I felt the wind blowing my hair back. I heard the constant yells of a slightly angered coach. Constantly blades are heard cutting the ice as if someone was ripping paper over and over, again and again. I zoomed backwards as the other team entered our defensive end. BAM! The defensive player slammed into the puck-carrying forward. The forward got knocked down onto the hard unforgiving ice with a thud and a grunt. The defenseman grinned at the forward as he passed by trying to make him feel as bad as possible. The forward stood up, craving revenge on the defenseman that had preyed on him. He watched as the defenseman carried it away, passing it to his partner. His partner skated to the blue line with the puck, then, took a wrist shot and snipped it in the top left corner of the net.

When I get back to the bench I look over at my partner. We both seem to be the center of attention at that moment. Not like we were the first ones to score a goal or anything like that, but everyone thought it was a really good play. I was the defenseman that had got the assist. My partner and I were greeted by compliments like, ‘Nice job Logan!’ and ‘Man, Nice Hit!’ and ‘Good pass for that assist!’ One of my teammates, a defense, insisted on engaging in conversation.

“Logan, how do you always stay like a rock when you check everyone?”

“All you have to do is keep your knees bent and lower your shoulder.”
I replied.

“Oh, ok. Thanks!” he smiled. Then my coach walked over to me.

“Nice hit Logan, but after you hit and get the puck, you need to know what you are going to do with it, don’t just whack it somewhere. Look for your teammates and take some time to make a good pass.”

“Ok coach” I responded thinking about how lucky I am to have such a good coach that has lots of advice.

I wasn’t always a hockey player. I had gone through a variety of sports before I decided to choose this one. I started hockey in kindergarten. I was always angry with myself for quitting but I did because I did not like getting in those skates that were too tight on my feet. Every practice was a battle. My dad always helped me get dressed. Everything went fine until those devilish looking skates were about to be placed upon my feet. I struggled, kicked, and squirmed, but no matter what I did my dad was always triumphant. So, instead I took up soccer. After about a year of soccer, I decided it defiantly wasn’t the sport for me so I quit. Then I tried a form of martial arts, taekwondo. I was good at it and I excelled quickly. There was a problem though. It did not grab my attention or make me happy. So when I had a decision between hockey and taekwondo, there was no way that hockey was getting left out. I thought it was silly how I had quit when I was younger. I always think stuff like, why couldn’t I have been strong and tell myself not to be a wussy?

Various emotions flew through my head at that time. Mostly I was filled with anger and regret, now was my chance. Play hockey now so you can have some fun in a good sport, or never play hockey again. I had to! If I didn’t take this opportunity now I will never forgive myself. There was no way this full contact sport was getting felt out. There was only one thing holding me back, my mom wanted me to keep going in taekwondo so I could defend myself if I ever needed to. For all I know I could get in serious trouble tomorrow and not be able to defend myself as well as higher ranked martial artist could. I thought about that for a while but taekwondo didn’t fill me with joy so I quit without a delay. Although I didn’t notice it at that time, this decision had a huge impact on my life. Also, I felt like I immediately had gained respect from my father. The lesson I learned is to take a break from a sport if it makes you feel uncomfortable or you don’t like it. Think about it, if I didn’t quit hockey I could have been a lot better by now. Although a break might not be the thing for everyone, a break helped me realize that I couldn’t live without the great sport of hockey.