Through blowing snow and icy roads we journeyed to Stephenville and back this past Saturday for our first hockey tournament of the season. They call these tournaments Jamborees nowadays and they are designed to promote fair play, friendship and the love of sport, among other things. The seven and eight year old hockey players also get pumped full of sugar and are given medals and loot bags at the end of the tournament.

On Sunday morning, of course we had the 8:00 am practice back in Corner Brook to finish up the weekend. My heart was warmed by a usually quiet child who was chatting and handing out packs of NHL trading cards to his teammates in the dressing room before they hit the ice. The kids were excited to get the cards and thanked him for the kindness. During practice there was even lots of chatter about trading the cards and the perceived value of each card.

After practice, on the drive home, Eric piped up from the backseat and says “Dad, do you have $5.00?” Naturally I asked why. “Little Johnny said I owe $5.00 for the 5 packs of cards I got from him”.

Upon further probing, I found out that the kid lifted the hockey cards from the loot bags in Stephenville and hustled his buddies at practice. The Jamboree may have promoted fair play, friendship, and the love of sport on ice – but then the real world hits you fast off ice.

As I’ll keep repeating, much like free hockey cards, please dig into the price you’re paying for your investment portfolio and the value you’re getting in return. Don’t get hustled like my eight year-old.