During his time in the National Hockey League, Colin Greening was heavily involved in the NHLPA — the players union — and as such, got a good idea of the challenges facing those retiring from hockey.
“That is one of the hardest thing about transitioning out of sports,” he said. “There’s a loss of identity, a loss of structure and a loss of purpose.
“For someone in their mid-30s, probably someone with a young family, to be facing an uncertain future, not knowing what they’ll be doing with their life, it can be very, very daunting.”
Greening is 33 with a young family and he has just retired from hockey. He, too, has a daunting task ahead of him, but the difference is that he is certain of what he’s facing.
The St. John’s native will be attending Harvard University’s School of Business in Boston this fall, beginning what will be a two-year pursuit of a masters degree in business administration.
The beginning of that pursuit will come after another two-year exercise. Greening’s exit strategy from hockey was well- and long-planned.
This is not the result of a whim. It’s the result of what has become a new passion.
“I made the actual decision in December of 2017,” said Greening, who is retiring after a decade-long career as a pro, including the past three seasons in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ system.
“But I had really began thinking about it earlier that fall. It was after the Leafs’ training camp, and I realized I wasn’t getting back to the NHL. I knew I had to really consider what I wanted to do after I stopped playing.
“But I was fortunate that I was in Toronto and there were a lot of resources, and I had a lot of connections. I reached out to a lot of people in a number of different industries, whether it was real estate, or consulting or finance, hockey operations and after all that, I found I was leaning towards getting back to school.”
Greening had attended Cornell University, graduating with honours in 2010 with a degree in applied economics and management. But he had also given some consideration to medical school.
“I thought until four or five years ago that I might want it do it,” said Greening. “But it would take two or three years to get the necessary prerequisites, organic chemistry and such. That was going to be a hurdle.
“Then there would be the time involved, getting those prerequisites, going to medical school, then residency. I didn’t know if I could do that to my family.
“And I eventually realized I wasn’t as passionate about it and that it wasn’t in the cards for me.”
But business was.
He had already shown that lean in his undergraduate studies at Cornell. And he was encouraged in his interest by his brother, Adam, who had earned his MBA at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and former NHLer Ryan O’Byrne, who had done the same at the Kellogg Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago.
And Greening’s greatest support came from his wife, Tissy, who told her husband that she could hear the passion in his voice when he talked about his plans.
So early in 2018 he began studying for his GMATs, the standardized test for those looking to take a masters degree in business. And he began scouting schools, aiming high for institutions like Harvard, that he felt were, “built on building leaders, and valued things such as resiliency, things you might say that are ingrained in hockey players.”
Greening was counting on his work resume, including his captaincy of hockey teams, his work with the NHLPA and charities, as well as his record at Cornell to count in his favour.
But he knew his GMAT mark would be of vital importance. He took the test no less than five times until he got a score he thought would be Harvard-worthy.
And it was.
“The date was March 26 when I got the e-mail saying I had been accepted. That was a pretty euphoric day,” said Greening. “I had felt confident about getting in, but the reality is that there’s just a 10 percent admission rate.
“So to get one of those spots was incredible.”
So next month, Greening, his wife and two-year-old daughter, Bowen, will be moving into an on-campus townhouse and begin getting accustomed to a brand new rhythm of life.
There are sidebar advantages. Tissy is originally from Boston, so there will be family close by, and they will be that much closer to Newfoundland than they were in their former off-season home in Chicago.
And he’s not dealing with the “what do I do now?” conundrum so many of his pro hockey contemporaries have faced, or will face, on retirement from the game.
“I’m putting myself in a situation where I can take my competitive energy and apply it to another challenge, in this case the challenge of school,” said Greening.
A seventh-round 2005 draft choice of the Ottawa Senators, Greening had 102 points, including 47 goals, in 286 NHL games with the Senators and Leafs, and was highly regarded for his hockey smarts, work ethic and leadership, enough to earn a three-year, $8 million contract from Ottawa in 2014.
He was dealt to Toronto in the 2016 Dion Phaneuf trade and while he did get into 30 games with the Maple Leafs, most of his time in the Toronto organization was spent with the Marlies, where he won his second AHL championship in 2018; he had been part of the 2011 Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators as a rookie pro.
He was seen by some as an unofficial player/coach with the Marlies, by everyone as an influential in the development of young prospects. But while Greening sees a possible future for himself in sports somewhere down the road, he insists coaching was never something he wanted to do.
“I don’t see myself as a coach in the general sense. I’ve never seen myself in that role,” he said. “I’d like it stay in sports, but it would be a more in sports management.”
And if he had changed his mind and decided to put off his educational pursuits, was there an option to return to playing hockey?
“I honestly don’t know,” he answered. “From very early on, the whole Leafs organization knew I was pursuing this. So there were no talk of extending (my contract). But I’d like to think positively, that they would perhaps want to extend me if I had wanted to go back and step into the role I had this past year.
“As of right now, I’ll be totally separated from the game. I don’t foresee myself getting heavily involved in hockey, certainly this year.
“I might be playing the odd rink-rat game. But I need to know my priorities very well, especially because I have a family to consider.
“In any case, I know I will be very busy, even if I don’t see a rink all season.”
Twitter: @telybrendan
