Hockey players encouraged to ask for help
Hockey players have a reputation for being tough guys, but sometimes the toughest thing they have to do is admit they need help.
That was the message from former Western Hockey League and B.C. Hockey League players Steve Bull and Nathan MacMaster who visited the West Kelowna Warriors Junior A Hockey team last Wednesday to talk about their recovery from addiction.
The stop at the Warriors' locker room in West Kelowna’s Royal LePage Place was part of a threeday tour of BCHL teams that included Chilliwack, Merritt and Salmon Arm.
Both men are recovering addicts and now work for Together We Can Addiction Recovery and Education Society.
“My story is ugly,” admitted Bull, who struggled when he left home at 15 to play junior hockey.
“I used to call it homesickness, but it was actually debilitating anxiety,” said Bull. “But when I drank alcohol, it went away. Alcohol became my coping mechanism.”
Bull told the players there were consequences when he drank. He was sent home every season except one.
After hockey, Bull’s life continued in a downward spiral because of addiction. His wife divorced him, he started using cocaine and by 40 he was homeless.
Bull was 49 years old, living outside on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and 70 pounds underweight when he was given the opportunity to come to Together We Can as a client.
“I was completely broken — emotionally, mentally and physically,” he said.
Now 54, Bull has been sober just over three years and works as an intake services manager for Together We Can.
At 25 years old, MacMaster is not much older than the BCHL players he was talking to.
He left home to play in the WHL at 16, experienced anxiety and depression and turned to substance abuse.
MacMaster didn’t sugar-coat his unflattering story of getting drunk and doing ecstasy every day, covering his body in mentholated ointment so he didn’t reek like alcohol.
“I went from having Ivy League schools talking to me at 15 years old to eating out of dumpsters at 23,” he said, eventually calling Bull from a detox centre in the Kootenays.
MacMaster is coming up on two years sober and now works in intake services for Together We Can.
Bull hoped the visit would plant the seed for those who will suffer substance abuse issues that there’s no embarrassment asking for help.
“It actually takes strength and courage to reach out and ask for help whether its addiction or anything else that's going on with somebody,” he said.
Warriors player Lucas Cullen, 18, said he could relate to Bull and MacMaster’s talk. Cullen found the year he lived away from home to play hockey in Calgary difficult, adding that was one of the reasons he chose to return to Kelowna.
The are a lot of pressures in junior hockey and the culture of hockey teaches players to be tough and play through if their legs or hips hurt, said teammate Cole Demers, 18.
“Having guys like this come in and talk to us really shows that there are people that have been through more severe struggles than us, but there's people that want to help,” added Demers
Together We Can is one of Canada’s leading treatment centres for men. The non-profit society’s mission is to educate men and families who struggle with the challenges of substance misuse.
For more information, go online to twcvancouver.org.
In a couple of hard-fought games, the West Kelowna Warriors came away with no points this weekend, losing Friday night in Salmon Arm and Saturday at home to Merritt.
Silverbacks 5 Warriors 4
In a see-saw game, Salmon Arm’s Trevor Adams scored the Ànal goal midway through the third period to give the home team the win. Adams picked up a loose puck around centre ice, skated into the Warriors zone and let a shot rip past goalie Cole Demers from the faceoff circle.
The Warriors pressed to tie the game once more, but the Salmon Arm held on for its seventh straight victory.
In a high-scoring Àrst period, the home team scored Àrst, just 2:21 into the game on a powerplay goal from Brandon Whistle.
RJ Murphy replied with two for West Kelowna, with Salmon Arm answering with two more of their own for a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Parm Dhaliwal tied the game early in the second frame with the Silverbacks answering again just a minute and a half later.
The Warriors changed goalies and scored again at the 5:56 mark as Chase Stephenson, back in the lineup after 18 games out, jammed in a loose puck in the crease for his eighth goal of the season.
The game was scoreless for the next 20-plus minutes until the Silverbacks netted the winner. Shots Warriors on goal: PP: 0/3 42-38 Silverbacks Warriors 3 Stars: PK: 5/7 1) Trevor Adams (1-1-2) 2) Hudson Schandor (2-0-2) 3) RJ Murphy (2-0-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Trevor Adams (1-1-2) Attendance: 932 Centennials 6 Warriors 3 The Warriors fell behind 4-1 and battled back to make the score 4-3, but that was as close as they could get.
Merritt scored the Àrst two goals after West Kelowna failed to convert a pair of early power plays.
RJ Murphy’s goal at 15:55 of the Àrst period made the score 2-1as the teams went into the Àrst intermission.
After two more Centennials goals in the second frame, Chase Dubois and Ryan Steele teamed up for a pair of Warriors tallies in the third, setting each other up for the goals.
Dubois hit a post on a power play that could have tied the game, but the Centennials scored the Ànal two for the win.
Shots on goal: 36-27 Warriors
Warriors PP: 0/6
Warriors PK: 2/3
3 Stars:
1) Zach Risteau (2-1-3)
2) Tyrell Buckley (1-0-1)
3) Chase Dubois (1-1-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the
Game: Garrett Ewert (0-0-0) The Warriors hosted the Surrey Eagles on Tuesday night before heading out on a three-game coastal road trip to Cowichan, Chilliwack and Powell River.