W

One letter that epitomises each and every player's desire in a game. But in the corny words of Highlander, 'there can be only one' in the end. I started to think about this letter yesterday evening and I realised how obtaining that in a column on the stats sheet is not just about playing well during the 60 minutes. Getting a W in essence requires thorough preparation which is something that my previous team didn't seem to understand.

The key ingredients to W are: result, earning and caring. You cannot obtain a W without doing these things before a game. In essence the preparation for a game starts from Tuesday night when we get off the ice at training. After that it is up to each and every player to prepare for the games individually. The unfortunate thing of playing at this level is that there really aren't other chances for training. Everything after a team training is up to you and it pains me to say that a lot of guys don't understand that. Though the vast majority of the more experienced players come prepared to game days, there are still individuals who drag the team down, because they are not prepared and they have not carried anything from trainings to the locker room on a game day.

Result, earning and caring. Three simple things you need to do before you can ever dream of a W. To obtain that W you also need Wisdom. In hockey the key to wisdom is relatively simple and I suppose you can apply it to other aspects of life as well. The key to wisdom is setting yourself a goal for tomorrow. If your goal is to win and play a good game and all your actions leading up to the game serves that goal and that you will be a good player then you will accomplish your results, earning and caring. It is after that when you can really talk about winning.

In the end, we play this game because we love it and we don't enjoy being in the losing end of a game, but if we are, then you need to bring it back to the drawing board and work on the things that let you down and make sure that every player is playing for the same goals, rather than for an individual. The old saying of the name on the front of the shirt is more important than the one on the back has never had a more prominent ring to it.

Role Models

Every person has a role model. A person who has influenced them the most in their lives. For some of the pro players, it has been their childhood idols that they have looked up to and that have inspired them on with their professional careers. For me on a hockey level there have been and there are players I look up to. Saku Koivu, Mikko Koivu, Alex Ovechkin, Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St.Louis, Jarome Iginla, Teemu Selanne and Jari Kurri to mention just a few of the players that I look up to and would love to trade places or skills with.

However I would have to say that the greatest role models I have is my family, my mum, dad and my brother. My mum and dad instilled me with the work ethic and how to deal with a variety of things. I don't think anyone could've gotten a better up bringing than me and my brother. My dad was not only a great influence and support for sports but for showing me what it means to be a man and provide for a family. During my days of playing in Holland, he was always able to give me pointers on improving my game and I'm sure that if it wasn't for his advice and recommendations I wouldn't have found the spark to push myself at this stage of my playing 'career'.

My mum instilled me with awareness and gave me so much self confidence. Yeah when it comes to sport, or hockey, I think my mum is more concerned about me walking away from the game unscratched, but its hockey, I have to get my nose dirty at times. In hockey terms she taught me to keep my head up during games. Outside of the rink, she taught me how to keep myself healthy and how to provide myself a meal. Ofcourse the list could go on and on for both my parents.

My brother has really been the ying to my yang, if I must use that corny and overused term. He has helped me put alot of things into perspective at times and has taught me a great deal of soul searching and what I want to do and accomplish. I cherish the time I get to spend with him as he completelly makes me forget all the crap that I have in my mind and I can laugh my head off at dumb things.

Then there is my wife. Though people often wrongly call women, or wives the ball and chain, I have nothing but good things to say about mine. She is understanding of the choices I make and understands me probably better than I do. She's always there to pick me up when I'm having a bad day and is able to take my mind off things when I want to focus on the game. I think before a game she notices when I'm over thinking things so she takes my mind off of the game and get's me doing something else.

This post isn't intended as a family tribute or a thank you, but it is a tribute to my role models and to the people who make all of my playing possible. It is these people that help me keep things in focus and play the game with a smile on my face. If it wasn't for them I probably would've hung up the skates ages ago. Every person needs an understanding and supporting background to achieve anything. I would go as far to say that I have been blessed with a foundation of people I know I can rely on when I need them. I should think that everything I do on the ice is possible because of the people I mentioned above.