Here I was, early on a recent Saturday evening, on the Predators team bus from Los Angeles to Anaheim after a hard fought 6-3 victory over the Kings. As I gazed out the window at the seemingly endless line of cars on the busy freeway, I came to a revelation of sorts – that I must be one of the luckiest people in the world. I mean, how many people can say that they truly LOVE their jobs. Count me as one of them. I actually make my living in professional sports!
You see, growing up as a kid in Montreal Canada, hockey was everywhere one looked – from the four or five daily newspapers to the several television stations to just plain everyday conversations (both English and French) dissecting every single move of the beloved Montreal Canadiens.
I started playing the game at the age of seven – relatively late for living in such a hockey mad city. Each day I would lace up my skates and put on endless layers of clothing – a protective guard against the often sub-zero temperatures which are commonplace to Canadian winters. Not growing up in the best part of town or having many “extras” the outdoor rinks were one of the few things we could afford – free was a very good price! From sunrise to sundown I would be out there trying to emulate them all from Lafleur to Shutt to Cournoyer and Lemaire for several hours a day. It just seemed that I could never get enough of this wonderful sport – be it playing it, watching it or simply talking about it every chance I could get.
When I turned 18 years old and had finished playing my Midget years, it was quite apparent to me that I was not going to make my living being a professional hockey player. So what then was a self-professed hockey nut to do with himself? I was fortunate enough to land a job in the mailroom of the National Hockey League office in Montreal. It held no promises of future advancement, nor was it very glamorous for that matter – but to me it was a foot in the door. I often wondered, as are many of you reading this right now, where in the heck is that ever going to get me? It was a full time job but I was fortunate in that the NHL agreed to pay for my evening studies. For four long years it was a grind working my tail (and tongue!) off licking stamps all day then sitting through evening classes afterwards – all for a whopping annual salary of $10,000. To top it all off I also got into coaching on a more regular basis …. and quickly realized how much I enjoyed it.
One day back in 1990 I decided (or so I thought) that I had had enough and that maybe it was time to go back to school full time and get into the “real world”. Looking back on that day now I am glad that I accepted the promotion that was subsequently offered to me in lieu of leaving the company. I thus moved into the Hockey Operations Department (simply called Administration at the time). I am convinced that this was a turning point in my life. I continued working in several Hockey Operations positions for the next six years until June of 1996 where I accepted the position of Officiating Coordinator for the NHL and moved to their Toronto office. I remained in that position until July of 1998 when I was hired by the Nashville Predators – originally as their Team Services Manager – responsible for many team responsibilities but more predominantly all aspects of team travel. A few months into the job I also ended up taking on the duties of Video Coordinator – not much sleep but lots of satisfaction. After the first season – when it was quite apparent that Team Services and Video were both full-time jobs on most teams and were too much combined for one person to do , I was asked to choose between the two. I chose the Video portion of the job and was excited at the opportunity to work for Barry Trotz and the rest of our coaches. I am still in this position today – although with a different title and more responsibility. As some of you may know, I am the Video Coach for the Nashville Predators.
Besides getting to know a little more about me, it is my hope that those of you who are reading this will grasp the underlying meaning, or moral of this story – and that is to never give up and never stop believing in yourself. Understand that, as in any other facet of our lives, we must work for everything we get. I never stopped believing in myself and certainly never gave up – even though there were many days that it would have been easy to. I pursued something I loved and always dreamed about – and now I get to live it every day. From chartered flights to nice hotels and fancy restaurants to just being at the rink everyday, working with a “team” to achieve a common goal and realizing how hard we must all work to accomplish it.
I was (clearly!) not good enough to make it as a player in the NHL but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve done pretty close to the next best thing by retaining the position that I do. I am fortunate enough to have gained enough respect from Barry and the rest of our staff to be able to participate in the running of team practices on a daily basis.
I often look back at those humble beginnings, as I did on that Saturday night in Los Angeles, and realize just how lucky and grateful I am to be doing what I do for a living. Maybe I should write a book one day – “Mailroom to NHL Coaching Staff ride too much!”. On the days when I do take the time to stop and smell the roses I can often be heard to say “don’t wake me up - I’m dreaming”.
I will have to wake up and open my eyes at some point though because I wouldn’t want to miss being a part of having another crack at a successful playoff run. |
