The Meaning of Hockey, Chapter 38

Bobby stood at centre at Key Arena in Seattle. Around him in a circle was the entire team. An hour earlier on the bus from the motel near the University of Washington, Vicente had shouted, "What the hell is anarchism anyway?"

It was time for another team discussion.

"Anarchism is the philosophy that we are all autonomous individuals who must come together from time to time for mutually beneficial purposes. This is necessary for the purposes of any collective activity, such as work, raising children or what is commonly called government," said Bobby, looking around at each player.

"Or playing on a hockey team," said Buckinghorse.

"Or playing on a hockey team," repeated Bobby. "Anarchism is a philosophy about the rules we should follow when it is necessary to come together, as autonomous and creative individuals, in a collective like a hockey team."

"I thought anarchism meant no rules," said Vicente.

"Anarchism means there are no rules imposed from the outside; it does not mean no rules," said Bobby.

"But is something really a rule if it is not imposed?" said Kiniski. "I mean, if I decide it's a good idea to be in bed every night by 11, is that a rule?"

"How about if the team decides that everyone should be in bed by 11?" said Bobby. "And if you want to be part of the team, you must follow team policy. Is that a rule?"

"Not if you're part of the decision-making and you agree with it," said Vicente. "It's only a rule if you don't agree with it or if someone else tells you to do it. Or both."

"Well, if you believe that then I guess anarchism means no rules," said Bobby.

"What about murder?" said Lalli. "What about if I think murder is okay. Under anarchism does that means it is okay for me to murder someone? I mean there's always going to be someone who disagrees with every rule. Does that mean they get to do what they want and screw everybody else?"

"What I want to know is, are we talking everybody has to agree or does the majority rule?" said Kiniski. "Because there's a big difference. If everybody has to agree then one person can block any decision. I don't think that's right."

"But if you go with majority rules, then 51 per cent of the people can make the rules for everybody else," said Vicente.

"What do you think coach?" said Kiniski.

"I don't know," said Bobby, shrugging. "I don't claim to have all the answers. I just know anarchism is about questioning authority. Questioning the way things have always been done so that we have as much freedom as possible. That's what we need to do here."

Was appearing not to have the answers a good thing? Most of the players were looking at him like he was not quite right.

"Consensus, which is what everybody agreeing is called, is the goal, but sometimes it just doesn't happen," said Bobby to change the subject. "I think we should always try for consensus; it's worth fighting for, but sometimes maybe we'll have to go with majority rules. Maybe we'll have two kinds of rules -- ones made by majority rule and ones made by consensus. "

***

"What I have learned from all my years in hockey is that the most important factors that create a winning team are: 1) talent; 2) motivation; 3) teamwork; and 4) the integration of the previous three. This last factor, integration, is the one least understood, but in many ways is the most important. So, let's take a look at what I mean by integration."

Bobby could see that some of the less cerebral players were beginning to drift away, so he yelled: "Gloves, stick and helmets on and let's skate."

The sudden change in tack caught most players off guard, but they quickly gathered up their gear and began to lap the rink. Bobby had Troy skate the team hard for fifteen minutes. At the end of the short workout, when the players were called back to center ice, all were gasping for air so Bobby knew they would welcome some listening, instead of more skating.

"Okay, where was I?" Bobby asked the players who once again surrounded him.

"You were talking about integration of talent, motivation and teamwork, coach," said Kiniski.

"Right," said Bobby as a few of the players gave Kiniski looks for his "sucking up to the coach."

"How do we integrate talent, motivation and teamwork?" repeated Bobby. "Through the team philosophy. Example? Well, I played for at least 30 different coaches over the years. I'd say most of them employed a military-type command structure as the team philosophy, which could best be summed as 'Obey thy coach.'"

Troy started chanting "obey thy coach," and most of the players joined in. Bobby smiled.

"Exactly," he said. "The team philosophy is unquestioned submission to authority."

"I fucking like it," said Troy, who had a big grin on his face.

"He fucking likes it," repeated Bobby. "So what's the problem with this as a team philosophy?"

Bobby again tried to make eye contact with each of his players. There was clearly discomfort as the young men thought about the question. "What's the problem?" he repeated.

"Creativity," said Hollingsworth. "You learn to follow orders all the time and it kills creativity."

"Exactly right," said Bobby. "An important part of hockey talent is creativity. We all know that, right?"

Most of the players nodded their heads.

"Creativity is also an essential element in both motivation and teamwork," said Bobby. "Hockey is a game that demands individual and team creativity at every level. Unlike, say American football, it is too fast and fluid for set plays that can be practiced to death."

He looked around. "Anyone disagree with anything I've said so far?"

No sign of disagreement.

"The other common team philosophy is really the absence of any team philosophy," said Bobby. "This is more common than you might think in the National Hockey League. There are no rules. Players are stars, richer and more famous than their coaches and so each one does as he likes. Everyone does their own thing."

"Isn't that called anarchism?" said Vicente.

"No, it's called capitalism, or free enterprise or everyone for himself," said Bobby. "You're right that people call what I described anarchism. But it's not what anarchists called anarchism."

He looked around at all the players.

"So what's the problem with this as a team philosophy, Bobby asked.

"There's no teamwork," said Kiniski.

"Right," said Bobby. "There's no teamwork. Successful hockey is a game played by creative individuals who give up part of their individuality to the collective that we call a team. Mutual aid. That is what I mean by anarchist hockey."

*** "Am I a freak?" said Mike. "Why do I feel sometimes like I think with my balls?"

Bobby smiled. This talking to his son about intimate stuff was not so bad after all.

"You get an answer to that one, there's a lot of us who would be interested," he said.

"You know Jane in promotions?"

A gorgeous young blonde. Sexy beyond belief.

"I think so."

"She's an absolute airhead, but I find myself attracted to her," said Mike. "It's like I have no control. I see the low cut blouse, the pink puffy lips, the curve of her hips and I make a fool of myself."

"I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one," said Bobby.

Father and son smiled at each other.

"Men," they said the word at exactly the same moment.

They both laughed.

"Your turn," said Mike.

"You know anything about anarcho-capitalism?" said Bobby. "Hollingsworth printed me out some stuff he found on the Web. Sounds to me like it's a philosophy to the right of libertarianism. They think absolutely every government activity could be better run by private enterprise."

"One dollar one vote?" said Mike.

"Ya, I guess that's it," said Bobby.

"Right-wing anarchism?" asked Mike.

"Exactly," said Bobby.

"Goes to show words can mean anything," said Mike.

"I guess," said Bobby, agreeing, but unsure to what.

***

Bobby skated towards the visitors' bench and motioned for everyone to follow. He had overheard Vicente say to Rabinovitch that anarchist hockey was just another name for an absence of coaching.

"You guys are young and enthusiastic and full of motivation. Instead of a military top-down system, why not design a team structure that relies on your enthusiasm and motivation? Encourages your freedom? I mean, the way things were going I was dying and the team was dying, so what is there to lose? So this was my plan. First, I got rid of all the guys who were the old stars. They were too tied to the previous way of doing things. In return, I got what I think are some of the most skilled players in the league. But most of you, and I'm sure everybody knows this, have reputations as troublemakers, in one way or the other. You're not the kind of guys who fit in with the top-down way of doing things. I'm hoping you will flourish under a system where you decide your own rules, where you have input into every aspect of the team's operations. I'm hoping that, instead of stifling your creativity under the old way of doing things, this system will allow your artistry and inventiveness to flourish. I'm also hoping you guys can become team players. I hoping that what prevented you from becoming true team players in the past was the fact that your individual creativity was threatened, so you felt like you had to hold onto it. On this team I want everyone to be a creative individual and a team player. I want the team play to rely upon and enhance your individual creativity and want the individual creativity to rely upon and enhance your team play. Us anarchists call that mutual aid. Does that make sense?"

Nods of assent came from all around. Vicente, however, looked glum. Bobby noticed his eyes were aimed at his skates.

"Vicente?" Bobby said. "What do you think?"

The 19-year old looked tired beyond his years. "I think I've heard a lot of words from coaches since I was five and the bottom line is always that they want something out of me."

Buckinghorse nodded agreement.

"Absolutely true," said Bobby. "You should judge people on what they say and do. And if what they say is a lot different from what they do, then you've got a hell of a good reason not to trust them. You're right to be cynical. You're right to judge me on what I do, not on what I say."

"I'll judge you on how many wins we get and how many points I get and how big of a contract I'm offered by the team that drafted me," said Vicente.

"Right," said Buckinghorse.

"Which brings up my point about anarchist hockey," said Bobby. "Why do I think it will work? Because it's in your self-interest to make it work. If I can show you a way that your individual skill will shine on a team that plays well together, how much will that boost your worth to the pros? Every team wants skilled players who can fit in. If we win as a team, how much does that boost your worth?"

Vicente still looked skeptical.

"Let me ask you this," Bobby said, looking directly at Vicente. "How much do you think you'll be offered after this season if you have 65 goals and 50 assists? Double, triple, four times what you were offered based on 65 goals and a handful of assists?"

Bobby had hit the right button.

"I don't think you are stupid, Vicente. In fact, I know you're smart. So I know that you know hockey is a team sport and that anybody who gets the reputation of not being a team player is valued less. If this system of anarchist hockey makes you become a team player, why wouldn't you want that?"

This time Vicente nodded.

"You want to be a star in a team game, right?

"That's been my dream since I was seven," said Vicente.

"You want to be a star in a team game?"

Nods all round.

"That's what anarchism is all about. You can be a star and a teammate. You can be an individual who is part of a collective. The balancing act between I and we. That's anarchism."

More nods.

"You've got nothing to lose and lots to gain. Right?

Vicente nodded. Bobby smiled.

"And one more thing," said Bobby. "Everybody here should remember that your odds of making it to the NHL from a major junior team are about one-in-ten. If we can go all the way to the Memorial Cup, your odds go up to about one-in-five. If you can learn a new and better way to run a hockey team and double your chances of making it to the big leagues wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Nods all around.

"How about you coach," said Lalli. "What's in it for you?"

"That's easy," said Bobby. "I get a winning team that makes me some money and I get my desire for the game back. I help change the way the game is played and maybe even get my joy for life back."

Bobby smiled. Troy smiled. Most of the players smiled. Bobby nodded to Troy as he thought about Frida and Mike. Those two are what's in it for me.

"Okay, okay, fucking meeting is over," yelled Troy. "We've got a fucking game tonight and we need to skate. Let's go. Let's go. Let's fucking skate."

Next Chapter: Monday

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