REAL COOL STORIES (week ended 2/29/20)
Bobby Ryan is a professional hockey player for the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was born Robert Stevenson in New Jersey some 32 years ago.
In October 1997, Bobby's father, Bob Stevenson, badly beat Bobby's mother in a drunken rage, leaving her hospitalized with four broken ribs, a skull fracture and a punctured lung. Bobby's father was charged with attempted murder and jumped bail fleeing to Canada. His son and wife later forgave and joined him on the lam in Canada, living under assumed names. The family eventually relocated to California so that Bobby could play in an elite youth hockey feeder system changing their last name to Ryan. In February 2000, Bobby's father was arrested at home by the US Marshall Service and spent several years in prison.
In 2005, the Anaheim Ducks selected Bobby with the second pick in the NHL draft. He played with the Ducks until he was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2013.
Back in November 2019, Bobby left the team to deal with mental health issues and alcoholism. He had been sober for 100 days when he returned to the team recently. In his first home game back on the ice, he scored a hat trick, the fifth in his career. As he skated back to the bench after the third goal, tears filled his eyes. As the fans responded with a standing ovation and chants of “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!”, he wiped away the tears. It was a truly remarkable performance as Bobby had scored only once on the season and had not scored a hat trick since 2014.
After the game Bobby told the Associated Press, "I knew Ottawa being the community that it is that the reception would be good. It just got harder to keep the emotions down throughout the game. It was incredible. They supported me and I got to contribute. You can't write that, the way that went. It was just an incredible evening, so thank you to all of them."
Bobby also received a ton of support on social media from fans and players. The NHL’s twitter account posted, “There are no words for moments like these.
It's great to have you back, Bobby!”
He knows his battle is not over. After the game Bobby said, “My therapy is going to continue. It's not fun, but it's something I need to be able to let go and put in my past and I've started to do that, but I feel great and at peace with a lot of it and I'm still continuing to let go of some more."
Bobby also thanked his wife, Danielle, for helping him through a difficult time.
"To have her support and not just have her support as a hockey player, but as a husband and everything, it just means a ton," he told reporters after the game.
A real, cool story indeed!