Retired NHL goalie Corey Hirsch knows a thing or two about fending off unwanted pucks.
During his decade-plus professional hockey career, Hirsch manned the net for NHL teams like the Vancouver Canucks, the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals and the Dallas Stars. He also played for Canada’s Olympic ice hockey team and has coached in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues.
These days, instead of guarding the goal, he’s helping people fend off unwanted thoughts as a pillar of support for the obsessive-compulsive disorder community and beyond.
In his 2022 book, The Save of My Life: My Journey Out of the Dark, Hirsch (co-authoring with Sean Patrick Conboy) expands on his groundbreaking 2017 Players Tribune article that detailed the horrors of living with OCD and how he found recovery.
Hirsch shared how OCD hit him hardest while he was in his prime playing professional hockey and how he nearly ended his life amid a career that saw him drink from a Stanley Cup as the Rangers’ third goalie.
Ultimately, Hirsch wrote that he found help through being open about his struggles with a Vancouver Canucks trainer and later the team’s psychologist, who diagnosed him with OCD. Choosing to be vocal about his health led to his diagnosis and treatment. Since then, he’s become a leading advocate for mental health in the NHL world.
With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, For The Win spoke with Hirsch about his journey with OCD, his advocacy work and how he’s seen mental health efforts play out in hockey.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.