Appreciating the Game

Boys,

John Scott wrote this article in the Players tribune when he retired today. I really appreciated his outlook and perspective on life. He was so grateful to play in the NHL and in the following paragraph, he does a great job of highlighting the importance of not taking the game too seriously.

"I’ll never forget this one night when I was with San Jose, and we had just lost a game. We sucked. It was one of those off nights. So we were all sitting on the plane waiting to the take off for the next city, and everyone was moping. It was silent. Bad vibes.

Then Jumbo Joe Thornton walks onto the plane, and halfway down the aisle, he stops dead in his tracks. He’s looking around at everyone. Then he just shakes his head. I thought he was going to tear into us.

But he just goes, “What the f***, boys? What’s everyone so sad about? You never lost a game before? We’re in the NHL. Get over it. We’ll win the next one, eh? Let’s realize where we’re at here. Come on.”

Everybody just started laughing. You can’t say it in front of the media, especially when you lose, but it’s so true. When that awesome meal cart comes rolling down the aisle, and the boys all are laughing about something stupid that happened that day, everybody on that plane, deep down inside, is thinking the same thing: This is nuts. I can’t believe I get to do this for a living."

We want to improve our skills, grow as a team, and enjoy playing this game. We are not going to win every game. What's important is that we are competing, having fun, and supporting each other. I talked about checking your ego at the door when you walk into the rink. It is just so important. Hockey is not tennis where you can rely on only yourself; you have to make hockey work as a unit. Attitude reflects leadership.

"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack."