New York Islanders Dave Scatchard and Trent Hunter visited the Mineola Community Center last week to speak to the children from Mineola Youth and Family Services about what it took to realize their dreams. A invitation was extended to the team by Mineola Youth and Family Services director Suzanne Skaflestad and assistant director Ed Paley. Despite coming back home after a road trip, the two players accepted the invitation and answered questions about playing professional hockey and then signed autographs for the kids.

It is the dream of many young hockey players to one day play in the National Hockey League (NHL). However, the reality is that few get to experience the life of a NHL player. Scatchard and Hunter both, however, dreamed of playing in the NHL and both reached their goal. Their message to the kids of Mineola Youth and Family Services was to believe in yourself and work hard.

"Throughout everybody's lives, not just mine, people will say things and not believe in you as much as you believe in yourself. I think as long as you can believe in yourself more and really, truly work at something with everything that you have in your body, you know that you can do it. You can't listen to people who are negative and don't believe in you. I knew that I could make it and if I didn't keep working at it, I would have stopped a long time ago because so many people told me the odds were one in a million that I'd make it," said Scatchard.

Besides being teammates on an up and coming Islanders team, both Scatchard and Hunter come from similar backgrounds. Both were born in Alberta and grew up following the Edmonton Oilers and their superstar Wayne Gretzky.

At 27 years old, Scatchard is playing in his seventh NHL season while at 23, Hunter is playing in what he hopes will be his first full season in the NHL. The two have had their share of success. Last year, Scatchard scored a career high and team high 27 goals and this year, Hunter has already scored eight goals in this young season. Both feel fortunate to be making a living playing the sport they love.

Playing in the NHL may seem like a glamorous job, but for those players who made it to the sport's most competitive league, the road there wasn't all glamour. There were sacrifices players had to make to make their dreams a reality. There were long hours at practices and road trips where the players don't get to be with their families. But the hard work paid off.

"I really enjoy my job. Anything's possible. I was never really a very talented guy. I was never kind of one of the players people thought would make it. I just tried to work harder than everyone and be really determined and serious about what I wanted to get done. I'm been very fortunate and blessed and I actually get to do what I dreamed about doing since I was a little kid," Scatchard said. "I think that no matter what, if you believe in something hard enough and strong enough and are willing to do anything it takes to get there, I think that you can all achieve your dreams and goals."

At the age of 17, Hunter moved away from home to play hockey. Now, like Scatchard, he is playing on the opposite coast of where he grew up, but he has achieved his goal. "There were definitely setbacks, but I just kept practicing hard and working hard at it and it's paid off. It's an absolute dream come true. I couldn't be any happier," he said. "Growing up as a kid, it would have been easy to quit sometimes, but you always have to keep going. It's just like school sometimes. It gets tough but you have to study hard and do your homework. School is really important no matter what you plan to do whether you want to be an athlete or a doctor."

The players stood as proof to the kids that hard work pays off. "It seems hard now, but it's going to pay off for you. Don't give up and you can chase your dreams," Scatchard told the kids.

The kids also had an opportunity to ask questions of the players. Questions ranged from who their role models were, what uniform numbers do they wear, do they like playing for the Islanders, do they ever get tired of playing hockey, how many teams have they been on and what their favorite teams were growing up.

A pertinent issue today is how kids treat one other. Scatchard addressed the issue of respect while Hunter talked about dealing with anger. "I think if you treat people with respect then, in turn, that's when you get respect back whether it be your family, teachers or counselors, no matter who it is, I think if you treat them with respect and show them that you care about their feelings, it makes it a lot easier for them to return the favor to you," Scatchard said.

Hunter said getting angry and getting frustrated is part of life, but the way you deal with it is important. "You can't take your anger and frustration out on other people. You have to find away to deal with it yourself," he said.

Scatchard encouraged kids to talk about their anger and frustration instead of letting it build. "I think once you discuss it and once you talk about it with someone, you won't feel as angry and you won't feel as frustrated," he said.

After the players were finished asking questions, they received an applause for taking time out to speak with the kids. They then signed autographs and met with some of their young fans.