By Bill Kipouras
Staff writer
Tue, May 13 2008 Paul Lynch, Jr. of Peabody let a lot of people down. Mostly himself. It took a proposed jail term and six months at the Dedham House of Correction to clear his head about the evil of drugs and what they had done to almost ruin his life. Cocaine and OxyContin ("and whatever" he added) were some of his addictions. He spent two terms in Dedham — serving a month, violating his probation, and returning for five more months. He made The Salem News police log for distributing drugs on more than one occasion. He'll tell you how embarrassing it is to read that you've been arrested. "It's not something to be proud of," he allowed. Nowadays, the 26-year-old Lynch says he's clean and has been for almost two years. He has resurrected his life — and his hockey career as well. Once upon a time, he was a University of Maine Black Bear. Now he's a member of the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The 6-foot-3 defenseman has scored a goal and picked up 18 assists, has a plus/minus rating of plus-15, and a telling 130 minutes in penalties over 47 games. "Paul can muscle the puck out of the corner. He's very solid in our zone and has a heavy shot. He's been a great fit us," said Knoxville head coach Scott Hillman. "In any key situation, he's out there. We didn't bring him in to be a fighter, but he gets into tussles and does very well for himself." Lynch is the first to admit he had a lot of help from his family to get to the point he's at now in his life. "If it wasn't for my dad (Paul) and sister (Shannon), I don't know where I'd be now," Lynch admitted. "Only God knows what would have happened to me without their support. I wouldn't have been able to turn things around without them. "The love of my father and my love for my late mother (Peggy) were my inspiration. I had the greatest mother a hockey kid could have. I have her initials (MEL) at the tops my sticks." Lynch had been out hockey for two years as a result of his drug problems. Previously, he had spent one pro season with three different clubs in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) before getting shut down. He is also on probation for four years after averting a three-year jail term. He got a break in life with that reduced sentence — and ran with it. "Hockey has been my whole life. But I started fooling with stuff (drugs) my junior year at UMass Amherst," Lynch said. "It started slowly and everything spiraled out of control after that. I wasn't playing hockey and got caught up in doing what I was doing. "It wasn't until I had a severe consequence — Dedham and possibly three years in jail — that made me realize I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in that environment." Lynch said he never wants to see his name in the papers again, unless it relates to a hockey highlight. He had been treated at several rehabilitation facilities: the CAB Health and Recovery in Peabody and the St. Elizabeth's Detox Center in Cambridge. A Brooks School graduate, Lynch laughed when asked if he had reinvented himself. "It couldn't have worked out better," he admitted. "I'm back with my father, but I also had to get away from Peabody. Getting away to play hockey was my best situation. I loosened up and hockey gave me that opportunity." Inspired to play again, Lynch wrote some minor league teams in late summer hoping for the chance to catch on. He had a tryout with the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Wings of the International Hockey League, where they felt he had the tools, but was cut after the team felt he needed to be in better shape. He landed briefly with the Columbus (Ga.) Cottonmouths of the SPHL, playing two games there before being cut again. "They were a sixth place team and I couldn't play there," Lynch said of Columbus, "but I can play for first place Knoxville (32-16-4). We won the regular season league championship; now we've got the playoffs and we're up against Columbus (tomorrow) night." Some pals that Lynch made during his brief time in Kalamazoo gave him the heads-up on openings in Knoxville, which was desperate for help on the blue line. "I saw on the waiver wire that Columbus had released Paul and looked at his background: Maine and UMass," Hillman said of Lynch. "I had a buddy, Jack Rodrigue, who played with (St. Louis Blues star) Paul Kariya on one of those great teams at Maine. Jack called a Maine coach who said Paul had strong skills, a big body, and likes to play physical. "So we brought him in, and Paul really made an instant impact. We were struggling on defense and were young. We also knew he was a pretty high (5th round) draft pick by Tampa Bay. Obviously, he had something to offer for that type of recognition." The Ice Bears draw 4,000-plus fans per game. "Thank God I've put it all behind me," Lynch said, relating to his drub abuse. "I didn't let it ruin my life." He has not spoken to any clinics about his tales of woe, but this summer will look into it when he gets back to Peabody and hopefully can warn others to avoid similar pratfalls. Lynch has won the biggest fight of his life in his two years out of hockey.
Lynch's season stats Team GP G A Pts. +/- PIM Columbus Cottonmouths 2 0 0 0 0 9 Knoxville Ice Bears 46 1 18 19 +15 121 TOTALS 48 1 18 19 +15 130
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