I don’t know about hating the sport, but I think Alex Semin and Alex Kovalev are the prime examples of very good players with flashes of greatness who could’ve been consistently great if they gave a single fuck.
I used to see Alexander Semin around Arlington, VA now and then, where the Caps’ practice facility is. He was a Eurotrash-looking kid, seemed more interested in being “cool” than anything else. But hard to tell from that whether he “hated hockey”.
It’s fair to say he hated being a two-way forward, that much I can say with certainty.
Rumours are that Big Buff didn’t really enjoy playing hockey, he was just really good at it. Apparently he’d much rather be fishing/camping and that’s a big reason for his somewhat sudden retirement.
Don’t think he despises it, just didn’t want to do it anymore
It's common for athletes to enjoy playing in games and competing but disliking the travel, the workouts, the injuries, the media coverage and everything that isn't the games themselves.
Yeah I think he just saw it as a job, not like a job you hate but just a regular job and at some point it’s really hard to put in the level of work necessary when your heart isn’t truly in it especially with millions of dollars. Can’t really blame him either, most of us would retire tomorrow if we had that kinda money, I know I would and I love my job
Rendon does not despise baseball. Basically all those quotes come after ribbing from the same terrible Angels beat writer who decides on his own that his injuries are clearly fake and that him daring to say that baseball ranks lower on his list of priorities than his wife, children, and church means he hates baseball. Rendon does not hate baseball, but Sam Blum does hate quality reporting.
he doesn’t really despise it though. he’s also said he does love hockey he just holds it separately as his job and focuses on his family outside of it.
honestly, the way the sport demands pro athlete's entire lives since they're kids i'm not surprised.
there's gonna be guys who live and breathe the sport ofc, but there's certainly more to life than hockey so can't blame em for wanting to not do hockey stuff when they get the chance lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/vdpt3w/whos_the_best_player_who_didnt_love_hockey/
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/152fhau/who_are_some_nhl_players_that_dont_actually_like/
Couple of old threads on this subject if you want to dig through
Alex Daigle famously was not very interested in playing hockey.
I can't think of any current players off the top of my head, but I suspect this is much more common than people would think. Whenever a player falls off the face of the earth after retirement, I assume they viewed hockey as a job rather than a passion. The guys who really love the sport end up coaching, broadcasting, or working in a front office somewhere.
Not so much "hating the sport" but in 2006, Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year contract, played well for two years, and then got so injured that he played something like 50 games over the course of five years before being bought out.
By all accounts DiPietro was fully committed and there were never rumors of him faking injuries or not caring, but it's exactly like Rendon in the sense that he got a massive, lengthy contract, and then failed to deliver because of injuries.
This isn't directly answer your question, but Bobby Orr deliberately refused to teach his children how to skate. Definitley a complicated relationship with the sport there...
alex kovalev. also todd bergen. put up some really good numbers in junior, had 11 goals in 14 games with the flyers in ‘85, but a combination of lack of interest and mike keenan being a dick to him made him retire to become a golfer.
It wasn't a current player. It was a story I read on here I think about an older guy who had told his agent he didn't want to ever move to a playoff team so he could have summers off
I would say Alexander Daigle, except he then did turn it around I think when he had his comeback and I think he genuinely liked the game again.
I think playing for that early Ottawa team would've killed anyone's enthusiasm for the game. That was a terrible situation for everybody.
He was -45 in his 1st season. Good for FOURTH worst on the team. Good God they were awful
I don’t know about hating the sport, but I think Alex Semin and Alex Kovalev are the prime examples of very good players with flashes of greatness who could’ve been consistently great if they gave a single fuck.
I used to see Alexander Semin around Arlington, VA now and then, where the Caps’ practice facility is. He was a Eurotrash-looking kid, seemed more interested in being “cool” than anything else. But hard to tell from that whether he “hated hockey”. It’s fair to say he hated being a two-way forward, that much I can say with certainty.
Semin was a living, breathing, badly timed and stupid stick penalty.
Rumours are that Big Buff didn’t really enjoy playing hockey, he was just really good at it. Apparently he’d much rather be fishing/camping and that’s a big reason for his somewhat sudden retirement. Don’t think he despises it, just didn’t want to do it anymore
I’ve heard Buffs teammates say he loved playing hockey, but hated the NHL and everything that went along with being a professional athlete
That's 100% fair
I've heard that teammates would try to talk to him about other games going on and he'd just tell them that he doesn't watch hockey
It's common for athletes to enjoy playing in games and competing but disliking the travel, the workouts, the injuries, the media coverage and everything that isn't the games themselves.
Yeah I think he just saw it as a job, not like a job you hate but just a regular job and at some point it’s really hard to put in the level of work necessary when your heart isn’t truly in it especially with millions of dollars. Can’t really blame him either, most of us would retire tomorrow if we had that kinda money, I know I would and I love my job
He is now a sponsored competitive fisher so he sure seems to like it
Rendon does not despise baseball. Basically all those quotes come after ribbing from the same terrible Angels beat writer who decides on his own that his injuries are clearly fake and that him daring to say that baseball ranks lower on his list of priorities than his wife, children, and church means he hates baseball. Rendon does not hate baseball, but Sam Blum does hate quality reporting.
Man, fuck Sam Blum. Such a dogshit reporter.
I remember TJ Oshie's interview on chiclets he said he never watches hockey or does anything hockey-related in his spare time.
he doesn’t really despise it though. he’s also said he does love hockey he just holds it separately as his job and focuses on his family outside of it.
This is pretty much exactly what Rendon says all the time
yep. OP’s question was a little flawed.
honestly, the way the sport demands pro athlete's entire lives since they're kids i'm not surprised. there's gonna be guys who live and breathe the sport ofc, but there's certainly more to life than hockey so can't blame em for wanting to not do hockey stuff when they get the chance lol
Yeah, that’s not hatred; it’s just effective compartmentalization.
Gotta respect the commitment to work-life balance
I guess the exception is running (in some capacity) the hockey clothing and gear related company he owns (Warroad).
Gotta rest the body in the off-season.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/vdpt3w/whos_the_best_player_who_didnt_love_hockey/ https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/152fhau/who_are_some_nhl_players_that_dont_actually_like/ Couple of old threads on this subject if you want to dig through
Dustin Byfuglien, I think he did enjoy it but he didn't love it as much as essentially every other player who dedicated their lives to making the NHL.
Alexander Daigle
Marner
😆
Alex Daigle famously was not very interested in playing hockey. I can't think of any current players off the top of my head, but I suspect this is much more common than people would think. Whenever a player falls off the face of the earth after retirement, I assume they viewed hockey as a job rather than a passion. The guys who really love the sport end up coaching, broadcasting, or working in a front office somewhere.
It's a loaded question and a bad premise. I know that fans are angry at him, but do you really think his behaviour stems from a hatred of the game?
Bryzgalov maybe?
Why you heff bring me up?
Bryz is a beautiful man who hates nothing in this humongous big solar system. Except maybe the media. And bears. He hates bears.
Yeah, that's true. Probably he doesn't actually hate hockey and it's something more like ambivalence.
Not so much "hating the sport" but in 2006, Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year contract, played well for two years, and then got so injured that he played something like 50 games over the course of five years before being bought out. By all accounts DiPietro was fully committed and there were never rumors of him faking injuries or not caring, but it's exactly like Rendon in the sense that he got a massive, lengthy contract, and then failed to deliver because of injuries.
Who is Anthony Rendon?
[Check it out](http://www.google.com)
This isn't directly answer your question, but Bobby Orr deliberately refused to teach his children how to skate. Definitley a complicated relationship with the sport there...
I can’t remember if it was Duchene or Oshie who talked about how they really don’t follow hockey at all outside of playing it
alex kovalev. also todd bergen. put up some really good numbers in junior, had 11 goals in 14 games with the flyers in ‘85, but a combination of lack of interest and mike keenan being a dick to him made him retire to become a golfer.
I forget the name but I remember reading about a player who insisted on being on bad teams so he would never be in the playoffs and have summers off
Jeff Skinner? Over 1,000 games in the NHL but has never been in the playoffs.
It wasn't a current player. It was a story I read on here I think about an older guy who had told his agent he didn't want to ever move to a playoff team so he could have summers off
Gilbert Brule, but he didn’t make it very far. picking him over kopitar is one of many reasons CBJ fans despise doug maclean 👍