Detroit Red Wings forward Bobby Ryan has been through a lot in the past year.
He took a leave of absence from the Ottawa Senators last season in order to deal with personal issues stemming from alcohol abuse. But he completed his recovery, and scored a hat trick for good measure with Ottawa in his first game back. He was later awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance.
Now he’s a member of the Motor City, and he made the most of his debut tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. He buried a pass from Filip Zadina past goaltender Petr Mrazek for his 255th career goal, and first as a member of the Red Wings.
He joined John Keating and Larry Murphy of Fox Sports Detorit for a post-game interview, and was asked off the bat what scoring in his Red Wings debut meant to him.
“A ton,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to get, I missed the most important week of camp and wasn’t sure how the pace would affect me, but I settled in quickly and, to put us up one and get us going in the right direction, I’ll take what I can get. It was a great pass, great forecheck by (Robby Fabbri) Fabbs, and I’ll take that.”
Of course, Fabbri missed a portion of training camp and was seen with an orange non-contact jersey during team skates at the training facility. He didn’t play in Thursday night’s opener, but made his debut with Detroit tonight.
“I felt better as I got into it,” he said. “It was almost helter-skelter in the 1st period for me, trying to overdo things and then I settled down and started to make some plays.”
Ryan had different options to continue his NHL career after parting ways with the Senators. So why did he elect to come to Detroit? He had a simple answer – a name.
“Steve Yzerman,” he answered emphatically. “The passion in the conversation him and I had about coming in, and him realizing that I had something to prove after being out for some time of my own accord last year. I wanted to prove I could still play in someone’s top 6. He’s given me that opportunity and I have to earn it every day, and I intend to.”
We’re thrilled for Bobby’s personal successes, and hope that his on-ice success continues with the Red Wings!
– – Quotes via Fox Sports Detroit Link – –
Mixed-up Fabbri with Zadina who stole the puck and fed Ryan and then mixed-up Fabbri and Ryan on who missed time.