April 2, 2008
Early in my coaching beginnings I thought that WINS were how you measured success in hockey...little did I know.
We were in the finals of a tournament with the score 3-2 in our favour and less than 1 minute remaining. I questioned who to put on the ice until my assistant whispered and wisely said: "Don't do it ! What got us here was equal rotation of the lines".
They put on their big guns and we kept rolling the lines. Not having our BIG line out on the ice, I quickly realized we had the biggest heart. With the face-off in the offensive zone, one particular defenceman, who probably would not have been on if I would have decided to tinker with the lines, stood on his head to keep the puck inside the zone that whole minute. We won the tournament, the big trophy and the bragging rights. What I won as a coach was the respect of a boy that probably did not think he had it in him.
At our victory dinner, he came over and said to me: "Thank you for believing in me!" As he walked away with the confidence I had never seen from him before, I only then realized what it takes to be called a COACH and the impact a coach has on kids.
To my friend, Stephane Martin (1969-2007), thank you for that lesson in coaching and in life. Keep whispering. You knew what it takes to be a coach. You are deeply missed.
Al Crnjac
