I Stand With Girard

It might be time that we have a serious chat here on HBIC because the image to the left is how most people will want to remember Samuel Girard once his career comes to an end. However, it seems clear that Girard is struggling to find the good times in hockey right now as he released a statement today announcing that he was stepping away from the game to seek help for anxiety and depression with which he's been struggling. For some, it will be hard to imagine how one of the premiere defenders in hockey who is paid millions to play a game would bve struggling with his mental health, but I look at Girard's announcement as a move of courage and strength. And I stand with him in his effort to seek help to overcome these issues.

Girard's statement, released by CAA who represents, reads,

"I have made a proactive decision to take care of my mental health, and will be entering treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has gone untreated for too long and led to alcohol abuse. "Taking care of your mental health is of the utmost importance, and I encourage everyone to speak up and seek help should you feel like you need it. I want to express my gratitude to my wife, family, friends, the club, my teammates, and the fans for their patience, understanding, and continued support."

Girard has engaged with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in his efforts to combat his anxiety and depression, and it really goes to show how important that program is becoming when it comes to helping players through any and all issues. We saw Milan Lucic enter the program earlier this week, and we've seen players such as Carey Price, Jakub Vrana, Bobby Ryan, Spencer Knight, and Michael McCarron all enter the program for various reasons. When it comes to being better for friends, teammates, and the ones you hold dear, asking for help shouldn't be stigmatized.

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram went through some dark and harrowing times in life and career before entering the program in 2020 to seek help. He was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and treated through the NHL/NHLPA's Player Assistance Program, and his career took off following his exit from the program.

"If somewhere along the way I would have learned about mental health or people would have been open about it, I might have known that's what was going on," he told Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal in 2021. "It's important to me now to be open about it, because there might be somebody out there that's going through the same thing I did that has no idea what's going on, just like me."

Ingram identifies the problem in his statement - "if.. people would have been open about it" - about how mental health has been stigmatized and shrugged off, and it likely happens far more often in a sport like hockey where macho displays of manhood happen on a regular basis. The unfortunate part is that those displays of macho behaviour fall into the toxic masculinity that hurts the sport more than helps it, and this is why I stand with Girard, Ingram, and everyone else who has used the program to fight their demons: mental health is just as important as physical health, particularly moreso in professional athletes.

As stated above, some will roll their eyes and make comments about how millionaire athletes have nothing to be anxious or depressed over, and it was Nick Foligno who had a retort to that comment in 2021 when the NHL was playing in their bubble due to COVID.

"I always hate that excuse: 'Those guys are millionaires,'" Nick Foligno told ESPN's Emily Kaplan. "If we're actually being serious about treating everybody alike, then that excuse is part of the problem too. For the most part, I can say hockey guys are down-to-earth human beings and have the same problems and cares as everyone else. So it's no surprise a lot of guys have struggled this year, because of what everyone in this world has been facing."

Foligno is right - hockey players are still people who face the same problems and personal issues that everyone else does. Yes, they make considerably more money than you or I do on a weekly basis, but I'll wager that no one has been traded by their company to a competitor during the year. The demands of winning, playing at an extremely high level, avoiding all temptation, and keeping a squeaky clean image are also demands put on these players while they're asked to spend some 200 days away from their families, so you can understand how negative things can get to players quickly in a sport where talking about one's feelings makes one "weak".

"Everybody thinks that being a professional athlete is this glamorous life," former NHLPA executive Mathieu Schneider told Kaplan in 2021. "And everybody's making $6 million a year and everybody's going to play for 15 years, so how can you complain? The truth is, it's much different from that.

"Living on the road, out of a suitcase, for days and weeks. The ups and downs of a season. Uncertainty about contracts. Our average, career length is less than five years. Guys are fortunate, no question, to make the kind of money that they do and to be public figures. But there is an awful lot that comes along with that."

This is why I stand with Samuel Girard. We can't possibly know what he's going through when it comes to his anxiety and depression, but it takes courage to make the decision to seek help when one has been told throughout one's career to "toughen up" and to "man up" when it comes to mental health.

"It's really that initial contact, that initial outreach, I think, is sometimes the most difficult for a player," Schneider told Kaplan. "We try to make that as easy as possible, and then have the experts point them in the right direction to go."

We need to accept that mental health is just as important as physical health. While a broken bone, a sprain, a black eye, or cut can be seen, mental health doesn't always present itself in an obvious way nor in the same symptoms for every person. This is why it's very important for coaches, fans, teammates, parents, friends, and players themselves to speak up about mental health and make it as common as a "lower-body injury" in both its usage and acceptance.

Sam Girard isn't asking to be a figurehead or spokesman for mental health. He just wants to be healthy, both physically and mentally, so he can be the best Sam Girard he can be for the Colorado Avalnache, his family, and his friends. Having Sam speak out for mental health is good for all athletes and people because it shows that a professional athlete can be just like you and I when needing help to be better. I stand with Sam Girard because I want him to get the help he seeks, but I also want him to be the catalyst for other players, doctors, cashiers, restaurant staff, CEOs, and anyone else to seek help if they believe they need some mental health assistance.

In a season over the next month where wishes of good health will be bestowed upon many of us from all walks of life, it's important to remember that good health also includes good mental health. The holiday season always adds extra stressors to people's lives, and that stress needs to be dealt with in a healthy manner in order to maintain that good health. Let's not stigmatize those who may need a night off from holiday cheer or who are feeling anxious over holiday events because those feelings are the body's way of telling someone that something may not be right.

I stand with Sam Girard, and I truly hope he gets the help he seeks to defeat the anxiety and the depression he's feeling. No one should have to contend with those dark feelings while trying to be the best at one's job, and one's mental health is every bit as important as one's physical health when one is doing anything, including being an elite athlete. If you or someone you know may be struggling, there are important resources one can use to seek help. They include:

• Wellness Together Canada - Canadian Government's official, free mental health portal where you can access direct support from a licensed therapist for free.
• Kid's Help Phone - a national crisis line that connects children and youth with emergency support via phone or text.
• Crisis Services Canada - a national network of suicide and distress hotlines that's available 24/7/365.
• Heads Up Guys - a national support site specifically for men to assist in recovery from depression, reducing their risk of suicide, and inspiring men to live healthier lives while improving mental health literacy among men, reducing the stigma, and providing strategies for self-management.
• UBC Athlete's Hub - a UBC-led website that promotes awareness of mental health issues, reducing stigma, and coping skills and help-seeking among student-athletes.
• Opening Minds - evidence-based mental health training programs and stigma reduction initiatives.
• Mood Disorders Society of Canada - programs, educational resources, national campaigns, research activities, tools, and supports for Canadians.
• Canada Life's Workplace Strategies for Mental Health - tools and resources for workplace mental health and psychological safety across Canadian workspaces.
• Mental Health America - for people seeking help with mental health, crisis support, finding a warmline, navigating healthcare systems and working with providers, and finding support in your local community.
• National Council for Mental Wellbeing - an online directory of mental health providers for each US state.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America - US-based organization raising awareness about the impact of mental health on physical health, finding new treatments, and one day preventing and curing anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and co-occurring disorders.
• The Trevor Project - a site for LGBTQ+ teens and youth where one can reach out to a counselor if one is struggling, find answers and information, and get the tools one needs to help someone else that's available 24/7/365.

The vast majority of the organizations listed above have free resources with options for speaking to someone, finding professional help, or both. Everything is confidential in your use of these resources as per the sites' mandates, and all of the resources have evidence of being effective in helping those seeking assistance find it. Feel free to click on any of the sites and find the right help for you if you feel you may need it.

I stand with Sam Girard in his announcement today. I also stand with anyone else who seeks assistance to find good mental health, and I hope the resources listed above may help you find that path to better mental health. If you're currently undergoing treatment for better mental health, keep working with health professionals to ensure you get the proper treatment.

There is no stigma here at HBIC - mental health will always be a component of good overall health, and I truly hope we see Sam Girard return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup when he's overcome the darkness that he was facing for so long. He's a heckuva defenceman who makes the Avalanche better, but Girard needs to be in a better place mentally for him to be effective. I'm glad he's now going to get that treatment, and I hope his announcement today helps other break through that stigma that surrounds mental health.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!