Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Motte was unable to find the energy to get out of bed or get to the rink. He was feeling "lower and lower" and not able to just chalk it up to a bad day. Those around him realized it was time to see someone, and despite some push-back at first, he realized it too. 

It was then that the second-year NHL player was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Knowing what he knows now, and going through process of finding help, he wanted others to know they are not alone.

With the Canucks, he made a video sharing his story in hopes of helping others who are going through the same thing. 

He talks about the relationship between mental health and sports, saying many believe in a game like hockey you cannot show weakness. He says "my only input on that is it's not a weakness." 

Motte said acknowledging the diagnoses was the first weight off his shoulders.

The fourth-year player says he believes the attitude toward mental illness can be changed.

"The support of individuals, teams, communities, I think the stigma is going to shrink drastically or turned into an opportunity where people can come to fully understand what some people go through ... There's people that always go through things that you may not know or understand but there's always something that you may be able to help and this is just my way of hoping that I can influence someone in a positive way."

The 24-year-old has learned some coping mechanisms that help him in his day-to-day like reading, getting outside, and dinner and phone calls with friends. "I've come to accept that it's something I'll deal with for the rest of my life, but I still have the ability to influence it. There are many things I've noticed that have helped," he said.

Making sure he is proactive about doing everything he can to better his situation, he sees the team's mental skills coach more often and also sees outside counseling. 

For him, the most difficult part of the initial news was acceptance, because he did not want to be treated any different or looked at in a different light. "But at the same time, I think sometimes having those around you know and understand can help push you through," he said. 

Motte said the main reason for him sharing what he has gone though is not for himself, but for others. "It's not necessarily about telling my story, it's to help that one person or those handful of people that need to know they're not alone in it."

On Thursday, the Canucks will play in their seventh annual Hockey Talks game against the Arizona Coyotes. Hockey Talks is a mental health awareness campaign started in 2013 in honor of Canucks player Rick Rypien who died in 2011. 

This season, all seven Canadian teams and eight US teams are hosting a Hockey Talks night in aims to help start a conversation and get rid of the stigma often associated with mental health diagnoses.