As many of you know our family left Tuesday morning and I wanted to take a few minutes to express our gratitude.  Unfortunately we could not stay longer as I must start work this week and Riley has agreed to join me to watch over Peyton while I work out of town, instead of staying in Landshut to celebrate the season along with the remainder of his team.

 

Throughout the year Riley and I were blessed with meeting many great people.  These people would encourage us, take care of us, and be a shoulder to cry on if needed.  Of these people were our wonderful neighbors Martin and Judith.  Thank you for everything you did for us, helping with the flat, the coffee dates, the gifts for Peyton, and coming out to the games to show your support. We want to send a huge thank you to the fans!  The fans in Landshut don’t even compare to fans in North America.  You’re dedication to the team through wins and through losses was outstanding.  Riley has loved getting your emails and pictures during the year, the kind words kept him motivated through times when negativity was all that surrounded him.

 

I would like to take this moment to express my personal feelings on Riley’s season this year.  It seems all too easy and too common for someone to point the finger and pass the blame onto individuals for things during the season.  When you live your life in the public view, you are subjecting every move you make to someone else’s criticism.  Very few of us know what this is like and it can certainly take its toll. Riley is an amazing person with a great heart and has a natural talent to play hockey.  During the beginning of a season the expectations put on you are purely statistical.  They are going off of your previous seasons numbers to base their opinion on how well you will play.  As the season progresses the amount of expectations will either rise or fall depending on how well you actually play.  For those players who seem to fall back the expectations are lowered and for those who succeed it increases dramatically.

 

Riley had a great season this year, earning 64 points while playing only 44 games instead of all 54 due to an injury.  While Riley was injured the team went from 1st place to 5th place losing multiple games.  Therefore as you can imagine the team was really putting the pressure on for Riley to return and help the team recover.  Due to his dedication and love of the team, he returned for a few games during his injury to try and help out but since he was not fully recovered he would be forced to take additional time off for rehabilitation.

 

During playoffs the atmosphere is different, the physical aspect of the game in increased, the aggression is raised, and the focus is intense.  Its amusing how you can go an entire season with almost zero hitting to a playoff series against Bremerhaven and watch how many fights break out.  During the regular season plays that would normally work just don’t because you are being slashed and smashed by the opposing team.  Riley decided during the final few games that maybe the gold helmet was drawing to much attention to him on the ice and that if he didn’t wear it the other team might lie off a little and allow him to make more plays.

 

It has come to my attention that certain individuals are pointing the finger and blaming the playoff loss on Riley, and I think they couldn’t be more wrong.  Hockey is a team sport it takes everyone to win and it takes everyone to lose.  If you point the sole blame on one person you are inevitably saying that the remainder of the team is incapable of winning without that one person.  In an odd way you can look at this as a compliment, that you are so good the team cannot possibly win without you therefore it is your fault they lose.

 

 



 

 

For someone to question Riley’s character and slander his motives is inexcusable.  If they are basing their judgment on the fact that his points faded off towards the end of the season they should also take into consideration the amount of pressure the opposing teams put on him during the games.  They know he is a good player so they make it impossible for him to make plays; this is a good strategy for the opposing team.  They should also take into consideration that even the greatest of hockey players go games with no points, this doesn’t mean they aren’t trying!

 

Take the great Sidney Crosby for example a man who scores 100+ points a year.  When the Olympics started it was thought he would be a major goal scorer, yet he only scored 1 goal and earned 2 assists.  This doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying and I am sure no one took this harder than Sidney Crosby.  When you are a great player you have great expectations of yourself, and when these expectations aren’t met it breaks you.

 

For someone to say Riley Armstrong didn’t try or worse didn’t care should come spend a night with him after a game that he didn’t score a point or after a team loss.  You should be the one to make him feel better, to lift his spirits, and tell him that it’s going to be ok.  You should be the one to constantly tell him that he didn’t let his team down, that is takes more than one person to win a hockey game, because believe me he is harder on himself than any one else could be.  It’s funny how one person can be responsible for a loss but yet the team is responsible for a win.

 

Fans, Management, Friends, and Family I hope you know that Riley and I had a wonderful year in Landshut and we loved the team.  The other players were like family to us and there is nothing more we would of liked to do than to win you a championship and who knows maybe one day we will!  We wish you a wonderful summer, and if we do not meet again a happy and love-filled life.  Thank you for everything you have done for us!

 

 

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