11-17-2012: Bobby Robins lights the lamp against the Portland Pirates (Photo Courtesy: Ron Morin/Ron’s Sports Photography)
Everyone has a dream when they are a kid of what they want to be when they grow up. For Bobby Robins, much like any other hockey player, his dream is to play in the NHL. However, that’s not all Robins aspires to be. His goal is to one day become a famous writer. Yes you read that right, a writer.
Robins graduated from UMass Lowell with a degree in English, the only player on his Division-I team to do so.
"” I decided that I would study English because that is what I was genuinely interested in. I had been writing my whole life. It seemed only natural to study it in college. ” (via Bobby Robins Blog)"
He goes on to explain in his ‘About Me’ section on his blog that it was the passionate English Department that helped mold him into the writer he has become and is becoming. While writing may be a goal, his dream of playing in the NHL still remains.
Since coming into this wonderful world of hockey that we have all come to love, he has been on an up and down roller coaster from AHL to NHL appearances to playing overseas in Europe, which helped him to discover many things about himself and what he was willing to do to chase his dream.
While you can type in Robins name in any search bar and come up with his season statistics and where he has played, you don’t know the journey and struggle he was dealing with personally through that time. An inner struggle that had him questioning himself and his dream of playing in the NHL.
"“Now for the first time at age 28, I didn’t know if I wanted to play any more. I didn’t like who I had become.” (via Bobby Robins Blog)"
They also don’t tell you about his addiction to chewing tobacco, an addiction that ruled his life since his teenage years.
It wouldn’t be until May of 2010, 11 years later, that a Cancer scare would cause him to change his lifestyle.
"“I’ll quit, I’ll quit right now.” I said aloud, staring into my own mirrored reflection. “I’ll never touch that crap again, just please, please, let me be ok.” Robins remembers."
It was the scare that changed his life forever, he decided to quit his addiction then and there, withstanding a grueling 72 hours before the nicotine was out of his system. A plethora of emotions washing over him from sadness to depression to deprivation and exhaustion.
When Robins finally got his second chance, he began to do things he never thought possible. He began working out daily and trained with a boxer for a while, all the while fighting for his position. He was able to say that he had fought his way back into the League literally and figuratively and found himself embarking on his childhood dream once more.
In December of last year he would get his second chance as he was called up to the Providence Bruins. In his first game suiting up for the Bruins he recalls feeling the difference in himself and how he could see the season pan out for himself, an unusual feeling for guys called up to the American League as they don’t usually stay longer than a couple of games. He was lined up against a player whom he mirrored his play after, a guy he compared himself to. A guy known as Ryan Hollweg. It would be Hollweg that would break Robins in as they danced around the ice on Robins’ first shift in his first game with Providence. It was the 28th day of December that the fans of Providence would know the name Bobby Robins and after appearing in 15 games he would be signed.
Since then Robins has posted 4 goals, 11 assists and tallied over 200 penalty minutes in 44 games played.
While he may appear to be your typical enforcer on the ice, he’s got a much bigger story to tell. A story which he chronicles on his self-titled blog and takes you on his journey. A journey of second chances and redemption.
You can follow Bobby Robins on his AHL journey by reading his blog and following him on twitter.