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ILLUSTRATION BY Darren Gygi BEH I N D T HE G L A SS THE HOCKEY MOM By Christie Casciano Burns Off-Ice Memories Overshadow The Wins And Losses HOCKEY HAS A FUNNY WAY of taking you places you'd never expect say, for example, an Irish pub in downtown Chicago for Thanksgiving dinner. Kevin Duy's family missed out on a home cooked turkey feast, but he wouldn't have it any other way. "The off-ice memories that travel hockey allows our family is what my wife and I treasure the most," says the St. Louis-based sports dad. The games played are never part of the conversation with their boys about past hockey trips. We may struggle to remember scores, but memories off the ice come quickly and with a smile. Here are some favorite memories submitted by loyal readers: Getting to swim and hang at team dinners help players get to know each other. Their teamwork seems to get better after that. – Shannon Nanne, Sagamore Hills, Ohio It's the time parents spend together sharing stories, food and drinks while we know our kids are togeth- er, too. It's an amazing feeling. – Julie Kreb, North Syracuse, N.Y. While in Cleveland, we visited the house from the movie "A Christmas Story." It was a fun holiday moment for us in between games. –Anne Billings Miller, Cazenovia, N.Y. My wife loved watching her boys play, they were all "her boys." When she passed away, our team and association, and competitive asso- ciations, turned out for her funeral. That support helped us get through a very tough time. – Jay Pellegrino, Frederick, Md. In the years to come we won't remember the score line, but we will remember all the fun we had. The memories will last a lifetime. –Chloe Tombs, UK hockey mum Nothing says team bonding like a road trip, and some of ours are pretty long. – Linda Aitcheson, Belfast, Northern Ireland Being able to say "who remembers the weekend the power went out in Lake Placid?" and any parent who does, remembers pitching in all of their hotel room snacks to make peanut butter fluff crackers for dinner because there were no restaurants open. – Amy Moon, Syracuse, N.Y. There's nothing like your hockey village. The friendships forged and team bonding make for the best memories. Taking over restaurants and ordering by jersey number, all while laughing and recapping the day's events. – Kelly McCarthy Clark, New Jersey My son's last youth hockey tour- nament was in Lake Placid. They had the time of their lives running around the village, but ended up losing in the quarterfinals. They were inconsolable. Parents traded calls back home. "Still crying?" "Yup — mine too" Now, the boys tell stories about get- ting stuck waist deep in the snow, playing real pond hockey and losing a few hats to the pesky north wind. Ask them, hey how did you guys do in that Lake Placid tournament and they'll smile, "I have no idea." – Syracuse, N.Y., hockey mom Christie Casciano Burns, the author of My Kids Play Hockey. P ADAM WINTERS Age 44 Saline, Mich. After getting his start in coaching with the University of Michigan women's club team, Adam Winters dedicates almost all his free time these days to his local organization. Winters works with mul- tiple teams in addition to acting as secretary for the Ann Arbor Amateur Hockey Association. He also oversees goaltender development for the entire organization. For the former goal- ie, developing young netminders is a labor of love. Winters runs monthly clinics, as well as a weeklong camp during the offseason, to ensure that AAAHA's goalies get the proper coaching that they need. "I want every kid in the organization to be suc- cessful and enjoy the sport as much as I do," he says. To get the most out of all his goalies, Winters focuses on empowering them to take ownership of their development. "If a coach tries to dic- tate everything, then typically you don't have players that buy in," he says. "By empowering the players to make good decisions and set goals, that just leads to a more successful sea- son and quicker, better improvement for individ- ual skills for the players." 10 // APRIL/MAY 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM COACH OF THE MONTH "There's nothing like your hockey village. The friendships forged and team bonding make for the best memories."