The analytics wave had yet to sweep over the NHL when Brantt Myhres played in the league from 1994-2003. To be frank, goals, assists and plus/minus didn’t even matter that much in his role as enforcer. It was win lose or draw, no different from a heavyweight fighter.
So why do metrics apply to a man that last played a game almost 20 years ago? Because the numbers show his memoir is a top seller and for good reason.
In Pain Killer: A Memoir of Big League Addiction, Myhres shoots straight about trying to make it in the game he grew up loving, how it became intertwined with drugs and alcohol and eventually led to a lifetime ban.
Where his story had so many chances to end tragically, it hasn’t and along the way back he found purpose in a commitment to helping others who have carried the weight of walking miles in his boots.