Borowiecki Leaves Legacy of Kindness, Mental Health Advocacy in Nashville

With 1,831 career hits, 340 minutes of fighting majors and a handful of missing teeth, at first glance former Nashville Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki looks little more than a poster child for the rough and rowdy side of ice hockey.

But those who've followed Borowiecki's story - or spent even a few moments with the now-retired blueliner - know there's much more to the man than his stat sheet or toothless grin would suggest.

From hand-delivering signed pucks to young chemotherapy patients to championing LGBTQ+ youth at Nashville's Oasis Center, Borowiecki spent his 12 seasons of play in the NHL making sure his contributions off the ice matched - if not exceeded - those on it.

"A friend of mine who played a long, long time in the NHL asked me when I was a young player breaking into the league what I wanted my legacy to be,"

. "He told me that being remembered as a good person and good teammate would always be far more important than any on ice accomplishments. I really hope that I have achieved that."

Though Borowiecki's contributions away from the rink came in many forms, few will likely have a greater lasting impact than his advocacy for mental health awareness in a sport where talking about feelings has typically taken a back seat.

"It's a bit taboo in our business to be vulnerable," Borowiecki said. "It's just sort of entrenched masculinity, where it's no pain, no gain - both physically and mentally. And I think it's a big hurdle to clear, but when you finally do clear that hurdle and realize that it's OK to talk about it and be open and be vulnerable, I think it makes you that much more comfortable and willing to help other people."

During the COVID-shortened 2021-22 season, Borowiecki cleared some hurdles of his own, then took to social media to open up about them.

Doing so, he said, ended up serving two important purposes.

"Every time I talked about my OCD and the issues that I was having, it was like I was giving a tiny piece of it away and it was lightening the burden on my shoulders," he said. "I think a lot of athletes kind of do their best to struggle through these things in silence and I think it makes the weight of it that much more. So maybe a bit of it was a healing process for me being open and being vulnerable. But my other hope was that by doing it, it would encourage more guys to [do the same]."

Borowiecki not only opened up about his own struggles, but gave credit to the people who helped him overcome them. Video: Mark Borowiecki physical play makes a difference, whose support contributed to what Borowiecki considers one of his best seasons in the NHL.

"I think it should be mandated throughout the NHL that there's a mental health professional embedded with the team full time," Borowiecki said. "I think with how stressful this job is, with the way the world is going and how many more incidents you're seeing of guys dealing with mental health issues, I think having a professional around full time is just invaluable."

Though Woosley's presence in Nashville is in itself an encouraging sign of the changing attitude toward mental health, Borowiecki knows it'll take a collaborative effort to continue pushing the needle.

"I think players need to step up and be vocal about it," he said. "I think it's a missed opportunity for teams to not be doing it and it's a missed opportunity in terms of taking care of your players as human beings by not doing it. I think it's something that the [NHLPA] should come together and have a very serious discussion about and then broach the subject with the NHL. And if a group of players goes and asks the League for help with their mental health, I'm just not sure how the League can say no to that."

A husband and a father to three young children, Borowiecki also understands that improving players' access to mental health care reaps benefits that extend far beyond the rink.

"We should be caring for athletes, not just because of what they do on the ice, but also because of what they may need and who they are away from the rink too," he said. "All these guys in this League and all the women out there playing professional hockey, we're all still human beings, right? I think we deserve to have personal lives that are in order and lives away from the rink, and that encompasses mental health."

Though he's not entirely sure what will come next, Borowiecki plans to continue beating the drum for future generations of NHL players.

"I think we need to encourage recent ex-NHL players to stay in the game in some capacity," Borowiecki said. "I think we can really bridge that gap in terms of guys not being comfortable talking to their coaches or management for whatever reason, if they think it's a sign of weakness or they think it's going to be held against them. I think the more ex-players who've gone through some of these shared struggles that we can have around, the more it's going to benefit young players in this League. I think the onus is on guys like me now to try to pay it forward."