Guest Posts

Please check out my guest posts on the following websites:

www.KuklasKorner.com - Making the World Better Through Hockey

• http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/making_the_world_better_through_hockey

www.TheBusinessofSports.com - The Culture of Sports: Start Them Young

• http://www.thebusinessofsports.com/?p=534

Special thanks to Russel Scibetti (@rscibetti) of The Business of Sports, and Paul Kukla & Alanah McGinley (@alanah1) of Kukla's Korner.

Outside Support

It means so much to me when acquaintances and/or strangers show their kindness and support.  With that, I'd like to thank (in date order):

• Chris Lucas (www.lucasonsports.com) - http://www.lucasonsports.com/2008/12/09/have-skates-will-travel/
• Sarah Elizabeth Foster (www.sarahelizabethfoster.com) - http://www.sarahelizabethfoster.com/blog/2008/12/11/adam-sherlip.html
• Michele Catalano (abigvictory.blogspot.com) - http://abigvictory.blogspot.com/2008/12/hockey-and-hope.html
  

Please check out their respective websites and support what they are doing.

Why hockey is the greatest sport with the greatest athletes...

So you doubted me when I said that hockey has the classiest athletes...

Blackhawks Big Winners on Special Road Trip

This is a story about the Chicago Blackhawks players foregoing an extra day with their families around Thanksgiving after a long road-trip, and taking 2 coach buses 110 miles north into rural Ontario to support their mourning GM, who's father passed away.

On the way back, they stopped into a local McDonald's, like my high school football team did on a return bus home from the North Fork of Long Island way back when, and signed autographs for the kids coincidentally trading cards of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane - while enjoying their Big Macs.

When I mentioned in my earlier post (Who am I and why do I love hockey?) that hockey has the highest level of sportsmanship, this is what I meant (it's mentioned in the Chicago Tribune article as well, in addition to the plethora of blogs/articles covering this act of kindness)!

These guys understand the value of loyalty and respect, and what it means to do the right thing.  They sacrificed their own pleasure and relaxation to support their boss.  It's a lesson we should all take to heart, because on top of loyalty, respect and sacrifice, it teaches selflessness and shows maturity.

I say this with no exaggeration:  I have become a Blackhawks fan because of this.

I hope this is as inspiring for you as it is for me.  

I hope what we are trying to achieve with this volunteer program together is also inspiring.  Every child should learn these type of lessons in life - and hockey consistently proves to be a great medium to communicate just those values.  

So do two more pictures equal 2000 words?

Another photo of the me with the kids from Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, China when we hosted them in New York.

This is where I am looking to travel to, with your support.

So you say an image is worth 1000 words?

This image is from January 2007, when Angela Ruggiero and I were in Heilongjiang Province, China through the New York Islanders initiative Charles B. Wang Ice Hockey Project Hope (nyiprojecthope.com).  Just 2 weeks prior, Angela and I hosted these kids in New York for an international youth hockey tournament, and when we returned to Qiqihar, this was our reception.  

This picture says it all.

This is the impact I want to make around the world with hockey.  This picture is a constant reminder for me of WHY this is what I am meant to do.

If you look in the background, the rink is barebone.  The ice was terrible, there was no netting in the goals, and there was no glass around the paper-thin boards (which had a gaping hole filled in with snow at one spot) - but we had an incredible time with the kids!

When I got to see some of these kids again the following year for the Lighthouse Tournament, they had improved leaps and bounds.  I specifcially asked if they remembered our visit the previous year and the drills we showed them.  The kids told me they practiced those drills every day!  These kids have all the potential in the world to become the best hockey players in China from one 45-minute session.  Imagine that!

Please help me provide a lasting impact on children in Ladakh.