And now it’s September.
Well…
Here we are.
The last day of August.
Can you believe it?
June.
July.
August.
Gone.
We blinked, and somehow the entire summer flew by.
I honestly don’t know where it went.
And for hockey players everywhere, September means something very specific.
Tryouts.
Captain’s practices.
Teams getting back together.
The beginning of another season.
September is that line in the sand that tells you:
Summer training is officially over.
So before we charge forward, I want you to do something.
Take a minute and look back at June, July, and August.
Look at the work you put in.
The workouts.
The skates.
The runs.
The early mornings.
The days when you didn’t feel like training but showed up anyway.
Could you have done more?
Of course.
We all could have.
Maybe you could have done one more set.
One more rep.
One more sprint.
Maybe you could have pushed 5% harder somewhere along the way.
But don’t waste your energy beating yourself up over it now.
Instead, recognize this:
You showed up.
You hit the gym.
You hit the ice.
You hit the pavement.
You worked on your recovery.
You paid attention to your nutrition.
You worked on your mindset.
And most importantly, you kept the vision in front of you.
The vision of the player you want to become.
The season you want to have.
The level you want to reach.
So my message today is simple:
Embrace September.
I always loved this time of year.
When I just turned pro, I spent the summer training up at UMass Lowell (where I'd just graduated from).
Then as September approached, I headed down to Boston University for an NHL pro camp.
And that camp was loaded.
NHL players.
Guys I had watched on television.
Guys I had seen on hockey cards.
Guys making millions of dollars playing the game I had dreamed about playing my entire life.
And I remember looking around the weight room.
Looking around the ice.
Training beside these guys.
And eventually something started clicking in my head.
For years, I had looked at players like that and thought:
Someday I’m going to be one of those guys.
But standing there training beside them, the thought started changing.
It became:
I AM one of these guys.
That shift mattered.
I wasn’t just dreaming about belonging anymore.
I was preparing like I belonged.
Training like I belonged.
Carrying myself like I belonged.
And wherever you are in your hockey journey, I want you to start doing the same thing.
If you’re playing high school hockey and dreaming about college hockey…
Start seeing yourself as a college hockey player.
If you’re playing college hockey and dreaming about playing professionally…
Start seeing yourself as a pro.
Look at the players at the level above you.
Study them.
Learn from them.
Train like them.
Then stop telling yourself:
“Someday.”
Start asking yourself:
“What would that player do today?”
Because summer is over.
The preparation phase is ending.
Now comes the fun part.
Reality.
Now you get to see what all those reps created.
Now you get to step into the arena.
Now you get to compete.
Now you get to show people what you’ve been building all summer.
And remember…
Just because the season starts doesn’t mean your development stops.
The players who keep climbing are still putting in extra work when practice ends.
That’s where the Wraparound + Puckaround combo can become one of the simplest weapons in your routine.
Get home from practice.
Head into the garage.
Grab your stick.
Get another few hundred touches.
When everyone else is sleeping…
When everyone else is playing video games…
When everyone else thinks practice was enough…
You’re getting better.
Touch after touch.
Rep after rep.
Until that puck feels like it belongs on your stick.
Because when the big moment comes this season…
You don’t want to be hoping the puck stays away from you.
You want the puck.
[Grab the Wraparound + Puckaround combo and keep putting in the reps →]
We blinked.
Summer is gone.
Now go show them what you did with it.
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, ex hockey pro, now savage writer for Wraparound