Meeting Chico Resch

For those non-hockey fans reading this: Chico Resch was an NHL goaltender with the NY Islanders during their 4 Stanley Cup dynasty, also playing for the Colorado Rockies, then the NJ Devils when the Rockies jumped to NJ, and finishing his playing career with the Philadelphia Flyers. After retiring, he became the color commentator for the NJ Devils, which he retired from a few years ago.

As an avid Islanders fan prior to the Devils arriving in the Meadowlands, I watched many games with Chico in goal. Later when he retired from playing and joined the Devils broadcasting team, along with Mike (Doc) Emrick, forming one of the best play-by-play / color commentator teams in hockey I enjoyed his stories and insights.

Several years ago when I completed my Six Sigma Black Belt certification I took on a project with a customer in Pittsburgh. On one of the first trips out there the Devils were playing the Penguins and my boss took me to the game to celebrate my achievement. While waiting for our plane at Newark Airport, I spotted Chico Resch in the gate area. Being a big fan and a bit nervous – also wanting to be respectful of his time and personal space – I only spoke to him briefly. He was very cordial and when I told him I was going to the game that night he told me to stop by the booth between periods to say hello (something he did with many fans). I went back to sit down and promptly kicked myself for not asking for his autograph – ugh! At the game, I stopped by the booth but he was busy with production staff so I didn’t bother him.

Arriving at the gate for our flight the next day I had the good fortune to run into Chico again thanks to an early snowstorm that delayed flights. This time I was ready to get that autograph! As I approached him, he recognized me from the day before, asked me how I liked the game (Devils won so it was good!), and invited me to sit down. I quickly asked for his autograph, and lacking any PR photos, he signed the back of my business card – which I have in a CD case as part of my autograph collection. As I didn’t want to bother him, I was ready to leave but he was up for a conversation. We talked hockey and travel for quite a while. He really enjoyed interacting with fans and it showed.

Fast forward several years to his retirement ceremony. After a long playing career and a successful broadcasting career he was amazingly humble, as illustrated by an anecdote he told that night. He spoke about driving to give a speech in north Jersey and being so focused on rehearsing it while driving that he ran a red light. A local police officer pulled him over and as Chico has handing his documents to the officer, he asked if the officer knew who he was. The officer replied “Sure I do. And you of all people should know what a red light means.” (For those non-hockey fans, a red light goes on behind the goalie when a goal is scored).

That casual, self-deprecating nature reminded me of a story I read contrasting Derek Sanderson and Bobby Hull when they signed huge (back in those days) contracts with the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA) that briefly competed with the NHL. According to the story, Bobby Hull spent a lot of time interacting with fans and signing autographs, while Derek Sanderson had a reputation as a partier. The key quote from that story is, “Derek Sanderson spent his time looking for ways to spend his huge salary while Bobby Hull spent his time earning his”.

Chico certainly spent his time earning his salary. That’s the life lesson for us all – love what you do and appreciate those around you who make it possible.

www.RetiredandInspiredat55.com 2-6-2023