Ales Hemsky Exposes the Dark Side of Playing in the NHL
Ales Hemsky played in the NHL for 15 seasons before retiring in 2018. He spent a majority of his career with the Oilers, before he was moved to Ottawa for a season, then he was moved to Dallas, before finishing his career with the Habs.
Hemsk� retired back in 2018 for medical reasons, he also wanted to spend more time with his family. He explained the reason for his retirement to the Athletic:
"I realized it's probably time to enjoy my kids," Hemsky told The Athletic this week. "The doctors were saying I shouldn't play anymore. It took me a long time to get peace with that. It's hard when you do something for so long. You know you can play somewhere, but you can't. That's the hard part."
Hemsk� Opens Up About His Mental Health
Hemsk� recently discussed the effect of retiring on his mental health, stating that it took a great toll on him mentally, and caused him to develop depression and resentment towards his children.
Hemsk� explained that due to his young age when he retired, he felt that he should have been playing and that he lost his purpose.
Hemsky's main message he wants to spread to people is that «it's ok to not be ok», and to reach out if you're having such feelings.
«At 35, the age when I had retired but wanted to keep playing, I was just aimlessly changing diapers and refusing to accept that hockey was over. When my son cried, I reacted with total irritation and anger toward my own child,» recalled Ales Hemsky.
«I saw nothing but emptiness everywhere. I may have made good money during my career, but what good is that if I lost something I love? What made me who I am? It seemed to me that I had lost the meaning of life even though I had a wonderful wife and son at home. I met probably all the conditions of depression, I really thought that I was not normal. At that time, I thought that I would end it all.»
"No one should be put in such a situation. If so, they should definitely tell someone about it. Find at least one person to whom you can tell that you have a problem. You don't even have to tell him everything in detail. I myself know how difficult it is. I've also always kept everything to myself.»
«At 35, the age when I had retired but wanted to keep playing, I was just aimlessly changing diapers and refusing to accept that hockey was over. When my son cried, I reacted with total irritation and anger toward my own child,» recalled Ales Hemsky.
«I saw nothing but emptiness everywhere. I may have made good money during my career, but what good is that if I lost something I love? What made me who I am? It seemed to me that I had lost the meaning of life even though I had a wonderful wife and son at home. I met probably all the conditions of depression, I really thought that I was not normal. At that time, I thought that I would end it all.»
"No one should be put in such a situation. If so, they should definitely tell someone about it. Find at least one person to whom you can tell that you have a problem. You don't even have to tell him everything in detail. I myself know how difficult it is. I've also always kept everything to myself.»
Retiring from any job is never easy, especially when you're 35-year-old, perhaps the NHL should offer more resources to support the mental health of their past, and current, players.
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Do you think the NHL should do more to support their former players? | ||
| Yes | 163 | 82.3 % |
| No | 35 | 17.7 % |
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