My dad grew up loving hockey. When he was in his 20’s he decided he loved it enough that he also wanted to play the sport. He figured that skating looked easy enough and that where there was a will to learn, there would be instant success. He stepped on the ice for the first time and fell on his butt. He quickly learned that this ice skating/hockey business was going to take some serious work, and he worked at it.
When I was a little girl my dad would often be at the rink playing hockey. My Mom and I spent many days and nights watching his games. I remember thinking that he was an amazing player (I also really enjoyed the chocolate cream pie that we’d stop for on the way home from the rink). He became one of the best players on his team. As he got older and the average age of his teammates dropped, he was still the best player on the team. It was because of the endless hours spent in the basement, playing street hockey with me, both of us perfecting our skills. It was also because of all the practice time that he took very seriously at the rink. I spent my childhood watching Flyers hockey and to this day still hear frequent retellings of the years that the Flyers won the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for me, I was born the same year as the last win so I have yet to see it for myself. I fell in love with hockey the same way my dad did and spent many nights watching the game, and listening to the screams of joy and cries of agony as the Flyers won and lost. My dad can be quite vocal about his sports teams. When I was in 7th grade, my dad took me to the Flyers Wives Fight for Lives Carnival at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. I waited in line for two and a half hours to meet and get my picture taken with Rick Tocchet and the Stanley Cup. It was amazing and I had visions of marrying that amazing hockey player whose face was a testament to his toughness. They had a great team back then, with Dave Poulin, Peter Zezil, the goal scoring goalie Ron Hextall, and the Sutter brothers. It was a few years later when Bobby Clarke decided to trade Rod Brind’Amour and my dad and I were in shock. How could they trade the very heart and soul of the Flyers? Little did we know that Keith Primeau would soon take over that heart and soul role and wear that badge with pride. Primeau was known for always being the first one at practice and the last one to leave. He was a diligent, hard worker and served as a major role model for younger players through his actions and through his words. Due to a concussion that he just couldn’t recover from, he has retired and his energy and attitude will be sorely missed within the Flyers organization. Hopefully there will be someone with his work ethic that will step up to the challenge and become the new leader of the team. But the thing that Brind’Amour and Primeau had is something that I think is pretty rare in professional athletes. Keith Primeau will be sorely missed and his work ethic should serve as an example to all. 
Most karate Mom's just do the commute, this one is working towards her black belt. This karate
Mom, a 3rd kyu brown belt in Okinawan Kenpo and Kobudo, writes about raising her two young daughters, her pursuit of a black belt, and just about anything that gets her gi in a bunch. She can be found online at Black Belt Mama .
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