After Drouin, another Habs player hints at mental health struggles

I think we can all relate…

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
After Drouin, another Habs player hints at mental health struggles
Twitter

Jonathan Drouin was very courageous when he revealed that he left the team last April due to insomnia caused by his anxiety. The Montreal Canadiens forward told TSN/RDS in an interview Monday that he’s been dealing with the issue for many years, and his breaking point came during a road trip last season.

Drouin missed the entire Montreal Canadien’s run to the Stanley Cup final, which they ended up losing in five games to the Lightning in Tampa Bay. Back in late April, the Canadiens announced that Drouin would take an indefinite leave of absence from the team for personal reasons. Then-teammate Phillip Danault, also a French-speaking player from the province of Quebec, had opened up about what might be hurting Drouin and how serious this is, speaking about bullying and mental health issues. It was clear that Drouin’s mental health needed a break from all of the pressure that has been placed on his shoulders.  Drouin has not played since April 21st against the Edmonton Oilers. During warm-ups of the next game, he was seen speaking with team trainers and did not return to take part in the contest. He has since missed Montreal’s last three games as he has dealt with a “non-COVID illness.” He spent all of this time, alone, in his hotel room… In 44 games this season, Drouin scored two goals and added 21 assists.

“That’s where it hit a wall for me. It was time to step away from the game. Literally take a step back from everything and enjoy life,” said Drouin, making his first public comments about his leave of absence. “It was hard for me to do at that time — obviously, the playoffs were coming around.”
“It wasn’t an easy thing to do. But I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’m happy I did it,” he said. “It’s hard to step away and watch all the guys. But at that time, I made my decision and stuck with it.”

And it did him good seeing that Drouin will now take part in Canadiens training camp, which officially begins on Wednesday. His courage to admit that he was not well mentally has prompted teammate Tyler Toffoli to admit on the air of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliotte Friedman that the past season with the COVID pandemic and restrictions was the hardest of his career, especially for his mental health. He mentioned how he felt isolated, seeing his wife handling all of the errands and chores outside of the house, while he had to stay safe in order to keep playing. The condensed schedule didn’t help either… 

This is huge for players to speak publicly about mental health and especially the impact of the pandemic on everyone. Toffoli was likely encouraged by Drouin to speak out and get fans to know that they are not the only ones struggling with how COVID-19 and the past years have be tough to handle. 

Toffoli sounds ready to go for the upcoming season, thanks to better protocols and vaccination. He probably feels better to have put it out there and now able to focus on the game.

Source: Sportsnet