Chris Tanev earns finance degree with help of NHLPA UNLMT program
- Tanev worked on assignments and studied textbooks on road trips and after evening story time with his children, Bobby and Lucy.
- The Southern New Hampshire University degree was completed with the assistance of NHLPA UNLMT, an initiative that helps players explore and expand upon interests outside of hockey.
- Long before finishing his finance degree, Tanev’s path to professional hockey diverged from many of his peers.
Tanev worked on assignments and studied textbooks on road trips and after evening story time with his children, Bobby and Lucy. Tanev explained that the effort was intended to show his children that there is no single path to pursuing an education or life goals.
Balancing Pro Hockey and Higher Education
Chris TanevThe Role of NHLPA UNLMT
The Southern New Hampshire University degree was completed with the assistance of NHLPA UNLMT, an initiative that helps players explore and expand upon interests outside of hockey. The program connects athletes with a network of professionals and academic institutions, supporting pursuits ranging from real estate and documentary filmmaking to podcasting and degree completion. Approximately one-quarter of the NHLPA’s membership has participated in the program on some level.
An Unconventional Path to the NHL
Long before finishing his finance degree, Tanev’s path to professional hockey diverged from many of his peers. Growing up in Toronto with parents Mike and Sophie, Tanev played youth hockey alongside future NHL players Steven Stamkos and P.K. Subban. He did not play major-junior hockey and went undrafted by NHL teams before enrolling at Rochester Institute for Technology.
During the 2009-10 season, Tanev played one year for the RIT Division I team in the Atlantic Hockey America conference, earning rookie of the year honors as the team made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four. While at RIT, he met Kendra, who later earned a master’s degree in physician assistant studies at Syracuse University. At the end of his first college year, the Vancouver Canucks unexpectedly signed Tanev as an undrafted free agent.
When he signed with Vancouver, he said to me, ‘Nothing’s going to happen. I’m just going to leave for three years. But I think it took probably 10 years to feel real.
Kendra TanevAfter playing in the American Hockey League for most of the 2010-11 season, Tanev appeared in a handful of playoff games as Vancouver reached the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Boston Bruins in seven games. Approaching nearly 900 regular-season games in his career, Tanev currently plays in his hometown for the Toronto Maple Leafs.