Last night I went and to Stoughton and watched a game between the Sun Prairie Cougars and Stoughton Icebergs.  As I the game progressed and I was paying attention to the players on the ice, as seems to happen very often, I found myself paying attention to a player that you don’t see their name showing lofty statistics at the end of the game.  On this evening, it was Emily Scheffler.

Emily is a senior this year and at the conclusion of the game on Tuesday evening did not have a point this season.  The play that drew my attention was a shot taken by the Icebergs.  Scheffler was playing in the low slot in front of her goaltender, Sarah Fuerstenberg.  The shot was heading wide. Instead of trying to stop the puck and taking the chance of it being deflected or taking a bad bounce on her goalie, Emily stepped aside and chased the puck into the corner.  She was the first to the puck and passed it up the wall to get it out of the zone.  After the game, I talked to Coach Johnson about the play and found out more information on Emily.

As I stated earlier, she doesn’t have any points on the season.  However, hockey is about more than points.   Teams have their scorers and their playmakers, but more than this the have their grinders.   Grinder, the affectionate name coaches have for their team players.   The player willing to go in the corner and fight for the puck and do whatever it takes to help the team win.  Scheffler is so respected by her teammates, she was voted to be one of the team captains this season.

I’ve known players over the years, which knew their skills did not allow them to be a goal scorer or their size didn’t allow them to compete at the level as other players.  However, they knew going into the corner and battling for the puck benefited the team.  One of my children, Kyle, was this type of player.  He did not do anything illegal or dirty while battling in the corner, just fought hard.  He was the "gnat" that irritated bigger players, because he would be battling for the puck to the point it would frustrate the opponent and they would end up taking a foolish penalty.  He knew his team going on the power play meant his shift was over, but you could see the happiness of knowing it may have just helped his team.  I think Kyle only suited up for one varsity game during his four high school seasons, but in talking to some of his high school coaches you would know he was respected for the effort he gave in any game he played.

These are two examples of players I call “Unsung Heroes”.  We all know every team has players that fit this bill.  Please leave a comment and let them know they are appreciated.