For a team to be successful, the needs of the many must outweigh the few.
It is no secret that being part of a team requires sacrifices. To truly be a part of something bigger, you must be able to surrender your individuality and accept, even trust, that the greater good for your teammates and for yourself resides in what you accomplish together.
Taking pride in being a part of the team will make it a lot easier to make the choices that are needed for you to succeed. Identify with them and share the success that you meet together. Stay strong and accept your share in the losses that you go through together. Be determined and face all the challenges that are sent your way together. Be selfless and support your brothers even when you think your situation is harder.
The most positive idea behind a team is that you are never alone. In victory or defeat, when everyone cheers or no one believes, when your the #1 Facebook friend or when your other friends don't answer, your team is there for you. Be there for them.
On the ice when you want to show that you can bring it home, sometimes a pass can be as important as a bone-crushing hit. Maybe sometime fighting to get control is worth more than showing that you are the toughest guy on the ice. Maybe sometimes it's ok to take a slash or get pushed around in the crease instead of showing that you are the alpha. Because at the end of the season, no one hit will have make or break this team; no one player from the other team being pushed around will save our season; not a single pissing contest won or lost will make the difference. A pass, a goal, a power play, a won 1v1 or a wonderful save... That is what will change the outcome. Getting back from a hit on a back check, blocking a bullet from the point, taking a hit to create an odd-man rush... Those are the plays that will go beyond your own good and give your team the edge.
Off the ice, it's about choices. Are the texts you send between 10PM and 1AM more important than winning the game tomorrow? Is this burger that much better than this chicken wrap that you would sacrifice tomorrow's third period of play? Is playing your video game from the time you wake up until the time you reach the rink more important than your first period? Balance is key. It's ok to play video games, eat burgers and have a late night. But when is it ok to do it? Is the night before a game ideal for that? Could it not wait until tomorrow, or even next week?
We all know that hockey players tend to be serious during the season and let loose in the off-season. Is it a bad thing to wait until summer to indulge? Don't you think it's worth it, to be the best, to be ready to go to bed early and be reasonable during the hockey season?
School, whether parents will admit it or not, is demanding. You are asked to focus and respect very strict rules for 7-8 hours in a day. You are asked not to move and to spend all of your attention on things that, while you understand the importance of them, find absolutely no thrill into. Hell! You're an athlete! You need to move, run, skate, jump, push, yell, talk, throw, catch and crawl! You need to workout, play, train, challenge, overcome, be the best, overdo and overreach in everything you do! And that's an amazing way to live by! But you have to realize that because this is who you are, school is also a challenge and it takes a lot out of you. You need to understand that school will keep demanding from you all year long and that the only way you can maintain the rest of your life at the best possible level that you can reach, it's not to cheat yourself in school, but to give yourself a chance the night before. Don't do it because you have to for school, do it because you want to for your team.
To finish this article, let's watch together a clip that most of you might have already seen:
Gongshow Hockey - The Junior Lifestyle
Listen to their message, listen to what is asked of them. Understand that to reach the next level, you need to consistently make the choice to be the best. None of this requires you to give up having fun or enjoying anything you like. It demands of you that you choose when to do so, how to do so and to prioritize what will dictate those parameters. If what you want is to be the best for your team, you can control that, you can make that decision. And the beautiful thing about all of this is that you will collect a lot more out of it than what you have given up.
Team first, guys! Always.