As a hockey player, flying is not only a part of the deal to do what you love the most, it is a must. You are in control on the ice. Or maybe you believe you are. Skies are awesome and blue, but unpredictable, too. Behind a busy scheduled NHL road agenda, game preparation and can't wait to play feeling, hockey players have now two choices: consider an airplane as safe as before September 11, or make that carrier become their enemy. When you step inside that technological masterpiece, millions, fame, and glory do not count; you are a mortal human being, giving control of the flight - and your life - to a crew seated in a cockpit. You cannot avoid it.

Estimates show that about fifty million people in the U.S. have at least some fear of flying. A recent Gallup survey showed that 21% of respondents confessed to being scared all or most of the time while flying. The fear can range from mild discomfort to extreme terror.

Fearful players, like regular customers, must consider also fear of heights, fear of crashing, flying over water, hijacking, and enclosed places. According to Sean Anthony, a researcher from Northern Arizona University, professional athletes cannot avoid travelling by air and they must find solutions instead of trying to cope with their fear with medication or alcohol.

The recent significant airplane events in the U.S. or involving U.S. carriers do not seem to affect any of the NHL organizations and it must continue that way. There has been 14 tragedies since August 2nd, 1997, including the Concorde disaster on July 25th, 2000 (which was heading for JFK Airport in New York) and the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Pittsburgh tragedies. Too much? Should panic be spread even among our beloved athletes? Enough said on that matter. The fact is, no one wishes to become a statistic.

On a personal player approach, Wayne Gretzky knows what fear of flying is all about. When it comes to flying, Gretzky had a mind full of vivid imaginations and the perfect subject for panic attacks. He remembered, during an interview, how flying was such a dark cloud always following him over his road to fame:

"I was that bad. If it wasn't for Air Canada, I probably wouldn't have been able to play. Because in those days, I think still the way it is now - when I got on the plane, I knew every pilot in Canada, and they'd say, 'You want to sit up here? You want to relax?' I used to sit in the cockpit on every trip! I got peace of mind and the pilots got autographs."

"I can remember - this is no lie - I can remember playing a game Sunday night at home in Edmonton and literally not being to sleep all night because we were going to fly the next morning at seven! Not being able to sleep, just lying there, getting on the plane and being so tired and having a four-hour flight to Toronto, and yet I couldn't sleep. I sat there talking to the pilot, scared to death, and getting off the plane and going to practice for an hour. If I wasn't 22 years old, I couldn't do it now. But fortunately I got over that fear of travel. That was probably the closest reason for me not liking it. The other side is that I love getting on the back of the bus and sitting with all the guys, rubbing shoulders with the guys."

On a more historical level, the NHL has not been a part of canceling its events no matter what happens in every day life. In January 1986, the National Hockey League played three games hours after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after his lift-off over Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing seven astronauts in the worst space disaster in U.S. history.

Like other leagues, the NHL rarely cancels games for anything but weather or travel problems. A game between the New York Rangers and Toronto was postponed on Feb. 6, 1952, because of the death of England's King George VI, and the league postponed a Detroit/Boston game because of the Kennedy assassination, which occurred on November 22nd, 1963.

Even the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games cannot be forgotten. Granted, the NHL was at first concerned with the players, the dangers, the probabilities and how to protect their players following the New York terrorism attacks. That is where the concern should have been anyway. But with the 2002 Olympics close at hand, the Salt Lake Tribune announced on its October 4 front page that security will be increased by $40 million dollars, making the price of Olympic security raise to half a billion dollars. Expensive? You bet. Worth it for such an international event? Dare to ask again!

The tournament, scheduled to run from February 9th to February 24, 2002, already had promised to be the biggest international hockey showcase since the Czech Republic captured the last Olympic gold medal in Nagano, Japan four winters ago. The NHL is suspending regular-season play from February 15th to 24th to allow its players to represent their homelands in what should be the greatest collection of hockey talent to date. Each Olympic team will name its roster by Dec. 22

Just imagine what will run through an American player's mind as he puts on his USA jersey. At that point, the patriotism will surpass the sport, with emotions so high that it could even transcend the usual Olympic essence and bring a whole new meaning to the word unity. Everybody will wish to be an American during those days.

Nevertheless, NHL hockey, as well as any sport, has always been a part of our world wide historic sagas and it has the capability to blend itself in order to allow a happy nation or a frightened one. to live again for a few hours, using sports' best qualities and requirements: team spirit, hard work, and friendship. At that point, the players and fans form one world: friends, teammates, and buddies.

As the World Trade Center ruins are still removed by thousands of exhausted heroes, NHL players are on the road again. Worried families are reassured, life must go on. Hockey will bring fans together again, and arenas will be host of proud cheers. However, players have been warned by club officials not to expect the same kind of treatment they've become accustomed to in airports - delays, bad memories, and sadness are going to be a big part of the new NHL season. But there will be thrill, joy, and fun. There will always be the fear of losing a game, the fear of being hurt by a muscled opponent, the fear of taking a plane, but let's just hope that one aspect of life will be absent: fear itself.

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