You probably saw this already – Josh Ho-Sang was cut by the New York Islanders the very first day of training camp. Actually he was cut at the very start of the very first day, so he never even got to step on the ice to earn his spot.

Pack your bags, have a nice year in the OHL kid?

You see Josh failed the $1,000,000 “how bad you want it” test.

Let me explain.

Josh was late to his very first day of his his big boy NHL training camp.

Why was he late?

He doesn’t usually set an alarm and he slept in. Who did he blame for that?

Well, at least he didn’t blame his Mom, but he also didn’t blame HIMSELF! He said “I don’t think there is anyone to blame…it’s embarrassing”

It may seem like a small thing, but it screams volumes. Triple A, Jr B or OHL team may have to put up with some of this when it is the best player and they are trying to win a championship (personally I would never like to see it, but I understand the tough position some coaches are in)

When Josh said “no one was to blame” he showed that he feels his own actions are beyond his control. How can an elite athlete think that?

If I told Josh there would be a bag containing exactly $1 million dollars left outside the door of his hotel room at exactly 4:56am that very same morning, do you think he would have set an alarm? Or stayed up all night, just to make sure?

I am thinking yeah.

I am sure you are thinking what I am thinking – earning a spot in the NHL and being the ‘best player from his draft year in the next three years’ would get him more than a million bucks! But it takes effort and it needs to be THE priority; clearly it wasn’t.

I do like how Josh accepted the punishment as fair.

Now, before you email me to say how hard I was on this kid who doesn’t know any better, go ahead and defend him, I won’t have any of it.

The sooner players (or any kids) learn that they are responsible for their actions the better.

From the time I was 15 until I was 19 I worked as a baker at the Bun’s Master Bakery (yeah, that is really what it was called). Do you remember it? It was on Oxford St just east of the CN overpass.

I started work at 5am most Saturday and Sundays.

My Mom and Dad never work me up for work, I set my alarm.

In four years I was late once when I turned off my alarm clock and just closed my eyes for a few more minutes. We all know what happens when you do that! It certainly wasn’t my first day – and that was for my part time job as a baker that paid $3.15 per hour.

The boss put a lot of trust into me as a 15 year old kid when he made me a baker. I took it seriously.

Now is the time to learn that personal accountability.

The higher you go the more you need it and no one wants to be around a grown up who feels nothing is their fault – you know we are rolling our eyes at you on the inside…actually most of the time I do it on the outside which you don’t seem to like that much.

End of rant…

Cheers,
Maria

PS – have a great Homecoming + Knights season opener weekend – play safe 😉

PPS – October is Bring A Buddy Month at RevCon. That means if you are a current Team RevCon athlete and you have a friend or teammate who is motivated like you and needs more strength, stability, speed and stamina to take their game up a notch – you can bring them along with you…for the entire MONTH (for free). You just need to let me know ahead of time so we can be prepared for a newbie.