Maturity

The difference a year can make, or six months anyway.

I’ve noted on a number of occasions that the boy hated hockey at the end of last year. It was due in part to a burgeoning, somewhat unfriendly, rivalry with another player and also to the fact that his skill development stagnated a bit; though, I doubt the boy would admit as much.

At this point, and it’s still early days for hockey, the boy has been enjoying the experience much more. Most interesting about this state of affairs is that the rivalry that had developed last year has continued thus far. The boy shared with me that the other kid is still taking shots at him whenever he can, knocking him down or tripping him with his stick.

The boy’s plan for dealing with the kid? Nothing. “It’s not worth it,” he told me.

He’ll occasionally retaliate by tripping him when he knows the coaches aren’t looking, but by and large he expects it now and has prepared himself. He tries extra hard not to go down, or he sees the kid coming and skates away from him. One thing I’ve noticed about the boy’s skating is that it’s improved tremendously, he’s very maneuverable, able to make sharp turns at speed, and quite fast on the ice. My guess is he can out skate the other kid. He’s also the other kid’s equal in terms of size, so he’s not intimidated by him. The fact that he takes his shots when he deems it possible speaks to that as well.

What strikes me as most promising is that he isn’t letting these circumstances cloud his playing experience this year. In yesterday’s game, he took it upon himself to help his team by playing defense and they ended up winning easily. Having not actually seen the game, I can’t say for sure about the cause and effect, but that he was willing to take responsibility for an aspect of his team’s performance was a pleasant surprise. Contrast that with last year, where he spent most of his time simply skating around the ice, seemingly uninterested in the game going on around him.

With the games worked into the schedule now, the opportunities for confrontations will diminish and that should help him even more. If he continues having success, then we’ll be well on our way to a much different ending to this year’s hockey season than last year.