Amateur

Ramsey attended Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. He was considered the top high school defenseman in Minnesota as a senior in 1977–78. He also attended the U.S. National Junior training camp in summer of 1978 and participated in the 1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships while playing at the University of Minnesota.

Ramsey was the youngest member of the U.S. team that upset the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, in an event known as the Miracle on Ice. The American team, which went on to defeat Finland for the gold medal, was coached by Herb Brooks, who was Ramsey's coach at the University of Minnesota.

Ramsey (#5) with the puck during the Miracle on Ice game, February 22, 1980. Looking on are Soviet players Viktor Zhluktov (#22) and Valeri Vasiliev (#6), Soviet goaltender Vladimir Myshkin (#1), and American player Mark Johnson (#10).

Professional

Drafted 11th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, Ramsey would go on to play in the National Hockey League immediately after the Olympics. He had one of the most successful NHL careers of the 1980 U.S. Olympians, playing 14 seasons for the Sabres. Primarily known as an offensive defenseman as an amateur, he successfully adapted to the bigger and tougher NHL by becoming a stay-at-home defenseman in Buffalo. Highlights of his career with the Sabres include playing in the NHL All-Star Game four times (1982, 1983, 1985, and 1986) as well as being a member of the NHL All-Star team that played the Soviet national hockey team in Rendez-Vous '87. Ramsey also served as the Sabres' team captain from 1990 to 1992. He continued to play for Team USA during this time, participating in the 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships and the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup tournaments.

Ramsey's old coach in Buffalo, Scotty Bowman, brought him to the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1992–93 season to shore up the team's defensive corps as it made a run at a third straight Stanley Cup championship. However, the Penguins were upset in the second round by the New York Islanders. After another season in Pittsburgh, Ramsey signed with the Detroit Red Wings, who by now were also coached by Bowman, as a free agent. In April 1995, Ramsey became teammates with defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov when Detroit acquired the latter in a trade with the New Jersey Devils; Fetisov had played for the Soviets during the 1980 Olympics. That year, Ramsey played in his first Stanley Cup Finals series, but the Red Wings were swept by the Devils, who had Ramsey's 1980 Olympic teammate, Neal Broten, on their roster. The next season, the powerful Red Wings set a league record for most wins in a single season with 62, but were ousted in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Ramsey played only two games for Detroit in the 1996-97 season before retiring.

Post-playing career

Ramsey returned to Minnesota after finishing his NHL career where he ran a sporting goods store named "Gold Medal Sports" and played senior league hockey. He returned to the NHL in 1997 to serve as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres, and in 2000 he took a similar position with the Minnesota Wild. He was with the Wild until June 2010.

He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

Regular season and playoffs

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979	United States	WJC	6th		5	1	1	2	10
1980	United States	OG			7	0	2	2	8
1982	United States	WC	8th		7	1	0	1	8
1984	United States	CC	4th		6	1	1	2	6
1987	United States	CC	5th		5	0	1	1	2
Junior totals					5	1	1	2	10
Senior totals					25	2	4	6	24