Ten years sober
Clune’s story of battles with addiction coming in documentary on Marlies forward
TORONTO — Rich Clune has told the story of his battle with drug and alcohol addiction in the past.
Now that an upcoming documentary on his life is not long from being released, the Toronto Marlies forward is hopeful that his journey shown on the screen can help others in similar positions find a way to a better life.
It’s a matter of circumstances that the film — “Hi, My Name is Dicky” — will be released during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“It would be my wish that — we all have a different a story and our lives are all different — but we can all look on other people’s experiences, no matter how dark they may get, and clearly I’m still here, and there is a way out of anything,” Clune said during a telephone interview with the Toronto Sun this week.
“I don’t want to say too much about what we’re all experiencing now in this global pandemic, but all I can say is that I go to bed every day and I wake up every morning with a firm belief, deep down inside, that everything will be okay. How do you break it down, moment to moment, hour to hour, that would be a message people can draw on to get through whatever it is they are going through.”
The title of the documentary, produced by Upper Canada Films, refers to Clune’s nickname. In the two-minute trailer, released on Tuesday, Clune says that when he was young he would tell other kids he would “go through a wall to get to the NHL … that (process is) when the mental illness came out.”
Later, Clune says: “I’ve gotten exactly what I have wanted. I wanted to walk that line of looking death in the face every day, but still play hockey.”
The 33-year-old Toronto native is approaching his 10year anniversary of sobriety in the first week of May. It’s a significant milestone to be properly acknowledged, but also a signpost of what once was.
Clune has been frank about his off-ice fight in the early seasons of his hockey career, first with the Sarnia Sting and Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League and later with several minor-league clubs before he made his National Hockey League debut with the Los Angeles Kings in 2009-10.
The use of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine became a way of life for Clune, and in a story he wrote for The Players’ Tribune in 2015, he said that from the ages of 15-24, he had checked out, unable to cope with the pressure of trying to make a career in hockey.
CHALLENGES
An initial stint in rehabilitation was done after a frustrated Clune cut it short; when he checked into a Toronto facility in 2010, Clune accepted the help that was offered, but the path to becoming healthier had challenges.
“Even the second time around when I was convinced I was an alcoholic and an addict, the scary part is that being armed with those facts, there was a part of me, that (thought) maybe I will just get sober for a year and have this thing cured,” Clune said. “I thought maybe you could cure it in a specific amount of time and then maybe I will party in the summer and then sober up again for the season.
“All these things went through my head, even in my first year of sobriety. It was around six months and I was (playing) in Manchester (New Hampshire) when I was cut by the Kings. I met a lot of people in Toronto and California within that first six months and it came to me where I liked my life and I was happy.”
Clune has played 139 games in the NHL with the Kings, Nashville Predators and the Maple Leafs, most recently 19 with Toronto in 2015-16. For the past four seasons, Clune has been a valuable veteran with the Marlies, helping mentor many of the organization’s younger players.
A release date for the documentary is to be determined.
“Part of me sharing my story is the person who needs to hear that I am an alcoholic and drug addict today the most is me,” Clune said.
“If I forget that, I will want to cope with reality with a drink or a drug. I need to remind myself daily of what I am dealing with.”