Commitment is something some of us are afraid of. Whether it is a relationship, work or sport we are required to commit our time and efforts into this element and make it work for us, rather than the other way around. Commitment is what makes champions and winners out of us and the time we have dedicated to our goals will have been rewarded.
In sports, specially a fast paced contact sport like hockey, commitment and dedication are the keys to success. It takes a lot of commitment to be successful and even though some of us may never achieve the stellar levels of Alex Ovechkin, Martin St. Louis et al. it is commitment that makes us thrive and succeed in our own plateau of competition and it pushes us forwards to higher levels of competition.
I came across a comment a hockey dad told his son on the internet a few days back and I think that if I ever have kids and they pick up any sport (preferably hockey) and want to make it as a pro, I would tell them to model themselves after and follow the best players in the team and commit to their sport 100%. To live it and breathe it.. Truth is that 90% of the guys in junior levels will never make it as a pro because they see it as a bit of fun and don’t necessarily have the mental toughness and commitment levels required to make it to the top flight in sport.
Commitment in sports is something that takes time and can put a severe strains on your family and friendships. I remember when I played in the Dutch first division that during the long and arduous season, all the weekends and the daily activities were modelled around my schedule. There were foods my mom would make to ensure that I would take on the appropriate amount of carbs and proteins. My parents were committed to both mine and my brother’s hobbies. My brother had acting and whenever he was in rehearsals we would arrange our family diaries according to his comings and goings. That is the type of commitment required from your parents at an early age. I was blessed, even though I didn’t make it as an NHL pro, that I had parents who were committed to catering for my desire for hockey. It was a big ask on the family and meant that my dad would spend considerable time on the road with me as the team didn’t have a bus to get us to our games.
Commitment from an athlete means constantly thinking about plays and how you can improve yourself. It is putting in the hours at the gym during the post season, pre season and in season periods. It is working back from an injury and making yourself believe that you can do it and that you are the best that there can be. It is making sure that things are OK at home and that your relationships with your partner and kids are in good order. At this level, we spend a lot of time away from home during the summer and the commitment to both our sport and our families is put to the test. It takes a lot but most of the guys turn up week after week to trainings and spend their weekends away from home on back to back road games. As Don Cherry would say; “It takes guts!”
Commitment to me is working my ass off on the ice and at the gym. I want to make sure that I have good wheels, good shot and good eyes for the game. For me that is my commitment. I want to be the fittest person on the team and make a difference every shift and I have to commit to the goals and to the work that will make it happen. Where I would like to be able to dangle like Robbie Schremp on Youtube, I have made a conscious decision to ignore the flashier plays that guys practice at trainings, but rather work on the skills that I listed above. It is unlikely that I’ll have a chance to pull a move that would involve me shooting from between my legs, and if I did that in a game situation, my coach would most likely have my head on a silver plate.
Friday, 17 April 2009
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Spring is in the air
There is a saying that says: ‘spring is the best time for a hockey player’. The playoffs are here, various European leagues have wrapped up their seasons and the champions are celebrating and those lucky (or unlucky enough) will have to cut the party short due to a call up to the National team for the World Championships.
Spring really is the best time for hockey players and for fans. There is enough action going on both sides of the pond and it is the most exhilarating time before the dust finally settles from a 9 month battle and the best of the best have been found and champions are crowned and those fortunate enough will ascend to immortality by achieving something as simple as a trophy, but it is yet so coveted that people would probably be willing to sell their souls for it. I think hockey is one of the only sports where you have a chance to become a true icon. The season is more gruelling and demanding than any other sport, which makes it interesting to follow.
Spring, it is indeed the best time to be a fan and a player. The spring sun has come out and rather than laze in the garden, the sun really has energised me further. The gruelling and often depressing training during winter time has been successful in the sense that I managed to stay relatively healthy except for the latest minor set back, but I have been able to use the injury to better myself as a player and as a person.
The games are about to begin and I can’t think of a better way to spend a summers day than to play hockey. Sure it feels awkward to be playing a winter sport in the summer, but never the less. It is the time of the year that you really wish that would never end. It is almost like a summer camp or a pro-longed hockey road trip. A chance for a bunch of guys to talk crap for a few hours and go home and display a few bruises here and there.
Spring is also known as the time for love, if you are the romantic type and believe in the image Disney and others try to sell us. So in a way spring is a time of love for hockey players as well. For the competitions I mentioned above taking place and the fact that the game that I love is really getting started.
Love is a powerful feeling and it is essentially something that we as human beings live off of. We love our wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids, pets and so on, so you can really say that love is the single most powerful feelings a human being can experience. Hockey is a game of love. If you don’t love the game you will grow hating it and you will not be able to play it or watch it with full intent. If you do not have love for the game you will not be able to succeed or achieve success in the game. Despite hockey being an aggressive, fast paced collision sport and despite the rivalries between teams and individual players, all of us share one thing in common; Our love for the game.
Like any loving relationship, there will be bumps along the way, where you will question whether you truly love the game or you will have times when you feel at an utter loss with the sport and question why you are doing it. But for true love, it will always prevail.
Hockey players, no matter how tough they are, or what level of professional play they are at will almost always say that they love the game and love playing. We all share that same love that we had as kids playing on out door rinks and then developing it further.
That child like love for the game and being part of something is something every player can feel proud of. I doubt that if there were players out there who didn’t love the sport, or at least like it, they would still carry on playing.
So what will I take with me to the up and coming season then. Without sounding like a new age hippie the one thing I will carry with me through out the season is my love for the game. But love isn’t enough to succeed or carry me and my team along this season. We need to take things like pride, passion, aggression, identity, grit, determination and contentiousness into every training session and game and act like those training sessions or games would be the last ones we could ever experience, before the world ends.
That’s why hockey is a game that will make you a better person and will make you more susceptible to accept others and will help you succeed in life. All because of the one core element of love.
Spring really is the best time for hockey players and for fans. There is enough action going on both sides of the pond and it is the most exhilarating time before the dust finally settles from a 9 month battle and the best of the best have been found and champions are crowned and those fortunate enough will ascend to immortality by achieving something as simple as a trophy, but it is yet so coveted that people would probably be willing to sell their souls for it. I think hockey is one of the only sports where you have a chance to become a true icon. The season is more gruelling and demanding than any other sport, which makes it interesting to follow.
Spring, it is indeed the best time to be a fan and a player. The spring sun has come out and rather than laze in the garden, the sun really has energised me further. The gruelling and often depressing training during winter time has been successful in the sense that I managed to stay relatively healthy except for the latest minor set back, but I have been able to use the injury to better myself as a player and as a person.
The games are about to begin and I can’t think of a better way to spend a summers day than to play hockey. Sure it feels awkward to be playing a winter sport in the summer, but never the less. It is the time of the year that you really wish that would never end. It is almost like a summer camp or a pro-longed hockey road trip. A chance for a bunch of guys to talk crap for a few hours and go home and display a few bruises here and there.
Spring is also known as the time for love, if you are the romantic type and believe in the image Disney and others try to sell us. So in a way spring is a time of love for hockey players as well. For the competitions I mentioned above taking place and the fact that the game that I love is really getting started.
Love is a powerful feeling and it is essentially something that we as human beings live off of. We love our wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids, pets and so on, so you can really say that love is the single most powerful feelings a human being can experience. Hockey is a game of love. If you don’t love the game you will grow hating it and you will not be able to play it or watch it with full intent. If you do not have love for the game you will not be able to succeed or achieve success in the game. Despite hockey being an aggressive, fast paced collision sport and despite the rivalries between teams and individual players, all of us share one thing in common; Our love for the game.
Like any loving relationship, there will be bumps along the way, where you will question whether you truly love the game or you will have times when you feel at an utter loss with the sport and question why you are doing it. But for true love, it will always prevail.
Hockey players, no matter how tough they are, or what level of professional play they are at will almost always say that they love the game and love playing. We all share that same love that we had as kids playing on out door rinks and then developing it further.
That child like love for the game and being part of something is something every player can feel proud of. I doubt that if there were players out there who didn’t love the sport, or at least like it, they would still carry on playing.
So what will I take with me to the up and coming season then. Without sounding like a new age hippie the one thing I will carry with me through out the season is my love for the game. But love isn’t enough to succeed or carry me and my team along this season. We need to take things like pride, passion, aggression, identity, grit, determination and contentiousness into every training session and game and act like those training sessions or games would be the last ones we could ever experience, before the world ends.
That’s why hockey is a game that will make you a better person and will make you more susceptible to accept others and will help you succeed in life. All because of the one core element of love.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Injuries
Injuries are an unfortunate, but an everyday element of being a hockey player. Whether it is on ice hits or working out at the gym, players have come to expect that they will be injured at some stages of their career. Some more often than others.
What most people don’t realize that injuries are actually hidden opportunities. To recover from an injury, you require a certain element of problem solving skills and mental toughness. It is also an opportunity to rest yourself and get back to the game fresh compared to your team mates. It is also an opportunity for you to carry out mental rehearsals on your mind to visualise things that you do well and visualise the plays.
As you might have guessed when you started to read this, I am currently injured. I have a tear in one of my muscles in my hip and as a consequential result of that, I have managed to bugger up the ligaments that join the hip to the leg. Needless to say it is a tad bit painful. But for some reason, where in the past I have been disheartened by injuries and gotten back way too soon, I have managed to maintain a positive attitude towards this one. I have decided that I will use this injury, rather than let it use me. This way I believe that I will be a better player and a better person. Specially as the injury happened before our season started, so I am confident that I wont be losing any games.
What I have established is that by resting the injury will get better, though things like sitting hurts and sudden movements, such as muscle jerks hurt during sleep, the injury has gotten better already. It is not good enough to skate on just yet, but it will heal soon and in good time so that I can rehab myself and regain some of the strength that I am bound to lose during the healing process.
When I spoke to my parents about the injury their initial reaction was, well parent like. They wanted me to give up the sport, but then again, that is what they have said in the past as well on every injury that I’ve sustained. I am only using this as an example of the types of thoughts I can’t let take over my mind. This is letting the injury use me. I have all the confidence that I will be back from this injury, stronger, as a better player and most importantly a better person.
I have to tip my hat in admiration to one of my friends who is currently battling an injury, more severe than mine. He has been sidelined with a broken leg and the spirit he has shown is something that I can only aspire to. In many ways his attitude has been inspirational and convinced me that I will be able to bounce back by keeping a positive focus on things while i let the hip heal to a standard where I can start skating again.
What most people don’t realize that injuries are actually hidden opportunities. To recover from an injury, you require a certain element of problem solving skills and mental toughness. It is also an opportunity to rest yourself and get back to the game fresh compared to your team mates. It is also an opportunity for you to carry out mental rehearsals on your mind to visualise things that you do well and visualise the plays.
As you might have guessed when you started to read this, I am currently injured. I have a tear in one of my muscles in my hip and as a consequential result of that, I have managed to bugger up the ligaments that join the hip to the leg. Needless to say it is a tad bit painful. But for some reason, where in the past I have been disheartened by injuries and gotten back way too soon, I have managed to maintain a positive attitude towards this one. I have decided that I will use this injury, rather than let it use me. This way I believe that I will be a better player and a better person. Specially as the injury happened before our season started, so I am confident that I wont be losing any games.
What I have established is that by resting the injury will get better, though things like sitting hurts and sudden movements, such as muscle jerks hurt during sleep, the injury has gotten better already. It is not good enough to skate on just yet, but it will heal soon and in good time so that I can rehab myself and regain some of the strength that I am bound to lose during the healing process.
When I spoke to my parents about the injury their initial reaction was, well parent like. They wanted me to give up the sport, but then again, that is what they have said in the past as well on every injury that I’ve sustained. I am only using this as an example of the types of thoughts I can’t let take over my mind. This is letting the injury use me. I have all the confidence that I will be back from this injury, stronger, as a better player and most importantly a better person.
I have to tip my hat in admiration to one of my friends who is currently battling an injury, more severe than mine. He has been sidelined with a broken leg and the spirit he has shown is something that I can only aspire to. In many ways his attitude has been inspirational and convinced me that I will be able to bounce back by keeping a positive focus on things while i let the hip heal to a standard where I can start skating again.
Monday, 6 April 2009
One final look back/ Forwards Now...
With the season around the corner, I felt that it was apt to cast one last look back into the past to leave it truly behind. From this point forward, those things that have happened are put to rest and will be used as lessons for better playing, for better living. Though I will not write about the seasons gone, I will be using them as a resource to better myself as a player.
When I have been reflecting on the past two seasons I realise that I have had a number of factors that have made me a better player and a number of factors that inadvertently affected my performance. Rewind back to 2006. From the outset I had set a goal to win the national championships with the Spitfires, a dream that came to fruition from the end of that season in June I headed straight into the Summer Cup 2006. Before the Spitfires national title, I had played over 30 games in the regular season and I was looking at another 14 with the Cougars.
With the national title behind me I had set my sights onto the Cougars’ season, which proved to be successful in terms of team success and personal success. Bar the injury that I sustained, it was a great season on all fronts that just lacked the crowning moment of skating away with a medal. This was late August when I finished the season. From there I went into try outs with an ED1 team and made it to the roster, whilst already starting to train with the Spitfires. Though my ED1 plans didn’t pan out because of ITC issues, I was happy that I had proven to myself that I was good enough to play at that level.
So onto the Spitfires season 2007-2008 another 12 games from August to June that clashed severely with my Summer Cup 2007-2008. So managing 14 games of ice with the Inline took its toll. Not to mention getting married in the Summer of 2008, so there was a lot going on. My knee injury came back twice as bad due to my ignorance of not wanting to rest it. I played the whole summer period with every stride feeling like I had something stabbing at my knee. I was playing each game under heavy pain killers to try and make the skating as comfortable as possible. I was unable to do any leg exercises and I put on ridiculous amounts of weight because I wasn’t able to train at the same level of intensity as the year before.
So the summer finally came to an end and I was looking forward to a rest. I was mentally quite exhausted from two years of hockey straight. I know that the game is fun and I love the sport (something I will explore at another post), but there is a time when enough is enough and you need to take a breather.
I went into the new season in a new team pretty much at the end of August and where I enjoyed the chemistry with the team and the coaching, I was physically tired and nowhere nearly motivated enough to be fully prepared for the season and the intensity that was required to compete in the rinks. Though I had to give up the game because of money issues, I still think that in some cruel way it was a blessing in disguise. Where I still want to get back into the team, I am in a position where I can’t commit to it financially. Though it has allowed me to focus my energies and set some goals elsewhere. So with this extra time, what have I done with it to make myself better?
I have rested. Since giving up I have dedicated Wednesdays as a day of rest to allow my body to recover from the hammering I put myself through in training and the gym.
What I am getting at is that rest is important. No matter how much you love the sport you need time away from it. Hockey is one of the most demanding sports known to man and if you keep going at it non stop for three years, your body will be tired and your focus isn’t as sharp as it used to be when you were at your peak. Therefore, it is important to find the balance of work and rest in the game to make sure that you are able to recover and respond at the next game. A tired mind and/or a tired body is a dangerous combination and can lead to severe injuries or losing love for the game.
But like said, this is the last look into the past and dwelling on bygones. This is the final wave for goodbye. The direction is onwards and upwards. There’s only a quote that I can use to finish this post and this time I’m citing a Finnish band called The Lighthouse Project: “Forwards Now...”
When I have been reflecting on the past two seasons I realise that I have had a number of factors that have made me a better player and a number of factors that inadvertently affected my performance. Rewind back to 2006. From the outset I had set a goal to win the national championships with the Spitfires, a dream that came to fruition from the end of that season in June I headed straight into the Summer Cup 2006. Before the Spitfires national title, I had played over 30 games in the regular season and I was looking at another 14 with the Cougars.
With the national title behind me I had set my sights onto the Cougars’ season, which proved to be successful in terms of team success and personal success. Bar the injury that I sustained, it was a great season on all fronts that just lacked the crowning moment of skating away with a medal. This was late August when I finished the season. From there I went into try outs with an ED1 team and made it to the roster, whilst already starting to train with the Spitfires. Though my ED1 plans didn’t pan out because of ITC issues, I was happy that I had proven to myself that I was good enough to play at that level.
So onto the Spitfires season 2007-2008 another 12 games from August to June that clashed severely with my Summer Cup 2007-2008. So managing 14 games of ice with the Inline took its toll. Not to mention getting married in the Summer of 2008, so there was a lot going on. My knee injury came back twice as bad due to my ignorance of not wanting to rest it. I played the whole summer period with every stride feeling like I had something stabbing at my knee. I was playing each game under heavy pain killers to try and make the skating as comfortable as possible. I was unable to do any leg exercises and I put on ridiculous amounts of weight because I wasn’t able to train at the same level of intensity as the year before.
So the summer finally came to an end and I was looking forward to a rest. I was mentally quite exhausted from two years of hockey straight. I know that the game is fun and I love the sport (something I will explore at another post), but there is a time when enough is enough and you need to take a breather.
I went into the new season in a new team pretty much at the end of August and where I enjoyed the chemistry with the team and the coaching, I was physically tired and nowhere nearly motivated enough to be fully prepared for the season and the intensity that was required to compete in the rinks. Though I had to give up the game because of money issues, I still think that in some cruel way it was a blessing in disguise. Where I still want to get back into the team, I am in a position where I can’t commit to it financially. Though it has allowed me to focus my energies and set some goals elsewhere. So with this extra time, what have I done with it to make myself better?
I have rested. Since giving up I have dedicated Wednesdays as a day of rest to allow my body to recover from the hammering I put myself through in training and the gym.
What I am getting at is that rest is important. No matter how much you love the sport you need time away from it. Hockey is one of the most demanding sports known to man and if you keep going at it non stop for three years, your body will be tired and your focus isn’t as sharp as it used to be when you were at your peak. Therefore, it is important to find the balance of work and rest in the game to make sure that you are able to recover and respond at the next game. A tired mind and/or a tired body is a dangerous combination and can lead to severe injuries or losing love for the game.
But like said, this is the last look into the past and dwelling on bygones. This is the final wave for goodbye. The direction is onwards and upwards. There’s only a quote that I can use to finish this post and this time I’m citing a Finnish band called The Lighthouse Project: “Forwards Now...”
What do you want?
Do you want to play hockey or do you want to be a hockey player?
A question that will separate the men from the boys and the pros from the ‘Joes’. Too many times when that question is asked, people aren’t able to give a straight or honest answer, or they answer the question to make sure that they give the answer they think is right for the team and not to them selves. If I sat in a changing room with my team, I could possibly point out which guys are there to play hockey and those that are hockey players. Sure, over 90% of the guys would say they were hockey players, but the statement wouldn’t be true to themselves, nor would it model their approach to hockey.
Do I want to be a hockey player or do I want to play hockey?
I can categorically say that I want to be a hockey player. I am willing to do everything that is required of a player on and off the ice. Whether it is sweating it out at the gym four times a week and then do the required on ice training. I have set myself goals that I am working to achieve and I have began using a variety of new techniques to perfect my game. I have found routine and things that make me comfortable. I can go into the corners knowing that I am strong on my feet and I will come out with the puck and still be able to hustle for it and get it on the net.
Hockey is about being confident with yourself. My mantra has been adopted from CCM (as sad as it sounds) when they first brought out their Vector range. I think it personified my identity as a hockey player really well. Now however, that mantra still being my backbone I am expanding my horizons to different elements of being out there.
If you asked what type of player I am from any of my team mates both past and present, I think adjectives like competitive, contentious, hard working, dedicated, loyal, trust worthy might come up. Those are the qualities that I model my self around.
I have recently also been reading a book and one of the exercises in the book was to discover your identity and who you aspire to be. Where it would be easy to listen to the sound of names drop, I can’t say that it would be my own identity. It would be the identity of the pros and wouldn’t truly reflect on my own commitments and how I want to be perceived on the ice. My identity, I suppose to a greater extent is expressed by my tattoo I have on my left deltoid. I have the Finnish coat of arms (or the Lion) which I suppose personifies my fighter’s spirit and the ‘Man can go through the grey stone’ attitude and Sisu I spoke of before in this blog. A lion is the king of the jungle, an elegant, fast and a smart animal that will ferociously defend its own and its territory. I feel that this personifies me really well and it is my identity and what I bring out in me every game, training and the gym.
I’ve often said that the stuff that goes on the ice is the easiest part of hockey for me. If you truly want to be successful and achieve greatness in the sport, you need to be willing to make sacrifices in your own time off the ice. Specially at this level where you are paying to play and invest a great deal of your time to the game. Those of us that take things seriously enough are willing to sacrifice time after work for runs, work outs and other activities that help us with our hockey skills will be the ones better off. Those are the guys who want to be hockey players. The ones who say that they are, but don’t quite fit into the description are not doing themselves any favours and only have a negative impact on the team by their lacklustre lip service words.
These guys want to be hockey players, but lack the willingness to take advice on board and the drive to do the extra bits that are required from each member of the team during the season. After all it is all about winning and not about taking part
A question that will separate the men from the boys and the pros from the ‘Joes’. Too many times when that question is asked, people aren’t able to give a straight or honest answer, or they answer the question to make sure that they give the answer they think is right for the team and not to them selves. If I sat in a changing room with my team, I could possibly point out which guys are there to play hockey and those that are hockey players. Sure, over 90% of the guys would say they were hockey players, but the statement wouldn’t be true to themselves, nor would it model their approach to hockey.
Do I want to be a hockey player or do I want to play hockey?
I can categorically say that I want to be a hockey player. I am willing to do everything that is required of a player on and off the ice. Whether it is sweating it out at the gym four times a week and then do the required on ice training. I have set myself goals that I am working to achieve and I have began using a variety of new techniques to perfect my game. I have found routine and things that make me comfortable. I can go into the corners knowing that I am strong on my feet and I will come out with the puck and still be able to hustle for it and get it on the net.
Hockey is about being confident with yourself. My mantra has been adopted from CCM (as sad as it sounds) when they first brought out their Vector range. I think it personified my identity as a hockey player really well. Now however, that mantra still being my backbone I am expanding my horizons to different elements of being out there.
If you asked what type of player I am from any of my team mates both past and present, I think adjectives like competitive, contentious, hard working, dedicated, loyal, trust worthy might come up. Those are the qualities that I model my self around.
I have recently also been reading a book and one of the exercises in the book was to discover your identity and who you aspire to be. Where it would be easy to listen to the sound of names drop, I can’t say that it would be my own identity. It would be the identity of the pros and wouldn’t truly reflect on my own commitments and how I want to be perceived on the ice. My identity, I suppose to a greater extent is expressed by my tattoo I have on my left deltoid. I have the Finnish coat of arms (or the Lion) which I suppose personifies my fighter’s spirit and the ‘Man can go through the grey stone’ attitude and Sisu I spoke of before in this blog. A lion is the king of the jungle, an elegant, fast and a smart animal that will ferociously defend its own and its territory. I feel that this personifies me really well and it is my identity and what I bring out in me every game, training and the gym.
I’ve often said that the stuff that goes on the ice is the easiest part of hockey for me. If you truly want to be successful and achieve greatness in the sport, you need to be willing to make sacrifices in your own time off the ice. Specially at this level where you are paying to play and invest a great deal of your time to the game. Those of us that take things seriously enough are willing to sacrifice time after work for runs, work outs and other activities that help us with our hockey skills will be the ones better off. Those are the guys who want to be hockey players. The ones who say that they are, but don’t quite fit into the description are not doing themselves any favours and only have a negative impact on the team by their lacklustre lip service words.
These guys want to be hockey players, but lack the willingness to take advice on board and the drive to do the extra bits that are required from each member of the team during the season. After all it is all about winning and not about taking part
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Goals
Throughout this blog I have been discussing my goals and aspirations as a hockey player. Where the last post ultimately dwelled on the some times negative feelings and insecurities that you face in the game, it is important to reflect on your goals that you have set for the season. Thing I realised from yesterday’s post was that it is a tool that I can use. Winners and successful hockey players use everything around them for motivation and success. At the end of the day, I played a strong game with good stride and had a good time playing my position and my role.
I thought that by revisiting and reiterating my goals, I will keep them fresh in my mind, rather than as a lip service thought at the back of my mind. This way my goals will become clear to me and help me find extra motivation to bust my ass for greater success.
When I started this blog, I was very much focussed on trying to get back into shape from a knee injury that had ruined my season before. That goal has now been achieved and I have been able to remain (relatively) healthy and train without any pain in my knees what so ever, so that is one goal that I can tick off from my list straight off the back.
As a team goal, I have set my sights for the playoffs and I hope that everyone else in the team would be working to that same goal. There is a lot of work to be done, but looking at the width and breadth of our roster, we have all the tools to go far. We have had some great players come into making the roster even stronger. I am confident that we will be able to turn tight game to our advantage and that our season will carry on until August.
Individual level I have set the bar high. You can only reach great heights if the sky is your only limit. My personal best has been 13 goals and 5 assists, which equals 18 points during the season. Now that points total has to rise up by an additional 13 points.
Those are just three of my goals. Winning is the most important thing and winning those all important games away is even more important. I know I am faster than most of the defensemen I play against and I can out skate them with ease. But how do you do it? By confidence, by having belief in yourself that you can do it and knowing that you are a great hockey player. That is half the battle. I am sure that my confidence will grow with the new line I am playing on and with the opportunity to move the puck.
These goals are not lip service goals or something I say half heartedly. These are goals that I think about every waking moment of the day. Objectives that are achievable and manageable, that make life worth living for and all those long nights on the rink. 90% of the hard work is done off the ice and I find that often the things that go on the ice is the most easiest part of reaching those goals, but it is still hard work.
To finish I can only describe my mentality by Sisu or by quoting the great Don Cherry: “Remember, it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog.”
I thought that by revisiting and reiterating my goals, I will keep them fresh in my mind, rather than as a lip service thought at the back of my mind. This way my goals will become clear to me and help me find extra motivation to bust my ass for greater success.
When I started this blog, I was very much focussed on trying to get back into shape from a knee injury that had ruined my season before. That goal has now been achieved and I have been able to remain (relatively) healthy and train without any pain in my knees what so ever, so that is one goal that I can tick off from my list straight off the back.
As a team goal, I have set my sights for the playoffs and I hope that everyone else in the team would be working to that same goal. There is a lot of work to be done, but looking at the width and breadth of our roster, we have all the tools to go far. We have had some great players come into making the roster even stronger. I am confident that we will be able to turn tight game to our advantage and that our season will carry on until August.
Individual level I have set the bar high. You can only reach great heights if the sky is your only limit. My personal best has been 13 goals and 5 assists, which equals 18 points during the season. Now that points total has to rise up by an additional 13 points.
Those are just three of my goals. Winning is the most important thing and winning those all important games away is even more important. I know I am faster than most of the defensemen I play against and I can out skate them with ease. But how do you do it? By confidence, by having belief in yourself that you can do it and knowing that you are a great hockey player. That is half the battle. I am sure that my confidence will grow with the new line I am playing on and with the opportunity to move the puck.
These goals are not lip service goals or something I say half heartedly. These are goals that I think about every waking moment of the day. Objectives that are achievable and manageable, that make life worth living for and all those long nights on the rink. 90% of the hard work is done off the ice and I find that often the things that go on the ice is the most easiest part of reaching those goals, but it is still hard work.
To finish I can only describe my mentality by Sisu or by quoting the great Don Cherry: “Remember, it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog.”
Monday, 30 March 2009
Overcoming
One thing I have found of great use in my preparation for the season has been Saul L. Miller’s book Hockey Tough. Basically the book goes through sports psychology procedures you can run through in your head. Some of the things he has said in the book have become a part of my inner mantra that now resonates to my life off the rink. I suppose the greatest lesson I have learnt from the book is that a players’ mind is their greatest weapon and their worst enemy.
If harnessed and managed right at all times, players can remain more focussed and are able to energise themselves through repeating simple breathing exercises and visualisation exercises. What I have found of great use is visualising. I now dedicate five minutes of the time before we hit the ice to visualising the plays and other teams and playing with my line. Making good solid passes and taking shots on net.
However, one thing I learnt of my mind over the weekend was that it can be my worst enemy and a greater opponent than any other team ever could be. In a recent game and the heat of the action one of the players took a slap shot, which hit my blade and ricocheted straight into my mouth. I remember the puck hitting me and falling to the ice holding my mouth and trying to feverishly feel whether my teeth were still intact or whether my gumshield was the only thing holding them in. After I realised that there wasn’t any blood dripping from my mouth I skated off to the bench to re-group.
I suppose the expression on my face was comparable to the 1000 yard stare often talked about with war veterans. I was staring blankly into space with my feet and hands shaking from all the adrenaline that had been released into my body. After I had calmed down and gotten back into the game following the old Finnish proverb: Akkia uudestaan ennenkun tulee kammo (transl: Quick, get back into it before you get scared).
What I quickly realised though was that I was not focussed as I was at the start. I was hesitant to go and battle for the puck and I was generally shying away from sticks that were higher off the ice than my knee and I wasn’t driving the net with the same kind of force.
I was utterly lost and I knew it. I had started to squeeze the stick, I was tense and none of the breathing techniques seemed to work on me. I played at maybe 25% of my full efficiency in a tight game. If it wasn’t for a short bench I would’ve asked to be benched, and I’m sure the coach would’ve done the same.
However when we went into the 3rd period a tem mate gave me a good pep talk which really helped. I was playing a lot better in the third despite still being scared. Fear is something that I cannot carry with me to the rink. Despite my parents’ and wife’s concerns for my safety I must accept that these bumps and bruises are part of the game and part of life as a hockey player.
A piece of preparation that I need to work on beside my physical strength is the strength of my mind, so that small bruises such as these don’t hurt me. I’m OK being hit on the boards, that does not phase me, but a minor incident like a puck in the face seems to cripple me. Though I know it was a freak accident and something that I would normally block with my legs, it won’t slow me down. If it had slowed me down, I would’ve cried off from the game.
Besides, isn’t Purple the ‘IN’ colour of the season?
If harnessed and managed right at all times, players can remain more focussed and are able to energise themselves through repeating simple breathing exercises and visualisation exercises. What I have found of great use is visualising. I now dedicate five minutes of the time before we hit the ice to visualising the plays and other teams and playing with my line. Making good solid passes and taking shots on net.
However, one thing I learnt of my mind over the weekend was that it can be my worst enemy and a greater opponent than any other team ever could be. In a recent game and the heat of the action one of the players took a slap shot, which hit my blade and ricocheted straight into my mouth. I remember the puck hitting me and falling to the ice holding my mouth and trying to feverishly feel whether my teeth were still intact or whether my gumshield was the only thing holding them in. After I realised that there wasn’t any blood dripping from my mouth I skated off to the bench to re-group.
I suppose the expression on my face was comparable to the 1000 yard stare often talked about with war veterans. I was staring blankly into space with my feet and hands shaking from all the adrenaline that had been released into my body. After I had calmed down and gotten back into the game following the old Finnish proverb: Akkia uudestaan ennenkun tulee kammo (transl: Quick, get back into it before you get scared).
What I quickly realised though was that I was not focussed as I was at the start. I was hesitant to go and battle for the puck and I was generally shying away from sticks that were higher off the ice than my knee and I wasn’t driving the net with the same kind of force.
I was utterly lost and I knew it. I had started to squeeze the stick, I was tense and none of the breathing techniques seemed to work on me. I played at maybe 25% of my full efficiency in a tight game. If it wasn’t for a short bench I would’ve asked to be benched, and I’m sure the coach would’ve done the same.
However when we went into the 3rd period a tem mate gave me a good pep talk which really helped. I was playing a lot better in the third despite still being scared. Fear is something that I cannot carry with me to the rink. Despite my parents’ and wife’s concerns for my safety I must accept that these bumps and bruises are part of the game and part of life as a hockey player.
A piece of preparation that I need to work on beside my physical strength is the strength of my mind, so that small bruises such as these don’t hurt me. I’m OK being hit on the boards, that does not phase me, but a minor incident like a puck in the face seems to cripple me. Though I know it was a freak accident and something that I would normally block with my legs, it won’t slow me down. If it had slowed me down, I would’ve cried off from the game.
Besides, isn’t Purple the ‘IN’ colour of the season?
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