Fansided

Boston Bruins: Bobby Robins Retires At 33.

By Andrew Thompson |

Bobby Robins announced his retirement from professional hockey today. Robins was one of those players that brought an incredible amount of snarl on the ice. He is also a man the brings a composed and sincere intelligence to life off the ice.

More from Bruins News

The 33-year old forward spent the majority of his career bouncing around the AHL and the ECHL.  During the 2011-12 season Robins came over to play in Providence. In all, he played 177 games for the Baby B’s in Providence. While Robins was not a prolific scorer(37 points, 11 goals), he had his own way of showing up on his team’s radar.

Robins was an enforcer, and a rather fantastic one at that.

During his three seasons he played in Providence, Robins spent an astonishing amount of time in the sin bin. Overall, Robins had chalked up seven hundred and eighty-seven minutes in penalties. That’s thirteen full games of sitting in the box. How did Robins earn so much time in the penalty box? I’ll leave it Dennis Leary to explain.

Bobby Robins is fearless, and he used that fearlessness and an inspired determination to make the Boston Bruins opening night roster last season. On October 8th of last year, the Boston Bruins were up against the Philadelphia Flyers. Robins and Chris Cunningham put Flyer(now Boston Bruin)Zac Rinaldo into the boards that forced Flyer forward Luke Schenn to respond. Their spirited battle led to Robins sustaining a concussion. Post-concussion issues soon took him out of the line up after playing only three games at the NHL level.

“After that first game, looking back, obviously I should have said something and sat out, but I would have literally played through anything at that point,” Robins told the Providence Journal. “I was almost in denial, thinking it would go away, and it never did.

“I’m pretty sure it happened in the fight with Schenn. I kind of felt like I got my bell rung or got dinged in the head — in my line of work it happens more often than not. That’s just kind of how I felt. I got right on the plane (after the game) and went to Detroit thinking it would go away in the morning, like it always had. Then that morning when I woke up in Detroit, it was still there. I was like, oh man, but I would have played right to the death.”

He spent the rest of the season off the ice due to post-concussion issues. Now that his symptoms are finally clearing up, Robins chose to remain healthy and move on to the next phase of his life.

“Hockey is what I know. It’s what I do. But after getting my head banged up like that, it was — no pun intended — a no-brainer for me,” said Robins on his choosing to retire. “I couldn’t do it anymore. After the lowest points that I experienced, to where I am now, where I feel like myself again, there was no way I was ever going to risk getting hit in the head again or going through that again.’’

While Robins earned himself a reputation in hockey for his fists and his grit, there was a side to him that a lot of people didn’t get to see. I was introduced to his blog by a fellow writer, and found myself surprised and impressed by the intelligence and sincerity of his work. (He had me at ‘misfit harbinger’.) He’s a thoughtful and polite individual in person.  He always had time for the fans, and regularly communicated with them via social media. He was one of the most approachable players, and always took a few extra seconds out of his day to make the fans smile.

Robins is one of the most complex hockey players I’ve ever met.  Robins was a ferocious gladiator on the ice and is a thoughtful and introspective gentleman of letters off it.  I look forward to what he’ll show us in the next chapter.

More from Causeway Crowd

Home / Bruins News