Former Edmonton Oiler Slater Koekkoek retired from hockey at 28. Now, he reveals that he made the shocking decision because of what Ken Holland said in a meeting.
Slater Koekkoek was drafted 10th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He made his NHL debut a couple of years later, but after struggling to be a regular starter for the Lightning, he changed teams to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Koekkoek played 42 games with the Blackhawks in the 2019-20 season before signing with the Edmonton Oilers in 2020. However, after just 37 games with the team, he made a shocking announcement that his hockey career was over.
Slater Koekkoek retired at 28
Koekkoek has since opened up about his struggles with anxiety and mental health, which eventually led to him retiring from the National Hockey League. In a recent interview with Jason Gregor, Koekkoek disclosed that Oilers GM Ken Holland also played a part in his decision after essentially calling him a useless player in a meeting.
“I wanted more ice time, I was a healthy scratch a lot,” Koekkoek said. ”Ken Holland looked at me and he said, ‘You’re a clock killer. You don’t do anything positive on the ice, but you don’t do anything negative either.'”
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That meeting made the defenseman realize that he no longer wanted to be a professional hockey player. In the interview, Koekkoek also disclosed that his anxiety got so bad that he sometimes struggled to eat on game days. After hearing what Ken Holland thought about him as a player, he decided to call it a career.
”After that meeting, I really evaluated my life. You’re going to tell me that I don’t do anything positive or negative with the struggles that I’m going through every day? Okay, I’ll reevaluate what I’m doing with my time,” he said.
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