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Ex-NHL defenseman Tom Laidlaw to compete on 'Survivor'

Graig Abel / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A former NHL defenseman will be among the competitors on the upcoming season of "Survivor."

Tom Laidlaw, who played in 705 games with the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings between 1980 and 1990, has been cast on Season 39 of the CBS reality show, dubbed "Island of the Idols."

Laidlaw, 61, told Forbes' Mike Ozanian that he went through five days of physical and psychological tests to make it onto the show.

"The mental part of 'Survivor' is 95% of the game," he said. "In hockey, somebody grabs you, you shove back, and next thing you're throwing punches at each other. I worked with a trainer who would make me memorize a poem. Then the trainer would get my heart rate elevated, then make me recite the poem again. I couldn't do it. I had to work on recognizing my heart rate was elevated, and so I could then slow it down by taking a deep breath. Then I could have the mental discipline to keep control."

Laidlaw came away from the show feeling empowered.

"What it has done more than anything, it has reconfirmed to me that you can keep improving. I didn't want to play good for a 60-year-old. I wanted to win," he said. "I find now that if I am going to make a speech in front of a bunch of school kids, just by going through the process of 'Survivor,' I am an example that you can do anything you want to do."

"Survivor: Island of the Idols" will premiere Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. ET.

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