Former goalie Plymouth Whalers, Rob Zepp, has assisted in the launching of NHLPA Program for players’ post-hockey life. Earlier this week, the NHL Players Association launched a program that allows members to undergo a personality analysis and launch into business, real estate, and other worthwhile avenues while they were still members of the league.
According to the former goalie who now functions as the director of strategic initiatives of the union, the building blocks for the program, which is designed to be customized for players to pinpoint ventures that might catch their interest, was created following a thorough survey.
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Zepp said, “What we’ve seen so far, it really runs the gamut: anything from enhancing one’s personal brand to starting a podcast to taking these certificate-level courses in real estate, in entrepreneurship, in business, in leadership, communication skills, networking skills. We have players that are interested in or are currently pursuing commercial real estate avenues or farming ventures or construction.”
During his early days in the National Hockey League (NHL), Edmonton Oilers defenseman, Darnell Nurse states that he did not find many players discussing what to do with their lives when they eventually stopped playing hockey. But as his ninth season gradually unfolds, the discussion is now a daily thing.
In Nurse’s own words, “People are curious as to what there is outside the game and what you can do to prepare yourself.” Many players have undertaken the task of making preparations for their future, like Zdeno Chara obtaining a real estate license as well as many others who have explored opportunities in the business sector or pursued college degrees.
The ex-goalie played in Plymouth for three years with a record of 89-32-10, between 1998 and 2001. He later obtained an MBA from the University of Liverpool and a degree from the University of Waterloo. He followed the old-fashioned way of books and tapes he received via mail and tests he took under the supervision of a proctor.
In the meanwhile, he was mostly playing minors before 10 games with Philadelphia in 2014/2015. He believed there was plenty of spare time and using it such time to study something made him a better goalie. He hopes to help hockey players nurse interests in other activities outside the game while playing and also ease the transition to what comes afterward.
“It’s something that’s been missing a little bit,” veteran center Lars Eller addressed The Associated Press. “It’s kind of well known that one of the struggles for a professional athlete is the transition on to the next thing once he’s done with his professional career. And this platform helps you with that transition, and it’s something you can start even while you’re still playing so you can sort of hit the ground running once you’re done.”
Marty Walsh, the new union boss prioritized helping one-time players after player feedback hinted the need for further assistance for life outside hockey. This led to the creation of the UNLMT program. Former defenseman, who is now a psychologist, runs an assessment and gives players opportunities to involve themselves with companies like the Money Management International or academic institutions like Stanford’s graduate school of business and the University of Florida.
Buffalo captain, Kyle Okposo, Seller, and Nurse are some of the existing participants of the UNLMT. Okposo is already a graduate of Stanford’s business leadership program while Seller has taken some of the offered courses.
“They’re not waiting until people’s careers are over,” said Nurse, who is age 28. “It’s something that you can dip your feet into and grab a hold of while you’re still playing and giving you resources and opportunities to kind of figure out what you want to do.”
Eller, a 34-year old who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for Washington in 2018 also shared her thoughts: “We, as players, we have – not a lot of freedom once the season is starting – but we do have a lot of free time. It’s a huge positive if you have something else that you can take your mind off of hockey and do something productive with that time.”
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Walsh, who was opportuned to know a number of Bruins alumni when he was a Boston mayor, has since talked to other ex-players and come away with a mandate to protect guys after their time playing on the ice.
“When they played, they gave it their all, and a lot of them didn’t really have anything after that,” Walsh said. “They didn’t make big contracts. They really didn’t have a strong pension system. A lot of them, even going back further than that, lost stuff. We can’t let that happen again.”
