Every athlete wonders at one point during their career, what am I going to do after I’ve played my last game? Retired, professional hockey player and current head coach of the Tahoe Icemen,Mickey Lang, was faced with this question when his career as a player came to an abrupt halt in December of 2014.” I wanted to stay in hockey and the ultimate goal was to be a hockey coach, fortunately things worked out with Tahoe.” Lang accepted the position as head coach of the Tahoe Icemen in August 2016. The Icemen are a Tier II Juniors ice hockey team, in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) that have players ranging from the age of sixteen to twenty one years old. Introduced to hockey at the age of 3 when his dad took him to a local hockey rink
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He quickly stopped and grabbed two cups of coffee and then walked towards the table that I was sitting at in the corner. As he approached me he was grinning from ear to ear. From the few months that I’ve known Mickey Lang, he is usually smiling, especially when he gets to talk about hockey. Standing at about 5’10” you can tell when looking at him that he packs a lot of strength into his stature. After he got his coffee cups situated just right, he broke the ice by reaching over and giving me a knuckle punch. The morning practice for the Tahoe Icemen, the team that Mickey Lang is currently in his first year of coaching, was long and grueling, but by Mickey’s enthusiasm that morning as we spoke, it appeared he’d be ready for round two as soon as the interview was over. I’m always curious about how someone initially gets involved in a sport they fall in love with. Was the passion passed down from a previous generation or was it their very own discovery? I start the conversation out with that question, “So when and how did you find the sport of hockey?” Mickey responds, “I was 3 years old and my father took me to a rink that was about 5 miles from my house and I immediately started skating and was probably about 4 years old when I started playing hockey.” Although Mickey’s dad was a baseball player, he enjoyed the game of hockey and wanted to introduce his son to
He quickly stopped and grabbed two cups of coffee and then walked towards the table that I was sitting at in the corner. As he approached me he was grinning from ear to ear. From the few months that I’ve known Mickey Lang, he is usually smiling, especially when he gets to talk about hockey. Standing at about 5’10” you can tell when looking at him that he packs a lot of strength into his stature. After he got his coffee cups situated just right, he broke the ice by reaching over and giving me a knuckle punch. The morning practice for the Tahoe Icemen, the team that Mickey Lang is currently in his first year of coaching, was long and grueling, but by Mickey’s enthusiasm that morning as we spoke, it appeared he’d be ready for round two as soon as the interview was over. I’m always curious about how someone initially gets involved in a sport they fall in love with. Was the passion passed down from a previous generation or was it their very own discovery? I start the conversation out with that question, “So when and how did you find the sport of hockey?” Mickey responds, “I was 3 years old and my father took me to a rink that was about 5 miles from my house and I immediately started skating and was probably about 4 years old when I started playing hockey.” Although Mickey’s dad was a baseball player, he enjoyed the game of hockey and wanted to introduce his son to