The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2002, Page 31

Vol. 57 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
115
living and strict training is, of course,
absolutely essential if any exceptional pro-
ficiency in the game of hockey is to be
reached and held. Equipped as they were
with sound bodies and keen minds, the
thing of still greater importance was the
dynamic force which was engendered by
the spirit which prevailed among the mem-
bers of the club. There was harmony; the
club had a sufficiently large roster of play-
ers to make two teams and a large slate of
executive officers and officials; yet there
was never any dissension. Each one did
what he could for the club in the most
unselfish manner. In addition to harmony
they had perseverance and a fighting spirit.
It was with the utmost difficulty that the
Club obtained admittance to Senior com-
pany at the commencement of the 1919-20
season, having been turned down repeated-
ly. League officials did not consider the
team qualified for senior standing. Finally,
after a great deal of publicity in connection
with the Club’s continued fight for admis-
sion (Col. H.M. Hannesson’s efforts in this
regard deserving a great deal of praise), the
Falcons were placed in a new section of
equal standing with the old combine which
held fast. This new section included
Selkirk, Brandon and the Falcons, and what
a league it turned out to be.
Now that they were in the league it was
up to the boys to prove their merit and
they went about their pre-season prepara-
tions and training quietly and modestly,
not boasting of what they could do when
they came up against the redoubtable
Selkirk team and the strong outfit from
Brandon. Another quality they had was
poise, and in the Club’s dressing room there
was order and quiet, no rowdyism or loud
boisterous talk. This may seem to be a mat-
ter of minor importance, but in reality it is
the opposite. The atmosphere in the club
room has an important bearing on the play-
ers’ serenity and balance when they take to
the ice. Discord or rowdyism may affect a
team’s play in a most detrimental manner.
Even one loud-mouthed man in a club
room may so affect some of the players as to
preclude their playing a game they would
be capable of were they undisturbed by any
jarring note. The whole club must be a
cohesive, understanding combination, with
a very fine sense of the fitness of things. In
the Falcons’ dressing room before a game
quiet reigned; most of the time you could
almost hear a pin drop as the boys went
about the business of preparing for the con-
test. An occasional jocular remark quietly
passed—just friendly kidding, not overly
serious yet restrained and controlled. Talk
of winning the championship was not
heard. Confident but not too much so, the
boys seemed to avoid talk of winning the
championship lest the charm be dispelled
and their instinct was, in the long run, cor-
rect. For thinking too much ahead to the
goal—the “championship” or prize—has
more often than not put a team off their
game, when by quietly and steadily going
about the business of “doing their stuff,”
they would achieve the best results. A man
does not score a goal by thinking of it; in
fact, the less he thinks of the goal itself the
better he can apply himself to getting with-
in shooting distance. Then again, a feeling
that one always has something in reserve
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