THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER—NOW IN PAPERBACK

A riveting look behind the mask of an NHL goalie, The Save of My Life offers understanding and hope to anyone living with mental illness

By the time he was twenty-two years old, goaltender Corey Hirsch had realized his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, won an Olympic medal and drunk from the Stanley Cup. While he excelled on the ice, out of the net Hirsch was plagued by persistent dark thoughts. On days when he could barely get out of bed, he was able to push aside the endless loop of dark thoughts running inside his brain long enough to win a game. But as soon as he got back home, the agonizing cycle started all over again. And it continued, until finally he was able to confide in a team trainer who helped him get the professional treatment he needed.

Diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Hirsch was able to embark on the rocky road to recovery. As one of the first professional athletes to talk openly about mental health, Hirsch wrote about his OCD for the Players’ Tribune. His piece remains one of the site’s most-read articles. As Hirsch says, “I am not insane. I am not a bad person. I am not weak. I have an illness, and there is a treatment.”

In 1994, COREY HIRSCH won the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers as well as a silver medal at the Olympics. Born in Medicine Hat and raised in Calgary, he was drafted by the New York Rangers and played for many seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. After retiring from play, Hirsch became an NHL coach for elite goaltenders and prospects, and later an analyst with Sportsnet. Dedicated to ending the stigma of mental health, he became the national youth ambassador for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and a co-host of The Players’ Tribune podcast, Blindsided. Visit him at coreyhirsch.com.

Corey Hirsch's profile page

SEAN CONBOY is the editor-in-chief of the Players’ Tribune. When the company launched in 2014, he was one of its founding editors He has worked hand-in-hand on award-winning essays with some of the world’s top athletes, including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love, Allen Iverson, Russell Wilson, Damian Lillard, A’ja Wilson, Megan Rapinoe, Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling. He has also directed some of the Players’ Tribune’s groundbreaking video features, including one about NBA legend Lamar Odom opening up about drug addiction and depression. Prior to joining the Players’ Tribune, Conboy was a contributing writer for Wired magazine.

Sean Patrick Conboy's profile page