Hynes Remembers Life, Legacy of Former Teammate Travis Roy

Just about everyone in the hockey world is at least somewhat familiar with Travis Roy's story, but John Hynes knows it better than most.
Now the head coach of the Predators, Hynes was there inside Walter Brown Arena on that opening night in October of 1995 for the Boston University Terriers game against the University of North Dakota. Hynes watched as his teammate, a freshman from Maine, went headfirst into the boards just 11 seconds into his first shift.
The accident left Roy paralyzed, a young man with so much potential taken away in an instant - or, at least that's how it seemed.

Because for the next 25 years, all the way up until his death last month at the age of 45, Roy traveled the continent telling his story, inspiring hockey players young and old, and so many others beyond the sport.
One of those stops took him to Nashville in 2016 as Roy spoke during Predators Development camp, a group that included defenseman Dante Fabbro and Preds Assistant General Manager - and another one of Roy's teammates at BU - Jeff Kealty.

Hynes took time recently to reflect on Roy's life and the legacy he now leaves after inspiring countless individuals during his stay here on earth.
"Having the opportunity to know him, and looking back on his life, the word 'inspirational' really is what comes to mind," Hynes told NHL Network. "[The accident] brought all of us together, and I think taught everyone, including Travis, a lot of things about life lessons. To watch what he had gone through and the way that he had gone about his life, moving on from being a hockey player to dealing with all the issues and having his dream basically come to an end; to see how he handled that, to spread the message, to raise money for his foundation and the amount of speeches and things that he had given to hockey teams, to youth groups, to high schools was truly an inspirational story for all of us of how to take a real tough situation and turn it into a positive."
Hynes continued to follow Roy's work over the years with the Travis Roy Foundation to raise money and find a cure for spinal cord injury survivors. As Hynes advanced through the coaching ranks, and now in the NHL, he thinks of his former teammate often and what he can still take from the lessons learned during his time at BU.

"He had something taken away from him that he loved, which was hockey, but he also found a way to help people, and it was no longer about him," Hynes said. "He found his new way of having success helping people, and he's one of the true inspirations in my life."
Now that Roy is gone, Hynes, Kealty, Fabbro and anyone else who has had the privilege to hear his story will never forget the impact he had and the message he carried. He may have been confined to a wheelchair, but Roy instantly became the most uplifting figure every time he entered the room thanks to his outlook on life.
That quality is one of the things Hynes will remember most.
"When you saw Travis and how he went about his business, there was no bitterness," Hynes said. "He really came to grips with what had gone on in his life, and he was going to try to make the most of it. I think it's so powerful, the way that he was able to handle himself and how he expressed himself… Every time you go through and you think about Travis, you kind of even think about, 'What would I be like if this happened to me?' To see the sincerity that he wanted for his foundation and to get his message across, it was really from the heart. It was really sincere, and there was no bitterness. You could tell his purpose was to try to help people."