Compelling read into the struggles of minor pro leagues and what players go through. The week to week pay cheque was something I wasn't aware of. That would make the most grounded of us anxious.
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It’s about a kid who loved hockey so much that he forgot to love himself. And what it feels like to want nothing more than to do all you can to break into the NHL and make your childhood dream come true … while at the same time knowing that you’re not well. That something is very wrong. But that if you tell someone, or let it be known that you’re struggling, you may never play professional hockey again.
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https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en...310/a278ba4a40
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In short: Minor league hockey is very different from the NHL.
With most professional leagues in North America — everything below the NHL and AHL — your salary is negotiated as a weekly amount that includes health care coverage and housing costs. You make $450 a week, or $1,000, or whatever it is … basically whatever the team that signed you is willing to pay.
For me, that meant earning $500 a week. Pre-tax. Before agent fees and union dues are deducted. So, take-home, it was more like $395.
And, look, that’s not me complaining about the money. People like me … we choose this path. Most of us would play for free because we love this game so much. So we understand. You’re not going to get rich playing minor league hockey. We get that.
What’s more distressing, though, is the week-to-week part of things. Literally everything about your livelihood in the low minors is week-to-week, including your ability to see a doctor and whether you have a place to live. The way contracts are structured means that at any given moment, with no warning, a player can be waived and have nothing. NHL or AHL players report to the team’s lower-level affiliate when they get sent down, but guys in the ECHL and SPHL? We just get cut and … go away
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The article is extremely well written and very much worth the time to get through it.
I hope all CPs aren't struggling with some of the things Ben went through. I have no personal experience with it but if you do, please have the strength he did to talk to someone.