Rick Westhead

Glenn Healy , The Canadian Press

Rick WestheadTSN Senior Correspondent

NHL Alumni Association executive director Glenn Healy was scheduled to meet with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly Thursday in New York to discuss improving the physical and mental health care available to players after they retire, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The NHL Players’ Association was not scheduled to attend the meeting, the source said.
Healy, named head of the alumni association in June, said in a phone interview on Thursday morning that he wants to improve player retirement benefits.
The meeting, scheduled weeks ago, comes a day after TSN published a story about Matt Johnson, a 42-year-old former Minnesota Wild captain who is now believed to be homeless in Santa Monica, Calif.
“There are guys falling through the cracks, big guys,” Healy said. “Think about being on top of the food chain for all the years that guys play in the NHL. Whether it’s fame or fortune or all the stuff that goes along with being one of the top 700 players who do their craft, it’s a pretty damned good chapter of life. The next chapter, 30 to dead, is a long time.”
Healy said the average NHL career is 2.6 seasons and that 75 per cent of NHL players wind up divorced.
“We face the same real-life issues that everyone else faces,” Healy said. “There’s no pity party here.”
Healy would not confirm details of his meeting with the NHL and declined to give specifics about changes he wants to player benefits.
According to the NHL and NHLPA’s collective agreement, players who have played at least 160 games have the ability to buy health care coverage for life, coverage that’s especially important in countries like the U.S. that don’t offer universal health coverage. When that benefit was first offered in 1992, NHL players had 60 days to buy the coverage. In 2013, that time frame was extended to 120 days.
Three player agents and one former player told TSN that they’d like to see that window widened.
“If you don’t buy the coverage right away, you can never get it,” said former NHL player Cam Stewart, 46, who played in 202 NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.
“I skate with hockey camps now, helping out, and feel like I can barely make it around. I have no coverage. Then I see younger guys who are still in the NHL who are getting massage therapy and acupuncture. I’m happy for the younger guys but I wish I had coverage, too.”
During the four-month period when players have to decide to buy the coverage, some players are still trying to find another job playing in the NHL, Stewart said.
“Your mind isn’t really on that decision about coverage until it’s too late,” he said.
Another area Stewart and the player agents would like to see improved is the time frame players are covered under the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse program. Currently, for players who don’t buy extended health care coverage, costs related to that program are covered for two years after a player’s NHL career ends.
According to a source, the NHL and NHLPA, which jointly administer a $9 million (U.S.) emergency fund for former players in need, have both become more accommodating in recent years about agreeing to requests for money from former players.
“In the past, money was really earmarked for players who could not afford their rent or to buy food,” the source said. “We’re now at a point where if a guy needs money to go to rehab, the answer is yes. That's good to see.”

Sara Lopze

If you are expecting your first child and you are unsure whether you should get a massage, here is how you can greatly benefit from it.
Whether it is a woman’s first pregnancy or she has already been through the process, prenatal and postnatal massage therapy is quite helpful for pregnant women.

Massage therapy proves a vital role in helping women through pregnancy before the baby comes by relieving the body of stress and knotted muscles. After the pregnancy as the body is reverting back to its original form, there are a lot of changes that the body is going through. This can be eased out through massage therapy.

For most women, it seems like a hassle to go to a massage therapist to get the massage done professionally, so an alternate option is to get an at-home massaging device. However, the results of a professional massage and a device massage will vary drastically. Here are the benefits of massage therapy during pregnancy:

1. Reduces pain

Pregnancy can really affect your sleep position, which can result in countless uncomfortable nights and severe lack of sleep. This can be difficult for the woman as it can cause stress and disruption in the pregnancy. Through massaging, the body can become more relaxed and relieved of stress. Not just that, but it reduces the pain faced during the entire process and opens up the tensed muscles in the body.

2. Improved circulation

A better circulation of blood and oxygen in the body means a healthy pregnancy, therefore a healthy baby. Massage therapy is very important for a better circulation within the body as it gets rid of the toxins and provides nourishment to the baby. Moreover, an improved circulation leads to reduction in swelling and inflammation of joints which are a major source of discomfort for moms-to-be.

3. Reduces anxiety and depression

A lot of women are known to go through spells of anxiety and depression during pregnancy which can become more enhanced after pregnancy resulting in postpartum depression. So it is sensible to deal with this issue beforehand. Massage therapy helps with development of dopamine, reducing the effects of anxiety and depression.

4. Better healing process

Postnatal massage therapy is known to help women transition from their pregnant bodies to their original body state with more ease. Childbirth is no easy process, and a body massage is important for women to heal their bodies while getting rid of pain.

5. Improved breast-feeding

Postnatal massages help new mothers with improved production of breast milk and relieved muscle tension in the neck and shoulders as they feed their infants. It also relaxes chest muscles, resulting in decreased body pain.

6. Surgical recovery

Women who go through C-section to give birth have a long healing process and go through huge risks to bring their babies into the world. Postnatal massage therapy is a vital contributor to help the body get rid of the stress and pain of surgical delivery.

If you are considering postnatal or prenatal massage therapy, it is a great option to help reduce pain and make your pregnancy experience the best it can be.

Massage for sports injuries is a popular method of rehabilitation. It is an extremely effective way of speeding up the recovery process. Injuries resulting from athletic training or sports can be taken care of with the help of massage therapy. Many times, massage therapies are able to prevent re-injury and help the athlete or sportsperson recover completely from the injury. These massage therapies need a set pattern, without which an athlete may not be able to recover completely. Most doctors, physiotherapists, and osteopaths suggest massage treatment as one of the approaches to relieving pain caused by sports injuries.


High-performance athletes need to improve strength, endurance, and overall physical fitness by being in great form and shape. Instead of invasive treatments, massage therapy has become an excellent alternative for controlling swelling, aches, pains, and minor injuries. With a regular therapeutic regime, athletes can significantly benefit from the reduced pain, stiffness, and speediness in recovery times.
Let’s look at the advantages of massage for coping with injuries.
Psychological advantage:Non-physiological assistance is also essential for athletes. As such, massage helps in relieving pain, rebuilding the tissues, and relaxing the mind, allows athletes focus in the long term. Tactical maneuvering, gymnastics, focal points in golf, can all be assisted with the help of massage for sports injuries. Massages help relieve stress, reduce tension, and anxiety thereby improving the performance of athletes and sportspersons by leaps and bounds. Psychological assistance provided by the massage for sports injury is as important as the physical benefits it offers.
Circulation:Circulation of blood flow is one of the most important aspects of healing. Massage therapy helps muscles relax, decreases tension, and increase the flow of blood flow to the injured part of the body. The massage increases tissue metabolism because of an interchange between tissue cells and blood due to circulation. It also helps increase oxygen and nutrients being carried in the blood to the affected area thereby helping the body heal faster and more effectively.
Increased range of motion:The range of motion of the body is precious to play sports. Athletes and sportsmen can get stiff muscles, aches, and pains that interfere with their training schedules. Stiff muscles tend to bind muscles, increase pain, and decrease stamina thereby severely affecting the range of motion. Muscle flexibility helps in increasing power and performance, which in turn, increases efficiency and the ability of the body to build muscle-response time. Massaging the body to improve range of motion dramatically enhances the performance of athletes and sportspersons.
Getting rid of Muscle Soreness:Muscle soreness is the major cause of discomfort in most athletes and sportspersons. Massage for sports injuries helps in alleviating the pain cause sue to muscle soreness. Excessive training, workout, running, and exercising can also be a cause of severe muscle soreness that causes rigidity in the body the next day or the day after. Massaging the body to prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is crucial in controlling debilitating pain and erratic muscle behavior. Massage efficiently reduces the DOMS and reduces swelling, pain, aches, and instead helps in regenerating tissue and muscle fiber.
Increase tissue permeability:Increase in tissue permeability helps in recovery from sports injuries. Deep massage for sports assists in opening the pores and tissue membranes to open up. This enables the passing of healthy nutrients and fluids to the injured spots of muscles on the body. Deep tissue massage for injuries also helps in removing excess water waste in the body and instead, encourages muscles to retain and oxygen and nutrients. This retention helps the body to recover faster from injuries and tissue scarring.
Maintenance of stamina:Sports massages help athletes in maintaining their strength, endurance, and stamina before and after athletic events. Massage therapies may also be used in maintenance sessions for injuries to curb stiffness and range of motion. Pre-event sports massage help prevent injuries by loosening up the large muscle groups and increasing blood flow to improve pliability of muscles. Sports massages help achieve a better mental space, improve focus, and keep the body agile and strong before any matches, tests, or athletic events. Maintenance massages help reduce muscle spasms due to intense physical exertion that help decrease sports injuries.
The benefits of sports massages are for anyone who wishes to avoid fatal injuries caused by excessively working out. Once athletes are able to integrate sports massages into their weekly routine, they can prevent physical stress, DOMS, injuries, and get recharges and rejuvenated instead.

And NO you don't have to be a poet to reap these benefits.

Shaloo Tiwari 

We all know that the health benefits of expressive writing. But writing down poetries specifically or even trying to write down poetries has a lot of mental health benefits. The art or rhyming or expressing your feeling in an artistic and poetic way has a completely magical effects on your body, mind and soul. Poetry therapy has been recognised as a great way to improve the mental wellness. Here are ways you can benefit from writing poetries.
Catharsis: The act of creating something deep out of nothing gives you feeling of a cathartic experience, a feeling of self-worth. This brings in joy and happiness and makes you feel better about yourself and helps improve your self-esteem.
Improves creative thinking and busts stress: While writing a poetry you need to wrack your brains and work on metaphors and imagery. Writing poetry can help foster and promote creative thinking. You become more creative and begin to think more and more which is a great exercise for your brain and helps divert your mind from other horrible stuff in life which in turn helps you beat stress.
Helps heal emotional pain: Whether it is postpartum grief or any kind of painful emotion you are going through, writing poetry expressing the pain helps you vent out your pain and hence makes you feel better. Many of the world’s most inspirational poetries have expressed pain in the most beautiful way. Memorializing or paying tribute to those you’ve lost makes you feel better and helps you forget your remorse.
Helps improve cognitive function: The steps involved in writing a poem, right from looking for the perfect word or crafting the sentences or fine-tuning the rhythm of a poem helps strengthen your cognitive functions.
Helps improve self-awareness: Poetry writing helps you explore yourself and see your inner-reflection. What you are attracted to or you like writing about. It gives you a positive perspective on life. Unstable emotions or indecisiveness may harm your mental peace. And once you complete writing a piece of poetry, you see a part of you in it.