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Bless all the kids that will lace 'em up and hit the rink in their last IHF games!  

No doubt you have sentiments about the game and how it has applied to you and your son or daughter over the years and as they now prepare to move on and upward to new plateaus in their life. Hence, included below is a starting collection of short stories by hockey moms and dads - those parents who have helped support their kids and our sport. 

We are, after all, a community which this game brings us all closer. 

If you have a share, please send it along and we'll try to add it as we go.


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From: Dale Quayle 
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 

You may have seen the below before, but I had this up on Peter's team web site last year. It was a letter from a Dad to his son. Keep it in your archives, I'm sure there will be a time when it will come in handy.

I also had a dad say a curious thing to me this weekend. He said, "For what I'm paying for hockey this year I could afford a damn nice vacation home!" I replied; "Yea.....but you can't watch a vacation home play Hockey!" He looked at me like I had two heads :)

Dale

READ:

These next few weeks may be the last times I see my boy lace 'em up with an organized team. Fourteen years ago we started, not really knowing anything about this marvelous game. He skated out onto the ice as wobbly as can be. Tonight he glides across the ice cutting his edges into the glimmering sheet of white and throwing snow up to the top of the glass with a hockey stop we could only dream about way back when.He's worn different jerseys, traveled all over the state and country, in rinks at 6am and 12 midnight. Hotels, motels, sleeping in the van and now the bus – he's been a real road warrior. He's had great coaches and some not so great coaches. Some years have been great some not. But all in all, he's met so many other young men and women that have the same passion and they give their all at game time. 

Like you, we've spent thousands of dollars on this habit forming game. Sometimes we fell into the marketing and bought the white Gretzky skates, the Nike aluminum sticks, the mini stick games, etc., but we did it for him. 

He's played forward and defense and even played goalie at a tournament and let in 20 goals, but still loved it. Always smiling when he came off the ice, he put reality into our over competitiveness as parents. He simply loved the game. 

This week though, it might be different. It may finally hit him that from here on, it might be an occasional lunch skate, Friday night drop in, or maybe adult leagues. How will he deal with it, win or lose after that final game? How will I deal with it? 

I only hope we've raised him so that his perspective will be positive. He knows that he's not our only son. Yes, he has a brother that skates too, but over the years he's had hundred of "brothers" – his team mates. Some have been "best buds", others have faded into history. But no matter what happens, when and where he ever meets up with these kids again, they have a bond that no one can ever take away. Without a doubt, a hockey team relationships is unique – especially the locker room antics. 

Over the next few years, tragedies will occur. Families will split up, some of the parents or even team mates will die and life may longer be as simple as pulling on the old smelly gear. How will my son deal with this? I don't know, but I do know that through the help of hundreds of other parents, he's learned so much more about life than I did as a child. 

After the last buzzer, God it will be hard. But hugs, tears of disappointment or success will still support the love I have for him and his accomplishments. 

Maybe he will continue on. Maybe it's Juniors, maybe college club hockey, and yes, maybe beer leagues. I may not be able to see him, but I'll know that if he's on the ice, he's in his element and the world is fine. 

Son, thanks for the joy you've given me over the years, you've turned out to be an outstanding young man and I'm sure your future is bright. The only thing I ask of you anymore about this game is: When the time is right, please give back for honor and respect to those that did the same for you!

Bless all the kids that will lace 'em up this week and hit the ice in their last games.


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Hockey Grows Up
02-2007 

I think back to those precious memories of a little orange rollerball, or a flat, five-bearing street puck, a plastic stick bearing the name of Wayne Gretzky, a pair of tiny little micro-blades and the roaring from children playing street hockey in the cul-de-sac. I recall the glow that came with the awarding of that first pair of CCM Tack skates with only three wheels to fit those tiny feet, and that ominous look of shoulder pads and helmet on a small child barely tall enough to sit on a bench under their own power. And who could put a price on their first experience to see their child actually skating on a hockey rink instead of the neighborhood’s asphalt and driveways? Not me! 

Fast-forward to today. Perhaps as with you, my son is now taller than me. He wants to drive a car as hard as a slap shot from the blue line. His skates now have four wheels and bearings so fast I get scared just thinking about it. He has a collection of jerseys from team-after-team, and hockey sticks; some broken & repaired, some new, and a lost count of those broken in battle that I know have paid more than a few wages for other folks. 

No shoulder pads these days; that would be too “wussy.”. An occasional penalty here and there seems to balance with the points from a goal, an assist or a plus-minus score. And if the referees and his mother didn’t object, his mouth guard would soon be gone despite the orthodontics. 

Yeah he’s rough and he’s tough; or so he would project. What the heck. He’s a hockey player! It’s what he loves and what he chooses to do. He’s not a football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer or lacrosse player. Although he’s played and been competitive, he doesn’t fit the atypical profile – thanks be to God! (or to whomever you pray, or not).

While some may skate on many teams; ice hockey teams or roller hockey travel teams, or just skating on the neighborhood asphalt, my son proudly skates as hard as he can each and every week; week-in and week-out, for his high school team – his one-and-only team. For him, it’s a matter of personal pride. And I could not be more proud!

But still, after all of the years of gear and countless hockey experiences, we have that first pair of CCM Tack skates with only three wheels stored to remind us of when we were all young.

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