The SAIT Trojans take on the NAIT Ooks in basketball action in the SAIT gym on January 14, 2011. The men of Troy lost, 84-49.Trojan Tervil Brown charges down the court against Ook Deng Awak. ANDREW CROSSETT PHOTO

Within the world of sports, certain games mean more than others. Games played against bitter rivals often offer the best storylines and the most drama, and are generally the games that leave lasting impressions on players and fans alike.

Over the winter break, Canadian hockey fans were treated to one of the best hockey games in recent memory as the Canadian World Junior team lost another hard-fought game to their bitter rivals from Russia. This semi-final loss marked the first time the teams had played one another since the 2011 gold-medal game where the Canadians blew a three goal lead and eventually ended up losing.

A loss at this grand scale cuts deeper than most other losses, and yet somehow a team must carry on. Coaches and players must reign in their emotions and find the strength of character to move forward.

Trojan men’s hockey captain Jon Malin understands this more than most. As a member of the Trojans squad that lost a controversial ACAC championship game to their cross-town rivals from Mount Royal University, Malin knows players don’t forget losses against a serious rival.

“You want to win every time you play a rival, but when you lose to them you definitely want to send a message the next time you play them,” said Malin. “You’re all riled up when you lose to them, but you have to keep your emotions in check, or you can get off your game.”

Like all Trojan athletes, Malin doesn’t like to lose, and understands there are times when bounces don’t go a team’s way and that sometimes a loss is out of the players’ hands.

“Describing a loss as a character loss is kind of a way to soften the blow,” said Malin. “I think a loss is a loss regardless of how you lose.”
Trojans men’s hockey coach Ken Babey believes there is something to be learned through defeat.

“I think you have to lose to know what it feels like, and so that you can learn to win,” said Babey. “When we lose I always say let’s learn a lesson, usually there’s something we can fix the next night.”

Babey knows sometimes players over-think games against rivals, and that emotions can run quite high in these matchups.
“You have to go back to the heart. When we lost to Mount Royal on the first game of the regular season I think that we were over-anxious and I just had to tell the guys to loosen up and have fun – because we are a good team,” said Babey. “Our guys have good heart and so we just try to get back to the passion of the game.”

No one likes to lose, let alone to a close rival, but a loss can provide valuable information to a team. It is the lessons learned through these types of close games and bitter losses that help to define the character of a champion.

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