Former Ice Bear Lynch passes away

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the second time in less than a month, the SPHL and the hockey world are mourning the death of a former player.
Paul Lynch, 28, who played for the Columbus Cottonmouths and most recently the Knoxville Ice Bears, was found dead early Monday morning in Knoxville. The cause of death was not known as of Monday night.
Lynch was probably best known for being a part of the Ice Bears’ 2007-08 President’s Cup championship team, the first of back-to-back titles for Knoxville.
“On behalf of the ownership, management, staff and players of the Knoxville Ice Bears, we are all deeply saddened by the loss of Paul Lynch,” Knoxville President/General Manager Mike Murray said in a team release. “Paul was a valuable part of the Ice Bears 2008 SPHL championship team. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and the entire Lynch family.”
Born in Salem, Mass. and raised in nearby Peabody, Lynch played prep school hockey at the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass. before heading to play for the Valley Junior Warriors of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, where he was named an All-Star in 2000. It was also the year that he was awarded the Top Defenseman award at the Hockey Night In Boston summer tournament.
In 2001, Lynch was drafted in the fifth round (138 overall) of the NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning but chose to play collegiate hockey. His college career began in Orono, Maine at the University of Maine where he played in 32 games over two seasons (2001-2003) and posted a modest two goals and six assists. During the summer of 2003, Lynch transferred to the University of Massachusetts where he sat out a season before hitting the ice for the Minutemen.
The pull of the pro game drew Lynch to leave UMass and landed him in the ECHL with the Johnstown Chiefs. It would be the start of a nomadic year which saw him go from Johnstown to the Charlotte Checkers and eventually the Louisiana IceGators.
Personal problems detoured his career in 2005, keeping him away from the ice for two years. It caused him to reevaluate his life choices and strengthened his relationships with his parents and sister, whom he credited with standing by him in his hour of need.
“If it wasn’t for my dad Paul Sr. and sister Shannon, I don’t know where I’d be now. Only God knows what would have happened to me without their support,” Lynch told The Salem News’ Bill Kipouras in a 2008 interview. “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.”
In 2007 Lynch began his return, trying out for the Kalamazoo K-Wings of the IHL. Although he had the skill sets to play, the K-Wings cut him because he was not in the playing shape they required. He caught on with the Cottonmouths, playing in two games before once again being released. Some of the guys he had met in Kalamazoo suggested that he call Scott Hillman in Knoxville. After doing some checking, Hillman brought Lynch in and he immediately made an impact. He put up 19 points in 46 regular season games with the Ice Bears and provided a defensive backbone for the championship run in the playoffs.
He spent most of the 2008-09 season back in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones, playing in 30 games. He returned to Knoxville in 2009-10, getting into eight games for the Ice Bears before being released. Following the short stint, he retired from playing.
Needless to say, many of the Ice Bears’ players and staff were stunned when the news reached them.
“It’s just a horrible, horrible event,” Ice Bears coach and former teammate Mike Craigen told the Knoxville News Sentinel hours after the news hit. “I don’t even know what to say. It’s just one of those things you can never prepare for, and obviously a teammate of mine, and guys on this team played with him as (recently) as last season when he was here, so he’s still very much a part of things.”
Kevin Swider, Knoxville’s director of hockey operations, played with Lynch during both of him stints with the Ice Bears. He told the News Sentinel that he learned of Lynch’s passing while heading to work at the Knoxville Civic Center.
“Anytime a guy’s your teammate, once a teammate, always a teammate,” Swider said. “It’s tough because the hockey community is pretty small and everyone seems to know each other in hockey. It’s just very unfortunate what happened.”
During the team’s 10 a.m. practice, Murray went to the rink and told Craigen that Lynch had died. Craigen told the team after practice in the locker room.
“It was very solemn in the room. A lot of guys didn’t know how to react. It was tough because we have so many new guys who don’t know who Paul Lynch was, but then you have a sprinkling of guys who knew Paul Lynch,” Craigen said. “It was very, very quiet, a very somber mood, and the best we can do is to move forward and just try to do honor to Paul and his career by moving forward and playing good hard hockey, and try to do what he would of done.”
Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in the next few days. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com