As the NHL trade deadline approaches and teams are looking to add to their roster for a playoff push, wouldn’t it be surreal if the Philadelphia Flyers could bring Robert Stevenson (a.k.a. Bobby Ryan), the Cherry Hill, New Jersey native back home to where he grew up attending Flyers’ games as a fan with his father? Bobby, who is now 33 years old and in the twilight of his career, signed a one-year deal worth just $1 million this off season with the Detroit Red Wings, who are currently in last place in the Central Division and will most likely be big sellers once again trying to get rid of anyone with value in order to secure more draft picks to continue their rebuild.
Ryan’s long road to redemption this season has been a journey to say the least- returning to his team (the Ottawa Senators) late in the season last year after spending significant time in the league’s substance abuse program due to his battle with alcohol, stemming most likely from his broken childhood. One that saw a kid named Robert Stevenson have to deal with his dad (Bob) being charged with attempted murder- among other things- at a young age after his father returned home from the local bar, drunk, with the belief that Bobby’s mother was trying to buy drugs via an audio recording he had captured. This beating was so bad that Bobby’s mother Melody was then placed in the intensive care unit at a local hospital because she suffered a fractured skull and a punctured lung. Bobby was not able to see his mother for a total of eight days while she recovered in the hospital.
After that incident, Bobby’s father decided to flee the state and the inventible prosecution for his actions. Jumping bail, his father found himself settling in California of all places. Once there, he sent word to the Stevensons back home in New Jersey with the hopes that they would join him there. Melody, who did not want to break up the family, eventually conceded to her husbands demands and made her way with Bobby out to the Golden State. Once there, Bobby’s dad changed the family’s surname from Stevenson to Ryan to help conceal their identities and hopefully help him hide from prosecution as well. Upon Bobby arriving to the west coast Ryan’s father would then also resume his son’s rigorous training regimen of 5 a.m. private on ice coaching lessons, weightlifting, and playing whenever and wherever possible in order to help his son’s chances of becoming a pro. This would prove dangerous because Bobby would find himself playing against old teammates from New Jersey in National tournaments. With so many people beginning to put two and two together about this new family and their son- who was proving to be a hockey phenom- it was only a matter of time before the family’s secret was found out and his father was brought to justice. Shortly thereafter the F.B.I. would do just that when they stormed into the Ryan house while Bobby was seated on the couch in front of the TV. He saw his father being placed in handcuffs and taken away by a number of policemen dressed in swat gear with semi-automatic rifles in hand. Bobby and his mother did not let this stop his progress on the ice though: Melody then made it a point to scrape the money together by any means necessary to allow her son to play at the highest levels of hockey possible, working two or sometimes three jobs to make that happen. One of which was at the airport so that when Bobby’s team had to travel all over the country to play in games, she could get a discounted rate. His parents’ dedication to their son’s development on the ice would soon pay off though as he was chosen by the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. There, he excelled so much that he would eventually become the Anaheim Mighty Ducks’ 2005 NHL Entry Drafts 1st round pick (2nd overall). A draft in which his dad, freshly released from prison, would choose to ignore his parole officers’ orders to not leave the area and skipped the country heading to Canada to be there for his pride and joy on Bobby’s big day, an act that would land his father in home confinement for months after his return.
Since being drafted, Bobby’s career has seen its up and downs- much like his estranged relationship with his parents, but it has gotten better over the years and is still considered a work in progress today. The couple (his parents) are still together and now back home living in Cherry Hill once again.
Now, the point of me sharing that story was not to gain some sympathy for Bobby but rather to describe the type of hardships he was able to endure and overcome and the kind of adversity and drive that he possesses in order to help him sustain such a long and prolific career in the NHL thus far, which, as evidenced by his stats this year, would prove not to be over quite yet! Ryan currently finds himself with a team-leading 13 points and tied for his team’s lead in goals as well with 6. But that’s not all: Ryan has taken on more of a leadership role in Detroit as well by becoming a bit of a mentor to some of the team’s talented young stars. In fact, Ryan is showing such a resurgence to his career that he might be considered one of the hottest trade deadline commodities this spring. That’s why, if the Flyers are serious about making a push for Lord Stanley’s Cup, they might want to give Detroit a call to inquire what it might cost to obtain Ryan’s services for the rest of this year. Seeing that the Flyers would then be required to only have to pay but a fraction of his $1 million dollar salary by that point anyway, they should have little reason to not try and bring this Cherry Hill native back to the area where he first fell in love with the game of ice hockey while strengthening the team’s offensive depth at the same time.
Bobby Ryan would have to score 40 goals to offset our atrocious defense. Focus on the back line.