Champions

When I first started dating my husband, I was introduced to hockey. Sure, I knew about the sport previously. I would go to the Albany River Rats games and I loosely understood the general rules. But when I started dating Ken I was thrown into this world head first. It started with me going to his pick-up games where other similarly skilled adults would meet up at the Albany rink and play for an hour or so while the wives, girlfriends, etc would cheer from the stands. Following the game we would go out for a couple drinks, karaoke and dancing (to be clear, I would watch the karaoke part – no one wants to hear me sing!) October through April (and hopefully longer) we would watch the NY Rangers and make it to a game at Madison Square Garden once every few years.

Every April Ken would organize a trip to Lake Placid, NY for their Can/Am tournament with mostly the same group of guys from his Wednesday night pick up league. The Lake Placid trips is where I finally understood my husband’s love for hockey and where I also fell in love with the sport. There is a certain energy that I cannot describe, but if you love hockey than I do not need to explain it because you feel it too. Hockey is a team sport. When one of your teammates gets a goal, everyone on that team celebrates. Everyone on the line made that goal happen, not just the one who got it in the net. The players know that and recognize it and that’s why they all celebrate following a goal, not only with each other on the ice, but they run through the players on the bench to give fist bumps. In the stands, we are standing with our hockey family. These are the people that who know and understand how crazy your life is, because their life is just as crazy. These are the people we spend most week nights with at practice, and hours on the weekend at games or tournaments. The hockey family is a community. We support each other and we rally behind each other.

One of the years in Lake Placid, my husband’s team made it to the Gold metal game. They fought hard all weekend, so there was no telling how that game was going to go. They were definitely the underdogs so watching them fight and win was just awesome. That was the first time I experienced, the teary eyed emotions that comes with a watching a team get a win. Now that my boys are in hockey, I feel those emotions again and it’s so great.

Austin’s team won their first Championship for the Schenectady Chargers in Clifton Park at the Between the Pipes Tournament the weekend of January 5 – 7, 2024. To put this win into perspective, a lot of these players played together last year and had an absolutely horrible year. I mean bad, real bad. Maybe they won one game all year? Maybe two or three against the same team? But eventually it weighed on all of the players and it was rough watching them become defeated, knowing they will lose going into each game. We went to each tournament for the team building experience, and making memories with their teammates, not expecting a win. It was disheartening and Austin was upset and losing his love for hockey.

For the 2023-2024 season, the Schenectady Chargers brought in a new coach. One who had many years coaching a local high school team. I knew it was going to be a great year when Coach Archie called a pre-season gathering for all of the kids, and he made them eat together. He reminded them that they were a team. He also told the kids that they were not a “C” team. They were his team, they were Coach Archie’s team. He spoke to them about nutrition before and after a game and even brought in a sports psychologist who talked about kids who were beat down, who had a bad season and the effects it has on your mindset. He went through the psychology of being on a losing team and how to turn that mindset around. And you know what, it worked. Coach Archie took a team that was so low on themselves, and used to losing, and he made them a winning team. Not only are each game competitive, but this group of players WON a championship game at a tournament. Of course, within the last 20 seconds of that game I was hearing in my head the 1980 Olympic “USA USA” chant, and the announcer screaming – “Do you believe in Miracles”. (and if you have no idea what I am referencing right now, stop reading this right this minute and go put on the move Miracle. It’s true to life, right down to the goal celebration skating style. It’s a story that will give you chills and bring tears to your eyes). A coach can truly make or break a team and I am so thankful for Coach Archie this year and so proud of the Schenectady Chargers 12u Coach Archie’s C team.