The dark side of Hockey

[Otto-matic]

http://marchhockey.com/2014/09/16/th...ever-think-of/

Hockey is a tough sport. It’s one of the toughest sports (arguably the toughest) out there physically. Everyone can see that. Nobody ever thinks of how the sport can affect your brain. I’m not just talking about the fights where getting popped in the head a few times a night can obviously do damage. I’m talking about the hundreds of ups and downs one goes through their career. Not only on them but on their families as well.
Not everything in life is sunshine and rainbows especially in this sport. Don’t get me wrong, there has been progress made. Gone are the days of partying hard with the boys, breaking curfew and showing up to the ice still hammered. Instead we’ve replaced it for the most part with rigorous training schedules, perfect diets, and the always on the go lifestyle.

Interesting read for hockey parents.

[Poe969]

Playing professional hockey is still a job. You have to be at work every day, you have to meet certain standards and you have to be held accountable. Players have hard lives but they get paid extremely well for it. The people who think they're going to make millions of dollars and do whatever they want whenever they want need to look at things more realistically.

[A Shot Wide]

Fact of the matter is in order to be successful in your passions you have to be dedicated. As the sport grows and becomes more popular, the potential earnings rise as well. These players get to live out their passions while being paid quite well. I doubt the players are complaining about becoming the best they can be at what they've spent their whole lives doing; they love the game.

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Playing professional hockey is still a job. You have to be at work every day, you have to meet certain standards and you have to be held accountable. Players have hard lives but they get paid extremely well for it. The people who think they're going to make millions of dollars and do whatever they want whenever they want need to look at things more realistically.

You also have to consider those who put in a similar amount of time, effort and risk to make it to the professional level but fall short of that. They do not get that big pay day and may suffer life-changing injuries.

Ultimately, though, I agree with your statement. Hockey is a job. A job that a lot of people would love to have. And like many jobs it comes with some risks that a lot of people would argue are worth the potential reward.

[Poe969]

The journey of making it to the NHL is much like going to school to become a professional of any sorts. There is no guarantee that you'll make it. There are countless examples of people who go to medical school and don't finish for some reason. Or people who go to school for something and graduate only to take a job in another field because there aren't jobs available. Life is full of risks, banking on becoming an NHL player is a much bigger risk than most but people know that.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Poe969

The journey of making it to the NHL is much like going to school to become a professional of any sorts. There is no guarantee that you'll make it. There are countless examples of people who go to medical school and don't finish for some reason. Or people who go to school for something and graduate only to take a job in another field because there aren't jobs available. Life is full of risks, banking on becoming an NHL player is a much bigger risk than most but people know that.

Kinda. Having a degree in any field is a real asset to a job hunter. An education opens so many more doors, one who wants to pursue a career as an accountant may not end up as a CPA but can have many other opprtunitties along the way and many doors open outside of a CPA. Should you wish to play in the NHL, the only fall back is moving to Europe to play, or using the notoriety in your home town, or to land a sales/ promotions job. Being a broken down 23 yr old former junior hockey star does not provide the same opprotunitties as a 23yr old University graduate, even if your major is Political Science.
Given where we live many, just like any young single guy end up in the oilfield, so with that to fall back on the risk is different, but AB and SK would be the exceptions. "...****ing Chrysler plant, here I come."

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Kinda. Having a degree in any field is a real asset to a job hunter. An education opens so many more doors, one who wants to pursue a career as an accountant may not end up as a CPA but can have many other opprtunitties along the way and many doors open outside of a CPA. Should you wish to play in the NHL, the only fall back is moving to Europe to play, or using the notoriety in your home town, or to land a sales/ promotions job. Being a broken down 23 yr old former junior hockey star does not provide the same opprotunitties as a 23yr old University graduate, even if your major is Political Science.
Given where we live many, just like any young single guy end up in the oilfield, so with that to fall back on the risk is different, but AB and SK would be the exceptions. "...****ing Chrysler plant, here I come."

Agreed, but the school/hockey choice isn't mutually exclusive. Hockey can open doors and provide many life lessons to its participants. I never understood parents who actually thought their kid was going to make it to the show, when the odds are so slim. I will encourage my son to love the game, but not ever think that it is a likely career.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Poe969

The journey of making it to the NHL is much like going to school to become a professional of any sorts. There is no guarantee that you'll make it. There are countless examples of people who go to medical school and don't finish for some reason. Or people who go to school for something and graduate only to take a job in another field because there aren't jobs available. Life is full of risks, banking on becoming an NHL player is a much bigger risk than most but people know that.

The comparison would only be valid if the U of C graduated only two medical students a year, and the other couple hundred students ended up with absolutely nothing to show for their work - no degree of any kind.

Only a tiny fraction of prospective NHLers make it. And the rest are left with virtually nothing to show for their thousands of hours of dedication. And given the enormous opportunity costs, they're actually further behind some schmuck who drifted through high school and college and got a random diploma from Mount Royal College.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Kinda. Having a degree in any field is a real asset to a job hunter. An education opens so many more doors, one who wants to pursue a career as an accountant may not end up as a CPA but can have many other opprtunitties along the way and many doors open outside of a CPA. Should you wish to play in the NHL, the only fall back is moving to Europe to play, or using the notoriety in your home town, or to land a sales/ promotions job. Being a broken down 23 yr old former junior hockey star does not provide the same opprotunitties as a 23yr old University graduate, even if your major is Political Science.
Given where we live many, just like any young single guy end up in the oilfield, so with that to fall back on the risk is different, but AB and SK would be the exceptions. "...****ing Chrysler plant, here I come."

Imagine that. 23 years old, and not being set for life.

I mean, is there even a point in getting a job when you're that old?

May as well just wait for your pension to kick in.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Kinda. Having a degree in any field is a real asset to a job hunter. An education opens so many more doors, one who wants to pursue a career as an accountant may not end up as a CPA but can have many other opprtunitties along the way and many doors open outside of a CPA. Should you wish to play in the NHL, the only fall back is moving to Europe to play, or using the notoriety in your home town, or to land a sales/ promotions job. Being a broken down 23 yr old former junior hockey star does not provide the same opprotunitties as a 23yr old University graduate, even if your major is Political Science.
Given where we live many, just like any young single guy end up in the oilfield, so with that to fall back on the risk is different, but AB and SK would be the exceptions. "...****ing Chrysler plant, here I come."

Pretty sure you can still go to University at 23, if you want.

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The comparison would only be valid if the U of C graduated only two medical students a year, and the other couple hundred students ended up with absolutely nothing to show for their work - no degree of any kind.



Only a tiny fraction of prospective NHLers make it. And the rest are left with virtually nothing to show for their thousands of hours of dedication. And given the enormous opportunity costs, they're actually further behind some schmuck who drifted through high school and college and got a random diploma from Mount Royal College.

Except that players that don't quite make it have the experience necessary to be a great employee for so many fields of work. Years of showing dedication, hard work and experience working in a team. Plus so many options now give you chances to use your hockey to get a degree, even if it's a random diploma from MRU.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Kinda. Having a degree in any field is a real asset to a job hunter. An education opens so many more doors, one who wants to pursue a career as an accountant may not end up as a CPA but can have many other opprtunitties along the way and many doors open outside of a CPA. Should you wish to play in the NHL, the only fall back is moving to Europe to play, or using the notoriety in your home town, or to land a sales/ promotions job. Being a broken down 23 yr old former junior hockey star does not provide the same opprotunitties as a 23yr old University graduate, even if your major is Political Science.
Given where we live many, just like any young single guy end up in the oilfield, so with that to fall back on the risk is different, but AB and SK would be the exceptions. "...****ing Chrysler plant, here I come."

Also, it sure would suck to have to move to Switzerland and work for a lousy 90K to 600K Euros. Probably a lot better off with a Political Science degree and 50K in student loans.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Also, it sure would suck to have to move to Switzerland and work for a lousy 90K to 600K Euros. Probably a lot better off with a Political Science degree and 50K in student loans.

Well the fall back plan is bascially as impossible as making the NHL. I never really felt bad for junior players players untill I read Terry Ryans book.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Well the fall back plan is bascially as impossible as making the NHL. I never really felt bad for junior players players untill I read Terry Ryans book.

Well then they can go to school at that point. They are only 20 when their junior careers end, there is absolutely nothing stopping them from going to university at that point. Or technical school or any of the other things that people who are 20 do. I don't see any downside to playing junior hockey. Worst case scenario you have to retake some high school courses to get your marks up. If you can't do that, you never would have got into university anyway, even if you didn't play a minute of organized sports.

[Flashpoint]

You can go to school whenever you want. What's the problem?

[indes]

Most people don't get started in their careers or even education before 20...

[Northendzone]

interesting article for sure. can't really say that there is anything overly shocking written.

i guess to some extent one would hope that a players family keeps him grounded, but the reality is that it is not easy being any type of professional athlete. These young men are miles away from thier homes, families and friends - temptations around them all of the time, people who want to suck them dry.......not a pleasent picture for parents

to me the toughest decision good young players need to make it tryout for a CHL team and risk the possibility of an NCAA scholarship. go the CHL route and then get settled in a town with a billet family, and then a school - and then bam get traded to anotehr city, town, province or country and then try and start to fit in socially and academically all over again.

As for going to school, could be a tough for some players who took the easiest possible route in high school,or perhaps did not finish. And then there is the scholarship that the CHL offers - it is my understanding that thee is a timelimit on when you can start using those. If you spend a couple of years in Europe trying to make a hockey career - your CHL scholarship may expire - if this is correct then what?

all that being said, getting paid to play (regardless of the level, NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL etc) is not easy. those that do represent a very small portion of your peer group (1% o less?) - and no matter what you choose to do for work, it is not easy to rise to the top 1.0% of your peer group