Bobby Lynch: Perseverance Through It All

IceHogs forward Bobby Lynch has been a nice addition to Rockford’s roster this season, but if you looked at his play on the ice, you would never realize a freak injury in 2016 almost cost him his entire hockey career.

In June of 2016, Lynch was at a high school graduation party when he and a buddy were just having a good time playing bubble soccer. Suddenly, a wrong move caused Bobby to completely fracture his femur.

“If you took a baseball bat or a three-inch stick and just cracked it over a tree... next thing I know I’m laying on the ground and one leg is straight and the other is bent but laying open,” Lynch said.

From there Bobby was rushed to the hospital where he would undergo surgery. With a break this major it wasn’t even a question of if he would play hockey again but rather a question of if or when he would even walk again.

“I could probably count on one hand how many times I’ve cried in my life and two of them were that night,” Lynch said. “I remember bawling that night for not knowing if I was going to be able to play hockey again and all of the emotions of breaking your leg.”

It was then that it hit Bobby just how long the road ahead of him was going to be. But, he knew there was no way his time playing hockey was over.

“If anything, it was more me thinking what am I going to do if I don’t play hockey? That was probably scarier than anything else.”

Bobby made it through surgery and rehab and was back on the ice skating in October, just months after the injury, although it was a very challenging year for him. When the injury happened, he had to pivot and, instead of signing with Quebec of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, he stayed in the same league but played for Drummondville instead.

Despite a challenging first year Bobby went on to have a successful career in juniors and still achieve his lifelong dream of playing professional hockey. The route was just different than what he originally had in mind.

“I’d say my dad and I are big believers in ‘everything happens for a reason,’ so I was supposed to go on one path for junior hockey, and then I broke my leg, and I had to go on a different path,” Lynch said. “Everything happens for a reason because now I’ve worked my way, and I’ve kept grinding and working hard, and I’m playing pro hockey now.

“We kind of look at it on a daily basis where if I’m upset with a game or how certain plays went… it could be anything like ice time or winning or losing or getting invites to certain camps or not. Everything happens for a reason. Just the path that you go, you have to take advantage of that path.”

At just 24 years old, Bobby still has a very bright future ahead of him and a lot more to accomplish in this life.

“I had to learn how to walk again,” he said, “I had to learn how to skate again, so I guess sometimes you think about how far you’ve come, but there’s always another step, and hopefully I will get there soon.”