NHL players work their whole lives, from peewee on up, bleeding and sweating their way through a world where one false move can end a player's dreams in no time at all.
Which makes this next picture so very sweet. Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers caps off a lifelong odyssey with a first star in his final NHL contest, along with one of the greatest sports pictures of all time (thanks to Reddit user curiousme14):
