By Zach Pulliam, Founder of RinkRat® Body Wash
Looking back, I never realized how much hockey taught me until I became an adult. If you’re reading this, chances are hockey has played a role in your life too.
Maybe you’re the player waking up before school for early morning practice, staying after to work on your shot, and doing everything you can to reach the next level.
Maybe you’re a college player, a junior player, or someone chasing the dream of playing professionally.
Or maybe you’re like me.
Maybe you simply love the game.
No matter where hockey has taken you, I wanted to share something personal—not as the founder of RinkRat®, but as someone whose life has been shaped by this incredible sport.
Hockey Was My Childhood
Some of my greatest memories were made at the rink.
Like so many kids, I lived and breathed hockey. I played street hockey and shot pucks all night. I collected hockey cards and memorized teams and players. I watched NHL games every chance I got and imagined myself skating in front of thousands of fans.
I wasn’t thinking about making money or building a business.
I was just a kid who loved hockey.
The rink became my second home.
When Hockey Became More Than Just Fun
As I got older, hockey naturally became more competitive.
Practices became more serious.
Games became more important.
The expectations grew.
I was fortunate enough to have natural ability and opportunities that many players never get. But if I’m being completely honest, I wasn’t driven by the idea of constantly moving to the next level. I wasn’t consumed by rankings, scouts, or where hockey might take me.
I simply loved playing.
Like many young athletes, though, I also experienced pressure.
Looking back today, I know my father believed in me and wanted me to succeed. He wanted the very best for me, and I understand that now as an adult. But as a young player, there were times when it felt like the game mattered more to him than it did to me. I wasn’t emotionally mature enough to process those expectations.
Every mistake felt huge.
Every bad game stayed with me.
Instead of enjoying hockey, I sometimes found myself simply going through the motions.
If you’re a young player reading this, or a parent of one, I hope you understand something that took me years to learn.
The game should challenge you.
It should never take away your love for playing it.
The Greatest Lessons Didn’t Come from Winning
When I was younger, I thought hockey was teaching me how to skate faster, shoot harder, and become a better player.
Looking back, I realize hockey was teaching me something much more valuable.
It was teaching me how to handle life.
Life isn’t always fair.
Neither is hockey.
You can’t control a bad pass.
You can’t control a referee’s call.
You can’t control another player’s actions.
You can’t control every coach’s decision.
You can’t control what people expect from you.
But you can always control how you respond.
Learning to manage your emotions doesn’t mean pretending they don’t exist.
It means recognizing them, learning from them, and choosing your response instead of allowing your emotions to choose it for you.
That lesson has helped me far more in life than anything I ever learned about hockey itself.
I Didn’t Take Care of Myself
There’s another lesson hockey taught me, and I learned it much later than I wish I had.
Like many hockey players, I spent hours in sweaty equipment and rarely thought about taking care of my body afterward.
Recovery wasn’t something I paid much attention to.
Personal care wasn’t something I thought about.
I even dealt with irritated skin on the backs of my legs from years of sweat, friction, and hockey equipment.
At the time, I figured it was just part of the sport.
Looking back now, I realize taking care of yourself is part of being an athlete.
Recovery matters.
Nutrition matters.
Sleep matters.
And your skin matters too.
I know I did.
Then Hockey Found Me Again
Life eventually moved on.
Career.
Marriage.
Family.
Responsibilities.
Like so many former players, hockey slowly became something I watched instead of something I lived.
I never stopped loving it.
I just wasn’t part of it anymore.
Then I started building RinkRat®.
Originally, I thought I was creating a premium body wash specifically for hockey players because I believed our sport deserved products designed for us.
What I didn’t realize was that RinkRat would give me something I never expected.
It brought me back to hockey.
Not just the sport.
The community.
The Hockey Community Changed Me
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet incredible players, parents, coaches, equipment managers, trainers, teams, and hockey families from all over North America.
Every conversation reminded me why I fell in love with this game.
Watching kids light up when they talk about hockey reminded me of myself.
Meeting parents who spend countless weekends in cold rinks reminded me how much this sport means to families.
Talking with adult league players reminded me that hockey doesn’t have to be about making the NHL.
Sometimes it’s simply about loving the game enough that you never stop playing.
Without even realizing it, the hockey community gave me something back.
It gave me back my love for hockey.
Today, I Love Hockey More Than Ever
Today, I step onto the ice without pressure.
I’m not trying to impress anyone.
I’m not trying to prove anything.
I’m simply grateful that I still get to play.
Ironically, I think I appreciate hockey more today than I ever did when I was younger.
Because today I understand something I couldn’t see back then.
Hockey was never just preparing me to become a better player.
It was preparing me to become a better person.
It taught me resilience.
Discipline.
Humility.
Perspective.
It taught me how to lose.
How to get back up.
How to support teammates.
How to keep moving forward when life doesn’t go exactly as planned.
Those lessons have helped me become a better husband, a better father, a better business owner, and mostly a better human being.
Why I Started RinkRat®
People often ask why I started a body wash company.
The answer has never really been about body wash.
I started RinkRat because hockey gave me so much throughout my life.
This brand is my way of giving something back.
Yes, I wanted to create a premium body wash built specifically for hockey players.
But more than that, I wanted to remind athletes that taking care of yourself is part of the game.
Recovery doesn’t start tomorrow.
It starts the moment you leave the ice.
To me, every shower is more than washing away sweat.
It’s a chance to reset.
To leave behind a bad practice.
To learn from a mistake.
To appreciate another day doing what you love.
To remember that tomorrow is another opportunity.
That’s what Rink to Refresh® means to me.
Not just refreshing your body.
Refreshing your perspective.
A Message to Every Hockey Player
Whether you’re chasing juniors, college hockey, the pros, or simply looking forward to your next beer league game…
Never lose sight of why you started.
Play because you love the game.
Work hard because you love the challenge.
Take care of your body because it’s the only one you’ll ever have.
Control what you can control.
Learn from every setback.
Celebrate every opportunity.
One day you’ll realize hockey gave you far more than goals, assists, championships, or memories.
It gave you character.
And no one can ever take that away from you.
Thank you for allowing RinkRat® to become part of your journey.
I truly hope that every time you step into the shower after a skate, you’re reminded not only to take care of your body, but also to appreciate the game that has given us all so much!
I’ll see you at the rink…
— Zach Pulliam
Founder, RinkRat® Body Wash
