Sober Motivation: Sharing Sobriety Stories - Nate Thompson shares his powerful story of playing in the NHL and struggling with addiction.

Episode Date: February 4, 2023

Nate Thompson started playing hockey as a young boy with the dream of making it to the NHL and Nate did exactly that. Nate had his first drink of alcohol at 12 years old and things progressed from there. When he left the family home to start his junior hockey career he was drinking much more. Work hard play hard. Nates addiction to alcohol would progress to affect many areas of his life and Nate struggled to be feel comfortable in his own skin. Nate found hope from others that where living a sober life. Nate got out of his own way and asked for help. This is Nate Thompson's story on the sober motivation podcast. Follow Nate on Instagram Download the SoberBuddy App Follow Sober Motivation on Instagram Thank you for your support with the podcast, Brad    

Welcome back to season two of the Subur Motivation Podcast. Join me, Brad, each week is my guests and I share incredible and powerful sobriety stories. We are here to show sobriety as possible. One story at a time. Let's go. Nate Thompson started playing hockey as a young boy with the dream of making it to the NHL. And Nate did exactly that.

Nate had his first drink of alcohol at 12 years old and things progressed from there. When he left the family home to start his junior career, he was drinking much more. Work hard, play hard. Nate's addiction to alcohol would progress to affect many areas of his life, and Nate struggled to feel comfortable in his own skin. Nate found hope from others that were living a sober life. Nate got out of his own way and asked for help. This is Nate Thompson's story on the Subur Motivation podcast.

If you could use some extra support on your journey, No matter where you're at, starting out, 30 days in, 100 days or two years. Check out the sober buddy app. Inside of the app, there is a thriving community of other people that are willing to help. We also have 10 live support groups per week where we get together and we talk about what's going on and also the topic of the week. These groups have been incredibly powerful and the feedback has been phenomenal from what people are experiencing. So if you could use some extra support, be sure to check out your soberbuddy.com or download the app in your favorite app store.

Search Your Sober Buddy. And I hope to see you over there soon. How's it going, everyone, Brad here. Before we jump into this week's episode, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support with the podcast. We're early on with this, but we're already making an impact. So thank you. Together we can really make a big difference.

Thank you for your reviews. Thank you for your messages. and thank you for letting the people know who shared their story on this podcast that you appreciate them and the support you show them is incredible. Keep it up. Now let's get to the show. Welcome back to another episode of the Sober Motivation podcast. Today we've got Nate Thompson with us.

Incredible story. How are you doing today? I'm good. How are you doing? Thanks for having me. Yeah, of course. I'm well, cold up here in Canada, but I am well. So we usually start the podcast off with just giving us a little background what it was like for you growing up.

Yeah. So I'm originally from Anchorage, Alaska, born and raised there. My mom and dad are actually still both up there. Yeah, you know, both my parents were in the medical field. My dad was a doctor. My mom, the nurse. I have a younger sister. She's about 22 months younger than me.

and growing up back home was it was a good place to grow up in Anchorage you know it was a very family oriented um you know i was super into sports you know i obviously started playing hockey when i was super young about three or four years old and uh you know i think i was just full as soon as i got into hockey when i was young i was just kind of full on you know i was i was just immersed myself and do it and that's all i wanted to do since this is a sober podcast i'll get into the little bit of the when things started to go awry, I guess. Fast forward, you know, my parents split up when I was probably about 11, 12 years old. It put me in a tailspin.

You know, it was one of those things where I was at an age where I was very impressionable. I think also, too, I was kind of almost playing the protector for my sister. So I was kind of taking the brunt of, you know, the divorce, as you could say, you know, with with parents arguing and, you know, things going to. back and forth and being put in the middle of it and it was just a stressful time for a kid that's you know 12 years old uh and it was a tough age to deal with that and i think for me uh being so into hockey and you know as as people know in any not just hockey but uh any sport the culture is you know you party you know that's that's kind of the culture you know you work hard you play harder

and when I was about 12, 13 years old, I had my first drink. I had my first drink about 12, 13. And I didn't just have my first drink. I actually just, you know, I got drunk. And, you know, from then on, it was kind of like, oh, wow, I can, I can mask how I'm feeling with this substance. And, you know, it wasn't like I was drinking or I was, you know, doing that all the time after that age. but it was, I guess you could say you fast forward to high school. You know, you get introduced to marijuana and you start doing that.

And then I continue to drink. And then I get to the age around about 16, 17, and I leave home. I leave Alaska. I go play junior in the Western Hockey League for the Seattle Thunderbirds. And, you know, that kind of was what really opened the door to it, where it really kind of just took off at that time. Like I said, it's a while ago, and, you know, people weren't really talking about their feelings or if they're having a tough time at home or they're stressed out or they're anxious or they're depressed. You know, that just wasn't talked about.

And especially in sports, especially in hockey at that time, it was just be a tough guy and, you know, you don't talk about your feelings. and you and when we drink, you better drink. And that was kind of all I knew. And, you know, I enjoyed it. And it definitely did help me forget about all the things that were going on inside me. And I guess I could, you know, keep going. And, you know, I turned 18. I was drafted when I was 18, the NHL to Boston.

and I turned pro when I was 20. And it just, you know, things just, I guess, I guess as I could say as I got older, things just kind of like escalated. Just a little bit more every year, a little bit, as I got more responsibility, as I got a little bit, maybe a little bit more money in my pocket. You know, I was introduced to this lifestyle that was a hard, fast-paced lifestyle. And that's kind of what I was accustomed to. I think because of that, because of me starting so young. And I was always a kid too that I think from a very young age that I was never, I was never comfortable in my own skin.

You know, I never felt like I was good enough, I guess you could say. And I think I had to drink or use to make that go away to get like that courage, you know, to do anything with anybody. And so, you know, fast forward when I, when I turned pro and, you know, I'm in the minor leagues and I'm, you know, doing my thing. And, you know, like I said, it's a way of life. You know, you do what you have to do for a job part of it. You show up. You know, you be a pro.

And when you leave, you know, I guess you can do whatever you want. And what I did was I partied a lot. You know, as I moved up in the ranks and made the end of the end. NHL, I guess like I always say, it really just kind of took off even more from there because now I'm making more money. Now I'm playing in the national hockey league and I have all these different things kind of at my fingertips. Yeah, it's interesting too because I've done interviews with a few people and you're like really

successful. Things are going really well. So a lot of other people shared too. They knew there was a problem, but why do something about it? because I'm on the top of the world right now. So like things are working. Things were working in that sense. Yeah.

And it's funny you say that because to me, when everything was still working on the ice and in my career, I didn't think anything was a problem. Yeah, there were certainly things off the ice that weren't going well, whether it was my relationships, whether it was with my parents, whether it was with people. I mean, who knows,

what it was. I definitely didn't things, but for me, it was like, well, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing because, you know, my occupier's going well, so why am I going to change anything? And that was, that was my mindset. And it wasn't until, you know, a little further into my NHL career where, you know, I'm getting serious injuries and losing relationships. I'm not, you know, I'm losing a marriage. And I'm not getting to see my son at that time and like all these things started just to ask like it escalated off the ice where it kind of started to translate a little bit to on the ice where I was like I said having major surgeries and being injured and my performance was definitely you know going down and you know it got to the

point where you for a for a while it's fun and for a while you know you think it's quote unquote cool and it gets to a point where people are kind of looking at you like, you know, it's not, it's not, that's not cool anymore. You know, you're showing up to different things and where you're, you know, drinking in events and you're making a fool out of yourself. And that's what I did. I'm showing up late for things. I'm missing practices. You know, I'm just not doing, I'm not being a functional human. Even though, even though in my head, I don't think I have a problem.

I'm just, you know, whatever. It's just that's what's what I'm supposed to be doing. And it wasn't until I had to kind of, you know, go through a really, really tough injury a little bit later into my career and where I kind of had to look myself in the mirror and realize that like, I am not happy and I am not in a good place. I'm in a dark place right now. And I am to the point where I'm just like tired. And I'm just, I don't.

want to do this anymore. But at the same time, like, I don't know how to, I don't know what else to do. And, you know, as you know, it's, it's definitely something that you, I wish I were to learn a long time before that where you can, you know, you're allowed to ask for help. I didn't, I thought that was a, I thought that was a crutch to be able to have to do that to ask for help. And, well, especially with especially how I can imagine you're brought up with hockey, right? Tough.

You are a tough guy. You know, I mean, physically tough guy, right? And other things as well, I'm sure. So to ask for help for something is probably seemed so far at a reach. You didn't want to be that guy, maybe? No, no, I definitely didn't want to be that guy. I almost felt like I was like, um, not giving up but yeah i guess in a way kind of like uh conceding myself like where i'm you know

i'm conceding to this and i'm and i'm not able to push through and figure it out myself you know that i think that was that was my mindset and i think i just like i said i got to a point where you know losing relationships and you know i had a very profound uh conversation with my mom i think right around the time I made a fool fool myself again at a wedding and you know just so I won't get the details but it was a bad situation I just put it that way and I got to a point where we were you know I talked to my mom and she said my mom broke down and she just said mate like you know I've been waiting for this day and I didn't know if I was going to ever hear here about this ever I thought you were going to get to a point where you were going to kill yourself.

And she's like, I've known that you were, you were an alcoholic and you got a problem from the time you were 16. She's like, I knew it. And there were things that, and they were red flags in my head. That came up later where she would take me to these drug and alcohol counseling things when I was, you know, my late teens, early 20s. And to me, it was like, my mom's crazy. What is she doing? And, you know, it took, it took for her to break down. And, you know, she knew, though, she knew it had to run its course.

She knew that after all that she tried, you know, you can't force someone to ask for help. You just can't do it. It had to run its course. And I think that's where it was really like kind of a turning point in my life when And, you know, I just broke down. I just, I think, I think for the first, you know, however many days that I was sober, I think I cried almost every single day. I think, you know, for the first at least two months, I was crying every single day.

And it was, I remember particularly, I was always, it was always at night in the shower. That's what I would always break down and start crying was that night in the shower. I was just tired. I was tired and I had enough and I was just ready to surrender to it. Yeah, it's interesting how it has to take its course. That thing I really, that really sticks out to me because a lot of people do try to intervene throughout like the journey of addiction, right? Like stop, do this, go to treatment, go to rehab, go to counseling.

And then it's like that journey has to come to a place. And it seems like the things off the ice started to obviously impact. your play in your career, which you were able to maybe keep together for the most part for a while. So that's interesting how it all played out. What was it like for you, though? Like I'm just thinking for me, it was hard for me to literally make my bed. I'm thinking Nate's over here playing on the big stage, going through this. Like that must have been a very hard struggle in itself because of the anxiety, the hangovers, everything that comes with it.

Was there judgment from other people around you? Could you feel it? Did people say something to you? Oh, for sure. Yeah, for sure. I had teammates come up to me and have several conversations with me, girls that I dated, girlfriend at the time, parent, I mean, my parents, other family members, my sister.

I mean, yeah, there were numerous people that brought it to my attention. And I honestly don't know how. I don't know how I was able to still compete. and do my job. I think I was just so conditioned to do it. I've been doing it for so long that I was able to function. I was able to, you know, practice hungover, play some games hungover. I was just, I was able to do it.

And, you know, as you know, everyone's bottom's a little different. Everyone's, everyone's rock bottom is different. And, you know, I, now I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I look at it now and I'm grateful for all those things that happened because it wasn't for those things. I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be talking to you about my story and what I went through and what it was like.

So it took what it took. And like you said, you know, it has to run its course. It has to. You have to, you have to want to get help and you have to want to be sober. You know, and you have to do it for you. I think that was the biggest thing. I had to do it for me. And, you know, there were times, and, you know, there were times, obviously, during,

during my, you know, my run where, yeah, I would, I would try and take three weeks off. I'd try and take a month off. I would try and, you know, do that. But I wasn't doing it for me. I was doing it because, you know, I had some heed from family members or, you know, different people in my life that were, you know, maybe you should slow down a little bit. maybe you should, you know, just to take it back. I'm like, okay, I can do this for a few weeks to a month.

And then, you know, after those three weeks to a month, I would take off. It was pedal to the metal again. And it was just a constant, you know, cycle. And, you know, you do the same things over and over and over again with no change. You know, that's the definition of insanity. And I think that's the alcoholic, that's the alcoholic mind is we're a little nuts. we're insane. And it took, like I said, it took what it took. And I had to, I had to lose some things. You know, my career was at the time when I, when I was getting sober, my career was

on the teeter of, you know, maybe being done. You know, I suffered a ruptured Achilles that I was out for a long time. And it was a dark time. And, you know, I didn't know if I was going to play hockey again. I didn't know idea, but I just, I just wanted to be, I wanted to have peace. I wanted my mind to be quiet. You know, I wanted to, you know, I wanted to feel. I wanted to feel what, um, what I was feeling and try and process it. You know, all these things that, you know, we get when we get sober. I wanted those things. Yeah, beautiful. I was thinking, too, about what. you said there too, but you have to want to do it for yourself. It's the truth. 110%. And I think maybe part of it why it takes us so long to get there is because we've just, like for me,

I just didn't love myself at all or love myself enough to really be willing to put in the work for so long. I just hated who I was. And like you mentioned before too, I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. It was just like felt like it was crawling 24-7 and so many other things. But it's, it's really interesting. It seems like by beating ourselves up, by getting to that bottom, we somehow find a little bit of hope that maybe there's something better out there for us. I thought that was interesting. Yeah.

And I think by having hope, I think that was that was what I needed. I needed just a little bit of hope. That's all I needed were just a little bit of hope and something to grasp on to. Where did you find the hope? what did it look like for you you know i went to i went to some meetings and you know i i went that route and i think you know i talked to some men there and um you know i i just got i just immersed myself into into that program and um i think once i could see all these other men that i was meeting and um see what they were going through and and and see the

lives they had now and them being sober and some guys newly sober some guys with years of sobriety and I saw how these guys were living their life and they were doing it sober and I was like wow that's that's possible you can you can have fun and be sober at the same time that's a that's a thing you know you can you can go and hang out with your buddies and everyone be sober and enjoy your life and and I think once I saw that and I was and I immersed myself and do it and I was around it I think just by straight osmosis I was I just kind of picked up on that and it gave me it gave me that hope I think that's what gave me the hope is like okay I see other people that I see other people doing this you know I'm going to follow suggestion I'm going to follow what they say and we'll see

what happens, you know, and we'll see what happens. And they always say, you take it one day at a time. And to be honest, I still, that's my mindset. I still try and take it one day of time, because when I get into well, well, what am I going to do in this amount, you know, in a year

or, I mean, I'm going to worry about what's happened a week from now or all those things like my mind goes, it's just not healthy for me. So that was the biggest thing I learned is just, you know, Nate, get today. Be sober today and we'll worry about tomorrow the next day. That was a huge, huge turning point for me.

Yeah, I like that too. I mean, that's so important one day at a time, right? Because when we get ahead of ourselves, then we start, it gets squirrely, right? Yeah, yeah. Anxious and everything. And I'm the same thing, same idea, just today. Let's just win today. That's the only thing that I need to do today.

So that's incredible. So you got sober in October, October, right? What day? October 10th, October 10th, 2016. Yeah. So what happened on that day? Was that the day after you taught with mom or the day you taught with your mom? No, I probably talked to my mom a few days after that day.

I think I was just white knuckling it for probably, I think, yeah, maybe a few days where I was just in a dark place and I always say this it was one of those things where like I didn't want to die but I didn't really want to live either and I think I just finally reached out to her and kind of just told her listen to what's going on and and that's when she kind of poured her heart out to me and told me her thoughts and her two sense and what she thought that you know that I mentioned before and that was it that was kind of the start that was kind of the start of it and she said you need to go do this. You know, do you need to go to rehab?

Da-da-da-da. And I was open to it. But I think I was so stubborn at the time that part of me is I was like, well, I'm going to do it this way and see how it works out. And luckily, me doing it that way it worked out. You know, there's nothing wrong with going to rehab at all for anybody. I think it's a great thing. It's just like I said, everyone's paths a little bit different.

and my path was the other route. Yeah, no. Incredible. And that's a really tough spot to be in too where you're not sure if you want to go on and you don't really know how to go on with life, right? Like you've kind of taken away something. I know it was for me, at least you take away something that really worked so well. And then after a while you find out that it's not only is it not working well anymore,

it's causing more problems or it's causing all the problems that you're really trying to deal with and manage in life now are fueled by drinking more and, you know, catching everything around us on fire. So that's a really tough spot. Did you have a big, like, was your mental health to something you had to work on throughout this whole process? Yeah, absolutely. You know, I was, I was seeing someone. I was talking to somebody.

You know, I had a therapist. I was talking to someone. And then I think on top of, I think on top of that and going to meetings and having, and, and, being around other sober people, I think that really helped me kind of get my feelings out, really. Like, that was that was it. And because I think my mental health, you know, part of it was, obviously my drinking and using. But to be able to, you know, get the things that I've been holding in for so long, to be able to get it out, you know, whenever you're able to get something out and put out there. Obviously, you're not holding it in anymore. And I think that's where I would kind of learn,

like, okay, I need to, I need to do this every day. This is like an everyday thing. I need to, you know, whether it's, you know, and it doesn't have to be, for me now, it's not even me, maybe some days it's not even talking about my own feelings. Maybe I'm just in a weird headspace and just simply calling somebody and asking how they're doing, gets me out of myself and inevitably fills me up and makes me feel better. And those are the things that I learned in the beginning that really have kind of helped me even until now help my mental health in a big way. Yeah.

Kind of getting out of our own way in a sense. Exactly. And stepping aside and getting out of our own head and stuff and the more positive stuff. So what did things look like for you when you, after you got. sober. Well, it was a long road because I was I was I was rehabilitating my Achilles and actually it was kind of a blessing in the skies because as I'm rehabiliting my Achilles, I'm, you know, I'm newly sober and I'm trying to, you know, work a program and at the same time, try and get better. And, you know, as I was getting sober and I was, I mean, things, it was, it was, it was no secret, you know,

things started to get better. Things started to get better on the ice. Things started to get better in my relationships. You know, everything around me was, you know, there's no more chaos. You know, there was no more, you know, go home and shut the world off and not deal with anybody. I was able to, to be honest, I always say I was able to be a human being.

Even I feel like I'd like turned into a man, even at 31, 32 years old. I hadn't become a man yet. I was learning how to be a man. And I think, you know, it was just for me. It just, it changed my life. And like I said, I've always told people it's pride. I think it's my, yeah, I've had a great career.

I've, you know, played hockey for a long time. I've been extremely lucky. But my biggest accomplishment was that. Did you make a public announcement or anything? Or was this, did everybody know? Or was this something that you just kept to yourself for a while? No, I kept it to myself for a while. I didn't come out with my sobriety until I had a year under my belt.

And I thought that was important to be able to get a year first. And I was very hesitant to be open about my sobriety at first. You know, I kind of wanted to be private. And then I kind of realized that, like, man, this thing's bigger than us. You know, if I could use my platform or maybe another guy who was playing hockey, maybe someone else on the side of who knows maybe a fan i kind of thought to myself wow if i maybe you know maybe if i talked about this it helps one person that's a win and that's kind of where i was at um you know it was it was one of those things where i just realized you know

this is bigger than me and i'm i'm going to be open about it i think i was i think it was the right choice for me at that time yeah incredible was there anybody you looked up to that had shared a story in any of sports or any of your life that you're like hey if they can make do it? Like maybe I can or just went solo on this one? I'm trying to think of, you know, obviously I've seen different, you know, in different sports and athletes, but there's never really anything that really stuck out in my head that, you know, where I was like, I want to be that. I think I was just more, I was more focused on myself to make sure that, you know,

like I said, take one day at a time to, you know, do the things that I've been doing for whatever it was a year. It was working. And it was just, you know what? I'm going to be open about this. And hopefully I can help someone out in the process. Yeah. Have you helped anyone out in the process?

I think so. I think I've helped quite a few. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. No, I think so. I think anybody's sharing it. I mean, we don't always necessarily know.

But I think anybody sharing the story. And that's what this whole podcast is about is sharing these stories. And I believe, too, when we share our stories that we can be the key that unlocks the possibilities for other people, like to maybe be the hope for other people to say, like, you know, if Nate can can do this and work through this and, you know, being in, being in the spot you were in and in everything, then maybe it's possible for me or for other people. So I definitely believe you have. Yeah.

No, it is. I mean, for sure. I mean, there was actually an instance where a friend of mine that I used to play with, was struggling. and we hadn't talked in a long time and he heard me on a podcast. And we hadn't talked in years. And he heard me on a podcast talking about it. And next thing, no, he reaches out to me through social media. And now he's almost three years sober.

So like I said, there's a prime example of, you know, just telling your story, being honest, being true to yourself. And you never know. Maybe you can help someone along the way. Yeah, that's the truth. Yeah, you definitely will. Yeah, and every, every person, too, that you're able to help with your story is just so powerful. You know, because you're just helping somebody get out of that place that we all once lived where when you're in it, for the longest time, for me anyway, I never saw a way out. I never envisioned a life. And you might be able to relate to this too, but I never knew sober people to around me. I knew people without a problem, but I never knew sober people that were thriving, that were living, that were enjoying life and that felt joy. But once I experienced that,

I was like, like, with you, I was like shocked. I was like, oh, this is a thing. Okay. I have to check this out. Yeah, no, that was the exact thing with me. I never had any friends that were, I never had people surrounded by me that were sober, that were living a sober life and thriving. I had no idea. And until I experienced that, I was like, I didn't even know people did this. I'm sure you were

thinking the same thing. I didn't even, I was like, this is, like I said, I couldn't believe that these guys could, you know, go to a bar, go to a restaurant, go on a date and not drink and be sober and, you know, have a, have a beautiful life.

It just seemed impossible to me. it is so possible and you can do it. Anybody can do it. Yeah. So if someone's listening to this though and they're struggling to get or stay sober, what advice would you have from your own journey? I think just support yourself. I think the biggest thing is you just can't feel like you have to do it by yourself.

I think you have to be involved in whatever program you're in that helps you stay sober. It doesn't matter what it is, but if it works for you, it works. But I think for me, I mean, you know, I just have such a big support system of other people in my life that are sober that I can read on. And I think, like I said, I think you have to take it one day at a time because, you know, as you take that one day at a time, it's, you know, then all of a sudden, you know, you have another 365 days. you know, then it's like, all right. And I think just being able to lean on other people that, like I said, that are in your life that are sober, I think that's been a huge key for me. It's being able to, you know, maybe I'm having a bad day. And I say that to me all the time, you know, just because I'm sober and I'm sure you can relate, just because I'm sober doesn't mean I'm like in a great mood every single day because that's not the case.

Like there are days that are bad. And then I like, not a good person to be around or I don't want to get out of bed, whatever it may be. But, you know, I think being able to stay in those fundamentals where those basics of, you know, leading on,

like I said, leaning on people in your life that are sober or having a group of people that, a group of friends or a group of other sober people that you talk to or whatever, it's your therapist. whatever it may be that works for you. I think you just have to stick to that routine. Yeah.

No, that's incredible too. Community connection is definitely huge for me. Yes. Yes, me too. You know, staying connected to people. And then also, like, I really like the part of sobriety as well that like when other people are having a bad day, then I can be relied upon because I have my share bad days,

plenty of them. But when other people are struggling too, then I can be hopefully a resource for them. And when I was doing the stuff, I was not helpful for anybody. I thought maybe I was. But when I looked back, like, I was a terrible friend for people. So that's kind of another cool thing is to be present and available to, like, be supportive to other people. Yeah, for sure. I think inevitably, like I said, I mean, when someone's calling me or they need help, you know, like after I, I mean, it's talking through it or help them out or whatever it may be.

I instantly, I get off that phone and I'm like, I'm flying. I feel great. You know, and it's just no secret. You know, you help someone else out. It's, I'm going to fill your cup up. So, yeah, that's a, that's a huge thing for sure. Yeah. Incredible.

Where are things at now with your career? So now I am playing, I can't believe I'm still playing. I'm 38, but I'm playing with the Kings minor league team in Ontario this year. I have a beautiful girlfriend who's almost eight months pregnant. We're having a baby girl in April. My son is seven years old now, and he lives in Minnesota with his mom, but he's, you know, he comes here too, he travels here. So my girlfriend has a nine-year-old daughter,

so we kind of have a little bit of a blended family, and I'm still playing hockey somehow. So, yeah, I mean, life's good, man. I got no complaints. You know, obviously there's little things here and there that are, you know, whatever, but those are first world problems and I'm able to get through them. So, yeah, man, life's good. Yeah, that's awesome.

Huge congrats, too, on the. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. That's going to be, that, that's going to be exciting to add to the family to the mix, right? Yeah, absolutely. And, yeah, I think, you know, I wasn't, I wasn't sober for one.

my, you know, when my son was born and, you know, being able to go through this, this time around, um, being sober, being present, uh, it's almost like I'm getting older than a second chance. So, um, yeah, it's awesome. It's, uh, it's quite the journey for sure. Yeah, that's incredible. So the million dollar question so we can place our bets on draft Kings. Who's going to win the cup this year? Cool. Um, I think. Don't say Boston. I mean, it's hard for me to go against them. I'll pick, I'll pick Boston, and I think Colorado's getting back there again.

Yeah, okay. Yeah. That'll be good. That'll be a good match. Yeah, I think Boston, Colorado will be in the finals. Yeah, awesome. Speaking of the Kings, though, I'm a huge Carolina fan. We played the Kings the other night.

A big comeback. That was a big win. Yeah, I watched that game. That was the hell of a win. It was, yeah. Carolina is a real good team. I just think they have to add. We need to add a couple things, I think, to really kind of get them over the hump.

That's my take anyways. So I'll put in a word. Do we need to add a Nate Thompson in there? Yeah, that would be great. Would that put us over? Okay, I'll put it. I don't know. I think I can help.

I don't know if I get you over the hump, but I think I can help. That's cool. Well, I really appreciate you. I don't know if you had anything else, but I think that's great. I mean, you took us through the journey for you and coming out the other side and really giving back. I've seen some of your interviews and stuff, like really giving back. and talking about this openly because I know it's come out in the last couple years to,

you know, about especially NHL since we're there about, you know, this stuff is going on. And we're not talking about it or people aren't talking about it or feeling comfortable to talk about it as much as they could or they should to be able to get the help. So, I mean, I think it's incredible that, you know, you are. I've never been in that position. I've never been in that position. but I can see from the outside, you know, being a fan of the sport, watched every game for the last, I don't know, seven years

that Carolina plays and stuff, I can definitely see that it would be really hard, could be a really hard thing to do. So I'm like huge respect for me. I'm just a dude over here doing a podcast, but a huge respect and I appreciate it. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.

Yeah, I know it's, I think, I think our society and I think, you know, in sports in general, I think we're going to the right direction. I think these are things that people are being a lot more open about, like you said, in the last few years and you're seeing people talk about it. Like I said, I think we're going to the right direction. And I think, you know, you're doing this podcast as a huge part of that. So, you know, I appreciate it too.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I think, I think too. And I think the direction is interesting too because it's more, I think at one point it was more viewed as a weakness as like we're weak people. And when I think about it, the life I was living was most people wouldn't survive it. And you probably can relate to yours too. A lot of people couldn't carry a full-blown addiction in an NHL career balanced the two for however many years.

That is not weak. And I think it's very strong for us to say, like raise our hand and be like, hey, I have a problem and I need some help. And there's some things going on. And I don't have it all figured out. And I think that that's true strength for. humans and I think that's it's cool how I see the narrative changing with that. Yeah, I agree. I 100% you're spot on with that. I think it's, I think it's a total opposite. I think I was if you're asking for help, that that is brave. That takes some serious guts to be able to do that.

I think that's the opposite of week. So I think you're spot on with that for sure. Yeah. Awesome. Well, it's been a blast. Thank you. Thank you, Brad. I appreciate it. Wow, everyone, that was an incredible episode. I hope that you all are going to enjoy it as much as I did. Nate really walked us through what it was like for him and his journey and what it's like for him now and some great takeaways, some great strategies that you could implement into your journey if you're struggling or you just want to strengthen things up a little bit.

As always, if you're enjoying the podcast, be sure to leave a review on Apple or Spotify. and I'll see you on the next episode.