photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation
What better opportunity to put the spotlight on mental health than the Global Hockey Forum, with close to 500 representatives from more than 70 federations across the globe coming together around hockey.
“Mental health is a big issue in sports,” said Jessica Renney, co-founder of Hone, a platform designed to help players and coaches communicate around mental health issues. “The general public access rate is about thirty percent, but with athletes it only comes to around ten percent, so we really need tools that are specific to sports so that we can meet athletes where they are.”
“It’s a subject I’m glad is out in the open, as there have been many young men and women who have had the courage to talk about mental health. When I was coming up as a player, and even as a coach, it was a taboo, something that was considered a weakness. Now the attitude has almost flipped, and talking about mental health is considered a strength,” added Pete DeBoer, a long-time NHL coach who also will be behind Team Canada’s bench in the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Top-class athletes are highly competitive by nature, and while, as DeBoer says, talking about, for example, problems with dealing with pressure was a sign of weakness in the past, the current generation of players has learned the value of opening up, and seeking help and support.
Also, not all challenges come from inside the rink or even inside the dressing room, but they may follow athletes there. Tools like Hone build a bridge between players and coaches.
“We ask athletes sport-specific questions that have to do with disconnections, relationships, fatigue, criticism, and pressure, to get a sense of where they are at and how they’re coping,” Renney said.
30 seconds - part of the players’ daily routine
Tools like Hone are designed to lower the threshold for reflecting on and sharing moods and challenges a player may be facing. All information the players share is anonymous, and the coaches can’t track it back to any individual, but it gives them a better picture on how the team is feeling.
Players fill in their answers in the morning, and the coaching staff can review it and adapt their plans accordingly.
“It takes thirty seconds and becomes a part of the players’ daily routine during a camp or a tournament. Between events, they may take the survey once a week, and as we get closer to the tournament, we may ramp it up,” said Gord Woodhall, Team Canada’s under-18 women’s goalie coach in 2018-23, and video and goalie coach of the New York Sirens in the PWHL.
“If we see the team feels good, we know we can push them a little bit, but if the players are off, we might meet with a few players and hear some more about their feelings and how things are going, as the dressing room is an area we’re not privy to,” he added.
Sometimes a player may just go with the flow of the team, instead of voicing his or her concerns, for many reasons. The stigma of seeking help may be one. The anonymity takes care of that.
“The coach gets a feel for the team, and addressing the team is also the best way to address the individual," Renney said.
“Work on mental health 365 days a year”
Also, players know what a cohesive team is supposed to look like, and sometimes they may behave the way they think coaches expect them to behave.
“By giving each player a voice, the coaching staff gets insights they don’t normally get and can check if their intuition meets the reality. If not, they can investigate the situation some more and determine how to move forward,” Woodhall said.
Even an experienced coach can sometimes read his or her team wrong, which is why information straight from the players is valuable.
In recent years, hockey has taken strides in tackling mental health issues, and with an open mind and better tools, it’s only going to get better.
“We have an awareness of it, and we understand the day-to-day anxiety that high-level sports creates in our athletes. I’ve been educated on it over the years, and I’ve gotten better at it, but there’s still a long way to go,” DeBoer said.
“Mental health isn’t something you work on 20 days a year. You have to work on it 365 days a year,” concludes André Lysenstoen, Norway’s women’s team’s coach.
And how can the situation be improved, according to France women’s national team head coach Gregory Tarle? “It’s like any other training session,” he said. “The key is to use the data we’ve collected over the past year or two and adapt it to our other team practices.”
“Mental health is a big issue in sports,” said Jessica Renney, co-founder of Hone, a platform designed to help players and coaches communicate around mental health issues. “The general public access rate is about thirty percent, but with athletes it only comes to around ten percent, so we really need tools that are specific to sports so that we can meet athletes where they are.”
“It’s a subject I’m glad is out in the open, as there have been many young men and women who have had the courage to talk about mental health. When I was coming up as a player, and even as a coach, it was a taboo, something that was considered a weakness. Now the attitude has almost flipped, and talking about mental health is considered a strength,” added Pete DeBoer, a long-time NHL coach who also will be behind Team Canada’s bench in the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Top-class athletes are highly competitive by nature, and while, as DeBoer says, talking about, for example, problems with dealing with pressure was a sign of weakness in the past, the current generation of players has learned the value of opening up, and seeking help and support.
Also, not all challenges come from inside the rink or even inside the dressing room, but they may follow athletes there. Tools like Hone build a bridge between players and coaches.
“We ask athletes sport-specific questions that have to do with disconnections, relationships, fatigue, criticism, and pressure, to get a sense of where they are at and how they’re coping,” Renney said.
30 seconds - part of the players’ daily routine
Tools like Hone are designed to lower the threshold for reflecting on and sharing moods and challenges a player may be facing. All information the players share is anonymous, and the coaches can’t track it back to any individual, but it gives them a better picture on how the team is feeling.
Players fill in their answers in the morning, and the coaching staff can review it and adapt their plans accordingly.
“It takes thirty seconds and becomes a part of the players’ daily routine during a camp or a tournament. Between events, they may take the survey once a week, and as we get closer to the tournament, we may ramp it up,” said Gord Woodhall, Team Canada’s under-18 women’s goalie coach in 2018-23, and video and goalie coach of the New York Sirens in the PWHL.
“If we see the team feels good, we know we can push them a little bit, but if the players are off, we might meet with a few players and hear some more about their feelings and how things are going, as the dressing room is an area we’re not privy to,” he added.
Sometimes a player may just go with the flow of the team, instead of voicing his or her concerns, for many reasons. The stigma of seeking help may be one. The anonymity takes care of that.
“The coach gets a feel for the team, and addressing the team is also the best way to address the individual," Renney said.
“Work on mental health 365 days a year”
Also, players know what a cohesive team is supposed to look like, and sometimes they may behave the way they think coaches expect them to behave.
“By giving each player a voice, the coaching staff gets insights they don’t normally get and can check if their intuition meets the reality. If not, they can investigate the situation some more and determine how to move forward,” Woodhall said.
Even an experienced coach can sometimes read his or her team wrong, which is why information straight from the players is valuable.
In recent years, hockey has taken strides in tackling mental health issues, and with an open mind and better tools, it’s only going to get better.
“We have an awareness of it, and we understand the day-to-day anxiety that high-level sports creates in our athletes. I’ve been educated on it over the years, and I’ve gotten better at it, but there’s still a long way to go,” DeBoer said.
“Mental health isn’t something you work on 20 days a year. You have to work on it 365 days a year,” concludes André Lysenstoen, Norway’s women’s team’s coach.
And how can the situation be improved, according to France women’s national team head coach Gregory Tarle? “It’s like any other training session,” he said. “The key is to use the data we’ve collected over the past year or two and adapt it to our other team practices.”