One thing you should know...
I'll admit it.
I get a little emotional every year when the Stanley Cup is presented.
To see that raw emotion...
The tears.
The hugs.
The screaming.
The players passing the Cup around while champagne flies through the locker room.
It's one of the greatest moments in all of sports.
Because you know what those players just endured.
Four grueling playoff rounds.
Two months of playoff hockey.
Blocked shots.
Bruised ribs.
Broken fingers.
Countless battles in the corners.
And all of it came after an 82-game regular season.
If you've ever played playoff hockey, even at the youth level, you know how exhausted those players must feel.
Their bodies are running on fumes.
But in that moment...
None of it matters.
All they feel is joy.
All they feel is gratitude.
All they feel is the bond they've built with the teammates who went through the fire beside them.
As I watched the celebration, I found myself wondering something.
How many people watched that game as fans?
Millions, probably.
But then I wondered something else.
How many watched and quietly whispered to themselves...
"That's going to be me someday."
I know someone did.
Somewhere in the world, a young hockey player watched that celebration and believed it.
Maybe it was a 10-year-old shooting pucks in the driveway.
Maybe it was a high school player.
Maybe it was a college player.
Maybe it was a pro grinding away in the minors.
Someone saw that Stanley Cup being lifted and made a promise to themselves.
"That's going to be me someday."
Maybe it was 100 players.
Maybe it was 1,000.
Maybe it was 100,000.
I don't know.
But here's the one thing you should know.
Somebody wins the Stanley Cup every year.
And every one of those champions started exactly where you are.
They were kids.
They played youth hockey.
They dreamed.
They practiced.
They climbed the ladder one step at a time.
Some of them were always the best player on the ice.
They had incredible talent and matched it with relentless work.
But not all of them.
Some of them had to grind.
Some got cut.
Some were overlooked.
Some had to prove people wrong year after year.
Some weren't the fastest.
Some weren't the most skilled.
But they were the most consistent.
That's the secret.
Not one amazing workout.
Not one incredible game.
Not one magical season.
Years.
Decades.
Of showing up.
Of improving.
Of refusing to quit.
That's how Stanley Cup champions are built.
And here's something else to think about.
While those champions are celebrating today...
While they're carrying the Cup.
While they're taking pictures.
While they're enjoying the biggest accomplishment of their hockey lives...
There are hockey players all over the world going to bed tonight thinking one thought.
"That's going to be me someday."
Then tomorrow morning...
They'll wake up.
They'll train.
They'll lift.
They'll skate.
They'll shoot pucks.
They'll work on their hands.
They'll recover.
Then they'll wake up the next day...
And do it again.
And again.
And again.
That's how dreams become reality.
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL Alum, writer for Wraparound
P.S. Want to separate yourself this offseason? Don't let your training end when practice or the gym is over. Get outside. Grab your stick. Put in another 20 minutes of puck handling and shooting. The Wraparound protects your blade so you can train on concrete with your actual stick. Those extra reps may not seem like much today...but over the course of a summer, they become the difference.