Decision Time

Scattered across our table at the 2019 Chamber Annual Dinner, there were playing cards of Kevin Stevens, a key contributor on back-to-back Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins teams. On the back of one of those cards, I scanned the statistics of a winger who often found the back of the net and himself in the penalty box. On the first Thursday of March, Kevin explained how the biggest penality of his life was self-inflicted.

Most hockey penalties lead to 2 minutes of alone time. As  Denis Lemieux from Slapshot so eloquently put it, "Two minutes, by yourself, you know and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free."  In 1,470 career penality minutes, Kevin Stevens was freed from the box each and every time. A 10 second decision to get high imprisioned Kevin for many, many years after his NHL days were over.

The addiction part of the story is familar, at least for me. The devastation caused by drug addiction is something I have heard, witnessed, and felt. Professionally, you get used to it; you understand it; you even get numb to it.

The recovery part of the story is the hope. The triumph of recovery is something I have heard, witnessed, and felt. Professionally, you get motivated by it; you understand it is possible; you even get hopeful everyone has a fighting chance. Hopelessness cannot exist.

Kevin Stevens talked brutally candid. Just like one of his checks into the boards, his words were raw and powerful. He recognized he got lucky - that he did not reach for that high when he was a teenager or in college; that addiction did not take his life; that a judge gave him a chance to give back instead of taking his freedom.

Fame brought Kevin to Johnstown to give this speech. His days as a Penguin spark his recovery story. Johnstown has always been a hockey town. Like every other town in our country, it is a recovery town too.

Stories about drug addiction bombard the news, much like how opiates bombard the brain. Addiction has a stigma. Recovery is a struggle. Kevin Stevens - to his credit - has taken that struggle and found purpose.

In our day-to-day struggles, hopefully we all find purpose; we all tell stories to uplift and listen to stories that bring hope.

Decide to be hopeful. Decide now. Pass it on.