Cincinnati Mohawks | Bluejackets247.com

So an old friend of my grandfather & father rode with me to Cleveland yesterday for a meeting. On our way home I wanted to hear some of his hockey war stories as he was a goalie for the Cincinnati Mohawks back in the late '50s early '60's. He has also been coaching the youth in the Cincinnati area for over 50 years now mostly in the Cincinnati Moeller area (he's 73 now and the last time he actually played goalie in a game was age 65!). Let me tell you how inspired I was to hear his stories. To grow up in Columbus and never know hockey like those who grow up with it, watching, playing, living, eating, breathing it, I sure wish I had that experience as a kid. He has been mainly a goalie coach throughout his many years of coaching and I can only imagine the number of lives he has touched and helped on and off the ice. He even gave me pointers on what to do with my son should he want to play hockey. Little things like---how you know the skates are a proper fit for your child, making sure your child learns how to skate before even considering hockey (he meant how to properly skate, using the proper technique at the proper time to get the best speed on the ice), how to let him really get comfortable being on skates, etc. He also spoke of times he and his kids have had oportunities meeting NHL players like Sean Burke or head coaches like Mike Babcock and how great the NHL has been to the youth of hockey.

As I was driving and listening to his stories and theories on coaching hockey for over 50 years it dawned on me, here is a man who has devoted his life to hockey and yet he's a true blue American. Most average Joe hockey fans believe that kind of hockey life only exists in Canada, but here was a man who was just as devoted to hockey as any other Canadian and I was experiencing first hand how great it is to be living in such an environment. It's sad that our media doesn't help to showcase this sport more often here in the U.S., because there are thousands of Americans who live like my friend has lived and it's such an inspiring story just to hear!