Friday, May 1, 2015

Collins Writes on Life After Hockey

Thoughtful piece from BC alum on The Players’ Tribune addresses the challenges when it’s time to hang up the skates.

Collins Writes on Life After Hockey
Chris Collins shared the national lead in scoring as a senior for Boston College (Photo via theplayerstribune.com).

Former Boston College star Chris Collins, who enjoyed an eight-year professional career after four years with the Eagles, retired last off season. He draws on that experience in a thought-provoking column published Friday on The Players’ Tribune about the transition to life after hockey.

Collins, 30, points out that he is among the lucky ones:

“I was in the fortunate minority of guys who actually went to college and got a degree. Most NHLers, and even most minor leaguers, end their formal education at 16.”

Nevertheless, the challenge of hanging up the skates and pursuing other opportunities isn’t an easy one.

Collins, now working for a private equity firm in California, raises some of the challenges facing former players, whether or not they have their college degree:

I think this is at the heart of why transition to the real world is such a complex problem in hockey. Even when guys do have the desire to learn, when is it too late to go back and be an intern? 25? 30?

Can you get coffee at age 35 after you’ve spent your entire adult life being treated like a God in small towns across the world? When most players talk about the future in the locker room, it’s all about coming up with ridiculous inventions or being real estate moguls or TV analysts. They can’t actually comprehend being in an office. When you get into the real world, you can’t just walk up to the office pest and start shaking your gloves like, “You wanna go?”