During a recent Monday Night Football game, I watched as two future Hall of Fame coaches took the field. The TV announcers shared how they had talked with a player who had played for both coaches in the past. They asked him what was the different in coaching styles. He said that one coached by fear, the other by love. When asked what the player preferred, he shared that both can be effective, but that love lasts forever.

I once heard of a pitcher who was nervous about starting a play-off game. The position players were steering clear of him, and the pitching coach was at his wits end over the pitcher’s behavior. The head coach finally got wind of what was going on and marched down to the clubhouse to talk to the pitcher. He looked the pitcher in the eye and said, “Son, either change your behavior, or change out of your uniform!”

Hockey Chat:  On the business side of hockey, it’s all personal.  Although the good players create a fun game to watch, many teams (all that I know of) spend time with the community as well.  In turn the community spends money on tickets and merchandise which in turn goes back into the players salaries.  Both the players and fans appreciate each other and enjoy the relationship.  If the players were rude and disowned the fans then the fans would fall away and not support the team.