Coyotes' Alex Goligoski lost his love for hockey during 2018-19 season
Alex Goligoski has spent 12 seasons in the National Hockey League, and a number of years before that trying to make his pro dreams come true.
But like many people who work at the same thing extensively for a long period of time, he lost interest in hockey while playing with the Arizona Coyotes last year.
Midway through his 12th campaign, that reality really started to hit Goligoski.
“Personally, I really got down and I wasn’t having a ton of fun,” Goligoski said to Craig Morgan of The Athletic. “It wasn’t due to anything in particular. I can’t even really explain it. There was nothing really causing it. I just didn’t have that excitement that I normally have coming to the rink.”
Arizona didn’t make the playoffs last season, and statistically, 2018-19 was the worst year of Goligoski’s career. After five straight seasons of recording 30 points or more, Goligoski finished the year with just 27 over the span of 76 contests.
As he gets ready for the 2019-20 campaign, the 34-year-old stated his strong feelings for the game have been restored.
“I have a really good outlook this year,” Goligoski said. “It feels like we’re finally at a tipping point where realistically, our expectations should be a lot higher now. As a group, we’re ready to take off.
“I’m really looking forward to this season personally to get back to my game of creating offense. I think we’re going to be playing in the offensive zone more. I’m excited to have fun playing hockey again.”
Goligoski’s comments come at a time where we’re hearing more about hockey players losing interest in their sport - most notably, Dustin Byfuglien, who’s the same age as Goligoski - is reportedly considering walking away from the NHL.
More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports
