Identity regulation in the North American field of men’s professional ice hockey: An examination of organizational control and preparation for athletic career retirement

•Organizations and managers in professional ice hockey regulate(d) athletes’ identities.•Regulation engendered a pronounced and pervasive athletic identity.•Regulation of alternate and broadened identities was constrained.•Identity regulation limited development and athletic career retirement preparation.Quality of adjustment to athletic career retirement is dependent, in part, on athletic identity salience, or the degree to which one defines themself in the athlete role. Researchers, however, have seldom explored how athlete identities are shaped and reshaped by organizations and managers prior to retirement. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine identity regulation in the North American field of men's professional ice hockey. Results from the study indicate that managers regulated a bipartite athletic identity, defined by performance excellence and beneficence; a largely self-directed, non-sporting alternative; and a nascent merger between the two. Further, regulation was found to limit individual development and, in turn, preparation for athletic career retirement. In an effort to assist athletes in developing identities that are more conducive to retirement and individual long-term well-being, the author suggests that organizations and managers in professional ice hockey challenge and reform extant practices and modes of regulation.