The Athletes Podcast
The Athletes Podcast is a leading source of information, inspiration, and education for anyone interested in optimizing physical performance, maintaining good health, and living an active lifestyle. Join David Stark as he interviews some of the world's biggest athletes and fitness professionals, The Athletes Podcast provides practical advice, expert insights, and real-world strategies to help listeners achieve their health and fitness goals.The goal is to entertain, educate & inspire the next generation of athletes!
The Athletes Podcast
From Stanley Cup Glory to Dyslexia Advocacy: Brent Sopel's Journey of Resilience and Purpose #240
Former NHL player Brent Sopel joins us to share his incredible journey from the ice rink to becoming a passionate advocate for those with learning disabilities. Brent, who played over 700 NHL games, reveals how his and his daughter's diagnoses of dyslexia led him to establish the Brent Sopel Foundation, aiming to support youth facing similar challenges. Through heartfelt anecdotes, Brent discusses how ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia affected both their lives, stressing the importance of early diagnosis and individualized learning approaches.
With raw honesty, Brent opens up about the emotional highs and lows of his career, including winning the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, and the profound sense of isolation he felt despite his success. He shares his struggles with addiction, the intervention by his family, and the ongoing journey toward sobriety and self-acceptance. This episode dives deep into the mental health challenges athletes face, the impact of different coaching styles, and the universal theme of inner struggles masked by outward success. Brent's story is a powerful reminder of the importance of self-reflection and human connection in overcoming life's hurdles.
Finally, we explore Brent's experiences with the NHL's salary cap era, the friendships and challenges of playing in Russia, and the financial sacrifices players make for the betterment of the game. We also touch on the stark contrast between past and present athlete lifestyles, the scrutiny they face, and the resilience required to transition to life after retirement. This candid conversation is not just about the glitz and glamour of professional sports but about finding purpose, understanding oneself, and advocating for mental health and learning disabilities. Tune in to be inspired by Brent Sopel's journey of adversity, resilience, and unwavering commitment to making a positive impact.
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See, I had a problem. Santa Claus never brought me hands in my stocking. You know Santa brought his hands, so Welcome back to the Athletes' Podcast.
Speaker 2:This is the 240th episode of the show.
Speaker 2:We're here to educate, entertain and inspire the next generation of athletes. Thanks for joining the show Today. We're powered by Perfect Sports Supplements. If you haven't heard of them, they have the number one protein in Canada. My favorite flavor Canadian maple. Because we're all Canucks, we have national pride. Today we feature Canuck on the show.
Speaker 2:His name is Brent Sopel. If you haven't heard of him, he was selected 144th overall at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, my hometown team, hence why we're repping the jersey. He also played for the New York Islanders, the Los Angeles Kings, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Atlanta Thrashers, the Montreal Canadiens, most notably winning a Stanley Cup in 2010. Now fast forward. After that hockey career is over. After his daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, sopal was also diagnosed with a learning disability. After the symptoms that he was suffering from sounded similar to what his daughter was going through, so this inspired him to create the Brent Sopal Foundation, which ultimately aims to help promote and raise funds for youth with dyslexia. Brent is an inspiration to me and so many others, having grown up watched him on the ice as I was a young buck here playing the sport of hockey. It was amazing to be in the dressing room with Brendan Morrison, marcus Naslin, todd Bertuzzi, and one of the things that, fortunately enough, with this podcast, that we're able to do is now impact people positively, spread the word about what people are doing, use this as an incredible platform, and it only happens thanks to you folks who are listening, sharing these episodes and bringing forward amazing guests that we feature on a weekly basis. So thank you for that and, without further ado, you folks know I'll be participating in the Toronto Marathon here in just over five weeks. One of the aspects that I wanted to integrate is some charitable part, and because of this, I want to raise funds for the Brent Sobel Foundation so that more folks who are suffering from ADHD, dyslexia, among other learning disabilities, get the support that they deserve. So I'll link the links to donate down below. I appreciate you for tuning in, I appreciate Brent for jumping on the show and I can't wait for you folks to let me know what you think, because it's an amazing episode. Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 2:The 240th episode of the Athletes Podcast, here we go. You're the most decorated racquetball player in US history, world's strongest man, from childhood passion to professional athlete, eight-time Ironman champion. So what was it like making your debut in the NHL? What is your biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes, from underdogs to national champions? This is the Athlet the athletes podcast, where high performance individuals share their triumphs, defeats and life lessons to educate, entertain and inspire the next generation of athletes. Here we go, my set of notes questions. Uh, that I I get to rip through, but the fun part is that we just get to chat, chop it up like we were before and, uh, I get to learn a bit more about brent. So peel back the layers of the onion of the former.
Speaker 1:Vancouver, canadiens. Oh, I'm starting to use my lines now, eh.
Speaker 2:You know you got to do your research. You know the former, the Hab, the Chicago Blackhawk, who won a Stanley Cup in 2010, who I grew up watching the West Coast Express as a kid Vancouver, like I, talked about White Rocks. So an honor to feature you on the show, brent. I'm excited to learn a bit more about what you're doing now post-career, how you've been able to become an advocate for those who are suffering from ADHD, dyslexia and more so. Just having a conversation around it, honestly, because you were able to have a 700-plus career NHL game Freaking incredible really, what you were able to have a 700 plus career NHL game have freaking incredible really, what you were able to overcome.
Speaker 2:I was actually speechless watching that documentary earlier this morning and I'm doing a decent job introducing what some would call is a warrior on the ice, someone who ate pucks for a living and was able to basically do whatever it took. How do you like to start these conversations? Because you've been asked a million questions. You've been on a ton of podcasts. I wanted to start with some facts that were shared during that documentary.
Speaker 2:The fact that 30% of self-made millionaires are dyslexic 50% of people who work at NASA.
Speaker 1:Is it now 40? It's 30 to 40, yeah, 30 to 40.
Speaker 2:Okay, see, now I'm learning. You're going to correct me here. The next one mind-boggling 50% of people who work at NASA are dyslexic.
Speaker 1:And then 50% of people in the world in prison are dyslexic.
Speaker 2:So when you see stats like that and you go undiagnosed for the first almost four decades of your life, how does that make you feel?
Speaker 1:my story. You know it's not about me. Everything happens for a reason. In my life, everybody's like oh, I wish I could go back in hindsight 2020. You wouldn't be who you are today if I didn't have you know. So I would say I had to go through anyone's lessons, every road, every pain, to get here today. So I'm good with it. I've made peace with it. Once I got sober, I tried to basically commit suicide with the drugs and alcohol I was doing before 40. So I'm good with my journey. My story is not about me. It's who might hear it. Who might resonate with it, who might go it? Who might resonate with it? Who might go?
Speaker 2:oh, somebody understands for those who are just listening to the athletes podcast, you're not getting to see brent's shirt that uh displays big dickslexia energy and uh, it's one of my favorites. I've seen you wear it on a couple different shows. I'm gonna have to cop some of that merch as well. I also saw you were doing a $25 giveaway for your Stanley Cup dinner, which is amazing. Tell me about the Brent Sobel Foundation Before we dive into your career. Obviously, this is something you want to enact change in. You want to change the world. I've heard you say that let's make this happen here in the first five minutes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and that's why I call it the documentary here to change the world because, obviously, being diagnosed at 32 and reading at a grade four level in high school, I never want a kid. That's why I started the foundation. I never want a kid to feel the way I do every day. So I'm an open book. I'm honest because I'm not the only one. It's the second most common thing in the world and it's hereditary. So you know a lot of people. Autism I think autism is 1 in 40, 145 now not hereditary. Dyslexia is 1 in 5 and hereditary.
Speaker 1:So I'm trying to advocate for every dyslexic out there, because going to school for eight hours a day, it was awful when you just you know listeners, just think how many times a day you read, try struggling with those. And the hard part is I always call it you're dumb, you're stupid and you're lazy. And I think when I wake up every single day, I think I am dumb Because I was told that so many years, no matter what I've accomplished, I always say you tell a girl in high school that she's fat every day, she's going to believe that. That's trials and trauma. And I've got that. So you know, I'm just trying to be here, advocate for every dyslexic. I understand you're not alone. Addiction I've been in there. You know 60 to 65 percent of us are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Suicide been there 89 of suicide notes left have dyslexic traits. So so my story is definitely not about me. It's who might resonate with it, and you're not alone.
Speaker 2:I just had to give you some space there because it's also the passion that you speak with that I think people need to hear and see that you know now, after your career, despite all odds being able to see success, let's start WHL.
Speaker 2:Swift Current, born in Calgary, let's start maybe having some fun here. I'm sure you've got some crazy WHL stories. I just spent the week two weeks ago up at the Kelowna Hockey Performance at Kelowna Hockey Fest and Brent Seabrook, who was someone who mentioned your name after I saw a zoom call when I was doing this research and he talked about the fact that soaps was black and blue after every game and he's someone who deserved a shout out and I wish I had done this research prior when I was talking to brent a week ago in colonna. Because, man, what you went through during your career saying that you played half or three quarters of your games injured you know you wouldn't have known that watching as a kid playing when you're playing for the Canucks you had a broken hand with the Habs that hook cast played a game during that.
Speaker 2:Your whole season in LA. You had a cast on Like how were you able to? Were you on the Russian gas? What were you? What was keeping you alive during those two moments? And I guess it was the drive. I guess this is part of your story, right?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, to be honest, it wasn't the drive, it was the fear, the fear of the real world when you struggle with the simplest things. So we'll go back to I've got the four Ds. So ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, which is the writing portion, and decalculia, which is the math portion. So anything, school I struggle. So the fear of my career ending is what drove me. There was no pain playing the game. That was significant enough than the thought of the game, my career ending, if that makes sense. Yo, I didn't care what that injury was, I didn't care what I had to do, I didn't care what puck, because that was nowhere near the pain of the thought of my career being over and having to enter the real world with no, obviously, learning degrees, no education, no work experience. What was I going to do?
Speaker 2:So it was a driving passion, but it was more the fear when you look back at what you've been able to accomplish despite all of these things, and now you're trying to help that next generation. I feel a similar way. You know, our goal is to educate, entertain and inspire that next gen here on the athletes podcast, and I think some people have a better way of doing it. Through their written word, through their vocabulary, through in-person events, some people are able to read better. I think one of the superpowers about individuals who have dyslexia, adhd, is the fact that they're able to adapt to different situations, maybe not in an ideal way. I have family members who I'm dealing with this on a daily basis and it's probably a learning experience for you when you had your daughter diagnosed, and that was really ultimately what led to you being diagnosed as well. Right, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you know, I got her tested when she was in grade two, but now she's a senior in college. I had no idea. You know, growing up in Saskatchewan nobody talked about dyslexia. You know. And go back, you know, back to their mental health. Nobody knew ADHD is, you know, autism? That wasn't around back then. So people like, oh, are you upset that it wasn't? No, you know, I want to change the next generation, so that's why I'm speaking out. And I didn't even know what the word was like dyslexia, what is that? So I dove in there to get the understanding, to take care of my daughter. I didn't care about me, I was just focused on her and thank God, if it wasn't for her, I still would be. You know, I think I'm dumb every day, but it would have been to a whole new level. I would have killed myself a long time ago if it wasn't for that diagnosis. 100%, you know, I've looked at it, I've sat in front of the train time and time again, I've done more drug. I've done it all Because when you're, you know you're different. And you just mentioned something.
Speaker 1:Everybody learns differently and I always refer back to, like, the love languages. There's five love languages. Your love language, probably not the same as mine, but that's okay. It's understanding how you learn. You know is is that by reading, is that by visual, you know? For an example, for a hockey player, is that seeing the coach drawing the, drawing it up on the board, or is it a guy who can sit on the bench and have the coach say, hey, you need to do this and this you know?
Speaker 1:I always say you know, you know, as a teacher, sam drove 10 miles. I'm like I got no idea where where Sam is, because in my brain I can't do that. So are you a visual learner? Are you an audio learner? So there's different ways to learn and I think, as your podcast, I think athletes don't know that and I think in the generation of coaches, they don't know what that means either, because everybody doesn't learn the same way. You said you know, some guys, you need to yell out on the bench some days, you gotta pull aside and do it quietly. Same thing. They don't learn the same way.
Speaker 2:So as as humans here, as athletes, we have to know and learn how we learn the best, how we need to get that message from the coach you mean, maybe having your head coach and Mark Crawford telling you you'll never play a game in the NHL Wasn't something that you needed, but you also ended up playing like 400 games under them, right Like, but you know it was funny.
Speaker 1:You're funny. You mentioned that that worked for me. You know, so I you know, as you talk to hockey players, I think I'm the only hockey player in the world that's never taken a pregame nap.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to bring it up at some point.
Speaker 1:But so why? You know I figured this out without even knowing what I had the more tired I was going to the rink. So, like my day was normal, you know, if we're in Anaheim, I go to Disneyland, the guys are sleeping. I'm in Disneyland or I'm in the mall, or I'm home in Chicago or Vancouver Pick up the kids from school or go to the mall get groceries. My day was normal Go to the rink.
Speaker 1:So the more exhausted I was going to the rink, the less my dyslexia and my ADHD worked. Now go back to McCrawford. When he got my wires to cross, where I got so angry at him, I just played. I didn't think. So it was, you know. Would that style work? No, it worked for me Without you know. Again, the old school coaching way worked for me because it allowed me to get so mad that I just played hockey instead of thinking and playing hockey. Because if you think you can't play and that's what my problem was and my dyslexia, my ADHD, you know, hyperfocus then I was horrendous. But I look like you know I should be playing junior when I was playing in the NHL, you know, west Coast Express, when my brain started working. So I needed to find ways to shut my brain off.
Speaker 2:Was there anyone within the organization or that had like, dealt with this prior, that could tell or that had any kind of understanding of what you'd been with? Like no one within the NHL, I'm flabbergasted that this wasn't something that someone had come across in the past prior.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, and that's why I speak out. You know, in my mind, I think less than 20% of the world actually know what dyslexia is. So if you and I are walking down the street near Kelowna, if we stopped 20 people on the street of Kelowna great city had so much fun there. If you said anything about dyslexia, the one thing everybody says, hey, it's just flipping your B's and D's and that's about 5% of it. Like, if I need to read an email, I have to print it out. I can't retain it off there. I can't retain a text message. You hand me a business card, I can't take it. So basically, you guys are born with your left brain wired. You read with your left, careful careful lumping me in.
Speaker 2:I got a little bit, don't worry, it's one in five so I'm not lumping anybody.
Speaker 1:So, as dyslexic, we start reading with our rights. So, basically, as the information goes to the top, it gets jumbled. So that's the big misconception. So you know, am I going to say bad organizations, bad coaches? No, not at all. I'm not going to say any of that because nobody understands that right now. It's still so new. That's why I talk about it, that's why I'm always trying to talk to anybody possibly can, because there's not the awareness out there now. Hopefully I can change this. And in 15 years, if we had this, you know we had this conversation. It's a different conversation where organizations are more aware of what adhd is. You know that dopamine, dopamine, what that all means. So, um, again, it's a different conversation 15 years down the road. But go back 20 years ago, nobody knew what that was. So no hard feelings, that's just that was part of my journey and I believe that you know a hundred percent. Uh, my journey in NHL has allowed me to have these conversations with you. The NHL has allowed me to have these conversations with you.
Speaker 2:Hey, just in the middle of this episode, I wanted to come in, give a shout out to our sponsor, Perfect Sports Supplements. Use the code AP20 at checkout to save 20%. And while you're at it, wherever you're listening Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts do me a huge favor. Hit that subscribe button If you want to go even one step further rate, review, comment, share this on your social media platforms. I will be sharing with you, giving away a couple of gifts, unique opportunities here as we lead up to the Toronto Marathon. I fly out in less than a week. I appreciate you folks tuning into this episode. Here's to the rest of it. Enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Uh, I am feeling honored to be able to have these kind of conversations. Right, like I said, I've been doing this for five years. I grew up watching you play with guys like matthias olin, fredden morrison actually funny story. I have a picture of me with don cherry, ron mclean and my brother and we went into your guys' D room. I was probably I don't even know 7, 8, 9, 10. I was a little chunkier then but was in awe, speechless, couldn't even talk. I'm pretty sure Brendan Morrison came up and said hi to my dad and I couldn't even speak, so that might have been what spurred on this podcast. Who knows Professor Adam Nichols, who I've had on the show in the past? He's a professor of psychology at the university of hull who's also dyslexic, and we talked about some of the challenges that athletes face. He'd be someone who I'd love to connect you with.
Speaker 2:He's a one researcher over in the uk. Um, but one of the things that you also talked about, the no pre-game knack, having people kind of spur you on, get those wires, wires crossed, for lack of a better term. I've also heard you bring up the topic of playing guilty, and the first time I heard this was Zach Rinaldo mentioned this to me in Hamilton. Shout out to him and the Junior B Pelham Panthers They've been crushing it. He's been coaching for a couple of years now down there, but he brought up playing guilty and he said that some guys need to go out the night before and to have a couple drinks so that they play better the next game or the next day so it's.
Speaker 1:It goes back to understanding. You know the anxiety you're getting. We're an all those tough guy, right. You know you want to sit there and sit there and think, laying your bed, sitting your stall all day that, knowing you've got to go out and fight. It's a tough career. So it's understanding yourself. Players nowadays understand themselves a lot more than they did. They're out there eating their carrot sticks and doing yoga when we were out at the bars drinking and smoking darts a little bit different.
Speaker 2:At the.
Speaker 1:Roxy Own that place, sean O'Brien. You know he's the owner now but he took it away from some of us, but it's the way the game was. You know drinking was Comirati was like that. You know the game nowadays is very it's not as team oriented as it was, you know, it's more individualized. So it it was with the game that's. Uh played guilty many times. Um, my career was.
Speaker 2:You know I had ups and downs but uh had some good times, that's for sure yeah, I mean, when you have three herniated discs for 30 years, you probably have to suck back a couple just to be able to play through those games.
Speaker 1:I used to say I'm used to say I'm icing from the inside out, but that's what kept me alive but almost killed me too. So I understand. I just hit your soul over it. The real world's a scary place, and the more you understand yourself, the easier it will be. It's going to be hard 100% but it's a lot easier when you've got some understanding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm glad you bring that up because I try and highlight, obviously, the amazing benefits that professional athletes get and what comes with being world-class at your sport. But I also want to showcase the fact that there's lows and not every day is sunshine and rainbows. And especially after you've been living this rock star life lifestyle for 10, 20, 30 years, after that, how the heck are you dealing with real life? To your point, you know, and that's so.
Speaker 1:I always like you know, trying to uh your terms for anybody and you know after you go to high school and if you go to college, you answer the world like shit. This place is a scary place. I did that at 40. So I was told where to be and what to be and how to be for 40 years. You took that away from me. And what dyslexia is? And what I didn't have was self-esteem. Only place I got my self-esteem was hockey. I wasn't good at reading. I wasn't good at anything else. That's why I spent hours in it. That's why I did the crazy things so I could get my self-esteem. You took that away from me and that's when I wanted to die.
Speaker 1:You know, I think the longest stretch six weeks never got out of bed, never left the house was 100% alone. Like everybody sees the outside. You know, look at social media. Oh, soapy, you suck. Like we're human too. You know we all put our pants on the same way. Women, you jump off the bed to get your little lemons. But we're all human too. You know we all put our pants on the same way.
Speaker 2:Women, you jump off the bed to get your little lemons.
Speaker 1:But we're all human too. I cry, you know. Everybody thinks that we're not. We're, you know, shopping at certain grocery stores. No, we're born the same way. You know. I could go, you know, into deep. We're human too. Do we want to screw up? No, could go, you know into deep, we're human too. Do we want to screw up? No, no, there's many times, you know. I've gone home and you know, look in the mirror and what am I doing and why am I here and why am I doing so? Just as somebody thinks it's a job for us, no matter if you worked at royal bank or lululemon or starbucks, it's a job. So is this? But try having a job where you have millions and millions of eyes on you. Every move you make is scrutinized. You know that mental health definitely can take a toll.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you got guys like Peter Forsberg pottying you all day, holy frig.
Speaker 1:I chased his ass around. I could never catch him. He was phenomenal. Unfortunately, the injuries caught up to him. But God, that guy was a tank.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, like we mentioned the West Coast Express, luke Gazdik, who I've had on the show a couple times, talked about watching Todd Bertuzzi growing up and seeing how he was like the ideal power forward. What was it like practicing with him, watching him on the ice?
Speaker 1:Todd, you know what? You know, obviously massive body, massive. But he had ridiculous hands. So you want to combine both those. He could hold you off with his strength, right, he could. And then if he's in hands, so, um see, I had a problem. Santa claus never brought any hands in my. You know my stocking, you know he, you know santa s, santa brought his hands, so he was the ideal pilot for it because he had both that big body and playing that style then, and then you put him in tight, he could go bar down easily, he could stick handle three with speed. So that's a complete package that Santa never brought for me.
Speaker 2:You got to play with some absolute legends in Vancouver those first couple of years you arrived. Can you share any stories Like Messier Naslin? Young Sedin Was Bure. That was early. Yeah, I was early.
Speaker 1:I had a couple of training camps with them. I lived in Vancouver a couple of summers after I got drafted to skate with them Early in my career. It's different than I was. I was told be seen and not heard. So, rookie, just shut up and learn. And you also some mass and you know Marcus Naslund and Yerke Lume, kirk McCoy, like Trevor Linden, obviously Matias Olen the list goes on. All the Swedes. I just kind of sat back and watched and listened to their advice. I didn't say too much. Obviously you talked about the Sedins. We were rookies together.
Speaker 1:Just phenomenal human beings, obviously, how they represent their country, represent their name, but how they represent Vancouver Canucks just amazing humans, just to sit back and be on the ice. Their country, represent their name, but how they represent the Vancouver Canucks just amazing humans, just to sit back and be on the ice with West Coast Express. Obviously Brendan Morrison being a local guy, and what he was doing on that line to be able to get the puck. I didn't want the puck here. You guys have it, take off with it. So to be on the backside of it. Ed Jovanovsky when he played.
Speaker 1:The list goes on and on the guys that I was with. You know, it was part of my journey, part of my career Elevated me to able to win a Stanley Cup. So every guy I played with in the NHL I learned something from. They helped me elevate to win a Stanley Cup. And I think somebody said I'm one of 1,500. I think there's like 4,000 people have ever won the Stanley Cup Certain percentage of one at once, twice, three, you know. So, again, it allows me to be here today and talk about the foundation and be here to advocate for, for every person in mental health, every man. For you know, mental health addiction Um, that's. That's, at the end of the day, what my purpose in life is.
Speaker 2:Um, that's that's, at the end of the day, what my purpose in life is. Can't thank you enough for doing that. Um, I also want to highlight the fact that you've brought up that that, despite what should be the most memorable moment in your life, was also one of the darkest. Can you share more about that?
Speaker 1:yeah, you know, stanley cup I would was the most amazingest, worst feeling of my life, because I didn't understand myself, I didn't know myself, I didn't connect with any of my teammates. It took me 46 years to connect with a person Because I didn't even understand myself. So, you know, as you ask your question, hey, you know, did you have a GM, do you have a coach that could help you? They couldn't help me if I couldn't help myself, you know. So I won that Stanley Cup.
Speaker 1:Obviously, you know, a Canadian kid won the Stanley Cup millions of times, you know, on the outdoor rink. But I stood there around my teammates, not connecting to one of them, and I can look back on how empty I was one of them and I can look back on how empty I was, um, yeah, so the fact that I did win it and we're able to have these conversations, um is because I won that Stanley Cup and able to get in different places on, you know, and use my platform, you know, for good, but you know, um, it was dark and empty pretty legendary career, despite all of these obstacles.
Speaker 2:We'll call them, because I think many people are faced with different obstacles but I think, more than anything, this was something that you had to deal with from day one, right and uh, I imagine when you talked about I've heard you reference like eating pucks, the Adam Sandler just wearing them in the batting cages was better than facing that real world. I guess, once you came to terms with facing the real world, when hockey was over, what you had known for so long, was there anything in particular, a transitional moment? I know you had your parents and family, or you had your family come and take you out, give you a bit of a. Oh, I had an intervention you know through rehab.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, like I said, I was almost dead before 40 months. Drugs and alcohol was doing. So, um, if they didn't come across at the time, if I didn't mess up that uh guy's wedding at that time, um, I wouldn't be here today. So, um, obviously, they, they saved my life. But I guess I had to get sober to understand all myself and what I, when I talk to people, is.
Speaker 1:I had to go back and clean out my closets. I had childhood trauma, which when you struggle reading. So I had to go back, as I'm describing it. I had to clean out my closets from zero to five years old that closet. Six to ten, that closet. Eleven to fifteen, that closet.
Speaker 1:It's not how it goes, but I had to be okay with who I am. I had to be okay with this journey to be able to stay sober. You know, if not, you know, I love drugs, I love alcohol, because I had I could escape from this feeling of not connecting and being misunderstood every single day. Uh, so, um, it was a grind, it was, it wasn't easy, but every day I got to self-reflect Okay, what did I do wrong in this situation? What did I do right in this situation? Was this me, and obviously connecting with Juliet, who's my co-host on my podcast, and now my wife. It took me 46 years to connect with my first two human beings. Now, if your listeners want to kind of take a second to second to listen, that took me 46 years to connect with somebody. It's a long, long lonely life, um, but I'm. I'm here today and um, happy and grateful for our conversation.
Speaker 2:As am I and so many others. I was almost tearing up going through that youtube video, watching, listening, reading some of those comments. I don't know if you've gone through that. If you haven't, uh, if you're ever feeling down, that's the place to go, because I was like man, this guy's touched so many people and you like kudos to you. Um, and as a goalie, I can confirm that sometimes you feel alone and people can't resonate with how you're feeling.
Speaker 2:You know and I have no qualms about admitting that, and you know I've had days where it's like man, what am I doing here? Even with this podcast? Right, like it's one a week for five years. You just put in the reps and, to your point, when you're growing up you win the stanley cup. How many times on that rink as a kid? And it only happens once, and sometimes, even if that moment might look amazing on the outside, you don't know how that person's feeling on the inside.
Speaker 1:And that's every single one of us, right? You know nobody. You know we don't know. Everybody wants to judge a book by the cover. You don't know, somebody cut me. Judge a book by the cover. You don't know, somebody cut me off. He didn't wake up that morning and say I'm going to find Brent and cut him off.
Speaker 1:You know he's an asshole. That's not how this works. This world's a tough place, so let's not judge a book by the cover. You know we all bleed red and you never know. Did somebody have a bad day? Somebody's struggling financially? Is there a divorce? Is there something happening? We don't know. So there's not enough love in this world, and before somebody can love you, you've got to love yourself.
Speaker 2:And I've heard you talk about how coaching has also helped you. I felt that recently starting up coaching some high school basketball kids some strength and conditioning very basic level but I've heard you reference the fact that coaching got you out of bed at night. Coaching some high school basketball kids some strength and conditioning very basic level but I've heard you reference the fact that coaching, you know, got you out of bed at night and continues to do that 100 you know everybody.
Speaker 1:You know, when you're going through depression, anxiety, alcohol, you always think you're alone. You know so, first, you know all your list is you're not alone. I'm here with you. So reach out if you're ever in anything. But you've got to have a purpose. Every one of us have to find that purpose. Is that to work with the high school basketball team? Is that to work with kids? Whatever that is, we need to find a purpose.
Speaker 1:And I didn't have a purpose and I didn't want a purpose. The only purpose I wanted was death because I didn't love myself. And still, you know, I always say you, look in the mirror and say I love. You know it, feel it, believe it. You know I'm working on that every day. You know, 47 years old, I still can't say that 100%. So working there. But you know the kids gave me purpose to come there and see that smile on their face and they got me out of bed and they got me going and messing around with them. It's definitely got me. You're gone there. I mean, you know everybody has roller coasters in life. Life isn't. What's that TV show? Desperate housewives, white pick fence. That's not reality.
Speaker 2:Ryan Phillips, former guests on the show as well, someone who you're connected with. What's with hockey players having to deal with this? It seems like we take on. We're also like I shouldn't say we. I'm loving it. You guys are able to withstand some absolutely insane conditions, both on and off the ice. What is it with hockey players that makes them a special breed? Do you know? Have you?
Speaker 1:identified that, seeing so many guys over the years. Well, you know, um, every athlete is wired differently. Yeah, to make it, you know. You take a look at golf or you take a look at football, you know what we have to do to make it. Um, we're all wired differently. But I always say hockey's. You know, hockey is a little bit different because you know baseball, basketball, football, those sports golf you don't have to move away from home. Some of us move away home at 12, 13, 14, 15. We grew up in a different way. We parent ourselves so very different. You know. You go back to you know again, here in the US, college football is massive. I was just starting. Those guys don't graduate from high school. How many players in CHL graduate from home high school? Not very many. We have to parent ourselves. We grow up in a faster way and a different way than the most world.
Speaker 2:Is there any supplementation that you can do for dyslexia? I've heard like kefir with adhd can be beneficial, like in the gut microbiome, like I'm sure you've done more I think of a guy like daniel carcillo with what he's doing, like is there people that are out there doing research, learning about ways we can mitigate it?
Speaker 1:you know, first off, you can't mitigate something you don't understand. So that's the first and foremost, and understand that. And you know, obviously 40 of the sexics have adhd. So it's understanding and no matter what that is, no matter what what it is, it's alcohol, you know, depression, you know you're chasing it till you understand it. And the first and foremost thing is obviously it is the diagnosis. You know you get diagnosed earlier, just kind of like cancer. You want to find that stage one rather than stage four. So you know again, I always say and then you know, my purpose is I've got to educate everybody what it is before I can advocate change. So it's, it's understanding that I, you know that is the biggest thing is understanding and understanding what comes with it and cause everybody's different, Every human's different. You break a wrist out of your four to six weeks. There's a reason why they say four to six weeks, because every person is different.
Speaker 2:Uh time over in Russia. Anything in particular that comes to mind when I bring that up, other than the gas, I love it yeah.
Speaker 1:No again. I made some great friends um, you know, 10, 11, 12 different countries but it allowed me to continue my career. It. I made some great friends in 10, 11, 12 different countries, but it allowed me to continue my career. It allowed me to keep playing the thing where I got my self-esteem. I was treated great. I met some amazing people friends I'm still friends with but obviously I was able to make 1,000 regular season games pro. Obviously, I was able to make 1,000 regular season games pro, but it was part of my journey to get here. The rush of gas was right. I can go into many scenarios. I was actually when the local motor plane went down and I was living in. I was over there, I was actually sitting in the Moscow airport, but it allowed me for me to continue playing, continue searching and receiving, uh, self-esteem, which you know.
Speaker 2:Once that ended, it took me down quickly you were a victim of this salary cap casualty. We'll call it uh and like 0405, um put up some good numbers and then you know, know, that was a fact of the matter. What was the consensus like around the league when that came in? Like, I'm sure you weren't the only guy that impacted, and is it? I guess I'm curious if you were to rewind. Take me back 20 years. But that was like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know it sucked. You know, obviously playing for for a whole year and um again the biggest thing, whatever it has to remember it's a bit, it was a business. You know, hockey we're entertainers, it's not a sport, you know, did it suck 100%? Did it screw me 100%? A couple million bucks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it cost me. You know, actually short in my career. You know, I think after that lockout there was, if I remember correctly, like 350 players never played another game that forced them into retirement. So that was the difference between now, I find, and then today. We sacrificed for the better of the game. Right, did I want salary cap to come in? Absolutely not. But we tried to get other things to make the game better, to make the union stronger. So we kind of took a kick in the nuts for the guys now.
Speaker 2:To sign $14 million contracts as of today this morning.
Speaker 1:That may be the dumbest thing ever. I have a hard time sitting here listening to him, to Stephen Stamkos talk about you know their teams. You just want to sign Max. How are you for your team, stephen Stamkos? You wanted to be a Tampa Bay. No, you didn't, because you know, I don't obviously rumors, we can't say. But if you cared about the Tampa Bay Lightning that much, you would have signed this. Six years, $3 million. That's dedication. Leon Dreissel, you want to win. You don't win now because you just signed for $14 million. That's the difference between the game. Now Everybody's talking about the Stamast situation.
Speaker 1:If you cared, you made enough money, but you wanted more money. You were more important than a Tampa Bay Lightning, leon Dreissel. You were more important because the Salad Cap, as you just said and referred to that, only goes up so much. You can only fit and you win Stanley Cups with your third and fourth line and your four. You're four, five, six, seven, demon and you just alignment. You know those guys just eliminated that and don't tell me you're for the team. You were the furthest thing for the team.
Speaker 2:I think of like a Dave Boland and and like even a guy like you in 2010,. Like you don't win those that cup, if you don't have elite guys rounding out your core. Everybody's got a first line.
Speaker 1:Your top teams have the first line and second line, but do you have that depth? Obviously, our third line could have been some team's second or first line. We had that depth. So you go third line to third line, we're winning. Fourth line to fourth line, we're winning. That's why we won the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 2:I think of Crosby taking a pay cut, McKinnon taking a pay cut 100%.
Speaker 1:Yes, you can make Leon Dryson if you took $10 million. Yes, it's a lot of money, 100% big money, but you still have made $60 million. So you tell me you want to win it. What's more important winning the Stanley Cup or having that extra $10 million in bank account? You?
Speaker 2:just told me, and the argument that I would also add to that is okay, give up 4 million per year for those eight years. Ensure you're giving up a bit of cash. But imagine the amount of money you could make from endorsement deals, from brands, from sponsorships, if you won two, three, four Stanley cups, with Connor McDavid by your side, putting up a hundred plus points, 30 plus power play points, like. Imagine a world Whereas now you're scrutinized because you have a $14 million contract and you've got two guys who are going to now be making 30 million dollars on your payroll. And how the heck are you supposed to support a team with 23 other guys? Look at the toronto maple east it physically can't work that.
Speaker 1:So now, leon, you want to be the highest paid, so you just one up. So what, connor? He's going to one up you. You know he's already 12 and a half, so that jump from 12 and a half to say 15, three million doesn't matter, he doubles his salary. So now you can take away. I think the difference is, you know, like Evander Kane, he's making five million. So you eliminate Evander Kane, who can slide.
Speaker 2:I think he obviously was- First to third line anywhere Anywhere. He clearly wasn't healthy. Who can slide? I think you know he obviously was first to third line anywhere anywhere.
Speaker 1:Um he clearly wasn't healthy. Um, again, you know, clearly wasn't healthy, but now you might have to remove him from that team moving forward, which you know again the year before he put up, where you know how many goals that's you just changed your whole team and, like you just said, sidney Crosby, I'm going to say 8.7 for home these years. He was a tall million-dollar player all these years. That's a guy who cares about his team.
Speaker 2:And it's actually crazy because the Lightning were basically put together as a team of a bunch of former captains. I don't know if you've seen all like they were sniping, for I think that was probably during the whatever era it was, that Stevie Y was pulling in for the Lightning and it was like they had 15 captains, 15 or 16 previous captains on their team of 25 rostered guys, because they knew if you've got leaders on your roster, you're going to win games. So it's shocking that I guess at a certain point you've got to cut your losses. But I agree with you.
Speaker 1:I am a huge advocate for loyalty. Hedman's been the best teamer for years. What was he making? Yeah, that's true, he took a pay cut right. Vasilevsky, you know and everybody can talk about. You know no state tax and that kind of stuff, but you went and took $8 million in Nashville instead of staying in Tampa where you've been all these years. You could have been retired as a Tampa Bay Lightning. You won two cups. You were a hero in playing those three minutes. What year? That was 9-18 or whatever that was when you scored. You know you had a legendary career set up. Now you took it off that legendary in my mind for money.
Speaker 2:It doesn't happen often that athletes stick with the same team throughout the entire career, like I think of a Dirk Nowitzki, kobe bryan, like you know, in the nhl it doesn't happen often at all nowadays, right, but few and far between, and I think it's again part because you mentioned it earlier.
Speaker 1:it's a business you know, in the salary cap era has has done that. Yeah, right, so I think that might be a? U might be. You asked that question a little bit earlier. I still kind of backtracked. I think that's probably the biggest portion of it is that players cannot stay or don't stay with their teams very often. You know, obviously Chicago Patrick Kane there's very few now because that salary cap limits them to what they do. Obviously, I came in the rear. There's no salary cap. New salary cap limits him to what do you know? I said I came in the rear, there was no salary cap and new york rangers are going to sign whoever, it didn't matter. But now I think it makes it very, very hard and it's going to be moving forward. Very, very rare but somebody stays with that team their whole career was that?
Speaker 2:uh did. I was watching that netflix documentary about joe sackett getting offer sheeted by the Rangers. What went down? There's got to be some D-Rim chats from that.
Speaker 1:Again, you take a look at the salary cap. Error, right, there's always circumventing, there's always way. Obviously talk about Tampa Bay always circumventing the cap. No, they're smart, they get outside the box thinking different ways. Vegas, right, you know, you know it's um. You know, obviously, edmonton. You know those two offer sheets. You know st louis, yeah it's same.
Speaker 1:You know it's, it's a business and you have to, you, you have to attack it. You know. You take a look at, you know, fortune 500 company buying somebody else, or Amazon buying somebody else. That's what it was. There was no limitations. They had the money and they forced their hand, and that's the business side of things. I remember those days. Well, we were still getting paid Canadian dollars and then'd go to the US and lose 30%. It was awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's tough. I feel that pain. Now, 2010, 2011, with the Habs price top goalie you ever played against. If he wasn't, who was Again?
Speaker 1:I played some amazing players. I was against Patrick Waugh in Marty.
Speaker 2:Berner, and you grew up emulating him in your basement.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for a while we had a basement that wasn't finished. So I'd stand on one side of the basement with a hockey stick and a golf ball and a baseball glove and I take a slap shot at the concrete stick, my stick over here and glove save, yeah, not coming back. You know, whatever it was, no equipment on, I do that for hours. But Terry Price, a phenomenal human being, phenomenal goalie, you know the wear and tear on the body when you rely on somebody heavily, like you know, like the Montreal Canes did for years and years, it's a team game and I think that what is very different from the other sports? You don't win with one superstar. You got to have everybody pulling on the same rope and you know Carey Price was counted on. You know too much time and time again. And that body, you know again, we all have bodies. At some point it's going to start breaking down.
Speaker 2:Favorite place to play that hockey brought you over the years.
Speaker 1:Favorite arena, city, favorite place to play that, uh, hockey brought you over the years favorite arena city, you know, probably have to say you know, in new york, msg, just you know the history that comes by it, obviously, uh, you know montreal stands there, um, you know, I missed, I just missed all the old barns. You know the forum and maybe leaf gardening, you know, um, so, so the newer buildings don't bring what they used to. But I have to say obviously MSG walking up the ramp or obviously Molson Center, and then Vancouver during playoff time.
Speaker 1:Dude, that building was rocking. I missed Jam Place. It was that song the White Oats. No memories that I'll never forget, grateful for all my time in Vancouver. My youngest daughter was born there, who's now second year in college. Love my time there. Fans love me. The fans hated me, but I'll never forget my time there.
Speaker 2:Hey, I know one fan for sure. Actually, there was four of us here in the Stark household that were all fans of Brent Sopel. So, hey, I want to thank you for coming on the show man. This has been great. It's an honor to chat with you. I'm grateful that I am able to provide this platform to share your story. I know it's going to impact so many, even if it's just one person. Everyone listening knows that both Brent and I are here with you and, hey, I always leave a bit of space here at the end for people to share their biggest piece of advice to the next generation of athletes. Whether that's a quote, whether that's a book, whether you want to simply say that you're here today to help someone, whatever that is, I want to give you that space and say thank you again for coming on the show man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I appreciate you. There's only one thing you can control is yourself. You can't control your coach, you can't control your mom, your sister, your girlfriend.
Speaker 2:So make sure you look at yourself first in the mirror before you start projecting out Wise words. Brent.
Speaker 1:Silpel, thank you so much for coming on the show, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me. I want to say thank you again to brent for coming on the show. Thanks to perfect sports, our sponsor, for continuously providing us with the number one protein on the market, as well as keeping us hydrated with hydro splash creatine glutamine all your essential supplements for you. Folks. Make sure to use the code ap20 to save 20 at checkout at perfect sportscom. You might as well, because it's the best stuff on the market and you might as well be doing the best you possibly can to perform your best. That includes hitting protein goals. Thank you, folks, for tuning in. I hope you have a great rest of your day. We'll see you next week for another new episode. Bye.
