I remember when I was a young kid living in Boston, Massachusetts waking up at 5 a.m. to drive a few miles in the cold, brisk winter to the nearest hockey rink for an early morning practice. I always asked myself why the hell I ever did that? I always said I really never knew, and tried to sneak an extra 30 minutes of sleep or an excuse not to get up. The snooze button was my friend, and only made it after my parents dragged me out of bed.

The only good part that I recognized, was getting to see my closest friends almost every day. Back in the day, hockey wasn’t my passion. It was a sport that I played just like I was playing soccer and baseball in their respected seasons. It was just always the sport that challenged me. The challenge intrigued me, but came with some down sides. It was so early every morning, we traveled such far distances, and it was the hardest to grasp.

It is really sad that now, after my hockey career is almost over, I realize why I woke up so early and endured the struggles. I began to realize that every adversity I had due to hockey, was the reason I loved it so much and it became my passion. Waking up early meant I got to not only see my best friends, but I got to play the sport that I loved. The best memories I have had, are from playing hockey in the most amazing places around the country. I did it all to find my passion. To sum it up and quote a great movie title, “For The Love of the Game”.

Hockey now is my life, I watch it every day, I play it every day, and live it every day. Hockey is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle. Hockey has its own jargon that seems to only make sense to hockey players...”Dangle, Snipe, and Celly”. Then there is the one important thing about hockey, a player’s hair. On every team, there is always that one guy who has that ridiculous flow, that openly states he plays hockey. The best part about the lifestyle, is the people you spend it with. Your team becomes your family that you will never ever forget. Your hockey family expands every season with life long friendships who shares the same victories and defeats with.

I really appreciate everything it taught me. Hockey taught me discipline, teamwork, strength, independence, worth ethic, dedication and the list could go on and on. I use things I learned from playing hockey almost every day in life. I owe a lot of  my success to hockey, and I am quite glad that I went to those 6 a.m. practices. Its a passion that I will never give up. I do it all for the love of the game.