Once upon a time, professional athletes had to be tough, and never show weakness. If there was a problem it was to be hidden not solved, thankfully things have evolved.
As reported by The Hockey News Washington Capitals' page yesterday, former NHLer Evgeny Kuznetsov revealed why he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in an exclusive interview with Sport-Express. The center had been suffering from an autoimmune disease: rheumatoid arthritis. He had been experiencing grueling pain to the point where he could only get two hours of sleep per night, but no-one believed him.
Reading this made me reflect on how far the league has come since the days of "the strong-silent type" as HBO's beloved character Tony Soprano would say. It is no longer a shame to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and the Omerta days are gone.
Sporting greats are just people at the end of the day and they too can experience issues be it mental or physical. One of the greatest Olympians of all time, Simone Biles, was very vocal about what made her withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games and how she had to take the time to get better. The Netflix documentary about her is a very good watch (Simone Biles Rising) and her recent performances in Paris are proof that taking a step back when your body and mind are aching doesn't mean the end of your career.
Playing for the Montreal Canadiens has always come with a lot of scrutiny and pressure, but once upon a time, the players had to grin and bear it. Times are changing though, during the 2020-2021 season, Jonathan Drouin pulled the plug on his campaign and voluntarily entered the program in April 2021.
In a hockey-mad market like Montreal, every little move is scrutinized and analyzed. When the Canadiens had their Cinderella-like run to the Stanley Cup Finals, fans wondered if Drouin would come back to lend a hand, but he didn't. He only came back with the Habs at the start of the following season and he put all of his cards on the table when he did.
In an interview with then RDS reporter Chantal Machabee, the winger explained that he had suffered from anxiety for a long time, but that it reached a very high level in the Spring. As he became more anxious, he slept less and became so tired that his body just couldn't keep up, so he did what he had to do to get better. He listened to his own body and chose to address his issues.
Months after Drouin entered the program, Carey Price took the same path. It was revealed that the goaltender entered the program because of substance abuse. Which substance? It was never really confirmed and it's beside the point in any case. In a statement, the face of the franchise revealed that he had let himself get to a very dark point and he needed help to get himself right.
Of course, there were people saying: he's a millionaire, what's dark about that? Or: he's complaining when plenty of people have it worse than him! That's an unfair statement on so many level. You only know part of an athlete's life and you see what they let you see. Being the cornerstone of the most storied franchise in the NHL, Price always seemed to be chilled and relax, cool as a cucumber as one might say, but that's only what he allowed the public to see.
We now know he has been battling knee injuries for years and dealing with pain on a day-to-day basis does take its toll. Sometimes there comes a point when you can become addicted to painkillers as well which pulls you further down as you feel like you're struggling to swim up and catch a bit of air. I'm not saying that's what happened to Price, but it is what happened to a lot of enforcers and former enforcers however. On that topic, I highly suggest reading Chris Nilan's book Fighting Back: The Chris Nilan Story and this feature article on the man everyone called Knuckles.
Now that the game has evolved enough to take mental health seriously, shouldn't it also be time to take physical health seriously? Shouldn't the days of "toughing it out" be over? Shouldn't the league be willing to address the seriousness of head injuries and take the steps necessary to fix the fact concussions and head injuries have become silent killers? If you haven't read Ken Dryden's Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador and the Future of Hockey I highly recommend it. It shines a groundbreaking light on head injuries, their dire consequences and what the league could and should do about it.
It's great to see the NHL is slowly but surely getting better about such serious issues and that former Canadiens players are doing their best to help the cause grow.
Related
Canadiens’ Carey Price Won Gold for Canada
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains