Junior hockey coach suspended for alleged creepy, 'inappropriate' texts, emails to player
Bernie Lynch, coach of the Fort Frances Lakers of the Superior International Junior Hockey League was recently suspended by the team due to inappropriate conduct with a player.
Lynch allegedly started out by pressuring one of his players to not go home for Christmas, and the player related it to concerns about COVID-19. However, he told CBC News that he quickly realized it was for another reason. The player, who requested confidentiality, had been playing for the team for two months under Lynch's coaching, and his opinion of the bench boss had changed mightily.
In the beginning, the player said the 66-year-old coach seemed like a super nice and knowledgeable guy, having 40 years of coaching experience under his belt. Lynch bought the player equipment and promised to help him advance his career. Then, the coach's whole attitude had changed. The coach allegedly complained about being lonely and depressed, and reportedly begged for the player to come to his apartment to spend more time with him.
"He would get mad if I didn't text him back right away. He would get mad even after games like, we'd end at nine or 10 and I'd want to go hang out with my teammates," said the 20-year-old player with the Fort Frances Lakers, who play out of Fort Frances, Ontario.
"He'd always be like, 'Why don't you just come hang out with me?' Like, 'We'll have fun and watch a movie,'" he said. "Kind of weird.»
Over the holidays, things only got worse, as Lynch began texting and emailing the player excessively with up to 50 messages a day.
Some of the texts he allegedly sent were just very weird and creepy.
"Please be careful...where are you guys going? Tell me...Call me when you get back...please," one of the texts read.
"You're busy, busy, busy on here, but you can't call me. Way to burn your bridgesI stayed up waiting for your call," another read, being sent in the middle of the night.
It was back on January 2, 2021 when Lynch was suspended without pay from his job coaching the Junior A club in the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL), after being sent a formal letter from the organization. He was also ordered to have no further contact with any players.
One text that particularly stood out to the player and his family is even worse than the first messages suggested earlier.
"The last thing I think of when I go to sleep at night and the first thing I think of when I wake up is you Always your friend and passionately missing you. Thank you and I love you," it read.
It is safe to say that Lynch will not be coaching for a very long time, if ever again. It would be hard to imagine any team taking a chance on him with these allegations against him.
Source: CBC News
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||