Dan Ratushny was drafted 25th overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. Ratushny had completed his first year of university at Cornell when the Jets selected him with their second pick. Dan returned to Cornell for two more years, earning All-Ivy consideration in both seasons. In fact, the Ratushny family was doubly proud as sister Kim also earned similar honors in women' s hockey. The Ratushnys did particularly well in 1990 as Kim played on the gold medal women's team and Dan won gold at the World Junior Championship.
Two years later Dan went to the 1992 Winter Olympics as member of the Canadian National Team. The Canadians settled for the silver medal following a 3-1 loss to the Unified Team. Ratushny played for Fort Wayne for most of the 1992-93 season. At the trading deadline the Jets sent to the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver coach Pat Quinn brought the defenseman straight to the NHL for the remainder of the schedule. Ratushny said of his chance, " Mr. Quinn just asked me to work hard and we'll see what happens. You've got to come up big when you get your chance. I'm really excited".
Fortunately for Ratushny, he signed a two-year contract, one-way contract for $275,000US upon being traded. Dan played his first and only NHL game on April 15, 1993. In the second period he drew a holding penalty and in the third he assisted on Geoff Courtnall's 31st goal of the season. The Canucks, who had already clinched the Smythe Division, won the meaningless contest 8-6.
Dan Ratushny finished out his contract with the Canucks farm team in Hamilton. He played for a number of teams in the next few years in both the IHL and AHL before going abroad. In 1999 he played in the Japanese league with Seibu Tokyo. For 2000-01 Ratushny moved half way around the world to play for HPK Hameenlinna in Finland. During the season he took time to play for Canada at the Spengler Cup, where the team finished in second place to HC Davos.
