Hockey Dad
Page 24
In the end, it doesn't really matter. I'm comfortable with it either way.
Besides, it's probably fair to say I'm in the twilight of being a Crazy Hockey Dad. There's a part of me that is actually looking forward to spending more time with Cindy, and the boys, at our beautiful second home on Balsam Lake, far away from the din of the lacrosse and hockey arenas.
As long as Mike plays, though, I won't be relinquishing my title, trust me on that. And if, after Mike is finished playing, I still need my fix, I can always live vicariously through a new generation of Hockey Dads. My near and dear friend and TSN colleague Pierre McGuire is just getting started on his own magical ride with his son Ryan. They have much to look forward to as they author their own father and son story.
I used to think when our boys were all done, Stu Seedhouse, Kevin O'Brien and I might go back and do the whole minor hockey coaching thing all over again with a new crop of kids.
You know, the Three Amigos ride again. But I don't honestly see that happening. Been there, done that; our time has come and almost gone.
We're much more likely to get together over a few cocktails at the lake and reflect on the good old days and what turned out to be quite the odyssey for all us.
Where the boys are concerned, I would like to believe Mike will be able to take what he's learned from playing the game as long as he has and apply it to his life in such a way he'll be successful in whatever he chooses to do. I would also like to think Shawn will be able to take all the adversity he has had to overcome and use that experience to make him stronger and better in his pursuits.
There are no words and not enough of them if there were to say how proud I am of my family: Mike, for having a passion and work ethic that do not allow him to give up on being the best he can be; Shawn, for picking himself up time after time because of physical ailments and emotional scars no teenage kid should have to deal with; and, last but not least, Cindy, for being an incredibly supportive mother and wife, who is always there for everyone in the family.
As for me and what I've learned? Oh, that's easy.
Don't let your foot get in the way of the coin toss…. Seriously, though….
When the game is over, regardless of what has transpired on the ice or whatever emotions may be welling up inside you, be sure to give your kid a hug and make sure he's okay, make sure he's healthy. As long as that is the case, it's all good, really good, because he's going to get another chance to go out and do it all over again.
You can't ask for any more than that. At the end of each day, it's all that really matters, in hockey as in life. I know that now.
And, believe me, there is nothing crazy about that.
Mike's first Christmas and we try to get him to sit up to show off his hockey pajamas as we take photos to get one for our family Christmas card.
Shawn, as he is wont to do, hams it up on the kitchen floor as he gets ready to go to the Oshawa CYO five-year-old hockey school.
Our little angels (in this portrait shot anyway), five-year-old Mike and two-year-old Shawn, thankfully, behave for the photographer.
Mike is all business as he sorts through his Panini hockey sticker collector book. A serious young man doing a serious job, and why wouldn't he be? It runs in the family.
Shawn takes a break from Mike's Tyke A provincial lacrosse championship weekend to get his picture taken alongside his obsession at the time - a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Mike looks on.
Mike (got something in your eye, kid?), Cindy and Shawn pose for a Christmas day photo with Nana and Pops, my Mom and Dad. Note my Dad's ever-present tie and my wheelchair-bound Mom's festive green paper crown.
Shawn, and his Teddy, and Mike take a little break from their hockey-card collecting in Mom and Dad's bed. Mike is wearing the classic Sudbury Wolves' blue sweater.
Captain Mike's individual photo from his Whitby Select 7 season, the year Wojtek Wolski made him cry.
Mike and his glasses - not the ones he wore under his cage – as a member of the AAA novice rep team.
Mike (middle row, second from right) and me (top row, far right) at the Pickering Hockey Association five-year-old hockey school.
Mike is resplendent in his Montreal uniform, his homage to Patrick Roy and Stephane Richer.
Above: Shawn (front and centre) and me (red track suit and hat), at the Oshawa CYO five-year-old hockey school.
Shawn in his first year of six-year-old house league, which required me camping out for two nights to get him registered.
Work buddies Steve Dryden (right) and Bob Amesse (left) play some basement ball hockey with Mike and me.
Shawn, with his painted face, Mike and I celebrate a provincial lacrosse championship. Lacrosse is a great game.
Shawn, as a paperweight house-league lacrosse player and Mike, as a novice house-league player.
Lacrosse teammates Mike, Kyle O'Brien, Kyle Clancy, Adam Berti and Steven Seedhouse (left to right) on their way to Wildcat basketball camp in summer of '96. Adam Berti was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.
The five players who started and finished every year of Whitby AAA hockey - Mike, Kyle O'Brien, Kyle Clancy, Matt Snowden and Steven Seedhouse. These are their "player cards" from the Quebec Peewee tourney.
The 1999-2000 Wildcats AAA Major Peewees that went to Quebec - that's Bob Anderson, Steve Hedington, me, Kevin O'Brien and Stu Seedhouse in the back row, left to right. Manager Ron Balcom was missing.
After only coaching AAA hockey with Mike, I was pleased to find out the A level had a lot to offer too. My two years as Shawn's coach in major atom and minor peewee were terrific.
Mike as a 16-year-old in his first year of Jr. A hockey with the Oshawa Legionaires.
The captains of the 2005 OPJHL champion St. Mike's Buzzers, Mike, Andrew Cogliano, Kain Tisi, Mark Lozzi, Kevin Schmidt and Cory Wickett.
Shawn struts his stuff as a AA rep player in minor novice.
Shawn plays a little pond hockey during the fateful major bantam year.
Shawn and Mike flanked by Kid Rock, left, and Nickelback's Chad Kroeger at Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup finally at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The boys love hockey but they like to rock, too.
The McKenzie men take in the NHL Awards show in Toronto in 2008. Dad got chirped unmercifully by the boys for being a party pooper and us not going to the NHL Awards in 2009 in Las Vegas.
One of the highlights of Mike's freshman year at St. Lawrence University, for me and him, was playing against Michigan State at Munn Arena. Mike wore No. 27 for two years but switched back to his familiar No. 11.
Shawn and Mike are all smiles, and why not? They're chilling in their hotel room in Detroit for Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup finally between the Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
It's not easy to get all four McKenzies under the same roof at the same time, but Shawn, Cindy and Mike were all there for my 50th birthday party, which, of course, I threw for myself. Family times are the best times.