And with that...
It's over.
Just like that. Four years of rep hockey. Four years of being a Ranger. 8 years of coaching. Done.
This will likely be my final letter I ever write to a team. Hopefully I've captured it.
At the start of every new season I get asked the same old questions...
How does the team look?
How good do you think the boys will be?
How many wins will we have?
You're a Bomber now. The specific team is yet to be determined. But you're a Bomber. New uniform. New tracksuit. New helmet colour. New teammates. New coach.
New.
And yet, you'll always be a Ranger. You will always smile fondly when you see a Rangers logo. Always remember your Rangers teammates. You will always be a Ranger. Always.
I wish all of you the most success possible as a Bomber. As you move forward and forge new identities as Bombers, I know that you will represent yourselves, your Ranger teammates, and your Ranger coaches with honour, dedication, and pride. Treat your new teammates as if you've played with them your whole life. You're not the Rangers and the Avalanche in the new dressing room...you're all Bombers.
And even though everything you're wearing on the ice is new, I'm asking you to stay true to the old. It's kind of like growing up. When you're an adult, you can't be a kid anymore, but that kid is still a part of you. Still in there somewhere. Still a cornerstone of the adult you've become. You can't be that kid anymore because you have to be an adult and do grown up things. But you'll remember being a kid and how much fun it was…and how much we laughed because my friend shot milk out his nose and then we ran around the neighbourhood chasing my friends and it was the best time ever! and then we went inside and had a snack we ate grilled cheese and three pickles! and then we played mini sticks and then someone scored but it wasn't fair because he tripped me and the goal shouldn't have counted but then his mom got ice cream and I dropped it down my shirt and melted all over my hand and I wiped it on my pants and then we rode our bikes up and down the driveway all day and we’re going to do exactly the same thing tomorrow!! But you'll be an adult. You’ll write proper sentences because you know how to use proper grammar (hopefully lol). Mini sticks hurts your knees if you play for too long. You have the dexterity to properly eat ice cream and understand that ice cream will melt if it's not eaten a certain way and in a certain time frame. And, if as an adult, you rode your bike up and down the driveway in a circle for hours, well...it would look...weird. But you will have learned so much from your childhood that will make you successful as an adult.
So when you're an adult, be an adult. But don't ever lose the kid you once were (still do some of those things because...well, because it's fun...you'll just understand you can't do that all the time).
So when you're a Bomber, be a Bomber. But never lose the Ranger you once were.
This is a weird feeling. The Rangers have been an all encompassing piece of my life for almost a decade now. And now it’s over. And with it, is my tenure as a coach. I will not be your coach next year. I have had the pleasure of spending almost 1000 hours on the ice with all of you over four years. I know occasionally I maybe wasn’t your favourite person in the world, but I hope you know that I always had your back. I always supported you. Believed in you. Wanted the best for you, and demanded your best from you. I have poured my heart and soul into this team and taken this role very seriously. I have taken and sacrificed time from many other areas of my life to ensure that I could give my all to you and your teammates.
And Manager Jenn has done the same. She has spent countless hours doing the thankless job of taking care of details – schedules, money, emails, logistics. So please be sure to thank her when you see her for all the time she has spent taking care of everything.
I'll always remember my time as a Ranger. More fondly than perhaps you'll ever realize until the day you sit down to write one of these to your team. I never feel like I can accurately capture or express what's happening in my head as I write these, and I never feel like I can make you fully understand what these years with you all have meant to me. Maybe it's because you're still young and there's so much more important in your life right now than your old coach's rambling letter.
I am genuinely going to miss coaching. And more so, I will miss coaching all of you. Our paths may join again as a team - can't ever really say how the future will go - but who knows if I'll be that lucky.
But I want to thank you. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives at such a formative age. Thank you for listening and working your butts off for me. Thank you for trying new drills and concepts. Thank you for giving me everything you could. Maybe it's because I am one lol, or “was” I guess now, but I think a coach, a good coach, is a very important person in a young kid's life as they can have such a tremendous impact. Your parents and family have the most impact on you as a person, but a good coach can still have a significant impact. I have tried my best over the years to be that coach for you. I hope I have. I hope I've lived up to the expectation I think coaches should live up to. I hope I've shown you what a coach can be. I'm not perfect. And I know I've messed up at times. But I hope I've done right by all of you and your parents. Parents, I hope I've helped you along the way fulfill your vision of who your child could become.
I hope your coach for next year puts the same into his role that I have. I hope he pours in the time, emotional investment, and dedication that I have given to this role and to you over the years. I hope he looks at all of you and understands what a special group you all are and what you deserve from a coach. And I hope he gives that to you, whether you’re playing AA, A, AE or houseleague.
Over the years I've sought out situations for Tyge and Ayden where I knew the coaching was going to have a positive impact on their development as a person. And at the same time, I've watched you all develop as people, and with each other. And I've seen you all at times help your teammates by explaining a drill or showing them a new idea - essentially coaching.
And this is probably one of the biggest compliments I can give: should I be so lucky that one day Tyge and Ayden have kids that are playing sports, I would be more than happy if any of you were the coach of that team. I have no doubt the positive impact you have, can have, and will have on the lives of others.
Gentlemen, you're at a time in your life when there are big changes coming. Only a couple of years until high school. Then uni. Then real life. Maybe a family...hopefully coaching...
At the start of every new season, I get asked the same old questions:
How does the team look?
How good do you think the boys will be?
How many wins will we have?
And I never really answer. Because I don't know the answer. And I won't. To me a “win” will be in 30 years when we all see what kind of men you've become. What kind of husbands and fathers you've become. What kind of coaches you've become. What impact you’ve had on your community.
Then, and only then, will I know how successful this team was.
So I guess the answer all along should’ve been 17.
17 wins. That’s my goal.
I’ll update the standings in 30 years.
Continue to make me proud.
Coach Tim