TORONTO – Jason Spca called the National Hockey League – paradoxically, the most comfortable and ruthless chain in his favorite sport – as “adapt or die league”.
So, the trick that Speza tells to all those young beginners who choose from his wisdom and dream of only enduring 1248 games is honesty.
Even when it hurts.
Number 19 has advice for those who want to endure 19 years in the NHL: Constantly evaluate how you play. Ask yourself what you can do to improve. What you do right. Where you can click further. How can you fit in better to help the greater good? Then wake up the next day, tie them up and re-evaluate everything again.
Be critical before the coach – who has 22 other imperfect players to worry about – starts to be critical of you. Because by the time he pulls you aside, you’ve probably slipped in a week. And it may be too late.
Announcing his retirement and immediate move to the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, Spca left the crowd roaring with 94 points and the most points of all time (995).
The 38-year-old footballer is proud of his candid ability to evaluate his own game, when he contributes, when he doesn’t, and that he manages to hide the negative impulse of the ice in a positive way.
Now, appropriately, Spca has done the same thing, moving quickly and respectfully from considerable depth to a valuable member of Leafs’ executive branch, where he will serve as a special assistant to General Manager Kyle Dubas until he turns to ice-off. zone to pour out your experience. (Player evaluation and development is a smart bet.)
What allowed Spezza to stand out equally as a young playmaker phenomenon for Cup contenders Ottawa Senators and a wise fourth-line veteran in his hometown is the same approach to looking in the mirror that caused this painful decision, just five points away. -a little. of 1000 and one cup is ashamed of his wildest desire.
“I still don’t know if I’ve done it,” Speza said on Sunday.
“I am a very realistic person. I think. You know, over time, I knew I wasn’t going to do this forever. I also want to leave the team in a good place. I know you don’t want to overdo it as a player either. I think people have a lot of respect for me and you don’t want to use that and take advantage of the situation. “
Strongly scratched often down the stretch and in Leafs’ disappointing loss of seven games from the Tampa Bay Lightning car, Spca admitted that the handshake line felt different this month.
As he believed more strongly, the sting of defeat had burned in a way it had not since these knockers on the Sens door came with three victories without lifting Lord Stanley Mug in 2007.
Speza then admitted that he was “a little lost”. First he turned inward for questions.
“Have I done enough? Did I help you press the right buttons? Did I do everything I could to help the team overcome it? “- Speza wondered, his harshest critic.” It’s just hard. Just these chances, they don’t come very often.
“I do not know if I am completely OK with that. But I’m really excited to stay in the organization. This will make me feel that I am still part of the team as I am and will help the retirement process. “
Reflection, consideration and cordial conversations with former and current teammates followed in the following days, while hockey continued without him.
Mom and Dad, wife Jennifer and their four daughters, dear friends, former and current teammates, coach Sheldon Keefe, Dubas, club president Brendan Shanahan – Spca talks about the decision with all of them.
A former NHL player from Speca’s inner circle gave some idea, which remained.
“[He] he told me that I had the best job in hockey in the last 20 years and being a player is something you will never be able to do again. But there are other roles. There are other ways to feel this excitement of the game, “said Spca.
“But there is no doubt that being a player is special. This is the greatest job you can have. I don’t think people will ever understand everyday life. You just wake up on the day of the game and don’t feel the best after a nap and prepare your body for 19 hours of play. And you have a great night. You win a game and leave at a high level. These are things you will never get back. ”
What Spezza cannot return, he will pay in advance, as always.
Like the time he used his hands not to fake a vintage slap, but to stand up and throw himself in the face of Dean Kukan, when he felt that the Leafs should literally return to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the balloon for the playoffs in 2020.
Or when, during the pandemic, he was handing out a collection sign and collecting financial contributions from fellow NHL multimillionaires to help offset AHL Marlies’ reduced pay.
Or when his desperate speech in the intermission helped garner Toronto’s final victory, an inspired comeback against Lighting in Game 5.
Or when contract negotiations revolved and Spca happily signed a minimum wage, an act, Dubas says, helped encourage Marc Giordano to accept the $ 800,000 discount last week.
Dubas talks about summer training at the Ford Performance Center, where the Spezza rink would share his knowledge and children’s laughter with almost everyone in the organization.
“He doesn’t treat anyone differently and he was willing to do anything to help them,” Dubas said. “If you’re a player entering into an ECHL deal or a two-way American League deal – ECHL, and Jason Spezza – who is obviously someone everyone who grows up looks at and thinks very positively – he’s just willing to donate and give time when no one would expect it. That was quite remarkable. “
Such were the quiet actions of Spezza during the Leafs dinner before the match in Pittsburgh on February 18, 2020.
The team just put a 5-2 stinker in Buffalo. The injuries were growing, the band was playing badly, and their heads were sunk in the slow half back to back.
Dubas remembers Speza jumping off his plate and walking around the room, speaking individually to each Leaf who needed a boost. The action was not for a show; Dubas sensed that Spezza’s talks continued after GM left the room.
On the day he left the locker room for the front office, Spca considered the impression he had made on his peers.
“I hope they admit that I like the game. I think I was just trying to be myself every day. I don’t think I’ve ever played. I don’t think I’ve ever tried to be someone I wasn’t. I think that if you can be vulnerable to your teammates and show them who you really are, I think that creates a stronger connection and stronger friendships. And my best friendships are through hockey – and that’s not a mistake, “said Spca.
Shameless hockey maniac, Spezza feels proud today of all he has given. Rightfully.
Yet, to be honest, this pride is enriched by the bitterness of disappointment. An unfulfilled dream.
“I don’t think I can ever describe in words how much it means to me to try to win the Stanley Cup. “There is definitely a huge void in my heart and my career.”
“I’ve had many sleepless nights in my career wondering what I need to do differently and how I need to change to win the Stanley Cup. And not being able to win the Stanley Cup as a player is very difficult. This is the job of my life, hockey. And not being able to be a champion in it is difficult.
“But I think it will help me find my way around and want to stay in the game. I don’t think he will ever feel like a player. But now I will try to win the Stanley Cup as CEO and as part of the organization. And that will move me. “
No, Jason Spezza’s hockey career is not dead.
Just adapt.
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