The Ride To The Rink: Build Something That Lasts With Syracuse Crunch Owner Howard Dolgan

Lee MJ Elias [0:00 - 0:13]: This is where we come full circle. We said it in the open. You're in the Syracuse hall of Fame. You're in the New York hall of Fame. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:14 - 0:16]: You did it. You did it. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:16 - 0:40]: You had this dream. You persevered, and you did this. And. And you've got rings as well. So I want you to reflect on either the hall of Fames is that you're in hall of Fames is the halls of fame that you're in. And maybe talk a second to the young Howie as a kid that was dreaming this. You did it. Right? We got a lot of dreamers. 

Howard Dolgon [0:40 - 0:42]: Cover of a local magazine, and he. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:42 - 0:46]: Made the COVID of the local magazine. Listen, listen, man. We got a lot of kids that listen to this show. 

Howard Dolgon [0:46 - 0:46]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:46 - 0:48]: And they're. They're dreamers. All right? 

Lee MJ Elias [0:48 - 0:49]: And you did it. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:49 - 0:57]: You did the work. What would you say to the younger version of yourself who's got that dream, right, where, you know, everyone's telling, you'll never do that. There's no way you can do that. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:57 - 0:58]: You did it. 

Lee MJ Elias [0:58 - 1:00]: What. What do the kids need to hear from you right now? 

Howard Dolgon [1:01 - 2:42]: I'll be very honest with you. So growing up in Brooklyn, I was no angel. I went down a couple bad paths in my life and could have gone in a. In a. In a really bad direction. You know, grew up in a really tough neighborhood. Fighting became almost an everyday thing for me. And my passion for sports, both playing it, but never at a high level, but my interest in. Probably saved me. And having that passion for something, whether it's sports or something else, and being driven to. At least through the. Always my. I was always big on potential. Like, you know, everyone's got great potential, but some people are too lazy to. To pay the price to reach it. Right? And you see with athletes and you see with executives, and for me, even as a younger person, I was never gonna let a lack of effort cost me from getting to where if I wasn't gonna make it, it was gonna be because I wasn't good enough, not because I didn't try hard enough. And that would be the message. Like, if you can walk away saying, I did everything I could, then you should always be satisfied, even if the result isn't as high as you want it to be. Because to me, the worst feeling would be I'd watch people quit and say it was too hard. And I could never accept that. 

Lee MJ Elias [2:43 - 2:43]: Right? 

Howard Dolgon [2:44 - 2:44]: And. 

Howard Dolgon [2:46 - 3:26]: Like, I'm not done. Like, we need to win a cup in Syracuse. Like, that. That. That drives me. And hopefully, at one point, getting a New arena is. Is something that the community, I believe, deserves. And. But listen, I. There were times where I pitched myself and I say, you know, I've been very blessed to live the life I've had. You know, certainly professionally, personally, we all go through hardships, and, you know, I've. I've learned that life is full of endings and beginnings. 

Lee MJ Elias [3:26 - 3:27]: Right, Right. 

Howard Dolgon [3:27 - 3:53]: And, you know, we all go through things that are difficult and things end, but if we. If we harp on that, we. We can't take the next beginning. And no matter how old we get or how young we are, that next chapter is exciting, you know, and we've got to embrace it and, you know, wake up every morning feeling like we've been blessed. 

Lee MJ Elias [3:54 - 4:06]: Yeah. You know what? When I reflect on my life right now and, you know, spoiler alert, I'm probably the youngest one here, although nobody considers me young anymore, what has astounded. 

Howard Dolgon [4:06 - 4:07]: Me, the oldest one here, for sure. 

Howard Dolgon [4:08 - 4:09]: I don't know about that. 

Lee MJ Elias [4:10 - 5:38]: Well, you guys like to fight. You can fight later about that. But what has astounded me, Howie, is. And we could just use hockey as the example, but there's. There's multiple examples. My love for the game has not ever waned. In fact, if anything, it's only grown. And, you know, when I talk to the young kids out there, I'm like, you know how much you love this game. You can love it even more than you do now that. That is something I like to tell people, because you think it's like, oh, man, is this ever gonna end? No, it actually. It actually grows. You know what I mean? And again, look, it's different for. Than love for children. Like, the love of your children. That's a totally different thing. But I have never stopped loving this game. And. And, you know, as I've gotten older and been able to reflect on it, there's a gratitude there as well, of my God that I've been gifted this love that is eternal. And I think that's showing through. And you, sir, not. Not just through your career, but in this podcast, I can see it in your face. We can hear it in your answers. You know, and I think that that is in addition to the camaraderie that comes along with team sports. That's the beauty of it. We're so blessed to have a love. You know, if you have multiple loves in your life, you really love, right? To have a love like this. And again, look, the people on this podcast, this is why we do this every week, sometimes more than once, right? Because we all love the game so much. You know, Christie's kids are through the game, and she still shows up every week. You show up, Christy. I'm like, thank God she's here. You know what I mean? Because you love it so much. So, yeah.