The playmaker is YOU
[Applause]
i’m wondering did you have a dream as a
child
you know like one day when i’m big
i’m going to be a pilot a fireman or
a movie star
i had such a dream
it even became reality
and then one day all of a sudden
it just
stopped
i would like to take you on my journey
with many highs and many lows
just like our beautiful swiss mountains
i would like to start with a high
my childhood
happy boy huh
i have great parents
a cooler older brother
mostly
growing up we did everything together
we lived in a nice neighborhood we had
many kids to play with
there was not a cloud in the sky
until one day
i was about eight years old and
my older brother sven
destroyed my poster of the other
mediocre
my big idol back in the
day you guys all know who you are in
mediocrities
if not
if not let me help you out
this
with the sick here is your mediocre
a czech legend in the nhl who has won
everything there’s winning ice hockey
in the best league of the world
huh
so
after my brother
destroyed my poster
during weeks
during weeks i was sitting in my room
i was staring at this empty wall where
my aisle used to hang
and one day
it hits
me what if i
become the next you’re a mediocre
and after that
i kinda had a dream
any time i wasn’t at school
i was on the ice
and i was mostly sitting in this gear
i was just
always playing ice hockey
and
it was fun
i realized in my youth that
if you have a goal in life
you will reach much easier
when you believe in yourself
when you’re focused and
when you enjoy
what you are doing
now imagine you’re 23 years old
you play in switzerland’s top league
you’ve just signed a two-year deal with
the best team in the league
for half a million swiss francs
how would you feel
i made into the national team
2011 i played the world championship for
team switzerland
in the last game of the tournament
against a team from the us
i didn’t score one
i scored two goals and was named player
of the game
i even was contacted by the nhl
i was on fire
living the dream
the season was over
five days later i was back home
at it was may 14 2011. that’s a date i
never forget
at four in the morning i was walking
home
after boys night out
i had great pictures of the world
championships in my mind i was so
excited for the future and
so pumped
and then
everything
went black
10 days later i woke up
i had been in an artificial coma
diagnosis
traumatic brain injury
holy
turns out
i had been run over by a drunk driver
going 85
85 kilometers per hour
the doctors told me
you’re lucky to be alive
thankfully back then
i kind of looked like
you guys know the hulk
yeah good okay
i had 10 kilos more and i was in the
shape of my life
anyone else
would not have survived this
when i woke up
i was lying on this mattress in a
hospital i couldn’t walk
i couldn’t talk
i was given liquid nutrition
and
i even had to wear diapers
my dream
has fallen apart
i was in shock
just a few days earlier everything was
so perfect
i had to get some rest
some time
during my three months of rehabilitation
the doctors came to me
and they were like
you’re recovering well you’re making
great progress ice hockey might be
possible again one day
all i heard was ice hockey impossible
again i mean
ice hockey was my
longest and only relationship i had my
girlfriend for 20 years
and guess what
i wanted her back
i never wanted to
to blame myself for not trying
i had the goal
again after that i tried everything to
get my dream back
i did lots of physiotherapy
privatized training i tried different
kind of therapies and i saw specialists
all over switzerland
i even went to america
to see dr carrick in atlanta
he’s the best in the world when it comes
to brains
i really tried everything
at the age of 24
i got a special permit and i was allowed
to start on the ice on a less intensive
and physical level with the juniors
up to the second league and up to the
best league again and yes
i was proud of myself being back
that was awesome
but
there was a little problem
before my accident
eye socket to me
was like that
i was skating and i said if i get the
puck now i got one two three options
the park came
quick decision made my move the game
went on
easy peasy
after my accident
i was skating and i said oh i got
the puck and boom
got run over by an opponent and that was
always pretty painful
so logically
and also
understandably i could send down to the
second league again and
i had to face it
my relationship with ice hockey would
never be the same again
it would never make me happy again
i had to choose between
ice hockey
or happiness
i choose to be happy
and i had to break up with my girlfriend
ice hockey
that was tough
what do we do
or what do you do after a tough breakup
yes
i know what you’re thinking
we get the hell out of here
and that’s what i did i flew to south
africa
i was in cape town for a couple of weeks
one night i was sitting at the beach
i watched the sunset
with a glass of red in my left
and a funny green cigarette in my right
and i just asked myself
and what now
that can’t already be it
i’m 26.
there has to be something else for me
but
i didn’t know what
here i am
just thinking about one of my favorite
songs
and every little thing
is gonna be all right
[Music]
you know what i mean
after that
a couple days later
i went home
clueless
clueless but still full of hope
and guess what
nothing
was all right
nothing at all
i had a breakdown
deep depressions
medication
side effects up and down
everything that i loved
everything except my family
was gone
my life
was built around the dream
and i’d woken up way too early
my environment
were my hockey teammates
my daily routine the recognition
my pride
ice hockey ice hockey and ice hockey
they were all gone
and that was tough
i had invested so much
i had sacrificed so much
for what
and no i never considered killing myself
i mean i love my life but
it was just
really really dark
and i needed back some color in my life
honesty
is what i needed
honesty to myself
one day
i had the balls to tell my family listen
i’m not going to make it on my own
i need help
i mean
you have a problem with your car
you don’t even think about it
you go to the garage
with your bike
you go see the guy at the bike shop
with your teeth you go see the dentist
you have a guy or a girl for everything
what if your laptop is broken
okay we throw it away we buy a new one
but
what if your thoughts or your head is
broken
you can’t just throw them away
professional help
saved my ass
many hours
many hours of therapy later i can say
i have been through a lot
and at some point
my backpack was light enough
light enough to support others
taking care of themselves and
that’s what i’m doing today
that’s why i’m here
so
if there are three things
i can share with you guys tonight
it’s these
the playmaker is you
you are responsible for your life
from which perspective you see your life
how do you face up to situations
and what you make out of them
only you decide
don’t blame
someone else
look inside you be honest with yourself
forgive let go move on because
you decide how you move on so
take responsibility
my family what a beautiful picture
i love it
my family
my close friends
and the mother of my two sons
have always been there for me during the
toughest time of my life
during the toughest time of my life
if you
it’s emotional for me
i’m so i’m so grateful for that you know
i’m really grateful for that
if you guys
oh
sorry for that
but i’m just saying if if if you
if you have
give me a second
okay so i’m really grateful for that
i want to ask you please
take care of those people take time
especially for them
because one day
when your life gets difficult or maybe
you’re struggling
exactly these people will be there for
you
they catch you they listen to you and
they give you advice
so please
take care of them
getting professional help was the best
thing or the best decision i’ve ever
made
i really had to work on myself and i
quickly realized that working on myself
is by far
by far the most difficult there is but
also by far the most rewarding thing
i’ve ever done
and that’s exactly why we have to talk
about it
mental health can’t be a secret anymore
because
in the end
we
are the most important persons of our
lives
that has nothing to do
with self with being selfish but
how are we going to spread positive
wives good energy
or even love to others if if we don’t
even love ourselves
think about it
i always follow my dream
of becoming a professional ice hockey
player
my dream got destroyed
if you
have a dream in your life
and
for whatever reason your dream gets cut
short
please
take care of yourself and create space
for a new dream because
life
life goes on anyway
and
you only get one
[Applause]