View from the Stands

I am writing this for all of the amateur NHL scouts out there. Every amateur scout I have known in the last 20 years is too humble to ever write about their experience, sacrifices or how much a Stanley Cup truly means to them.??They are the silent warriors, hidden behind the curtain…. the guys in the stands.??

For 20 years I have watched and listened to my husband and many others go silently behind the scenes doing their jobs.??It is not flashy, sexy or glamourous.??They are the plodders, the mudders, the blue collar workers, the grinders…… the good guys. These scouts cover the gamut from single and barely out of college, married with a new baby, single dads, dads with school aged or college kids and grandfathers.?

What is the job of a scout?

It is hard.??It is a grind. It is lonely.??It is isolating. It is a long season.??Above all it is rewarding!??All of the scouts I know cannot imagine doing anything else.??They do a job every day that they absolutely love!??They always joke and say it is every mans’ dream job watching hockey for a living.

Scouts start their season at the beginning of August.??There are two tournaments that start the season:??the Ivan Hlinka tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia and the U20 tournament which used to be held in Lake Placid but now is in Plymouth, Michigan.??These tournaments are a nice relaxing start to the year.??A first look at prospects as well as players in the system.??These are family friendly tournaments and some scouts bring their wives and families if they are able.??It is kind of like seeing your friends at summer camp.??You know that the school year is about to start and you just want to hold on to a few more weeks of summer but you are actually excited to see your old friends, to connect and look ahead to the year to come.

The beginning of the season begins with Rookie Camp. These camps are usually held in the NHL cities and all of the new players drafted arrive excited to see what their future holds.??These are the amateur scouts’ players, the ones that they spent years evaluating and getting to know as players and as young men.??What is their work ethic, grit, skill, and character???What motivates them???What kind of NHL player are they projected to become???The scouts can hardly wait to see how these young players fair at their first NHL training camp.??They are their future hopes and dreams of the franchise.??Many of the scouts see these young men through so many different lenses:??father, coach, mentor, and friend.??Sometimes it involves tough love and sometimes they exceed the expectations which leaves them bursting with pride.

After Rookie Camp is the main camp in which all players return.??Some of the rookies are invited to stay but many of them return to their previous leagues and teams for further development.??The scouts also return to their regions because their seasons are about to begin as well.

From September until May NHL amateur scouts are on the road.??Many scouts stay in their regions to scout but there are also cross over scouts that travel across the country to see players from many regions.??Head scouts or Directors of Scouting travel all over the world to see as many of the players as they can who have been identified by their staff.??Regardless of how or where they go the job is a grind.??During the day most guys do their paper work, speak to players, coaches, agents or other scouts.??This can be from their home office or many times their hotel room.??

When our kids were little my husband would often arrive home from a game at 1 am and then be up with the kids at 7am to take them to school.??He would come home and work, do errands, pick the kids up from school depending on where he had to go to the next game and then head out to a game for the evening.?This happened 4 nights a week on average and weekends as well when there were often double headers.??On average I would say he would see between 4-5 games a week.

For families this can be tough.??It means redefining what an “ideal” family life is like.??My husband did not do family dinners, homework, evening hockey practices, school events, basketball, soccer, or baseball, weekend sports tournaments, March Breaks, Christmas holidays etc.??What he did do was take the kids to school most days, the occasional field trip, breakfasts, pack school lunches, 1-2 hockey tournaments a year scheduled around his games for work and summer holidays.??The days or weeks he was on the road he called the boys before school, afterschool and before bed.??He facetimed, emailed and texted.??Our boys knew he might not always be there physically but he was always there for them.??As parents we made the big decisions together but he always trusted me to make the in the moment decisions.??

Scouts are on the road for long periods of time, especially when they do a Western or Quebec League swing or travel to Europe.??Time changes affect communication schedules, sleep, diet, exercise and routines.??Their routines are often comprised of airports, hotels and arenas.??Even when they are in Europe they are working and have no time to explore or sightsee.??It is all work all the time!??They fly or drive through conditions most people would not ever entertain just to get to that game on their schedule so they do not have to add it later.??There is always that one obscure player they need to see that is 4-5 hours out of the way so they add it to their schedule and cross their fingers that they will be playing that night and if not hope to be able to get at least one viewing before the end of the season.??It is a grind!

When colleges, junior leagues and the NHL are winding down in May and June amateur scouts are gearing up.??The NHL draft is the absolute pinnacle of their year.??All of their hard work comes down to two days at the end of June.??Prior to the draft there are scouting meetings, player lists, interviews, more meetings, conference calls, more interviews, changes to lists, overall lists, mock drafts and then the eve of the NHL draft.??Nerves, excitement, and anticipation.???Who will be the coveted first overall pick???Who will be the first pick drafted to their team?

The NHL entry draft is intense!??It is the culmination of a years’ work for the scouts.??The days are long often going from 6 am until the early hours of the morning.??Strategies, trades, revisions and back up plans are hatched and discussed.??A trade or a change in picks can throw off the balance and require a reorganization of the list.??It is an exhausting and exhilarating time.

Immediately after the draft, some of the scouts return home and some of them board a plane to the city of their NHL team for development camp.??This is when all of the newly drafted picks arrive gear in hand to begin their NHL career.??This week involves off ice training and activities, scrimmages and meetings.??Scouts are again asked to evaluate “their” players to see how they stack up against the other rookies.??This is a fun and relaxing time but still work.??

The final event of the season is Free Agency.??Head scouts and Directors of scouting often remain with the NHL teams during this feeding frenzy in the event information or player background is needed.??Scouts are then able to shut it down and go off the grid until they begin again in August.

Scouts do not do the job for the glamour, recognition, money or accolades.??These are rare.??They do it pure and simply for the love of the game.??It is their passion! It is in their blood!??It is who they are!??

Being part of a team that is competing for a Stanley Cup it is a dream come true.??Many of them have worked for 20-30 years in a game that they love.??They have seen players, coaches, general managers and even owners come and go. They have stayed true to their love of the game and to their calling.??They are not a part of the daily life of an NHL team.??They are on the road 11 out of 12 months a year and see 200 plus hockey games each season.??They travel thousands and thousands of kilometers to obscure places around the world to find the most talented and skilled players available.??They miss holidays, birthdays, special occasions and the daily activities of their children and families.??They make incredible sacrifices for a game that they love and would not want it any other way!

Last night after 25 years as an NHL scout my husband won the Stanley Cup! It truly was a dream come true. I cried as Scott and "his guys" walked out of the stands and on to the ice to hoist that coveted Stanley Cup and I can honestly say all the sacrifices were worth it!