About this episode
How far is too far? Parents and youth sports coaches ask this question all the time. Can pushing your kid to the max make them a better athlete? Patrick O'Sullivan was one of the best hockey players in the country growing up. On the outside, he was a talented scorer who had the potential to make it to the NHL. Inside it was a far different story. O'Sullivan endured years of physical and mental abuse, some might even call it torture, at the hands of his very own father. How does this happen? How does this end? Most importantly how much of this is going on without anyone even knowing? O'Sullivan needed security to protect him from his father at the 2003 NHL entry draft. Even though he had top-ten ability, O'Sullivan fell to the 2nd round before being selected by the Nashville Predators. This came on the heels of O'Sullivan finally fighting back after his dad literally pulled him off a team bus following a game in the Ontario Hockey League. A fight that would land O'Sullivan's dad in jail. Meanwhile, O'Sullivan made it to the NHL suiting up with multiple teams. But how good could he have been and how much of his career was stolen away because of a terrifying upbringing? O'Sullivan has been out of hiding for several years now. He wrote a book, has done countless speaking engagements and told his story. Listen to it from O'Sullivan himself, hear it from him as he takes us through his childhood and a hockey career that included a World Junior Championship, an AHL rookie of the year, and an impressive OHL career. The conversation he has with Cam and Strick will leave you both riveted and heartbroken. He also touches on pst friendships with Dan Carcillo and what he thinks of former Vancouver Canuck Alex Burrows.