"Want to GO?"

The three most feared words in hockey... "want to go?"

This may not be true today; I could be dating myself.

"Want to go?" was part of hockey's cultural language and very few players wanted to hear or have to respond to those words.  "Want to go?" was challenge-language back in the days when the NHL was full of amazing players and endless intimidation.

The Philadelphia Flyers won Stanley Cups with two things: a couple of forward lines with lots of talent and then two lines of tough players who knew their roles. That was another piece of old NHL cultural language: "He knows his job." During the late 70's and into the 80's, the tough guy role began to decrease, but certain players continued to "know their jobs." That meant they would take care of the tough guys on the other team.

Why am I bringing all of this up again? It hit me the other day that "want to go" is alive and well, but not just in hockey. "Want to go" is lingo representing our reaction to a scary challenge that could be coming our way. This could be a health scare, getting our job replaced by AI, or watching a difficult economy on the horizon.

In those days, it was a scary personal challenge. "Want to go?" was language that we all had to respond to. Everyone had to respond with their eyes, and everyone had two options. Look down towards the ice and you are indicating that "you don't want to go," that you don't want to meet the challenge. Or, look your opponent in the eyes and respond to his "you want to go?" with your "bring it on." Your eyes were the indicator of your intention at that point in your on-ice, non-verbal conversation. NHL players would read your grit and your compete-level through the fire in your eyes.

During my time playing with the Washington Capitals, in the late 70s and early 80's, it was said that our great GM, Max MacNab, had his own language when it came to drafting players. It sounded like this: "Will he play in Philly?" In other words, will he "come to play" in hard games? Will that player compete hard even when intimidation is the opponent's key skill?

OK, enough old-time hockey lingo... what does this have to do with us, today?

You and I are playing in a game called life, and some of us may be hearing: "Want to go?" When difficult times, during difficult games, show themselves... players learn how to "show up," they learn how to "play hard," and know they have to look at their opponent with fire in their eyes and dare them (the economy or AI or personal hardship) to drop their gloves. Yes, let's work on our skill, and yes, we want to develop our will... but the question today is how will we respond to: "Want to go?"