Ronnie Bitman retweetledi
I retired from playing professional hockey in 2021.
I started playing professionally in 2011 after I signed a contract with the Florida Panthers and decided to leave the University of Denver after only three seasons.
I felt completely “burnt out” when I decided to stop playing and could not understand why, after playing professionally for only 10 seasons. I always thought I was going to be the guy who played until he was 40. Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, Derek Armstrong, who helped me crystallize my thoughts on why this occurred. Derek and I had very similar skill sets and talent levels.
Let’s begin by comparing our careers:
Derek: 17 years pro, 477 NHL games, 1,015 pro games, retired at 37.
Drew: 10 years pro, 99 NHL games, 322 pro games (a million healthy scratches), retired at 30.
From the time I was three years old, I shot pucks every day. I did this because I thought I had to in order to make the NHL. Derek shot pucks every day because he thought it was fun and genuinely enjoyed it.
I moved away from home when I was 13 to play hockey in Vancouver, and that was the year I mentally made hockey a job. I never once felt any pressure from either of my parents; this was simply the way I was wired at an early age. Derek played with his buddies every day on a pond until he turned 18. He didn’t think hockey was a job until his first NHL game at 20 years old.
This is an important lesson for both players and parents. I now realize that when I retired at 30, I felt exhausted because I had been treating the game like a profession for 17 seasons.
It is impossible to reach the pinnacle of any profession without years of hard work. The best players love their work. They enjoy every part of the game, which enables them to sustain energy and be successful for many years.
You have to find a way to fall in love with the daily grind, or else long-term success is impossible. This applies to sports and everything else in life.
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