11 to 13

This morning at the St. Paul RiverCenter, the Herb Brooks Foundation assembled a panel of the leaders in the hockey community to discuss issues and solutions surrounding player safety in ice hockey at all levels. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness in the hockey community about the issues facing the game and to discuss possible solutions. Each of the 13 panelists introduced themselves and provided a brief history of their invovlement in the game. 

Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton, made the opening remarks and told about his experiences playing hockey as a youth, high school and Division 1 player at Yale College.

There seems to be a phrase that every coach has embraced of late which I think needs a closer look, and it is "teaching life lessons." It's phrase you have probably heard a lot lately, so much so that it seems to have taken on a life of its own, particularly in the context of middle and high school sports.

When my sisters and I were growing up, my father loved to spend time with us in the back yard (and later at the local school diamond) playing baseball. We never used a softballs, always baseballs. My dad had been a stand-out baseball pitcher and catcher for his high school during the World War II. He had hoped to play professional baseball but his dreams and elbow were shattered by a bullet while serving on the aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard in the Pacific. Frankly, I also think the wear and tear of pitching also left him some serious rotator cuff issues, as he had a difficult time throwing very far as he got older.