PODCAST: Ben Lovejoy and Drew Stafford Reflect on Retirement

New Jersey Devils Official Podcast
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Drew Stafford & Ben Lovejoy | Speak of the Devils
From the time they were little boys, Ben Lovejoy and Drew Stafford were solely focused on the game of hockey. A passion became a career, then suddenly, though not unexpectedly, in their mid-thirties the game was gone.
Both Lovejoy and Stafford entered retirement in the last two seasons, transitioning their lives and young families into a new reality.
"Retirements the best," Lovejoy told Matt Loughlin and Amanda Stein on the Speak of the Devils Podcast, "I love what I'm doing now. Hockey was a childhood dream come true. It was the best job ever. For me, it exceeded my wildest dreams. But it was really hard and going to the rink every day and being prepared to play in an NHL game or preparing my body to play NHL game was really hard for me."
Lovejoy knew that when he accepted the Devils three-year deal back in 2016 that those would be the final seasons of his NHL career (Ben was traded to Dallas at the 2019 trade deadline). His hockey career came to a close after 11 NHL seasons, not bad for a player that went undrafted, and 544 career games and another 76 in the post-season.

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He also retires as a Stanley Cup champion, winning with Pittsburgh back in 2016, his greatest accomplishment.
"My favorite memory as a hockey player [was] finding my children and my wife and my parents right after we won the Stanley Cup and getting them down on the ice." Lovejoy shared. "It, as a hockey play, if you're going to have any success, you're going to have people in your life that go above and beyond to get you where you are. Youth coaches, your agent, your friends, your family. And my I wanted to do was find my kids."
Spending time with his children, daughters Lila, June, and Quinn, and wife Avery has been the best part of all his free time. Lovejoy isn't one to sit around, he's dabbled in several different things since he retired, he had a stint on NBC, analyzing NHL games and he's been a volunteer coach at his alma mater, but the little moments with his family have been extra special. You miss a lot of things when you're on the road, playing games, arriving home late from a road trip, so Lovejoy is playing catchup. It's an adjustment for him, but also for his wife and daughters.
"I think it was very weird for them and my wife at first," he said, "I think that I don't want to say they ever got sick of me, I do genuinely believe that all four of them enjoy having me around all the time, but it was different. I would be able to drive my kids to school, and they didn't love that sometimes. Like, 'why isn't mom doing this? This is something the mom does.' And it's been really fun to be around. I coached a kindergarten girls soccer team last year."
Those statements are echoed by one of Lovejoy's Devils teammates, Drew Stafford, who appears as the second guest on this week's Speak of the Devils Podcast. Stafford has walked away from the game after being released from Minnesota's training camp in 2019.
"I have time to be a dad now," Stafford said of his twins Maddox and Mila, and his oldest son Mason. "I have time to be a husband and family man and I love it."
The 35-year-old-year-old is, like Lovejoy, just trying to enjoy the time figuring out the next steps in his life.
"Sprinkling some coronavirus here and in the spring kind of changes a lot of things, put some travel plans on a little bit of a pause," he said of what's next, "I was looking forward to going away with [wife] Hali on a ski trip or something we had something booked in March. I was going to go like on my first like big golf trip too."
Those long-awaited trips were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, adding another layer to 2020. Stafford started the 2019 season hoping to catch on with the Minnesota Wild on a Player Try Out but was subsequently released, paving the way to his retirement, something he feels content with.
"2020 has been, it's been a year," he said, "but I wouldn't trade for anything because I get to be around my kids and I get to see us be a part of things that I didn't have a chance to be a part of the last few years."
Family time is a theme throughout the conversations with Lovejoy and Stafford, which really emphasizes the type of sacrifices families make around their husbands and father's career. When the skates are hung up for good and a new stage of life on the horizon, one thing remains clear through these conversations, none of these players would be where they are without the exceptional support of their families.
On the community section of this week's podcast, Catherine Bogart is joined by Erie Otters Scout, Kiana Scott. Scott is the first woman to work as a scout in the Ontario Hockey League.
"It took a lot of hard work to get where I am today," said Scott. "My first draft [this year] with Erie was an amazing experience, I'm really blessed to be with them. And I could really see I fit in with the Erie Otters."
When reflecting on her history making hiring with the Otters, Scott reflected on the experience and being 'the first.'
"I never thought I'd be the first. I always knew I wanted to be in the OHL but never really thought of being the first female, even though I never really saw any females like me in scouting. But I hope it breaks the mold for girls that are looking up to me and thinking that it's possible."