This week we’re going to start to “Feed The Monster”.

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the Bigfoot logo on the banner for our summer training camp. This is one of the secondary logos for the Avalanche, and for reasons I’ll explain, I’d like our team to adopt it as our team logo.

Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forests of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of visual observations as well as alleged video and audio recordings, photographs, and casts of large footprints. — Wikipedia

When I think of Bigfoot, here is what I think of…

Bumble The Abominable Snow Monster

This is Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster from the classic “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” television special. This show was first released in the year I was born (dating myself here — you can look it up). I’ll admit that Bumble absolutely terrified me as a small child. Even with the old stop-motion animation, it’s still the absolute best children’s Christmas special ever.

Our goals are as big as Bumble!

I was really impressed with the vision statements that you all came up with last week. For most of you, it was something like this:

Bumble didn’t start out huge and scary. Bumble started as a small baby sasquatch, ate a lot every day, and over time became the massive Bumble The Abominable Show Monster.

Making our vision a reality is much like that. At first, it may seem like a long way away. But over time, if we work at it diligently every day, we get closer and closer until we are the person that we dreamed of becoming.

One Step at a Time

Continual improvement over time is the key to success. We want to get a little bit better EVERY day.

Getting 1% better every day will eventually make us unstoppable, both as individuals and as a team.

This takes discipline, focus and living with intention. It’s often not easy and at times certainly will require you to make sacrifices. But in the end it is well worth it.

Every day we “Feed The Monster” we get one step closer to making our vision a reality!

To me, that is what the single “Bumble” footprint stands for:

Feed the Monster one step a time until we’re unbeatable!

This week, we’ll start planning out the steps. It’s going to be a blast! I can’t wait to get started.

Today’s Assignment:

1. Growling on the ice is allowed! Look at the image above and pretend that you’re looking in a mirror. Practice growling like Bumble. (We may try this at practice, 😂)
2. Think of one thing that you can do to get 1% better today. What one step can you take? POST your answer to the team WhatsApp group. Try to come up with something different than your teammates.
3. Seriously, if you haven’t ever watched Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, what are you waiting for?

Today’s Workout:

Complete another 30-minute Tempo Run. Be sure to read the instructions below.

Time Required: 30 minutes

If you’re short on time, it’s okay to do 10, 15 or 20 minutes with a shorter warm-up and cool-down.

Next Ice: 6pm-7:30pm at Morgan Firestone A

NOTE: Due to the early start, we will not be doing a team warm-up before practice. Please do your best to be ready to go on the ice when the Zamboni goes on.

Drill of the Day: