Gongshow Hockey › How a game changed my lifeâ€¦.

How a game changed my lifeâ€¦.
Thursday, September 16, 2004

Posted by GSH-Editor

A first hand account from a hockey player
A GSH-Editorial

Back when I was younger, hockey was all about a stick, skates, some wild dreams and having fun. Now at age 24, itâ€™s still about the same core values, but at one point a transition began, much like a caterpillar would eventually turn into a beautiful butterfly. So let me stretch my new wings out and tell you a little tale. A story not just about me, but the people who shaped the man I have become todayâ€¦A confident guy who knows who he is and lives life to the fullest..

Iâ€™d be lying if I told you that hockey wasnâ€™t a big part of who I am today. When and how did the game itself shape who I have become? There is no doubt in my mind that on a windy fall day some 8 years ago, this fresh faced kid walked into his first Junior â€œAâ€ try out, eager to prove something, yet nervous to fuck up and shit the bed. As I walked down the long hallway with my bag thrown over my right shoulder, I entered the locker room, placing my sticks in the rack. I put my head down, and took a seat. Hardly nothing is being said in the room except for some small talk in the right corner from what I assume are two childhood buddies. I begin to gear down, and throw on my gitch. Fifteen minutes go by when some guy walks in, talking tough as he acts like the head hancho to the players for training camp, while the head coach watches from the stands. Iâ€™m on a line with some guy named Sullivan and McReary, never heard of them.

I begin to tie my right skate when a jersey falls on my head, coach chucked me some bush league old team jersey from the 80â€™s, and I guess they use them for the Red and White intersquad games. I walked out into the hallway to tape my stick, when I noticed the chatter of a room full of excited lads. They were laughing, telling jokes, ripping on each other. I remember thinking to myself, thatâ€™s fucken great. I want to be a part of that. I went in and threw on the rest of my gear, grabbed my bucket tightened my visor a bit and headed out. This was it, I thought to myself as I skated around and began to stretch the old groin....continued

I sat on the bench, and I wont lie to you I was pretty freaking nervous, but I was excited to get out there, and get that first shift under my belt. I spent all summer beating the shit out of a boxing bag in my barn, and I always won that fight. But that bag didnâ€™t hit back, and some of these beauties out here will, I thought to myself. If you are a borderline player trying to make a team, you would be an idiot if you didnâ€™t believe that dropping the old mitts wouldnâ€™t improve your chances. I threw the puck in the right corner and turned on the jets to wheel in there and lay some body. The D-man quickly wrapped it the other way, his winger pulling it off the board with his skate and then attempted to headman it to his center. I finished my check, might have been a bit late, and received a nice little two hander from the veteran player.

I returned a chop and skated out. Our D-man read the play and quickly tossed the puck down into their corner. Same D-man, and now I was pissed. I remember thinking, fuck it! Letâ€™s do this. He threw it up the middle and I came in with the mother of all elbows. He dropped like a 200 lbs sack of crap. I waited there because I knew it was on, if he could get up, and boy did he ever. The gloves flew and he layed the first 3 or 4 bombs and it fucken hurt, but now I was on adrenaline. I began to throw just like I did in the barn, but I knew this guy was in for a surprise. I began throwing with my right, but this sorry son of a bitch never thought I was a lefty.

I started throwing heaters off his left side one after another. After about a minute, I clipped him one good right under the chin and he buckled. Coaches broke it up (cause it was intersquad no refs) and we were sent back to our benches. I finished the game strong, and I knew after, I had done something that got me noticed. I never knew how right it would turn out to beâ€¦..

Now here I am, after 4 years in Junior and another 4 in College in the US, I finally figured out what I heard from that teamâ€™s locker room when I was taping my stick in the hallway so many years ago. What I heard was a team, a group of brothers who had bonded to become one. After eight years being around that positive atmosphere, I can honestly say it changed me as a person and helped shape who I am today. I might not ever get a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup over my shoulders, but I think I got something even better from this game; the game made me a real man. A real man with good buddies, good values, and a head full of memories and laughs that I will never forget. For me, that will always be enough.