Page 61 of The Game Changer

“Western Massachusetts,” he replies.

“What do you want out of this?” I ask, circling my finger around the room.

“To play hockey for as long as possible. It has always been my dream to play at this level. I’m willing to put in the work, keep out of trouble, and make my mom proud.”

“That’s good to hear, kid. You keep your head held high, keep out of trouble and keep yourself healthy, you should go far in this league and this is one fine team to do it with. I don’t regret signing with them one bit when I did. We took a mutual chance on each other and it paid off well for all involved. Look, Soupy, I’m not going to tell you that this is an easy job. It has its ups and downs, but if you want some pointers from an old man, I’ll give you my number and we can catch up when you’re in town.”

“Thank you so much, JC. I grew up idolizing your style of play, so getting to stand here and talk to you is really throwing me for a loop.”

“I’m just like you, kid. I put my pants on one leg at a time. Just promise me you won’t let these assholes corrupt you. You’ve got a girl back home?” I ask.

“Yes, we’ve been together since our freshman year of high school, she’s away in California for college.”

“If she means anything to you, and I’m sure she does if you’ve been together for so long, don’t fall for the bunnies’ attention. They can smell rookies out a mile away. They’ll try and dig their claws in and won’t let go. The temptation can be real, but it isn’t worth it.”

“I’ve already dealt with some of that last season down in the AHL, but thanks for the words of advice.”

“Anytime, kid,” I tell him as I clap him on the back. “Here’s my number, text me anytime. When you guys get back from your road trip, we can grab some lunch.”

“Yes, thank you,” he says, punching my number into his phone. “I’ll send you a text now so that you have my number, as well.”

I hear my phone chime in my pocket, and I pull it out just to verify that it was a text from him and not Jill randomly at the same time. “Got it, Soupy. Don’t let these guys give you too much shit,” I remind him, slapping his back one more time. The kid is a little scrappy. He still needs to grow into his body, which will come with time. Mark and Beckett weren’t joking when they said he was still wet behind the ears.

“I’ll see y’all later!” I call out to the locker room.

“You headed up to talk to Murph?” Mark asks.

“Yep, I wanted to run some ideas past him.”

“Sounds good, you coming to the game tonight?”

“Maybe. I’ll see how Jill feels after she’s off work. She’s had a rough week, we might just call it an early night again.”

“Sounds good, man, see you when we see you,” he says as I exit the room.

I make my way up to the team’s offices. I’ve walked these halls countless times and walking them now is bittersweet.

I reach Richard’s office and rap my knuckles along the open door frame. He looks up from his desk, giving me a big smile as he realizes I’m standing at his open door.

“Hey, man, come on in. What dragged you in today?” he asks.

“Mark asked me to stop by, talk to the new kid, maybe mentor him some.”

“Ah, yeah, Soupy. He’s pretty young.”

“Yeah he is, he must be good to get called up though.”

“He is. Led the team last year in goals, he’s got one hell of a shot and can skate faster than I’ve seen guys skate in a long-ass time. He’s a little small still, but if he hits the gym, he’ll fill out and be more lethal out there on the ice. I’m just glad he’s on our team.” Mark chuckles.

“I guess so,” I muse. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you a bit about possibly helping me with starting a program. I don’t know that I’m ready to fully start a foundation or anything, but I’d like to do something to help guys in the league who have already suffered from one, maybe two, minor concussions, maybe target those that have minor symptoms but that could easily become major ones with one wrong hit.”

“Of course, anything that I can do to help, I’m right here at your beck and call.”

“Thanks, my thought was to put together some kind of video with some interviews with myself and maybe a couple other guys who’ve suffered like I have. Maybe interview a couple top doctors from around the country explaining what is happening and how we can avoid it. What side effects we deal with and how debilitating they can be to some of us. Explain how we can be triggered or hit out of the blue by some of these things and they can completely dominate our lives when they do. Just yesterday I woke up with a migraine. It took me out for the entire day. I slept through my phone going off multiple times during the day. Mark and Beckett had to come bang on my door to wake me up.”

“I can make some calls to some guys I know that have retired over the last couple of years that might be able to help. Do you have a camera crew or producer on board to help with that side of things?” he asks.

“Nope, do you have any suggestions?”

“I can give you the contact information of our crew that does the game coverage. They might be able to help, or point you in the direction of someone who can.”

“That’d be great,” I tell him. “I was going to call my doc, plus reach out to a few others who have worked with other athletes around the country.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a good idea. I hope that it all plays out and can help guys.”

“Me too. I’m willing to share my experience if it will help just one person not have to go through what I’ve been going through.”

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