Post-career NHL-ers who "M.C. Hammered" their money and lost it all

[The Panther]

"You can't touch this!"

Rapper M.C. Hammer is famous for two things: his 1990 Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em album, which sold 20 million copies, making Hammer (briefly) a superstar... and the fact that by 1996, he was $13 million in debt (he apparently spent something like $25 million renovating his Los Angeles home, and forgot to pay his taxes).

Since high salaries started becoming a thing in the early-70s (but mainly only for 'stars' at that time), lots of NHL-ers have earned some serious coin in their playing days. So, I'm wondering: Which former NHL players mismanaged their money badly?

I know of two examples:

-- Bryan Trottier: In the early 90s, after poor investments, Trottier was in financial trouble, despite ranking top-10 in all-time NHL scoring at the time of his first retirement. He returned to play for the Pens, briefly, before retiring again.

-- Theo Fleury: An obvious choice, but Fleury somehow earned upwards of $30 million in his playing days, but within a couple of years of retirement had to start a local business in Calgary to make ends meet. When that business failed, he turned to recording country music albums.

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[sr edler]

It's one thing hammering the money away on unnecessary superficial things and another thing getting conned by financial advisors or even family members (like Fedorov and J. Johnson).

Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik said in an interview once that he regretted blowing tons of money/millions on a private jet, but he did it while still playing I guess.

If you've seen Parnevik's reality TV show he doesn't come across as perhaps the brightest bulb in the box, but you still got to give him credit for realizing it was entirely his own fault.

Some people just can't handle money, they think it grows on trees.

 

[sr edler]

We have a TV show here where I come from called Lyxfällan, direct translation "The Luxury Trap". It's mostly not-very-rich people blowing money on cigarettes, Coca-Cola, pizza and video games though, resulting in them not being able to pay their bills. So it's seldom actual over-the-top luxury. Kinda degrading TV concept, but sometimes funny too.

The episode with a guy refusing to sell his horses was a gem.

Blowing millions on a private jet fits the bill more, but on the other hand I think Parnevik was still able to pay his bills, unless he had to sell his house.

 

[Theokritos]

Wasn't MC Hammer completely fleeced by his manager?

 

[JackSlater]

Wasn't MC Hammer completely fleeced by his manager?

Maybe in part but he definitely made exorbitant purchases and paid lots of money to a big entourage. He discusses it publicly pretty much every chance he gets.

Darren McCarty was broke before he was finished in the NHL.

 

[The Panther]

Darren McCarty was broke before he was finished in the NHL.

How'd he manage that??

(One of the sadder stories from another sport -- tennis -- was how Boris Becker was at one point selling off his Grand-Slam trophies for cash.)

 

[JackSlater]

How'd he manage that??

(One of the sadder stories from another sport -- tennis -- was how Boris Becker was at one point selling off his Grand-Slam trophies for cash.)

Gambling, drugs, divorce. I think that there were token bad business deals but I can't remember exactly. He wrote all about it in his book. He filed for bankruptcy shortly after the 2005 lockout and his "redemption" was a story the media kept going back to during the 2008 playoffs.

 

[ShelbyZ]

-Sergei Fedorov didn't even make it to retirement. He was sued for unpaid loans by at least one Detroit area bank the summer before his last NHL season. IIRC, he paid a majority of his worth to some fraudulent money manager sometime after he signed and received a big chunk of the matched offer sheet from the Canes.
-Probably has more to do with mental health than money management, but Joe Murphy and Stephen Peat are both currently homeless.
-Chris Simon recently filed for bankruptcy
-Jack Johnson
-Probably the most famous example would be Bobby Orr
-Kevin Stevens
-Others that pop into my head, but I can't remember the story... Probert and Nilan (due to substance abuse?) and IIRC didn't Len Barrie swindle a bunch of NHLer's on some real estate investment? Can't remember who they were.

 

[Voight]

NHL players have been the best in the 4 major sports at actually saving their money but theres obviously more than a few cases.

Trottier was mentioned, think I read once he would sell his Isles merch during Penguins games after he retired. (yea, didn't make much sense to me doing that in Steeltown but I guess thats where he laid down roots)

 

[Voight]

-Sergei Fedorov didn't even make it to retirement. He was sued for unpaid loans by at least one Detroit area bank the summer before his last NHL season. IIRC, he paid a majority of his worth to some fraudulent money manager sometime after he signed and received a big chunk of the matched offer sheet from the Canes.
-Probably has more to do with mental health than money management, but Joe Murphy and Stephen Peat are both currently homeless.
-Chris Simon recently filed for bankruptcy
-Jack Johnson
-Probably the most famous example would be Bobby Orr
-Kevin Stevens
-Others that pop into my head, but I can't remember the story... Probert and Nilan (due to substance abuse?) and IIRC didn't Len Barrie swindle a bunch of NHLer's on some real estate investment? Can't remember who they were.

Current, former NHL players lose more than $13-million in resort deal

The full list is in that article but he had quite the rolodex - Sean Burke, Mike Vernon, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts, Rob Blake, Ray Whitney just to name a few.

 

[Jets4Life]

Wasn't MC Hammer completely fleeced by his manager?

MC Hammer made the mistake of Signing with the record label "Death Row," owned by infamous record owner Suge Knight. Knight was a con artist and thug, who would cheap other artists like Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Dr Dre out of pretty much all their royalties from their records. In fact, when Tupac was killed, he was actually in debt, despite having a record that had just become the greatest selling rap album of all time less than a year prior.

Hammer was careless with his money, but lost pretty much all of it when he signed with Death Row.

 

[Jets4Life]

Jaromir Jagr had a gambling problem, which caused the IRS to place a lien on him for over $3 million in 2003.

 

[Legionnaire11]

NHL players have been the best in the 4 major sports at actually saving their money but theres obviously more than a few cases.

Rob Gronkowski should teach classes for pro athletes on how to live below their salary and invest for retirement.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Mike Modano was a model of consistency - between 77 and 93 points in ten of the twelve seasons he was uninjured from 1992 to 2003.

Then his stats dropped like a rock in 2004 - he finished with just 44 points. There were widespread rumours (not sure if anything was confirmed) that he lost millions of dollars on bad investments.

This isn't quite what the OP is looking for (as it was during his career), but this one immediately came to mind.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Apparently Donald Brashear now works the drive thru at a Tim Horton's.

 

[Terrier]

Rob Gronkowski should teach classes for pro athletes on how to live below their salary and invest for retirement.

Zdeno Chara would likely be a good teacher as well, as he obtained a financial planning degree while in Ottawa and obtained a Massachusetts real estate license in 2015.

Money player - The Boston Globe


Zdeno Chara scores a new goal in getting real estate license - The Boston Globe

 

[kaiser matias]

Mike Modano was a model of consistency - between 77 and 93 points in ten of the twelve seasons he was uninjured from 1992 to 2003.

Then his stats dropped like a rock in 2004 - he finished with just 44 points. There were widespread rumours (not sure if anything was confirmed) that he lost millions of dollars on bad investments.

This isn't quite what the OP is looking for (as it was during his career), but this one immediately came to mind.

Explains why he was worried about feeding his dogs during the lockout.

 

[Big Phil]

If I recall, weren't the bad investments that Trottier did buying hockey rinks across New York State?

It must suck though, to make multi millions in your career for a modern day player and have it all blown. Of course you can at least sell off what should be fully paid assets (cars, homes). But imagine blowing all of that money and no longer being physically able to play or get the same sort of salary. I guess you can always find a job within the game, and maybe depending on who you are there can be endorsements too.

I remember Warren Sapp having to sell off his Super Bowl ring when he went bankrupt. Although there are more NFLers who went through this than hockey players partially because their careers are shorter.

Glenn Anderson was sued by an ex-lover who claimed she had his kid. She requested back child support. Anderson claimed it wasn't that he didn't want to pay, he just didn't have it.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Apparently Donald Brashear now works the drive thru at a Tim Horton's.

Yes, owned by former teammate Pierre Sevigny:

L’ex-hockeyeur Donald Brashear sert du café au Tim Hortons

Dovetails with the hockey card promo.

 

[JackSlater]

I also saw the Brashear Tim Hortons connection in the news today. The story said that he's also been in court recently facing charges of mischief and drug possession. Not quite the same situation as Crosby's and MacKinnon's time working at Tim Hortons.

 

[EpochLink]

Warren Sapp had to auction his 240 pairs of sneakers (particularly his Air Jordan's) to pay off creditors.

 

[The Panther]

Apparently Donald Brashear now works the drive thru at a Tim Horton's.

That's.... sad.

 

[alko]

Probably the most famous example would be Bobby Orr

Tell us more please.

Btw. Roman Cechmanek
Something is here, but thats not the full story. According to Czech media, he also divorced with his wife, that he met when he was only 17 years old. He had also a very sick son, he must care. And to be it even worse, he actually doesnt have any job, lives from state support.

 

[JackSlater]

I don't think that Orr counts really when his issue was more his agent stealing, or not telling him the truth about his options, than blowing money. He was offered 18.5% ownership of the Bruins (worth nearly 200 million today) and never knew.

Doug Harvey however was apparently homeless in the 1980s, primarily due to alcoholism and other factors.

 

[sr edler]

Warren Sapp had to auction his 240 pairs of sneakers (particularly his Air Jordan's) to pay off creditors.

Guy had to sell off his sneakers because of a too lavish lifestyle? What a tragedy. I'm crying here right at my keyboard.