Former NHL goalie turns to stand up comedy to battle his depression after retirement

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Joshua Deeds
September 11, 2022 (4:56 PM)

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After his NHL career ended Scott Darling battled depression. It's hard coming to terms with the career after hockey, but Darling was able to channel his sadness into a new form of expression. For Darling that is standup comedy.

Scott Darling may have the chops for it, seen above with his parody of a Baker Mayfield advertisement to reveal his new goalie equipment for the team he was with at the time, the Carolina Hurricanes.

Darling was bought out by the Hurricanes during the 2018-2019 season, despite his storied career.

With Chicago, Darling's record was 39-17-9, his save percentage standing tall at .923%, goals against average at 2.37, and he registered four shutouts. He took over in net in the series against the Nashville Predators in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he led the Blackhawks to win the series, and ultimately paving their way, to give Scott Darling a ring and his name on the Stanley Cup.

Darling's last season as a hockey player, was in Rockford in the AHL where he would play one game in 2020-2021.

The Stanley Cup-winning goalie's careers totals are 126 games played, 4 shutouts, 52 wins, 42 losses, and 18 ties with a career .908 SV%.

How he got started in the stand-up industry, was by chance and with the help of a friend.

"I never thought I'd actually do it but I was at the Laugh Factory in Chicago and this guy by the name of Ray Wisbrock went on and he was hilarious," Darling said. "My humor is very dark and true stories about my life and this guy had the same type of humor, an older guy and he recognized me in the lobby from playing for the Blackhawks. We became great friends and he said, 'Just open for me one time, and if you don't like it, I'll never ask you to do it again.' So I did it but I was so bad, but I loved it and loved the thrill of it."

Darling says the rush of performance reminds him of playing in the NHL and has done some touring with comedian Ian Bagg and toured in Raleigh, North Carolina recently.

His biggest comedic influences are Tom Segura, Chris Distefano, Bert Kreischer, and Andrew Santino.

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