Thankful that I never

played against

Wayne Gretzky

in an NHL playoff series;

I probably would have had to break his hand.

I would not have wanted to injure Gretzky, mind you;

I loved the guy.

I never touched him on the ice

in a regular season game.

I had too much respect

for how he played

and how he carried himself.

But I can say without question

I would have tried to hurt him

if we had been matched up

in the playoffs.

In my mind,

there are no friends

in a playoff series

I’m not talking about

elbowing someone in the head

or going after someone’s knees.

I’m talking about a strategic slash.

To me, slashing someone’s hand or breaking someone’s fingers was nothing.

It was part of the game.

Broken hands heal.

Fingers heal.

The pain that comes from losing does not.

• from Overtime (2014) by Chris Chelios with Kevin Allen; excerpted, edited, and poemized.