Ryerson educates retiring hockey players

This month, Ryerson University begins accepting applications for a new program designed to help NHL players transition to life after hockey. “When their whole life is hockey and all of a sudden they get injured or they retire ... there are high incidences of divorce and financial issues,” a marketing professor who helped create the program told the Globe and Mail. Run jointly by the NHL Alumni Association and the Ted Rogers School of Management the BreakAway program will include courses on personal finance, leadership, how to develop a personal brand and transitioning to a new career. Classes will be internet based and will focus on players who are not yet retired, but in the process of winding down their careers. Former New York Islanders captain, Pat Flatley, who will serve as liaison between the Alumni Association and Ryerson, says the program is welcome. He described his life immediately after hockey as if he just "fell off a cliff."