Inspirational Hockey Quotes

You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave – win or lose.  - Gordie Howe

 

Hockey’s a funny game. You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It’s not up to anybody else. You have to take pride in yourself.  - Paul Coffey

 

You’ve got to love what you’re doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time.  - Gordie Howe

 

Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.  - Wayne Gretzky

 

Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.  - Stephen Leacock

 

Hockey players have fire in their hearts and ice in their veins.  – Unknown

 

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it. – Wayne Gretzky

 

I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt.  - Scotty Bowman

 

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. – Satchel Paige

 

I won’t accept anything less than the best a player’s capable of doing, and he has the right to expect the best that I can do for him and the team! – Lou Holtz

 

Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half. – Bum Phillips

A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are. – Ara Parasheghian

 

The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual. – Vince Lombardi

 

Ability is what you’re capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

 

Show me a guy whos afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.-Lou Brock

 

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club wont be worth a dime. – Babe Ruth

 

See you at the rink.

Hockey in the Michigan Economy

8.5% unemployment rates.

 

Michigan near the top of the list consistently for home foreclosures.

 

Glut of homes for sale on the market.

 

Families split up to take jobs out of state.

 

10 out of 12 industries in Michigan posting negative employment growth.

 

There is no doubt that the economy in Michigan is one of, if not the worst in the nation.  Manufacturing jobs are disappearing, the big 3 are all suffering, and many are forced to leave the state to find work.  It’s a tough situation out there and the impact is being felt across the board, but how is this impacting youth hockey in Michigan?

 

I dare say it is having a profound impact in many different ways.  There is no doubt that the number of youth hockey players in Michigan has declined.  You can take a look at the Mlive hockey forums and see many teams posting messages about openings on their teams – looking to fill out their rosters.  I have to imagine that some of this is because of the decline in the number of players.  I’m sure there are other reasons, but much of this can be traced back directly to the declining numbers due to the economy and the mass exodus of people from Michigan in search of jobs.

 

We have also seen more chatter this year than in years past regarding the amount of travel.  I posted previously about travel, but the reality is that many people in Michigan simply can not afford to travel as much as they used to.  I’m sure some families have decided to cut hockey from their list of activities simply based on the cost of travel alone.  It’s a shame, but I believe it is a harsh reality in our great state at the moment.

 

I know there are some associations out there that have scholarship type programs available for families with children that want to play hockey but can not afford it.  My fear is that these programs will begin to dry up as participation and sponsorship decreases leaving kids without the experience of playing this great game.

 

The positives (if they can be found) are that there is some areas of growth in Michigan and there are particular metropolitan areas that are showing better growth than others:

 

Grand Rapids is at 7% unemployment

Kalamazoo is at 6.9% unemployment

Extreme Southwestern Michigan is at 6.4% unemployment

Ann Arbor is at 6.3% unemployment

 

We are also seeing some growth in Professional and Business services, Information, as well as Education and Health services across these same metropolitan areas.  This is good news that hopefully will continue and ultimately stabilize the economy to the point where it can begin positively impacting things like youth hockey.

 

Let’s all continue to do our best to keep this great sport flourishing in Michigan!

 

See you at the rink