from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

It's the spring of 2010. Rich Clune is sitting on the Los Angeles Kings' bench in the first round of the playoffs as the Kings take on the Vancouver Canucks.

The Toronto native is in the NHL. He's on "Hockey Night in Canada." He's living the dream.

Except his legs are cramping up because he's not sleeping and he's not eating properly; he hasn't for a long time, in fact.

The perpetual drinking and the other drugs have sapped him of his strength and conditioning and, worse, his desire to play the game. And in the moment that should have been a cherished memory for life, burnished to a healthy glow to be remembered with pride and shared with children and grandchildren, Clune is instead filled with disgust and self-loathing at what his life had become, what he had become.

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