Ladd talks 1616 mental health initiative, foundation in NHL.com Q&A

What did you learn from adversity and how have you used it to help kids rise to challenges?
“It’s easy to lead when things are going well. It’s hard to lead when things are not going very well. We have a choice of how we want to show up. I think that was a great training ground for me during the end of my tenure in New York until I got back to playing in Arizona. There were a lot of things, a lot of adversity, and I get to choose how I want to show up at the rink. I get to choose the impact that I want to have on the people around me. It was the next level of leadership and growth in my life in terms of, I’m in this situation that I don’t want to be in, how do I maximize that? How do I make the most out of it? And 1616 really is the result of spending that time, being intentional, having purpose and trying to make the most of it.”
Did you want to end your playing career on your terms?
“I think that was part of it. I was 50 games away from 1,000 and had that in my head. I wasn’t done with it yet and I needed the idea of getting back to the NHL. I’m sure there were a lot of people that had doubts that I would ever get back to the NHL and be able to play NHL games again and play 1,000 games. I would include myself in some of that. It was part of that battle. There’s moments where you want to give up and you need people around you to help pull you through.”
There was a conversation with Brandy suggesting you talk to someone. How much of a turning point was that?
“It takes courage to tell someone that, so I’m grateful for her courage and her care for me. It was a weird moment because I knew something wasn’t right. I was floating through life and was a little bit numb to everything. Luckily I was traveling from Long Island to Bridgeport with (then-Islanders defenseman) Thomas Hickey, who at that time was working with Dan (Leffelaar). On those car rides, it was me opening up about wanting to find someone to talk to and then it was him saying this is the person I use. In one conversation with Dan, it was, OK, this person can help me. This is the space for me to hash out a lot of this stuff to help me. From there it was on me to leverage that space as much as I could.”
Was that when the seeds were planted for 1616?
“We wanted to find something proactive in the mental health space, the experience of going through and working on that in my own life, and seeing how the situation, the challenges that were presented in front of me, and how I was treating that as a way to grow. I was playing with a lot of the concepts, what we have for kids in the program right now. It gave me more insight into, here’s the value of this and how I want to try to connect with kids through a lot of this stuff that I was going through.”
How’s life since retirement?
“After I finished, the transition was interesting. It was helpful to have a performance coach as I was transitioning out of the game. I remember him asking me, what do you want to do now? I was like, no one’s asked me that question since I was probably 10. People were telling me what to do the last 30 years, so I had to really sit with that and 1616 was part of that continuing journey, helping build that program and be a visionary for where we want that to go. I loved the impact my performance coach had on me. I wanted to learn how to have those skills, so I went through the training program to be able to do what they do. Through that process, I was like, I want to do this. I want to continue to help athletes and have the impact that I had going through that same thing.”
The Islanders are running it back with mostly the same group. They added forwards Anthony Duclair and Maxim Tsyplakov and are hoping goalie Ilya Sorokin can revert to form. How far do you think coach Patrick Roy can take them?
“I had a front-row seat for watching Sorokin come in during my time there. He is a special goalie. If he gets back to form, I think the biggest question mark with them is how much offense they can create to compete in the Eastern Conference. That would probably on ‘Barzi’ (Mathew Barzal) taking another step as a leader and a driver of that organization. They were reinvigorated when (Roy) came in last year, so I think just the familiarity coming to this year, I’m excited to see what they do.”
The Coyotes are now the Utah Hockey Club, getting a tremendous reaction in Salt Lake City and they appear poised for a run at the Stanley Cup Playoffs. How well can hockey do in Utah, and can this team make some noise in the Central Division and Western Conference?
“Everyone’s excited for them to be there. I know the players are excited to be there. Having been through that process myself (when the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season), it’s exciting going into a new place and there’s energy around the team. There’s a lot of young skill there. It’s great to have the skill. It’s another thing to learn how to compete and win. Culturally, I loved Andre Tourigny as a coach and I’m super confident in his ability to create those habits for a lot of those players. The time is now for them to step into a playoff spot, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. New place, new atmosphere, new owner (Ryan Smith). I’m excited for that group to experience what Utah has to offer.”
What’s your impression on Connor Bedard and can you remember the last time a player has had as much of an impact on the Blackhawks since Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews or Duncan Keith?
“It’s surrounding Connor with the right pieces. I think people tend to forget that when Toews and Kane came in the League, we had some veteran guys in that room that had been around for five, six, seven years and came from places that had success. You had Brent Seabrook and Duncan and Patrick Sharp, and [they] brought in Marian Hossa. Those two weren’t counted on for all leadership, for all aspects of scoring. We had people around them to help them through those moments. I’m excited that Connor has someone like (Blackhawks captain) Nick Foligno around him. Then it’s how do you grow different aspects of his game to help keep him on track with what will create a successful championship culture. I’m excited to see that franchise have an opportunity to have another generational player that’ll keep them in the forefront for a long, long time.”
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