2X Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup champion explains exciting post-retirement career

Former Chicago Blackhawks left wing Daniel Carcillo went out with a bang, ending his NHL career by winning his second Stanley Cup in 2015.

More News: Bears could regret Ben Johnson’s newest controversial decision

Carcillo was nicknamed “Car Bomb” for his aggressive style of play on the ice. He’s continued to stay aggressive with his new career after leaving the ice.

Carcillo retired in 2015 after he was diagnosed with his seventh concussion. He spent nearly $500,000 of his own money to seek help with recovery related to the repeated brain injury using traditional methods. After reading a study from Imperial College London, he saw that treatments with psilocybin and magic mushrooms helped some patients.

Daniel Carcillo on Experience Onward

More News: Chicago Bears given Saints warning before Sunday’s game

“I thought that could work for me,” Carcillo told ChiCitySports. “And I took some diagnostics before I left–brain scans, QEEG, and took some blood work. And then six months later, went back to the same neurologist to retest my brain and blood, and obviously, I felt better.

“I wanted to kind of confirm, and they couldn’t find any abnormalities in my brain.”

Carcillo wanted to help other people dealing with brain abnormalities find solutions, leading him to start Experience Onward, a licensed psilocybin treatment center based in Oregon that is focused on brain health and recovery.

Helping veterans

Carcillo has helped professional athletes recover, but the work at Experience Onward helps people in many other situations, including veterans.

“A lot of veterans suffer from concussion and these other types of, like spiritual maladies, these kind of, self-limiting beliefs of themselves, and obviously trauma that they’ve been through, right?” Carcillo said. “And you know, being a professional athlete is difficult, right?

“Like you’re, you’re revving at a certain RPM for a really long time, and eventually you just, you crash.

“And so executives do really, really well with this type of treatment–first responders. And then, even curious beginners, people that are trying to expand their consciousness and gain a deeper connection to life.”

Carcillo said his goal is to help people find the root cause of their issues.

“You obviously have people looking to, like me, kind of get off of the numbing of the managing of daily symptoms, and really just try to get to the root cause of some of their issues,” he said. “And I’m a big believer, I’m in the camp of like, nobody’s born an addict, nobody’s born depressed.

“These are learned behaviors, and if they’re learned, then we can unlearn them. And this medicine does a really nice job of showing us and helping us overcome these types of diagnoses.”

Transitioning to life after the Chicago Blackhawks

Carcillo, like a lot of former professional athletes, had a hard time transitioning from being an athlete to normal civilian life. His experiences at Experience Onward have helped him find a purpose, something he struggled to find after retiring from the Blackhawks.

Looking back, Carcillo is thankful for the opportunity to play in Chicago on a team that won two championships in three seasons. He noted that it takes a special group of players to get through the grind of multiple appearances in the NHL playoffs.

“It was really special, like when I look back on my time to be in that room and to be considered good enough to add and be a supporting role, and everybody just pulling on that rope,” he said.” So it’s definitely special. It’s really, really hard to do, but it’s possible with a really good core group of guys.”

For More Chicago Sports:

Follow me on Twitter at @JordanSig, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Jordan Sigler via email at jordanmsigler@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks

The post 2X Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup champion explains exciting post-retirement career appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-blackhawks-daniel-carcillo-experince-onward