In the past few days, Theo Fleury added his name to the list of immensely talented athletes whose careers were cut short by an out-of-control lifestyle. Fleury’s auto-biography came out a few weeks ago detailing the aftermath of sexual abuse while in the juniors from a popular and coach and mentor. He alleges that it was from these abusive episodes, the demons grew that brought the premature end to the diminutive wing’s NHL all-star career.

Theo Fleury played for several NHL teams, notably the Flames, the Avalanche, the Rangers and the Black Hawks. In the 2009 pre-season, although out of the NHL for nearly six years and sober for over four, Fleury valiantly attempted to return to the NHL and played in several preseason games with the Flames. Although he did not make the team, he proved to himself and to the hockey world that he was still able to play competitively.

Fleury’s stint with the Rangers took place over three full seasons, although one season was partially interrupted by a stint in rehab. Over those three years, his point totals were 64, 74 and 63, with the 74-point year coming in the rehab season. During the same span, he also accumulated 406 penalty minutes, over half of them in his final season with the team. Ranger fans remember him as a tough, gritty, hustling, “in your face” hockey player, whose determination made him an asset to the team. Until the rehab stint, the average fan did not appreciate the problems he was having. Until his book came out, even the most ardent fan had no idea the depths to which he had descended.

It is in his book, “Playing With Fire” that Fleury portrays his experience in New York, with the Rangers, as a “nightmare.” While earning nearly $7 million per year with the Rangers, the Canadian born boy from the prairie spent his nights abusing drugs and alcohol, living life below the streets of New York City in the company of transvestites, strippers and the homeless of the Hudson River piers. Even stripping away a large portion of the events as hyperbole to sell books, this is still an unbelievable way of life for a talented athlete. Fleury credits a number of things as being the motivation for turning his life around, especially his second marriage and his family. To the credit of those that helped him and to Fleury himself for coming to terms with his demons, Fleury is now involved with numerous charitable causes, particularly those directed to adults trying to get their lives together after having been sexually abused as children.

Fleury alleges that the NHL, and particularly the Rangers, did all they could to keep his problem under wraps. He asserts that at various time, he substituted an energy drink or a urine sample taken from his son, to get past drug testing. Image being what it is, the league and the Rangers are said to have been overly concerned about the publicity that would be generated if one of the league’s leading scorers tested positive for drugs. Thus, the forces that be knew full well of the problem, but kept that information away from you and I. By the same token, Fleury acknowledges the repeated efforts taken by the NHL and the Rangers to get him into rehab and keep him sober and is grateful for the effort. Sadly, he also freely admits that he was simply not ready to give up the lifestyle and the treatments failed.

People in general, and sports fans in particular, may not fully appreciate the forces that drive the gifted and talented to self-destruct. They are, however, willing to forgive and encourage the offender along the road to recovery. What fans do appreciate, however, is the waste of talent in the legions of sports figures that follow the path to the dark side. On one hand, the fans in the cheap seats cannot envision what it must be like to earn in one game what most people earn in a year. On the other, these same fans cannot appreciate what the athletes go through in their efforts to excel. Inevitably, though, the feeling is that we, the fans, have been cheated out of something. Theo Fleury made as much money as he did, and was able to lead the lifestyle of his choosing, because people were willing to pay to see him play hockey at the all-star level. At what level would he have been able to play had he been clean and sober? Clearly we will never know, but it is hard to imagine that he would not have been able to achieve more clean and sober than he did huddled around the burn barrel with the winos on the west side.

Calgary fans, Ranger fans and Black Hawk fans, in fact sports fans in general, you have every right to be angry. Your dollars, through ticket sales, merchandise purchases, advertising, cable fees and the like, enable the Theo Fleury’s of the sports world to lead the life they lead. You have been defrauded into thinking that the players are giving you their best every night, and many simply are not. What’s more, the teams that dole out these salaries to problematic players should be held accountable as well. We can commend Theo Fleury for seeing the light and taking control of his life. We can tell the NHL and the teams that we appreciate that they take measures to see that troubled players get help. But we should never condone being lied to. Six years after leaving the Rangers, we learn that Theo Fleury was this troubled, out of control individual. In the three years he played in New York he earned $21 million. His book may have been a catharsis for Theo Fleury, but did anyone who paid this incredible salary get back a nickel, despite the fact that you did not get what you paid for?

May Theo Fleruy never again endure the problems that lead him to do things he did and may his nightmares cease. I, for one, will never again look at him the same way.