“I’m a fighter,” Mark Latham’s journey from the hospital bed to the hockey rink

“I’m a very disciplined coach,” said the long-time Hatter. “I don’t let people tell me what to do, I tell them what to do.

“That’s my job.”

Every word comes off with a hint of charming confidence.

Embroidered with a suit jacket, collared shirt, and a name tag which clearly states ‘coach’, he takes his role with the rec team very seriously.

“My team always asks me ‘am I doing this right, am I doing this wrong,’ so I’m like ‘here, I’ll show you,” he said, noting he tells his players certain corners of the net to pick depending on which way the goaltender leans.

It’s a job Latham wouldn’t trade for the world, often times taking each player under his arm on the bench and explaining the good (and the bad) of their last shift.

“I love hockey,” he said. “I watch it every day in and day out. I work with the Medicine Hat Cubs also, doing their security and that.”

But three years ago, the door nearly closed on his coaching career.

“It was a sunny day, a sunny spring day, and just lost my balance, and boom… game over,” he said. “I fell in a pothole… knocked myself out at the same time.”

Latham suffered a traumatic broken arm requiring three separate surgeries and countless trips to the hospital for rehabilitation.

It jeopardized his coaching position with the Smith Group men’s team, but caused an even bigger headache in his life away from the rink.

“It affected my whole relationship with my wife because I couldn’t get close to her,” he continued. “Sometimes I would have to sit close to her and move my arm out of the way… it was just devastating. So I said ‘no, I’m going to fight this through’.”

After three years of pain, rehab and dealing with medical expenses, Latham is back behind the bench of his team.

“I didn’t know if that was going to take my career out of perspective and make me wait another year,” he added. “But I’m a fighter.”

And his players agree.

“He’s a great guy,” said Kristian Danroth, a player for the Smith Group who’s known Mark for well over 20 years. “We just enjoy having him around. He does get us a bit pumped up and he takes it serious, so we love doing that for him.”

“He’s certainly quite a character, so it’s good to see him out here every day,” added Tim Hall, who met Mark while playing for the Cubs in the mid ’90’s. “It’s good to see him fully healed, the surgery went good, so it’s great having him out here.”

For a man who’s heart is bigger than the game he coaches, there’s no question the hockey community wouldn’t be the same without him.

“I’m the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be,” he smiled.

by Mitch Bach

“I’m a fighter,” Mark Latham’s journey from the hospital bed to the hockey rink

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