Conversations about mental health are spreading through the NHL and have a profound impact on hockey fans everywhere, even here at home.
SEATTLE – Gabriella Smith said hockey has changed her life in more ways than one.
“I saw it live and I said, this is amazing,” said the Tacoma native. “I fell in love after the first day.”
The learning to skate classes at the Sprinker Recreation Center quickly evolved into playing on club teams and establishing himself in a role as the team’s goalie. But she said there was also a sense of dread. Gabriella explained that she would have panic attacks in the crease and couldn’t understand why.
“I felt like I wasn’t good enough, it’s like my anxiety is starting,” she said.
He then read about National Hockey League goalie Robin Lehner, now a Vegas Golden Knights star, who accepted an award in 2019 and spoke about his health issues. “I have a mental illness, but I am not mentally weak,” Lehner said at the event.
“Honestly, I’ve never heard an athlete talk about it before,” said Gabriella, in Pierce County.
“Up until that point, I was still a bit embarrassed to talk about anything related to mental health, just because I thought no, I’m the weird kind of thing. I shouldn’t feel that way. But hearing him talk about it, and how open he was, I said, wow, this is a good conversation to have, “said Gabriella, who would later meet Lehner at practice one day and share how he impacted her.
It’s a league-wide trend, and that now includes the Seattle Kraken.
On Saturday, the franchise will launch a series of ‘Hockey Talks’ between players on mental health. The NHL has traditionally highlighted the issue in January. The talks include Kraken forward Riley Sheahan, who has made his past troubles public.
“I think a lot of people struggle to keep things internal and not allow themselves to open up because they think they will be a burden on others, or they think that they are weak in some way. I guess I’m just trying to make people understand that it’s okay to communicate, it’s okay to be vulnerable, “Sheahan said from a Dallas hotel room this week, recalling the turning point many years ago. “I had a weekend where I really couldn’t function the way I wanted to. I was very unhappy. We were supposed to go play three games and travel and I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t there, mentally.”
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Later, Sheahan was diagnosed with depression. He has since started a podcast on the subject and said he was more than willing to be a part of the Kraken-led effort.
“It used to be kind of like an old friends club where you shook things off over a few beers and forgot. I think for me, that was just a band-aid and abusing myself like that was just not working,” he said. “I got older, and as I matured and learned what really works for me, I began to realize that when I was figuring out these different things, my relationships started to get stronger. I began to think more clearly. Even my body started to function a little healthier. “
“I think I just understand that when things are going well, you still have to work to maintain those feelings. I think when things go wrong, it’s easy for you to really like to seek to be healthier and seek to exercise and seek to treat yourself.” your body better, “Sheahan added.
Back in Tacoma, Gabriella says she applauds Kraken’s effort and that it’s another example of how sports can transcend culture and society.
“Everybody is dealing with something, the grade and what it is, it differs, but ultimately that doesn’t make a difference,” he said. “The more mainstream conversations like this can be, the better it is.”
