The former NHL goaltender, Olympic silver medalist, and now public speaker and mental health and wellness advocate Corey Hirsch discusses his new memoir The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark (Collins, 2022), with Joseph Planta.

The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark by Corey Hirsch, with Sean Patrick Conboy (Collins, 2022). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Save of My Life

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

One of the more riveting reads of the season is the new memoir, out today, by Corey Hirsch. In The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark, he offers remarkable insight into contending with mental illness. As he writes in the book, he was realising his childhood dream of playing in the NHL, winning an Olympic medal, and drinking out of the Stanley Cup. He was plagued with dark thoughts, and ceaseless anxiety. He narrates so vividly what this loop in his head would be like, providing a harrowing glimpse into how he tried to drown it out. Sometimes being on the ice, playing hockey worked. But after a while the cycle would continue anew. He’s able to confide in a team trainer, and his mother, but as we read in the book, though it’s a step, in Mr. Hirsch’s case, it took a number of years for him to get properly diagnosed and treated. He is diagnosed with OCD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and as he’ll tell us now, it’s been rocky, but he’s on the road to recovery. I’ll also ask Corey about what it’s like to be on the ice, especially as a goalie, with pucks coming at you. Some might think having OCD might have helped him focus. The lesson in the book is that there shouldn’t be any hesitancy in seeking help, especially for guys. Corey Hirsch won the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994, the same year he won a silver medal at the Winter Olympics. He played for many years with the Vancouver Canucks, and since his retirement, he’s been a coach in the NHL for elite goaltenders and prospects, and more recently was an analyst with Sportsnet, and was the colour commentator on the Canucks broadcasts on Sportsnet Radio here. He is National Youth Ambassador for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and the co-host of the Players’ Tribune’s podcast Blindsided. Visit www.coreyhirsch.com. This new book (written with Sean Patrick Conboy) is published by HarperCollins. He joined me from Vancouver last week. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Corey Hirsch; Mr. Hirsch, good morning.

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