Carrie Underwood‘s husband, Mike Fisher, had a long and successful career as a professional hockey player. The Ontario native started his career with the Ottawa Senators in 1999, where he stayed until 2011, when he was transferred to the Nashville Predators. Mike became captain of the Preds in 2016, a position he held when he announced his retirement following the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals, after losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the sixth game.

Ironically, although he stepped away from the team because of his family, it was his wife who urged him to return one year later, even though they both knew his career would soon be ending for good.

“In 2017, we went to the Cup Final, which was an amazing journey,” Mike recalled in the web series, God & Country  on I Am Second. “I kind of thought it was probably my last year. The hardest part about playing and our schedules is not seeing Carrie and Isaiah. So I retired for about six months, and then she challenged me, saying that I couldn’t, I wouldn’t physically be able to come back.”

While Carrie was obviously saying it in jest, when he returned in 2018, for one more year, he had the full support of his family.

“For that season, I needed to be at home, and I believe that’s why I was there,” Mike reflected. “And then I came back for another run the next year. I knew that was it, and stepped away from hockey. At the time, I didn’t really know what I was going to do, but I knew I had lots of other passions. I love the outdoors. God just handed me a business one day, just at the hunting camp. It was called Catchin’ Deers. That’s a passion of mine, pointing people to get outdoors, making them laugh, and crazy videos.”

Now that Mike has more time on his hands, he is able to focus more on the lifestyle brand, which supports his other passion.

“The bigger reason I love outdoors, and part of our company’s mission, is to point people to the Creator, and encourage them in their faith,” the 40-year-old explained.

“I feel like this is another way that God has intervened, interjected into our lives. We have very different thoughts and feelings,” Carrie continued, referring to her vegetarian lifestyle and support of animal rights. Still, even in that, the two have found a way to compromise.

“Carrie does not like hunting one bit,” Mike acknowledged, adding he made a few concessions to appease them both. “One of the compromises is that I wouldn’t have beef, and that I’d shoot all of my meat. [There’s a] few exceptions to that, but that’s kind of one of the things that we worked on.”