By the world’s standards, Jaccob Slavin has had an incredible year. The longtime hockey defenseman not only played for his country on Team USA at the Milan Olympics, but he won gold against rival Canada. Now, a few months removed from one of the greatest sports storylines in American history, he’s competing against the Vegas Golden Knights for the NHL’s biggest prize — the Stanley Cup. But the best part about being at the top of his game isn’t the attention, building a legacy, or even bringing a nation together. The best part, Jaccob says, is having a global stage to tell people about Jesus.

“I just go back to just the kindness of the Lord and the purpose that he has for my life. And I know that hockey is just a tool that I get to use as a platform to glorify him. … My whole purpose in playing the game isn’t for my own fame,” the 15-year NHL veteran insists. “It isn’t to build my career. It’s for God. It’s for His glory. It’s to be a light in a dark room.”

But it wasn’t always that way for the Carolina Hurricane blueliner. Born and raised in a Christian home, Slavin knows he relied a lot on his parents’ faith growing up. When he moved away to play junior hockey in Chicago as a teenager, he remembers his coach sitting him down in his office and asking him, “Jacob, what kind of faith do you have?” The young player “kind of looked at him, kind of puzzled by the question [and said], ‘I’m a Christian.’ He’s like, ‘No, do you have your own personal relationship with Jesus?’” That was the turning point.

“I really started understanding what it meant to be a follower of Christ. It wasn’t about works,” Jaccob reiterated. “It wasn’t about anything I do or [don’t] do, but it was all about the work of Jesus on the cross.” His sister, he tells people, came up with a hashtag: AGTG, All Glory to God. “And so, anything that we do on and off the ice, we want to make sure we’re giving the glory to God because he’s worthy of it. He sent his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins. … So now, we live for him.”

Jaccob thought about that hashtag sitting in the locker room before his first preseason game in the NHL. A nervous 21-year-old, about to get his first-ever taste of hockey, Slavin tried to calm himself down by reading Scripture.

“And I [did] one of those things where you just kind of, like, open up the Bible and let God speak to me,” he recalled. “And so, I opened it up to Galatians, and it came down to verse 10 in chapter one, and it says, ‘For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.’ And in that moment,” he recalls, “I felt so much peace. There [were] no more nerves. It was like, ‘Jake, you’re not here to impress management. You’re not here to impress the coaches. You’re not here to impress the other players. You’re here for Me. You’re here to be my servant. You’re here to be my child. And just give Me the glory and everything that you do.’” And that, he says, has been his verse his whole career. “It humbles me. It keeps me grounded.”

Being a hockey player can be challenging, he acknowledges. “I think all of us … can struggle with [our] identity. And if your identity is found in the game of hockey, and you get injured, you’re going to have a really tough time keeping that joy. But if your identity is found in who Christ says you are and being his child, knowing that your worth doesn’t come from the game, knowing that your worth comes from being the one that Jesus died on the cross for you.”

Like a lot of other pro sports teams, the Hurricanes have regular team chapel services, and Slavin makes it a priority to host his own Bible studies and disciple other players. It’s opened the door to a lot of “amazing conversations” over the years, Jaccob shares. “A lot of times I feel like it happens on the plane rides just because the plane rides can be really long. A couple seasons ago, though, I was having a conversation with [fellow defenseman] Jalen Chatfield. And he was kind of interested in the gospel,” Slavin said. “[He] came to camp the first day, [and] I see him at the rink. He’s like, ‘Hey, man, can I come to church with you?’ And I was like, [wow]. No one’s ever approached me about that before. This is great.”

So Jalen started going to church with the Slavins, and the next season, the two reconnected. They had countless deep talks about faith. “With all your teammates, you have chemistry,” Chatfield told the News and Observer. “But to have somebody as close as him since the first day I’ve come in, and then guide me in that, it’s truly a blessing. Just his guidance, and seeing how he is as a father, as a teammate, as a leader, I learned a lot from him, and I appreciate every single day.”

Months later, at a team chapel, Jalen got saved. “He stayed after … and our chaplain led him to Christ that day.” A few weeks later, Jaccob’s wife Kylie led Jalen’s wife Drew to Christ. “She saw the change in him immediately. And she’s like, ‘I want what he has.’” Later that year, Jalen and Drew got baptized in the Slavins’ backyard pool. “It was a really special moment, something you never forget,” Chatfield smiled.

Now, Jaccob insists, “If my whole career I never win the Cup or anything, but Jalen [Chatfield] came to know the Lord, that’s a successful career.” Would it be great to hoist the greatest trophy in sports? Absolutely. But when he thinks about all of the milestones and accomplishments he’s experienced, “By far that’s the top one because I feel like as Christians that’s our purpose. We’re supposed to go evangelize. We’re supposed to share the good news of the gospel. …And it’s just so cool to know that their family is going to be forever changed because he made that decision to follow the Lord.”

“I’m out here,” Slavin emphasized, “as a chosen vessel of God to glorify God. And whether you’re in the office working … whether you’re a stay-at-home mom — that is where God has you. So you’re going to do your work for God’s glory.” But, Sports Spectrum’s Matt Forte pointed out, smiling, “It would be pretty cool … to win a Stanley Cup championship, because you guys are playing great this year. And how amazing would that be? … You’ve got a shot, that’s for sure.”

With a big grin on his face, Jaccob replied, “Like we said, win or lose, God gets the glory.” Then again, as far as Carolina fans are concerned, a little glory with a victory parade couldn’t hurt.