The VICTORIOUS HOCKEY COMPANY’s Weekly Newsletter: JUST KEEP SWIMMING

Hello, everyone,

 

I know that in recent weeks, I have not been very consistent in publishing the Victorious Hockey Company’s newsletter. For this, I apologize. There is a reason and it is time that I explain to everyone what has been going on. 

About two weeks ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. This came as a complete and total shock. I am terrified. My family is terrified. I am still in the process of trying to figure out exactly what is going on and which direction is up. I have no idea what my chances are. I am not certain that I even want to know. This has been one of the most challenging moments in my life. I have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what is coming. I do not know if I am going to be able to afford it. I do not know if I am going to be able to survive. 

I am not disclosing all this information for pity or for sympathy. I think- perhaps, I am just writing about it to help sort it out in my own head. And I doubt that that makes much sense to anybody who has never faced something like this before. 

My life has been filled with tremendous complications. I have always felt as though I have been in a constant struggle swimming upstream. Though, I think many people find themselves in similar (difficult) situations in different moments throughout their lives. I have felt and continue to feel that my sizable life-complications seem to be somewhat repetitive. I keep swimming trying to get a gasp of air only to be pushed further down and further back, time and time again. But I keep swimming. I KEEP SWIMMING. I don’t even know where I am headed but I keep swimming. The current gets stronger and stronger and I just keep on swimming. 

I think that stubborn, relentless, determination comes from my experience playing ice hockey. I grew up in a part of the country where ice hockey was not the most popular sport. It was relatively unknown. All of my elementary school friends played basketball or baseball. Virtually no one played hockey. As fate would have it, I was terrible at basketball. I was even worse at baseball. In fact, if it was a sport on dry land, you could forget about it. However, on the ice- with my skates laced up, I was at home. I could do more there than any of my friends could ever do on a basketball court. 

For some of us our game just fits. And for those of you that read this, you likely know exactly what I am referring to. You would not be playing right now in Juniors or in triple A or prep (or whatever level that you compete at) if you did not feel like there was something about this game that “clicked”. It clicked for me and I know it clicked for you. 

Yes, I had setbacks in hockey (just like in the rest of my life). But inside those moments is when I would put my head down and work. I did not care if it was in the garage, the basement or on a pond; I would go wherever I could and I would work relentlessly on improving myself, improving my game and getting better.

Now, I am stuck in the middle of yet another significant crisis. And it is really that same mentality (that I learned playing hockey) that keeps me going. I did it so much then, that it has become part of who I am today. I have to keep fighting. There is no other option. My life has always been a fight and this really is no different. The stakes are just much -much higher.

 

One of the things that comes with this battle is that you become very reflective. I have thought a lot about the bright moments in my life and I have probably thought even more about all of the constant continued struggles. It is overwhelming to say the least. But when I think about those bright moments, when I look at my past and I try to find the highlights. Hockey is at the top of the list.

I have no idea how much time is left on my clock. I don’t really want to know. But if I can tell all of the young hockey players that follow this letter, that work with Victorious Hockey or read juniorhockey.com or follow the heishockey.com website: 

Live in your moment. It is one of the best times of your life. You will win and you will lose. You will succeed and you will fail – all of it is worth it. You will remember all of it for the rest of your life. Anyone can become a great player. Get out there and give it your best every single day. You never know which day is going to be the start of something great. But you cannot become great if you don’t push / If you don’t fight / If you don’t brush yourself off after getting knocked down and try again. 

This is your time. Embrace it. Push yourself further than you have ever pushed before. Believe more than you have ever believed in anything. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Leave nothing on the table. It is a special time in your life. 

If you do as I have outlined, you will never regret it. Even more importantly, when you face the bigger struggles (that most certainly will come later in life), you will have a blueprint and a foundation to work from that will guide you through. And that we be of value to you more than anything else. It does not matter if you become a truck driver or the first pick in the NHL draft. Those same principles are what will help push you through when the current gets too strong and you are struggling to breathe.

 

I am living this right now. And I am hoping beyond hope, I have enough just to push through. I definitely do not want to die and I do not want to live out the rest of my life in pain and sickness. I cannot control any of those factors. All I can control is me and my approach. All I can do is continue to fight and push every day. Brush myself off every time I get knocked down, just like I did back when I played hockey years ago. 

Live in the moment. 

Love the game.

Never give up. 

And keep swimming.

-Michael