until they take my skates away, and I still feel that way,” he says. “Whether I’m in the NHL this year all year or another two years or I go back and drop down to the minors and be that high-paid babysitter and look after the kids and make sure they’re okay — I’m not going to be one of those guys who made it to the show and says, ‘Okay, I made it to the show, now I’m done.’ I love the game. I’ve loved it all my life. I want to play it as long as I can.” But what happens when the end finally comes? “I’m kind of undecided,” he says. “When I was first here I had to do a lot of landscaping to be able to stay here, because you don’t make a lot of money if you play in the ECHL. I really enjoyed that, so that’s an option. And I always wanted to be a firefighter when I was a kid — I want to take the schooling for that just to have it.” But before he’s ready for that, you get the feeling the ice won’t be through with him even after they take his skates away. “I really want to coach and help some guys make it up,” he says. “I’m a student of the game and had to do a lot of it myself, so I’d like to pass that on and help some guys.” Currently, he’s working with Augusta Riverhawk’s heavyweight Kevin Fukala.
“I’m just trying to help him,” he says. “I don’t normally do that, but I thought this could be awesome. A young, hungry guy to push me…” When he’s ready for the traditional working world, though, it’s not like he’ll enter it without experience. During off seasons in the minors he did a little bit of everything to make ends meet, including being a brick laborer and selling knives. “A lot of the stuff sports teaches you — hard work, punctuality — a lot of it relates to the business world.” And while he’s making good money in the NHL, money has never been a motivation when it comes to hockey. “I thought I was doing well when I was making $550 a week here with the Augusta Lynx,” he says. “I loved my life, but fans look at that and think that’s not all that much money for a professional athlete, and they’re right, but you’re living the dream. You’re one of the lucky few who had a dream as a boy and gets to live it out. You can do something for money, sure, but you’re getting to play the game you love. People need to remember that.”
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