Out of the spotlight: Jared Boll and other former Blue Jackets adjust to life once the cheering stop

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lauren Boll knew something wasn’t right the moment she heard her cellphone ring late last winter and saw her husband’s name flash across the screen.

It was the afternoon of a game day, a time Jared Boll always spent napping. It had been part of his routine long before the couple met eight years ago in Columbus when Lauren was a graduate student and Boll was protecting teammates as the Blue Jackets’ resident enforcer.

Advertisement

“I had a feeling something was seriously wrong,” Lauren recalled. “Jared just said, pretty much straight up, ‘I think I’m done.’ He was dealing with concussion symptoms that I wasn’t even aware of at the time.

“It was a defining moment. We had just found out a few weeks earlier that I was pregnant. After that phone call, he began to open up a lot more about things.”

Lauren was relieved to hear of her husband’s intentions. The couple had spent several months awkwardly dancing around the topic of his retirement.

Boll played 518 games split between the Blue Jackets and Ducks, and he was winding down his 11th season playing for Anaheim’s top minor-league affiliate in San Diego.

His parents were eager to see Boll — the NHL’s most active fighter from 2007-2018 — call it a career. So was Lauren.

Boll knew it was time, but in announcing his retirement a few months later, he confronted a reality that, in his mind, was every bit as scary as the biggest, baddest opponent he faced.

What was he going to do now?

Hockey had been his entire life since age 5, growing up in suburban Chicago. Boll was always the first kid at the rink, making sure his mom had him there at least an hour before practice.

Education had not been a priority. He recalls some days working harder on his autograph than his schoolwork. Three years ago, as Boll and Lauren were filling out their wedding guest list, he came face to face with how all-consuming hockey had become.

“Other than family members, almost every name I was writing down was a teammate or a former teammate,” the 32-year-old Boll said. “It made me realize I had almost no friends outside of the game.”

Boll had heard stories about former players struggling with their transition. It wasn’t just about the money, either. Most modern pro athletes, especially ones having played a decade in the big leagues, would be all right financially as long as they hadn’t squandered their savings.

Advertisement

It was more about adjusting to a world outside the locker room and away from the game and its unique camaraderie.

“I’m telling you, that’s what you hear from every guy,” Boll said. “It’s what you miss the most when you’re done playing. Sure, you miss the games, but you become so tight as a group. It’s crazy. They are your family, your best friends.”

Boll officially retired in July. Acting on his wife’s advice, one of his first phone calls was to John Davidson, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations.

“If I could, I wanted to find a way to stay in the game,” Boll said.

‘A big, empty hole’

Davidson, known around the hockey world as “JD,” moves through life at a Zamboni’s pace.

The former NHL goaltender is 65 years old. In his own words, 15 surgeries to his knees and back have turned him into “a walking piece of arthritis.”

Davidson was a legendary television analyst. He made the transition to team management in 2006 and helped transform the fortunes of the Blues and Blue Jackets.

He’s also a former player whose promising career was cut short by injuries.

Most of us think of retirement as a happy occasion that occurs in our late 60s. It means more time to devote to the grandkids and pet projects.

“I was 29 years old and my playing career was over,” Davidson said. “People tend to forget that. You’re a relatively young person and hockey is in your blood.”

Davidson joined the Blue Jackets seven years ago. He got to know and like Boll, who played with the organization from 2007 until the team bought out his contract in 2016.

The team president appreciated Boll’s service to the franchise. So did general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and assistant general manager Bill Zito.

They agreed to meet with Boll. The former winger also spoke by phone to John Tortorella, who had coached him during his final season in Columbus.

Advertisement

Boll reached out to several other teams, but the Blue Jackets were his desired destination. He had treasured his time here, becoming a fan favorite as a member of the first club in franchise history to qualify for the postseason in 2009.

Lauren, a part-time speech pathologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, grew up in nearby Dublin. The Bolls wanted to raise their daughter, Annie, born Oct. 17, 2018, in central Ohio.

“Jared has a great personality, and he wants to work,” Davidson said. “He was aggressive. He came knocking on the door, and he knew what he wanted.”

Not every former player is as certain.

Scott Hartnell, who played with Boll in Columbus and also retired in the offseason, is weighing his options. He’s serving as a guest analyst with the NHL Network and also is considering careers in player development and player representation. Hartnell isn’t in any rush to commit to one path and understands none will supply the exhilaration and perks of playing.

“Everyone told me to play as long as I could because there’s nothing like being an NHLer,” said Hartnell, who had a 17-year career. “It’s so true. There’s nothing like wearing the uniform and traveling the way they travel and staying at the nice hotels and going out for nice meals. It’s a one-of-a-kind job.

“I even miss a lot of the little things. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and this year it was weird not having a team party to go to.”

R.J. Umberger, another former Boll teammate, retired after the 2015-16 season. He’s helping coach his 5-year-old son Matthew and remains active in the Columbus youth hockey scene.

Umberger spent his first year out of the NHL traveling and immersing himself in family life. The Umbergers have three children.

More than two years after his retirement, the former Blue Jackets and Flyers forward is still searching for his calling.

Advertisement

“I don’t know what I’m going to do the rest of my life, but I need to do something,” said Umberger, who played 11 NHL seasons. “That’s how a lot of us feel. We have been so involved in something that you need something else. … We’re used to being on the go constantly — playing, traveling, training, even in the summer. Downtime can feel like a century.

“You need to find a way to challenge yourself and challenge your mind. We’re all athletes, competitive as can be. That’s how we got to be where we are. To just rip every competitive thing away from you at one time and move on to normal everyday life creates a really big challenge, a big, empty hole. I have tried to find little things to challenge myself — working on my golf game, working out five days a week.”

Boll had no interest in taking a year away from the game.

He interviewed with the Blue Jackets in July for an opening as an assistant development coach. A month later, he was still waiting on a final decision.

Repercussions and reunions 

Lauren Boll cheered for the Blue Jackets before meeting her future husband. She attended games at Nationwide Arena with her father.

Fighting was one of her favorite elements of hockey, and she thought it was neat dating a player who stood up for his teammates.

Through her college courses, Lauren began learning about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Suddenly, the allure of fighting faded.

Would her boyfriend develop symptoms such as depression, memory loss and dementia? All the fights. All the headshots. All the tragic tales of Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, Steve Montador, Wade Belak.

What would Boll’s quality of life be like after the cheering stopped?

“When I went into grad school and started to get into in-depth studying of CTE, that’s when everything changed for me,” Lauren said. “It really started to concern me.”

Advertisement

She’s proud of the proactive approach Boll is taking to monitor his cognitive functions. He’s visited a specialist in Detroit. He wants to be healthy for his wife and daughter.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t read stuff and see stuff,” said Boll, who underwent offseason back surgery. “It’s impossible not to see stuff. I feel bad for guys who are having problems. For me, it’s about surrounding yourself with good people and people who take care of you.

“Now that I’m a dad, I know what my dad saw. I can’t imagine if I had a son fighting someone. I would want to fight for him. That’s how my dad was.”

Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, recently added to the Blue Jackets staff as a consultant, said allowing the body and mind to heal should be a priority for the newly retired.

“First and foremost, the transition is going to be much easier if you’re healthy,” St. Louis said. “You have to get your health (in order). Then, you can get into a routine, or whatever it is.”

The Bolls said they are fortunate to have Jody and Mandy Shelley as friends and confidants.

Jody Shelley, the Blue Jackets’ television analyst, played 627 NHL games for four franchises, including Columbus. One of the game’s top enforcers, his role was almost identical to that of Boll’s.

Nearing the end of his career, Boll sought the advice of Shelley.

“I promised myself that when the fire in my belly, that fire you need to fight, was gone, I was done,” said Shelley, a longtime Columbus fan favorite. “I was not going to put myself in that situation.”

In his final NHL season, Shelley played for the Flyers and was a frequent healthy scratch. As the team prepared for a tough game in Toronto, the coaching staff planned to dress him to combat Maple Leafs bruisers Colton Orr and Frazer McClaren.

“I had a hip injury that had been lingering and I used it to pull myself (out of the lineup), knowing I didn’t want to put myself in that situation,” Shelley said. “I had never felt that way in my life. I remember telling the trainer, ‘I don’t think I can go.’ I was heartbroken and excited all at once. It was crazy. I was proud I made that decision although I would have never admitted it at the time.”

Advertisement

Lauren said her frequent chats with Mandy Shelley were invaluable.

“I used Mandy as a resource even before Jared and I started to have the retirement discussions because I didn’t want to bug him too much about it,” Lauren said. “He wanted to focus on the game. I would vent to Mandy about things. Jody and Jared had similar careers and the roles on their teams were not easy. She has been a huge mentor to me and a help through certain situations.”

Jody Shelley loves retirement and wants others to savor it, too. He and Todd Sharrock, the Blue Jackets vice president of communications and team services, have founded the club’s alumni association.

Still in its infancy, the organization provides outreach for former Blue Jackets and gets them involved in team functions. They invite ex-players and their families to about a dozen games a season and allow them to watch from a suite.

Several players said they appreciate the gesture and admit it was difficult at first to come back to games.

“After I got out of hockey, I wanted to get away from it,” said Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, who played eight NHL seasons before continuing his career in Europe. “It took me two years to go to a Blue Jackets game. I don’t want to say it was depressing, it was just something I didn’t want to see. I wanted to build myself as ‘Jean-Luc the realtor.’ ”

The former Blue Jackets defenseman has become a successful real estate agent in central Ohio and also shows promise as a part-time hockey analyst.

Grand-Pierre and Umberger will co-host a Blue Jackets watch party next month from the team’s locker room for a road game in Montreal. The event was auctioned off at a recent charity function.

“(The alumni association) has done things over the last year or so that makes you feel connected to something, and that’s important,” Umberger said. “It’s great and I’m anxious to see where it goes in the future.

Advertisement

“My best years were here. We chose to live here. I want my son to grow up to be a diehard Blue Jackets fan. This is where I want to be.”

Mentor and pupil reunited

Blue Jackets skills coach Kenny McCudden was in Montreal working with Pierre-Luc Dubois in late August when he received a phone call that reminded him how small the hockey universe really is.

Two decades ago, McCudden was trying to establish a youth hockey school in Chicago when he came across a kid named Jared Boll. Both were from Crystal Lake, Ill. Both harbored NHL aspirations.

McCudden lost track of Boll but was proud to see one of his former students being selected No. 101 overall in the 2005 draft by the Blue Jackets. A few years later, the established NHL veteran called McCudden and asked whether he was willing to fly to Columbus to help improve his skills for a week in the summer. The coach had been training pros in the offseason for years while also working with the Blackhawks’ minor-league affiliate.

McCudden made the trek to Columbus for five consecutive offseasons.

One day, Blue Jackets management saw McCudden on the ice with Boll and other pro players. Kekalainen was intrigued. In 2015, the club made McCudden one of the NHL’s first full-time skills coaches.

“Boller was very instrumental in getting me seen by the Blue Jackets,” McCudden said. “I will never forget him for that. It helped change my life.”

Davidson considers McCudden a “hidden gem.” Tortorella calls him “the best in the business.”

Last season, former Blue Jackets forward Fredrik Modin assisted McCudden in working with players but opted to step away from the role to devote more time to family.

Boll spoke to McCudden about the opening. The assistant coach told him to inquire with Blue Jackets management. The club made the hire official in late August. Boll immediately contacted his old mentor to share the news.

Advertisement

“That was a terrific phone call,” McCudden said. “I could hear it in Boller’s voice. It was the start of him making a quick transition from retirement to joining a club he loves.”

Adjusting to new roles

The Blue Jackets’ practice rink was empty late last week except for two figures carving up the ice. Injured winger Markus Hannikainen was being put through conditioning drills by the team’s new assistant development coach.

Clad in a team-issued tracksuit and hat, Boll served as both taskmaster and motivator.

“Come on, Hanny, come on,” Boll yelled as he checked the stopwatch on his iPhone.

It was an exhausting session for Hannikainen, and Boll refused to let the player do all the suffering. At one point, he started doing line drills as the Finnish winger recovered.

Reaching the end boards, Boll bent over at the waist, gasping for breath.

“I was dying out there,” he said with a smile. “I still think I’ve got it and then I skate with (Hannikainen) and he’s lapping me.”

Boll cherishes the interaction with players but is mindful of his place. He can walk into the locker room after practices and games, but he’s no longer part of its fabric. Shelley said that ranks among the biggest adjustments for former players.

“I didn’t realize until I was outside that (locker room) door how small and tight that group was behind the door,” Shelley said. “It’s a major transition. You still get recognized, and people still welcome you in, but you are not one of them anymore. There’s a little bit of heartache involved in knowing it’s a place you are no longer supposed to be.”

Boll echoes the sentiment.

“When you are in that locker room as a player, you can say or do anything you want,” Boll said. “And when you leave it, you can’t do that. You can’t talk to people the way you did your teammates.”

Advertisement

Boll skates with injured players and healthy scratches before practice. He’s also on the ice during practice. On game nights at Nationwide Arena, Boll observes the action from a booth in the press box with other assistants. He often converses with players not in the lineup.

“He can put his arm around a player and talk to the player and share some thoughts,” McCudden said. “I have seen Boller do that, and it’s tremendous. One of the greatest things I have seen him do is relate to the healthy scratches. He keeps those players prepared, he keeps their spirits up. He’s been in that situation. He brings so much to the table in that way.”

Boll doesn’t travel with the team. He has plenty of interests to keep him occupied, however, starting with helping Lauren raise Annie.

Hartnell and Boll agree that caring for a newborn child has helped in their transition from playing hockey.

“The baby takes my mind off what I’m missing with the guys and all the fun stuff which comes with being a player,” Hartnell said of his son Wesley. “It helps waking up with this little peanut at 2 a.m. It gives me something to focus on. Me and my wife are racing up the stairs to get that first smile. Changing diapers has been a 50-50 thing. … It has been great.”

Papa @Hartsy43 😍 https://t.co/0EXdTUkYxM

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 9, 2018

Boll’s biggest fear of leaving the game he loves has been averted. He understands how fortunate he truly is, especially given how many other retirees are looking to find their way, looking to fill that “big, empty hole.”

Sharrock jokes that Boll is around Nationwide Arena more than when he was as a player. There’s still so much to learn, including how to break down film.

Perhaps, his role will lead to other NHL opportunities. Maybe, there’s a more prominent job for him in the future.

Advertisement

“I tell guys that coaching is as weird as you make it,” Boll said. “If you think it’s awkward, it’s probably going to be awkward. But so far I think it’s gone really well.”

Jared Boll is still the kid who wants to get to the rink early. Even in retirement, he wants to be the first one on the ice.

(Top photo of Jared Boll: Kirk Irwin / Getty Images)

The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline contributed to this report.

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lnFpcG9mZH9xfZhoZ2pnYml8sMHTZqafZaSdsm6%2Fz6irpaGXncFutsCrnJ1lkqS5rXnAp5tmp6SdsrN5xaippp2iYq%2BtwcRmoZqbm5rBtHnAnaGuq6RiwbB5y6KdnmWfo7CmecKhnJ6qmaO0br%2FTqKesZw%3D%3D