It’s Thursday and I am every single kind of tired. Like many of you, I stayed up too late last night. After some tearful goodbyes at the Bayshore. After a game that sucked all the wind out of me. After watching our over-agers skate off the ice for the last time. After seeing our Captain take some extra time alone on the empty ice.

Today I’ve decided that I am either really good at this job because I care. Or I am really bad at this job because I care. It’s a toss-up. And one that might take me a few post-season weeks to work through.

Whether you are a fan, a player, a parent, bench staff, office staff or a photographer/writer who dreams of making a difference, it’s perfectly normal to care. Sports are an escape.  A break from your real life. A distraction from an endless loop of what’s for dinner, which bills are paid and who’s buying paper towels. But when you invest your energy in one team, week in and week out, and you get to know the real people under those uniforms, behind those benches, the families who have put their heart and soul into helping their kids succeed, sports stop feeling like an escape and instead feel like an unfolding story of someone’s future.

Last night was tough, undoubtedly, and it came on the heels of a tough season, a season of shoulda/woulda/couldas that few people will ever really understand. But as a parent said to me this morning, these boys have their whole lives ahead of them. They will get over it, they will move on and they will keep chasing their dreams. As will we.

As the hours pass from the final buzzer last night, we gain some perspective. Change is coming, like it or not. We’ve lost some key players. We’ve gained some very exciting young players who, with luck and good decisions, we’ll get to watch develop next season. We get to watch our superstar goalie hear his name called at the NHL draft. We get to watch Captain Colby keep battling for a roster spot with the Jets. We get to see where our overagers end up. And we get to do it all again next season.

There was a comment in The Bears Den this morning that hit home. Someone asked a poster why he kept referring to ‘we’ when describing the Attack’s Monday game. We are all part of this team, for better or for worse, and we will keep coming back. We are lucky to have junior hockey in this city.

I appreciated you all tuning in for Season1 of Beyond The Bench. I had really no idea what I was in for when I decided to create a blog to tell the stories of this team. Can I keep it up for Season 2? We shall see. But I truly believe the more you know about the athlete you watch week in and week out the more invested you become.  And you can either thank me or hate me for that. You can have a few post-season weeks to sort that out too.

The idea of the boys packing their bags at the Bayshore today and giving their exit interviews is too much for me right now. But as the stories continue into the post season, as we find new things to be excited about for our boys, and for our team, I’ll be here to tell them because caring seems to be both my kryptonite and my superpower.

Thanks for all the support this season.