The National Hockey League Players' Association is finalizing plans on a watershed program to help current players return to school and prepare them for a multitude of issues they will face in transitioning from playing careers to retirement.
The program was conceived several years ago and will be unveiled at a time when the union is facing criticism from both current and former players about whether more can be done to help players cope with the stress of leaving hockey.
In April - two months after former Chicago Blackhawk Steve Montador was found dead in his home at age 35 - his one-time teammate Daniel Carcillo said in an online video that the NHLPA hasn't done enough to help its members move on with life. NHLPA executive Mathieu Schneider said that criticism is deserved, adding that a new program may mark a turning point.
TSN has learned that for the past two years, Schneider and his colleagues have been quietly researching professional sports leagues around the world, consulting with sports industry executives as far away as in New Zealand about programs that help active professional athletes improve levels of education and prepare for post-playing careers.
The personal development program will see players receive counseling about personal relationships and parenting, and be given the opportunity to shadow executives in industries such as finance.
The NHL and NHLPA have each pledged close to $1.5 million over the next three years to the pilot project, though it's unclear how much of the collective $3 million will go to pay for tuition and other fees at colleges, universities and trade schools.
The NHLPA hopes to begin the ambitious program this fall with at least 60 active players, two from each NHL club. The union envisions players using their downtime, like the many hours spent in hotel rooms between games, to study for online or correspondence courses.
In time, the NHLPA wants to expand the program to include retired NHL players.
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I think it's crazy that a program like this doesn't exist.
Most decent players (not even going to talk about the fringe guys) only have maybe 4-6 years of playing at the top of their game at which point lots of them seem to fall out of the NHL. Sure, they may have made some decent coin in that time and it could be enough to live off of if it was managed properly, but how many kids in their 20's can manage millions of dollars in a way that will set them up for life?
They come out of the league with expensive tastes and quality of life, no education or skills and a dwindling reserve of cash. That's a pretty bad recipe. Most of these guys barely have a high school education.
Sorry if I sound insensitive, but I have a couple of issues with this and none being the overall spirit of the program...
First off, is this designed for the players who make tons of money and are.. In less words, stupid with their money?
And two, is $3m a bit of a laughable amount and simply a gesture by the league pretending to take this and associated problems seriously?
It really is a serious joke...
What this league needs is mandatory FA sessions and personal mental health checks that are more frequent than what is in place now, and by unbiased professionals.
First off, is this designed for the players who make tons of money and are.. In less words, stupid with their money?
You can call it stupid with their money (which I'd agree with) but you also have to realize most of these players are probably convinced that the good times won't end. They've been elite in their sport since they were basically toddlers. Always the best players on their teams and what not. Add that with a couple 20 or 30 goal seasons in the NHL and you can't really fault them for thinking that they're set and that they'll be playing in the league for a long time.
Then they go all Setaguchi or Cheechoo and they're in trouble.
Sorry if I sound insensitive, but I have a couple of issues with this and none being the overall spirit of the program...
First off, is this designed for the players who make tons of money and are.. In less words, stupid with their money?
And two, is $3m a bit of a laughable amount and simply a gesture by the league pretending to take this and associated problems seriously?
It really is a serious joke...
What this league needs is mandatory FA sessions and personal mental health checks that are more frequent than what is in place now, and by unbiased professionals.
I think the spirit of this program is great and this pilot project to be investigated in good faith with sincere intentions. Having said that, I agree with IgiTang...you pretty much nailed it. NHL players are adults and human beings and just so happen to be in a fortunate situation of being a pro athlete with the abilities that allow many of them to be paid a ridiculous amount of salary to play a game as a pro athlete. Pro athletes transition as a player to retirement or simply being replaced by a better performer early in their career, is no different than any one who isn't a pro athlete working in a career and properly preparing financially for retirement.
I think the trouble of transition with many of these players and the whole idea of this program is a response that caters to the lack of maturity of 'some' of these guys as adults while playing. The problem with life management/financial management transition reflects that. Not all players experience this problem of course, but the amount of money that clubs are dishing out now for players as compared to say 15-20 years ago (or later) is unbelievable. No wonder some of these guys have issues after they've transitioned away, especially with the amount of money they've made from playing. From time to time, I play recreational hockey with a few ex pros and NHLers here in Calgary and those guys seem to find good careers and a great life after their hockey careers are over.
Sorry if I sound insensitive, but I have a couple of issues with this and none being the overall spirit of the program...
First off, is this designed for the players who make tons of money and are.. In less words, stupid with their money?
And two, is $3m a bit of a laughable amount and simply a gesture by the league pretending to take this and associated problems seriously?
It really is a serious joke...
What this league needs is mandatory FA sessions and personal mental health checks that are more frequent than what is in place now, and by unbiased professionals.
It's also the players own money, so what they do with it is really their business. I would also guess they have the best idea as to what life is like post-career and what might help tackle the problems.
It's also worth noting that not all NHL players end up making millions.
I think this is good, but I'd rather see something put into place to help the ones who didn't quite make it, or blew their chance at scholarships chasing the dream as teenagers/young adults. Not sure how the NHLPA can do anything in regards to that, but those are the ones who get it the worst IMO.
Life after any semi-decent NHL career is confusing because there's no more strict regime/structure to guide them, but money-wise (for school) and career opportunity-wise, they should probably be ok if they made alright choices. Even just putting a small portion of their signing bonus into a fund should yield them an education, if they want. Players that were late round picks from Jr and toiled in the ECHL/AHL for a while coming out at 24 or 25 with barely a high school education and none of the nice connections from playing in the show have it much worse off IMO.
Things like Steve Montador and Derek Boogaard happen because the NHL doesn't take good enough care of the players while they are playing, not necessarily because it doesn't support them well enough after (which it doesn't, but I don't think providing school for them at 30+ is getting at the root issues).
I think this is good, but I'd rather see something put into place to help the ones who didn't quite make it, or blew their chance at scholarships chasing the dream as teenagers/young adults. Not sure how the NHLPA can do anything in regards to that, but those are the ones who get it the worst IMO.
Life after any semi-decent NHL career is confusing because there's no more strict regime/structure to guide them, but money-wise (for school) and career opportunity-wise, they should probably be ok if they made alright choices. Even just putting a small portion of their signing bonus into a fund should yield them an education, if they want. Players that were late round picks from Jr and toiled in the ECHL/AHL for a while coming out at 24 or 25 with barely a high school education and none of the nice connections from playing in the show have it much worse off IMO.
Things like Steve Montador and Derek Boogaard happen because the NHL doesn't take good enough care of the players while they are playing, not necessarily because it doesn't support them well enough after (which it doesn't, but I don't think providing school for them at 30+ is getting at the root issues).
Good points, but I have an issue with this comment. The NHLPA doesn't take good enough care of their own brethern. As Rhett Warriner said on the radio, the PA offers a 3 day course in Toronto, at the ex-players own expense but they can't find out anything about it because the players NHLPA website access is cut off the instant they are not on a teams roster. He also said that the PA could contact CFP's, CA's and other financial and career planners in each NHL city and build a program.
Rhett stated that the depression most of them feel is because they don't have a purpose any more, that most have the money but no direction and need help with just planning what to do each day. Watching the last lockout, and contracts since then, to me it shows that the PA is only concerned with the maximum dollars for the top stars and the rest of the players are on their own fighting over the crumbs. The post retirement issues should/could have been included in veterans benefits but Sideshow Don only cares about one thing, and from what we can gather were these types of issues were never even discussed.
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You can call it stupid with their money (which I'd agree with) but you also have to realize most of these players are probably convinced that the good times won't end. They've been elite in their sport since they were basically toddlers. Always the best players on their teams and what not. Add that with a couple 20 or 30 goal seasons in the NHL and you can't really fault them for thinking that they're set and that they'll be playing in the league for a long time.
Then they go all Setaguchi or Cheechoo and they're in trouble.
All the more reason to educate them about their money. There is lots of reasons athletes waste their money and a lack of expert assistance is a big one.
I think its just swell.The NHLPA has been raking in millions from the players over the last umpteen years and now has the largesse to kick back $1.5 million per year that will likely be mostly eaten up in administrative costs and corporate sludge.What an incredible act of generosity,these guys should be working for the government...
Sakic made over $16M in 97-98 alone. Federov made $14.5M in 98-99. Jagr made $17.4M in 99-00. But go on...
You have referenced 3 Marquee players of the 90's generation...perhaps I should have been more detailed in my description. A good point though, but I'm basically referring to the ugly 'Bobby Holik' contracts that instigated the whole adjustments (salary cap) in the past two CBAs. Even now with the salary cap in place, many 3rd stringer and 4th stringer guys are getting paid huge dollars as compared to what equivalent players did in the past. It's not uncommon that some of these average players don't experience lengthy careers in the NHL and get cut and have to go and take a lesser salary to play in Europe, etc...or ultimately retire. There are also examples to be made with some big name players as well.
NHLPA readies $3 million "back to school" program
