Jordin Tootoo pulls no punches in raw autobiography
Jordin Tootoo s new book portrays an honest account of a difficult upbringing in Nunavut, and his rocky road to NHL success.
Nunavut only NHLer, Jordin Tootoo, during an exhibition game with the New Jersey Devils, just bepatagonia better sweater coatfore the start of the 2014 15 season. (PHOTO COURTESpatagonia better sweater jacket - women'sY OF NJ DEVILS/FACEBOOK)
Jordin Tootoo admits that his journey to become the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League was a shot. long odds started in Rankin Inlet, growing up in a household troubled by alcohol addiction and violence, where life on the land and also hockey, for Tootoo and his brother Terence was a source of happiness.
Tootoo took his talent in the sport all the way to the big league, on a road pot holed with alcohol and the suicide of his brotherpatagonia better sweater jacket - women's0.
His most recent challenge, though, is far from the hockey rink, and he met it face on with the Oct. 21 release of his book, patagonia better sweater jacket - women's2All the Way: My Life on Ice.
order for me to heal from everything I gone through, I had to do this, Tootoo recently told Nunatsiaq News from New Jersey, where he now plays with the Devils. of healing is speaking out, and being comfortable with that.
Tpatagonia addie boots women's 2011 closeouthe journey he shares with readers, though, not just about hockey, Tootoo said. only 31 yearspatagonia store greenwich ct old, but I experienced a lot throughout my life. And I wanted it to be a raw, upfront book. mpatagonia capilene 4 full zipakes good on his promise. All the Way reads like a direct oral testimony, as told to Brunt.
voice is so distinctive, said Brunt, who has written books centred on two of Canpatagonia encapsil buyada greatest hockey players: Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.
wanted people to hear him speaking when they read the book. tells of an upbringing troubled by his parents alcohol abuse and outbursts of domestic violence, and growing up close to his brother Terence, who he describes as caring guy who looked after other people before he looked after himself. were like two peas in a pod, Tootoo says in the book. He credits his older brother for helping him become a professional hockey player.
God I had an older brother, because that who pushed me. and his brother became formidable hockey players in their teenage years, far from Rankin Inlet, after leading their hometown teams to big wins in peewee and bantam tournaments throughout the North.
Some years later, as young men, Jordin and Terence were starting to show potential advancement to the NHL when everything changed.
Terence got charged with drunk driving and shortly after, at age 22, took his own life.
His last words to his younger brother were in the form of a written note, left in the house where they boarded near Brandon, Man.
go all the way, it read. care of the family. You are the man. Terence. suicide hit Tootoo parents hard, he says in the book, and impacted Jorpatagonia m's better sweater 1din in different ways.
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many years I blamed myself for Terence death, the book reads. Questions about why Terence killed himself persisted, but Tootoo knew he would never find a full explanation.
knew that Terence would have wanted me to keep going. He said so in the note he left for me, he says in the book. time I stepped onto the ice, I just felt the presence of my brother, his spirit. road to professional hockey took off from there. His next season as a major junior player in the Western Hockey League, 2002 2003, was his best ever.
That winter, his efforts for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships drew more attention from WHL fans and the NHL.
The young right winger made the jump into the NHL ipatagonia argentina quickn the fall of 2003, with the Nashville Predators, where he quickly became a fan favourite.
Tootoo brought his fast, combative style of play to a npatagonia better sweater jacket - women's3ew level in the NHL, and his excessive drinking and partying increased right along with it.
Tootoo says the drinking, partying, and womanizing was just to fill a void.
Earlier in his patagonia discount code limecareer, Tootoo pointed to the abrupt loss of his brother as one reason he took to the bottle, but he later concludes that blaming his behaviour on his brother suicide be a cop out for me. That would be an easy excuse. antics were a drag on his teammates, and it prompted Nashville Predators management to send him to rehab at the end of 2010.
went into the program with an open mind, Tootoo recalls in the book. wasn in denial. I didn fight it. I knew it was time and that I had to do it for me personally and to save my career. next season with Nashville was possibly his best. That year, he decided to move on from his team of the past nine years and become a free agent.
That move led to an uneasy two years with the Detroit Red Wings, which is where the book leaves off. This fall, Tootoo joined the New Jersey Devils.
In his testimony, Tootoo is equally frank about his difficulties with the Red Wings as he is about his youth in Rankin Inlet.
is a story that wasn meant to degrade anybody, Tootoo told Nunatsiaq News. there a lot in there about my family. But our relationship now is stronger than it ever been, and I so grateful for that. the Way is meant to be a story for all readers, not just hockey fans, Tootoo said. Even so, there no denying that the issues he faced, growing up in Rankin Inlet and as a young hockey player, are commonplace in Nunavut.
The only sure path to overcoming trauma from suicide, addiction, and alcohol fuelled violence in the home is to talk about it openly and frankly, Tootoo said.
been through these, and I npatagonia better sweater jacket - women's1ot afraid to talk about it, he said. the way it should be. There always someone going to be out there for you to talk to.
don hold things in. That when it creates more problems. book reception has gone well so far, Tootoo said. His straightforward, honest testimony has even drawn the interest of friends, they can relate to a lot of my stories growing up, but at the same time, they didn know a lot about me, he said.
just want everyone to be more open, and to be more honest with each other. Once that happens, you become a happier person. all help one another, especially in our communities, Tootoo said, singling out Nunavut.
