. Just because you fell behind doesn't mean everyone is there on the barstool with you," another fan wrote.

Most NHL fans seemed to be displeased with Bobby Ryan and his tweet about the women's basketball game. But, despite all the backlash, Ryan did not back down from his stance and continued to double down on it.

Bobby Ryan thought former Sens head coach DJ Smith wasn't hard enough on players

Bobby Ryan was drafted second overall in 2005 by the Anaheim Ducks and was with the team until 2013 when he was traded to the Ottawa Senators.

Ryan spent seven seasons in Ottawa and his final season there was with DJ Smith who was fired by the Senators this year. Speaking on his Coming in Hot podcast, Ryan said he felt like Smith's training camps and practices were too easy.

"I’ve had camps with D.J. (Smith). They're a little country club-ish, right? Fitness testing was hard," Ryan said, via The HockeyNews. "Obviously, it's hard everywhere. But the camps in general were just a little country club-ish. So whoever comes in has to set the tone from day one at camp and just bury these guys and say ‘We’re going...'

“For me, that’s the biggest thing,” Ryan said. “Day one of training camp has gotta be a blood bath. It has to be. You have to absolutely skate these guys into the ground and put the systems in place. You’ve gotta set the tone in some way, shape, or form.”

The Senators ended up struggling out of the gates, which led to Smith being fired.