There’s a common misperception among sports fans that their favorite players, once they retire, are just immediately thrust into comfy jobs or nice, quiet retirements. Well, news flash, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A vast majority of professional athletes struggle with the question, “What comes next,” once their playing careers end. Do they stick around the game as a coach or scout? Do they take a Front Office gig? Will they stay home with their family and live off whatever money they made? 

Some players will lean on the star power of their name, get a friend to attach their brand to some big project and then just make sporadic public appearances. However, this is not the case for most athletes. Most are like former NHLer Drew Shore, who carved out a modest career in The NHL. Shore played parts of six seasons in The National Hockey League, suiting up for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. He also had a brief career overseas. 

Now though, Shore is an NHL player agent, a business owner and a successful podcast host. Sportsology recently caught up with Shore to discuss his post-playing career and how he’s using it to help other athletes. To paraphrase Steve Zirnkilton (the narrator for the introduction to every Law & Order episode), “This is his story…”

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Question: What was the transition like going from being an NHL player to becoming an NHL player agent?

Shore: “The transition for me was pretty smooth. I felt very fortunate. There was a guy I know who’s probably the best agent in hockey now named, Judd Moldaver, who I actually knew from the time I was like 13-years-old. He had been tasked with starting the hockey division at Wasserman and currently represents Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Roman Josi. 

“I had a lot of talks with him during my last year of playing in Carolina. I actually was thinking about maybe taking a job and working for a team. (But) I ended up taking a job at Wasserman with him and being able to learn under him for three years. (It) was just absolutely amazing. He really opened up (about) the way he sees everything from contract negotiations to marketing to pretty much everything he was doing, to me.

“I feel very grateful that I had those experiences. Then, probably five or six months ago, I decided to make the decision to leave Wasserman and kind of go out on my own. And that’s been awesome. (It’s) created a lot of new challenges. 

“The transition is tough though. I was always a guy who prided myself on being more than a hockey player. I thought I was gonna play hockey till I was 40, then, all of a sudden, I retired at 30-years-old and it was a pretty eye-opening experience.”

Question: Where are you at now?

Shore: “I’m on my own right now. It was just something that I felt like it was time to do. But I had such an amazing time at Wasserman and I’m very thankful for what I was able to learn and experience with Judd, because, there’s a lot of good agents out there, but what he’s doing in hockey, especially off the ice, for guys like Connor and Auston, is pretty record-breaking on a lot of fronts. And it was cool to get a front-row seat to some of that stuff.”

Question: Why did you choose to become a player agent?

Shore: “I just felt like there were so many different spots in my career that I could have handled differently; from either a contract negotiation standpoint, an attitude standpoint or just how to handle relationships with coaches. I thought there were so many things I could have done differently and I learned a ton from those experiences. I felt like I would be very valuable representing a player, being able to kind of guide him through those experiences based off of things I made mistakes on.”

Question: To back up for a minute, why did you join Wasserman? Didn’t you have your own agent who was from a different agency?

Shore: “I felt really bullish on Wasserman as a company. I got exposed to a lot of stuff there that was outside of just hockey. They have a basketball division, a football division, brands and real estate; they’re into so many more things other than just hockey. That was a huge factor in my decision. I wanted to be exposed to a lot of things that were outside the game of hockey as well. My agent was a great agent for me. I have a great relationship with him, but they’re only focused on hockey. So that was one of the major reasons I decided to join a company like Wasserman, just to get exposed to a ton of different things outside of the game.”

Question: “How do you go about getting your own clients?

Shore: “It’s something that, I realize the best way to get new clients in the business, is to do a great job for my current clients. People don’t realize that guys in the locker room talk so much about different things and I think that the best way to attract clients is actually and this is something I learned from Judd, but it’s just doing a great job with the current guys, because there’s always gonna be someone who’s unhappy with their agent or something like that within a locker room. 

“So, I think the best recruiting tool you can actually do as an agent is just do a phenomenal job for the current guys who you represent. That’s something I learned from Judd as well.”

Question: What does your future hold? Will you start your own agency?

Shore: “What I’m actually working on, that I’m most excited about, is, I launched a company, probably eight months ago, with one of my brothers and two other friends. It’s a company called Amalfi. The goal of it and this kind of started with the idea through my podcast, is a company, a team of athletes and business leaders, who come together to help guys with the second chapter of their life; post-sports retirement. 

“I’m spending just as much, if not more, time on this right now, just because there’s such a big need. It’s not just a hockey problem. This is a baseball, football and basketball problem that these guys retire and they really are lost for an extended period of time. So, if we can do a good job shortening that curve, whether it’s, if you’re a guy who played in the NFL for three years, helping him get a job in the field that he wants. If you’re a guy who retired with a hundred million (dollars) and wants to run his own VC fund, basically connecting you with the right people to allow you to have that success. 

“Through my podcast, what I learned is, the transition for guys is a lot quicker and a lot easier if they can find something, quickly, that they’re passionate about. That could be coaching, that could be finance, real estate, whatever. So I’m actually really passionate about this, even more than I am in my career as a sports agent.”

Question: Why did you name the company “Amalfi?”

Shore: “Amalfi (in Italy) was founded by a bunch of shipwrecked soldiers and turned into one of the best destination places in the world. It’s kind of like (that) as an athlete. You are retired for the first time or a little bit lost, but basically, how can we help you turn that second career or whatever that is, into a slam dunk.”

Question: Is this company sort of like a player agency for retired players?

Shore: “(Yeah). That excites me, to be honest, a lot more than just doing hockey stuff. It’s a need and an issue that guys struggle with. I thought I struggled with hockey retirement personally because I didn’t have the career that I wanted to. But then you talk to guys who played 25 years, won two gold medals, Stanley Cups and they might struggle for five or 10 years as well. 

“So this is a problem for everyone in every sport. Basically, how can we come together with the support of these really high-end business leaders and help guys either not have that transition period or at least shorten that transition period drastically.”

Question: What are a couple of stories that have stood out to you on your “Betting The Limit” podcast? 

Shore: “I had an episode recently with a guy who played baseball at Stanford named Sahil Bloom about what he’s been able to accomplish. He was a baseball player at Stanford, wasn’t able to go pro, took a job in private equity, did that for five or six years and wasn’t really happy with that. Then, he decided to basically quit all of that and become an entrepreneur. 

“(Then, this was) really cool for hockey fans. I had my good buddy, Ryan Whitney on. Seeing what they’ve been able to accomplish with (the) Spittin’ Chiclets (podcast) and obviously the vodka and everything else has been super exciting. Personally, I love sitting down with people, picking their brains, learning from their failures and about what they’ve done well.

“There’s just such a big need for athletes to be able to tune in somewhere and listen to a guy’s story. And a lot of things too that I didn’t realize about the podcast is, it just has so many benefits for helping other people.” 

There you have it, The Story Of Drew Shore. One part hockey player, one part player agent, one part podcast host and one part businessman.