Flames' Kylington opens up about mental health struggles that forced him to miss last season
Calgary Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington hasn’t had the easiest of years.
The 26-year-old had a breakout season in 2021-22 that resulted in him receiving a two-year, $5 million contract extension. Things seemed to be going quite well for Kylington, but some mental health issues soon began to take their toll.
Kylington wound up missing the entire 2022-23 season, with little explanation given from the team as to why. Fans were left confused as to what exactly happened, but will now have answers, as the Flames defenceman sat down with Swedish outlet HockeyNews SE to discuss what went on.
“It was mental and psychological problems I suffered from,” Kylington said in Swedish (translated with Google Translate). “I think I’m dealing with the problem like maybe everyone else does, by just sweeping it under the rug and putting the lid on, but for me, it led to mental illness, and I felt very bad about how I handled my problems and almost hit the wall and felt that enough is enough.”
Kylington is in a much better place now and is returning to the Flames for the 2023-24 season. He admits that speaking with a psychologist has helped him overcome the mental health struggles he was enduring.
“I learned a lot about myself and I learned to understand that fear of your problems is only driven by your own shame, and I had trouble putting my feelings into words because I was so ashamed of the problems I had with my family,” Kylington explained. “I am incredibly grateful for how many people supported me and helped me get the right help. I really feel like I did myself a big favour.
“I just want to play hockey, but when something else in life eats you up from the inside, I just felt like I couldn’t focus on the right things, and I needed to go back and prioritize what needed to be fixed.”
Things like this are never easy to go public with, so Kylington deserves plenty of kudos for doing so. Despite the long time off from game action, he has been training hard for months now in anticipation of the 2023-24 campaign, where he will look to re-establish himself as a top-four defenceman for the Flames.
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