Mar 28, 2018 | Ayden Harvey | 1133 views
The push continues
This year can be summarized in two words.
Adversity.
Consistency.
One we faced all season. And one we struggled with all season.
Success isn't linear. You don't always take that next step. You're not automatically going to to get a level further than you did the year before. I wondered all year if you thought that's how it would go - win a bunch last year and then do even better this year. But it doesn't work like that. That's what makes success so special...it always has to be earned. I hope you remember this lesson when hockey is over - to be honest, it's a good one to learn now rather than later in life when the stakes are higher.
This year we faced challenges. Many of them. And we didn't always come out on top. We went through a period where we really struggled, which was kind of foreign to us. The desire to become the best is easier to channel than to try and stay on top. Maybe you've heard the saying that it's easier to be the hunter than it is to be the hunted. I think it was a combination of that and other teams really wanting to beat us - their desire in games to become the best sometimes outweighed our desire to stay on top. But we figured it out by the end.
I know last night was not the resulted we wanted. But I'm proud of the way you played. We did not, nor have we ever, had to resort to gimmicks and trickery, or hope and prayer type plays to try and win. We play a team game, and we play hockey the right way. But sometimes, even if you play the right way, it doesn't work out. And last night should sting. Nobody likes to lose. Nor should you. You should do everything in your power to achieve your goal, be it hockey or any other sport, or more importantly, school and career goals. As long as you understand that a minor setback, or a failure to reach the goal, isn't the end. There are always setbacks along the way. Misses. Times when you'll come up just short. Moments when it doesn't go the way you played it out in your head. Moments when you're knocked down. But what is infinitely more important, isn't the result, but your reaction. Life, just like hockey, is a game of choices. What will you do in the face of a challenge? What will you do when someone tries to stand in the way of your goal? Will you crumble? Fade away? Disappear?
Or will you choose to get up? And fight. And push back.
It's tough to make the decision to push back. It's exhausting and it's hard. And it's easy to give up.
Will it matter in fifteen years that we lost last night? No. This result does not define you, or even us as a team. This result will not impact your future. Nobody will look at you and say, "Too bad he didn't win that major atom championship twenty years ago."
Playing hockey isn't about making it to the NHL. It's about learning life lessons about how to succeed, work hard, work with others, and so many more. And the lesson you've learned this year, you must remember. Because learning that lesson can define you. Those lessons will make you successful in hockey, but also beyond the rink. School. Career. Family.
I think one of the things I love most about hockey is that you learn something new every year. The team and the season dictate the lesson whether it be learning how to win, or how to play as a team. So, my challenge for you, as always, is to remember what you've learned this year. And in fifty years, when you are sitting there, showing your grandkids pictures of your life...
Your hockey pictures...
Your awkward high school pictures...
Your graduation from university...
Your wedding...
Raising a family...
You coaching your children...
I want you to tell them about all the great moments - the fun, the titles, the funny moments. But please don't stop there. I want you to tell them about the struggles. The times you fell down. The times you worked as hard as you possibly could but came up just short. Teach them what you had. What you learned this year about what it takes. How you need to react. How hard you need to work and never give up. Show them that it's ok to fail, as long as you learn from it and work as hard as you can to never let it happen again.
Moving on from this year, what will define you...what will impact your future...what will have a lasting effect on your life, won't be that we are "Finalists" instead of "Champions".
What will define you, and shape the way others see you, is the way you played this year. You fought, all of you, tooth and nail. As hard as you could. For as long as you could. With every ounce of energy you had. Relentlessly. Giving everything you possibly could for your teammates, your friends, your family.
You fought.
And for that, I am so proud.