Ryan Lomberg growing as hockey player, family man since making move to South Florida

Lomberg has established himself as an NHL regular while becoming a husband and father over the past several years

Players become fan favorites for plenty of reasons.

They score big goals, they fight a lot, they just seem to work harder than everyone else…there are any number of ways a hockey player can win over a fan’s heart.

When it comes to Ryan Lomberg, he’s a guy who checks all the boxes for the Florida Panthers.

He’s a fast, exciting player who always gives 110 percent and is never afraid to mix it up with opposing players.

He’s not what you’d consider a high-scoring forward, but Lomberg has racked 21 goals and 38 points in 137 games spanning the past two seasons, and he’s also got a pair of fairly large playoff tallies, one an overtime winner against Tampa Bay in 2021 and another coming in Florida’s Eastern Conference Final-clinching win over Carolina earlier this year.

When he first signed with Florida prior to the 2020 season, Panthers General Manager Bill Zito said he would be someone the fans would love.

As seems to be the care more often than not, Zito was right on the money.

Lomberg has since signed a second deal, keeping him with the Panthers through the end of the 2023-24 season.

To say it’s been an enjoyable experience for the Lomberg clan since relocating to South Florida would be an understatement.

Ryan proposed to his now-wife Melissa a year after he signed with the Panthers. The two welcomed their son Roman into the world in April of last year and are expecting a little girl in September.

“This is home for my family and I,” Lomberg said. “We’ve been welcomed with open arms, and we want to give back the love that we’ve been shown. It’s important for us to show the community what we’re all about, and we’re excited to give back.”

That’s exactly what Lomberg was doing on Monday when he read “Goodnight Hockey” by Michael Dahl to an excited group of youngsters at Dan Pearl Library in Sunrise on Monday, July 17 as part of the Panthers 2023 Summer Reading Tour.

“First time for me, so I’m looking forward to it,” Lomberg said of the book. “Maybe we can bring it home for my son.”

The kids, some wearing Lomberg jerseys, also got to take pictures and ask questions of Lomberg, who at times sat with his son Roman bouncing happily in his lap.

For those wondering, Roman’s favorite book is “The Hungry Caterpillar” and Lomberg laughed while admitting he’s read it so many times that he knows it by heart.

“That’s his book of chose right now,” he said.