It goes without saying that life, when in the NHL, isn’t all that bad.
Playing before 20,000-plus fans, seeing your highlights on TV or spreading like wildfire through social media, the fancy hotels and chartered flights on away trips, world-class facilities, and sponsorships with equipment brands — things could be worse. But when those playing days come to an end — as they do for all players — an impasse of sorts rolls around.
The next chapter in life, leaving behind the rinks in search of a new identity, can be difficult. Just ask Ryan Whitney (Scituate, Mass.), the former Boston University star defensemen who enjoyed a 13-year pro career in the U.S. and overseas.
“Say you play until you’re 30 and you started playing hockey at 8 or 9; that’s 20 or 25 years where you only know one thing,” Whitney said. “If you went to school and got your degree, great, but you’ve had this lifestyle and way of life for so long. When it ends, reality slaps you in the face where you’re not all that important anymore. You’re just like anyone else and not getting recognized and those different perks go out the window. It’s hard for guys to go into the next chapter.”
It’s not hyperbole from Whitney, either, when saying ex-players struggle, often for health reasons, mental or physical.
Perhaps no better example comes from former Boston Bruins center Marc Savard, whose story is well-known in the hockey world. After two life-altering concussions in the late 2000s, Savard disappeared from the media spotlight until a 2016 article in The Boston Globe that starts with him saying, “I still should be playing.”
Meanwhile, former NHLer Daniel Carcillo has created a video and written series on The Players’ Tribune that chronicles the mental demons that hockey-induced concussions unleashed. The playing lifestyle is glorious at times, sure, but what comes after can take a 180-degree turn.
Billy Ryan (Milton, Mass.), a center at the University of Maine in the mid-2000s who was a New York Rangers' draft pick, said he’s seen it firsthand with friends.
“You start getting bored, really,” Ryan said. “You don’t have a job, you don’t have experience in any other trade. A lot of guys don’t have college degrees or even a high school degree, so they start turning to drinks or something like that. Guys don’t always know the next step to take.”
But that next step doesn’t have to turn south. Far from it.
And for a group of five hockey guys who have all found their way to Milton, Mass. — Buffalo Sabres assistant general manager Steve Greeley (Scituate, Mass.), Nashville Predators assistant coach Dan Muse (Canton, Mass.), Whitney, Ryan and the latter’s older brother, Mike Ryan — new beginnings are taking hold.
All under 40 and no more than a dozen years removed from playing, they’re carving out niches in the hockey world. There was something magnetic about the game, they all agreed, a pull they couldn’t ignore.
Muse is the first to admit his playing career was nothing glorious. He starred at Canton (Mass.) High School for Buddy Yandle, father of Florida Panthers star defenseman Keith Yandle (Milton, Mass.), then played four years at Stonehill College in North Easton, Mass. He was a criminal justice major in college and figured he’d become a lawyer or a cop once he hung up his skates.
That’s why he applied to Suffolk Law School, right in the heart of Boston. It seemed the next logical step, but an open house quickly changed his mind.
“I walked out and said to my parents, ‘I’m not going to do this. That wasn’t for me. I just spent the two hours talking college hockey with a law professor,’ ” Muse, now 36, recalled. “That’s where my head was at.”
For Muse, the common denominator was hockey, and coaching seemed the next logical step. Muse’s decision was spot on, as he’s since gone on a meteoric rise through the coaching world.
First came Milton Academy in the prep ranks, then an assistant job at Division 3 program Williams, a brief stop at Sacred Heart, several years under Keith Allain at Yale (including their national title in 2013), a rebuilding stop at the USHL’s Chicago Steel that ended with capturing a Clark Cup, and now life in Nashville.
So what was key to reaching the Music City? Muse heaps all credit on those who gave him a helping hand, his connections in the hockey world.
Through his climb up the coaching ranks, Muse got to know the late Jim Johannson at USA Hockey. The Predators were searching for an assistant, and Johansson, close with Allain (Worcester, Mass.) from his involvement with the sport’s national body, brought up Muse’s name. They shared common connections with Nashville coach Peter Laviolette (Franklin, Mass.) and GM David Poile, a former Northeastern captain. The rest, well, is history.
“It’s a small world and if you work hard and show you’re a good person and run through a wall to help the people and players and organization you work for, good things will happen,” Muse said. “It doesn’t always work that way, but you have to put the work in and be ready to take advantage of it.”
Greeley, 37, also preached the importance of personal relationships in jumpstarting a career post-playing days. A four-year forward at BU, Greeley’s pro career was short-lived, bouncing around the ECHL during the 2004-05 season.
A sociology major at BU, Greeley briefly found his way into finance, all along quietly sending emails and letters to GMs around the hockey world, trying to get his foot in the door. Dean Lombardi (Holyoke, Mass.) was just starting as GM and president of the Los Angeles Kings and he bit. Greeley become an amateur scout.
“That’s when things really started going for me in the hockey world,” Greeley said.
Since, Greeley has ascended through front offices. He was hired as an assistant by David Quinn (Cranston, R.I.) when he took over as BU coach from Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.), then became director of player personnel with the New York Rangers during Jeff Gorton’s first year as GM. When Jason Botterill took the GM role in Buffalo for 2017-18, Greeley again found himself with another new chance, becoming assistant GM.
“This isn’t a corporate America thing where there’s a chain of events where you’re guaranteed the next job or promised anything,” Greeley said. “For me, I’ve never known when my next opportunity is going to come. They did happen quickly with BU to the Rangers to Buffalo, but whenever I’ve taken a job I’ve taken it with the belief I see myself there for a long time.”
Greeley said he’s committed to Buffalo but also would love to step into a GM role one day. If that comes up, odds are a connection will push the door ajar.
Mike Ryan, 38 and in a player development role with the Florida Panthers organization, considers himself lucky. He has a wife and four kids, so when his 13-year playing career wrapped up — including three of the final four seasons in Finland’s SM-liiga — he was hoping to stay local.
Missed family time was part and parcel of the job, but spells away were becoming too much.
“Really, I just thought I’d do something part time to start,” Ryan said. “Try to get back on my feet.”
So Ryan found himself out at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, talking to some contacts in front offices around the league. A part-time development role started to materialize, and then he connected with Geordie Kinnear, incoming head coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Panthers’ AHL affiliate.
Kinnear had coached Ryan while both were with the AHL’s Albany River Rats, and an assistant coach job was offered up. It didn’t pay too much, but it was a start — and one close to home. Most importantly, Ryan said, he didn’t have to relocate his family or entirely change his life around.
That realization — that you have to start from scratch, just like during your playing days — is hard to accept for some guys. Ryan recalled a recent conversation with an unnamed friend who was playing in Europe for whom things didn’t quite fall into line.
“He has enough money from playing to get by for a couple years, but he doesn’t want to change his lifestyle,” Ryan said. “Unless you’re Chris Pronger, you’re not stepping right out of the game and into management. Or even a guy like (Jarome) Iginla, he could land something if he wants it.”
Added Billy Ryan: “You have to start from scratch almost. You have to be willing to put in the time and move your family and take a financial hit, swallow your pride a bit.”
The family part, when you’re in your 30s and etching out in the hockey world, weighs large. The Ryan brothers haven’t had to relocate, nor has Greeley. He largely works out of Milton and can take a flight from Logan Airport to the Sabres or overseas when need be. Otherwise, he’s at home taking calls with Botterill, watching games, and seeing his kids grow up.
“We’ve never moved,” Greeley said. “I’m pretty lucky in that way.”
The same goes for Milton resident Whitney, 35, whose next chapter has gone down a different path. Whether it was with the Pittsburgh Penguins or Edmonton Oilers, Whitney always tried to keep the locker room mood upbeat. With self-deprecating humor or razzing teammates, he was quick to stir up the laughs, all in good fun.
“I was the class clown in eighth grade and I remember my dad was so mad,” Whitney said. “I didn’t really understand at the time, but now I can see why.”
That personality ensured Whitney, with a wife and a 9-month-old son, could find work near home. Besides appearing on NHL Network — which was partially landed via a connection with former NESN host Kathryn Tappen — Whitney’s media career has taken off. He, alongside Paul Bissonnette, hosts the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast on Barstool Sports.
The whole concept began when Whitney linked up with Rear Admiral, a Boston Bruins blogger on Barstool. They found success with some early podcasts, and the show eventually transitioned to Whitney and Bissonnette hosting, tapping into their connections throughout the hockey world.
The podcasts are seldom created in person, so Whitney will record from his couch with no more than a headset, microphone and app. That’s also allowed Whitney to keep up his golfing hobby but also have local NHL stars come by as guests, leading to better banter.
A personal favorite? When he was in person with locals Yandle and Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), a forward for the New York Rangers.
“That’s the episode I got the most texts and compliments about,” Whitney said. “But hockey guys are such great people and they like telling their stories. I’d like to think people really enjoy coming on.”
With nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter and more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, Whitney sure has a good thing going. The best part, he says, is seeing his family grow in the city he lives.
“I’m honestly blessed to have this,” Whitney said.
When your playing career comes to an end, Billy Ryan said, it’s easy to feel sorry for yourself. All you’ve come to know disappears, and, if you’re a pro, the money you’ve made lasts for only so long.
That’s why Ryan, 32, jumped right into coaching at Cushing Academy and then with the Junior Bruins. He’s since become an amateur scout with Florida and has some advice for those entering this next stage.
“The biggest thing for me was not taking any time off,” Ryan, working toward his masters in sports management at Georgetown, said. “Even if it’s coaching high school or something, you shouldn’t sit back and think about it. You have to get back in the game some way, whether it’s helping out a junior team or going into the high school level or getting a part-time job doing something with a NHL team.
“A lot of guys come home and sit around for a couple years wondering what they should do,” Ryan continued. “But you have to reach out to your contacts and get anything going, get involved with the game again.”
There’s never any knowing where the next destination is, and there are only so many NHL jobs out there with 31 NHL franchises. Further, the work might come in college, preps, high school or juniors, and it might just be temporary.
That last part is something Whitney, who said he has no desire to coach, holds true to heart.
“The best piece of advice came from a guy I played college hockey with,” Whitney said. “He said, ‘No matter what you do, that doesn’t have to be what you do forever.’ Some guys say, ‘I have to get a job and that’s the next 30 years,’ but maybe you do seven or eight things before you find your passion. It doesn’t have to come right away.”
It’s almost like a college graduate starting leaving behind school, all they’ve known for the last 15-plus years. The first job comes, and maybe many zigs and zags follow suit.
And when stability settles in, possibly taking a moment to reflect how far you’ve come in the game you love.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t realize how lucky I am to be working at the NHL level and doing what I’m doing,” Greeley said. “The reality is, as far as a professional career, I’m doing what I always dreamed of.”
Added Muse: “No question, you appreciate where you are and all the stops along the way before this.”
For hockey folks, this next chapter isn’t always glorious. Not by any means. But these five guys, all with roots in Milton, Mass., show new beginnings aren’t that bad after all.
