Post-career NHL-ers who "M.C. Hammered" their money and lost it all

[wetcoast]

Rob Gronkowski should teach classes for pro athletes on how to live below their salary and invest for retirement.

Sean Avery as well.

 

[wetcoast]

I also saw the Brashear Tim Hortons connection in the news today. The story said that he's also been in court recently facing charges of mischief and drug possession. Not quite the same situation as Crosby's and MacKinnon's time working at Tim Hortons.

While Brashear's case is sad, it's more like an ambassador type of media thing more than working behind the counter as I heard it.

Not that far removed from former NHLer's (or even current ones) making "guest" appearances to sell anything.

 

[Voight]

Sean Avery as well.

Which is amazing because he never made close to what Gronk makes, yet he was smart enough to save & invest it.

 

[JackSlater]

While Brashear's case is sad, it's more like an ambassador type of media thing more than working behind the counter as I heard it.

Not that far removed from former NHLer's (or even current ones) making "guest" appearances to sell anything.

Maybe, though I'm not sure that it is what the story implies.

Former NHL enforcer Donald Brashear is working at a Tim Hortons in Quebec

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Joe Murphy definitely fits the bill.

 

[sr edler]

Suffering from mental health issues, and not being able to take care of yourself properly because of it, like seems to be the case with Joe Murphy, is very far removed from just throwing away tons and tons of money on private jets, hookers, drugs (for fun, not because your addicted), houses you don't even live in or rent out, 240 pairs of Air Jordan's, and 13 pink Lamborghinis just because you want to live a lavish lifestyle and impress on people with superficiality.

 

[Nick Hansen]

I don't know how much money Jere Karalahti did in the NHL but you've gotta imagine he's squandered that.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yes, owned by former teammate Pierre Sevigny:

L’ex-hockeyeur Donald Brashear sert du café au Tim Hortons

Dovetails with the hockey card promo.

sad how the canadian media took a guy helping out his former teammate by throwing him some cash for a publicity stunt to mean spiritedly point at and shame a former player down on his luck. much like this thread

 

[BenchBrawl]

sad how the canadian media took a guy helping out his former teammate by throwing him some cash for a publicity stunt to mean spiritedly point at and shame a former player down on his luck. much like this thread

I kindda agree—even without knowing the actual behind-closed-doors story. Actually, the purpose of this thread itself makes me uncomfortable in a vague way. Even if most of what happens to ex-NHLer is more or less public record, just bringing attention to it when it's a personal disaster makes me uneasy.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Rob Gronkowski should teach classes for pro athletes on how to live below their salary and invest for retirement.

And Chamillionaire (of Ridin’ Dirty fame) should do the same for other rappers

 

[crobro]

DId Ed Balfour invest his billion that the police officer refused

 

[Big Phil]

I don't think that Orr counts really when his issue was more his agent stealing, or not telling him the truth about his options, than blowing money. He was offered 18.5% ownership of the Bruins (worth nearly 200 million today) and never knew.

Doug Harvey however was apparently homeless in the 1980s, primarily due to alcoholism and other factors.

That one with Harvey I understand. The players didn't make that sort of money and Harvey eventually bent over for the NHL and stopped pushing the union back in the 1950s. He wasn't making millions, not even taking inflation into account. So when a player from the original 6 goes bankrupt that is a lot different than one from this century.

The Orr thing was always just sad I thought and a prime example of how you should never 100% trust your agent. I mean, think of it this way, if Bobby Orr just literally walks into Harry Sinden's office and says: "Hey Harry, you really want to let me go?" Sinden responds and says "What are you talking about Bobby? Didn't Alan tell you about the part ownership thing?"

 

[Whaleafs]

In the summer of ‘72 Derek Sanderson signed the richest contract in professional sports history at the time ($2.6M)

From his Wikipedia page:

During his career, Sanderson made many bad investments and lost millions of dollars; he was broke when he retired and had substance abuse problems. He wound up penniless, one time sleeping on a New York City park bench, and in poor health. Several years after Sanderson's retirement, Bobby Orr spent his own money to check Sanderson and several other former Bruins into rehab.

 

[Tarantula]

In the summer of ‘72 Derek Sanderson signed the richest contract in professional sports history at the time ($2.6M)

From his Wikipedia page:

During his career, Sanderson made many bad investments and lost millions of dollars; he was broke when he retired and had substance abuse problems. He wound up penniless, one time sleeping on a New York City park bench, and in poor health. Several years after Sanderson's retirement, Bobby Orr spent his own money to check Sanderson and several other former Bruins into rehab.

This has been well documented. Sanderson himself told a story of when he was down and out in the park and another fellow had some booze and berated Sanderson when he asked for some since he at one point had it all and threw it away. Think that was one of his turning points.

Addiction is a real beast, indeed.

 

[crobro]

Barry Beck was pretty much dead broke in the mid 2000’s

 

[boyko10]

Tell us more please.

Btw. Roman Cechmanek
Something is here, but thats not the full story. According to Czech media, he also divorced with his wife, that he met when he was only 17 years old. He had also a very sick son, he must care. And to be it even worse, he actually doesnt have any job, lives from state support.

Did the divorce happen during his NHL days? He kinda just disappeared. Was surprised I thought he was good enough to still earn a spot.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

So, I'm wondering: Which former NHL players mismanaged their money badly?

Players already mentioned in this thread

Bryan Trottier
Theo Fleury
Darren McCarty
Sergei Fedorov
Jack Johnson
Joe Murphy
Stephen Peat
Chris Simon
Bobby Orr
Kevin Stevens
Bob Probert
Chris Nilan
Sean Burke (Len Barrie real-estate)
Mike Vernon (dito)
Joe Nieuwendyk (dito)
Gary Roberts (dito)
Rob Blake (dito)
Ray Whitney (dito)
Jaromir Jagr
Mike Modano
Donald Brashear
Glenn Anderson
Roman Cechmanek
Doug Harvey
Jere Karalahti
Derek Sanderson
Barry Beck

Some players not mentioned yet, that one way or another ended up in financial straits.
Most players lost their money due to booze, drugs, gambling and prostitutes, but there are of course a bunch of players who made bad financial investments.

Rudy Poeschek - An enforcer who played in the NHL between 1988 and 2000. He lost all his NHL earnings in the stock market. He also battled addiction to painkillers, suffers from extreme memory and hearing loss. He was arrested numerous times after his playing career ended, and had to spend time in jail.

Patrick Côté – A pretty high draft pick who scored one goal in 105 NHL games. He earned more than 2 million dollars (US) in his career, but got arrested with 30 pounds of weed in his car a year after his last NHL game. Years later he was jailed for having robbed two banks in Montreal. While in prison he was shot (not fatally) by prison guards after he tried to strangle another prisoner.

Matt Johnson – A former enforcer in the NHL. As of at least 2017 he was homeless and living on the beach of Santa Monica. He hadn’t seen his parents for more than a decade at that point. Johnson struggled with mental health issues since he was a teenager, but his mental health detoriated as the years went by.
On top of that he battled alcohol and substance abuse. It is believed that he might suffer from CTE.

Ian White – Played his last NHL game in 2013 and retired from hockey in 2015. While being an active player, he was arrested twice for DUI and once for driving with a suspended license. Only months after his retirement in 2015, he was arrested on multiple weapons-related charges. At that time he was quickly running out of money and could no longer afford to live in his house. His marriage was falling apart, he battled paranoia, and he was also addicted to painkillers.

John Kordic – Steroid and cocaine use, plus the death of his father spiraled him out of control. His cocaine habit snowballed after his father died and he even had to ask the Maple Leafs for an advance on his salary several times. He was chronically out of cash. In both Toronto and Québec he was constantly hanging around hookers and druggies. After his playing career he was low on money and floated from motel to motel. On the night of his death he was high on a cocktail of steroids, coke and booze.
He was so aggressive and strong (238 Ibs) that the police needed nine men to overpower him.

Chapman ”Hobie” Kitchen – In the 1920s he was an NHL player with Montreal Maroons and Detroit Cougars. He most likely suffered from some mental illness. He behaved eratically, missing several practices and was out of hockey by the age of 25. His last known whereabout was outside MSG in 1934, when his former teammate Frank Fredrickson ran into him. Fredrickson didn’t recognize his old teammate and it soon became clear that Kitchen was a vagrant living on the streets of New York. Nobody knows what happened to Kitchen after that, and he is to this date the only former NHL’er whose death year/date is unknown.

Aleksei Yegorov – He played briefly in the NHL with San José Sharks in 1996 and 1997.
His heroin addiction began when he played in the minor leagues in 1999. Soon after that he was back in Europe. He earned less than 400 thousand dollars in North America, and probably something north of 500 during his career. Yegorov tried to kick his habit, but unfortunately had a relapse when he returned to Russia. Soon he owned money to local drug dealers who seized his passport as collateral. When he was unable to come up with any money, he got beat up and fell down a flight of stairs. In a desperate attempt to escape his assailants he made a fatal jump out of a window. He was 26 at the time of his death.

Réal Chevrefils – He played in the NHL during the 1950s and battled alcohol addiction for many years, but it escalated when he separated from his wife. After his retirement from hockey he lived on a couple of hundred dollars per month (NHL pension + a special fund for needy ex-NHL’ers). He was homeless for long stretches and spent time at homeless shelters in the Windsor area, occasionally shoveling snow for less than a dollar per hour with other men from the shelter.

Brian Spencer – ”Spinner” Spencer, a crowd favorite lived in the fast lane for many years. He was only 21 when his father was killed in a shootout with the police. Spinner was going to appear in his first televised NHL game (playing for the Maple Leafs) and was to be interviewed between periods. The game on HNIC was changed and an infuriated Spencer Sr. drove to the closest TV-station and ordered the local staff at gunpoint to air the Maple Leafs game instead. Shortly thereafter Spencer Sr. was killed after a brief stand-off. After Spinners hockey career was over, he pretty much lost all his money to booze and drugs.
He was later charged with kidnapping and murder, but was aquitted. A few months after his aquittal he was shot to death in a robbery while buying crack cocaine.

Jacques Richard – He played 10 seasons in the NHL and had one monster season when he had 52 goals and 103 points with Québec. He already got in trouble after his fourth NHL season. In the summer of 1976 he was shot at a bar in Québec. Miraculously the bullet passed through the leg of Richard's pants without hitting him. A few months later he was arrested on a DUI charge. Richard eventually retired from the NHL in 1983. Soon he was snorting four grams of coke per day (according to him). It was reported that he spent up to $ 100 k per year on his addiction. He spent his last money on buying 80 percent pure cocaine in Colombia in 1989. He of course got caught at the airport in Montréal, and was sentenced to seven years in prison (He only served 14 months). At this point he was broke and a few years later he was caught shoplifting a pair of sneakers from a discount store. Richard was killed in a car accident at the age of 50.
In the car the police found cocaine.

Kaspars Astašenko – Enjoyed a brief NHL career during parts of two seasons in 2000 and 2001. While playing in the AHL in 2003, the police found heroin in his pants during a car search. That was the end of his North American career. His drug addiction spiraled out of control in later years, and he often called friends to borrow money, so that he could buy drugs and alcohol. At the age of 37 he was found dead in a drug infested area of Riga. The police later said that he died of a drug overdose (massive amount in his blood).

Paul Nicholson – In the 1970s he played three NHL seasons with Washington. He committed suicide at the age of 57 after having battled with severe depression for many years.
The depression seems to have been triggered by poor financial decisions that he made over the years. Instead of investing into Tim Horton’s franchise, he chose to pour money into a hockey school.

Steve Durbano – Nicknamed ”Mental Case” for being a loose cannon, and for his rambunctious playing style. He blew his money on booze, coke and hookers. A few years after retiring from hockey he was caught shoplifting and was living on wellfare. Shortly thereafter he was sentenced to seven years in prison for smuggling cocaine into Canada (He served a little more than two years). After that he was arrested for trying to start a prostitution ring. At the time of his death in 2002 he was selling vacuum cleaners in Yellowknife.

Dušan Pašek – Played in the NHL for one season (Minnesota 1988/89). He was a popular player back home during his glory days. On the surface everything seemed to be great.
He retired from hockey in 1993 and was soon the president of Slovan Bratislava and the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. However, he suffered from depression and had gambling debts that added to the pressure.
In the wake of Slovakia’s disappointing performance at the 1998 Winter Olympics, he committed suicide at the age of 37. Pašek left individual suicide notes for his wife and each of this three children.

I am not sure, but maybe Howie Young, Link Gaetz and Reggie Fleming??? are three players that also struggled financially after their playing careers.

 

[The Panther]

Players already mentioned in this thread

Bryan Trottier
Theo Fleury
Darren McCarty
Sergei Fedorov
Jack Johnson
Joe Murphy
Stephen Peat
Chris Simon
Bobby Orr
Kevin Stevens
Bob Probert
Chris Nilan
Sean Burke (Len Barrie real-estate)
Mike Vernon (dito)
Joe Nieuwendyk (dito)
Gary Roberts (dito)
Rob Blake (dito)
Ray Whitney (dito)
Jaromir Jagr
Mike Modano
Donald Brashear
Glenn Anderson
Roman Cechmanek
Doug Harvey
Jere Karalahti
Derek Sanderson
Barry Beck

Some players not mentioned yet, that one way or another ended up in financial straits.
Most players lost their money due to booze, drugs, gambling and prostitutes, but there are of course a bunch of players who made bad financial investments.

Rudy Poeschek - An enforcer who played in the NHL between 1988 and 2000. He lost all his NHL earnings in the stock market. He also battled addiction to painkillers, suffers from extreme memory and hearing loss. He was arrested numerous times after his playing career ended, and had to spend time in jail.

Patrick Côté – A pretty high draft pick who scored one goal in 105 NHL games. He earned more than 2 million dollars (US) in his career, but got arrested with 30 pounds of weed in his car a year after his last NHL game. Years later he was jailed for having robbed two banks in Montreal. While in prison he was shot (not fatally) by prison guards after he tried to strangle another prisoner.

Matt Johnson – A former enforcer in the NHL. As of at least 2017 he was homeless and living on the beach of Santa Monica. He hadn’t seen his parents for more than a decade at that point. Johnson struggled with mental health issues since he was a teenager, but his mental health detoriated as the years went by.
On top of that he battled alcohol and substance abuse. It is believed that he might suffer from CTE.

Ian White – Played his last NHL game in 2013 and retired from hockey in 2015. While being an active player, he was arrested twice for DUI and once for driving with a suspended license. Only months after his retirement in 2015, he was arrested on multiple weapons-related charges. At that time he was quickly running out of money and could no longer afford to live in his house. His marriage was falling apart, he battled paranoia, and he was also addicted to painkillers.

John Kordic – Steroid and cocaine use, plus the death of his father spiraled him out of control. His cocaine habit snowballed after his father died and he even had to ask the Maple Leafs for an advance on his salary several times. He was chronically out of cash. In both Toronto and Québec he was constantly hanging around hookers and druggies. After his playing career he was low on money and floated from motel to motel. On the night of his death he was high on a cocktail of steroids, coke and booze.
He was so aggressive and strong (238 Ibs) that the police needed nine men to overpower him.

Chapman ”Hobie” Kitchen – In the 1920s he was an NHL player with Montreal Maroons and Detroit Cougars. He most likely suffered from some mental illness. He behaved eratically, missing several practices and was out of hockey by the age of 25. His last known whereabout was outside MSG in 1934, when his former teammate Frank Fredrickson ran into him. Fredrickson didn’t recognize his old teammate and it soon became clear that Kitchen was a vagrant living on the streets of New York. Nobody knows what happened to Kitchen after that, and he is to this date the only former NHL’er whose death year/date is unknown.

Aleksei Yegorov – He played briefly in the NHL with San José Sharks in 1996 and 1997.
His heroin addiction began when he played in the minor leagues in 1999. Soon after that he was back in Europe. He earned less than 400 thousand dollars in North America, and probably something north of 500 during his career. Yegorov tried to kick his habit, but unfortunately had a relapse when he returned to Russia. Soon he owned money to local drug dealers who seized his passport as collateral. When he was unable to come up with any money, he got beat up and fell down a flight of stairs. In a desperate attempt to escape his assailants he made a fatal jump out of a window. He was 26 at the time of his death.

Réal Chevrefils – He played in the NHL during the 1950s and battled alcohol addiction for many years, but it escalated when he separated from his wife. After his retirement from hockey he lived on a couple of hundred dollars per month (NHL pension + a special fund for needy ex-NHL’ers). He was homeless for long stretches and spent time at homeless shelters in the Windsor area, occasionally shoveling snow for less than a dollar per hour with other men from the shelter.

Brian Spencer – ”Spinner” Spencer, a crowd favorite lived in the fast lane for many years. He was only 21 when his father was killed in a shootout with the police. Spinner was going to appear in his first televised NHL game (playing for the Maple Leafs) and was to be interviewed between periods. The game on HNIC was changed and an infuriated Spencer Sr. drove to the closest TV-station and ordered the local staff at gunpoint to air the Maple Leafs game instead. Shortly thereafter Spencer Sr. was killed after a brief stand-off. After Spinners hockey career was over, he pretty much lost all his money to booze and drugs.
He was later charged with kidnapping and murder, but was aquitted. A few months after his aquittal he was shot to death in a robbery while buying crack cocaine.

Jacques Richard – He played 10 seasons in the NHL and had one monster season when he had 52 goals and 103 points with Québec. He already got in trouble after his fourth NHL season. In the summer of 1976 he was shot at a bar in Québec. Miraculously the bullet passed through the leg of Richard's pants without hitting him. A few months later he was arrested on a DUI charge. Richard eventually retired from the NHL in 1983. Soon he was snorting four grams of coke per day (according to him). It was reported that he spent up to $ 100 k per year on his addiction. He spent his last money on buying 80 percent pure cocaine in Colombia in 1989. He of course got caught at the airport in Montréal, and was sentenced to seven years in prison (He only served 14 months). At this point he was broke and a few years later he was caught shoplifting a pair of sneakers from a discount store. Richard was killed in a car accident at the age of 50.
In the car the police found cocaine.

Kaspars Astašenko – Enjoyed a brief NHL career during parts of two seasons in 2000 and 2001. While playing in the AHL in 2003, the police found heroin in his pants during a car search. That was the end of his North American career. His drug addiction spiraled out of control in later years, and he often called friends to borrow money, so that he could buy drugs and alcohol. At the age of 37 he was found dead in a drug infested area of Riga. The police later said that he died of a drug overdose (massive amount in his blood).

Paul Nicholson – In the 1970s he played three NHL seasons with Washington. He committed suicide at the age of 57 after having battled with severe depression for many years.
The depression seems to have been triggered by poor financial decisions that he made over the years. Instead of investing into Tim Horton’s franchise, he chose to pour money into a hockey school.

Steve Durbano – Nicknamed ”Mental Case” for being a loose cannon, and for his rambunctious playing style. He blew his money on booze, coke and hookers. A few years after retiring from hockey he was caught shoplifting and was living on wellfare. Shortly thereafter he was sentenced to seven years in prison for smuggling cocaine into Canada (He served a little more than two years). After that he was arrested for trying to start a prostitution ring. At the time of his death in 2002 he was selling vacuum cleaners in Yellowknife.

Dušan Pašek – Played in the NHL for one season (Minnesota 1988/89). He was a popular player back home during his glory days. On the surface everything seemed to be great.
He retired from hockey in 1993 and was soon the president of Slovan Bratislava and the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. However, he suffered from depression and had gambling debts that added to the pressure.
In the wake of Slovakia’s disappointing performance at the 1998 Winter Olympics, he committed suicide at the age of 37. Pašek left individual suicide notes for his wife and each of this three children.

I am not sure, but maybe Howie Young, Link Gaetz and Reggie Fleming??? are three players that also struggled financially after their playing careers.

Epic post! I wasn't thinking so much of guys who had addiction or substance abuse problems, but then there are always reasons why guys waste their money.

As George Best said: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

 

[alko]

In the wake of Slovakia’s disappointing performance at the 1998 Winter Olympics, he committed suicide at the age of 37.

His dead is still a mystery. Im very doubt, that that was the reason. Actually, nobody here in Slovakia believe into this. There are many rumors, some trustworthy, some very very wild, but not that reason.
Im still have burned in my memory, when i first heard this news.

 

[abo9]

Warren Sapp had to auction his 240 pairs of sneakers (particularly his Air Jordan's) to pay off creditors.

Well if that was the end of his problems that's really not too bad

 

[Voight]

What kind of idiot flies to Columbia, buys cocaine and then tries to fly back into the country with it?

Yes i know some of Escobars people used to do that but still.... they were trained criminals who knew how to game the system.