Joey Vitale

On the hockey podcast Spittin' Chiclets today, Blues color analyst Joey Vitale talked a little bit about his struggle after a concussion. He was on pain meds (and rightfully so per his injury), but he had a really hard time with it and went into a pretty dark place. He eventually quit cold turkey and he talked about how hard it was to get out of that dark place.

At one point he apologized for being so serious on an ostensibly comedic podcast, but the hosts (including Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney) immediately shut him down, indicating that the podcast was more about telling people's stories than keeping things light.

I was incredibly proud of them for taking mental health and substance abuse seriously and was very glad that they encouraged Vitale to tell his story. So many hockey players and other athletes feel like they can't speak their truth, so I'm so glad to see guys talking openly about it.