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Glenn Healy , The Canadian Press Rick Westhead

TSN Senior Correspondent


NHL Alumni Association executive director Glenn Healy was scheduled to meet with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly Thursday in New York to discuss improving the physical and mental health care available to players after they retire, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The NHL Playersâ Association was not scheduled to attend the meeting, the source said.

Healy, named head of the alumni association in June, said in a phone interview on Thursday morning that he wants to improve player retirement benefits.

The meeting, scheduled weeks ago, comes a day after TSN published a story about Matt Johnson, a 42-year-old former Minnesota Wild captain who is now believed to be homeless in Santa Monica, Calif.

âThere are guys falling through the cracks, big guys,â Healy said. âThink about being on top of the food chain for all the years that guys play in the NHL. Whether itâs fame or fortune or all the stuff that goes along with being one of the top 700 players who do their craft, itâs a pretty damned good chapter of life. The next chapter, 30 to dead, is a long time.â

Healy said the average NHL career is 2.6 seasons and that 75 per cent of NHL players wind up divorced.

âWe face the same real-life issues that everyone else faces,â Healy said. âThereâs no pity party here.â

Healy would not confirm details of his meeting with the NHL and declined to give specifics about changes he wants to player benefits.

According to the NHL and NHLPAâs collective agreement, players who have played at least 160 games have the ability to buy health care coverage for life, coverage thatâs especially important in countries like the U.S. that donât offer universal health coverage. When that benefit was first offered in 1992, NHL players had 60 days to buy the coverage. In 2013, that time frame was extended to 120 days.

Three player agents and one former player told TSN that theyâd like to see that window widened.

âIf you donât buy the coverage right away, you can never get it,â said former NHL player Cam Stewart, 46, who played in 202 NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.

âI skate with hockey camps now, helping out, and feel like I can barely make it around. I have no coverage. Then I see younger guys who are still in the NHL who are getting massage therapy and acupuncture. Iâm happy for the younger guys but I wish I had coverage, too.â

During the four-month period when players have to decide to buy the coverage, some players are still trying to find another job playing in the NHL, Stewart said.

âYour mind isnât really on that decision about coverage until itâs too late,â he said.

Another area Stewart and the player agents would like to see improved is the time frame players are covered under the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse program. Currently, for players who donât buy extended health care coverage, costs related to that program are covered for two years after a playerâs NHL career ends.

According to a source, the NHL and NHLPA, which jointly administer a $9 million (U.S.) emergency fund for former players in need, have both become more accommodating in recent years about agreeing to requests for money from former players.

âIn the past, money was really earmarked for players who could not afford their rent or to buy food,â the source said. âWeâre now at a point where if a guy needs money to go to rehab, the answer is yes. That's good to see.â