His father, an amateur boxer, ripped the door off the hinges and whaled away at the love of his life, causing her to bleed from her mouth and sending her to Cooper University Hospital in Camden for four days with four broken ribs, a fracture to her skull and a punctured lung. He didn’t hear his dad — insurance company owner Robert Stevenson — storm into the family home in Cherry Hill, drunk, looking for his mother, Melody. Robert Stevenson and his son changed their names and lived under assumed identities and the family lived on the lam. And what advice would Thompson give Ryan on getting to the point where he is now, more than three years into a journey without alcohol? All rights reserved. The couple inside the house on Merchant Street in Cherry Hill lives a simple life now. Fortunately, I have two people that put me in a position to be able to make it up to them.". Ryan told Thompson the plan, that Thursday night would play Tuesday in Nashville, then his first home game would be Thursday in Ottawa. By the end of the night, the Cherry Hill native, the first player to make the NHL out of South Jersey, was moved to tears on the bench as Senators fans chanted his name over and over. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. I’m saying what happened had positive changes for Bobby.". The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The kid rocketed up the youth rankings in Michigan and thrived in the Ontario Hockey League in Canada. For those who don’t know, Bobby’s childhood was effectively ended when he was just 10 years old. I felt for him last night because I’ve been in that situation,” Thompson said. Then one day in February 2000, Bobby Ryan was sleeping on a couch on the first floor of their home when his world changed again. "This guy can break a game open.". Awesome to see the fans chant his name and get behind him. A 6-foot-2, 210-pound forward with a blend of speed and power, Ryan has flourished in his first two seasons in the NHL. Subscribe to NJ.com ». "They were serious, so I only had to be told once: ‘You’re Bobby Ryan to anybody who asks. But I wouldn’t trade any of those things for where he ended up.". Last week Ryan told reporters in Ottawa that he feared facing them and making his journey public. "Through it all, I became more independent," Ryan says. While the father became a professional gambler, his son’s game on the ice flourished under an assumed identity. Suffice it to say, Bobby Ryan’s story is really like a movie come to life. No exceptions.’â". “We interviewed him, spent a lot of time with him, had our shrink talk to him. "I didn’t feel like I really had an identity," says the 22-year-old star of the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks. On the run, he combed parts of Canada and Alaska, looking for good junior hockey programs for his son. If you hide it, it’s more than likely going to come out at some point. In his second game since returning from the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program where he tackled an addiction with alcohol, he had a hat trick. "I couldn’t travel to Canada because the parole department wouldn’t permit me to. The man who had set in motion a new life for his family 3,000 miles from his crime had made one critical mistake: He used an old credit card to rent a movie at Blockbuster. To be able to go through what you’ve gone through and come out the other side and to succeed’ and how good of a career he’s had has been remarkable. Robert Stevenson was charged with attempted murder and five other felony counts. "It probably makes absolutely no sense to 95 percent of the people," he says. Great kid, who has come through a lot. As the 2005 NHL Draft approached, Bobby Ryan reached a crossroads. He took the right path.". Bob Stevenson became Shane Ryan, an alias created after watching the movie "Saving Private Ryan. "I’m not saying that what happened was good. His father, Bob Stevenson, assaulted his mother Melody on several occasions, forcing Melody and Bobby to flee from an abusive situation. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. Ryan was extradited to New Jersey, where he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and jumping bail. “It’s pretty cliché but you’ve just got to take it one day at a time.