For god's sake, hockey is not heart surgery. What separates a professional hockey, basketball, football, or baseball player from those who don't make it to that level is purely physical ability. There are plenty of extremely smart, intuitive players who never make the Big Show because they aren't big, fast, or strong enough. And there are plenty of professional players who have long careers because their physical gifts make up for the fact that they have a ten-cent head.
There's a hoary aphorism out there that says, "Those who can't do, teach." That's very true in many cases, but it's also true in many cases that some of the best coaches and strategists in sports have been people who didn't have a pro career first. The reason why? Because they are able to think the game or sport on a separate level from the playing field. They are able to divorce themselves from the conventional wisdom and exploit unconsidered avenues. Look at what Theo Epstein has done in his career as a baseball GM.
How much validity you ascribe to the opinions of professional players and coaches is up to you. In my experience, there is no such thing as a sacrosanct authority that cannot be challenged.