“Dad, hockey isn’t all about winning.”

"Well son, show me someone who likes to lose and I will show you a loser."


If you like it now, you will forever.

Yea this conversation never happened. Nice try pretending to be more virtuous than everyone else.

Saw a good quote this morning.

“The best coach isn’t always the one with the best players, with the best ranking or with the most wins. The best coaches are those that do more with less, change the lives of their athletes for the better and teach the importance of character.”

Last week I told the coach that I thought we needed to cut a few players. The bottom ones. Luckily my kid is one of the better ones and works hard. I pla*** at high level so I felt like my opinion mattered more than it should have. Looking back at my conversation with the coach, I wish I could change everything I said and tell him that he is doing an amazing job. Wish I left at that. He has a team with glaring holes but somehow finds a way to improve all the kids. He develops them the right way. He has them winning more than losing in a very good league. The coach has made these kids love the sport, he runs great practices, he has given these kids all of his free time.

On the way home after the conversation I asked my son if he thought the team should get some upgrades on players. His response made me second guess my thoughts on club hockey. He said “No. No way. Why would we cut anyone?” I gave him a generic response of something like “Well we want to win more.” He looked at me and said “Dad, hockey isn’t all about winning.” He also thought it was strange when I told him the kids I thought should go. He asked me if was friends with their parents. This ride home I will never forget.

This is coming from a kid who isn’t quite 12 years old yet. Thankfully he has a more mature mind than me. Thankfully his coach has done a better job than me making him understand what’s important.

Maybe this is a true story, or maybe you're a coach on a mediocre team that keeps losing his top players. If they're moving on to what they think are greener pastures, just wish them the best. You can't make everyone happy.... even the top elite teams blow up when there are enough divas in the locker room.

Maybe this is a true story, or maybe you're a coach on a mediocre team that keeps losing his top players. If they're moving on to what they think are greener pastures, just wish them the best. You can't make everyone happy.... even the top elite teams blow up when there are enough divas in the locker room.

Not a coach and my kids team hasn’t lost a top player since they’ve been together. Nobody is leaving. Again, missed the point.

Excellent post and a good lesson learned. I pla*** juniors and D1 hockey and had a career ending injury my senior year. Best hockey memories I had from youth- my friend throwing up in the pool at our first away squirt tournament because he ate an entire pizza before. All the shenanigan's with my teammates through the years, sleepovers, on ice fight with my best friend from another club at bantam. My parents never pushed me and I learned how to skate and play on our back yard pond. When you get in college and beyond its a job. Let the kids have fun and play with their friends. Running around for all these camps and privates and driving hours to play with the best team is all for the parent not the kid. If the kid has the ability and skill and is willing to put in the time then he might have a shot when he gets older to play in college or juniors. Until that time stop taking it so serious and let the kid be a kid.