By Sean Townsend

Jacques Plante, the legendary Montreal Canadiens goaltender, once said, "How
would you like a job where every time you make a mistake, a big red light
goes on and 18,000 people boo?"

National Hockey League (NHL) players have spent their lives focusing on a
job of intense highs and lows lived in front of an audience and vulnerable
to fans and the media. For NHL athletes at the end of their playing career,
one question remains: "How do I go from this job to anything else?"

Duncan Fletcher, director of the Professional Athlete Transition Institute
(PATI), says professional athletes face a twofold challenge in career
transition: "First, it is understanding that, although they don't have a
traditional skill set, the skills they used to make it to the pinnacle of
sport do have transferability into the corporate world. The second challenge
is having the confidence to try something outside of their comfort area of
hockey."

Based in Hamden, Connecticut, PATI works with pro sports leagues, player
associations and alumni groups to help elite athletes with career
development, business and entrepreneurial training, and education. PATI
works with the NHL Alumni Association's Life After Hockey program, which
helps NHL alumni connect their unique experiences with teamwork, leadership,
determination and discipline to a new career path. For the program,
Psychometrics Canada hosts PATI's custom online surveys developed for
retired and current players. These custom tools allow the program to be
tailored to each athlete's needs.

The Life After Hockey program also uses the Work Personality Index (WPI),
which helps to "identify issues that may hinder athletes in the transition
process," says Fletcher. An issue for many athletes is perfectionism, which
can stifle their willingness to try new things. "The most common mistake is
trying not to make a mistake," he notes. "Many athletes feel like they need
to be perfect when they make the transition from sport. We obviously don't
encourage reckless decision making. Taking the time to dip a toe into
several things to see what feels right or appears interesting is a great way
to understand what will get them out of bed in the morning after the
cheering stops."

As well as looking at personality, the program includes the Career Values
Scale and Career Interest Profiler. "The tools we use with athletes help us
better understand what their career interests and values are," says
Fletcher. Although retired players often elect to remain involved with the
sport in careers like coaching or broadcasting, not all athletes choose this
path. "The reality is that players' personalities are reflective of the
general population-their interests are vast and varied," he says. "We've
worked with retired athletes who have had careers ranging from horse
dentistry to law."

One thing he finds that athletes have in common is a sense of gratitude.
"Interestingly, many athletes are disparaged for not caring about anything
but themselves. I find this to be a terrible stereotype that lacks truth,"
he says. "The self-absorbed athletes are probably out there, but they are
far and away a small, small minority. The vast majority of athletes are
deeply concerned about giving back to their communities and the game. Our
research has shown that nearly 76% of players are or have been involved in
some kind of charitable enterprise in their community. They truly feel an
obligation to help the next generation of players by acting as mentors and
advisers-and the quicker we can help players deal with the transition
period, the sooner they are going to be involved in their communities."

When working with these athletes, says Fletcher, the greatest challenge-and
the greatest opportunity-is helping them place their experiences within
hockey in the context of their new reality of not playing: "In many
instances it is about helping them understand that life after hockey is not
life without hockey. Instead you are helping redefine their relationship
with the game, while helping them pursue what hopefully is their next great
passion."

Duncan Fletcher holds a BA from the University of British Columbia, an MBA
from Quinnipiac University, Connecticut, and a post-graduate certificate in
Elite Performer Counseling from Victoria University, Melbourne. He has been
the director of the Professional Athlete Transition Institute for the past
seven years.