Behind The Net

Life is not only a series of crossroads, it's a series of choices and decisions. A hockey player behind his own net starting the offense on a Power Play has the choice to go left or right, to attempt to carry the puck or headman to a teammate. Sometimes a forechecking opponent forces his/her hand or influences her/his decision. The coach wants his best players on the ice for the Power Play, and usually his best defenseman (or defenceman for any Canadian readers) or best puckhandlers/passers to be in charge of initiating the offense. We face choices like this on a daily basis. The Coach has given us the game plan and His best instructions and guidance to help insure our success. He wants to put us in a position where we can do our very best. The Coach knows more about hockey than we do, and we will generally always do better if we trust in His wisdom and stick to His strategy. If we play the game our own way and operate outside of the game plan, the chances of failure are greater. We can sometimes succeed in spite of ourselves if we improvise, but if we do it too often we will get burned, and we may find ourselves sitting on the bench or not dressing for a game or two or however long it takes until we can play the game the right way. We lose valuable ice time that we could be using to improve ourselves as players. We're ultimately hurting ourselves and the team. Unlike most hockey teams, though, we will never get cut or traded from our team. Our Coach will never give up on us.

More later.....