Richard Clune’s Journey of Addiction and Sobriety Shows How Recovery is Hard Earned
An esteemed NHL player. A hockey team captain. An ice hockey left winger. An overall professional, driven athlete. When the name Richard Clune is being floated, there is no shortage of athletic recognition that can be associated with the award-winning ice hockey player. From OHL and ECHL up to AHL and eventually NHL, there seems to be no hockey league Clune cannot dominate. Clune’s sterling playing career has been all over the news, the papers, and trophies, but little is known about the athlete behind the helmet. Unbeknownst to many, ice hockey championships are not the biggest battles the hockey star had to win.
Inside the life of a famed athlete
It seemed like the stars were aligned for Clune right from the start. Born as the eldest child to former hockey player Tom Clune and Anne Marie Clune, the future ice hockey star had already picked up his foam hockey at 2 and learned to skate at 5. The young Clune always “had this fire in his eyes with every sport”, according to his mother Anne Marie in an interview for ESPN. It was also reported that the father-son duo’s favorite bonding was to watch junior hockey games together, as the older Clune was then teaching East End kids how to skate. All this, in addition to his father’s shared passion for the sport, forged Clune’s rise to hockey stardom.
Clune’s athletic gift would not be hidden for long as come college time, the then 16-year old athlete would be scouted through the Toronto minor hockey system. Clune, a gifted individual in both academics and sports, moved out to Sarnia to play for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sting under 3 conditions from his parents: “do well in school, keep your nose clean and pursue a post-secondary education.”
From there onward, Clune’s playing career was what every aspiring hockey player could only dream of. In a span of just two years, Clune would be hailed the OHL’s scholastic player of the year, earning the Bobby Smith Trophy for his 21 goals and 34 points finish. This was followed by representing Canada for the World Under-18s in the Czech Republic, bagging the silver medal. While competing for another international tournament in the same year, Clune already earned a spot in the 2005 draft list of the Dallas Stars.
Clune earned professional status by officially signing a contract with the Dallas Stars on March 25, 2007, from which he would make his ice hockey debut with the affiliate team Iowa Stars. In the following year, Clune would play for Los Angeles Kings, trading Lauri Tukonen for him. The now Kings player would suffer a chest injury during a training session in October that year, leading him to be reassigned to the Manchester Monarchs. Clune would briefly appear in 4 games in 2010 playoffs before hitting the rink again in the 2012–13 lockout-shortened season, this time with the Nashville Predators. The contract would be extended until the 2014-15 season. He was then reassigned to AHL under Milwaukee Admirals, appearing in a single game before earning a release to free agency on June 27, 2015. Clune would eventually sign a contract with Toronto Marlies and then to the parent club Toronto Maple Leafs during the same year.
Hockey stick down: hitting rock bottom
Unlike the usual expectations from celebrities, Clune did not have a history of an abusive childhood, divorce, sexual exploitation, or other traumatic experiences that led to his eventual addiction. Clune, however, was intaking illegal substances and drinking heavily for a different matter altogether — he was “rebelling”
“I had all this positive stuff that I had going for me. I was always a happy-go-lucky guy, but I started walking around with a chip on my shoulder,” the NHL star recounted, “That’s when the drinking really started to pick up. I pretty much made friends with all the shady characters in town.”
Clune started drinking when he was only 13. It didn’t progress into a full on addiction until years later, when he cut classes and broke curfew with his teammates to pursue a hardcore party lifestyle. And as the fatal cherry on top, Clune eventually added drugs into the mix.
The renowned athlete, currently at the height of his career, said that he was unhappy and that maybe he was tired of living up to the expectations, according to the same interview for ESPN.
“I put the team in an awful position,” Clune admitted, “I was a different player back then. I was kind of selfish. I would never fight to stick up for my teammates. I really had no interest in the team anymore.”
As his urge to find a way out grows stronger, Clune turned to alcohol and drugs some more, saying “the more [he] scored, the more [he] partied.”
Clune also went on to say, “From the outside, you feel you have everything going for you, but inside you’re hurting,” highlighting the destructive impact of hardcore partying on his self-esteem and, not to mention his playing career.
The last straw came when his teammates began cutting him off following his self-destructive behaviors of showing up to crucial games hungover and dysfunctional. Jonathan Bernier, the Kings backup at the time, even explicitly called him a “piece of sh*t”. This is when Clune ultimately decided to take the first step in recovery — seeking help from his family.
ESPN reported that the athlete “first went into treatment as an in-patient and then as a twice-a-week outpatient, “ all with the unrelenting support of his parents, as well as his two younger brothers, Matt and Ben, and his coach, Barry Trotz.
Following his decade-long battle to keep his sobriety, a documentary film entitled, Hi, My Name is Dicky, was produced to shed light on professional athletes’ hidden battle with addiction. The film was released last year at the height of COVID-19 lockdown worldwide, serving as guiding light to everyone who’s going through the same struggles during the isolation.
Clune is currently 11 years sober as of writing, and is currently mentoring young NHL players sharing the same aspirations.
Clune’s brave admittance of his role in his addiction is no easy feat. Ever had the same experience to share? Let us know in the comments and help save a life together with us, one inspiring story at a time. Or if you want to talk a professional click here to be connected with one today
Leave a Reply