When Dominic Larocque was growing up in Canada, he was about as active as any young man. He played hockey up to the Junior A level, top-tier football for his school and competitive soccer for his city.

So when Larocque turned 18 during 2005, he decided he would use all his energy to serve his country. He enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces. Within two years, he would be deployed to Afghanistan.

About four months into his tour, on November 27, 2007, Larocque’s life took a drastic turn. A light armored vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). He and two colleagues were taken by helicopter to a hospital.

Three days later, Larocque woke to a shock. He was missing his left leg, amputated above the knee. Eventually, he was fitted with a prosthesis. He had to learn how to live again, not an easy task when just standing was difficult.

After about three years, Larocque adapted to his new limb. He entered the work force. Then, he realized that a void existed from his pre-military life. He needed to find a sport that he could play.

Of the sports he had played as a youth, football and soccer were out of the question. But hockey presented an interesting option. “Soldier On,” a program that helps former military personnel become involved in sports, arranged to have a Montreal sledge hockey team run a clinic. Larocque was there, and the clinic scored with him.

He began playing for the Montreal Transats sledge hockey team every other weekend. Soon after, he was a member of Canada’s national team and then part of the 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Calgary. Besides filling his competitive void, Larocque said his experience with sledge hockey has given him some additional perspective on how his life turned one fateful day in Afghanistan.

“It’s helped me so much meeting people from across Canada who have had various accidents or were maybe born with defects,” he said. “It’s made me realize that I don’t have it so bad.”

That’s certainly putting life into perspective, and we can learn a lot from Dominic. For me, the next time something just doesn’t work out with a client, or when one of my proposals doesn’t win the bid, I will recall Dominic’s story and realize that I really don’t have it so bad.

Jim

It took five months, but the New York Rangers finally got their man.

The team originally tried to pry Rick Nash away from the Columbus Blue Jackets at last season’s trade deadline so he could help with a playoff run. They didn’t succeed with either.

Not until last summer was this talented young scorer dealt to New York, and the deal was a steal. The Rangers did not give up any core young talent, nor did the acquisition affect the team’s salary structure.

During his first season with the Rangers, Nash has delivered with goals, assists, crisp passing, defense and with some nifty moves with the puck. Unfortunately, other aspects of the team’s play were lacking as the team struggled to reclaim its dominant play of the previous season.

Looking back to when the Nash acquisition was first discussed between the Rangers and Blue Jackets, no one at the time was sure it would occur. The package of players offered by the Rangers had been rejected by Columbus. Neither side budged.

When Nash finally became a member of the Rangers during the off-season, the player package going in the other direction involved the same names that had been discussed earlier. The Rangers refused to sweeten the offer. Columbus relented when it realized that the Rangers’ offer for Nash could not be matched by any other team.

Frequently, sports teams and businesses will jump too quickly at an opportunity for fear of losing leverage or anticipating that a deal may collapse. When this occurs, the payment, in hindsight, often is found to be too expensive. Resources may become depleted, or the return on the investment may be diminished.

In this case with the Rangers, and in all matters involving business and personal decisions, patience is the key to turning a successful deal.

Jim