Back in Novice, there was about two minutes left to play in a playoff game and I was anxiously pacing behind the bench, barking out whatever instructions seemed important at that very moment. You watch the game and you watch the clock in those final seconds, at the very same time.

We were up by two goals, poised to win the playoffs, when I felt a tug on my jacket.
"Coach, Coach" one of my players said on the bench.

"Yes, Johnny" I answered, concentrating more on the game and the clock than on him at that instance.
"What's the score?"

"Did you just ask me? What's the score?"

"Is there juice today?"
"What?" I barked infuriated.

"Did anyone bring juice today?"
"Ummmm...," I looked away. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I hope we don't have apple juice today. I don't like apple juice."

This moment froze me in my tracks. The way all special and meaningful moments should. 

If somehow, I could have captured that moment in time on tape, I would have had my hands on one of those special sporting moments for parents everywhere. It's the kind you need to play for coaches and executive and trainers and managers and all of us who take kids hockey way, way too seriously. 

The game isn't life or death. The game isn't do or die as often as we pretend it to be. 
In one tiny moment in one game, minor hockey was reduced to what it really is about. It's the apple juice.

OK, so it's not exactly the apple juice. It's what apple juice happens to represent in all of this. The snack. The routine. The ritual. Kids can win and lose games and not even give a second thought about either one, but don't forget the after game drink boxes. If anything will spoil a good time, that is sure to do it.

Unfortunately, it's all part of the culture of hockey. Not who wins, not who scores goals, not which team accomplished what on which day, but about whether mom and dad are there, whether their grandparents are in the stands watching, whether their best friend was on their team and if they got a shift on the power play, and yes, about what they ate.

When you get involved in hockey, when you take the plunge and become a volunteer, when you truly put your heart into the game and into the environment, it can be everything when it's at its best, truth is, the game is only a small part of the total package.

It becomes a social outing for parents. It becomes a social outing for children. It should never be about who is going for extra power skating and who is going straight from Novice to the Toronto Maple Leafs but about building the environment  the kind of memories kids and parents and families will have forever.

This is true even when the kids get older. It's not just PeeWee and younger, but it is very important for the older ages as well. Coaches and parents need to remember it's what they learn at this critical stage in their life as teenagers, they take with them as adults. Coaches and parents really need to start accepting responsibility for the actions of their kids and teach by example.

Sometimes, when I stand around the arenas I can't believe the conversations I hear. The visions are so short-sighted. The conversations are almost always about what happened today and who won and who lost , and in almost every case, how bad the referees were. Referee calls are constantly questioned and the popular catch phrase "We're in it for the kids" is incredibly overused.

Not enough people use the word fun, and not enough people are selling it that way either. It somehow becomes all about them and what is wrong in the world today.

As hard as we try to think like kids, we're not kids. 

As hard as we try to remember what hockey was like when we were young, our vision is clouded by perspective and logic - something not always evident in kids. 

If you ask any parent whether they would rather win or lose, without a doubt they would say win, of course. 
Unfortunately, it's also the coaches who also suffer this same issue. THEY want to win. 

Now, ask most children what they would prefer - playing a regular shift and playing on a power play or penalty kill on a losing team rather playing sparingly on a team that wins all the time - and the answer has already been proven in two different studies. 

Overwhelmingly, kids would rather play a lot, than win and play a little. 

Like I said, it's about the apple juice. It is, after all, about the experience.

We have to remember, It's their game. It's not our game. They don't think like we do or look at the sport like we do. They don't have to adjust to us, we have to adjust to them. We have to make certain we're not spoiling their experience. Our experience is important too, but the game is for the kids and not for the adults. 

We say it over and over again, but unfortunately, the message seems to get lost every year.
It's lost in too many coaches and parents who lose this perspective and who think nothing of blaming and yelling and bullying anyone who will listen. 

Lost by parents who think their son or daughter is the next Crosby or the next Ovechkin and they're already spending the millions their little Johnny will be earning by the time they finish hockey in the winter, 3-on-3 in the summer, power skating over winter break, special lessons over March break, pre-tryout camp before the AAA tryouts in May and a couple weeks of hockey school, just to make sure their Johnny is better than the next kid.

Do us all a favour: 
Until the NHL agent comes knocking on your teenager's door, put it in perspective and let's keep it that way. It's a game. It's house league hockey. Games are supposed to be fun. It's a game for kids.

One reminder though, it doesn't matter what the age: "Don't forget the juice boxes."

Thanks for listening...
Bob Babin
Chairperson