---lauren asked: What is a memory of your childhood that stands out the most to you as of right now?
I’ve bee having a lot of dreams about playing hockey these days. I’ll dream of scoring goals, of gliding in open ice ad sizing up a vicious hip check. I used to love catching a player by surprise and laying them on their ass. There’s something primal and relieving about throwing your body into a fray. It was a huge stress reliever. Anyways…
I was on a very competitive travel team when I was younger (youth hockey) that was just all kinds of talent. The league we were in was a New England Elite league (NEEHL) that had two teams from Connecticut, two from Massachusetts, and four from New York (including mine). I had some bitter rivalries with two or three of the teams including one with ‘uni-brow kid’, Kaiser ‘the tank’, and this small little shit named Eddie. Thing is, I loved playing against these guys because I knew they’d give us good games and I could focus my efforts on particular players to make a difference in the game.
We were in the Semis for the season playing the Brewster Bulldogs with Kaiser ‘the tank’ leading their offensive charge. Every time he stepped on the ice my coach would send me out to grind him down play after play. We exchanged body shots all game, back and forth, and he had the better of me basically all game. He had already scored a goal when I got pissed off and decided to rush the puck myself. I was coming around from behind the net with the puck and I saw Kaiser coming right at me. Well, that’s all I remember. When I woke up, my coach was over me asking what year it was and what state I was in. Fuck - that’s a concussion. I recalled my name, where I was, the year and all that info and neglected to mention I was knocked out. My dad rushed to the bench and asked me if I wanted to head to the locker room.
“Fuck that, I want to win this game.” I sat out for a few shifts and waited to match up against Kaiser again. Off the faceoff I went after him and let him know he had a good hit on me but I wasn’t done. Sure enough, two shifts later I had the puck at the point in their zone with a lane to the net. Their forwards crashed in and left my right winger open with just enough space for me to dish a pass for a quick move past the goalie for the go-ahead goal. I had the last laugh on Kaiser in that battle.
I would’ve remembered that game for the game-winning assist, but I’ll always remember that game because of how I didn’t give up. Conventional medicine would’ve said I was an idiot for playing with a concussion, I get it, but I’d like to think we wouldn’t have won had I given up.
Oh, and to finish that season - We won the championship and I was selected to the all-star league which ran a camp with USA hockey. I was even voted assistant captain. The jersey now hangs in my room above my bed.
