On Hockey Expansion

My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts here lately.  All the blogging gurus advise types like me to make frequent entries, but I’ve hardly done that.  In my defense, I’ve just been too distracted with a huge mixed bag of very necessary projects and a number of absolutely fruitless ones.  At least a good many of the latter are likely to prove interesting fodder for posting sometime down the road.

With that, here’s a subject that’s been woven through a lot of what I’ve been involved in over the past year.  And, as I so often promise my Diary readers, there should be something in here for both hockey and non-hockey folks alike…

This whole thing resurfaced innocently enough last night.  I’d run across a LinkedIn post announcing tryouts for a low minor professional hockey league, and I thought I’d help spread the word.  I retweet and share often, ya know, attempting to do the kinds of favors I wish others might do for me.  (Well, I can dream, can’t I?)

With that, I blasted the league’s announcement to about 13,000 social media friends.  Never did I imagine the response I’d get, most of it negative.

As an aside here, I’m thankful that most negative replies are somewhat respectful.  (Only during political discussions do I receive personal insults.  But, that’s yet another topic for another time.)

Those responses came in open forums — like in Facebook comments, but the more sensitive, better thought out stuff came by way of private messages.  In each case, I tried to explain that I had no dog in this fight.  In other words, while I did want to let deserving players know about the tryout opportunity, I wasn’t necessarily endorsing the league that offered those tryouts.  More specifically, here’s how I feel…

A new league, despite its shortcomings, offers close to a couple of hundred playing positions that wouldn’t otherwise be there.  So, take your pick:  Bury the league and lose those slots, or pray the league survives so those spots remain.  That’s an easy one for me, because I always side with giving more players a chance (see my free Junior Hockey Scouting Service).

And, while the above should make plenty of sense to my readers, what they might not consider is that each franchise in a new league also brings with it a myriad of opportunities for others.  I mean, at the risk of missing a good many other jobs, every team is going to need a general manager, a coach and an assistant or two, some scouts, a secretary, a publicist, a marketer, a social media manager, and perhaps a trainer.  Sure, some of those jobs might be combined and performed by one person, but still…

While I’m on this subject, let me say that I’ve heard the same kinds of negative rumblings concerning expansion within the Junior hockey ranks (Junior hockey is basically for amateur players between the ages of 16- and 20-years old).  Some might say that the level of play is being “watered down” with added teams.  In other words, the Negative Nellies are evidently suggesting that to go beyond some magic number of teams will allow players to skate without really deserving it.  And for this, I have a different perspective that goes for both the Junior and minor pro levels…

For, no matter the level, no one can tell me that the best people in the world have already been selected for the top jobs.  In other words, there are most likely some geniuses out there who just need a chance to show what they can do — in roles as GMs, coaches, front office workers, wherever.  And in some instances, they just need the chance to try and fail, try and fail, then try and finally succeed.  Having interviewed for several GM/coaching positions in the original East Coast Hockey League — at one time the lowest of minor pro leagues, and having thus followed that level for a good many years, I know of a number of guys who made their way all the way from there to the National Hockey League.

I have slightly similar feelings when it comes to giving more players a chance…  You see, athletes develop at different paces.  Those with children should appreciate this, probably having seen both early and late bloomers.  The tough part about any sport is that each has its own rather arbitrary deadlines — with hockey players usually needing to be ready to show their wares for the NHL draft by a certain birthday, and to show that they’re deserving of a college scholarship by another birthday.  The lower minor leagues offer a chance to those who  didn’t meet such deadlines, or for players who may have played college hockey in relative obscurity.  And, while some might be thinking that I’m only talking about physical maturity here, let me tell you that I am not.  Just as surely, the light comes on a little later in life for some athletes.  And so does a burning desire to achieve sometimes suddenly overtake a guy in his young twenties.  So, to just discount any of those I’ve just described seems a sin, at least to me.

Now, as for those complaints leveled against that low minor pro league, let me say that I believe many of the negatives I’ve heard to this point.  The league has its problems, for sure, with far too many of them being aired in public.  I said earlier, though, that I followed the ECHL startup — as well as some others, and I can tell you that most leagues go through some of the same — often embarrassing — problems.  Chalk it up to their infancy.  (This was later confirmed in a Facebook comment by a long time minor pro player who had been involved in both the ECHL’s startup and the new league in question.  He, too, suggested that the ECHL, now a premier pro league, initially had plenty of similar problems.)

If I could advise that new pro league, it would be to consider some things I’ve gathered from a number of experiences…

I’m chuckling to myself as I type this segment, because I’m thinking I’m not exactly what most casual observers would believe.  Yes, I surely do speak out at times, when I think it’s the right thing to do.  More often, however, I’m a pretty quiet observer, sitting back and making mental notes about things that a good many others would miss.

This was especially taking place as I watched the Tropical Elite (Junior) Hockey League crumble around me last summer.  Frankly, I thought I could have maybe salvaged that thing, but…

If there’s one quality I felt the TEHL had going for itself, it’s that the league was supposedly founded on something similar to what Aristotle said a kzillion years ago, in that, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  (Actually, I’ll give Chuck Harrison credit for resurrecting that line of thinking as he attempted to put together another pro league awhile back.  I’ll also at least give the TEHL’s commissioner credit for borrowing Mr Harrison’s business plan.  Whether the commissioner followed it with conviction or not is yet another matter.)

The TEHL’s application of that principle meant that we — all league members — would put the league first.  That had special meaning for me in my capacity as a GM/coach, in that everyone was supposed to be willing to help with the league’s main goal of getting as many players to colleges as possible.  Sure, we coaches would try to beat hell out of each other on game nights.  However, we’d also help kids on other teams if we had the college or pro contacts opposing coaches didn’t.  Seem right to you?  It surely did to me.

A few months ago, I had some negotiations concerning the commissioner’s position with a northern area Junior league.  Actually, they didn’t yet have one, and they were just exploring the possibilities.  Of course, my proposal included a number of ideas and suggestions, but its cornerstone was that “… whole is greater…” concept.  In a nutshell, I suggested to league owners that it didn’t help for any one of them to have a strong team if other members were dropping like flies.

Why did they table a decision on hiring their first league commissioner?  My guess is that it was two fold, with a possible third reason…

For sure, money had to play a part.  Oh, I can’t blame a new group for being careful about taking on added expenses.  It’s not an easy thing to fund a Junior team and to keep it in the black.  One will never know, on the other hand, if a strong central office might have ultimately paid for itself in the long run.  Just the chance to deal with vendors and other outsiders as a group may have made up for the commissioner’s salary.

Giving up control to a central office — or officer — may have also frightened some.  In simple terms, though, I tend to liken that to whether or not a community chooses to have a police department or not.  I mean, some might think it fun that they can drive as fast and as crazily as they want — until, however, someone in their family is seriously injured by a reckless driver.  Of course, what I’m getting at is that a few league owners may have liked doing as they wished without much oversight; but they may have failed to realize how many times they’ll need someone watching their backs and keeping law and order.

A Part B to that last paragraph might be that the current owners want to keep the job in-house.  Hmmmmmm…  I’d say that would be okay if the new commissioner has no ties to an existing organization.  On the other hand, I sense that at least the perception of bias is always going to be in question under such circumstances.

Yet another hot topic within any new league is expansion.    Want to see a group salivate?  Just get the members thinking about raking in money from new teams willing to pay their way into the league.

I’m not speaking against league expansion here, but I am suggesting that it has to be done very carefully and methodically.  My long time friend, Richard Neil Graham, penned a history of Roller Hockey International in his book, “Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks“.  And Rich will tell you within those pages how expansion greed ultimately killed a league that otherwise had everything going for it.

Beyond the obvious — that a new team has to be financially able to endure over the long haul, I happen to think that placement of such teams is super-important.  Of course, some new cities may sound sexy.  On the other hand, adding teams outside an existing league footprint can cost big time — in travel expenses, overnight lodging for an entire team, etc.

Personally, I feel that the nearness of teams can build some great rivalries, as seen in most pro sports.  So are fans more apt to follow their favorite team to away games.

Okay, so maybe I have or maybe I haven’t gone off track here.  I don’t think I have, because all of these things matter in the big picture, when it comes to any new league.

To my social media friends who bashed that new pro league in my stream, I only ask that they lighten their tone a little, consider that every new league goes through some growing pains, while also considering that new teams provide great opportunities for countless players, coaches and support staff.  A new league also offers an entry level spot for those with their hearts set on yet loftier goals.

Finally, to that new league…  I’ll suggest that a window of grace is fast closing.  Most within hockey will accept some bumps in the road, but the critics aren’t going to wait forever.  My guess is that every league member knows what’s needed to get their collective acts together.  There’s nothing to it but to do.  I think hockey needs you.

Finally The Right Door, And I Opened It Myself!

This blog entry may come as a shock to some, or at least a bit of a surprise.  To me it’s not, ’cause I felt it coming for the past few weeks.  If I’ve surprised myself at all, it’s because I finally did decide “that’s it”.

I’m also surprising myself a little from the way I ended my last post, suggesting back then that I’d pursue a certain Plan A for as long as it seemed feasible, and then I’d move on to Plan B or C and so forth.  

Actually, I sense that some folks will find my wade through Plan A interesting, while others might want to skip down to Plan B.  The option is also there for you to skip each of my early possibilities, and go right straight to what has now become Plan D for me, or “The Big Decision”.

Plan A – My Dream Job

Just to refresh my faithful followers’ minds, my biggest dream was to start a Junior hockey organization down here in Florida — from scratch.  I love molding things.  Of course, I’d been building a plan since back in May — in my head, on paper, and on my PC, so I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted a new organization to look like or be like.

Problem:  Most of the important stuff would have to be in place early, in order to go whole-hog into the player recruiting phase, beginning on March 1.  So, this being very late December, and counting backwards, we’re really only talking two months remaining to get an unbelievable amount of stuff accomplished.

If you’ll also recall, I’ve been through the Junior recruiting thing once on my own already, and again later helping my son with his team.  I’d also spent 7-years trying to lure talented incoming freshman to my old college team.  So, I know the questions asked — by the players, and then by the players’ parents.  And, should anyone want to believe their questions aren’t valid, I’d say, “Guess again!”

That last bit was a huge bone of contention between the long-gone TEHL Commissioner and me.  For example, while parents and players constantly asked if there was a website they could visit, the Commissioner thought it not that necessary.  Well, he maybe felt that way, and so could anyone else.  What really mattered, though, were the needs of those players and parents.

It’s not much different than any other kind of sales, really…  A seller can believe he or she has the greatest product in the world.  However, if its features don’t match the needs of potential buyers, the seller is going out of business in a hurry.

Anyway, by March 1, the guy in charge of hockey operations has to be able to say, “THIS is the Beaver Swamp Angels Hockey program!”  (   That team name, by the way, was an imaginary one concocted by my favorite childhood uncle, who just happened to be one of the world’s greatest storytellers.)

First, an organization wants a player to die to be a part of it; and for that, the things that tend to entice young guys have to be in place.  I’m not talking about vague promises that those things are coming, but they need to be in place, and maybe even depicted in photos or in a promotional video.

Secondly — assuming the player does want to come, the parents need to feel secure about a number of things.  More than anything, they tend to care about education, housing, the amount of training, and the possibility their son will get exposure to the right people.  And THEN — yes, I said, “And Then”…  Parents also need to know that it’s going to be worth their while to submit a substantial deposit.

Yet another reason things really need to be in place early is that the recruiting season can be extremely hectic.  I mean, I’m talking about dealing with players and scouts from around the globe, and in virtually every time zone.  Just considering North America, time zones span some 5-hours — from the Canadian Maritime Provinces to the US state of Alaska.  Making telephone connections aren’t the whole of it, though.  No, a real recruiter follows a systematic approach for each player, with each being on a totally different timetable.

I mentioned in a previous post how I’ve always liked to stray outside hockey for new ideas.  Well, what I’ve learned from some really innovative business leaders is the need to put “systems” in place for certain processes.  Besides what I know about hockey recruiting, I gained access this summer to a standard, step-by-step college football recruiting process.  As I also mentioned in an earlier post, I’d set up a system of scouts or “bird dogs” — from literally around the world — who promised to stay on the alert for prospects.  And, as a suggestion to other Junior hockey recruiters, you might Google “autoresponder” for your emailing needs; I’ve been using one with my Internet businesses for years, and it can be programmed to send out “personalized” messages on any timetable I want.)

If you get my drift, I believe that a ton of stuff has to be in place before recruiting can officially begin, so that the entire process can work as smoothly as possible.  Trust me, that there’s little time for other major projects once players are up for grabs.  And, trust me further that, if you don’t have the players, you don’t have a hockey organization.

Okay, so we’re creeping up on the end of the year, and I doubt very much that St Nick is bringing me any investors to put that new Junior program’s wheels in motion.  Even if Santa did, though, that would leave only January and February to get far too much done.

Perhaps this story will let you know how I’m built…  Lots of years ago, I started and then ran a pretty big hockey tournament — it was based in MA, but drew teams from at least four other states and at least two Canadian provinces.  On more than one (very) late night occasion, the rink owner told me I was working too hard.  I explained to him that, “Something like this is bound to have some things go wrong once the teams start arriving.  One problem should be easy enough to handle, and so might two.  However, leaving too many things to chance now is just asking for trouble.”

My point, of course, is that I could have used more than two months to do things right, and to limit the chance of foul-ups down the road.  Knowing Murphy’s Law rears its ugly head when we least expect it, I’d have preferred to deal with only one or two minor problems once the recruiting season got underway.

Consequently, I’m now announcing that the time has passed as far as I’m concerned, and I won’t be unveiling a new Junior hockey program for the 2013-14 season.  If you read on, you’ll discover that it’s unlikely I’ll do that in any future year, either.

Plan B – Not Exactly the Way Things Used to Be

In a way, I’m sad about the need to abandon Plan A, but…  Having decided it’s right to put that to rest — it made sense for me to move on to Plan B (if ever so briefly).

Ya, Plan B, which was actually intended to incorporate some of Part C.  And, ya, I ever so briefly studied these…

If there was a prayer of me running some Florida-based hockey clinics — or doing any of the other things I used to do back in MA, I’d have had to get on those this past summer.  Anyone who knows hockey should understand what I’m saying; for those who don’t, please appreciate that most special hockey clinics begin in the fall and continue through the winter until the spring.  So again, it’s virtually impossible to start something new once a rink has done its scheduling and gotten into its fall-winter scheme.

Why didn’t I jump right into offering my services to local rinks, or to local youth organizations, way back in the summer?  Grrrrrrrrrr…  There were so many times when I’d planned to do just that.  However, I’d then catch wind of a chance to get back into the Junior hockey, or I’d hear that there was something else hockey related opening up for me.  Later, of course, there was my own misappropriation of time spent on Plan A.

In effect, it was a rollercoaster ride:

I’m going to start my own programs…  Oops, no, a better opportunity might be opening up…  Naw, better get working on my own programs…  Oops, hold on, because there’s a chance that other opportunity is opening up again.

Ya, a regular roller coaster ride.

LOL…  I know a few family members have suggested I look into wearing a white paper hat, or that I should practice the phrase, “Welcome to Walmart!”  To be honest, I don’t see myself as above such jobs.  But, I’ll probably save those for something like Plan E (thank you very much).

Okay, so I’ve said for awhile that I’d work myself from Plan A to Plan B, yet it wasn’t until I got to that second door that I realized it had already closed.  Again, the time to look for work at local rinks has long since passed.

I also said that second stage was a two-parter.  In other words, while I hoped to run some local clinics or camps, or do some private on-ice lessons, I’d still have plenty of time left over to dabble with something else.  And that something else would be another favorite activity of mine, my Internet work — Plan C, if you will.

Plan C – Another Love of Mine

Hmmmmmmm…  Did I mention a rollercoaster ride earlier?  Man, here’s how it really went:

Some work on my dream job — of building that Junior program…  Some thoughts about what on-ice programs I could offer locally…  The realization that the only place I was making an income was on-line…  Then — oops…  A hint from the outside that there might be something good awaiting me…

Call my state of mind through most of that overwhelm, frustration, what have you, but life has not been fun for quite some time:

Up on this possibility, down ’cause it didn’t happen, up with some new possibility, down and disappointed again.

The interesting thing — and see if you can think along with me here, is that any one of those jobs would have been fun and fulfilling.  I mean, I surely would have loved running the Junior program, and maybe even coaching the team.  I’d have loved overseeing a youth organization (God knows most of the ones in Florida could have used my guidance).  I’d have surely loved running my form of weekly skill development and hockey schools (I’m probably the only person you know who has actually helped an easy dozen students make it to the NHL, and hundreds upon hundreds more play at other high levels of the game).

All that said, time spent considering such things has been nothing more than a waste for me, and more dangerously, it threatened my sanity.  On the other hand, the only thing I could safely scramble back to was my on-line work, or the part I viewed as Plan C.

Plan D — This Was “It” All Along

Having already mentioned my sanity being threatened, I kinda know that my physical health has also slipped a bit over recent months.  I blame a lot of that on the proverbial rollercoaster, because all the changing of attention robbed yours truly of so-called “Me Time”.  I somehow became too rapt in the latest whatever — half the time in a panic, and failed to climb on my Whole Body Vibration machine, I skipped the walks I’ve always liked to take for exercise and mind clearing, and I haven’t been in the readily available pool or hot tub since I can’t remember when.  And it’s those things — among a few others — that suddenly struck me within the past few days.

What exactly is Plan D?  It’s going to be henceforth a total dedication to my Internet work.  (Oh, I can hear some of the snickers now.)  However…

I absolutely love dealing with my CoachChic.com members.  And, while the fee to belong to our group is minimal, folks there pay me fairly well to do something I can really sink my teeth into.

Yet another beauty to that kind of work is that the only boss (or bosses) I have are my customers.

And, guess what…  The commute from my bed to my office is about 15-seconds.

Then, besides the fact that I love that work — and I know quite a bit about it, I have to admit that it’s never really been given a fair chance to succeed beyond where it is right now.  I mean, every time I’ve wanted to expand CoachChic.com offerings or venture into something new, I’ve been sidetracked by one of the many interruptions I’ve noted above.

And that last statement brings me to say — with no turning back, that I am for now on going to be a full-time Internet marketer.  I am also, quite obviously, retiring from coaching hockey, except for the rare instances where it helps my on-line work.  So…

- The only reason I won’t quickly sell my personal gear is because I just might want to teach my lady friend to skate at a local public session.  I might also need it to demo for a future hockey video production.

- If anyone contacts me for advice on organizing a Junior hockey program — or seeks any other sort of hockey guidance, they’re going to be on the clock for what I got back home when I hired out:  $125/hour — and I’m not leaving the comfort of my home.

- It should make sense that I don’t need any seeds planted in my head about potential hockey work doing this or that; that’s what ultimately brought me to this decision.

Lastly, a few things…

Lest anyone think I have any regrets, it’s only that I waited so long to arrive at this decision.  You won’t believe how good it suddenly feels, knowing I can get up tomorrow morning with only one hat to wear (phew).

Nor will I miss my old title, because I was already a former high school coach, a former hockey school director, a former college coach, a former guest speaker and lecturer, and a lot of former other things.  So, I’m as comfortable as I can be in referring to myself for now on as a former hockey coach.

Perhaps another interesting aside…  A lot of guys retire from playing without ever really coming to grips with it — they’ll spend the rest of their living days and nights sitting on a bar stool and crying in their beers, something like, “Ya know, I could have been…”

Well, of the three sports I played, baseball was the one that took me the furthest, and kept me active the longest.  A challenge for me arrived when my military commitment sorta meant that I would have to be a part-timer with my team.  And, although my manager (God bless his heart) begged me to keep playing, I let him know that I’d suffer more under those circumstances than if I walked away completely.  And, son of gun, if I didn’t end up being totally satisfied with that.

So, does it make sense to you that I know in my heart I’m going to be totally satisfied with my latest decision?  Truly, you can count on it.

Hopefully everyone understands exactly what’s going on in my head, and wishes me success in my new life.  I’m psyched, and I suspect that those who really care about me will at least respect my declaration that…

I am officially retired from coaching hockey! 

We Live, We Learn, We Move Forward – Part 2

Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to read Part 1 in this two-part series.  (Is there a chance there’ll be a Part 3?  Hmmmmm…)  Trust me, though, that the earlier post is relevant to what I’m about to say. 

No matter, this very brief recap…

In a nutshell — and at the urging of others, I came to the realization that I had to stop dwelling on the negatives that so dominated the last several months of my professional and personal life, I had to do a fair accounting of what I had going for me (and against me), and then I needed to start plotting a new course for the rest of my life.

Thankfully, I could list a ton of things working in my favor…  A long history and a pretty good reputation in hockey has to rank high on that list.  There’s no taking away my 40+ years in coaching every level in the game — up through high school, Juniors and college, as well as my steering hundreds of young players towards the NHL and other high levels.  There’s my God given ability to just keep churning out hockey advice articles, manuals and instructional videos.  No stranger to Internet marketing, I own over 100 websites, highlighted by CoachChic.com, my Tips & Tricks Store, and this more personal blog — “Coach Chic’s Hockey Diary”.  Then, at least in the hockey world, I have to be close to the king of social media, with lots of fairly high level folks even seeking my advice.

Lastly, a couple of things I failed to mention in my previous entry…  1) Noting my desire to remain here in Florida, gazes out across palms remind me daily that my dad seemed to wish I’d eventually settle here.  (Darn, but he’s buried about 90-minutes away from me, and he’d enticed me for years to “come on down” prior to his passing.)  2) Totally separate from my outside professional work, I was able to help guide and then follow my son through a relatively successful pro playing career, and my grandson through a record-breaking college career.  And, trust me:  Every step along the way was a learning experience, for them and for me.

This somewhat humorous reflection…  Many years ago, I won a fairly lucrative contract to run skills clinics for a MA-based youth organization in what I thought was an interesting way.  As it was related to me after that program’s closed meeting, I guess that a board member ultimately stood and said her piece:  “All of these applicants have big names, yet they can’t even teach their own kids how to play, while Dennis has taught his son well enough to be the best player in the region!”  (I’m chuckling as I type that, having to delete a whole bunch of expletives I understand were sprinkled throughout her real speech.)

I ended the previous post by mentioning that my son is now staying with Raggs and me for a time, as he attempts to put together a new Junior hockey team just around the corner from where I’m living.  Trust me, that this plays no small part in what is to follow…

Part 2 – What I REALLY Want to Do!

Ya, I forgot that message to the left, too, because I’m only a man, and I’ve never claimed to be able to do anything without help.

Okay, so I headed down here to Florida from Massachusetts during the mid-summer, but I’d actually started what I saw as my dream job much earlier.  I was no stranger to either the Junior level — having run an experimental program for USA Hockey many years ago, or recruiting — having head coached in college for 7-seasons.  I’d also seen the best and worst of that process, having watched Mike and Tony Chic go through similar experiences as teens.

Anyway, starting my new GM/coaching duties back in May, I’m going to suggest that I haven’t really left that job at all.  From Day One I began plotting my strategies towards building a “real program”, I’d started the recruiting process, and I’d also started putting together a scouting network that spans the entire hockey world — yes, I said the entire hockey world.  I’m even into some scouting services most folks in the business don’t even know about.  And don’t forget my social media contacts, because each of my 15,000-ish friends has friends of friends of friends.

Lest you think that my work ended when I left the St Cloud job, think again.  At that time, I’d already recruited more players than any other TEHL GM, and I still had a number of them on the way (some later funneled to my son’s team in Daytona Beach).  At the time, I was able to still keep a pulse on league goings on.  And, within days of the Tropical Elite Hockey League’s ultimate collapse, I proposed to my former owner a way that I might help her still make a success of her organization for years to come.  (Here I go chuckling to myself again, because shortly after telling me that she could do it on her own, she folded the Thunder’s tent and limped on back to Alaska.  Geeeeeeeze…)

I mentioned in that last paragraph about helping my former owner build an organization that would be successful for years to come.  I can’t help it, I guess, but that’s how I’m built — a delayed gratification kind of guy, who isn’t just looking for a quick fix.  Pay some dues now, don’t take any needless shortcuts, and it’s possible to have something truly worthwhile down the road.

I must admit that the whole TEHL thing was a nightmare to those of us who put our faith in one man and a special concept.  And, in a way, my son and I were probably torched as badly as anyone involved.  At the same time, there’s the chance we’ll both do much better in the end, mainly because we have staying power.  True enough, that I was close to ruined, and I’m sure my son feels no better off.  Yet, no one can take away the hockey knowledge in our heads, nor the passion in our hearts.  (I’m always reminded of a line from an old football movie, whereby a smaller guy looks up at a giant and warns, “You may beat me, but you’d better bring your lunch!”)

As I just hinted, a number of teams attempted to make it on their own as independents once the TEHL folded.  I predicted in an earlier blog post the kind of future I foresaw for each of the seven teams, and I think I was dead-on with all but one of them (and I was right about the St Cloud team’s chances, based on whether they brought me back or not).

Hardly breaking stride, I switched from my Thunder job to helping my son behind the scenes with his Daytona Beach team.  Not a lot changed, either, because I was helping Mike by doing special assignments, scouting, and trying to beat the bushes for some new recruits.  I also continued to keep a pulse on Junior hockey, from AAU happenings to USA Hockey procedures to what was going on in most of the Junior hockey leagues across North America.

You might find it interesting that I also never stopped gathering information.  In other words, I kept working as if I was still a Junior team GM, or in charge of a Junior team’s hockey operations.  I am an incessant hockey information gather, ya know, and my files and folders on all the related topics have just grown and grown, right through this morning.

Let me also share a bit of advice with anyone who is a professional — at anything…  Never limit yourself to studies having to do with just your own special field.  In fact, little innovation ever comes about in that way.  I learned that in my earliest years, studying the likes of great coaches, great businessmen, and great military leaders.  In one of my favorite hockey books of all-time, “Road to Olympus“, the late and great Soviet ice hockey coach, Anatoli Tarasov, cites more famous people from the theater than those in hockey.  In fact, you might borrow one of Tarasov’s favorite lines — and one that has been a guiding force for me, in that “To follow someone else is to always be second best.”

So, while I’ve been leaving no stone unturned in studying the right ways to put together a winning hockey operation, I believe I’ve been wise enough to also grab some slightly related ideas — from other kinds of recruiters, other business types, etc.  (I have a lady friend who is trained in Human Resources, and it’s just a matter of time before I start picking her brain, and maybe even asking if she recalls any suggested readings from her college days.)  The other day I downloaded and saved two different approaches from a publication every business thought leader has nearly memorized, and I also watched a documentary on that same classic, “The Art of War“.

So again, while it’s absolutely necessary to know your own field exceedingly well, you’re not likely to be tops in your profession without venturing outside for some new and innovative ideas.

Now, having perhaps beaten to death the idea that I’ve yet to really leave my job as a Junior hockey exec, here’s a bit more on that…  As I mentioned earlier, my son is now staying with Raggs and me, and it should come as no surprise that we constantly talk hockey.  Hey, it’s something we both know as well as anyone, and it’s something we never tire in discussing.  Our conversations might start over morning coffee, they’ll likely continue with the many phone calls that go in and out — with recruits, league or federation execs, or other GMs or coaches, and they’ll often pick up again late at night when Mike returns from his duties at the local rink.  Oh, those duties:   He’s Director of Hockey Operations for the one remaining TEHL team.  The fact that his organization is basically a startup, and wrought with all the challenges and craziness that comes with such, I’ll suggest that it’s the best kind of training he could ever get, and it’s the best stuff I could ever observe.  (Ya, my son is likely to get some gray hairs as he deals with all that can happen in a first season, but I’m thinking he’s learning more right now than could ever be found in a college text.  Come to think of it, that goes for me, as well.)

In most instances, I’m doing all the listening, and I’ll only on occasion offer my thoughts on a given subject.  Hey, it’s Mike’s neck in the noose, and he has to deal with things in ways that help him sleep at night.  I’m still feeling I’m on the job, though, as the discussions go from recruiting to fundraising to roster moves to dealing with ownership to the selection of team coaches and other staff.

Trust me, that I quiz Mike an awful lot…   And one recurring question has had to do with how many of the challenges — and especially the annoyances — could be avoided as a second-year organization, or under different circumstances.  From my observations, a lot of the things he has to endure are huge distractions, or they take away from his ability to deal with the most important matters.

Mike and I have also bantered around visions of the ideal organization.  And, since good players make up a huge part of a successful Junior program, we’ve attempted to list all those things that appeal to the decision makers — meaning the players and their parents.  (Trust me on that one, too, in that players and parents have some very different concerns, which means that the wisely run organization is going to touch all of those bases).

Interestingly, the cost cutting measures I’m hearing about down here for some Junior programs were used in my summer hockey schools a kzillion years ago.  As a matter of fact, I sense that few hockey guys in Florida have dealt as creatively with ice-time, scheduling and very large staffs in the way I learned to do.

At this stage of the game, I’ve seen an entire league go under, and I’ve had the chance to watch at least 7-teams deal with varying degrees of adversity.  (See my post on the House of Cards for a few of my thoughts in that area.)  Mentioning earlier my stabs at predicting which teams would fail and which ones had the chance to succeed, I believe I now know what it takes to build a Junior organization for the long haul.

And that brings me back to the reason I gave up just about everything back home to relocate so far away…  Of course, I saw the chance to develop a new Junior hockey organization as my dream job.  Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’m the creative type, and that I can get kinda possessed when taking on a really worthwhile challenge. That mindset started the night I was hired by the Thunder — back in May, and it hasn’t subsided all that much while I’ve been on the sidelines.  I hardly slept a wink that first night on the job, or on many subsequent nights thereafter.  Actually, I haven’t had any set “work hours” in probably 40-ish years; I mean, I love what I do, and the job is only done when it’s done.

So, what is it I REALLY want to do with the rest of my life?  I want another crack at that dream job, and I want the chance to develop as good a Junior hockey organization as anyone has ever seen.  Would I coach?  Only if it helped the organization.  Would I want to GM, or be in charge of hockey ops?  Ya, that’s what I’m talking about, a chance to put a program on the map.

The truth is, I do have a VERY DESIRABLE location in mind, and one that projects to be a huge success, both in the short and long term.  Again, read my post concerning the House of Cards, to gain an understanding of why so many TEHL teams failed.  Down the road, maybe Mike Chic can also ultimately share his thoughts on why some startup hockey operations might more than struggle in the beginning.

I will let friends in on one secret, however…  Time is of the essence.  One HUGE mistake made by the TEHL Commissioner had to do with the short window given before all teams had to be in full swing — like 4-months for the earliest members, and closer to a couple of months for the later arrivals.  Not fair, and not right.  In reality, time is needed to put an organization in place, to establish an identity for the organization, and to start entertaining players — exactly in that order.  New players and their parents are looking for tangibles, and they’re not likely to make the commitment a club asks without sensing that club can produce all it’s promised.  (In my mind, it’s getting late already, because no one does any job rightly when they’re having to rush important steps.)

Yet another aside…  As I got around the recruiting circuit this past summer, I discovered a wide array of offerings by different Junior programs, with just as wide a difference in what they’re charging their players.  Perhaps the “going rate” for a basic program might be in the vicinity of $8000 for a season.  However, would you believe I came across one organization that charges $25,000 to their members, and they were supposedly turning players away?  You can spell the difference:  A-M-E-N-I-T-I-E-S, plus the reputation for keeping its promises.

Okay, so I’ve sorta been dreaming out loud or musing through most of this entry.  Ya, because if there’s anything wrong with all I’ve said to this point, it’s that I couldn’t possibly undertake my dream job on my own.  Oh, I can definitely design a plan that will work.  And, I can definitely carry out that plan — right to the first puck-drop, and ultimately to the hoisting of a championship banner.  What I’m no longer in a position to do (sigh) is fund such an undertaking.

What I’m getting at is the need for an investor, or more likely a group of investors.  Given the time — and resources, a new organization can step into a prestigious playing schedule, an upbeat city, and a welcoming arena.

Do I have a Plan B and a Plan C?  For sure.  But, at least for the next few weeks — or until the window of opportunity appears to be closing for my plan, why settle for anything less than my dream job?

We Live, We Learn, We Move Forward – Part 1

There’s no doubt I’ve been through a lot over the past 7-months — feeling I’d been lied to, used, ditched and abused.  (Not that I didn’t make my own mistakes along the way; truly, I did — in fact, I made a bunch of them.)  That stuff is documented pretty well in my last two posts, though, if you need to play some catch-up (“House of Cards” and “Yup, I’ve Been Fired!“).

Personally, I’ve turned a cheek on most of those events in the time that’s passed — mainly because dwelling on them seems to suit no useful purpose.  Earlier today, I caught an on-line lecture by a business coach, his main message suggesting that we ought not allow ourselves to be crippled by acting the victim.  (Think about that one, dear friends.)  I also saw the wisdom in the adjoining old adage, urging us to not quit.*

Now, describing my recent transition is likely to require a lot of ‘splaining — .  So, I’ll cover it in two parts, beginning today with my need to assess where I am, and what I have to work with…

Part 1 – Ya, don’t quit…

Ever felt the urge to, though — I mean, like in ending it all?  Don’t lie; I have to believe that it’s crossed the mind of every grownup at one time or another.  You’re still here reading this, though — and I’m still typing, which suggests to me that we both ultimately came around to another, better alternative.  In my case, I frequently get my first kick in the pants from something like this…

“You are a poor specimen if you can’t stand
the pressure of adversity.” ~ Proverbs, 24-10

Ha…  It’s almost as if King Solomon knew I was coming — thousands of years later.

That aside, I sense that we all have our own ways of dealing with adversity, overwhelm, frustration, what have you.  When I was younger, I did the usual — like pumping some iron, going for a run, or punching a piano.  (Ha, again, because I aged rather quickly with that last one, discovering uprights don’t budge a bit, while all the small bones in the human hand surely do.  Ugh.)

Lucky for me, I found yet another outlet some 20-odd years ago.  That’s when I was asked to write an advice oriented column for a popular hockey magazine (a few years later I also started writing for a second one).  Before the birth of CoachChic.com, I was able to address reader questions in hardcopy print.  Trust me, that it was an awesome forum in which to vent — about the things I saw wrong in hockey, about some slightly related pet peeves, and about the solutions I proposed for all of those.  (Interestingly, many of the ideas I shared in that long running column did influence the game around North America.  How do I know?  It’s because I saw the right kinds of changes gradually happening, and I was also told so by a number of higher-ups in our game.)

Of course, the two mags I wrote for have since gone the way of the dinosaurs, so I’m thankful I can continue influencing my favorite sport in digital format.  CoachChic.com is where I can deal with the way things ought to be when it comes to hockey skills, tactics, strategies and so much more.  Only in recent years did I see the need for a slightly related website — the one you’re now reading, where I can share with friends what it’s like to be me on a day to day basis.

So yes, I still have my writing to run to when it seems I’m stalled on other fronts.

Nowadays, I also have social media…  I’ll bet you didn’t know that I was one of the first on LinkedIn — back when new members had to be invited; I was one of the early birds on Twitter (pun intended ); I was invited to test Google+ when that first started; yet I was actually a fairly late arriver to Facebook (where I’ve quickly caught up and garnered around 4200 friends).  My point:  With upwards of 15,000 social media contacts today, there’s no shortage of people for me to interact with.

Here’s some food for thought…  Today, there is a growing number of folks working from home — I call us “soloists”.  And, while the lifestyle can be nice — including the 10-second commutes from our beds to our desks, it surely can be lonely.  So, for us, a preferred social media site often acts as our water cooler.  In my case, I find several sites unbelievable for both help and friendship.  For example, lacking an IT department in my “office”, I frequently find that kind of help — sometimes  in an instant — via on-line friends like Mike Mahony, Deb Kolaras and Tracey Thorpe Tarrant.  And, while I often spend long stretches of time engrossed in writing or producing a video, it’s comforting to know that I can even get a cyber hug just about any time I need one.

You’re wondering where I’m going with all this, huh?  Well, it’s all a part of the self-assessment I felt necessary before I could determine a new direction.  In a way, I felt I had to list all I have going for me — and even against me — as I ready to plot a new course.  And, quite obviously, I thought I’d give you a little background to the decisions I’ll ultimately be making.

My friends in social media know that I bring my laptop and a cup of coffee with me to the back patio each morning, and I basically marvel at the view before me — including the palm trees, the small pond, its beautiful water fountain, and a host of wildlife not seen back in Massachusetts.  My trusted buddy Raggs usually falls asleep at my feet, each of us providing more than a little comfort for the other, just knowing our best friend is close by.  Not long after all the craziness happened, I let the people running this complex know that the league I’d come down here for had folded, and I’d lost my job.  Asked what I planned to do, all I could say was, “I love it right here, and I hope to stay for a long, long time.”

So, that’s one of the givens:  that I plan on staying, and fighting.  There was no need to tell my landlord that I’d spent nearly every cent I had –  recruiting for my former team; getting myself, Raggs and our belongings down here; and trying to arrange the right conditions so I could get my work done well.  (In other words, just paying the rent and feeding Raggs and me is going to be a challenge.)  I say those things now, however, because they’re also part of the givens, or the current reality.

I won’t bore you with my resume, except to say that I worked pretty near year-round at hockey for over 40-years.  I head coached a team for just about every one of the winters included in that span, I’d run my own clinics on off winter days or nights, and then I’d run some of the largest hockey clinics and schools in New England during the spring and summer months.  And, while some coaches prefer one age group over another, I’ve always considered myself lucky to have worked with every level — from toddlers to college guys, and even getting the chance to train a good many pros during their off-seasons.

In a way, I think the latter has put me ahead of some of the biggest names in the game.  I mean, the pro and college coaches might know how to select the world’s top talents, and they even know what to do with them once they’re on the roster.  What few of them can do — and what I can do exceedingly well — is solve the problems of younger players so that they ultimately meet elite level requirements.

Anyway, yet another reality — or given — is that I’m virtually unknown here in the Sunshine State.  Some folks back home in New England might say that I’m one of the tops in the world when it comes to doing what I do, but it’s doubtful anyone here even knows I exist, or that I might be just down the road from them.  Oh, trust me, that I’ve done some sulking over that.  However, as I’ve come to realize in recent days, self pity serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

“Any enterprise is built by wise planning,
becomes strong through common sense,
and profits wonderfully by keeping
abreast of the facts.” ~ Proverbs, 24 – 3, 4

Sooooooo…  When it finally came to the facts — or that self-analysis, I included my power within social media as one of them.  Right along with that is my CoachChic. membership site, with friends there from all over the world.  Our interactions tend to serve an awesome dual purpose:   I know I help my members a lot by quickly dealing with their questions, while I also keep the cutting edge advice pouring into that site for them.  Selfishly, though, the chance to interact keeps me very much alive, and constantly thinking about the game.

Perhaps you didn’t know that I have an on-line hockey store, that featuring many products you wouldn’t find anywhere else.  To be honest, though, I haven’t done that site justice lately, which means that this whole self-analysis thing was long overdue.  Upon realizing that, I immediately joined forces with another hockey guy to launch Black Weekend (or an extended version of the current Black Friday craze).

What some might not know is that I’ve published quite a few hockey training manuals, and — having worked with video since 1980, I’ve more recently produced at least 20 instructional videos that are scattered between my membership site and my on-line store.  Could I do more?    In my sleep.

Enter my son, Michael…  Actually, of all the people who were supposed to take part in the new Junior league down here, Mike and I are the only ones remaining.  (Interesting, huh?  I think at least part of the reason is that we probably believed in the league’s concepts more than some others, while we both probably also have a lot more dedication to the game.)  Anyway, Mike is staying with Raggs and me for the time being, as he attempts to put together a new team playing out of the local Ice Factory.  My guess is that most hockey folks would love to be a fly on the wall as we discuss the  game nearly 24/7.  Trust me, that those conversations hold some meaning to all this.  So, while I won’t be giving you any details on those talks, I promise that they will have a huge bearing on what I plan to tell you in Part 2.

Finally, as far as that last graphic just above goes, it was a recent gift from my good friend and favorite cheerleader, Brenda V.  As it suggests, I’m kinda banking on the chance to look back on recent events, and having myself a really good laugh.

See you all within a day or so, on where I hope to be pretty shortly.

The House of Cards

It appears that over a thousand friends have thus far read my last blog post, that one titled, “Yup, I’ve Been Fired!“  If you haven’t yet, you might want to scan it, since I may be referring to that sequence of events from time to time.

I’m kinda hoping that this is the end of the morbid sort of posts for awhile.  At least one can pray that’s so.  As a matter of fact, as I finished the first draft on this post, I sickened from mentioning my firing.  It’s necessary at times — as a frame of reference, but I decided later to just label as many events as possible as happening before, on, or after that sad day as “September 1, 2012″.

I’ll have you know that I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV.  With that, most of the following comes from the way I experienced things or feel them in my gut.  I don’t believe I’ve made any accusations here, and any wrongdoings mentioned at all are purely alleged.   

As for the so-called “House of Cards”, well…

Only in retrospect can I now piece together some of the things that may have at least partly contributed to my firing.  Ya, in retrospect I now understand why several long-time hockey friends were reluctant to help with my player recruiting efforts, only looking back now can I have a sense of why there was no real outcry from the league’s Commissioner on or after September 1, and only in hindsight can I assume why so many team owners climbed on board the former TEHL train.

Yes, I did call it the “former” TEHL.

At least the way I understand things, the league’s founder gathered bits and pieces from the prior works of a business plan designed for a start-up minor pro league, and he tweaked it (with some help, I’m sure) to fit the needs of a Junior level league.  He’d call it the Tropical Elite Hockey League, and base all of the teams not too far apart in the sunny state of Florida.

I’d seen the pro version of the business plan, and then subsequent ones geared to amateurs, and I loved most of what those contained.  Moreover, I really loved some of the thinking outside the plans…  Thinking “kids first” is always a valiant cause.  Along with that was the aim to have quality coaches in place who knew how to get players ready for the next step.  And those coaches also had to have pro and/or college contacts, so they could help place their kids at those next levels.  Better yet, every organization was asked to work with the others, this to include each coach’s willingness to help place players from other teams.  As was stated numerous times in the early going, the idea was for the entire league to show a great track record when it came to ultimately helping their players make college or pro teams.

Oh, and don’t think that plopping this new league in the middle of the Sunshine State didn’t have it’s own merits.  Hey, who wouldn’t want to coach here?  What players wouldn’t want to go to their hockey practices and then take a swim — outdoors, and in dawgone January?  And, we figured the scouts would even look forward to coming down to see our games, rather than the ones played in your typical frozen northern tundra.

Besides all that, I think there were other factors that made it relatively easy to sell the league concept to potential team owners…  High on the list had to be the founder’s outgoing first impression (explained further in awhile).  Secondly, a potential owner could believe (or be convinced?) that he or she didn’t need much out-of-pocket money to get going.  Hey, the initial payment was only $5000, with subsequent payments not due until after all the team’s players began paying to join (yes, $5500 x 20+ players comes to a tidy sum).   Of course, this put tons of pressure on a team’s general manager, because it was up to him to recruit the players and basically generate all that income — in a matter of just a few weeks.  So, if there’s one thing everyone should realize in hindsight, it’s that not such a rosy picture should have been painted for the potential owners.  I still believe most of the concepts put forth for the TEHL would have worked.  It just would have taken some time, patience, and a little cash reserves.

A funny thing happened on my way to this sunny forum…  I’d only known the league founder through telephone conversations, emails and other on-line messaging platforms.  We seemed to hit it off quite well, at first sharing similar feelings about coaching the game — how things ought to be done in the game, etc.  (We met briefly during a 3-day tryout camp for the league in late June, but that was too hectic a time to really get to know one another.)   Once I became involved in the league, however, I began to hear some negatives about this guy.  Hmmmmmmmmm…

In his defense (as well as mine), it’s hard to judge some of the things I began hearing, because the founder was a long time coach.  I mean, when it comes to coaches, there are often tons of players and parents on a team who love you, and there is always at least one who hates you.  And, let me tell you, the one or two who hate you are a lot more vocal than the ones who liked what you did for them.  I’ve lived with that for 40-years, and I’m guessing that every coach (or boss in any business) knows exactly what I’m saying.  So, maybe you can appreciate me taking a few of the negative things I heard about the founder in stride.

One thing I do know, though — again in retrospect, is that a lot of my long time hockey friends were standoffish when I asked them for help — like when I asked them to point me towards some good Junior-eligible hockey players.  Some even hinted at being leery about sending players to a league that “that guy” was running.  Of course, it still meant nothing to me at the time, when a few of them said something like, “Let me get back to you on that.”  Of course, they never did get back, nor would some of them answer my subsequent emails or telephone calls later on — many of them to guys I’d known for years.  ???  I say again, though, that I never really put all those pieces together (I guess I was too darn busy scrambling my buns off).

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I did a lot of work from home in Massachusetts for a few months.  So I didn’t really start getting to know the founder and self-appointed Commissioner until I arrived down here for good in Kissimmee, Florida on August 1.

At the start, I found him to be a friendly kind of guy — sort of a big, cuddly bear of a man.  Amid the shared laughs, though, we didn’t agree on a number of things.  I just had a vision of how a league — and a league office — should run.  And none of those things seemed to be getting done.  Even when I just casually mentioned a few more things, those seemed to fall on deaf ears.

As an aside…  You might find me a little odd when it comes to discussing a touchy issue, because I’ll only go to the point where I feel it’s a real give and take.  Very much connected to this is something I heard my dad say a few times, in that, “Once someone feels the need to raise their voice, you know they have nothing to REALLY say.”  (Ya, think about that one, because you probably know someone who is just like that:  They start to rant and rave as soon as they don’t have a real explanation.)

I’d like you to also understand the above because I think it entered big time into our relationship.  I’d ask about something, we might start to discuss it, but it wasn’t long before the guy’s voice would lift, or he’d just change the subject.

With that, here’s something else you need to know about me…  Even though you might tune me out, my stance isn’t going to change one iota, IF I feel I’m in the right.  Rant all you want, but that doesn’t win the argument, nor sway me.  If anything, it shows weakness on your part, or an unwillingness to really get to the right answer.

I think anyone in their right mind would agree with one of my earliest recommendations, to have a league website up and running, even if it was at first a WordPress or Blogger freebie.  I was having recruits and the parents of recruits constantly asking me if there was a website they could go to, and I had to each time tell them it was coming — for like a couple of months.  As anyone reading this knows, today is a new age, and customers are now used to being able to visit a company’s site for added information.  What I was worried most about, however, is that a site would have given us a little more credibility (more on this a little later).  Adding one more thing in retrospect, there’s a good chance the absence of a league website — and the occasional loss of players because we didn’t have one — at least partly cost me my job.

I also doubt that anyone would argue the need for daily — and maybe sometimes hourly — communications, from the league office to member teams.  When this got particularly tricky was just before September 1, when it would have been helpful to know which of my recruits had submitted their contracts and deposits, and thus belonged to my team.  Nothing complicated, really…  The Commissioner (or his wife) picks up the mail in the morning, and then hours later announces to all member teams, “John Smith, a defenseman from Timbuktu, has been signed by the Daytona Beach Blaze.”  Hey, this guy was supposed to be overseeing a major undertaking down here, an awful lot of blood, sweat, tears — and money — was being invested by countless people, and it just seems as though everyone deserved to know what was going on.

I also heard often that stray players were contacting the league office, looking for a place to play.  If that was so, it would have been nice to see that constantly adjusted list on a daily basis.  (Right up until September 1, I still hadn’t had a single player pointed my way — oh, except for goaltenders, once I’d already signed two.)

Anyway, since much of this post involves my looking back at some things that didn’t initially strike me as odd, I know now that by never bending in my stance — about the right way to do business — I surely didn’t endear myself to the Commissioner.  And, when I did get fired, it makes all the more sense why he never wrote or called to even say he was sorry (never mind offering to help me out in some way).  No, it’s quite possible he felt I was on to him, or on to what we’d all learn just days later.

Yes, days later…   Ever since the TEHL was first announced, the owner of a popular Junior hockey website started bashing the league — or, so we thought he was bashing the league.  More often than not, he was undressing the new league’s Commissioner.  What we were told — by the Commission and his wife — ranged from it being a personal thing to the fact that the TEHL was not advertising on the guy’s website.

Should a red flag have gone up?  Probably.  But those down here battling for what we believed in banded together instead.  I for one — despite disagreeing with many of the Commissioner’s business methods — was as worried about my own duties as all the other guys.  For the most part, those of us responsible for teams had to ignore the attacks and just press onward.

Only days after September 1, the house of cards started to sway.  Quite obviously, the rest of what I know is mostly hearsay, because I was no longer a part of the league.  I was, however, still plunked here in Kissimmee, trying to figure how I was going to survive, and only hearing bits and pieces of what was happening with TEHL affairs.

I think that a couple of new and damaging articles on that Junior hockey website contributed to the cards shaking some.  And it’s hard to know whether they contributed to a few league owners having some questions in reference to the way some things might be going on in the TEHL office.  (Just so you know, owners had already submitted their $5000 deposits, $500 from every player application went to the league office, and a larger payment was due from the owners very shortly.  So, one can’t blame those owners for wanting to be sure the league was on solid ground.)

The rest of what happened I kinda know, but I don’t think it’s fair to share it here.  Hey, I wouldn’t feel right if I explained things even a tad incorrectly.  Nor would it be ethical on my part to try to share what I believe others were thinking.  So, let me just say that the final outcome to things is that the Commissioner ultimately volunteered to step aside for a time, likely pending further investigation into the handling of some league affairs.  I guess, though, that the temporarily stepping aside thing is moot now, based on the following…

For, on the heels of all that came the word from AAU that the TEHL was no more.  And along with that, seven teams were basically told that they were on their own, or basically cut adrift to fend for themselves.  (My sarcastic way of saying it is that, it’s up to the remaining teams to now sink or swim.)

One sad way to look at all this is that a bunch of people had been dragged far from home — and invested not a little bit of money — on a promise of building something rather unique, something rather special.  And, within less than a day, a great many of those aspirations were pretty near gone…  Poof.

As the TEHL cards came tumbling down, I had some personal thoughts.  I was still stuck here in Central Florida, out of work, and still itching to somehow immerse myself in hockey again.

My initial reaction was that — although I wouldn’t necessarily call it my dream job, I wouldn’t mind acting as an interim commissioner and try to right that ship.  For sure, I’d seen plenty of things over the previous months that should have been done, and I had plenty more ideas looking forward.  Hopes of doing that were quickly snuffed, however, as soon as the league was officially disbanded.  Again, it was now just seven teams scrambling to stay afloat.

Then…  Oh, boy, then…  Despite the way I was previously handled and then dismissed by the St Cloud owner, I have always put business before emotions.  And think along with me here:  I had arranged everything around totally dedicating myself to the St Cloud job, including finding a house almost within walking distance to the rink, I was even paying extra for a room I could use for my video work and such, and I had already started getting around the St Cloud community to create some buzz.  Right about now, I envisioned my former owner — and shrimp boat magnate — dead in the water, or without a rudder.  Moreover, I suspected that, having finally arrived in Florida — long after September 1, she’d discovered that the true challenges down here weren’t as easy to handle as she thought.  With that, I drafted a pretty long email describing all the things I might do for her, and I sent it along with the subject line, “Maybe Burying The Hatchet”.   A few days later I received a rejection.  No big deal, really, especially with her explanation that she couldn’t afford me.  On the other hand, the reason she gave for axing me is something she’ll likely regret someday.

Okay, so the TEHL no longer exists.  Worse yet, all the good things the former commissioner had hoped for the league had also vanished.  And this is no small thing…  I see the possibility of two elite level coaches remaining, and there could be a third.  I see one true hockey man in a front office.   Worse yet, there’s really only one guy left among the remaining teams with contacts to college coaches and pro scouts.

The way I see things, my value won’t be realized by anyone in the league until probably mid-season, which will be too late for me, or too late for my efforts to matter…

Besides the normal day to day things that keep a hockey team functioning, players need to be polishing certain areas of their game that will endear them to the scouts.  Trust me, that I’m a master at that.  So am I a master at solving player problems (I designed a team-play teaching format that has awed NHL coaches, I invented a skating device that cures a skater’s stride in no time, and those things only tend to overshadow the new drills I create nearly every day to solve some player’s problem.)

Worse yet, most team owners aren’t going to notice they’re missing anything until they try to find places for their guys to go.   True enough, that all one needs to do is pick up a phone and ask for a pro scout or college coach.  Whether it gets answered on the other end is another matter, and whether the guy on the other end of the line believes you is yet another.

Spilled milk left to dry, I’ll stop my crying and get on to some predictions.  For, a lot of people will be watching and wondering what will come of the different stray teams left over from the house of cards.

On the day before the cards came tumbling down, there were seven.  Why seven teams?  Ya, surely an odd number, and one that never set too well with me.  In my gut, it was a hint of greed, or an opportunity for the league to collect more team membership fees and more player deposits.  (Actually, if you want to read about what I think happened, go to Amazon.com and grab a copy of my good friend Richard Neil Graham’s book, “Wheelers, Dealers, Pucks & Bucks“, to get an even better understanding.  Within those pages you’ll discover how another great idea also tumbled down like a house of cards.)

Of the seven, I see only one proving to be all that was promised many months ago, and it just might do better than that.  I see two teams perhaps not playing this season, but most likely coming back to challenge the first one in 2013-14.  I’m betting that two of the remaining four will never, ever play a game.  And, of the last two, I see the likelihood of only one surviving to play a second season.

Those remaining two play out of the same arena.  Grrrrrrrrr…  From the very start I called that, “Stupid!  Stupid!  Stupid!”  Why?  It’s partly because one is owned by the rink, and the other is ultimately going to feel like an ugly stepchild.  From a coach’s perspective, want to have a closed practice for your powerplay or whatever?  Ha.  And from a business standpoint, the two teams are going to be vying for fan attention, press attention, sponsor dollars, and more.  Hey, most rinks are surrounded by 360-degrees of opportunity, where those two teams are sorta relegated to 180 each.

My old team just happens to be the stepchild, with the other owned and operated by the rink.  I see no intentional problems there in the start — the rink people are as nice as can be, but the situation is always going be what it is.  Without a doubt, I see the rink owned team surviving for years to come.  I even see my old owner being a tough enough buzzard to make it through this season.  Only time will tell if she has the staying power to create an elite organization (perhaps in a new facility) for the future.

As for me, I’ll join my son’s team in Daytona Beach, but only on a special assignment basis.  I’m going to do some freelance hockey writing, I’m making myself available to local youth hockey programs, as well as continuing with my many on-line businesses.

A fleeting thought I’ve had over recent days is to start my own team.  Somehow I can’t see 40+ years of hockey knowledge and experience going down the drain.  I’ll also have the benefit of sitting and watching the remaining teams, to learn from their successes and failures.

*

PS:  My good friend, Brenda V, is from Montreal, Canada, and she is perhaps the rosiest personality I have ever encountered.  Anyway, true to form this morning, she sent me a reminder that, “Life has good surprises also, not just bad ones…”  With that, I will once again hope this is my last morbid post for a good long while.

Yup, I’ve Been Fired!

Please understand that this isn’t something I wanted to write — it’s something I felt I had to write.  Shortly you’ll know why.

This entry is also a little late, again for reasons I’ll need to explain.

Ya, you read that title (and various other posts around the Internet) right.

So, why did I feel the need to address all the gory details here?  It’s because I’d spent months hyping the new Tropical Elite Hockey League, I’d promoted my new team to every hockey and social media contact I had (literally around the world), and I’d posted regularly throughout Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.  I even had some fun telling about the exploits of little Raggs and me in transition — from our lifelong home in Massachusetts to the day to day grind of me being a GM/hockey coach down here in the Sunshine State.  With that, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to just suddenly change my work status without answering a myriad of questions (from upwards of 15,000 on-line folks).  So, sadly, the explanation is to follow…

The reason I stalled a bit on this announcement was so I wouldn’t rattle a number of great young hockey players who were still exploring opportunities in the TEHL.  There was nothing I could do about the guys I’d already enlisted for my original team (hopefully those kids and parents will come to understand), but I knew I surely could save the few who were still up in the air.  (And, thank God, I was able to place a few awesome players elsewhere.)

Okay, so about the firing…  It actually took place in what some friends have called a “classless” act — in an email that arrived in my inbox at 1-minute before midnight on September 1.  (Just that might give you an indication of what kind of person I’d been “working for” over a few short months.)  Needless to say, I spent a number of hours that night staring up at my ceiling, and on occasion climbing out of bed to pace when sleep wouldn’t come.  If you can appreciate it, I’d never been fired from anything in my entire adult life.  So, classless?  Well, you decide…

Actually, I think the situation started badly — on at least two fronts…

First, I don’t think I was hand picked by my team owner, but instead suggested to her by the league’s Commissioner.  In other words, she likely felt no loyalty to me, and she didn’t know me from Adam.  (At the same time, I suspect I was placed with her for good reason — so that she could rely upon my years of experience over a long and grueling season of high level hockey.)

Secondly, we never even communicated until close to two months after I’d been appointed.  She’s a shrimp boat owner from Alaska, you see, and she was evidently extremely busy in her work until very recently.

Then, if there’s a third thing that went wrong in that relationship, it’s that our first ever conversation had to be about money.  That’s not a favorite topic of mine, and I’m wondering how many other folks feel the same.  Still, I had to ask her at one point if she’d perhaps reimburse me for a very costly trip I had to make — for the team’s sake — to the league’s first tryout camp in Florida.

I’m not the type to take advantage of such situations, so I did everything economy-style, and didn’t even submit receipts for things others might have.  No matter, getting reimbursed proved a slight nightmare.  In fact, in reflection, I think the entire fiasco ended up being all about money…

As many of my closest friends know, I perceived my new assignment as my “dream job“.  And, just like I began with other new positions over my 40-years in coaching, I really dug in, beginning the night I was hired.  From that moment on, I (maybe wrongly) even abandoned other work back home to start building my team.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t connect with my owner for so long because it appeared that the Commissioner was pretty much dealing in her behalf while she took care of the shrimping.  That worked for me, because I had plenty to do over those first few months.  In fact, already believing I’d make a fairly decent salary once I got on the job, it didn’t initially bother me that I was spending a lot of my own money — mainly going to player showcases and racking up some hefty cell phone bills (picture calls to numerous US states and Canadian provinces, as well as to far away countries like Latvia and Germany).

Now, I’m the sort to think in pictures (a visual guy is what I am), so I knew I needed a timetable for how things would work:  when my players would need to start school, when the first practices would be, etc.  In other words, back in May, I’d have loved to have been able to look at a calendar and visually see deadlines of all sorts.  Knowing such things also would have made it easier for me to plan my physical move from Massachusetts to Florida.  Unfortunately, nothing more than a permissible start date for practice ice-time came early enough to help me…

Sometime in late June, things did turn a bit.  Suddenly the Commissioner thought it important for me to get down south and on the job — like in a hurry.  Whoa!  I had a huge house and a separate downtown office to empty.  And, looking at the combination of what I’d already spent and what it would cost to relocate, I thought it a good idea to know that I’d begin getting a paycheck once I did get on the job.  Those things in mind, I suggested a relatively sane date for both the owner’s sake and mine, with August 1 giving me about a month to get a whole lot of things done back home.  I think the owner’s response was, “That’s fine.”  Oh, it didn’t sound like a thrilled or enthusiastic response, but…

At this point, I have to ask you:  What amount of money would you have been willing to spend in order to do something you thought you were going to really love?  Well, I’d said good-bye to nearly $5000 by the time I arrived in Florida, and it crept closer to $7000 by September 1.

Okay, so those money issues…

At a time when I could have really used the cash flow, a money order reimbursing me for the tryout expenses arrived botched (it took about 5-days to come in the mail from Alaska to Florida, and it was dawgone unsigned, which caused my bank to inform me that it wouldn’t be good to use for about 7-days).    The night before that check did clear, my debit card was rejected at a grocery store as I attempted to buy that night’s dinner.  (Talk about wanting to cry.)

That experience — of dealing with checks from far away Alaska — confirmed what my banker had advised me, in that my paychecks should be done as direct deposits.

Of course, I still had the need to use my cell phone — and actually all my own resources — for the sake of recruiting and conducting other team business.   So, I thought it time to ask my owner about at least helping with the telephone charges, suggesting that she might arrange a company phone for me.

Her answer to both the direct deposit and telephone questions was, “I’ll have to think about.”  With that, she sailed to sea on her shrimp boat for about a week.

I’ll ask you again, just how much of your own money would you have put into what I was doing?  No matter, because that was just about it for me.  I was close to broke, mainly from spending all my own money on my owner’s business…

Many Facebook friends must have wondered what was going on when I posted the accompanying photo along with the claim that I was temporarily off the job.  You see, two weeks had gone by since I arrived in Florida, and the best answer I could get about a paycheck was that my owner would think about it.

Of course, if she rejected the idea of making direct deposits, I’d be left to wait 5- to 7-days for a check to arrive, and then a possible week more for it to clear.  If she rejects my request for a company phone, I’m going to continue to shell out tons of my own money to do business for her.  So, I ask you yet another question:  Who benefits from all these stall tactics?  Ha!

Well, despite getting some crap (from her and other unnamed sources), I evidently did get my owner’s attention.  I mean, she agreed to send me $1500 (how the heck she arrived at that number I’ll never know).  Of course, she must have been chuckling at my pain, as that money order (this time signed) came by way of the usual Alaskan Pony Express.

By the way, I think it’s been well established (over about 40-years) that I love what I do.  I’m also nobody’s fool, and I wasn’t really about to quit recruiting, despite saying so.  No, as I later told her and the league Commissioner, “I never missed a stroke” during that time I’d threatened to sit out.

Okay, so why do I think I got canned?

To begin, it’s my understanding that my owner put up $5000 for the right to fire me.  (Please don’t laugh at the fact that I’ve invested more so far than she has; it pains me too much.)  And my job was to recruit enough players to help make her next league payment.  (Again, don’t laugh, just because it’s her GM/coach’s blood, sweat and tears — not to mention mostly his money — that would help her to continue to be an owner!)  Well, while I didn’t by any means have a full roster yet, my understanding was that I wasn’t doing badly compared to most others.  In fact, I was told several times by league personnel that I was doing better than others.  Actually, a few more recruits submitted contracts after my firing, and yet more interested players are still becoming available from teams and leagues that are folding, from tryout camps where they didn’t make the cut, etc.  So, just to sort through all that, there would have been plenty of players long-term, but I believe my owner was more concerned with not waiting, and not needing to use her own money to keep things going.

If she can hang anything on me, it’s that certain other things I should have accomplished haven’t yet been done.  If I have any excuses — about finding housing for some kids, or finding jobs for some others, here goes…  First, I’m uneasy about putting extreme pressure on a few local folks who volunteered to help.  Secondly, if you get the sense that I’m all alone down here, you’re right.  My owner has threatened to come for several weeks, and still hasn’t shown.  Moreover, with her asking far too often how many kids I had signed, I too often dropped those other projects and jumped right back on the recruiting.  Again, I’ve been alone here, and I could only do one thing at a time.

Here’s the bottom line, though, along with a final question…  How well would you function if you were trapped to extremely low resources?  I’ll tell you this:  I can shift into overwhelm mode when I’m worried about bills.  And, faced with still having to pay for all my recruiting efforts, just imagine how I feared making or taking too many long distance calls, or buying the gas to attend meetings or games where recruits might be seen.  In other words, while my owner was crying about needing more players to pay her bills, she was actually keeping me poor and hampering my ability to reach those players.  Some might call that “penny wise and pound foolish”, but I spell it “S-T-U-P-I-D”!

You might even laugh at me again, as I tell you that I spent $30 on gas to travel to and from Orlando for a showcase — on the two nights leading up to my firing.  Maybe you’ll also laugh at me, knowing that I’ve been paid a grand total of $1500 for exactly one month’s time on the job (from August 1 to September 1).  To this day, she still owes me about $50 that was missing from my reimbursement check.  (At first I thought that was just a clerical error, but not after following her track record.  My guess:  She just tried to beat me out of that money.)

Lastly, although I’m far from home and without a job right now, and although my reputation might be slightly tarnished, I’m almost relieved to be relieved.  In all my conversations with that woman, I found her kinda hard to like — a hockey mom with power and (supposed?) money (some of it still mine).

*

Footnote 1:  If there’s another reason I needed to write this, it’s for closure.  So, unlike any other post I’ve ever written, this one is only staying visible for awhile — mainly so it answers friends’ questions, and somehow unwrenches my gut (punching a keyboard is more productive than other alternatives).

Footnote 2:  Shortly after my firing, a friend asked who might replace me.  A light suddenly came on, and I blurted out, “Someone like that doesn’t pull the trigger unless she already had a coach more to her liking (like someone she can control, and get for even less money)!”  God help him.  Hopefully he sees this, too, so that he might find a way to be paid in advance.

Footnote 3:  I’ve already explained why I believe I was fired — mainly because I didn’t recruit enough players to fund her next steps in the team purchase.  However, once that team is full, she and her players are going to miss what I could have done for them — in the way of coaching and readying them to please scouts, and in making the necessary college and pro contacts several months down the road.

Footnote 4:  In case anyone is wondering what the current recruiting process is like, I need to start by saying that a lot of potential recruits don’t exactly tell the truth.  Oh, some players are sincere from the get-go, and they either sign or don’t sign fairly quickly.  The majority of kids, however, only let the GM know that they’re “fairly interested”.  The GM seldom gets a real explanation, but they likely know that they’re going to attend a number of other tryouts before making a final decision.  Some have dreams of a higher level, some are hoping to make a team closer to home, some are hoping to avoid paying to play — or paying less than our league, and so on.  As you can see, then, it’s a drawn out process, that requires numerous follow-ups — in the way of phone calls, emails, social media messages, etc.  And that’s something my owner both failed to realize and actually hampered me in doing.

Footnote 5:  There are folks “out there” who are hoping the TEHL fails.  And, upon first glance, someone is going to think the above is good fodder for them to write about and cheer about.  Sorry, SH, but this is a story about one difficult owner, and not an indictment of the league and its concept.  The other owners and coaches I’ve met or talked with so far are hard at it, and doing things the right way.  For sure I feel at least slightly wronged by the league, but that’s an issue for another time.

Footnote 6:  Do I believe anyone could have helped save my job — other than me, or a smarter owner?  I guess I’m going to leave that to the consciences of a number of folks.  I did surely take note of the calls and messages that came in (or didn’t come in) right after the firing.  In fact, my first Facebook post on the morning after noted that, “The silence is deafening!”  Ya, and some still haven’t said a word.

Footnote 7:  What’s going to come of me and Raggs?  Well, God’s had answers in the past, and I’m betting he has another one in store for us.  Stay tuned.

I (Also) Had A Dream (or Two)

I know I haven’t posted much recently.  Trust me, that it isn’t because nothing has been going on in my hockey or personal life.  To the contrary, there’s been far too much for me to keep up with in type.  That said, I will have some updates for you within this and my next few diary entries.  Promise.

Yes, I also dream plenty, just like you…  Actually, the first one I want to mention took place back in the early 1980′s.

I can’t really recall now how I connected with a young guy who was the Secretary of the Australian Ice Hockey Federation.  It most likely came about from one of the hockey magazines I wrote for back then.

Anyway, can you imagine my excitement at being considered for a head coaching position within that country’s National Hockey League?  Aaaah, just picture the fun.

Which reminds me of something a long-time friend, Dave Purdy, once told me, in that I should “Never take a job that comes with too many keys!”    Dave is a funny guy, but he was right-on with that observation.  What he meant, of course, is that we might not want a job that includes too many responsibilities (which also reminds me of my then 5-year old grandson telling his grandmother, “I don’t like ‘sponsibilities”).

So, what happens?  The first job offer I get from an Australian pro team is to be their Head Coach and Arena Manager.  Hmmmmmmmm…  Too many keys?

Now, before some young coach tells me that he’d have jumped all over that job, I want folks to appreciate that I was married, I owned a beautiful house in my hometown, and my one child, a son, was on track to enter one of the US’s top hockey playing high schools in the fall.  Would I have taken the job if I was single, or if we didn’t have real roots here in tiny Whitman, Massachusetts?  In a heartbeat.  However, I feared giving up all that, moving to a somewhat strange land about halfway around the world, and then discovering I hated the rink manager’s part of that job.

As it turned out, another job offer came on the heels of the one I’d just turned down.  This one, believe it or not, included coaching another NHL team, while also being the manager for their rink based restaurant.  (Geeeeeeeze!)

Now, could I have made either of those jobs work for me?  I mean, could I have hired a good enough assistant to get me out of most of the rink manager’s or restaurant manger’s duties?  It’s quite possible.  At the same time, picture the risk of uprooting my family with that kind of uncertainty hanging over my head.  Gulp.

Quite obviously, I eventually grabbed the telephone to let the federation’s secretary know why I was turning down those jobs.  With that, my dream job started coming into view.  My Australian friend said that he’d for years had an idea that placed someone of my qualifications in charge of all hockey development within a given state.  (A lot of years have passed by but, I think it was for New South Wales.)

Man, talk about my mind racing…  I was still only a few years removed from visiting Moscow and studying the development of Soviet athletes.  And I was also nearing the completion of my Physical Education Degree.  Ya, my mind was racing.

As another aside here…   I’m a pretty demanding guy — if you work for me or play for me.  At the same time, I think I’m a caring guy, and I’m pretty understanding when it come to certain situations.  As it pertains to what the secretary told me, I’d have to overcome a shortage of ice-time there.  Hmmmmmm…  I understood completely, and I vowed to myself that I could make things work without a lot of ice-time.  Actually, who better could they get to substitute a kzillion off-ice training routines and still have their players grow in leaps and bounds?

Oh, did I have a dream…  As I awaited word from Australia, I doodled and doodled and researched and researched.  And, even though I was doing that stuff in my spare time here in Whitman, I was gradually putting together a program that would ultimately put Australian hockey on the map.  I even recall moving around in my livingroom one morning, performing what would later become a program now called the “Goaler’s Dance”.  Yup, I arrived at that and numerous other ideas as I dreamed about that job.

Quite obviously, there’s a reason I don’t talk funny today, or drive on the wrong side of the street.    Darn, but my friend couldn’t get the funding he’d hoped for, and the job never did materialize.

Oh, that dream…  I’ve always known my stuff when it comes to physical movements, and I can troubleshoot skill problems with the best in the world.  So, I just knew that the model I devised for one state would ultimately be taken on by the entire Australian Ice Hockey Federation.

I’m kinda shaking my head when I think about all this in relationship to hockey here in the US.  I mean, could USA Hockey (or AHAUS back then) have used my model just as well?  LOL…  In actuality, I’d have given them something pretty dawgoned close to their modern day ADM program, only about 20-years earlier.  In truth, USA Hockey is laden with politics, so not unlike our Congress, it takes them a good many years to try and fail, try and fail, try and…

Anyway, all the work I did in preparation for that overseas job wasn’t for naught.  I put it all to use in my own local programs, and I’ve been pouring out talented young players for all the years since.

Come to think of it, if I had moved away, I would have never gotten involved with Roland Lacey of MediaRight Technologies or the M.I.T. women’s hockey team, and I’d have never been dragged (kicking and screaming, by the way) onto the Internet.

For sure, I’d have never run a site like CoachChic.com, where I have the privilege of helping hockey parents, coaches and adult players with the game.

Actually, I’d have probably never gotten into Twitter or Facebook or Google+ or LinkedIn, which means I wouldn’t have been able to call folks like you my friend.  And, if it wasn’t for social media, I’d have never met a guy named Mike Mahony, who helped me build my on-line hockey store.

Ya, it surely would have been a blast doing that Aussie job, but I would have likely missed a lot, too, including the thousands of great players and hockey families I’ve met closer to home over the past 30-years.

All that said, you have to be wondering why that old dream suddenly came to mind today.  Well, it’s because there’s something new on the horizon for me now, and it might just explain my absence here over recent months.

You see, awhile back, there were hints that new job opportunities were going to be opening for me in a number of small cities along the eastern seaboard.  As I heard bits and pieces, it appeared hockey folks in those areas were starving for better guidance, and that’s something I’ve always felt God put me on this earth to provide.   The best part was that I likely wouldn’t have to relocate, and I could continue helping local kids grow their game.

Over time, however, the group heading the above hinted at operation began to change their focus.  Oh, did they ever…

Yup, a few months ago, I was asked to become involved in a new Junior “A” league forming in Florida.  Oh, I’ve for years been joking — especially during harsh New England winters — that I’m looking for a rink with palm trees hanging overhead.  If there was a problem with the new league’s offer, it was that I’d had enough of long road trips.  (Again, some young guy or gal would tell me that I’m crazy, and that he or she would die for the chance I was getting.  Long bus rides can get tiresome, though.  Trust me.)

My counter offer was that I’d go down to the Sunshine State but, rather than GM and coach a team, I’d work for the whole league, and do community relations stuff with the six member rinks.  In other words, I’d show the players, parents and coaches Coach Chic’s way of doing things.

Oh, but God works in mysterious ways.  I mean, I honestly think nighttime dreams are his way of helping us deal with daytime challenges.

For, what happened next was that I attended a local coaches’ meeting.  And, as fate (or God?) might have it, I had to constantly look up and view a movie poster on the far meetingroom wall.  Ugh.  That poster depicted a character that was almost me!  True story…  In real life, lots of years ago, the team featured in that movie was going to fire their coach, and I was to fly in overnight to be introduced the next morning as the new coach.  It never happened but, it surely didn’t prevent me from asking myself several times during the meeting, “What the heck am I doing here?”  In fact, that had to have played on my mind all that night as I tried to sleep, because I awoke with a start the next morning and told myself, “I have to do that!”

Of course “that” was to GM and coach a team in the new Florida league.  Geeeeeeeze…  Bus rides?  I’ve kinda missed ‘em, actually, and I also missed the closeness a coach can feel with his players when making those long treks.

A funny thing…  I’ve always acted the way I did as I awaited word from Australia, in that I always get psyched about a new undertaking, and I start to scribble ideas as they pop into my head.   The only difference nowadays is that more stuff gets saved on my laptop than on scraps of paper, and research can be more easily done over the Internet.  Trust me, though, that the excitement is still the same.

With the TEHL currently being in start-up mode, you can be sure things change from day to day (if not hour by hour or minute by minute).  Only a day ago I discovered my own personal assignment, as GM/coach of the St Cloud Thunder.  (Has a nice ring, doesn’t it?)

People on the ground in Florida right now have their work cut out for them, arranging rink lease agreements for six teams, plotting practice and game night ice,  ordering equipment, having new team logos designed, and so much more,

Of course, guys like me all the while are dreaming…  Ya, I want my players…

Over the past decade plus, I can’t tell you how much I envied my buddies who are local high school and college coaches, and awaiting their first practices.  Not that I often wished I was them, except for that one special night of the year.  I mean, the adrenalin used to pump so much in me that I could hardly sleep.

Okay, as I said moments ago, things are changing rapidly with the new league, so I’m guessing I’ll soon have a lot more to tell you about my latest dream job.

Before leaving, though, let me share something that fascinates me more than anything else when it comes to the TEHL…

From the onset, the league’s founder has talked about putting the league first, along with it’s main objective.  That objective?  It’s to help move every single one of our players on to a good college.  Championships are nice but, the measure of each coach’s success is really going to be in how many players he helps towards that end.

Better yet, I just got off the phone with another coach, and we both agreed that we have to be willing to help each others players.  For sure, we’ll try to beat one another on any given game night.  In the end, though, we’re going to be pulling for all the kids on all of the teams.

That said, I’m hoping that players from (literally) around the world get themselves to our first tryout camp — it’s approaching fast.  Good players are assured of making a roster if they’re seen early.