player tips

I recently received a phone message from someone who is always upbeat, energetic and positive. On this particular day he left me a voicemail updating me on everything that needed attention, and then as he always does, finished the message with “…and hey, make it a great day”.  His emails are also signed the same each and every time with “make it a great day”.

Life is busy and this small shot of inspiration can easily be ignored as just another cliche, or overlooked and lost in the clutter of daily communication. Or, it can be embraced. In this case, somewhere along the line, this guy decided that he was in fact not just going to leave this saying as a tagline on his emails or a sign off on his voice mails as a way for people to remember him, but to actually live each and everyday, truly trying to make it a great day!

Of course some days this can be an easy task because everything goes well, and things just sort of fall into place. Other days however, it takes focus, hard work and plenty of energy to turn a bad, good or ordinary day into a great day.

What I’ve seen from people like this guy is that when you start to live each day by the attitude you bring, it can become contagious among friends, coworkers and for the purpose of those playing the great sport of hockey, coaches and teammates!

It’s been said plenty of times that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it. So as you start this hockey season, remember that there will be plenty of things that you can’t control, including the team your are on, the teammates that you have, the coach or your linemates.  What you can control however, is your attitude towards it all. Attitude determines altitude. The start of the season is a fresh beginning, and another opportunity to have an awesome time playing the greatest sport on Earth.

Enjoy the car rides to the rink with teammates and family. Bring a smile and work hard at practices and dryland sessions. Treat each and every game like it’s an opportunity to showcase everything that you have trained so hard for during the off-season and at summer at hockey school.

Start the season with a great attitude and your chances of success will increase dramatically, both individually and as a team!

Make it a great day!

I have a friend in Minnesota, the Great State of Hockey, who loves spending time in the summer on the open water as much as he does in the winter playing hockey on the frozen ponds. Stories of catching walleyes during the months of May and June are told with as much enthusiasm as scoring goals in January and February. When the calendar turns to mid-July and August however  – the dog days of summer – fishing slows down, but that is when he gets the most excited!

As the water temperature heats up in the late summer, the fish become a bit lethargic and can be difficult to find. For those who are able to find fish, that is when the real game begins, which is getting them to take the bait. As my friend tells me, for the most part, he used to buy the same bait, use a similar presentation and fish some of the same spots, regardless of the time of year. As he became a more experienced fisherman, he tried new techniques, new lures and new spots on the lake.

As he put it, most fisherman don’t really put in the time to try new things, they are sort of stuck in the same old way of doing things, and the result is very few fish finding their way into the frying pan. My friend spent many winter hours reading about tactics that he was unfamiliar with, watching YouTube videos of professionals, and studying new ways to catch fish during the ‘slow’ months. And once he invested time and energy into exploring and learning, he found a better, more productive way to fish, and now looks forward to this time of year, when the boat traffic is less, and the abundance of fish has increased.

For hockey players, this fisherman’s story is no different than the hockey season. There will be that part of the season that is the ‘grind’, when you are physically and mentally tired. You have already played a lot of games and you still have a lot to go, plus playoffs!

The question is, what are you doing now, during the off-season, to prepare for the grind, or the dog days of the season. Are you, like this fisherman, preparing yourself so that when the team needs you most, you are able to step up and bring your best effort.

Players who prepare now, trying new moves, perfecting their stride, shooting pucks on a regular basis, they are the players who will outperform the opponents during the season, just as my friend is out fishing nearly everyone on the lake. It takes dedication and commitment during the off-season to not just hit the ice this fall in great shape, but perhaps more importantly, to carry your team through the tough stretches of the season.

As my friend from the State of Hockey put it, ‘It’s amazing how many people just quit fishing this time of year, because it’s so hot, or because the fish just aren’t biting. The fish are always biting, you just have to find the right presentation.’

Work hard this summer, train with a purpose and you will be ready for the mid-season grind when, like many fishermen, many hockey players go through a slump. Train hard and be ready to take advantage of the opportunity, because when everyone else slows down, the best players speed up.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

Click here for a full list of our remaining summer hockey schools.