You don't win by being good. You win with hard work and sacrifice. Without that, skill is just potential.
Forget about style; worry about results.
The biggest thing we get out of it is seeing the kids smile. And hopefully we will also see that the lessons we're teaching - not only the fundamentals of hockey, but also the life values - are sinking in.
There are no environments where you're only going to win, because life just isn't like that.
I've been a very lucky guy. I played on championship teams. I played for Canada. I've won some awards and I'm very proud of those accomplishments. But I don't think there's anything greater than to come home and to be recognized at home. This is the pinnacle.
Minor sports in the community is fun and recreation for everyone, not just the elite. I think back to my days in minor hockey and those are my fondest memories, having fun.
Developing better people should be the number one goal for any coach when dealing with kids. In trying to develop better people, we are going to develop more and better pros.
The kids wait for it to be organized. They want to go play all of these tournaments, for a little practice time. I learned my skills by dropping the puck just with the kids. I think that's missing today.
Growing up, if I hadn't had sports, I don't know where I'd be. God only knows what street corners I'd have been standing on and God only knows what I'd have been doing, but instead I played hockey and went to school and stayed out of trouble.
Hockey is a tough game. With all the talk and everything that's going on right now, it frightens me a little bit that we are giving our players an excuse not to hit. I just hope that we don't take that out of our game at the pro level.
You hear all the time about European players playing the game. These players that come over at 17, 18 and 19, they just don't all of a sudden become skilled. From the time they were little fellas, they learned the fundamentals of the game. Let them create.
So many of today's programs are about trophies and jackets, and we think that's a big mistake.
We're going to have more kids playing, and we're going to have a better chance of finding those players Minor sports in a community is for fun and recreation. For everyone.
