McKenna’s Mailbag: Answers about post-playing careers, Matt Murray & more
Hey @DailyFaceoff... #AskMcKenna What kind of protection does the nhlpa offer to guys who were to unfortunately have thier careers cut short? Job training, pension, etc? Is the job insurance expensive? Thanks in advance if you decide to elaborate on these, it's intriguing.
Protection is a hard word to define. Historically the NHLPA hasn’t done much to help players in transition after they finish playing, but the NHL Alumni Association is changing that. There’s now a formal transition program that players – and their spouses – can sign up for. It makes online education, mentorship and career development readily available to former players.
The PHPA, which represents players in the AHL and ECHL, has a Career Enhancement Program that’s been in place for several decades. It’s available to all current and former PHPA members. Quite a few players have taken online classes while playing and received meaningful career training through it.
As for disability insurance, yes it is very expensive for hockey players. Some choose to purchase it. Others do not. For most of my career I didn’t make enough money to justify it – but I also have a college degree in my back pocket. I knew I could fall back on that if I ever got hurt. For players without secondary education, it might make more sense. Depending on your contract, disability insurance can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
In order to receive an annual pension equal to the maximum permitted under the U.S. tax code, a player needs to accumulate the equivalent of 10 full seasons in the league. That’s in accordance with the current NHL – NHLPA CBA. Players with less than 10 full years will receive a prorated pension. So there’s certainly some protection – but it’s weighed towards long-time NHLers.
@DailyFaceoff Honest question Mike, one I wish more interviewers asked: do you remember the moment when you realized that it was no longer a game and now your job?#AskMcKenna
I knew it the first day I arrived for training camp after finishing my college career!
Receiving a paycheck is pretty amazing. And it drives home the seriousness needed to be successful. Even at the ECHL level, that $450 meant something. I still have my first contract somewhere in storage.
But here’s the catch: hockey was always a game to me. I never expected my career and it kept going far longer than I ever thought it would. I figured that I’d play a few years in the ECHL and see if I could make it up to the AHL. If that didn’t work out, I planned on going to Europe for a few seasons before retiring.
It turned into a 14-year professional career, all in North America.
The key to my thought process: I went to school. Having a college degree was important to me. I never thought hockey was a realistic career goal and I wanted to have my bases covered.
What that did was let me enjoy playing without the added pressure of not knowing what would come next in life once the game was finished with me. Even now, that piece of mind is real. I didn’t have to be a broadcaster. I don’t have to work in the media. There are so many things I could do outside hockey – most of which relate to my schooling. I had internships in finance. I built relationships and networked. But hockey is my first love.
#AskMcKenna Hi, Mike. When should a coach switch goalies versus leaving the starter in? I've been surprised recently by both an early goalie swap as well as games where the starter has been allowed to stay despite allowing 6+ goals. How does the coach decide?
There are so many factors, it’s hard to give a blanket statement on this topic. And that’s really the answer — varies.
Some coaches believe pulling the goaltender wakes their team up. They’re trying to change momentum and stop the bleeding. Other times a goalie will get the hook purely on performance. And the best-worst-case scenario: the mercy pull. When a team is just so awful that it’s time for the coach to get the starter out of the net before it kills his confidence.
I always wanted to stay in the game and battle. I didn’t like the feeling of allowing a few quick goals and not being able to dig myself out. If I was a coach, I’d let my goalie stay in and battle – unless they were clearly struggling. And I would most often make any goalie change between periods.
It seems like three goals against is the magic number for most coaches, especially in the first period. By the time the second goal goes in, TV cameras are fixated on the backup goaltender. Which, by the way, drives me crazy. It’s like a foregone conclusion that the starter is going to get the hook. And fans feed off that drama.
If a goalie makes it past the first period, chances are they will finish the game. But if a team is down by four or five goals in the third, it might be the right time to take pity on the starting goalie and get him out of there. The classic mercy pull.
For most goalies, we can feel the pull coming. We don’t need any visual or verbal cues. We just know.
#AskMcKenna. Mike, What does Matt Murray need to do in order to make it back to the NHL? What happened? Is skating/movement/positioning the issue? Is it similar to Scott Darling?
#AskMcKenna. Mike, What does Matt Murray need to do in order to make it back to the NHL? What happened? Is skating/movement/positioning the issue? Is it similar to Scott Darling?
Murray is back in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, so we can check that off the list. For me, Murray’s game began to deteriorate several years ago. Teams figured out that he can get lazy in his post integrations and end up blocking. He started to get roasted on bad angle goals. And Murray’s puck tracking really took a turn for the worse.
When Murray first got to the AHL, he was unbelievable. But that was also in 2014-15. Goaltending has evolved a fair amount since then.
I think Murray trusts his technical game to a fault. And that makes him – at times – too passive. He ends up blocking when he should be reacting. He stops tracking the puck. And he has a bad tendency to stop skating as the puck moves down the wing. It can lead to Murray being off-angle when the shot is taken. He has a strong technical base, but he needs to free himself up. Use those arms. React to shots. Don’t get locked into post-integrations.
But what Murray needs most? A good team in front of him. Ottawa has had a string of underperforming goaltenders – myself included – not named Craig Anderson. So it begs the question: is it the team, or the goaltender? In the Senators case, I think it’s been the team. They don’t have the talent or experience necessary to defend at the NHL level. But Murray has not made much of a case for himself.
#AskMcKenna hey @MikeMcKenna56 judging by the way Canada has handled the Covid protocol with all the hockey teams vs the way the U.S has handled it, with there being virtually no end in sight, would you think that players will rather play in a US market?
I think there’s a very real chance that this summer’s UFAs avoid Canadian teams. Canada has approached the COVID pandemic in such a different manner than the United States and the players are keenly aware. They routinely travel between the two countries and see first hand the liberty experienced in most of America. It’s in stark contrast to all the protocols and regulations that have been enacted north of the border.
So many of my friends playing for Canadian teams have had enough. They don’t know where or when they’ll play next. And it’s because the Canadian government – be it provincial or national – made a snap decision to either reduce or eliminate fans in arenas.
It’s an untenable situation for NHL teams from a financial standpoint. And it’s emotionally untenable for the players. There’s a real fear among the players that a 60-day road trip might be coming for Canadian teams. Or that they might end up having to move to the United States for the remainder of the year.
No one wants to go months on end without seeing family. Wives. Kids. Relatives. And the potential of that happening is far greater in Canada than in the United States.
Who’s going to sign up for that? Desperate players. That’s it.
Forgive me. I’m a goalie. 😁 #AskMcKenna What are your thoughts of the outdoor games?
There’s two things in my career – aside from winning a Stanley Cup or Calder Cup – that I really wish I had the chance to experience: wearing the Team USA jersey and playing in an outdoor game.
The Philadelphia Flyers sent me to the AHL less than a week before the 2019 Stadium Series game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I knew it was going to happen. But it saddened me. I was already planning on retiring at the end of the season and it was my last chance at an outdoor game. It just wasn’t meant to be.
Why? Because they’re just so cool. Outdoor games are pure. It’s the roots of hockey. The game is meant to be played outside on a frozen pond. All things I never really got to experience much growing up in St. Louis.
Yes, we had outdoor rinks. But it was always structured. It wasn’t just the pond. To me, there’s something whimsical about the NHL outdoor games. Players and families revel in the festivities. Fans go bonkers. They’re a celebration.
I love outdoor games. I still hope that someday I get to be a part of one.