I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that's the way I'll be as a coach.- Wayne Gretzky

One of the Top Hockey Players of All Time

The National Hockey League Playoffs start soon, and the Boston Bruins have been on an historic pace this year, rivaling the best record in the history of the league.

During the season, I have been thinking back to my high school years when I was a hockey player.

At one time, I was the worst player on a team that lost all its games: a full season without a victory. The story below is about what I did because I loved hockey and hated losing, and it had a surprise ending for me several years later. To some extent, the experience taught me a lesson that I still remember, even if skating is a distant memory.

When I was 15 years old, I saved $200 from working at the neighborhood variety store, when the minimum wage was, are you ready, $1.00 an hour. Not a typo.

I took that hefty sum and sent it away so that I could attend the “Doug Mohns All-Star Hockey School”, which took place every summer in a local rink. Doug played for the Boston Bruins and was a real star.

I knew that the majority of campers were older kids, including many college guys, but I fancied myself as a pretty good skater, even if I was small, and even if I was one of the youngest, and even if I was one of the few kids on the ice wearing eyeglasses.

Anyway, when the big day arrived, I loaded up my gear, hopped in the car and one of my parents drove me to the rink and I was on my way to one of my first, and most expensive self-improvement adventures.

I began the first of five nightly sessions at the school by getting knocked flat on my ass during the first hour of the session by someone older, larger, and probably not wearing glasses. In those days, there were no concussions, just tough/stupid kids, and uninformed adults. After that hit, everyone took it a little easier on me, probably not wanting to hurt little ole me.

As the week went on, I got to play a little bit more every night, and I got a little more confidence. On the last night they divided us into two teams and put us in All-Star Hockey School game jerseys. For some reason, a local television station showed up to film some footage of the evening.

I remember feeling excited, to go with the feeling that I had wasted my $200 and feeling like I really hadn’t gotten a lot out of the experience.

As I laced up my skates before that final scrimmage, I remember thinking that since I had nothing to lose, I was just going to go out and wing it-have fun.

That night, I was skating like the wind (really-the wind!). I was all over the ice with long flowing strides, blowing past skaters bigger and stronger than me.

Time after time I skated around the net with the puck and started up ice. No one could catch me, so no one could hit me.

At the end of the game, on camera, I was presented with a trophy as the Most Improved Skater in front of my proud family. When I pulled that trophy out of a closet I was decluttering, it reminded me of a couple of things.

At the time I got the trophy, I thought I couldn’t skate any better than when I started at the hockey school, but I was later proven wrong.

One of the other lessons I learned was that sometimes you get rewarded when people underestimate you if YOU don’t underestimate you.

Another lesson I learned was that the impression people have of you can be based on one incident or one event or one experience. That’s a good reason to NOT have a bad day and to do your best every day.

The third lesson I learned was that I learned more than I thought I did. The year before the Doug Mohn’s All Star Hockey School, I was a skater on the Junior Varsity team at Braintree High school, who never got into a game in a program where the Varsity had a record of 0-18.

That is zero wins and eighteen losses, a perfect season. Think about that: zero wins and I didn’t get into a single game.

I guess I really was the worst player on the worst team in the league. Two years after the camp, however, the Varsity team where I was a regular had a better record than 0-18, a reader or two might remember the exact tally, I think we were 8-10.

I was also selected to be on the Bay State League All-Star team along with several players from other local teams that went on to play in the National Hockey League, although I did not.

I was still one of the smallest guys on the ice, and I still wore glasses, but I guess I had some evidence that I was the most improved skater: I had a 2-year-old trophy, a couple of newspaper clippings, and a partial athletic hockey scholarship offer to Salem State University to prove it. (Ok, it was a division 3 college, and I didn’t accept it, but it still counts).

So, as you look back on your personal learning experiences this year, and judge whether it was worth it or not, remember that sometimes you just don’t know yet.

• Sometimes you are learning things and you don’t know what you’ve learned.
• Sometimes you are getting better and don’t realize it.
• Sometimes you are developing skills that don’t seem better to you and won’t until you are tested and come through with flying colors.

So, lace up your skates and fly like the wind because there are challenges out there bigger and stronger than you, and I suggest that you set a goal that at this time next year, there’s a ‘Most Improved Something’ Trophy waiting for you to put YOUR name on it.