Tyson Teplitsky: The Last Time

The following article appeared in last week's Cardiff Devils game programme...
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You’re Tyson Teplitsky. You’re a healthy, fit, 26-year old professional ice hockey player. You’re six-foot tall, weigh about 190 pounds. You’re doing what you always wanted to do, playing ice hockey and getting paid for the privilege. It’s what you always wanted. Now, you play in Great Britain for a team called the Cardiff Devils in the Elite Ice Hockey League. According to your coach, you’re one of the best defencemen in the league – if not the best. You’ve got at least another decade to play. Time to win trophies. You’ve got the ability to play at a higher level and plenty of time to prove it.

But when this season ends you’re going to walk away. Leave. Quit the game you love. Retire.

…Why?

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At the end of last season, when it was announced that he would not be returning, Cardiff fans thought that Teplitsky would be joining the other successful members of his generation of Devils in overseas leagues. Phil Osaer – Norway. Mark Smith – Italy. Max Birbraer – Kazakhstan. Tyson Teplitsky – Finland.

When Teplitsky was close to inking a deal with Tappara Tampere, only to be released, his future was suddenly uncertain. But Teplitsky wasn’t the only one facing an uncertain future in late September – so were the Devils. Rod Hinks was misfiring, Likit Andersson was injured and the team were reeling after Brad Voth’s suspension. Upon hearing of Teplitsky’s bad luck in Finland, Gerad Adams couldn’t pick up his phone fast enough. It was a touch of old fashioned good timing. One door closes. Another door opens. And when the door opened, Teplitsky walked right through it.

“Great news: Tyson’s back.” “Did you hear we’ve re-signed Teplitsky?” “Teplitsky’s going to play for the Devils again!” Great news, right?

It was a big surprise for everyone involved. The Elite League stood up and took notice. But no sooner had Teplitsky decided to return to Cardiff, he had also made up his mind about something else…

“With my hockey career winding down, I realised that Cardiff would be a great fit for me to finish my career as I have enjoyed my time with the Devils, Cardiff University and the city itself so much,” said Teplitsky in his blog on the Devils website.

“Winding down?” “Finish my career?” – What?

He can’t be serious talking about retirement, can he?

I mean, he’s Tyson Teplitsky. He’s a healthy, fit, 26-year old professional ice hockey player. He’s six-foot tall, weighs about 190 pounds. According to his coach, he’s one of the best defencemen in the league – if not the best. He’s got at least another decade to play.

Retire?

I didn’t understand. So I asked him: Why?

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“I love playing hockey and I’ve always loved playing hockey and I’m at the point where I’m ready to have one set home and get into the business world,” Teplitsky said.

“I’ve had a lot of fun playing - I went to Finland and gave it a pretty good shot there and when things didn’t work out I was ready to move on. After Finland I had to take everything into account. Do I start looking for a job now? What are my different options of what I can do? But I think this is going to be my last year playing.”

Within seconds I could tell that Teplitsky was very serious and that he’d given it a lot of thought. It wasn’t a decision that he’d made overnight. Indeed, he had been making the same choice every day for the last two years, since he enrolled on the MBA programme at Cardiff University. After spending four years at the University of New Hampshire and then following up with two more years at Cardiff Business School, Teplitsky knows that his future lies in the boardroom and not the locker room.

“I don’t know how much I’ll like to nine-to-five but at the same time I’m interested in that kind of thing,” he said.

“I don’t want to be starting a job when I’m 30-35 and have to try and work my way up. I want to try and get into the business world so I can move up as fast as I can. By the time I’m in mid thirties hopefully I’ll be working high-up in some sort of company.”

Had Teplitsky not spent six years studying for his degree and MBA, he would probably carry on playing – well into his thirties. His college education gave him a plan B if hockey failed to pan out as a career, but he’s taken it one step further. When the season ends hockey, and not education, will be his backup plan. Teplitsky is proof that the growing trend in the Elite League to partner teams with Universities and offer postgraduate courses is beneficial for everyone involved.

“I think it’s a strong recruiting tool and it’s starting to become more popular in this league,” Teplitsky said.

“Sometimes teams can’t offer as much with their budgets and as much money as other leagues can, but if you offer somebody an MBA that’s a very good financial set up for somebody to come over here. If you go to school back home you’re paying $30,000 dollars a year for two years. Here you come over and you’re getting sponsored by a team for schooling plus you’re getting to play hockey at the same time. That’s what brought me over here and a lot of teams are starting to take advantage of it. Hopefully it will help me to get a job when I do get back.”

Many top players have been tempted to the Elite League by these college deals. Basingstoke player-coach Eric Braff, Belfast forward Paul Deniset and Newcastle defenceman Chris McAllister are just three of the big names combining their hockey career with further education. The Devils taking advantage of the Cardiff Business School partnership this season are Teplitsky’s defensive partners Mike Hartwick and Wes Jarvis. The two blueliners are following in Teplitsky’s footsteps and together form the core of what must be the smartest defensive unit in the Elite League.

“Hopefully we can use our IQ on the ice a little bit in terms of our schooling,” Teplitsky joked.

“Maybe calculate some risks or something I don’t know but it’s good to have some guys in the same situation as I was. They’re both smart, talented guys so I don’t think they’ll need my help too much. I don’t know how much advice I could give them anyway – they seem to be reading the books a lot more than I was!”

Instead of sleeping on those long bus journeys to Hull and Newcastle, Teplitsky would often take his lecture notes, making use of the extra study time. All he has to do now to complete his studies is hand in his dissertation in December, whereas Hartwick and Jarvis are just getting started.

“They haven’t asked for my notes yet – maybe they’ve seen me now and they don’t want my notes,” he joked.

“They seem pretty keen on the school stuff. We’re on the bus trips and they’re often reading. But if they do need any help I’ll be there to help them out as best I can.”

The more you talk to Teplitsky about his decision, the more you realise how serious he is and how much he’s actually thought about it. Retiring from the game in the prime of your career is an incredibly tough call. And it won’t just be Teplitsky himself who misses seeing his name show up on the game sheet – his parents won’t be able to see how many assists he got on the weekend either.

“They’re definitely ok with it,” Teplitsky said.

“They’re educated people that don’t mind me starting to look for a real job. They love me playing hockey, but there’s a certain realization when if you really want to start saving money and start preparing for a family, getting married and those kind of things. They’ll be sad when they can’t follow my hockey any more, but that’s just part of the package they’ll have to deal with.”

Still, in an era when players like Chris Chelios in the NHL or Tony Hand in the EIHL are still playing into their forties, how can Teplitsky leave so early?

You can’t just walk away Tyson. The game won’t you allow you to.

The itch to return is inevitable. Like a prizefighter seeking that one last fight or a bank robber trying to pull off one last heist, a hockey player seeks that one last trophy or that one last season just to be part of the game. When Teplitsky gets that itch, how will he handle it?

“I’ve been playing hockey all of my life and to be out of it completely - I don’t know if I ever will,” he admitted.

“I’ll be involved somehow. I have some friends back home who are coaching high school-type hockey, and they’ve asked me to help out already. And there are those type of situations around Boston, where I’ll probably settle down with my fiancé. I think I will get the itch, but as long as I’m around the game I should be ok. I love to play but I think if I can pass on what I’ve learnt to younger kids and see them take into account what I’ve told them and be able to use it in their game, I think that’s something special. And hopefully I’ll get an opportunity like that when I get home.”

You soon realise that starting off in the business world isn’t Teplitsky’s only reason to leave hockey behind. He’s preparing for his wedding next year, and after dealing with the nomadic lifestyle of a hockey player he’s ready to take a break.

“I’ve been bouncing around from home to home, leaving my stuff all over Canada and the USA,” Teplitsky added.

“I’m excited to have one set place where me and my wife can live after we get married next summer and settle down and have a place I can call home. The thought of that is pretty exciting for me.”

Teplitsky would ideally like to call Boston his new hometown. He played college hockey just up the road in New Hampshire and still has a lot of friends in the area.

“My fiancé can work from home, so she can work anywhere and I’ll hopefully I can find a job around there somewhere,” he said.

“That’s where I’m going to look first and if something doesn’t come up I’ll start looking elsewhere. Boston’s a great sports city right now, they’ve won a lot of championships lately. For the past two or three summers I’ve been around there and I love it. I have a lot of college friends in that area who live there now and a lot of them are only an hour away so it makes that transition easier.”

Most people who study for an extra six years after high school haven’t had the opportunity to play sports for a living. But what about his former college team-mates, who were good enough to make the pros and are now in a similar situation - do they share his mindset?

“A few of my friends who went to college are looking to wind down their careers,” Teplitsky said.

“It’s nice that they have that college background to fall back on and to have a better opportunity to find a job. I see their lifestyle, and the nine-to-five thing isn’t ideal, but they’re happy.”

Teplitsky has made his mind up, but what if the opportunities just aren’t there? Even for someone with an MBA jobs are becoming increasingly limited with the worldwide economy in disarray. By next summer, things may have changed, but nobody can really predict how.

“It is a scary thing. It’s a whole new ball game now,” Teplitsky said.

“The stock market has been fluctuating and it’s a crazy world out there right now. Hopefully, things will settle down somewhat soon. Who knows when it will be - nobody can really predict the market right now. As soon as I get back I’ll start looking for work and if it does get to the point where it’s very difficult to get a job then I will consider playing another year.”

And there you have it. He hasn’t shut the door completely. It’s slightly ajar, just enough room for sunlight to peek through. His career might not be over, if it’s too difficult to find the right job. Nothing is guaranteed. Not a hockey career, not a job. He might, just might, come back.

“The realization that I can’t play forever (has hit me),” he said.

“To go out while I still think I’m playing well, I think it’s a good thing for me. The more I think about it, it is a little bit upsetting. But the reality is I think it’s going to be my last year.”

So if that is the case, if this is it, if this is his final season, if these are his final games, then surely the pressure each time he steps out onto the ice becomes more intense with every passing weekend. The days are numbered, the games are growing with importance. Teplitsky hasn’t quite started to see it that way yet, but he will come March when the regular season winds up and the playoffs begin.

“I haven’t really got into that thought process yet where I’m going out every game where I think this is the last year and I really want to prove myself and really want to win a championship,” he said.

“I’ve played on some very good teams that have been close to winning the big prize. I’ve won some cups in college, but haven’t won the whole thing. I’m going to work as hard as I can and lead by example on the ice and have the guys follow and work as hard. It’s about getting hot at the right time of year in this league in terms of that final four weekend. Things are slowly starting to come together for us and having all of our imports back in the line-up will help a lot.”

Indeed, the Devils are only about 10 points from the top of the league and last year’s top scorer Brad Voth has barely put his skates on. Coach Adams has never looked down at the bench in front of him and seen a full roster. Marc Fulton’s only just turned up. Teplitsky and Jay Latulippe took a while to arrive as well. The Devils are a hot streak away from shaking up the league table or doing some damage in the playoffs.

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After discussing his decision to retire, you see Teplitsky in a different light.

He’s Tyson Teplitsky. He’s a healthy, fit, 26-year old professional ice hockey player. He’s six-foot tall, weighs about 190 pounds. He’s spent six years of his adult life spending countless hours studying, preparing assignments, turning up for lectures and revising for exams. He’s an international student who has attended one of most revered business schools in Britain. He’s about to get married, settle down, maybe start a family.

We haven’t seen them yet, but there are games ahead that will be very emotional for Tyson Teplitsky. Games that will determine how he remembers Cardiff, how he remembers the Devils and ultimately how he remembers his career.

“It would be unbelievable to go out on top, that’s for sure,” he said.

“This year is pretty special for me. I’m going to do everything I can to leave everything out there on the ice to make sure that I have no regrets when the end of the season comes to think maybe I could have done more or our team could have done more.”

No regrets. Let’s hope so.