Guys,
This is from last year around Thanksgiving but the message applies all the time.
You can always be improving your mental toughness training and this video from Coach Hoffberg is a good one. Enjoy and contact Coach Hoff if you want to pursue more mental toughness training this summer. There is a tab for Think Strong Hockey above where you can get his info.
Have a great and safe weekend!
Huff
It is finally spring after a long winter.
It is beautiful out.
Make sure you take a break from your training and enjoy the people in your life and your surroundings.
Look up.
(a friend of mine sent me this and it is great…….and so true.)
Have a super weekend everyone!
“Well if Pa’s eyes were windows, into a world so deadly and true,
you couldn’t stop me from lookin’, but you kept me from crawlin’ through.
Well it’s a funny old world Ma, where a little boy’s wishes come true.
Well I got a few left in my pocket, and a special one just for you.”
The Wish- Bruce Springsteen
Being Mother’s Day, this week’s blog is dedicated to all the hockey moms out there.
Hockey guys are allowed to be sentimental at times and Mother’s Day qualifies as one of those times, so here goes.
We are all aware of the amount of sacrifice and love that all mothers provide and I am wishing that the young guys who play hockey and read my blog, take a moment and make a wish.
Wish that your mom knows that her dedication, sacrifice and love are things that will always be appreciated never forgotten. Make sure you tell her. And if your Mom is no longer with us, take a long moment to acknowledge that her spirit will always be with you.
Wish that your Mom knows you will always be there for her the way she has continually been there for you during all of your highs and lows. Wish that her special strength is something you inherit.
Wish that she knows how much you love having her watch you play hockey.
Wish her a very special Mother’s Day.
(and yes, Springsteen has a song about his Mother. Even on Mother’s Day you get Bruce reference. Plus I am going to see him this week so this was a must! )
Have your Mom watch…..she’ll enjoy.
Make it a great day for her and have a super week!
The Wish
Dirty old street, all slushed up in the rain and snow.
Little boy and his ma,
standin’ outside a run-down music store window.
On top of the Christmas tree shines one beautiful star,
and lyin’ underneath, a brand new Japanese guitar.
I remember in the mornin’ Ma, hearin’ your alarm clock ring.
I’d lie awake and listen to you gettin’ ready for work,
the sound of your makeup case on the sink.
And the ladies at the office, all silk stockin’s and rustlin’ skirts.
And how proud and happy you always looked, walkin’ home from work.
Well if Pa’s eyes were windows, into a world so deadly and true,
you couldn’t stop me from lookin’, but you kept me from crawlin’ through.
Well it’s a funny old world Ma,
where a little boy’s wishes come true.
Well I got a few in my pocket, and a special one just for you.
It ain’t no phone call on Sunday, flowers, or a Mother’s day card.
It ain’t no house on the hill, with a garden and a nice little yard.
I got my hot rod down on Bond Street,
I’m older but you’ll know me at a glance.
We’ll find us a rock ‘n roll bar, baby we’ll go out and dance.
Well it was me in my Beatle boots, you in pink curlers and matador pants,
pulling me up off the couch, to do the twist for my uncles and aunts.
Well I got a girl of my own now Ma,
I popped the question on your birthday,
She stood waiting on the front porch, You told me to get out there and say what it was that I had to say.
Last night we sat around laughin’, at all those things that guitar brought us,
and I laid awake thinkin’ about the other things it’s brought.
Well tonight I’m takin’ requests here in the kitchen,
this one’s for you Ma, let me come right out and say,
that if you’re lookin’ for a sad song, well, I’m ain’t gonna play….
There are a lot of prospect camps and showcase events in hockey that are coming up soon. Are you prepared for them?
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
British Army Adage
I once had a coach say this to our team and I thought that he actually had come up with it himself…. It wasn’t until I did some research for this topic on preparedness did I find out that it was an old adage used by the British Army during World War 2.
I now feel more prepared to touch on this topic…….
It also made me think more about how preparation is a factor in so many things in life and not only hockey. Preparation factors in to your success in school, work, life…… really in whatever you are trying to accomplish.
“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success.”
Henry Ford
But here is what you have to come to terms with. Preparation can suck. It can be tedious. It can be boring. It rarely is glamorous. It is the off-season. It is practice. It is training.
It is vital.
Preparation is not glamorous. The games, successes and the results of preparation are though.
A few years ago I decided to run my first marathon. People ask me if running in it was tough and I tell them it really wasn’t. The marathon was not tough……preparing for it was. I did not just show up on race day and expect to accomplish it. There had to be months of preparation. Months of long, hot, boring runs. But that preparation led to one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment I have had in my lifetime. The impact of what you are doing now may not show up for a while, but make no mistake will show up at some time. There is an old hockey quote that goes something like this, “There will come a time in February or March that the game of hockey will ask you what you did last May and June…….”
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
John F. Kennedy
If you want to take advantage of opportunities to use your talent, then you must be prepared when the opportunities arise. Once the opportunity presents itself, it’s too late to get ready. Or as Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden said, “When opportunity comes it’s too late to prepare.”
We have all had that brutal feeling of having a test or exam when you know you have not studied enough or effectively. That same brutal feeling exists in hockey when you are not ready for something and will be there any time in life when you have not prepared properly. Make it a habit of getting up every day and asking yourself if you are organized and are doing the things necessary to prepare for success. Physically, mentally, spiritually. Prepare every day to improve every day. Preparation doesn’t begin with what you do. It begins with what you believe. If you believe that your success tomorrow depends on what you do today, then you will treat today differently…you will do the little things consistently that others wont.
“Talent alone won’t make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: ‘Are your ready?’
Johnny Carson
I know for a fact that one of the ‘intangibles’ that scouts and recruiters look at is how well a player prepares. They want to know and ask, “How does he prepare? Is he a ‘Pro’.” Preparation is a skill that can be developed and improved on. It takes commitment, focus and repetition. Every day. Not some days. Not most days. Every day.
Preparation is a precursor for confidence. and we all know that when you are confident you play great. Confidence and courage come through preparation and practice. Simply, when you are better prepared you are a better player.
“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first hour sharpening the ax.”
Abraham Lincoln
Being prepared properly also allows you to deal with adversity and trouble with ease and confidence. There is no greater example of this than ‘The Miracle On The Hudson’. Which, when you listen to Captain Sully Sullenberger really wasn’t a miracle, just preparedness showing up. (this is pretty cool….)
Have a great week everyone! Get Ready!!!! Show up day in and day out……..
Ain’t no one can break it
Ain’t no one can steal it
Ain’t no one can fake it
You just know it when you feel it
You’ve Got It-Bruce Springsteen
Emotional Strength.
Do you have ‘IT’?
Emotions are our greatest motivators. Unfortunately, they can motivate us to act in any direction, even the wrong one. For this reason, emotional strength is essential. There are countless situations that emotionally strong people avoid and many actions they never take. Here are 15 of them: If you are one of those people who can manage to do this, you probably have that special “IT” factor.
1. They Don’t Beg For Attention
Needing attention is directly linked to emotion. Those who feel the need for recognition only find themselves experiencing feelings of worth when others make them feel needed; it’s as if these people are uncertain of their value, or if they have any ounce of self-worth. Feeling unsure of your worth is a self-fulfilling prophecy; if you don’t know you matter, then no one will ever believe you do.
2. They Don’t Allow Others To Bring Them Down
Emotional strength requires resilience. This world is filled with haters and trolls. There are jealous eyes lurking around every corner. The unfortunate truth is that often the people who hold us back the most are those closest to us. Getting rid of these people is often the best solution, but also the most difficult. If you can quietly remove these people from your life, that’s one fewer bridge burned and much less of an emotional trigger.
3. They Don’t Hold Grudges
If you’re holding a grudge, then you already care more about a situation than you should. If a person apologizes genuinely, forgive him or her. If this person doesn’t apologize, then don’t interact with him or her, but don’t hold grudges. People with whom you seek to alienate and hold grudges against take up too much of your mental energy, doing more harm than good.
4. They Never Stop Doing Their Own Thing
Emotionally strong individuals do what they do because they love doing it. They don’t plan on slowing down or stopping for anyone who deems their happiness inappropriate.
5. They Never Stop Believing In Themselves
Those who love themselves and understand themselves — those who aren’t afraid or proud to be themselves — never doubt themselves. You amount to your own self-worth, not a shilling more.
6. They Don’t Act Like Babies Or Jerks
People are mean. But we wonder, why? Being a jerk is only good as an intimidation factor, and if you’re trying to intimidate people, then you better be a negotiator by profession; if you’re intimidating just for the sake of it, you’re obviously overcompensating for a lack of confidence.
7. They Know Better Than To Let Just Anyone Into Their Lives
The emotionally strong are emotionally strong for a reason: They don’t expose themselves to people who break down their defenses and crush their morale. Most people in the world are lost and will be more than happy to take you along with them. Don’t let an awful acquaintance ruin your happiness.
8. They Aren’t Afraid To Love
If you’re afraid to love, you don’t have enough confidence in yourself. You obviously think you can’t be in a lasting relationship, but only in one that is doomed for disaster. You don’t want to get hurt again because getting hurt really sucks. There is no reason for you to get your heart broken again because you are awesome. If things don’t work out, it’s not you. It’s the two of you together. Unless, of course, you are an awful human being; in that case, it is you.
9. They Don’t Lie In Bed Dreading The Day Ahead Of Them
The best part of your day should be the moment you wake up and realize you’re still alive. We take life for granted too regularly.
10. They’re Not Afraid Of Slowing Down
Emotionally strong people aren’t in need of constant action and excitement. They don’t need to run around all day and keep moving in order to avoid their demons. They appreciate a slow moment because it brings them closer to what it feels like to do nothing but living, breathing. This is not to say that they don’t enjoy excitement in their lives, but they aren’t junkies and are more than happy to just go for a walk and smell the roses.
11. They Don’t Do Things They Don’t Want To Do
We all do things that we don’t love to do, but we should never do things that we don’t want to do. The emotionally strong understand that and almost always manage to figure out a way to focus on what they love, which allows them to figure out what they need to do, in order to do what they love. Although they may not love every second of it, they like doing what they are doing because it’s bringing them one step closer to what they would love to do.
12. They Have No Problem Saying “No”
If you can’t say “no,” you will get abused. You’ll be considered a pushover and no one will ever ask you for your opinion or take it seriously when you give it. Saying “no” reminds people that they don’t have control over you.
13. They Don’t “Forget” To Give Back
We’re not too busy or too poor to donate our money and/or time. We don’t forget, either. Some people just choose to ignore our responsibilities as human beings. The stronger you are emotionally, the more you come to appreciate others and life itself. You give life more worth and you begin to empathize with those who were dealt a bad hand.
14. They Don’t Feel The Need To Fit In
The stronger you are emotionally, the more independent you become. You don’t feel the need to fit in because you fit in where it matters: the world. People form smaller social groups that are often skewed and unhealthy. Wanting to fit in doesn’t say much more than “I’m afraid to be myself.”
15. They Don’t Forget That Happiness Is A Decision
Most importantly, the emotionally strong have learned to understand the power their brains have over both the mind and body. They understand that emotions are reactions, not reactions to direct physical causes, but to the way we perceive those causes. In other words, our emotions don’t reflect reality; rather, our emotions reflect the way we interpret reality. Understanding this gives us near-full control of our emotions and, therefore, our lives.
It gives us that special “IT” factor.
The quest for the greatest trophy in all of sport starts this week. So enjoy these fun facts about the cup. It’s always good to have a history lesson!
The Great History of The Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the 1892 Governor General of Canada. He purchased the decorative cup in London for 10 guineas (around $50 at the time). Stanley donated the Cup to award Canada’s top amateur hockey club after he and his family became infatuated with the sport at Montreal’s 1889 Winter Carnival; it was first awarded to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (or MAAA) in 1893.
Stanley’s original Cup from 1892, known as the “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup” (above), was awarded until 1970, and is now on display in the Vault Room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
In 1963, NHL president Clarence Campbell believed that the original Cup had become too brittle to give to championship teams, so the “Presentation Cup” was created and is the well-known trophy awarded today. (Skeptics can authenticate the Presentation Cup by noting the Hockey Hall of Fame seal on the bottom.)
The final Cup is a replica of the Presentation Cup, which was created in 1993 by Montreal silversmith Louise St. Jacques and is used as a stand-in at the Hall of Fame when the Presentation Cup isn’t available.
Unlike other major league sports trophies, a new Cup isn’t made every year. Instead, after each championship, the names of the players, coaches, management, and staff of the winning team are added to the Cup. The first team to have its roster engraved was the 1906-07 Montreal Wanderers, whose names were etched within the inner bowl of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The only other team names engraved on the inner bowl are the 1914-15 Vancouver Millionaires.
More and more teams wanted to be immortalized, so the decision was made to put a separate single ring below the original Cup that each new winning roster would be etched on. Between 1927 and 1947, a new, more streamlined and vertical incarnation of the Cup was used. Thanks to its cylindrical shape, it was nicknamed the “Stovepipe Cup” (above)—but by 1948, the trophy had become too tall to hold or put on display, so the shape was changed to the tiered version used today.
ITS RINGS ARE DETACHABLE.
Since 1958, five bands of championship names are engraved around the base of the Cup. When the rings become full, the oldest band is removed and preserved in Lord Stanley’s Vault at the Great Esso Hall in the Hockey Hall of Fame. A blank replacement band is then put in its place to be filled with the names of the next champions. No championship team names from the 1928-29 to the 1953-54 season are currently on the Cup.
In its 96-year history, there have only been four official engravers sanctioned by the NHL. The first was the 1948 Stanley Cup designer Carl Poul Peterson, a Danish engraver who moved to Montreal in 1929 and worked with his sons Arno, Ole, and John Paule in his engraving shop until his death in 1977. The current engraver is Louise St. Jacques (creator of the replica of the Presentation Cup), who took over from the second and third official engravers, Doug Boffey and his father Eric, at their shop Boffey Silversmith’s in Montreal in 1989.
To inscribe each name individually, St. Jacques disassembles the Cup from the top down, and then clamps the band being engraved in a homemade circular jig. She uses special small hammers and a series of letter stamps to strike each letter into the silver while using a metal level to keep the names as straight as possible. St. Jacques estimates that each name takes approximately a half-hour to inscribe and that it takes a non-continuous—not to mention patient—ten hours to complete every name for the winning team.
Many champion player and team names are misspelled on the Cup. The name of the 1980-81 New York Islanders is misspelled as “Ilanders,” and the 1971-72 Boston Bruins’ name is misspelled as “Bqstqn Bruins.” Most of the errors are left on as they are—it would be too costly to fix the mistakes. But fans believe the errors add to the idiosyncratic nature of the Cup.
Corrections have been made, though: When 1996 champion Colorado Avalanche’s Adam Deadmarsh’s name was spelled “Deadmarch” on the Cup, it was stamped out and corrected after he publicly stated how heartbroken he was about the error.
The NHL will allow no more than 52 names from each year’s winning team to be engraved, with the assumption that the people included are affiliated with or have played on that club during the Stanley Cup finals.
But Peter Pocklington—the former Edmonton Oilers owner perhaps best known for trading away The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky—included his father, Basil, on the list of names to go along with the 1983-84 champion Oilers, despite the fact that his father wasn’t officially affiliated with the team. Once found out, the league had the engraver strike out Basil’s name with a series of capital Xs (above).
When the Detroit Red Wings won the Cup in 1998, the team asked that Vladimir Konstantinov’s name be engraved on the Cup, even though he didn’t play that year. The NHL allowed it because Konstantinov was a team member who was seriously injured in a car accident before the Wings defended their title.
There are also a couple of instances where no names were inscribed at all, like when the Cup wasn’t awarded in 1919 due to an outbreak of Spanish Flu. It also wasn’t awarded for the 2004-05 season because of a lockout between the league and the players union. The entire space for the players’ names reads “SEASON NOT PLAYED.”
Henri Richard, brother of Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice “Rocket” Richard and a hockey great in his own right, is on the Cup a record 11 times as a player, while the legendary Scotty Bowman appears on the Cup the most for a coach with nine Stanley Cup wins as the skipper for the Red Wings, Penguins, and Canadiens.
With 24 victories, the Canadiens have taken home Stanley Cup more than any other NHL team—though their last win, unfortunately for Habs fans, was back in 1993. Montreal also holds the record for most consecutive Cup wins with five in a row from 1956 to 1960.
PLAYERS OBVIOUSLY DON’T GET TO KEEP THE CUP BUT THEY GET ONE OF THESE!
Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Ring
Montreal fans are so adamant about the Cup that during the 1962 playoffs, when the Cup was on display at Chicago Stadium for the defending champion Black Hawks (the name was compressed to “Blackhawks” in 1986), Habs fan Ken Kilander attempted to take the Cup and walk right out the door with it. When a police officer caught and questioned him, Kilander responded, “I want to take it back where it belongs, to Montreal.”
Twelve women have their names inscribed on the Cup. The first was Marguerite Norris, who was the president of the Detroit Red Wings for their 1954-55 season victory. Sonia Scurfield is the only Canadian woman to have her name inscribed; she was the co-owner of the 1988-89 champion Calgary Flames.
Various players are wary of the Cup if they haven’t won it yet, and steer clear if they’re still in contention—in fact, some players on conference champion teams won’t even touch the respective Western Conference Campbell Bowl or Eastern Conference Prince of Wales Trophy so they don’t jinx their team’s chances at the real prize!
The Cup is always accompanied by at least one representative of the Hockey Hall of Fame, dubbed the “Keeper of the Cup.” The current Keeper, Philip Pritchard, has held the position since 1991 and even maintains a Twitter account to update followers on where the Cup goes from day to day.
Way back when the Cup was first donated, Lord Stanley mandated that two trustees must always be appointed to care for the Cup and ensure it was kept in proper condition. The two current trustees are Brian O’Neill and Ian “Scotty” Morrison, and according to the Hockey Hall of Fame, they “have absolute power over all matters regarding the Stanley Cup.”
The NHL allots each championship team one hundred off-season days with the Cup (accompanied by the Keeper, of course) to do with it as they wish. It was the 1994-95 New Jersey Devils who formalized the tradition of giving each player one personal day with the Cup during the off-season. In fact, since the ‘03 season, the Hall of Fame has been keeping journals of the Cup’s travels with each winning team. Though some players use their day with the trophy for peaceful reflection, others have gone a bit crazy with Lord Stanley’s Cup, as you’ll see below.
Following their 1991 victory over the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux hosted the team at his house. When Lemieux wasn’t looking, Penguins winger Phil Bourque decided he wanted to see if the Cup could float—and threw the trophy into the captain’s in-ground pool. It didn’t float, and immediately sank to the bottom (thankfully, it was recovered unharmed).
Two years later the Cup also found the bottom of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy’s pool. But in 2002, when Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hašek attempted to swim with the Cup, the Keeper had had enough: He demanded Hašek dry off the trophy and give it back, thus cutting short his allotted personal day.
When the Ottawa Hockey Club, now known as the Ottawa Senators, won the Cup in 1905, the members of the “Silver Seven” had a little too much fun celebrating their victory. After the team banquet, some not-so-sober players brought the trophy outside and decided to test their accuracy by trying to kick the then-small Cup into Ottawa’s Rideau Canal.
Once successful, they went on their drunken way and forgot all about it—until their teammates realized the next day that the trophy was missing. Lord Stanley’s Cup was retrieved and given to a player named Harry Smith, the most responsible man on the team, for safekeeping.
When the members of the 1924 champion Canadiens got a flat tire on the way to the team’s victory banquet at owner Leo Dandurand’s house, they had to remove the Cup from the trunk of the car to get to the spare tire. The players, eager to celebrate their win, quickly changed the tire and made their way to the party. When the traditional time came for each player to drink champagne from the silver bowl, the Cup was nowhere to be found. The players had left it on the side of the road! They hopped in their car and sped back to the place where they had changed the flat and found the Cup in a snow bank on the side of the road—right where they had left it.
But that wasn’t the first time a Montreal hockey team had forgotten the Cup. The 1907 Montreal Wanderers left it at the home of a team photographer; the photographer’s mother used the Cup as a flower pot until the team came back to retrieve it!
After the Colorado Avalanche won the 1995-96 championship, defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre used his personal day with the Cup to have his daughter Jade christened in the top bowl.
Eleven years later, after the Detroit Red Wings won in 2007-08, Swedish left-winger Tomas Holmström brought the silverware back to his native country so that his cousin could baptize his 7-week-old daughter in the trophy.
The Edmonton Oilers were a force to be reckoned with in the 1980s. Between 1984 and 1990, the team won five Stanley Cups and were led by two hockey greats, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier (above). Legend has it that after their 1986-87 win, Messier brought the Cup to an Edmonton strip club called the Forum Inn and set the trophy on the main stage. One of the ladies dancing at the club then reportedly incorporated the Cup into her risqué routine.
When he won the Cup again in 1994 with the New York Rangers, Messier and his teammates brought the trophy to another strip club—Scores in Manhattan.
When Messier and the Rangers won in 1994, it ended a record 54-year championship drought for the Broadway Blueshirts (the team hadn’t won since the 1939-40 season). Fans believe that the curse might have been brought on because the Rangers disrespected the Cup.
During the ’39-’40 season, the mortgage on the Rangers’ home rink—at the time the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden—was finally paid off. To celebrate, the management of the team symbolically burned the mortgage documents in the bowl of the Stanley Cup. Then, left-winger Lynn Patrick and his teammates allegedly urinated in the Cup’s bowl to bizarrely celebrate their victory. The Rangers finally took home the trophy again in 1994, but they haven’t won hockey’s ultimate prize since.
It’s been all over the world, from Russia to the Czech Republic to Sweden, but in 2007, the Stanley Cup went to war. To boost morale for Canadian and American troops serving in the Middle East, the Cup was flown into an active war zone at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar, Afghanistan, for a meet and greet.
AND THE CUP WAS ONCE ‘CUPNAPPED’! (watch for the Springsteen reference…..)
Sources: Wikipedia; Hockey Hall of Fame (2) (3); Yahoo Sports; Real Clear Sports; SZCZ;Greatest Hockey Legends (2).
Thank you to Sean Hutchinson for content from his blog post
“Like soldiers on a winter’s night with a vow to defend,
No retreat, baby no surrender.”
Bruce Springsteen-No Surrender
Okay, so this week’s blog topic is going to be about, You, Me, Michael Jordan, Lucille Ball, The Beatles, Ulysses S.Grant, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Abraham Lincoln, Wayne Gretzky and yes of course…..Bruce Springsteen. So let’s tie all these people together. The blog where hockey, music, entertainment, business, history and life intersect!!!
This week there are a lot of youth hockey players trying out for teams. Most of you who follow this blog should make your team, which is great. But some of you won’t. Some will fail.
And it’s okay. In fact, it’s great.
Failing is the topic I want to look at today. Failing is a great topic. That’s right, failing is a great topic. How can that be you ask?
Ninety-nine percent of you lost the last hockey game you played and were eliminated from some league. Does that mean you are a failure?
How are you reacting to it? I assume you are not quitting.
Even the guys who seem to never get cut and make every team they try out for will eventually get cut and fail. Just ask some of the guys left off the Canadian Olympic hockey team this year…..
Failure has taken everyone over at some point and will probably continue to get us all. Not just in hockey but in all aspects of life. Sports, school, business, career, relationships…..you name it. We all fail at many, many things on a daily basis.
The amazing thing about failure is that it can also be your best friend. That is good news because you are going to be failing for most of your life. The thing that you have to work at is becoming buddies with failing. Learn to embrace it and use it to your advantage.
Think about this. If you were to become a salesperson and you succeed in making one out of every ten sales to prospective buyers, you are a superstar. That means enduring nine failures to get one success….. and that makes you great. Time to develop a thick skin…..Pro Baseball hitters, one hit out of every three at bats and your in The Hall of Fame. That means the guys in Cooperstown were failures close to 70% of the time…….
Everyone who reads my blog knows I have some fun and make many references to musician Bruce Springsteen. At one point I lived near him and was fortunate to get to meet him on a few occasions and chat with him. One of the things he talked about that always stuck with me was that when he was starting out his career, he could not get a record deal or a company to believe in him. He tried over and over again for years, playing small clubs up and down the Jersey Shore, but no one thought he would be a mainstream success. What he said was interesting, “I initially failed at getting them to believe in our music the way I did. But there was no quit in us…….we knew we had it, we just had to keep going. We made changes and paid our dues…..” There is wisdom in Bruce’s music.
He is not alone.
Failure discourages some people and prevents them from trying. Other people decide to use failure as fuel to push themselves to accomplish amazing things. Failure is a certainty, your reaction to it defines you.
If you are failing at things that means that you are trying. That is what is important in growth. In learning from the failing and changing course to a better outcome.
One of the most referenced quotes and one of my favorites is from Thomas Edison. When being asked how he felt about repeatedly failing to design a working light bulb over the course of many years, he replied, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Listen to Wayne Gretzky talk about losing and learning from it early in his incredible career before he ever won a Stanley Cup…….Sometimes failure just means that you are just not ready yet for success yet and you have to do something about it.
Wayne obviously did something about failing…….
Even as you age it doesn’t stop. I can’t even count the amount of failures I have had over the years…..but that is great news! I have to be getting better right????
“Failure is just your wake up call to do things differently.”
K.Huffman
So get out there and get failing!!! Forever. Just react properly. Don’t let failure define you, make it refine you.
I said earlier failure can be your best friend. For failure to help you it must be met with the right attitude. An attitude that says, “it’s ok, I failed but there is no way I am ready to quit, just adjust my sights……” One of No Surrender…..:) you knew it was coming!
Enjoy. And next time you fail at something, I hope you remember this blog.
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for months, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, serve others.” ~ Chinese proverb
Lately, many of my posts have focused on self-improvement and making yourself a better hockey player and a better person.
Not this one. Today, it’s not about you……..well it is, but it isn’t. Let me explain.
I want to challenge the young players who read this blog to this week, focus not on themselves, but on others. More specifically being good to other people.
Let’s call it the “Be A Good Guy Challenge”.
There are so many people around us that allow us to succeed and pursue our dreams in hockey. Let’s make a conscious effort to shift the focus from always bettering ourselves to being committed to helping or bettering others. The ironic part of this challenge is that it will ultimately make you feel good.
So maybe in a way, it really is about you after all……
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi
A lot of young hockey players achieved a great goal yesterday by being drafted into the OHL. If you were one of them, I hope you took some time to sit and realize how lucky you were to have people that helped you along the way. If you haven’t already……thank them. Show them you care for them as much as they do for you. That is one way of doing something good. Show some gratitude. That is a form of giving for sure.
I am not suggesting you take on some huge responsibility, or something that drastically alters your life. Start with just trying to be really nice to people. The challenge is that simple. I bet you’ll find out that people end up being really nice to you as well. Good things will happen because of you and also happen to you. Maybe it is just saying thank you. Maybe it is showing your gratitude. Maybe it is going out of your way to do something for someone that is in need. Maybe you need to express to your loved ones how thankful you are that they are in your life and how much you appreciate them for just being there.
“All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” ~ Danny Thomas
I too am guilty of getting too wrapped up in the pursuit of my goals and dreams sometimes that I forget to focus on the people who are very close to me. So today, this week, this month, ….heck this year, I am going to make an effort to change that. I hope you do the same.
Maybe the next time at the rink when you see a very young player, stop and chat with him or her. Make it about them. Ask them what they are working on. Make them feel important. Let them know you share a passion with them. A few minutes of your time can make a huge positive impact on a young person.
Thought to Ponder
Giving is the highest level of living. When we spend ourselves on behalf of others we gain the sort of fulfillment that can never be bought with money or satisfied with stuff. What are you doing to add value to others? Are you enriching someone’s life?
“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” Martin Luther King
Bottom line. Be a nice person. Do something nice for someone every chance you get. Even in casual meetings, be kind and respectful to people. It can make them feel great.
If one of the greatest players of all time can do it…..so can you.
Make it an experiment. See how positively your life is impacted by impacting others.
The worst thing that can happen is you feel really good about yourself……
It doesn’t have to be much. Sometimes just being a really nice person can make a world of difference in someone’s life. (yes, we officially have a theme developing….)
Good luck with your challenge!!
Please let me know how it works for you.
“You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay”
The Price You Pay-Bruce Springsteen
Probably one of the most uses cliches in all of sport. “Pay the price.”
Everyone has their own price they will pay and are capable of paying to be successful. Have you thought long and hard what yours is? What you are willing to sacrifice for the game?
Parents of young hockey players certainly know about paying an ‘actual price’. Just ask them about that…..:) Players, I dare you to go up to them and say, “Hey guys, just curious…..do you think you have paid the price for my hockey???” When you do, I suggest you leave the room.
But let’s leave the caretakers out of this for now. What I am talking about is your awareness of sacrifice and what you give up for the game of hockey and what you will continue to give up as you progress. I want to be clear that although I am talking about sacrificing things,I am in no way saying that it is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. It is an amazing thing. The game gives you some incredible things. Friends,, travel, learning and growth experiences, phenomenal memories, success, a feeling of worth and belonging to something great. A family……
But there is a price to pay……there always is for worthwhile things.
So if you are committed to becoming a very good player, which I know that most of you who read this blog are, here are some of the certainties. It may not be the popular thing to do in pointing them out, but they are facts. Here goes.
There are things that some other people will get to do that you won’t be able to. There are things your ‘school friends’ will do that you can’t. There are social events you will miss. There are family events you will miss.You will miss school and have to get caught up. You will make mistakes in front of many people. You will get embarrassed. You will get knocked down. You will work harder than you thought possible. You will work out so hard you will puke. You will play for coaches you don’t like. You will play for coaches who don’t like you. You will be criticized. You will feel like quitting. You will get physically beat up. You will get mentally beat up.
You will get hurt.
You will pay a price.
And it will all be worth it ………
“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”
Booker T. Washington
Paying the price means prioritizing. Here are just a few areas that are good to mention concerning this followed by a fun video on ‘Paying the Price’.
Training
I know I have written many prior posts dealing with this topic. Go back and look at them. It goes without saying that there is a price to pay in the gym.
Making Good Decisions
Pay the price. Ask yourself, “What is the right thing to do at this moment that will make me a better player and person?” Let that simple question be your compass. Be honest with yourself and if something will not help you accomplish those two things……then don’t do it.
Friends
Who do you associate with?
Do you pay a price if you don’t associate with the right people? I think we all agree that you do. Pay the price and be selective in the people you surround yourself with. Pick good people to be part of your life.
There is a great story about an old farmer who took his beat up mule to the Kentucky Derby and wanted to enter him in the race. The elite horsemen at the derby said, “Sir, you can’t have have that old mule run with these exceptional thoroughbreds and expect him to beat them…..” to which the farmer replied, “No, I know. I just thought it would do him good to be associated with them….”
Pick people and friends that will raise you up to higher levels not lower you down to theirs. Pay the price and choose wisely.
“Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.” Vince Lombardi
I told you before it was worth it. It is. One of the great things about being an old washed up player is running into other old washed up players. The amazing thing is that when you hear old players talk, they don’t complain about the price they paid……..they only talk about the great things the game has given them.
Playing hockey at any high level requires you to pay a price. But the reward from paying that price is knowing that you now have something special to take with you forever. In life, you can apply the same dedication, the ability to pay the price and accomplish anything you commit to.
That is the secret of ‘The Price You Pay’.
(you knew the Springsteen video was coming. This one is special because it was taken at the old Philadelphia Spectrum….where many a price was paid.:) )
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