Bryan Little has swapped his skates and helmet for a bike, runners and bathing suit
After 12 productive seasons in the National Hockey League, Bryan Little understood it was time to hang up the skates for good.
Although it was a tough decision for Little to retire from hockey, it presented him with an opportunity to pursue a new athletic passion — triathlon.
“I kind of found out about triathlons through YouTube,” said Little in a piece written for Guelph Today. “Canadian Lionel Sanders had a popular YouTube video channel, and I thought it looked really cool and would be something cool to try.”
Little’s interest in the endurance-based multi-sport competition of swimming, cycling, and running began before retirement, but he couldn't pursue anything because of his commitments to professional hockey. Although there was one exception.
“I actually did my first sprint triathlon in Guelph when I was still playing hockey,” recalled the Edmonton native.
Growing up in Cambridge and now living on a two-acre property in Puslinch, ON., Little figured he could eventually make something of his triathlon intrigue.
“I was kind of hooked,” Little said in the Guelph Today story. “I decided that when I was done playing, I would kind of get into it a bit more and train for it seriously.”
And he didn’t know at the time, but the day Little was done playing hockey would come much sooner than he would have expected.
November 5, 2019, ended up being the last game of Little’s NHL career after he sustained a perforated ear drum injury as a result of a puck to the ear, caused by a deflected slap shot from former teammate Nikolaj Ehlers.
“One of the things that was the toughest about it was that I felt fine,” Little shared in the piece. “It was just the unpredictable nature of what happens if I get hit really bad again. That was kind of the thing that kept me from playing again, and believe me, I saw a lot – I saw three or four specialists, and none of them recommended playing contact sports again.”
Little, 36, played a total of 843 games in the NHL, all for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets 2.0 franchise, where he posted 217 goals and 304 assists for a total of 521 points. Little was eventually traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2022 and will officially retire as a member of the Utah Hockey Club following his recent contract expiration.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said at Jets development camp this past weekend that the opportunity to have him return to the Jets on a one-day retirement contract is certainly a possibility.
"We'll get a chance to talk to Bryan at some point here," he said. "He's a special part of our organization and always will be."
Little’s playing career certainly didn’t end as he would have liked, but he still looks back positively on his 12 years in the professional sport.
“I got to live my dream,” Little said. “It was my dream to play in the NHL as a kid, and it's all I ever wanted, and I got to play 12 seasons of it and have a decent career and put up some points and goals.”
With hockey in the rear-view mirror, Little has been training part-time with Guelph’s LPC Triathlon Club.
“It is really different from the training I did for hockey,” Little said. “I always kind of wanted to get into the endurance stuff because it was so different than what I did before. I like how it's so different and the training is so different. It's almost kind of meditative when you're out there by yourself.”
Finishing in fourth place at the Milton Subaru Triathlon last month, Little has gotten off to a strong start this season, placing the best time among all amateurs.
Little was also the top amateur last year in the Guelph Lake II Triathlon during Labour Day Weekend, where he finished second overall, only trailing Guelph pro triathlete Taylor Reid.
“I don't really have any goals in terms of that I want to come this place or this place,” admitted Little to Guelph Today. “I just want to see how good I can get at pushing myself. I love just trying to improve on something I'm not very good at, so I'm going to keep doing it and keep trying to improve as much as I can and see where it goes.”
Little also only competes in one or two triathlon events per month.
“I'm pretty much a stay-at-home dad right now,” said Little. "I told my wife when I was done (with pro hockey) that I would. This is kind of secondary — it's a hobby.”
On July 14, Little will be competing in Geneva, N.Y. for his main triathlon event of the year, the Ironman 70.3 Musselman.
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