Connor Hobbs returned to Saskatchewan to deal with addiction

When Connor Hobbs needed help, he chose to come home to get his life back on track.

Hobbs was a star for the Regina Pats during his three WHL seasons, recording 142 points in 158 games.

Then, the Regina-born defenceman made the transition to the pro ranks as a fifth-round draft pick of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. But his three years with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, were riddled with injuries and addiction, leading him to retire from pro hockey in 2020 at just 23 years old.

He played in 119 games over three seasons with Hershey, recording 36 points.

“I really didn’t grow up until I was 23 years old. I was a child going off to play pro sports is what it was,” Hobbs told the Green Zone on Thursday.

“It’s difficult. You have your billet and stuff in junior and it can be a good thing. When you go off and play pro and you’re just expected to figure it out … I wasn’t ready for it and I know there are lots of guys who go into it with the same issues and it’s tough.

“I had a lot of resentment in me. Some are very irrational. I was very immature and I wanted to play the victim card and all this stuff. I hadn’t really looked at what I wasn’t doing to help myself. It took coming home and going out on my own in terms of getting a job and taking care of myself to realize it’s a big world out there, and if you don’t take care of yourself, it’s going to come back to bite you.”

In order to help him on the road to recovery, Hobbs elected to come home to Saskatchewan to be around family and friends.

“It was a hard choice to make,” Hobbs said. “It was something that I had thought about for quite some time, probably about a year and a bit.

“I’m extremely happy that I’m back home and have a bit of direction in my life and going to university to earn a degree. Making that choice to come home was a way for me to grow up on my own and do something meaningful and go to school. I hadn’t opened a book since I was 17 and it has been a change.

“It’s incredible. Being close to my family and people that care about me is huge for my clean way of living now, just being able to rely on the people around me and not be so darn far away. It’s been a big change in a good way. It allowed me to get healthy and heal. As a recovering addict, it’s not like life’s perfect — nobody’s perfect – but I can definitely look at things with a clear mind.

“The good thing is I’m able to share that with my family and even the Christmas holidays were really special. It was the first one clean in as long as I remember.”

Hobbs now is playing hockey as a member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, but his aspirations are no longer just on the ice.

He is currently working towards getting an education degree to become a teacher.

“I found that out my time in junior and in Hershey doing community stuff, I always enjoyed being around kids,” Hobbs said. “I have a real passion for history; that’s what I plan to major in. I have a lot of teachers in my family and it’s something that I can do well and I just want to help young people.

“When I was in high school, I didn’t make the best calls and maybe there’s a way that I can help somebody who has a chance to not go through the same thing I did.”

And helping people is why he’s choosing to share his story and how he’s been able to get his life back on track.

“Maybe there’s a chance that someone is listening who feels alone and feels scared and doesn’t know that there is another way to live and to go through life. I didn’t know that there was. It just took reaching out to someone and asking for help. Maybe someone listening can hear that and it doesn’t matter how old or young you are,” Hobbs said.