Hows everyone doing?

Today I am going to write about my 2 biggest role models and tell stories about some of the little things they did to allow me to grow into the person and hockey player I am today.

First off I will start with my mom Patricia (Pat) and explain how loving, inspirational, unselfish and amazing she has been throughout my life.

When I was 8 years old my parents always organized ice times for my siblings and I to get together with friends and play hockey before school started. This meant that we would have to be awake by 5:30am, finished eating breakfast by 5:45am and have our equipment on before heading to the arena to play our favorite sport at 6:15am. My Mom was always awake at least 15 minutes before us with the oven on and the oven door open with our equipment sitting on it, so that it was warm by the time we were putting it on. Breakfast was already made, whether it was a shake or a meal, it was healthy and ready for us to eat. She’s always taken being a mother to the next level by being that much more thoughtful in particular situations to make sure us kids were feeling ready but more than that, feeling loved.

Now here is a story about my dad Ted and how he impacted my hockey career growing up. No matter how cold or snowy it was outside, my dad always found ways to allow my siblings and I to play hockey. One year our street was covered in a couple feet of snow and my dad and I spent close to 2 hours shoveling the snow just to make a decent sized street hockey area for my friends and I to play. As I got older and busier with schooling and hockey, my Dad spent 100’s of hours on his own making a backyard rink for us that ended up being ranked the “best outdoor rink in Canada”. He packed the arena boards up by himself and let me tell you after taking the boards down last summer it is at least a 2-4 person job and he did it all on his own. Those boards were HEAVY!!! He created a system that made the best ice I have ever skated on and we had goalie creases painted on it so that there were no excuses about why guys were scoring, because the goalies knew where their net was. I don’t know to many people if anybody that would dedicate that much time and effort in building such an amazing practice rink for us kids to develop our hockey skills on but to also have a lot of fun with. To sum it up, he gave us every opportunity to get better at the sport we all were so fortunate to be playing and he did it out of love.


(night time look at the backyard rink before the creases were painted)


(Day time look at the backyard rink before the creases were painted)

Having 3 other siblings, all involved in hockey and other sports, really makes you realize when you are older that your parents no longer have time to themselves and that their time becomes our time. All of their focus has, and still is on making sure us kids achieve our potential with the support system from them that is needed.

The list goes on and on and on about how supportive and appreciative my parents have always been and I think this is the best way I can remind them how fortunate I am to have them raise me, but to also remind parents that even if what you do for your children seems to be unnoticed right now, that will change as they get older.

I want to publicly thank my parents for their strength, intelligence, unselfishness, support, protection, and the endless amount of love they continue to show my siblings and I. Whether its my mom or dad showing us their best dance moves spontaneously in the kitchen just to make us smile, or for giving us a reason to push for our dreams. Even though I never need a reminder of how lucky I am to have both of them, my friends are always telling me how great they both really are. Their loving ways and youthful enthusiasm is infectious and made for a fun and happy upbringing.


(My Beautiful and amazing parents!!)

Thank you mom and dad for everything you have done and are continuing to do today. I love you both very much and I cant wait to see you both in the stands of Behrn arena cheering me and the rest of the team on in the Kvalserien. I promise to do you both proud out there!  I Love you both with all my heart!!!

Thank you to all you parents who Im sure are doing just as great with your children. See you on the ice!

Cheers,

Jared