Making the NHL - in any capacity - is an incredible accomplishment.
Player. Coach. General Manager. Or team president, like Paul Holmgren is now. No matter how you do, having made it at all is something to be celebrated. It takes an insane amount of work, effort, and of course, support from those around you.
Like Holmgren’s older brother, Dave, selflessly shelling out the equivalent of $800 today so he could go to a hockey camp at Bemidji State, a tale he relays in the Players’ Tribune.
Perhaps without Dave’s gift, I might still have gone on to play in the NHL — but I doubt it.