This is for the stars in the show and the guys going to the show, the boys in the juniors living the dream and the die hards lighting up the beer leagues. This is for the snipers, the playmakers, the grinders, the fighters, the power forwards, the blue chip d-men, the bottle fillers, the men in the pipes, the men on the bench, and the boys in the box. This is for sniping ginos, chizzling apples, throwing sauce, undressing tendies, banging home rebounds, making big glove saves, and burying OT winners. This is for the dirty dangles, sick toe drags, backhand toe drags, spin-o-ramas, bar downs, top cheese, One-Tees, snappers and clappers, big-time celly's, poke-checks, pad-stacks, big hits and hip-checks, troller tracks, and toe-to-toe tillies. This is for the long bus trips, the early morning practices, the bag-skates, the battles in the corners, the bad dental, the sweet flow, the playoff beards, the chews, the beers, the tears, the laughs, the team shakers, the beauties wheeling hot broads, and the gongers wheeling swampers. This is for the wins, losses, and ties, the end-to-end overtimes, the gruelling training camps, the pre-season exies, the regular season battles, the playoff wars, and raising the championship trophies. This is for anyone who knows what all this means, because you are a part of THE GREATEST GAME ON EARTH.
Hockey
My world exists in a place known only to those who have been here before. It is a place that allows me to escape the daily routine of life, to experience moments all my own, yet shared with others. My world exists on the ice, where I retain lifelong memories filled with the grandeur of battles past. It is here that life gives me opportunities to delve into a world only hockey players can appreciate. A world where anticipation is heavy with fear as I lace up my skates, knowing fate is in my hands with the stick that I taped. What would I do without this game in my life, or the place where dreams are made? What would I do without the dressing room, the smell of sweat-dried equipment, and the chatter of small talk as I prepare to go to war? What would I do without the cold crisp air burning my lungs as I skate hours on end, early mornings, late nights? What would I do without the traveling of great distances to take to the ice, or the sounds of pucks banging off battle-scarred boards? There is only one thing to do, and that would be to do it again, knowing that I wouldn't change it for anything. You see, each time I put on my jersey, I take pride in the very crest that means I am part of something special: A group of athletes willing to sacrifice individual achievements for The Ultimate Goal.
The cockiest, dirtiest, most irresponsible group of athletes in the world.
Will do anything just to be able to tell his teammatesa great story in the dressing room.
Live the dream until they are 35 then realize they never made it.
Ladies love us, guys want to be us, and we are the soul of the universe.
You lace up the skates, put on the gloves, strap on the helmet,
and walk on to the ice and nothing else matters.
It doesn't matter that you failed a test, your girl is being a bitch,
or that you got a ticket on the way there...
you're world is absolutely perfect for the next couple hours.
Here's to face-offs, goals, assists, overtime, living on the road,
cold rinks, early mornings, breakaways, going top cheese, countless hours of practice,
bag skates, puking, thousands of dollars, dangling d-men, end to end rushes, big hits,
broken sticks, new skates, packing bombs, dropping the mitts, wheelin' broads, coaches,
adding the letter "y" to the end of everyone's last name, the word "fuck", let downs,
miracles and most of all...the game of Hockey.
Why do we skate back and forth night after night? Skating so hard we throw up.
Skating so hard your heart beat rings in your head, while your lungs are grasping for air.
Late nights, early mornings, Friday nights, Saturday evenings, broken bones,
torn muscles and deep bruises. We skate through it all. Because we live off our adrenaline,
because the game frees your spirit, because the party in the locker room is second to none,
because you're invincible once you step on the ice, because one shot can make you
smile all night, sniping the twine, top shelf where momma keeps the peanut butter,
the rattling of the boards, the feel of the puck, and skates carving into the ice is a rhythm to live by,
because its possible to skate fast enough to leave all your worries behind.
Sweat is the cologne of our accomplishment.
Why would someone push themselves so hard the uneducated pussies always ask?
HOUSE LEAGUE, A, AA, AAA, JR.A, WHL, US COLLEGE, PRO?
... It's never been for the fucking, the money, it's not for the girls, and it's not for the fame.
We play because we fucking love it...
