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“The thing I think about is what are you going to do?” Armstrong, who is now getting his feet wet in broadcasting with Sportsnet, told Strombo. “Sit around and count your money? There’s only a certain per cent of guys that leave the game where they’re pretty much set up. And even that … what are you going to do? I thought I was going to play until I was, you know, 37 years old.”

If life after hockey is hard for someone who earned millions, imagine what it can be like for a kid who dedicates his life to the sport and then never makes it past major-junior or the minor leagues — or only gets a cup of coffee in the NHL — without a backup plan in place.

Armstrong remembered people always asking him what he was going to do after hockey.

“I think the mentality of a hockey player is like, oh, nothing,” he said. “I’m a hockey player.

“You have to get a hobby,” he added, “get some interests because you’re just worried about playing hockey, but there’s more to it than that.”

Apparently a lot more once the skates are hung up for good.

Watch the video of Life After Hockey with Kypreos, Hirsch & Armstrong

scowan@montrealgazette.com

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