TSN: Left Behind - The story about how Ian White's family dealt with his addiction

[tvp2003]

I think it raises some interesting questions and if anything, awareness that some of these guys need a lot of help after they retire.

I do wonder how far that goes — in terms of the player, their spouse, kids, etc. Obviously White had addiction issues and it probably isn’t a stretch to say it was related to his hockey career including possible head trauma. Does the NHL have any obligation to help Evander Kane’s ex and their kid? What about Theo Fleury and his ex’s and kids. I’m not convinced it shouldn’t be on a case by case basis — these guys get paid and treated very well as pro hockey players and, if anything, should be better educated while they’re still playing.

I also think of someone like Jimmy Hayes and think of what could have been done better in that situation.

[bluejays]

The documentary was an interesting take on it from the families perspective as that often gets overlooked in these circumstances. But from Ian's own words from the other video he seemed to be a recreational drug user for a long time before he got hooked on pain meds. The NHL itself has to clean itself up from the painkiller perspective. It's still pretty obvious it's the upspoken secret in the league. They're already trying to wean out concussions through no head hits and getting fighting out, but it's time to have management accountable to not put pressures on the team docs to give this stuff out.


As for if the family should be supported, who knows? There aren't a ton of players contributing to the fund, so what does this reserve fund look like? Ian White seems fairly well spoken but seems to be a bit off based on his twitter. Does he deserve support? In what form? Should it come from the PA or general social programs? Same with his family. No answers, but I personally don't think all this is on the PA.