Former Bruins journeyman cuts NHL career short after severe concussion
No one can say Bobby Robins didn't give his NHL career a fair chance.
A long-time AHLer, Robins finally made his first NHL roster last fall with the Bruins at age 32. But he suffered a concussion from a blow to the head in his NHL debut, and while Robins was willing to take a chance on himself by devoting a decade of his life to making the NHL, the forward is not willing to take any risks with his health.
The 33-year-old announced Wednesday that he will retire due to the head injury.
"After getting my head banged up like that, it was -- no pun intended -- a no-brainer for me,’’ Robins told the Providence Journal. "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."
Robins said he suffered all last year with headaches, vision problems and disorientation due to post-concussion syndrome. He has a wife and daughter, and he told the Journal he has plenty of off-ice ventures to pursue now that he chose to move on from hockey.
Robins is lucky to have an education to fall back on; he graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell with a degree in English and he blogs on BobbyRobins.com. He told the Providence Journal that he is not certain what he will do next, but he does know all about what hard work and following his dreams can do for him.
"I made it to the NHL. I proved it to myself," Robins told the Journal. "That mentality is not going to change just because I’m not playing hockey anymore. The energy and passion that I played with all these years, if I attack (life after hockey) with that same mentality, good things are going to happen."
(h/t Providence Journal)
