Sports without sportsmanship is a hollow activity

February represents the stretch run for most high school hockey seasons. In other words, this is the time of the season when coaches tend to get hyper-focused on winning, whether it’s simply to make the playoffs, or to get a better postseason seed. Far too often, I’ve seen coaches lose their composure, and their sense of sportsmanship. And if a coach loses sight of the overriding values that this game is supposed to impart, what can we expect of the players?