Play Like a Champion!

If you ask 100 players, coaches and parents what it means to play like a Champion, you may very well get 100 different answers.  I thought long and hard what it meant to me and furthermore, what I expect my players to believe in when it comes to playing like a champion.  Is it 100% about winning?  Not even close.   Is it working hard every single shift and respecting the game, as well as your opponent throughout?  Sure, why not.  Is it skating hard to the net and spraying the goaltender?  Nope!  It is what you make it out to be as a part of your team.  Give your all, every second that you have, and you will know the feeling of playing like a champion.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of listening to many great coaches and former NHL players/scouts talk about the game of hockey at my Level IV USA Hockey Coaching Clinic in New Jersey.  All of the speakers were great.  Shoot, the late, great former head of NHL Scouting E.J. McGuire was there.  Always a pleasure listening to a guy like that.  One of the speakers I thought was above them all was one I really enjoyed listening to and wanted to hear more from.  He was professional, he was courteous, he was knowledgeable, creative and, I think one of the biggest things to me, was rather young and where I wanted (WANT) to be as a Coach.  He's the head coach of the Division I College Hockey Program at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.  Any guesses?  That coach - Derek Schooley.  I connected with him on twitter and simply asked him, what's it mean to you to play like a champion?  His answer...priceless!

Here he is simply stating that no individual is greater, or bigger than that of the team.  It's a fairly simple thing to understand but for some reason, there are a lot of young and quite talented players that just don't get it.  Getting it, understanding it, living it - that's half the battle.  I often use the term PRIDE when it comes to coaching my team.  To me, using PRIDE is playing like a champion.  PRIDE, for us, stands for PLAY with RESPECT, INTEGRITY, DISCIPLINE and ENERGY.  If you bring PRIDE to every single shift to help accomplish the mission of the team, then you will be playing like a champion.  When I am on the bench and I see a player make a mistake, I will often ask them to tell me what he just did out there.  Every once in a while I will get an answer that is what I have preached about over, and over, and over again NOT to do.  (Such as turning the puck over in a grey area when you feel backside pressure - just DUMP IT)  I leave it at that because he knows.  Pay attention to detail, play with PRIDE, work hard and get some!

Some people may define playing like a Champion as one who recently won a championship or is on a winning team.  In my honest opinion, that's not what we're looking for here.  It's much, MUCH deeper than that.  You can be on a losing team or simply losing a game and STILL play like a Champion!  Respect.  Honor.  Integrity.  Discipline.  Courage.  Learn it.  Love it.  Become it.  Every true warrior has the heart of a champion.  When Herb Brooks was looking for the players to make up his 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team (Miracle On Ice), he wasn't looking for the best players out there...he was looking for the right ones.  The ones that knew how to play the game, respect the game, and would outwork anybody out there.  He wanted guys who would get the job done - period.  That's what any Coach would love to have.  I would rather have a team filled with guys who give you everything on every single shift and will play as member of a team.  As opposed to a team filled with talented "individuals".  So, do you play like a champion?  Be honest with yourself.  Do you?  Do you come off the ice and say to yourself, "I played that shift like a champion?"  Do you take a selfish penalty and ask yourself, "was that the character of a champion?"  Do you slam your stick against the glass (or the bench) because, in your opinion, you didn't play a perfect shift?  Do you ask yourself these questions?  If not - you should.

Every time you step out on to the ice, think about it this way.  It's your own personal commercial.  It's one shot, one 45 to 60 second opportunity to leave an impression on someone.  What do you do with it?  How do you want to be remembered?  Do you want to be remembered as a hard worker?  A lazy skater?  A selfish individual?  A team player?  Someone who gives everything they have?  Or simply someone who just doesn't look like they want to be there?  Every time you step out onto the ice, it's your time.  It's your chance to leave an impression.  So, when you get off the ice after each shift, ask yourself a question.  Did I play like a champion would?  Well - did you?

Play like a champion - every shift.  Every opportunity.  Give it everything you have.  When you do, the sky is no longer the limit.  You can reach heights greater than you thought imaginable.

In sports, tradition means more than simply having a sign, a band or whatever it may be.  This sign isn't just  a gold sign with blue text stating "Play Like A Champion Today".  It's more than that.  It's mean so much more to many University of Notre Dame Football players who have donned the ND.  Before every game, the Irish begin their march to the field touching each sign in the hallway for good luck.  This one, it's a simple reminder that you're about to be a part of something that's bigger than you!  It's Notre Dame Football!  It's the history, it's the fans, it's the game.  No one man comes to mind when I think of Notre Dame Football.  It's not about one man. It's about the LEGEND that is the Irish!