Buckle up folks – we have lots to talk about this week, none of which relates to COVID-19 (thank f^&k!)
Big A’s Advice
TAKING RISKS – FACING HUMILITY
“If you want something you’ve never had… you must be willing to something you’ve never done.” – Thomas Jefferson (Third United States president, from 1801-1809). Throughout your vast hockey journey, one of the only things that is guaranteed is you are found to make mistakes and be subjected to failure. You might even manage to make a complete fool of yourself amongst a crowd, your peers, or even the people in which you are trying to impress upon (scouts).
We tend to overthink a lot of scenarios, which leads us to a much greater likelihood of and usually certain “failure”. If your coach decides to; place you back on defence, have you take a face-off, sit you during a special teams scenario (power play or penalty kill), shuffle the lines, etc. do not question their judgement or your own ability to adapt to whatever situation – just go for it. Simply do your best and never be afraid to ask questions on how you can improve upon your following shift.
This brings us directly into…
GROWTH – ACCOUNTABILITY
One should not seek about a dictionary when they are looking to define the term “SUCCESS”. Whereas success can be measured on so many different levels and platforms. What one might dub as a success, another person may perceive as an insignificance. “Beauty truly lies within the eyes of the beholder” here.
On the contrary, one will drastically limit their chances of becoming successful if there is no open mind to the prospect of growth and change. This could be as simple as being able to reflect upon a past mistake or adjusting to a new coach’s or team’s system (playing style).
It is easy to point your finger at other people or circumstances in order to provide reasoning for YOUR shortcomings. Mainly because we do not want to bear the burden of guilt or humility. Instead, train yourself to always take responsibility by directly owning your weaknesses in order to A) improve upon similar scenarios you face in the near future and B) to guide and help others who lack thereof the knowledge in which you currently possess. Setting constant positive examples for your team mates is imperative.
GOAL SETTING – DISCIPLINE
Our brains are one of the most fascinating and misunderstood topics in all of science today. Every single course of action you take in your lifetime is either made out of your desire for pleasure or your desire to avoid pain. Think about it. Experience shapes our minds and how we tend to perceive things. Meaning, a lot of the times we are more inclined to take the path of least resistance. In a world where anything that’s difficult or challenging can bring us self-doubt, cause discomfort or even promote suffering.
As AP mentioned on his most recent podcast (click here to download), we may not feel so inclined to leave the comfort of our warm and cozy beds long before the crack of dawn. Only to arrive in an ice-cold environment fit for a seal. Not to mention working our bodies to the brink of exhaustion for nearly a full hour before heading on for a long day at school. Where one’s discipline truly shines, is within that split second – right before you leap out of your bed at 4AM. This, however, is nearly impossible to achieve without implementing short- AND long-term goals. Let’s not allow our expectations to run wild here… it is most important to set goals which are healthy. Being A) realistic and B) sustainable over the course of the long run.
Simply put, these goals are reminder of what we are striving towards. Achieving short-term goals are little indicators that we are slowly, but surely improving with time. The long-term goals are the much larger scale victories, and the answers you must be able to readily provide when you reach that fork in the road, that conversation you have with the voice inside your head “Why the f*** am I still even doing this??”
The vision MUST outweigh the temporary pain in order for you to develop thick skin through the humility, be open to personal growth while being disciplined enough to stick to what it is you have set out to achieve. Your definition of success will become a reality when you simply refuse to give up.
AP’s Stick Tap – The Saint John Sea Dogs
Rewind to the fall of 2020 when I selected the Saint John Sea Dogs to win the Maritimes Division in 2020-21. The dressing room of people that I made this claim to were shocked, but I was confident in the Port City. After an inconsistent start that saw the ‘Dogs go into a COVID break under .500, it was looking like I was going to eat crow.
But like Lloyd Christmas totally redeeming himself on the way to Aspen (Dumb and Dumber movie reference), Saint John appear to have turned a corner this past weekend. SJ added QMJHL vet Ryan Francis from the CB Eagles, and finally have their prized Euro Vladislav Kotkov in the lineup; the new additions wasted no time contributing in a pair of weekend games (both wins), and in my humble opinion, the Sea Dogs will bump the AB Titan out of 2nd place in the Maritimes Division moving forward! The 2 lock horns on the northeastern shores of NB on Friday night, which is must-see TV for yours truly.
Kavy’s Stick Tap – Cole Cooper
“The world is sleeping on the big fella” exclaimed Coach Kavy, who has been holed up in his war bunker for over a month. Cooper – a robust right-handed defender out of the stewardship of Paradise, NL – was off to a hot start with the Generals U15 AA team before the break and is a player that all U18 AAA programs need to get their notepads out about for the upcoming “Bantam Draft”. “Cole looks a lot more confident in his game this year, kind of coming into his own. Cole has always been a big lad, and he’s starting to use that size and strength to his advantage” said Kavy, who has mastered cryptocurrency technology over the past 6 weeks…. (probably not).
Squeak’s Stick Tap – To the People!
“I would like to thank everyone for listening to AP’s most recent podcast on the Hockey Minds channel. We broke a download record for the HMP channel with that episode, and it’s cool to be able to say your podcast had more downloads than big channels like Tim and Sid”. If you have not checked out Ryan’s Hockey Minds Podcast, you can listen to all of the backlogged episodes right here https://www.hockeymindspodcast.com . These podcasts are free, and provides plenty of useful information to hockey players via well-regarded figures in the game… which makes us wonder how AP ever got on there in the first place.
Until Next Time,
The VHG Boys