Chicago Blackhawks: The Daniel Carcillo Story (Part II: Steve Montador)

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Carcillo After Montador

Daniel himself fell into a deep lull after the passing of his close friend Steve Montador. He was dealing with a concussion at the time, and described himself as being in a “dark, dark place” in Gone, an interview and article he did with the Players Tribune.

Carcillo was not himself for a long time, but was supported by people close to him. When recalling that time, Daniel said two people consistently reached out to him: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. “It meant a lot to be in such a dark place emotionally and then to have them, you know, care… Those are guys Monty would have loved to have in his life.”

Carcillo fought through the remainder of the 2015 season, which ended in the Blackhawks third Cup in six years, and retired afterwards on his own terms. However, Carcillo had bigger plans than rest and relaxation for his retirement. In “The Fourth Period” he said “I knew that I wanted to create a foundation that would honor Monty’s legacy and help guys who were struggling to find a new identity after hockey.”

Post-Hockey Daniel

Unfortunately, Carcillo’s history of TBIs had other plans for him, “That fall, when the new season started, I went through the same dark cycle that I witnessed firsthand with Monty. I went in with my eyes completely open, but I just couldn’t stop it. I started isolating myself. I felt like I didn’t have a purpose. I fell into a deep and dark depression. Most days, I got out of bed at one p.m.”