They go by way too fast.
There’s something I want every hockey player (and every hockey parent) to remember as we head into another season:
Appreciate every moment.
Because they go by way too fast.
If you’re out there chasing the hockey dream, or you’re a parent watching your hockey player chase it, you already know what I mean.
One day you’re buzzing around the rink playing youth hockey without a care in the world.
Then suddenly you’re playing high school hockey.
Junior hockey.
College hockey.
And you find yourself wondering:
How did we get here already?
I hope you’re still playing for fun.
But let’s be honest...the higher you climb, the higher the stakes become.
Tryouts matter more.
Ice time matters more.
Wins and losses feel bigger.
There are scouts, coaches, rankings, expectations, disappointments, pressure.
And somewhere along the way, it can become easy to forget just how special it is that you get to do this at all.
I’m in my 40s now, looking back on my own hockey career.
Two years of junior hockey.
Four years of Division I college hockey.
Nine seasons of professional hockey.
And I cannot believe how quickly it all went by.
I really can’t.
Sometimes it feels like I blinked and it was over.
I wish I could have played pro 20 seasons.
Unfortunately, an injury cut my career short.
And maybe that’s one of the gifts of looking back with 20/20 hindsight.
You realize how many moments you wish you could experience one more time.
One more road trip.
One more practice.
One more game.
One more locker room.
One more meal with your teammates.
One more time pulling that jersey over your head before walking out onto the ice.
I wish I had appreciated some of those moments more.
I wish I had lived them a little deeper.
I wish I had spent less time worrying about what was coming next and more time appreciating exactly where I was.
Because someday, all you’ll have are the memories.
So if you’re still making those hockey memories today, cherish them.
And if you’re a hockey parent watching your son or daughter make those memories, cherish them too.
The early mornings.
The long drives.
The freezing rinks.
The tournaments.
The practices.
The wins.
The losses.
Even the frustrating days.
There will come a time when you’d give anything to have one of those days back.
As we finish out August and prepare for tryouts and another hockey season, bring that mindset into your training.
Don’t look at today’s workout as something you have to do.
Look at it as something you get to do.
Today is another opportunity to get a little better.
Another opportunity to prepare.
Another opportunity to move one step closer to the player you want to become.
And doing the little things now, when nobody is watching, has a funny way of revealing itself once the puck drops.
That’s exactly why I love training with the Puckaround Pro Training Puck.
It’s designed to give you the feel and responsiveness of a real puck while you’re training away from the rink...so you can work on your hands, puck control, and confidence throughout these final weeks before the season.
Because when tryouts arrive, you won’t be able to hide whether you put in the work.
The ice always tells the truth.
So appreciate today.
Appreciate the opportunity.
Then put the work in.
[Get your Puckaround Pro and start preparing for the season →]
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, retired NHL/AHL/ECHL/NCAA D1/USHL