Work Ethic

noun

the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward.

Ever bag skated?

So, this goes with a lot of sports but from my experience work-ethic is the one thing that is always noticed. You may see a player with unreal skills but you'll also notice their work ethic. You notice how hard or in some cases how they aren't working.

From my time in Hockey very early on we had two Junior coaches that spring to mind that instilled hard work: Fred Perlini and Barry Russell. Fred played in the NHL for the Leafs and Barry is a very successful lawyer. Both Canadian roots and both fascinating hockey brains. But, they instilled hard work from the get-go.

One hard lap.

After each drill, we'd whistle down and the coach would call a hard lap. Some coaches do this just as routine, but back then they watched who was and who wasn't skating hard. If one person didn't skate hard the whole team was going again.

This happened every practice. This translated into the rest of the drills and lead to on-ice success. It was the work-ethic instilled.

In hockey there is no easy victories. The game demands a lot. But, every night you must bring your work-ethic. You can't go through the motions. You get found out.

There's no place to hide on the ice. In business you can sometimes coast due to the size and nature of the organisation. But, in hockey you can't. The only time you are hiding is if you are on the bench or a healthy scratch.

So, the value and rewards for work-ethic are there to be seen.

The worst thing in the world for a hockey player is to be described as lazy.

Because, the lazy players are the first to get cut.