This one's for you.
When a coach believes in you, everything feels effortless.
You’re getting regular shifts.
You’re playing well.
You’re doing your job.
Those are the good days.
Those are the hockey memories that still make me smile, even now, more than a decade after retiring from pro hockey. Sometimes I sit back and think about those stretches when everything was going right.
But let’s be honest.
The hockey journey isn’t always rainbows and butterflies.
Sometimes it’s brutal.
This game will test you right up to the breaking point.
And the players who make it somehow find a way to become unbreakable.
The secret?
They just keep going.
No matter what.
I’ll never forget the coach who didn’t believe in me.
Trust me, there were a few over the course of my career. Through two years of junior hockey, four years of Division 1 hockey, and a decade in the minor leagues before finally reaching the NHL with the Boston Bruins.
But this one coach stood out.
He just wouldn’t play me.
I showed up every day with the best attitude I could muster. Some days that was harder than the bag skates and brutal workouts after practice. It was a real test of my spirit.
Would this break me…
or would it fuel me?
That was the question.
Maybe he simply didn’t believe in me.
Maybe he didn’t like me.
Maybe he had his reasons.
Whatever the case, I felt like an enemy to him.
But I never showed it.
I kept my attitude right and kept working.
Looking back now, maybe he was exactly the coach I needed.
Because that season I learned something important:
No matter what anyone else believed, I refused to stop believing in myself.
Even if he couldn’t see it in me…
I knew it was in there.
And that’s what mattered.
In a strange way, he made me better.
He forced me to dig deeper.
He forced me to prove it—to myself.
I made a decision that season.
I was going to make it to the NHL.
I’d show him.
But more importantly…
I’d show myself.
Even after hockey, I’ve experienced the same thing.
People in life who didn’t believe in me.
Sometimes friends.
Sometimes even family.
Sometimes people smiling to your face but quietly doubting you behind the scenes.
That’s life.
Some people will believe in you.
Some won’t.
The only belief that truly matters…
is the one you carry inside yourself.
So how do you protect that belief?
You show up.
Every day.
You do the little things right.
You do the big things right.
You keep getting a little bit better every practice, every shift, every opportunity.
Sometimes you even use those doubters as fuel.
But you don’t let it consume you.
You do it because you believe in the dream.
And because deep down, you know what you're capable of.
So today I want to challenge you.
Give it everything you have.
Whether it’s chasing the hockey dream…
or chasing something else that matters deeply to you.
Don’t let anyone talk you out of it.
Don’t let anyone deter you from the destiny you’ve chosen.
Or maybe more accurately…
the destiny that has chosen you.
Keep showing up.
That’s how unbreakable players are made.
Bobby Robins
Former NHL Player – Boston Bruins
A Savage Shift
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P.S. The players who make it usually spend thousands of hours practicing when nobody’s watching. That’s the driveway work. Concrete reps away from the rink. The savage hours when no one is watching. Wraparound gear helps you get those reps anywhere.