For many of his 19 years as a defenseman in the National Hockey League, Stu Grimson was as effective with his fists as with his skates and stick - an "enforcer" for teams that needed muscle.

But even "the grim reaper," as Mr. Grimson, 6 ft. 5 in. and 241 lbs., was nicknamed, finally had to retire from the Nashville Predators after an injury last year. It left the 37-year-old unexpectedly facing a question familiar to many newly retired professional athletes: What do I do now?

Wanting to earn a college degree and start a new career, he had a tough choice: uproot his family and return to Canada, where he had three years' worth of credits at the University of Manitoba - or start college all over again.

He found a way out of the dilemma last fall - taking courses in Nashville and transferring them to Manitoba - with help from the new Life After Hockey Program (LAHP).

It's the only professional sports-league program to employ both university consultants and an outplacement firm to help retired pros land on their feet after their playing days are over.

With 30 or more working years still possible, former players often need to figure out what they're good at (besides hockey) or develop a road map for a college degree.

Since September, 30 men have taken advantage of LAHP, which is funded by the National Hockey League and its players and alumni associations.

Various professional sports leagues have attempted over the years to create career-transition programs for ex-athletes (see below). The NHL tried it once before, in the early 1990s, but that effort collapsed during a fraud scandal surrounding R. Alan Eagleson, the NHL players' union boss.

"All of the leagues have an interest in the career transition process and all are ... thinking of implementing models," says Dale Jasinski, director of the new Professional Athlete Transition Institute at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. The institute is a partner in the NHL program, but also plans to work with individual clients from other sports.

A lot of players expect to continue to build their lives around hockey even after they've retired. Yet jobs in hockey do not work out for most of them, and the ride into the "real world" can be a rough one, Mr. Jasinski says.

For Jocelyn Lemieux, hockey was an all-consuming passion for 16 years in the NHL, a career that began when he was drafted at 18 by the St. Louis Blues. After some great years with the Chicago Blackhawks in the early 1990s, Mr. Lemieux left the sport in 1999.

He made decent money while playing, he says, but still found himself living from paycheck to paycheck. It's been personally and financially difficult for him since retiring. Last fall, the LAHP became a life preserver as he struggled, in the wake of a divorce, to find out what his strongest interests and capabilities are.

"I wish I had saved more money and had more education," he says.

"The NHL tried their best to convince guys they wouldn't last forever, that they had better prepare. But when you're an athlete you feel nothing can stop you, you just keep going."

Page: 1 | 2 | 3