Canadiens Drouin Opens Up About Stepping Away From Hockey

Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin took a leave of absence during the 2020-21 season and in a recent interview with TSN opened up about how it had nothing to do with hockey and everything to do with his mental health.

Drouin needed his space and wanted to try and fight through his problems and respectfully so:

I've had anxiety problems for many years. Insomnia problems that relate to my anxiety. That week in Calgary where we played three games (April 23 to 26) - I missed all three of them and wasn’t feeling good. It was where I hit a wall for me, and it was time to step away from the game and literally take a step back from everything and kind of enjoy life. I needed it, and it was hard for me to do at that time and obviously, playoffs were coming around.

It wasn't an easy thing to do and I'm proud of what I'd done and I'm happy I did it. I'm 26 years old, so I wanted to do that at that point in my career and feel good for the next years.

The creative talent is expected back this season in Montreal as the Canadiens will try and get one step further in 2021-22. The Stanley Cup Final experience under their belt will help those who played and adding a forward like Drouin, who is self admittedly doing very well and ready to go, will also help the Canadiens chances. Canadiens fans, you're in for a treat. I think everyone is cheering for a big season from Jonathan Drouin. Hockey fans are just hopeful he takes a night off against their favorite team.

Jonathan Drouin explains why he stepped away from hockey during the 2020-21 #NHL season. pic.twitter.com/22ySNwwbXf
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 20, 2021