Mike Hartman- Motivational Story-Don't Take It Personally- Scotty Bowman

Mike Hartman, Performance Mindset Strategist this is Develop the Mindset of a Champion with former Stanley cup champion Mike Hartman. Welcome to another episode. Today I'm going to share a story that is very personal to me. It's called don't take it personally. I'm going to bring us back to 1986. I got drafted to the Buffalo Sabres as a 19 year old. Usually you get drafted at 18, but it worked out for me that I didn't do very well at 18, so I got drafted at 19 as a 19 year old. The process is when a team or organization drafts you, you usually go to the draft, or if you don't go to the draft, they give you a phone call and they say, hey, congratulations and welcome to the organization. Well, that happened to me late in June. Boy, was I excited. Got drafted to the Buffalo Sabres. I shared that with everybody before. But then early September comes and you report to your junior team like I did the North Bay Centennials and you head to the junior team in Canada where I played just before you're ready to go to NHL camp, which in my case was the Buffalo Sabres. So the day before I go to training camp, one of my teammates from my junior team, North Bay, he's joking around. We're standing around playing a little shinny hockey, which is like little one on one games, and he takes the puck and he takes a shot right off my ankle. Do I think he did it on purpose? Yeah, but maybe. Was it an accident? Did he try to hurt me? Did he know he's going to put me out? I don't know. At this point it really doesn't matter. But I did take it personally. It could have been an accident, I don't know. But in my mind it was done and my ankle swelled up like a balloon. I thought it was broken, so I went to get an X ray in North Bay. They told me it was not broken, but the problem was it was so swelled up that I couldn't even put pressure on it. I couldn't even walk to the airport. And I had to fly out to Buffalo to go to training camp. So I get to the camp in Buffalo, we arrive at the hotel where we have our team physicals and I get there and there's Scotty Bowman. He looks at me and he asked me, why are you limping? And I explained to him that I had a shot in the ankle in North Bay and it just swelled up like a balloon. And he told me, looked me right in the face and clearly said, if you are not okay, we are going to send you home. So for me to get an invite to main camp was important. And he also explained that, hey, you just took somebody's spot, so we could always bring somebody in, because Buffalo brought 60 players to training camp and it's tough to get into a big camp. So for me, it was like, oh, boy, you know what? What's going to happen now? I've been waiting for this opportunity forever. So I told him, no matter what happens, I'm going to try to play. So I wake up the next day and I can't even put my foot in the skate, it is so bad. So they put this boot on it, this ice boot, to try to get the swelling down. And now everybody's out there in training camp playing, and I take a peek and I'm limping out to the stands to watch training camp. And all the scouts are out there and they're asking me, hey, what's going on? What happened? We'd like to see you play. And I clearly said, I got a shot in the ankle. So then Scotty Bowman walks in. I go back to the medical room, and they're the trainers working on my ankle. And he walked up to the medical room and told me that he'll have a plane ticket for me to go home tomorrow. They're inviting another player to take my place. And I told him, and I said, listen, there's no way I'm going home. Please, like, I'll be able to skate tomorrow, I promise you. So he walked out the door, didn't say anything. So I wasn't sure if I was going home or they had a ticket. All I know is I showed up at the rink the next day and I woke up and for some great reason, I was able to put my foot in the skate. So I felt a little bit better. I was still limping. It bothered me, but I was able at least to put my foot in the skate. And for somehow, some way, I played the best hockey I have ever played in my life. I played great, actually. I had a Gordie Howe hat trick out there, which I had a fight. I had a goal and I had an assist. And I remember listening to some of the scouts, and some of them said that Scotty was not happy with the way a lot of us were performing in camper or some of the way the players were performing. Not that he liked fights, but there wasn't any physicality. It wasn't what they wanted. That the year before, the Sabers missed the playoffs by one point. I think and they had 80 points. So they were looking to rebuild a little bit and they were looking for younger guys and I thought for sure, boy this was going to be my opportunity. So then I played another game after that in training camp and it was solid. I don't remember if I did anything spectacular. And then there was a minor league game where we played Toronto Maple Leafs farm team at the time and they came into which was called Saberland which is our practice rink. We didn't play in the stadium and we played, I played for the Rochester Amerks which is the minor league team which you're allowed to do when, when you're 19 but you can't play in the American league until you're 20. But it, it, if it's exhibition and you're in the Sabers camp, they allowed it. So I played a game, I actually had a goal and a fight, played very well. So the next day, Sunday and it's the first exhibition game between the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres and they usually don't play young guys. So there's two sides of Saberland. There's a rank A, it's like a typical ice rink like you have in your local community with two or three sheets but in this case they had two. So the one side was all the big boys and the other side was some minor leaguers, some junior players, some players actually that weren't going to dress that night. And I was skating over there and it was great. I was looking good. I knew I wasn't going to play in an exhibition game so all the big boys were going to play that night. So I was just warming up, skating around the rink and Craig Ramsey, I see him coming across to our side of the rink. Now Craig Ramsey was the assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres. So he comes across, talks to the coaches. Next thing I know they tell me I'm practicing on the other side. And he told me congratulations, you're going to play tonight. So one of the big guys named andy Risdow, the 6 foot 5, 245 pound Todd guy was supposed to play but he played for the minor team the year before, played for Rochester and he was hurt so I took his spot and boy was I excited I was going to play against the Washington Capitals. I never expected that. So I finished practice with the big team. I admit I immediately called my mother and father and I said this might be my, my only game I ever play, you might want to come in. So my father actually flew in with my brother which is a 45 minute flight that night and it was a great night. I actually had a goal in a fight. I played very well. So I ended up playing every exhibition game up to the last game against the New Jersey Devils is the game that I didn't play. The rule was that back in those days that you have to be under contract under a certain time. So a lot of the players were sent back to their respective junior teams and they were spent, they were released and let go. There was I think 30 players left at camp during all this. I was playing all the exhibition games. So I agreed to the terms of the contract and I was so excited, had a nice signing bonus and I just, wow. I couldn't believe it. So we were at, at the time we were playing the exhibition game at West Point. That's the military school, the top school in the United States for, for, for academia and, and it was a great school. Fantastic. I mean West Point's known for top school. You have to be, I think your governor has to have a letter for you to even to be accepted no matter what your grade point was. We, it was a great experience. We were at West Point. I had breakfast with the cadets. We went to the flagpole that morning. That was memorable for me. So they really get on these first year students at the school. So the freshmen, I mean when you're a freshman at that school, they, they drill you and I think that you have to know the entire. They'll ask you every question like screaming right in your face. They have, you have to answer any, every question from you know, understanding everything which is on the New York Times that day all the way through to believe it or not. When does army play Navy? So that's the big football rivalry that, that they have every year. So that was exciting getting to eat and meet with them. So in that morning came and it was a really interesting morning. So I'm going to get to the point here. You're probably saying okay, what's the point here? So we're getting in the morning and we have a team meeting at West Point and we have guys like Adam Creighton who was a first round pick. Normie Lacombe, first round pick. Mikael Anderson, a first round pick. I can go on Dave and Dave Andre Chuk, first round pick. John Tucker was a high pick in the second round and we had a lot of young guys and we had Gilbert Parole to Clark Gillies and Scotty went around the room to each player and he said Adam Kraton, you fell 17 times this week. Between practice and the, the exhibition game we played and he went to every different guy and said, some Clark Gillies, four time Stanley cup champ. You might be too old for this game. Gilbert Parole. I don't believe you could play anymore. I mean, these, I mean, Gilbert Perot was in his 17th year. I was 19, so I was 2 years old when he played his first game. I idolize these guys. And he went around the room to everybody and he just ripped everybody. And he got to me. And he also got to another guy named Kenny Priestley, who was, who was a young guy who was in training camp with us. And he got to me and he says, mike, you're an overachiever. And he said, kenny Priestley, you're an overachiever. So I was like, oh man, what's he gonna say by the time he gets to us? So I didn't really know how to take that. I really didn't even know, okay, how do I take that? Like he's calling me an overachiever. So we go for breakfast that morning, Kenny and I were sitting at the table and all the big boys come in and we had a big team. UE group, 6 foot 7 was there. I mean, we had a. Guys were big. Adam Creighton, 6 foot 7, 6 foot 7. I mean, Clark Gillies, Larry Playfair. And we had a giant team of players. And we're both about 5 11, close to 6 foot. We're sitting there and they walk up to the, by the table and they say, oh, we can't sit with you. You guys are overachievers. And we just looked at each other and said, boy, this is, this is not good. So I think the guys were having a little bit of fun with, with us and joking around with us. And really, when you're a young guy, how do you take that? So, so what happened was they're having a little fun with us. We're nervous. We, we end up going to New Jersey to play the New Jersey Devils. And we get to New Jersey and I walk into the stadium and Scotty Bowman pulled me aside. He sees me walk in and he walks up to me. And Barry Smith was one of the coaches who, longtime coach Barry Smith was always great to us, actually. And he was a guy that skated us extra if we're not playing a lot. And Barry was a Stanley cup champion with Pittsburgh and Detroit Red Wings and really a nice guy. But he's standing there and Scotty says, mike, you are the worst player I have ever drafted. You were the worst player I have ever seen in my life. I made a mistake by signing you. I played you in all those exhibition games. I could lose my job over that. And I just signed a three year contract like the day before. And it's the day before. He told me I'm an overachiever. And I. Sitting there, I didn't know what to say. My knees are shaking. I put my hand out and I said, I just want to say thank you for the opportunity and thank you for playing me in those games. And he said a couple more things. He goes, oh, by the way, you're also too small. You're, you know, you're not strong enough. He went on, he says, I am just disgusted in the, in the move that I made by signing you, and you may cost me my job here. So he said, I don't even. And I walked away. He goes, oh, by the way, I don't even want you flying back on the team plane. So now I'm like, oh, my gosh, what am I going to do too? You know, you're. You're a young guy, like, put yourself in that position. You're 19 years old. So my heart stopped. And again, I thanked him one more time, and he didn't, he didn't want to hear it. And I walked away just like feeling like, like, almost like dead inside. And part of me says, well, at least I played some exhibition games. And you're trying to be positive. Your mindset is like, what, like, what's going on here? So I start walking away and I get halfway down the hall and he screams my name and he says, mike, you please come back here. So, So I walk back and I have my head down. I'm trying to look up. And I teach my own kids, always keep your head up and you look at somebody straight in the face. But it's almost hard to do that. You're almost feeling very uncomfortable. You're out of your comfort zone. And Scotty says, welcome to the Buffalo Sabres. You're going to be playing opening night against Montreal Canadiens. We're happy to have you here. I'm giving you the day off today, and you're not going to play just because you played all the exhibition games. You proved what you could do. Welcome to the team. And I just said, oh, my gosh, like, really? Like, is this what, what sports is all about? And I didn't know at the time, but I believe Scotty never really wanted anybody to feel comfortable. It's not that he was a nasty guy. Things are different today than it ever was. And if you talk to a lot of guys that played for Scotty Bowman, he could tell you a lot of different stories. You know, you can't always agree with what your boss is going to do and, and you can never really, you always just have to be ready and you always have to be on your toes and, and keep your head up. So I learned that at a young age and how I perceive that it is a 19 year old is a lot differently than I see it today because I can guarantee all the other players on the team, they weren't frazzled like I was that day when, when they were told how bad they were. In fact, they never brought it up, it was never talked about. So that day that Clark Gillies and Dave Anderschuck, a first round pick, and John Tucker and all the players that were in the room and Adam Creighton, they made a joke about it, they just laughed, they said, oh, it's just the way it is and it's not something that anybody even talked about. You didn't really hear about it. So the messages here, the next time you think about taking something personally, act on it, don't react on it. That's what I've learned in my life. So I had the mindset nowadays just to let things bounce off of me. So no matter what you do in your life, if it's your coach who's mad at the moment and if he's trying to get a reaction from you, act on it professionally. The same thing within business. So the message is here, act, don't react, and until next time, be safe.