Although I don't want to digress from your main message, I am compelled to point out that you're over generalizing your advice. A backup plan is important for most people, such as people who don't have strong aspirations; however, a backup plan is a burden to those who do have strong aspirations and want nothing more than to achieve them. If you want to live a safe life, have backup plans; if you want to commit wholeheartedly to your dream, then you can't allow yourself to have a backup plan -- you can't allow yourself to feel safe.
As I've said before, "When soldiers have nowhere to run to - if their bridges have been burned - they fight much harder than they otherwise would have. When you find something that you care about enough, be prepared to burn your bridges." In other words, if you want to achieve greatness and make your dreams a reality, you have to be willing to put everything on the table, go all in, and leave nothing behind. When you don't have a backup plan to protect you, you commit to your goal because it's all that you have, and you never hesitate.
Your Plan A should be good enough to handle multiple setbacks; the road to success is full of setbacks, and you need to be prepared for them. If your Plan A fails, then it wasn't a good enough plan to begin with. In life you get one shot - one attempt - so if you want to play it safe, that's fine, but don't assume everyone is as easily swayed as you.
It sounds to me like you've just given up; you've given in to the burdens that life throws at you. As unfortunate as your story is, you came so close to making a comeback in hockey but gave up right at the end, after fighting for so long.
I'm going through the same situation with hockey right now, but I've never given up, and injuries are only motivation to try harder -- to show that nothing can stop me. If you've lost your passion for hockey and want to live a safe life, that's fine, but if your passion still burns, you've made a big mistake by giving up. I'd never be able to live with myself had I given up on my dreams because giving up on your dreams is depriving yourself the opportunity to live your one shot at life to the fullest.