67’s offer multitude of pathways to mental health
It’s often forgotten that underneath all of that equipment, behind all of the intensity, and NHL aspirations, the players that make up the Ottawa 67’s are human beings, and young ones, at that.
According to The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, young people aged 15-24 are more likely to experience mental health or substance abuse issues, while 39% of Ontario high-school students indicate a moderate-to-serious level of psychological distress.
In recent years, the OHL and its member clubs have taken action to ensure the health and safety of their players, including the Barber Poles, who have a variety of methods at the disposal of the players. Among them, they can seek Dr. Michelle Mathias, the 67’s Mental Skills Specialist, chat with Mackenzie Koop while dealing with an injury, or use the Hone app, which asks players their feelings on certain prompts, with the results being reported to the coaching staff, General Manager James Boyd, and Dr. Mathias.
In Head Coach Dave Cameron’s extensive time working with youth, he’s seen a lot, and knows the importance of mental health.
“The big thing for me with mental health is that it’s an everyday thing, you have to find balance,” Cameron said. “We don’t want anyone to be scared to reach out and ask for help, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. We have to take the steps to find balance, find things, for our guys especially, outside of hockey.”
Between the pipes, Kanata native Ian Michelone says that he’s learned life lessons from being a goalie, namely that having a short-term memory is important in day-to-day life.
“If I let in a bad goal, I can be frustrated for five seconds, but if I keep dwelling on it, it will show in my game,” he explained. “It’s not something I can keep with me and play, it will lead to my downfall, and it’s the same with being a regular human. If something bad happens, we can’t keep dwelling on it, no matter how terrible the situation is, it won’t help.”
Twelve games into his 67’s tenure, Michelone has been successful in a stressful situation, backstopping the Barber Poles to a 9-2-1 record. No matter how good you are on the ice, you’re not immune to mental health issues, which Michelone has learned firsthand over the years.
In the early days of his OHL career, Michelone bounced around. He began with the Flint Firebirds, and started the 2022-23 season with the Renfrew Wolves, before being traded to the Windsor Spitfires. He played with the LaSalle Vipers for the majority of the season, and became a full-time OHL goalie this season, but was dealt to Ottawa at the deadline.
Moving frequently and essentially being told he wasn’t good enough for the league took a toll on Michelone, causing him to turn to self-help books, which he reads at home, and on the bus on the way to road games.
“I realized that I was in a mental and physical state that I wasn’t happy with, and I knew what I had to do to get better, it was just a matter of doing it,” Michelone said. “To this day, it still takes motivation to keep up with it, but I know what I need to do, and for me, that’s reading books and being active.”
The books have been a big help for Michelone, but bigger than that has been a new-found relationship with religion.
“This time last year, I started going to church every week that I could,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t alone, even though sometimes, I felt like it. That’s when I got closer to God, and that’s been a tool that I have used.”
For many 67’s players, one of the ways they cope with their mental health is through their weekly chapel sessions with Paul Huggins, where conversation is encouraged.
“He’s helping me navigate my religion,” Michelone said. “I get to be curious about my faith. Last week, we talked about loving God more than your family, because it was something I was struggling with, but he brought a new perspective into my eyes that God is my family.”
Huggins has been clear, you don’t have to be religious to attend chapel sessions, and he believes that regardless of religion or belief, these sessions can be helpful.
With so many options available for players who need a helping hand, the biggest battle can be the stigma that surrounds mental health. Michelone says he has played on teams in the past where judgment gets passed, which makes the situation in Ottawa’s locker room all the more important.
“The biggest thing for the team in terms of mental health is inclusiveness,” Michelone said. “I’ve been on teams before where there [are cliques], but the teams that are the most happy are one big group.”
This isn’t a new issue, Michelone says, and in the past, it wasn’t always taken seriously. Now, we know the importance, and it has never been more important to care for your health, both mental and physical.
“Mental health has always been there, we’ve always been in need of it, but it’s only now that we are taking it seriously,” Michelone said. “It can get away from us pretty quickly if we don’t take care of it, and I really hope the boys are taking care of themselves as I am.
