If you are an adult reading this, and you find this thought worthy, I would greatly appreciate you sharing this with a young aspiring hockey player. If you are a young hockey player, I hope you choose to read on. And even if you are young and not an aspiring hockey player, I hope you read on.

Recently, I had the privilege of sitting down with a delightful 11-year-old girl, Sophie, who is playing a lot of hockey and seemingly liking it a lot. She asked me a very good question.  

Before we get to Sophie’s question, a little background. We were talking about being good at hockey, which she is trying to be. I suggested what I thought was a good and fun first step: Start a journal.

Some like diaries. Some like journals. Journals are different than diaries. Journals are not just recorded thoughts, but also planned strategies for improvement. There are lots of ways to make for and plan strategies with a journal. I will give you one.

Each day in your journal, rate your day, 1-10 with 10 being greatly positive. Now as it pertains to hockey, do the same thing. Rate from 1-10 the following:

• Your energy and enthusiasm for practice today (pre-practice).

• Your energy and enthusiasm during and through the end of practice.

• Your focus on the one skill you wanted to improve today or this week.

If you are not scoring high marks (8, 9 or 10) in any area, you need to search for answers as to why. And it’s good to know why you score high as well.  

There are many legitimate reasons why one might score poorly (or high) on a given day. That said, you need to know what makes differences in your energy and enthusiasm. If you don’t know already, most people find that amount of sleep is a big factor. Diet is big as well. Hydration. A test at school right before a practice or a game (a pretty legitimate and unavoidable occurrence), a 5- or 10- or 15-minute off-ice warm-up before going on the ice etc., can all be factors as well as many others.

Knowing the factors that lead to high scores in energy and enthusiasm and those that do not are obviously good to know. With some attention to this exercise in a journal, one can learn a lot about themselves.

With that said, nothing is more important than basic motivation. Think about it. Why do you play?

That is where Sophie and I got to when I suggested that should she journal, each week and ask herself another question, “Do I love or do I like hockey and hockey practice and so on?” Ask yourself every week, because this is maybe the most important question of all. If you answer that you love hockey, it will lead you to certain actions. If you answer “like,” it may lead to different actions. I explained to Sophie that either answer is fine, but each answer will lead you down a different path.  

To love something is to nurture it and be mindful of how you can make this thing you love even better. That might be the essence of love, to nurture to the point of allowing this object of your love be to the best it can be. If full of love, a hockey player will spend time in the garage doing the hockey practice thing. With love, you will likely approach hockey practice and games with more enthusiasm. If you just like the activity, maybe you will choose something other to do in your spare time and have less energy for hockey. 

With that I said to Sophie, “Rate your love or like, and be honest with yourself.” Then came her question: “Why would I not be honest with myself?” Good question.  

“Sophie, as you go through life you will see many people that are not honest with themselves,” I told her. “And it is a big reason people fail in many areas of life. You need to understand if you love it or like it and then if you are willing to put in the extra work. All things worth having and loving require work and attention.”

There is no easy path. Becoming a good hockey player comes with extra practice in the garage, driveway and dare I say, outdoor ice. It will take sacrifice. It all takes honest and focused effort. And by the way, there is no better compliment in hockey than that of being called an “honest player.” An honest hockey player knows who they are, their own strengths and weaknesses. They play to their strengths.  

So I recommend starting a journal. Make a history book of you – a book where you see where you were, where you are, and help assist you with where you are going. I hope you give journaling a good try. And be honest.  

A St. Paul native and forward for the University of Minnesota from 1978-82, Kevin Hartzell coached in the USHL from 1983-89 with the St. Paul Vulcans and from 2005-12 with the Sioux Falls Stampede. He was the head coach of Lillehammer in Norway’s GET-Ligaen from 2012-14. His columns have appeared in Let’s Play Hockey since the late 1980s. His book “Leading From the Ice” is available at amazon.com.