The Players' Tribune: Patrick O'Sullivan details years of abuse UPDATED with article

[capebretoncanadien]

I watched the fifth estate episode years ago before Patrick ever made it to the NHL.

What a horrible person his dad is hockey is supposed to be fun for kids not an excuse for torturing them and abusing them.

Wish Patrick all the success in the world.

 

[HockeyMomx2]

CBC podcast of his interview on The Current.

At the end, it includes an old Fifth Estate interview of his father.

The more I hear/read/see stuff like this, the more I step back from coaching my kids.

Ditto for my DH. Our now 20 year old, currently playing in college, very clearly remember the game where she got off the ice early from a shift, went to the end of the bench, hurled her guts out into the barrel and was late getting back on the ice for her next shift. He smacked her upside the head with his clipboard and pushed her back down to the bench to sit her for not going over the boards quickly enough. He never saw her puking and assumed she was just being lazy. In her amazing stubborn self way, that just set herself off to prove him wrong and she went on to score a hatty. Afterwards when he watched the tape of the game and saw she had puked just a minute before he lost his mind on her the guilt and disappointment he felt towards himself was like something he had never felt before. He stepped down the next morning and turned the team over to his Assistant Coach. He never coached one of our kids again once they moved on to the upper levels. Best decision he ever made.

 

[BruinsBtn]

I once had beers with an oldtimer who justified it all, saying "yeah, but he made the NHL, right?"

It scared me.

In our poisoned pro-sports-worshiping culture some fathers think it's okay to do this kind of damage to get someone to the big leagues.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Happy to see O'Sullivan vindicated. He had a unique set off pressures on him.

 

[Mario le Magnifique]

Terrible. It makes me wonder how many players became impactful NHLers with this kind of upbringing.

Probably not many. You can't be grown up that way and not suffer repercussions, self confidence problems etc, without going through a long process of rehab and therapy and or you are one mentally tough prodigee.

This is a sad sad story, the guy had the raw talent he just needed adequate support, and he basically got destroyed, it's going to follow him for the rest of his life.

 

[Silentjury]

Hopefully this brings greater awareness to this issue as I fear it may be more prevalent than we like to think. Going to a lot of amateur games, I fear there are some parents out there who may be just as abusive with their words. Nothing wrong with criticizing your child's effort and play but do not demean he/she as a person.

 

[Vaclav Varada]

I remember reffing house league C games when I was younger working my first job. The amount of insane over the top parents of kids in HOUSE C was sickining. Yelling at the refs, at there kids, at the coaches made me sick and feel so bad for these kids that just want to have fun and make some friends.

 

[Voight]

Theo Fleury's dad wasn't as bad, but was also abusive.

 

[mban]

He played a lot of his youth hockey for different towns. His story was well known at that time that his dad was abusive. It's really too bad.

Why didn't anybody do anything?

 

[MrLunatik]

Sounds like his dad was a real P.O.S

 

[OneMoreAstronaut]

Why didn't anybody do anything?

I listened to an interview with him on CBC radio, and this is more or less one of the questions that even he himself asked. His father's behavior wasn't a secret. Things would happen in front of other people and or other parents, at the rink for example, and no one ever did anything to help him.

 

[Lemieuxs]

I listened to an interview with him on CBC radio, and this is more or less one of the questions that even he himself asked. His father's behavior wasn't a secret. Things would happen in front of other people and or other parents, at the rink for example, and no one ever did anything to help him.

The issue is, unless you see this and are ready to go 'full in' and report this to the police etc, then you really are just going to incite the kid's father even more. Not condoning the 'do nothing' stance, but with a certain kind of crazy, there really is either do nothing or do everything as the only options.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Absolute gut-wrenching stuff. It's just a game. Just a ****ing game.

To absolute morons like this. It's not just a game. He was trying to live his failed childhood threw his son and have him come up looking like a huge success by saying he got his son to the NHL.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Poor guy, I know with the Oilers he seemed really anemic to physical play and board battles, now I can see why. Hopefully if/when he has a family of his own he will learn from this and be a great father. There is no excuse for this crap and he is very brave to speak out about it.

 

[tfong]

Theo Fleury's dad wasn't as bad, but was also abusive.

I played against Theo's ballhockey team, he abused the ref so bad and it was a kid ref to like probably 17/18.

 

[xxxx]

So sad this is so common.

I treat my kids like they r the Stanley Cup x1000.

But I am always aware of their friends and classmates.

If I ever get a "gut" feeling I will not hesitate to call someone.

 

[Dhockey16]

Reminds me of Todd Marinovich, Raiders quarterback and 1st round pick back in the early 90's. This sounds even worse though. A restraining order is not placed on the parent of a 16 year without sufficient cause. Hopefully it helps him some to get this out in the open. He can make a few bucks and maybe even help some people along the way. Good for him.

 

[Voight]

Poor guy, I know with the Oilers he seemed really anemic to physical play and board battles, now I can see why. Hopefully if/when he has a family of his own he will learn from this and be a great father. There is no excuse for this crap and he is very brave to speak out about it.

The article did say he has two daughters and he isn't pressuring them at ll to play hockey.

Reminds me of Todd Marinovich, Raiders quarterback and 1st round pick back in the early 90's. This sounds even worse though. A restraining order is not placed on the parent of a 16 year without sufficient cause. Hopefully it helps him some to get this out in the open. He can make a few bucks and maybe even help some people along the way. Good for him.

Marinovich is probably the best comparison outside of hockey.

 

[aemoreira1981]

Bobby Ryans dad was a convicted criminal who went on the run with the family when he (Bobby) was just a kid, so theres another one. Ryan and to change his last name from Stevenson to avoid any connections between the too.

That is slightly different as that was for fraud, but not abuse of his son. That is also why Bobby Ryan played junior hockey in Owen Sound, the smallest OHL market.

 

[Voight]

That is slightly different as that was for fraud, but not abuse of his son. That is also why Bobby Ryan played junior hockey in Owen Sound, the smallest OHL market.

Im aware, but its still traumatic for a child to see police raid his house and take away his father.

 

[shaner8989]

Played against him for years. He was one of the most talented players I had ever seen. Glad to see him doing well and dealing with the bs he went through

 

[IBleedOil247]

About 3/4 of the way through the book. It is quite shocking how much went on in his childhood without other parents/coaches reporting to authorities. So many people turn a blind eye and it is terrible to think that a child is going through stuff like this...

The part about Spam and Baked Beans is absolutely disgusting. That was hard to read.

The one thing that I have been very surprised to note in this book is his take on Marc Crawford. He was very candid about his distain for Crow and what kind of person he was. Not sure if that is common knowledge but I was actually quite shocked to read that chapter in the book.

His take on his stint in Edmonton does not surprise me at all however. As an Oiler fan, it is terrible to read a players accounts of time spent in Edmonton. For a period (I hope it is behind us now) it is amazingly obvious how disfunctional of an orginization the Oilers were. Him reaching out to Tambo for help and for him to just ignore and buyout his contract is rediculous.

 

[sharks9]

Black & Blue by Patrick O'Sullivan - Player's Tribune

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/patrick-osullivan-nhl-abuse/

One of the most intense ones I've read. It's crazy what people will do if they think it'll help their kid make the NHL

 

[Suiteness]

Damn, that was shocking to read to say the least.

Father of two young boys here, I can't, for the life of me, understand how nobody lifted a finger to help him. HIS OWN FREAKING MOTHER did nothing. That's the part that kills me.

 

[Vashanesh]

Damn, that was shocking to read to say the least.

Father of two young boys here, I can't, for the life of me, understand how nobody lifted a finger to help him. HIS OWN FREAKING MOTHER did nothing. That's the part that kills me.

Fear and shame make people do crazy things.

I really, truly hope that Patrick is happy, now. It seemed pretty clear that, no matter what he did in the NHL, it wasn't the right place for him to be happy with who he was.

I also hope that his dad knows what a worthless pile of scum he is for doing this to his own son. It's disgusting.