0:15

Well , we've got a real treat . Well , I should say I've

0:17

got a real treat . Tonight we're interviewing John Boruk

0:19

. So he was a sportscaster in Philadelphia

0:22

for many years Don't worry , we don't just talk about

0:24

Philadelphia sports , the whole episode because his

0:26

son is a high level hockey

0:28

player in the area and he has created a show called

0:30

raising a champion , which really dives

0:32

into a lot of the same subject matter we do on our

0:35

kids by hockey . It's a great , great

0:37

crossover episode and we

0:39

discuss a lot of different things from , obviously

0:41

, how he got into hockey , but a lot of the parenting

0:44

side of hockey and how it applies

0:46

to our own children and the things he's

0:48

learned in being a sportscaster and being around

0:50

a lot of NHL players throughout his career

0:52

and how he applies that to being a really great

0:54

father and a great leader in the market

0:57

today . All right , before we jump into it with John , I

0:59

just want to remind you guys our children's book when

1:01

Hockey Stops is still available at when hockey

1:03

stopscom . The whole purpose of this

1:06

book is to teach your kids how to deal with adversity

1:08

, which is something we talk about on the show today . The

1:11

book dives into a young character who is facing

1:13

a situation . He can't play for the year and he still

1:15

stays involved in the game Even though

1:17

he's injured . It's got a ton of great rave reviews

1:20

. We are really , really proud of it and we're

1:22

really fortunate that a lot of people love it as

1:24

much as we do . So check that out when hockey stopscom

1:27

or , if you're inclined , go over to Amazon

1:29

it's on there too and check it out . But without

1:31

further ado , let's dive , let's dive , let's

1:33

dive and dive into this episode

1:35

. John Borek on Our Kids Playhockey

1:37

. Hello hockey

1:39

friends and families around the world , and welcome to another

1:42

edition of Our Kids Playhockey

1:44

. I'm Leo Elias . With Mike Benelli , kristi Cascio

1:46

burns us literally on assignment tonight . Our

1:48

guest today , john Borek , has 11 regional

1:51

Emmy awards that he's earned , over 25

1:53

years of sports broadcasting covering

1:55

some of the world's biggest athletes on

1:57

the game's biggest stage . He is the host

1:59

of the raising a champion podcast

2:01

, which we highly recommend to all of you

2:03

, which dives into the industry of youth

2:05

sports through the eyes of former professional athletes

2:08

, parents , coaches , administrators

2:10

and medical experts . To answer how youth sports

2:12

can improve , be safer , cost

2:14

effective and more inclusive for all athletes Sounds

2:17

very familiar , which is one of the reasons we're very excited

2:19

to have him tonight . However , with all

2:21

of those accolades , he will tell you that his greatest

2:24

and proudest accomplishment has been raising

2:26

three children who have all been very active

2:28

through sports , including youth hockey , in

2:30

their everyday lives . We're looking forward to diving

2:33

into this one , john , welcome to Our Kids Playhockey

2:35

.

2:36

Hey , it's good to be here . It is great

2:38

to see a podcast dedicated

2:41

to kind of what I talk about . I mean , I

2:43

encompass all sports , but you

2:45

guys are hockey centric , so that's really cool

2:47

. And I'm right in the thick of it because I

2:49

got a 2011 who's

2:52

getting ready to start his Pee Wee major season

2:54

, so it's fun and

2:57

I'm sure that you guys , between guests

2:59

, you have a lot of really good information

3:01

out there for parents and coaches and everybody

3:04

.

3:04

Yeah , I'd say , if there was a target

3:07

and like , the center of the target was the target audience

3:09

, your son's at that exact point

3:12

which means that you're there as a parent as well

3:14

. We appreciate the

3:16

compliment , obviously , and again

3:18

, you're doing great work on your show as well . I'm going to say

3:21

it again to the audience If you like our show , you

3:23

will love his show as well , so make sure you check that

3:25

out . I wanted to start with

3:27

it , john , I was going to tell you this . So typically

3:29

, when I do my rundowns for shows and my

3:31

research , I have so many questions . We never

3:33

get to all of them , but for you , I kind

3:35

of know where we're going tonight , so I actually don't

3:38

have a ton of questions because I'm pretty

3:40

sure we're going to have big discussions .

3:42

All right good .

3:43

Yeah , so I'm looking forward to it . So

3:45

again , I've watched you interview people for years

3:47

, so thank you for allowing us

3:49

to flip the script a bit , but I actually wanted to start

3:51

with you . Just tell us a little bit about the role that

3:53

hockey has played in your life , and again

3:56

a little bit more about your son , who's playing .

3:57

Yeah .

3:57

How you've gotten there .

3:59

Yeah , that's , it's well , it

4:01

goes back to . You know , I remember

4:03

, obviously I grew up in the Dallas

4:06

, fort Worth , texas area back in the

4:08

1980s and , believe it or

4:10

not , I actually had this affinity

4:12

for hockey . I didn't know what it was , but I thought

4:14

it was so cool . There

4:16

was nowhere to watch it . You know , this is

4:18

pre cable . You know

4:21

, I think maybe when the Stanley Cup was on

4:23

back in , that day is the only time that you

4:25

could watch hockey and there was no youth

4:28

programs . The only place

4:30

that you could even skate was to go to a

4:32

mall that had , like you

4:34

know , an ice sheet

4:37

there in the middle of the mall . So

4:39

when

4:42

I got into sports casting , one

4:45

of the big awards , as I was moving

4:47

through the ranks from one city to

4:49

the next , was in

4:51

1998 , I took a job in national

4:53

, the year that the national predators were

4:56

awarded an expansion team . So I got there

4:59

and they started playing seven , eight months later

5:01

. So that was really my time

5:03

to cover

5:06

the sport , be around the sport , be around

5:08

the players you know , get

5:10

to know the ends , the outs , you know how

5:14

they go about it , they train and everything . And

5:16

then from national I moved after five

5:19

years to Detroit and

5:21

during that time was probably

5:24

the greatest collection of talent

5:26

you'll ever see assembled

5:28

on one team , that Red Wings team

5:31

, prior to the whole lockout and salary

5:33

cap era , when they had Robotye

5:35

, hall , hosh , chellios , iserman

5:38

, zetterberg

5:40

that's Sue .

5:42

This isn't an all star team you're naming , by the way , this is just

5:44

the Detroit Red . Wings of that time One team .

5:47

Yeah , that won the Stanley Cup in 2002

5:49

. And I got there , you know , the

5:52

year after that but the team

5:54

was still assembled . So

5:57

it was , yeah

5:59

, and I just

6:02

had a passion for the sport , you know , just passion

6:04

for covering , love the players . If

6:07

you've ever been around NHL players , you

6:09

just know that they're a different breed , they're

6:12

so down to earth and a lot of that

6:14

is because the way that you have to play the sport

6:17

you're upbringing and the way that you know

6:19

you go about it is that you can't be a

6:22

me centric type person . You

6:24

got to check your ego anytime that you step

6:27

inside a rink because the game will

6:29

expose you , expose those players

6:31

who try to play that way . So

6:33

you know

6:35

, being around locker rooms and that

6:37

, and then moving on to Philadelphia and

6:41

being able to cover the Flyers for 13 years

6:43

was really cool . And

6:45

then , you know , when I got

6:47

here , my two boys were born here . My oldest

6:50

son , he

6:52

got on a pair of ice skates and I kind

6:54

of wanted to push him in that direction but

6:56

he didn't really have an interest and that was fine . You know

6:58

the one thing that I told

7:01

myself , you know , when

7:03

it came to developing , you know my kids

7:05

, and whatever they wanted to do

7:07

is well , first off , they

7:10

have to have a passion , like I don't want to , never

7:12

want to have to talk them into doing something

7:15

. They're the one that have to , you

7:17

know , to show that they

7:19

have a real , genuine interest in doing

7:21

something . So he didn't have it . And then

7:23

my youngest son , who was born in 2011,

7:25

. He won . I said we're going to get

7:27

him out there at the age of like I think I had

7:29

him on skates at the age of three or

7:32

four and I remember I was holding up under

7:34

his arms and you know

7:36

I was out there for maybe two

7:38

, three different sessions and I said , if this kid

7:41

doesn't get on , I can't , my arms are going to

7:43

fall off If he doesn't just start skating . And

7:45

about that time he just started taking off . And

7:48

that's how it starts , right , you know , you get him out

7:50

there at the age of three , and then

7:52

they just they're able to stay on their legs

7:54

and he's out there . I got , you know , still

7:56

have video on my phone he's out there chasing

7:59

the puck with kids , you know , two and three

8:01

years older than him , and that's

8:03

how it all got started . I bought little

8:05

hockey jerseys for him and so he had like

8:07

a , a Lundquist jersey

8:09

, a Geru jersey , a Tyler Sagan

8:12

jersey back and they just get out there and just skate

8:14

. So you know

8:16

it . You know it was sort of a bittersweet

8:20

thing in terms of leaving

8:23

NBC Sports Philadelphia when I did , because

8:25

you know I had I stayed on there

8:27

and continue to cover the team , cover

8:30

the Flyers . There's a lot of sacrifices

8:32

that have to be made and so

8:34

now I'm grateful that I get a chance

8:37

to be there every weekend . Go

8:39

to tournaments he's got tournaments in Toronto and

8:41

Detroit , rochester

8:43

. I think we're going to Pittsburgh

8:46

. It's crazy . It's

8:49

crazy , you know , when you , you

8:51

know we're , we're all we're going now , but

8:55

it's , it's great , you know it's . You build

8:57

such a camaraderie with parents

8:59

and I really believe that the parents

9:01

probably the

9:03

wins and losses mean more

9:06

to the parents than the kids . They

9:08

just like to get out there and and , and and

9:10

you know they're competitive and have fun . But

9:13

but it's good and , and

9:15

and I you know , and with him and

9:17

his love for hockey , you know we'll sit here

9:19

and watch hockey on television . How

9:21

, how he can pick things up as an analyst

9:24

, you know , playing the game , which is so

9:26

cool . So it's , it's really good , it's . I'm , I'm glad

9:29

that I have him to do that , because it's

9:31

really kept me involved in hockey

9:33

after leaving NBC sports .

9:36

Well , I want to add too , real quick , just so we don't leave them

9:39

out your other kids play sports too , right ? You had mentioned that

9:41

in the pre show .

9:41

Yeah , yeah , so my oldest my

9:44

yep my oldest daughter is . She's

9:47

still doing karate . She's a second degree black

9:49

belt . She's inching her way towards

9:51

being a third degree black belt . My

9:54

oldest son got his

9:56

black belt as well . He kind

9:58

of did that because they're they're very close in age

10:00

, my daughter and my older

10:03

son , and then he just wanted to focus

10:05

and concentrate on basketball . He tried football

10:07

one year or a couple

10:09

of years , but he just wanted

10:11

to focus primarily on basketball

10:14

and that's essentially what he's been doing for the last

10:16

three , four years . Yeah

10:18

, that's really cool , he's going to be a junior in high school and

10:20

he's going to play on the varsity basketball

10:23

too .

10:23

So success in sports . Now here's a cool

10:26

question that just popped in my head and and

10:28

that you know

10:30

we get a lot of emails on this show . We get a lot of

10:32

feedback just about the anxiety of being a parent

10:35

, right , and we all feel that in

10:37

different ways . So here's my question You've

10:39

been around the NHL athlete some

10:42

of the best right In multiple markets

10:44

. Do you feel that that experience

10:46

of being around those athletes has has

10:48

influenced the way that you

10:50

view the youth game ? Right ? Because

10:53

, again , john , we hear all the time parents

10:55

talk about the ROI of youth hockey and if they

10:57

can just make college or they can just

10:59

make the show , and I mean , I

11:01

think that we talk about the insanity

11:03

of that conversation . You know , at any

11:05

point really in the youth game outside , maybe the

11:08

U18 level is when that's really you even can

11:10

consider that right . So did your

11:12

experience on the air and being a

11:14

sports journalist impact the way you approach

11:16

the game as a parent ?

11:18

That's a really good question and I would say

11:20

, for the most part , no . Until

11:22

I was , I

11:25

Transition more from just

11:27

doing pre and post game shows into following

11:29

the team and Covering

11:32

them on the road , writing for the , for

11:34

the website . I did that for the last two years . I was there

11:36

and and they would have a dad's

11:39

trip , and so I would really

11:41

, because I had kids of my own at the time

11:43

. I I I really took

11:45

the time to get to know some of the dads

11:47

, like Claude Jereau's , dad Ray

11:50

, and , and I would ask the dads

11:52

, tell , tell me about what you did . Tell me

11:54

, because I was like a sponge at that point . I just

11:56

wanted to absorb all the information

11:58

, everything that they did , you

12:01

know , along the way , and the one constant

12:03

, I think , was , as they just said , you

12:06

know , no , you know , we didn't , I didn't , you know

12:08

, push him , you know , it's one of those things

12:10

that they have to drive the train . You

12:12

can , you can put the coal in the engine for

12:14

them . You know , you can supply it , but they're

12:16

the ones that have to drive , they're the ones that

12:19

could be the driving force . If you

12:21

got to be behind them and pushing them , it's

12:23

not gonna work and they , none of them , were

12:26

what I would consider these over

12:28

zealous parents

12:30

, these crazy , you know parents . Now , a lot

12:32

of them were like with

12:35

Travis Kinek and his dad was his coach

12:37

for , I think , until he got to

12:39

be 15 or 16 in juniors . So

12:41

he was a coach , so you'd see that , but certainly

12:43

not Claude Jereau's dad . Claude Jereau's

12:45

dad was a little electrician and

12:49

he just knows that . You know they lived way

12:51

up in Hearst , ontario , where they had a lot of cold

12:53

winters . You know Claude would leave

12:55

the house and go out and play for three

12:57

or four hours . You know , because you could do that

12:59

. You know , and and and you know

13:01

that's why you know a lot of Canadians have such

13:04

an advantage , because they

13:06

have those colder winters . Where it , you

13:08

know it's , it's it's kind of like having

13:10

Inner-city basketball courts

13:12

all over the place . You know that that's just . They just

13:14

have frozen ponds because the weather gets that cold

13:16

, but that's . But that's when

13:18

I really started to pick up a lot of things . It's

13:20

talking to some of these dads , talking to

13:22

some of the moms when they would can't come into town . You

13:25

know , I did a big story . In fact

13:27

I got them to come on the podcast

13:29

. But before that , johnny Goudreau

13:31

and I would say that Probably , yee , goudreau

13:33

is is probably more in line

13:36

with those hardcore parents

13:38

, but he was a coach . He was a skating

13:40

coach . He ran the organization , you

13:42

know , ran the outfit there , holly dell

13:45

and so that was

13:47

his job and Johnny

13:49

just became it . But I don't think that that

13:51

, I Don't think you Goudreau

13:54

said Johnny got to be here , be here , be here

13:56

. Johnny just developed into being a rat

13:58

ring , you know , and that that he just

14:00

never wanted to leave . You know , it's like boom

14:02

, if dad's gonna be there , then I want

14:04

to be there and that's the way it's gonna be . So

14:06

but that would that . Yeah , that

14:08

was what was really cool , it was a really good story . Like talking

14:11

to Brian Elliott's dad was

14:13

. You know , brian Elliott

14:15

was a skater and he was a position player

14:17

as a squirt

14:19

. And then when you got to pee , we

14:22

at about this age he's like

14:24

, hey , dad , I want to , I don't want to ever come off the ice

14:26

. And he's like , okay , well , I don't know what

14:28

to tell you . It goes well . Then I want to be a goalie . So

14:30

at the age of 12 , brian Elliott decides that

14:32

he just doesn't want to skate anymore . He doesn't want

14:34

to be a position player , wants to be a goalie right . And

14:37

so you think at the age of 12 you're starting

14:39

that it seems kind of late , but that's , that's what happened

14:41

. And so you know , I think , that if you

14:44

have talent and and and

14:46

and , 90% of it it's

14:48

just raw DNA talent

14:50

. You know , if you've got the raw

14:53

DNA talent , it's the other 10

14:55

, 15% , that

14:58

. How much can you push yourself ? How

15:00

much are you willing to work when others don't want to work

15:02

? You

15:04

know how just all

15:06

the stuff off the ice Stay

15:10

, conditioning and all of that . But I

15:12

really believe that you know , if you want you

15:15

don't want to say this to parents because everybody's got this

15:17

lofty goal right hey

15:19

, my kid's gonna is good , you know

15:21

he's gonna be there , he's , he's great at the

15:23

age of six and

15:25

that sort of thing and

15:28

they just it's . So I'm

15:30

telling you you're the funnel . I

15:32

talk about the funnel , I mean the funnels here and

15:34

then when , even when you get to college , it's

15:37

like down to here and then the NHL is so

15:39

tiny but

15:42

it's so much goes into it , like so

15:44

much . I wanted , I actually want to do an episode

15:47

and I haven't gotten this

15:49

yet , but I got to find the right person . Because

15:52

when you get to be 15 , 16 , 17

15:55

and 18 is when you start thinking about

15:57

Relationships . You start thinking about , you

15:59

know , dating girls and dating this and

16:02

and , and it's easy for

16:04

that to kind of , if you , if you

16:06

have that goal

16:08

of wanting to play collegiate hockey or

16:10

you want to play junior hockey and have

16:12

NHL aspirations , you know you

16:14

got a really have tunnel vision and

16:17

it's , it's easy to get

16:19

sidetracked . You know , and , like

16:21

Johnny Goodrow , when I talked to his parents , you

16:23

had to Skip . You

16:26

know , the junior dance , the sophomore

16:28

dance , the senior problem , those things , it's

16:30

, it's , it's not an option like , it's just not

16:33

. If you you want to continue to ascend

16:35

to the point to where you want to , you

16:37

have to make sacrifices along

16:39

the way . So , yeah

16:42

, it's . That's when I think I really started

16:44

to to to Absorb

16:47

a lot of information , when I started to talk to

16:49

a lot of the parents Started , the dads

16:52

and some of the moms of the flyers and stuff .

16:53

Well , I'll tell you that I have an immense

16:55

passion for the game and I realized early on

16:57

and again , mike and I always joke that this

17:00

, this podcast , is therapy for all of us . But

17:02

as much passion as I

17:04

have for the game , can't put that into my

17:06

child , right , they have to develop yet

17:08

right . And it doesn't matter and

17:10

that's a common theme I see amongst parents , and I'm

17:13

actually really thankful that you shared that , john

17:15

, because I think it shows you I you know , especially when you

17:17

get the elite level , it's never exactly

17:19

what I think people think it is right . And

17:22

I'll say we've interviewed NHL parents

17:24

and NHL players and I

17:26

think for the most part across the board , like you said , 99.5%

17:30

of people in the NHL that play in the NHL have

17:33

that passion right . There are a few that just

17:35

just like , as you said , they have their all talent but they don't

17:37

tend to last as long as people think right

17:39

. I remember Long

17:42

time ago in the 90s I remember the 90s

17:44

Wayne Gretzky was still in

17:46

New York . We're just , probably just arrived

17:48

in New York and he was on like

17:50

a public access radio show and

17:52

some parent called in Like I don't even know if I've

17:54

told you this one , and they said listen , wayne , my

17:56

kid , can you tell my kid to practice

17:59

? Can you tell my kid to practice harder ? And

18:01

this was a really impactful moment for me as a young

18:03

person . Listen , he goes . No , I

18:05

cannot tell you .

18:06

Yeah .

18:06

I don't want it right . And

18:09

here's the greatest hockey player ever right

18:11

, saying that . You know , if you don't want

18:13

it , it's not , it doesn't matter . The rest

18:15

is almost doesn't matter .

18:17

Yeah , well , you know , it's funny . I

18:19

had a similar talk like that with my son

18:21

, where they have us like

18:23

a three-fifths the rink as opposed to the

18:25

NHL rink , and he likes to be on the three-fifths rink

18:27

, of course , because there's not as much surface

18:29

space , so you don't have to worry about skating up

18:31

and down and up and down , it's , it's , you're playing

18:33

the short game and battling and he loves

18:36

all that stuff . But he's like

18:38

oh oh he goes what rink

18:40

are we on ? So when I tell him , oh yeah , you're on the NHL

18:42

rink tonight , he's like , oh god , you

18:45

know . And so I'm like , look , you

18:48

got it , you get . I said you got to find a way to

18:50

get something out of pride . If you want to get

18:52

where you want to go , practices where

18:54

it's gonna happen , right , it's not gonna be in games

18:56

, you know , you're not gonna . You don't do

18:59

the necessary skill work . Playing in games it's

19:02

doing it in practice and and and

19:04

paying attention and focusing and

19:06

embracing that the really great

19:08

players Embrace practice

19:10

, not just playing the games . The games is like

19:12

once they get into the games they're already locked

19:14

in the mentality , but they learn how to get

19:17

stuff in practice . That's why I love to

19:19

read Kobe Bryant a lot , because Kobe was

19:21

, I mean , one of the best

19:23

you know in Jordan .

19:24

Those guys talked about Maximizing

19:28

their practice time and how they practice

19:30

hard , so the games are easy .

19:32

Yeah but you mentioned something too about like the

19:34

kids and instilling passion . I Ask

19:37

him every single year and we had a hard lesson

19:39

this year because he was cut from one

19:41

of his , the team that he played for last

19:43

year . One of one of the big

19:45

teams folded , so you had a

19:47

disbursement of about 13 14 kids

19:50

looking for a home , looking for a

19:52

new team , and he happened to just

19:54

sort of be one of the odd ones out

19:56

, even though I thought he had a really

19:58

good year . It happens and I said

20:00

, you know , I gave him some

20:02

options . But I asked him every single year

20:04

. I said Do you want to play triple a

20:06

hockey ? Because this isn't cheap . I

20:09

mean , between tuition and equipment

20:11

and being on your 13

20:14

now , in three years , I'm buying jerseys every

20:16

single year . You know you're talking

20:18

. You know a hockey season is 10 to

20:20

15 thousand dollars . That's not cheap . So

20:23

if you want to do I need

20:25

to know that you want to do this , that

20:27

you have the , that you're willing to go to every

20:30

practice and every game and

20:32

you have the , that you have

20:34

an enjoyment , not just that you wanted to

20:36

enjoy doing is . If you don't enjoy doing

20:38

it , then all of this is

20:41

is pointless . You know we can . You can play double

20:43

a hockey and have fun , and we can save

20:45

a whole lot of money and not have to travel , you know

20:47

, all across the Northeast . So that's

20:49

the key . I think you , if there's

20:52

a parent out there when you're in

20:54

that summer time , get away

20:56

from hockey , go do vacations

20:58

, let them play , let them do something

21:02

. You take trips to the beach , the shore , whatever

21:04

, but just get away . You

21:07

don't need to so that their batteries are charged . But

21:09

then make sure that they really , before

21:11

you embark and usually you got to make that decision

21:14

back in March that they definitely

21:17

want to stick with AAA , because as

21:19

you start to move up it starts to get

21:21

a little rougher . We're

21:24

now one year away from checking . That's

21:26

a whole different beast that a lot of kids aren't

21:28

going to be really acclimated to . Then

21:30

, after that , you're about two years away from these

21:32

guys hitting puberty . When

21:34

that happens , bodies change , a

21:37

lot changes . Some of the kids that

21:39

may be on top now it's going to be

21:41

flipped . It's going to be completely different . You're

21:44

going to see kids that you never thought were good all

21:47

of a sudden grow into their bodies and now

21:49

the whole sports completely changed for them

21:51

. I just want

21:53

to make sure that this is still

21:55

what he wants , because I don't

21:57

say that my dream is your dream

21:59

. Your dream is my dream

22:01

, but if this isn't your passion anymore , then

22:03

it's certainly not going to be my passion .

22:05

Right yeah , I

22:07

think that comes up too all the time we talk about , like we even mentioned a little

22:09

earlier and you used the term ROI , right

22:12

, I think we've all

22:14

lost sight and listening to you and your

22:16

real life , right yeah , your

22:19

podcast , your world and your discussion with all athletes and

22:22

athletic parents is that this ROI

22:25

somehow turned into pro hockey

22:27

or a pro sport , as opposed

22:29

to building a better

22:31

human being . The ROI is that

22:33

, for 98% of

22:35

the young men and women that go through sport at

22:38

even the highest levels , right yeah , end up

22:40

being our leaders . We want them

22:42

to be the ones that have the grit , that had the

22:44

adversity . It can deal with change

22:46

, it can deal with conflict , it

22:49

can deal with working within a team setting

22:51

, whether you're a plumber or a stockbroker

22:54

that you see

22:56

, like this , somewhere along the line

22:58

, the ROI turned into like

23:00

a paid position to

23:03

play the sport , as opposed to all of the

23:05

things that we got our kids into

23:07

sports for in the first place . Obviously

23:10

, social media has played a huge part in that and

23:12

this professionalization of used sports

23:15

. But , to your point , john , when you

23:17

can evaluate with your children and say

23:19

, okay , where are we at ? Is

23:21

this something you love doing

23:23

, never really talking about . Well , do you love doing it

23:25

because you ultimately want to be

23:28

Tyler Sagan ? We

23:31

were up in a hockey camp

23:33

in Toronto and there's a

23:35

brand new Maserati outside

23:37

and it's 6.30 in

23:39

the morning and you see Tyler

23:42

Sagan walks out . He just got done with his workout , he

23:44

gets in the car and all the kids are like , oh

23:46

my God , that was Tyler Sagan . Look

23:49

at the car he has and look at the life . There's

23:51

a guy behind him carrying like 15 sticks . I

23:54

said , yeah , but he's here at 5.30 in the

23:56

morning and he's doing the

23:58

work . He's

24:00

still a dedicated . You know , people don't see

24:02

all that . They don't see all that . They

24:05

don't see the practice , they don't see the fact

24:07

that the games are the funnest part , because

24:09

it's actually less work . You're

24:12

like , wow , you guys have some fun here , but

24:14

I think that somewhere in the line , maybe you could talk

24:16

about that a little bit , because you're dealing with

24:18

all sports , right , john . Yeah , where

24:21

did that like ? Where do you think that disconnect

24:23

really has become from

24:26

? Hey , I want my kids playing sport

24:28

because I want them to learn

24:30

all the lessons that sports supposed to be teaching , as

24:32

opposed to oh , no , no , my kid's going to play a sport

24:34

so he doesn't have to go to real , you know , have

24:37

a real job .

24:38

Well , first off , there

24:40

shouldn't even be a mentality of having an ROI

24:42

Like you . Don't even

24:44

, you shouldn't even be thinking about any return

24:47

on whatever your investment is

24:49

Okay . The return is that

24:51

you enjoy watching him play , at whatever level

24:53

he's playing at . That's the return . That's

24:57

the way I look at it . I just said , hey , I

25:00

love watching him play . It brings me

25:02

great joy , however long it is . Maybe

25:04

it's until 16 , maybe it's 17

25:06

or 18 through high school , I don't know but

25:09

I really enjoy it . As long as he enjoys

25:11

it and I enjoy it , I'll invest

25:13

and I'm not putting this money thinking

25:16

that there's some big , shiny object

25:18

down the road and if he doesn't get it it's going to be

25:20

a major disappointment . I don't look

25:22

at that at all because

25:24

, well , first off , you

25:26

can't , you don't

25:29

a lot of things change , like I said , I'm just

25:31

mentioning the whole . You know these kids

25:33

get . You know they get girlfriends and

25:35

maybe then , all of a sudden , sports . You

25:37

know I'm not really into it all

25:39

that much . You know it's kind of

25:42

. You know I'd rather go out here and party

25:44

with Johnny and some of the boys as

25:47

they get older . So that's different

25:49

. You ask when did the mentality

25:52

start to change when things started

25:54

to get more expensive , when

25:56

families have now , when

25:59

you started having elite

26:01

clubs and elite teams

26:04

and the cost of tuition , and

26:06

then these coaches are getting paid and you see

26:08

how much you're having to pay your expenses

26:11

and how much , you know . You look on your spreadsheets

26:13

and you see you

26:15

know how much money , the thousands of dollars . That's

26:18

when they said , well , I'd better get something out of this . That's

26:20

where the mentality started , because

26:23

back in my day , when I was playing , everything

26:26

was YMCA or Little League , this

26:28

. You know , my parents were on a shoestring

26:30

budget and it was never like that . It was

26:32

never like that at all . There wasn't

26:34

not all these hyper . You know

26:36

, well , you got to be on this travel team and

26:38

well , I'm on two travel teams and then I'm

26:40

. You know , then it becomes a 12

26:43

month long ordeal . That was

26:45

never , ever the case . But that's

26:47

, but it's . Everybody's trying to keep up

26:49

with everybody else and when somebody's

26:51

paying , oh , we're going to go up here

26:53

to play this tournament . I don't get caught up

26:55

in it , it doesn't bother me one bit , but

26:58

I see it happening all the time . And that's

27:00

where it all started is when the money started

27:03

to flow in and it became big business is

27:05

when parents says well , if I'm buying

27:07

into this , I better be getting something

27:10

out of it .

27:11

Right and I think , and obviously the organization

27:13

and the coaches and the teams you know feed into

27:15

that right . Because all

27:17

of a sudden somebody said oh , wait , a minute , I don't have to be a vault . Like

27:20

my father volunteered for everything , like he was doing the clock

27:22

and we got to get in the door and help him with water bottles

27:24

. Like whoa , I could have got paid for all that . Like

27:26

I could . I could actually turn this into a revenue

27:28

stream yeah , to myself , by starting

27:31

this business and having a travel team that

27:33

goes to Boston every weekend . So , yeah , there's no

27:35

doubt about it , and I think , and I think that's where we

27:37

actually . It's so funny because we just had this conversation

27:39

the other day with another , another

27:41

guest , about the point of saying you

27:43

know , we're saying

27:45

, like , what you did as a kid , like why

27:47

did you forget that all the stuff that

27:49

you did as a kid was because you loved

27:53

going and doing it . And go like we see , we

27:55

talked to , we talked to parents all the time . Does

27:57

your son or daughter go out on

27:59

their own and hit balls ? Did they go on their

28:01

own and shoot pucks ? Did they get up in the morning

28:04

and go and all of a sudden you're like wait where

28:06

, where you know you kind of get into . you know , back

28:08

when I grew up and a lot of and

28:10

a lot of the best athletes I knew you

28:13

had to beg them to come inside . Like you

28:15

guys said listen , that's it . You don't come inside

28:17

, I'm taking your stick away .

28:20

Like you have to get in as opposed to . As opposed to

28:22

.

28:22

I just pay two hours . You must go to this clinic

28:24

. You got to go to it . It's just that that

28:26

whole pendulum is shifted and

28:30

then the sad reality is the kids that are doing

28:32

that on their own Are

28:34

doing it on their own there and we don't see

28:36

that . Everybody forgets that they're there

28:38

. That's a self-motivated kid . I almost . I

28:41

almost get really I'm

28:43

not jaded so much , but like I'll , I'll

28:45

really question apparently , is your son really

28:47

want to be here at 530 in the morning ? I know the

28:49

year , but is this something like they

28:51

literally ? You went out in the car was started and they had

28:53

a cup of coffee for you . Like , is that really what's happening

28:55

, or are you driving this ? I was

28:58

hoping that they get the bug , like

29:00

hoping that they it's .

29:02

Are you living through them or Do

29:05

?

29:05

you feel you can , you can do , you feel you could pave

29:07

that path easier for them , so that

29:09

they can get to a point where maybe they do love

29:11

it .

29:12

It's funny . There's one example I can think

29:14

of of a dad who did that Bob

29:18

Stevenson . Bobby Ryan's father got

29:21

him up at 5 , 5 , 30 every morning

29:23

to skate every morning as a little kid

29:25

and did it from like age 5

29:27

, 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , and

29:30

you know , and

29:32

obviously Bobby Ryan was a really good

29:34

player , played in the NHL

29:36

second overall pick behind city Crosby , but

29:39

he , that's the . That was . The one takeaway

29:41

from the time that I spent with Bob

29:43

Stevenson was that he had him out there five

29:46

o'clock in the morning having him skate and

29:48

Apparently I guess he liked it , he's

29:50

, he stayed with it . But his

29:53

dad also had a presence about

29:55

him to where there's , there's

29:57

no other option . And so , yeah

30:00

, I mean , how many parents would do something like that ? I don't

30:02

know . But to kind of go back to your point , you

30:04

know when we were younger

30:07

and kids , we didn't have the distractions

30:10

that the kids have

30:12

now , and I'm talking about phones

30:14

and gaming consoles and

30:16

all of that stuff . Because Going

30:19

outside and playing sports , no matter

30:21

what it was sandlot , football , waffleball

30:24

right , and somebody's backyard in fences

30:26

you know did that , or you , or

30:28

you played pick up basketball in the driveway

30:30

. You know that was the

30:32

social setting . And today

30:34

the social setting is is put on the headphones

30:37

and play Xbox , you know , and

30:39

play , you know call of duty

30:41

or or League of Legends

30:43

, or fortnight or whatever the game is . But

30:45

that's the social setting and it's

30:48

it's . It's it's tearing

30:50

away to where they're

30:52

not going out there and just having that free

30:54

, expressive play , that Unstructured

30:57

play . So , because they're

30:59

doing that , and then you're trying to play catch

31:02

up , then you're trying to structure things

31:04

. And I do this because you

31:06

know , in the summer I want him to least get out

31:08

there . That I'm calling up , you

31:10

know , elite edge up in Malvern . I'm saying , hey

31:12

, can I get him out there for an hour

31:14

session on the ice because he needs to get his legs moved

31:17

. So that's part

31:19

of the problem . I don't think I'd be doing that if he

31:21

was out here playing lacrosse with

31:23

his buddies or basketball football , best .

31:25

But they don't do that , well

31:28

, it's too hard , right , it's almost like you know , like

31:30

this whole , this whole like , but I became a parent

31:32

. Like this whole . Hey , we got a play date arrange

31:34

. They go a play date . What the hell is my

31:36

parents you like ? What are you talking about ? You had to arrange

31:39

to go , have somebody go play with your kids . I

31:41

go yeah , because kids don't just there , the cul-de-sacs

31:43

are empty , the the end of the streets are

31:45

vacant , like you don't see the kid . Because

31:47

it is . It's harder there's no doubt about

31:50

it that the distractions and the ability to

31:52

do something that's not physical , that

31:54

doesn't take creativity , like , like

31:56

they're doing that in a different way . And

31:58

you know it's hard . It is hard for me . I'm

32:01

the first one to say it's really hard

32:03

for me to to , to accept

32:05

that , that this is our reality and

32:08

that , but at the same time , like , okay , well , instead

32:10

of fighting it , maybe we can create something

32:12

outside , like and and

32:15

say , hey , like , I find myself playing

32:17

with my kids all the time . Where my father

32:19

never played with me Like never

32:21

, because it was there was 17 other kids

32:23

playing , like you know , play with your get hurt

32:25

.

32:26

You know you get hurt , right , but it's like you know I'm

32:28

not playing street hockey with that guy .

32:29

But I think , but I think it's so funny how , when I asked

32:32

kids just to go out and play , I'll I guy

32:34

do this all the time in my community like I'll just take a

32:36

bunch of sticks and I'll go up and I'll send a little text

32:38

Message hey , I'm up at the tennis court , I

32:40

got a bunch of floorball sticks up here . Anyone

32:42

want to come ? Yeah , I do it with a cross to

32:44

. We just have open night of the cross . Hey , it's a

32:46

beautiful night , the sun's out , there's

32:48

a bunch of balls up here , the nets are empty . And

32:50

then you know , and you'll get parents being like oh , thank

32:53

God , because now somebody is

32:55

helping me get my kid out

32:57

like you're literally doing that .

32:59

It . Can Johnny come out to play ?

33:03

I'm the voice . I'm the voice .

33:05

That's the whole key is that you're the , you're , the

33:07

you're the one that spearheading

33:10

this whole effort , right , nobody had

33:12

a spearheaded back in the day . Well , our

33:14

, our imaginations ran wild . We

33:16

, we knew what to do , we figured

33:18

it out . We , we knew how to cultivate

33:20

games and create games and , and

33:23

hey Buddies , driveways

33:25

, the end zone and the other end zones over here . You

33:27

made it work . You made it happen .

33:29

I'm running him and yeah right

33:31

, it always ended well when I pretended

33:33

to be emulous , right ?

33:35

So you know if you're a parent out there

33:37

and you can keep your kid from having a cell

33:39

phone in an Xbox until he's 13

33:42

, you know hats off , good

33:44

luck , that's the way to do it .

33:47

I am gonna play a little bit of devil's advocate

33:49

here and I'll preface it with that . I actually

33:51

agree with you guys , but there are a few things to keep in

33:53

mind , and I'm speaking to our parents listening

33:55

to this one . So number one is that

33:58

and this started well before this , but we

34:00

have to remember too that all these kids just

34:02

were told for two years straight you can't go outside

34:04

, you can't go play anything , you can't go to the rink . And

34:06

again , no one's fault , no one asked for

34:08

that . But you have a whole generation

34:10

of kids who were locked up for a year and a half

34:13

and we even told them to go to school

34:15

on their computer , right . So again , that's

34:17

not so much directed at what you guys were saying , it's

34:19

just like you know that happened and it's

34:21

a little weird we don't talk about it more in

34:23

society . It's just kind of we kind of moved on real

34:25

quick from that , which I think is dangerous in itself

34:27

. The other thing too is I would make the argument

34:30

, I'm sure you guys will agree Kids

34:32

are still as creative . I just think

34:34

that the plane that they use , that creativity

34:36

, has changed . And you know , john , you mentioned

34:38

fortnight , like it's an interesting game and follow

34:40

me here right . He's had to be really creative to be

34:42

in that you do . Oh sure , yeah , but you're

34:45

right , you're sitting there with headphones on . I

34:47

think another element of this is and

34:50

I'm actually being self-reflective as a parent

34:52

it is real easy

34:55

as a parent when you're tired

34:57

at 5 pm and

34:59

they want to go on the Xbox , to

35:01

just be like , yeah , go do that . So

35:03

I get some quiet and I've I've

35:05

tried to be calm , I've tried to be real conscious

35:08

to when I get home with my kid at least sometimes that's a

35:10

practice and my son and daughter

35:12

will pick up the basketball and we're very fortunate we

35:14

have a basketball hoop outside her house and

35:16

my first thought really is no , get

35:18

inside , go shower .

35:20

We don't time for this , we don't time for this and I

35:22

might catch myself .

35:23

I say you know what , go ahead , because I

35:25

want to encourage the behavior a bit , right

35:28

. But but I'm saying too that that I agree

35:30

with you guys about that kids don't go

35:32

out enough . I also think that as

35:34

parents we are also trained

35:36

a bit to to not help them go

35:38

out as much , right ? And also

35:40

here's here's another one , john like and Mike , there

35:43

was no at least from my experience , there was no massive

35:45

fear in the 80s and

35:47

90s of your kid just going out

35:50

and coming back when the lights went back on . I

35:52

think you know now it's like I don't leave my sight

35:54

, don't go too far . You know there's

35:57

this , there's this probably very rational fear

35:59

, to be honest , like we just know more about the world's

36:01

twisted place . But I think

36:03

it's a two-way street and again , I don't think you guys were

36:05

not saying that , I think yeah , but there's a street

36:07

right .

36:08

But there also was no fear growing

36:10

up that you weren't gonna make it , because

36:13

you didn't even think about making it , like there was no

36:15

fear . There was no fear of being in town going

36:17

. I can't believe that Lee's dad

36:19

has him going to that power skating clinic . What

36:21

the hell like I've got to do , that I should

36:23

be doing that like . And then the parents that say , oh

36:25

no , we're not doing anything . And all of a sudden you go to the power skating

36:27

clinic and they're all there and they go . Oh

36:29

I , you know , oh , you know , he just decided the end , but

36:32

I think it's just . But it is so funny

36:34

how , you know , we've gotten to this point where and

36:36

John , you brought it up like everybody's trying to keep up with

36:38

you what the other guys are doing , and then it just

36:40

snowballs out of control and

36:42

I think , I think it's . I think we're at the point

36:44

right now when we're , when we're talking about setting

36:47

, like setting the standard of where , where

36:50

I've got to get to and missing the boat and

36:52

having an opportunity that we're in this

36:54

world that we never like I don't I play

36:56

some really , really good hockey players and I

36:58

don't remember ever there are a group of dads

37:01

sitting behind the glass saying like

37:03

, oh , my god , you know , have you , have you started looking

37:06

at this program ? For , you know , because

37:08

those four kids are going there and I need these three

37:10

kids to play with these three kids so they can get

37:12

a scholarship somewhere , like it just . And

37:15

to John , it became , it's become

37:17

. You know , obviously

37:19

the money , but it's gotten , it's got

37:21

. Now , listen , there's no , I just saw

37:23

an ad for 2018

37:26

team , right ? So 2018 select team Of

37:29

you know . So you think about 2011 , you think

37:31

young , right ?

37:33

Team . Did you say 2018

37:35

?

37:36

2018 select program

37:38

right . This is Five

37:41

, you're five years old and they're being selected

37:44

, selected and and and and

37:46

and groomed right for the , for

37:48

the real team , which is the , which is the next

37:50

year , which is the six-year-old team . So it's

37:52

just , it's the pre pre-select

37:54

. I can't , I can't

37:56

even fathom that right . But the thing is , everyone

37:59

you hang that shingle up and there'll

38:01

be 75 kids at that tryout and

38:03

there'll be a lot of people at that at that Invitational

38:06

. I do I have this conversation with

38:08

lacrosse , so I run our lacrosse program in town and

38:10

we have some I mean , we literally have lacrosse people

38:13

in this town that are X pro

38:15

lacrosse players , division one , top

38:17

of the game , played at every single level

38:19

, can do . They

38:21

just look like they play lacrosse . Like my god , that's actually

38:23

what lacrosse supposed to look like . Those guys are good and

38:26

and and . They can't fathom the

38:28

fact that they have to join a team

38:30

that charges $4,000

38:33

to play on the team and all they're getting

38:35

is a field and balls . Like

38:37

that's it , the only difference , the only

38:39

difference in our program and that program

38:41

is . I don't know what it is , maybe it's the uniforms

38:43

and they get cool stickers on their helmet but there's no other

38:46

. Like like that's what's ? That's what's so odd

38:48

about other sports to me . Like you

38:50

could get better at baseball by

38:52

being alone . You could get better at lacrosse

38:54

by being alone . You can get better

38:56

at basketball . You get great at basketball by

38:59

being alone . And and where

39:01

hockey then becomes , it's harder and

39:03

harder because of the way the sport structured

39:05

and the access to ice and the access

39:08

to all this other stuff . Let's do it like you

39:10

can't just play pick-up hockey on your own and

39:12

, and I think this , this makes our , our mentality

39:15

of the sport Good and bad different

39:18

. It's good and bad . I mean it's the reason

39:20

why people are so passionate about hockey . Like

39:22

I don't . I don't I don't see myself on the sidelines

39:24

at lacrosse games , at Farsity games and stuff where

39:26

I see the same like passion

39:28

. Like maybe in prep school level , or the

39:30

kids that are , that are legitimately like

39:33

kids that are on a , on a on a different track

39:35

. You know to play , but I just

39:37

I , I kind of earn for the

39:39

day you know you're in

39:41

for the days of the

39:43

kids going up to a park , the kids going out in the

39:45

ice , the kids going to a basketball court and just

39:48

playing , and we all

39:50

talk about this like how do we get back to that unstructured

39:52

fun ? Do

39:55

it on your own kind of play and Unfortunately

39:58

I can't even see it in the kids . Now the kids separate

40:00

themselves like oh , where do you play ? Oh , you play here . Oh

40:02

, you can't play on my . I'm not . You know , it's almost

40:04

like it's like I can't , you can't play with

40:06

us , cuz you know you're just not .

40:09

Yeah , you didn't make that team and

40:11

we've almost got to the point where you know

40:13

, I think the Philadelphia area's got

40:16

a pretty good number of public

40:18

skating facilities right .

40:19

You know what ?

40:20

Yeah , I got a good number . But between

40:23

you know , boys

40:25

ice hockey , girls ice

40:27

hockey , which is exponentially growing

40:29

, figure skating and

40:33

and anything else you

40:35

know , they make so much money off renting that by

40:38

the hour that there's not really a good

40:40

time to say , hey , pick

40:42

up games after school four to six . It's

40:44

it's like it's all rented out . You know

40:46

it's it's and that that's . What's unfortunate

40:49

is that it'd be kind of cool that

40:51

if you know your neighborhood rink

40:53

almost had a designated time after

40:55

school , that hey bring the boys down here . Is

40:58

this just play pickup games ? Let him play pickup games .

41:00

So , john , you know , here's a good example

41:02

. So the stadium in Havartown right , for

41:04

those you're not nearby , it's just outside Philadelphia

41:06

this is a municipal rink . It's one of the last

41:09

remaining municipal rinks in the area . So

41:11

for the audience says , no , they don't really

41:13

need to make any money , it's run by the township

41:16

. Right , that's . The rink's been paid for for years . They

41:19

just instituted stick-and-puck times

41:21

and open hockey times for

41:23

kids and I remember those questions

41:25

is anyone gonna show up ? And

41:27

people show up . Well , kids show up

41:29

and it's all different levels and they

41:32

all play together . And it's kind of inspiring

41:34

because and again , this is a one one

41:36

ice sheet facility .

41:38

This is yeah , this is actually a rink who probably really can't

41:40

can't afford to do that , right .

41:42

Right , but you took the the

41:44

and again . This is this is not a shot

41:46

at anybody who runs a rink , it is a business . But

41:48

when they took the kind of need to make money

41:50

element out of it and introduce this , they're

41:53

making money because these kids are coming

41:55

in and they chase the kids down

41:57

and so . So that

42:01

element of being a child is there , right

42:04

, and I think we're uncovering that . It's just . How

42:06

are we , as really the adults in

42:08

society , going to get

42:10

them to see that , hey , you can be creative , right

42:13

, and it doesn't know , it doesn't always have to be in hockey

42:15

and we're all agreeing on that , right , it's just anything

42:17

.

42:18

That'd be my question I love to ask , john is like , because

42:20

you you talk to so many different sport parents and

42:23

what's the anxiety level or what

42:25

in your discussions with these folks ? Like

42:27

, is it possible for a parent just

42:30

to go to a batting cage with a kid and not intervene

42:32

? Is it possible for you know a parent

42:34

to throw out 10 balls and

42:36

a net up at the field and say , hey , go , go

42:39

shoot . And not like , be like , oh

42:41

, because I know it's so hard for me , like I'm , like

42:43

I could help you here , let me help you , leave

42:46

me alone . Leave me alone . Like I know somebody

42:48

that could help you with this . It's

42:51

so hard to you know I used to

42:53

. Actually , I loved and hated the

42:55

parents that were able to drop

42:57

their kid off at the rink and go for a run . Like

43:00

I couldn't believe I'm like wait a minute , you just

43:02

dropped your kid off and you're able to go work out . I

43:04

said that's , that's . That doesn't seem fair

43:06

to me .

43:09

I drop them off and go to the pub .

43:14

Yeah , whatever , whatever it is , you're not , you're not over , you

43:16

know you're not hanging over the glass .

43:17

Yeah , no , and I think that a lot , especially

43:20

if you look , I don't gather that they

43:22

have that anxiety . And

43:25

you know , one

43:27

of the things that I think is really important especially

43:29

after watching a game because way too

43:31

Anxiety levels run way too

43:33

high when it comes to to

43:36

games is when a game is over , don't

43:39

say anything , just say good job

43:41

. Just say good job , had them on the shoulder

43:43

, on the back , on the butt , to say hey , played

43:45

a good game . Because here's the thing that

43:47

the message that I think really

43:50

resonates when you start

43:52

to evaluate and

43:54

you start to pick apart what they did , what

43:56

they didn't , then they start to resent

43:58

the fact that , oh geez , when the game is over

44:00

, dad's gonna . You know , you can do this

44:02

. They just want to go and play , you

44:05

know , and if they're not doing something

44:07

, well , the coach will say something , or

44:09

somebody you know , or something . Let let the coach

44:11

do that , right , you

44:13

don't have a no right . And they know

44:15

. Yeah , oh yeah , the coaches know

44:18

, you know , or they'll see something

44:20

. But you're so hyper focused

44:22

on your kid that right , if he , if he

44:24

, takes a shift off , then you're

44:26

on like , yeah , you know , but you

44:28

know , at the end of the second period . It just wasn't

44:31

. Here's my notes Like

44:34

notes , and and , and

44:36

, and , and , and . Look , I get

44:38

it in all . But you're not out there , man

44:40

. This is your kids time and you

44:42

don't know what it's like . And maybe he's got a

44:44

cramp that he's not explaining . Or maybe he didn't

44:46

Get enough to eat before the game and he's running

44:49

on it , low on energy , or you didn't get him to

44:51

bed . Who knows , it could be a combination of all of

44:53

those things . All I'm saying is that

44:55

you , you

44:57

got to take a step back and remember

44:59

that you're there for the enjoyment of

45:01

watching your child play the game , and

45:03

you know , look , if

45:05

he wants something , if he asked for it , then

45:09

yeah absolutely give it , yeah , give it , you

45:11

know , say yeah , this is what I thought , but

45:14

I don't think it should be one of those things and be

45:16

like , you know , getting the car and stick

45:18

and I'm not know . I've seen that

45:20

too with parents and , just like you

45:22

know , they're throwing their , their kids equipment

45:25

in the car because they just got Blasted six

45:27

to one . Their son didn't do anything

45:29

. This , that and the other Doesn't matter

45:31

, man , no one's gonna remember the

45:34

game . Nobody dies , they just don't . It's

45:37

, it's you know what . Let the kid process

45:39

it , let them sort of . They don't need

45:41

you to compound All

45:43

of their anxiety of having because they've

45:45

already heard it from the coaches you know

45:48

they're teammates . They see me yeah they

45:50

talk on the bench . Everybody knows . You

45:52

know what a bad perform Performance

45:54

of six one losses . It doesn't need to

45:57

be further escalated when

45:59

you get in the car .

46:00

No , if anything , John , you

46:03

need to be the safe place for your kid after a game

46:05

. You need to be the comfort place . You know I

46:07

was very fortunate to have two great parents

46:09

. It's like I was always safe at home and

46:11

and I knew that and it was a gift . As I got

46:13

older I realized how much , because not every kid on my team

46:15

felt that way . Some

46:17

of it was a nightmare when the game ended . You know the

46:20

other thing too Just because

46:22

one of the most popular episodes we've ever done

46:24

it's in the top five was titled the

46:26

car ride is not for coaching , right , yeah

46:29

and . I've done this little

46:31

experiment with my own son who's nine , and

46:34

it's . It's funny when you dive into this . I Purposely

46:37

right and not purpose . I don't talk about

46:39

the game usually after the game , unless he

46:41

asks . Like you said and I said to myself

46:43

, I'm gonna just do a few car rides and just see . Let

46:45

me see the first thing he brings up , right

46:47

, like you know , cuz usually a little quiet after the

46:50

game , good or bad , sometimes a

46:52

little more rambunctious , but I'd say

46:54

nine times out of ten it's a video game

46:56

or or Something that

46:58

has nothing to do with hockey . And

47:00

I've actually gotten to my , my myself

47:02

, to a place where that's kind of a relief

47:05

, because you

47:07

just said I might be holding on to something that had

47:09

my son's a goal . So I might be holding

47:11

on to something that I really want to talk to him about . Right

47:14

, it's never negative at this age , but I'm

47:16

like , oh man , I really want to talk to him about it's posting

47:18

up and making a good seal . He's like , hey , so yeah

47:20

, dad , I saw this fortnight thing coming out

47:22

and it's like a reminder to me like you'll

47:25

leave shut up , you know , like , like

47:27

he's got to enjoy the

47:29

the time , like it's almost

47:31

admirable how quickly he can move past it

47:33

right .

47:35

And we can't . Yeah

47:38

, the kids , kids , within 30 minutes late

47:40

, as I said , they're , they're back on on snapchat

47:42

. You know it's amazing , it's it's

47:44

, you know it's out and it's an outer space at that

47:47

point . But yeah , more to

47:49

the points , what I sometimes , what I will bring

47:51

up in the car , is the positive . I'll sit

47:53

there and say , man , I love that pass . I know you guys

47:55

had scored , but that's , that's really

47:57

good vision . And to think , to be selfless

48:00

, or the back check that that may have

48:02

saved a potential goal . Little

48:04

things like that , I think , are worthy

48:06

of bringing up , just so that they

48:08

know you're paying attention and and

48:11

you're reinforcing the little things that

48:14

they should be doing all the time . Because look

48:17

, when you're 9 to 11

48:19

, 12 , it's the kid who scored

48:21

. Oh , you know , it

48:23

was Frankie who scored four goals and

48:25

, and , and , and . Oh , he tried

48:27

the Michigan , you know , I mean like I

48:30

see tried the Michigan . But the

48:32

game of hockey is won or lost

48:35

by doing the little things that nobody talks

48:37

about . So be the parent to talk about

48:39

, right , I'll talk about the little things that nobody else

48:41

wants to talk about , because those are the things

48:43

that win hockey games . Those are the things

48:45

that are gonna get your kid to playing junior

48:47

hockey , you know , when they're at the age of 16

48:49

, potentially college hockey . And

48:53

then you know who knows beyond that , because

48:55

, look , everybody wants

48:57

to be Alex Ovechkin

49:00

, everybody wants to be the great goal scorer , everybody

49:02

wants to do who's the kid with

49:04

. You know , at plays for the Anaheim , ducks Zegras

49:06

. You know Travis Zegras , all the great fancy

49:08

moves , that's great . But guess

49:10

what ? For every one of those , there's

49:13

seven or eight guys who , who

49:16

are just the bust your butt

49:18

. Yeah , hard workers back

49:20

check , do the little things that have to be

49:22

done . That that's how they got . It's

49:25

how they got to . Where they are is by

49:27

doing all of those things that you know

49:29

Nobody talks about them .

49:30

Yeah , and I would make you all good , too , that we talk about

49:32

all the time about that , that , that 00001%

49:35

of guys , that the Ovechkins , the Crosby's

49:38

, the McDavids , and they put that work in too

49:40

. So , however you slice it , you

49:42

know . But yeah , look , there's nothing wrong

49:44

with being a fourth-line grinder in the NHL . You're still one of

49:46

the greatest hockey players that's ever lived , if you

49:48

even you know . So

49:51

this I'm just keeping an eye on the time here I

49:53

did want to talk about about your podcast

49:56

, because I've been listening to it . I

49:58

think you're doing a great job Again . It's called

50:00

raising a champion . For those you listening , pause right

50:02

now . Go subscribe to that real quick . Make sure you

50:04

come back , though . I'll just leave . Oh

50:06

yeah , all right , and I

50:08

wanted to ask you a what spawn

50:10

that and I'm gonna kind of combine it with this too

50:12

, because you've had some amazing guests

50:14

on that show . I wanted to

50:16

know are there any Congruencies that you see

50:19

amongst the guests ? It's like , wow , okay , everyone

50:21

kind of agrees with this thought . Or

50:24

is there like a moment on the show that you had that was

50:26

just a light bulb or between the eyes

50:28

moment that you're like why , I really need to share this message ?

50:32

Yeah , no , I mean that's good . I mean I

50:34

try to hit on so many different

50:37

aspects . You know , field hockey

50:39

is popular up here . La

50:41

Crosse obviously is big here

50:43

in the Mid-Atlantic area . I haven't

50:45

done as much , just football or baseball

50:47

. You can go back to Texas for that . Yeah , yeah

50:50

, yeah . But I've

50:52

also tried to get into areas

50:55

like nutrition . I had

50:57

a nutritionist who actually wrote a

50:59

book specific to

51:01

kids sports nutrition for kids

51:04

. What do they need ? How do they fuel their bodies

51:06

? Right , because if you're on

51:08

the road at a tournament

51:10

, everybody can relate we're

51:13

going to Chick-fil-A , we're going to pick up McDonald's

51:15

, we're going to pick up Chick-fil-A . What can

51:17

we do ? Because I've watched

51:19

so many documentaries that you put

51:21

that stuff that's got so much saturated

51:24

fat and oil in there that that

51:26

slows down performance . I mean I know when

51:29

my son is playing a double header

51:31

. They're playing a game at 11 , or

51:33

10 , and another one at 3 , and they've got

51:35

that gap where they're going to eat lunch . I know exactly

51:37

how they're going to play at 3 and 4 . I've seen it every

51:40

single time . What can you do in

51:42

that gap to where you can

51:44

sort of refuel them and recharge

51:46

them ? Because

51:49

I think that nutrition

51:51

is almost as big of a deal as

51:56

getting on the ice and shooting

51:58

pucks and all that . It's all part of it . It's

52:01

like you divide the pie of what

52:03

are the important elements of creating

52:06

a great athlete . That's a big one too . I've

52:09

been talking to more people

52:11

like that . And it's not just

52:15

drinking water , it's making sure that you're putting

52:18

more sodium , because you're sweating out sodium

52:20

. You need to replenish your body with sodium

52:24

. There's been a lot of guests . There's been some

52:26

little tidbits along the way

52:29

. The Goudreau's is really good because

52:31

we all know Johnny Goudreau . I thought early

52:33

on I was able to get Brian Boucher , who

52:36

I worked with , and Brian Coates . I remember

52:38

going out and watching his son Tyler when

52:41

he was 13 , never

52:43

thinking that he was going to be a top

52:45

10 , top 15 NHL pick like

52:47

he was . Brian

52:54

wasn't that way as a coach . Brian just kind of put

52:56

his hands behind and just sort of watched

52:58

him . When there was a stoppage in play

53:01

then he would kind of coach him . But he wasn't a real

53:03

loud , boisterous type of coach

53:05

. It's always

53:07

good to hear . And then , more

53:09

than anything , the

53:12

one thing that stood out about Brian Boucher

53:14

when I had him on talking about his son

53:16

was that I

53:18

think it was either

53:21

a fractured wrist or a maybe

53:23

it was a collar bone . That's what it was . He

53:25

fractured his collar bone and he was

53:27

kind of like being the big tough dad . He just

53:30

got to play through it . Play through it . It's like , yeah , it's really

53:32

sore . I know he's got to grind

53:34

it . It was the one moment where

53:36

he felt like that . He was like , oh geez

53:39

, now I feel like a really bad dad because here

53:41

I am , I'm telling him to grind it

53:43

out and the kid's got a

53:45

legit injury . He's broken

53:48

collar bone . There's a lot

53:50

of little things like that . Karen

53:53

Corbett , the Penn La Crosse coach

53:55

and

53:57

it really became the kind of the central focus of that

53:59

episode was she just says you

54:01

don't see very many leaders anymore , kids

54:04

that know how to lead . How

54:06

do you develop leaders ? How do you instill

54:09

those values and those

54:12

leadership abilities in a kid that's 16

54:15

, 17 , 18 , 19 years old ? That's

54:17

something else that

54:21

I'd like to explore . She talked a little

54:23

bit in that episode when

54:25

I had her on .

54:27

It's funny to bring that subject up too , because we

54:29

talk about how

54:32

there's a lot more information now about bullying

54:35

and about pressure

54:38

. Part of the conversation I think

54:40

gets lost is the ability to push someone

54:42

else in the right way as

54:45

part of leadership . The one that comes to my mind right

54:47

now is just Nate McKinnon . After they

54:49

won the cup a couple of years ago , there

54:51

was a lot of just gotcha journalism of well

54:53

, he is so mean to his teammates

54:56

and he's so rude to his kids

54:58

. They kept going and finally his teammates came out

55:00

the avalanche . They're like

55:02

shut up . We need that

55:04

. We need the guy that's going to push us . We

55:06

need the guy that's going to yell at us when we don't

55:09

finish the drill . Look

55:11

, you mentioned it . All the greats , jordan

55:13

Bryant they demanded

55:15

that from their teammates . There's

55:18

part of the leadership there that I think that I'm

55:22

not saying we've gone soft , but we

55:25

have to shed light on that too , that it's okay to push a teammate

55:28

the right way . It's okay to be

55:30

pushed too . Here ask this .

55:32

It's kind of a doable two-part

55:34

question . Do you want to be a leader ? Do you

55:36

want to be a friend ? You want to be a friend . More than often you're

55:38

not going to be a leader , because

55:40

a leader is going to

55:42

ask you to do something that you probably don't . That may be unpopular I

55:44

mean , they're

55:46

not always the popular person in the room but

55:49

they're determined to be a leader . They

55:51

see things and they're demanding

55:54

of things . Friends are going to

55:56

sit there and if you're complaining

55:58

about this or complaining of that , they're just going to chirp

56:01

on with you . They're going to pile

56:03

on . You're like oh yeah , this sucks . That

56:05

sort of thing Leaders don't see it

56:07

. They see it in a whole different reflection

56:10

. They're not always going to take the

56:12

popular opinion . They're

56:14

going to find a way to present it differently

56:16

. It's really cultivating

56:19

a different mindset than

56:21

what a lot of these kids are

56:24

. One thing that I do want to add parents

56:26

, it's very easy at hockey

56:29

games youth hockey games , the

56:31

second that one

56:33

team gets called for three penalties

56:35

. You start chirping the rest

56:38

. You'll see it every single game . One

56:40

thing that I think you have to be really cognizant

56:43

about is that the kids on

56:45

the bench here you're chirping

56:47

, you're here complaining about the referees

56:49

. Then they're going to think it's okay

56:52

that if they lose four to two or five

56:54

to three , well , the reason we lost is because

56:57

of the rest . You guys were complaining about

56:59

the rest the whole time . Now it becomes

57:01

the nice , easy excuse . You

57:03

don't ever want to make that excuse because

57:05

there's no lesson to be learned in that

57:07

Now you can easily defer

57:10

away from your own mistakes and

57:12

you don't have to critique your

57:14

own performance because now you have an automatic

57:17

out . I think that all starts

57:19

with the

57:21

parents . Aside from the fact that these

57:23

people are making nothing and they're kids

57:25

and they're just learning , these games really don't mean

57:28

anything . Look , we're talking about college

57:30

NCAA championships . That's one thing

57:32

. This is youth hockey . That

57:34

, at that level , doesn't mean anything . That don't

57:37

get boisterous when it comes to

57:39

the referees . Penalties

57:42

. That , because you know it bleeds

57:44

over and the kids hear it . And then they're going

57:46

to think well , if you're complaining about it , I

57:48

can complain about it .

57:50

Well , it is funny at the higher levels it

57:52

gets more civil . The higher

57:54

you get , the more these

57:56

athletes and professionals can speak to

57:58

each other in ways . Again , it gets

58:01

heated , no doubt about it , but it

58:03

gets in a way . I think a lot of my

58:05

feeling about this is that if you want great

58:07

leaders , then you have to model good leadership , and I

58:09

just don't think we have a lot of good models . We allow

58:11

winning coaches to model poor

58:17

behavior . We allow good hockey

58:19

players to model poor behavior . We allow

58:21

parents to lose their minds in

58:23

the stands and then let them back into the stands again

58:25

. So I think that modeling goes

58:29

such a long way in every sport that I've involved

58:31

in , and I think a person

58:33

like me who tries to be a leader because I'm

58:35

leading , like I have to be the leader , like

58:38

somebody has to make a decision here

58:40

, guys . And since I'm leading the program , I guess I'll make

58:42

the decision . And it's never the

58:45

most popular decision , because it's easy to

58:47

be a mom and dad sucking down a couple of beers under

58:49

a tent in the summer and

58:51

have a comment

58:53

, but somebody has to say , hey

58:56

, listen , this isn't great

58:58

, we probably shouldn't be drinking in front of the kids and

59:01

why don't you take this somewhere else and

59:03

go do this ? Or hey , we probably shouldn't use that language with this group

59:06

. You could do that if you were in your own car and you

59:08

want to do this with your own kid . That's different

59:10

. But I think this issue

59:12

of and we've seen it now in sports

59:14

, like in silent Sundays and soccer

59:17

and days where

59:19

we've asked officials

59:21

to introduce themselves and literally have

59:23

to get to a point where they have a card and have to read

59:26

the card like hi , my name is Mike . I'd

59:28

like to say let's have a great contest today . I'm

59:31

not going to take you know , this is where the

59:33

threshold is , and I used to joke on the time as

59:35

a youth coach , like everybody's bitching about the

59:37

officials , I go hey , listen , they're bad officials

59:39

as we are as coaches .

59:40

We're all bad , we're all bad at this , and we're all

59:42

learning , so let's all learn together

59:45

.

59:45

But I just think it's , I think it really

59:47

comes down to and , Lee , we talk about it

59:49

a lot too right and even with the

59:51

people we talk to , it's just the modeling

59:53

, it's the ability to . If you're

59:55

going to be , it's hard , it is

59:57

. And we talk to our kids . When you talk to your teenager

59:59

, right , it's hard to be a

1:00:02

good person Like , it's hard to be the person that

1:00:04

steps up and say , hey , that's not really the right

1:00:06

thing we should be doing right now . So a lot easier

1:00:08

just to go along with the crowd . Mike .

1:00:09

I think the keyword that's like the lessons that we need to

1:00:11

learn more . The keyword is accountability

1:00:13

. And from a societal

1:00:16

level , we have lost

1:00:18

touch with the meaning of that word and it gets worse

1:00:20

, I think , every year . I don't mean to be dystopian

1:00:22

or anything like that , but the lack of

1:00:25

accountability . And , john , this goes back

1:00:27

to what you said . When I'm coaching kids

1:00:29

, first off , when I'm coaching anybody , the

1:00:31

rule on the benches you don't even talk to the ref . That's

1:00:33

my job as the coach and

1:00:35

I always say if you want to beat the refs , score

1:00:37

more goals , that's something we can control . You

1:00:40

know what I mean . But you have to be

1:00:42

accountable to the point of

1:00:44

you don't want to be in a position that

1:00:46

a referee can control the game , accidentally

1:00:49

or not , right ? So I

1:00:52

try and teach accountability . I really try and teach the definition

1:00:54

of that word . I think there are levels to

1:00:56

accountability . I think that's something people

1:00:58

miss . It's not so much you're accountable or you're not

1:01:00

. A lot of this comes down to the language . Do

1:01:03

you say , after you got scored , you

1:01:05

screwed up ? Do you say , we screwed up

1:01:07

? Are you looking for a solution together

1:01:09

? Right , there's levels

1:01:11

to this that , as a coach , I feel

1:01:13

like it's my duty to teach that . Right

1:01:16

, if you have an accountable team and I'm not just talking

1:01:18

hockey , I mean a giant broadcasting

1:01:21

my God , if you have an accountable team , you're going to

1:01:23

have a good outcome . Right

1:01:25

, every , mostly every time . If you have people

1:01:27

pointing fingers , it's gonna become a nightmare

1:01:29

. I don't get how talented you are . Yeah

1:01:31

, I think we need to get back to more of a culture

1:01:33

of accountability .

1:01:35

Yeah , and I think is what's really important

1:01:37

, the thing that I've really tried

1:01:39

to focus on with a kid who's playing at this

1:01:41

level , just to be as

1:01:43

objective about my kid

1:01:46

as I possibly can and

1:01:48

to know his strengths and to know his weaknesses

1:01:51

and to sit there and because At

1:01:54

some point , you're gonna feel that your

1:01:56

kids been slighted . It could be because of ice

1:01:58

time , it could be because he didn't make a certain

1:02:00

team . You know , this is the , this

1:02:03

is the year for the 2011's that they're playing in

1:02:05

the the Pee Wee Qua back tournament

1:02:07

. So Players are gonna

1:02:09

be chosen over other players for whatever reasons

1:02:12

or there's politics that go into it . And

1:02:14

when my son got cut , I actually made

1:02:16

a list of all the players and

1:02:18

I had him probably in that bottom

1:02:20

third . So I knew that

1:02:23

and I was looking at it very objectively

1:02:25

, knowing the other kids , knowing their abilities , knowing

1:02:28

that they had been with this program longer

1:02:30

, knowing that you know that is

1:02:32

very possible that he was gonna . He was on that

1:02:34

fence and that's something like

1:02:36

this could happen , and

1:02:39

I wanted him to just

1:02:41

think that , look , there's , there's

1:02:44

no guarantees here . You still got to go out

1:02:46

, you still have to do this . So I think

1:02:48

it's very , and what

1:02:50

happens is is that when things don't

1:02:52

go your way , being the

1:02:54

player and the parent , it's

1:02:56

very easy to say , well , you're better than that kid

1:02:58

. That's , that's me , yes , or that

1:03:01

didn't happen . I Think

1:03:03

it's really important to try to put it

1:03:05

in into perspective as much as you can

1:03:08

and to try to be objective about

1:03:10

what your kids doing , because

1:03:12

, look , you don't have to

1:03:14

have the best shot . You know , you

1:03:17

know you don't , but if

1:03:19

he's not exuding effort

1:03:21

, he's not giving the most effort . That's the

1:03:23

one thing that you can't control . You , you

1:03:25

know they can control your effort , how hard

1:03:27

you play , what good of you know , how good of a teammate

1:03:30

you are , those things

1:03:32

. And so I always look at

1:03:34

that and say you know when

1:03:36

you as good in those areas , because if you weren't

1:03:38

, you know you're given , you're given coaches

1:03:40

or you're giving people a reason to

1:03:43

not select you right . So you

1:03:45

know , because you see it , parents

1:03:47

will always say that you know where do you think

1:03:49

your kid stacks up and you know they'll

1:03:51

have them up here , when they're probably down here

1:03:53

, and Mike , mike loves that one , but it's

1:03:56

. Yeah , and it's , it's

1:03:58

, it's . They need a reality check and

1:04:00

sometimes and that's one thing- it's

1:04:04

a gift , john .

1:04:05

It's a painful gift , but it's a gift . Look , look . We talked

1:04:07

up before about the ROI . The

1:04:09

ROI is these life lessons . All

1:04:12

right , john , there's no way you

1:04:14

got to where you got in broadcasting by constantly going

1:04:16

. Well , I should have had that anchoring job . I

1:04:18

should have been that guy that I might have motivated

1:04:20

. You might have thought that , but you didn't . It

1:04:22

wasn't a crutch , right ? Yeah , I'm speaking

1:04:24

out of turn for you here . My point is in

1:04:27

real life , we all know this . Right , the

1:04:29

person who just points fingers isn't gonna go too

1:04:31

far . Right , the person you

1:04:33

know what . That guy worked harder than me

1:04:35

and he's better than me . And now I can

1:04:38

control what I'm gonna put in , the time

1:04:40

I'm gonna put in to get better at these skill sets or

1:04:42

at this , because I want to be there

1:04:44

. We're not .

1:04:47

Yeah , but even to and that's

1:04:49

it's right even to that

1:04:51

point . Let's say that that kid that did make

1:04:53

it Doesn't work harder

1:04:55

and you do , but you know he may be more

1:04:58

talented right now . Sure , sure , you're , you'll eventually

1:05:00

pass it . You continue to do the right

1:05:02

things . You continue to Out

1:05:04

be have it . You did to preach to

1:05:06

your child that you have to outwork

1:05:09

them . You will pass the

1:05:11

talented kids that . I'm just telling

1:05:13

you those Little

1:05:16

things , that what I was talking about early , that don't

1:05:18

get talked about Amongst the parents

1:05:20

and the bleachers because you don't have that

1:05:22

great shot where you can pick a corner . It

1:05:24

doesn't matter if you continue to be

1:05:27

the hardest working player , who

1:05:29

plays the right way , who plays

1:05:31

selfless , you know , looks to

1:05:33

make that extra pass . You still I'm still

1:05:35

, you know , 12 year olds . They've been playing this game now

1:05:37

for five , six years . 95%

1:05:40

of them don't make that extra pass that

1:05:42

they could make . You you're , you

1:05:45

have the type of kid that can do that . They

1:05:47

will eventually rise to the top , I can promise

1:05:49

you mom and

1:05:51

yeah , and it's and it's really at

1:05:54

any of these sports it .

1:05:56

They're all good like these kids . When they get to 18

1:05:58

, 19 year old there is , there's such a fine

1:06:01

line To any kid that makes it and doesn't

1:06:03

make it . They're all good like you . Look at

1:06:05

kids . I've seen guys in mensley . I'm like man

1:06:08

, where'd you play ? Goes I . I stopped playing in

1:06:10

high school . You know I got my god . You're like

1:06:12

the best player out like you know , because they're

1:06:14

just they , it's just little things , it's the

1:06:16

little , it's the motivation , it's the

1:06:18

, the commitment , it's the hey

1:06:20

you can't have . You know , I used to joke with

1:06:22

our teams like I can't have six first line centermen

1:06:24

, like somebody has to position , like

1:06:27

, like so well , I'm better than that kid , I

1:06:29

know , but that kid was not able to play any other position

1:06:31

. They couldn't do anything else , they could only do

1:06:33

this . And I have five of those

1:06:35

kids already .

1:06:36

We see it .

1:06:37

I run a couple of Quebec team

1:06:39

tryouts and or you know , I'm involved

1:06:41

in the selection process and I can't tell you how

1:06:43

many kids don't make those teams that are

1:06:45

better than anybody else . You know

1:06:47

that that did , and but there's

1:06:50

certain kids that need to make it because you need certain

1:06:52

players to play . When you go to a tournament

1:06:54

, when you go to a game , and just knowing

1:06:56

, like hey , this kid it's the same reason why players

1:06:59

get picked on proteins right , like hey

1:07:01

, I know this kid , this guy is really good

1:07:03

, this kid is a really phenomenal player . But

1:07:05

are they gonna be , are they gonna be able to accept

1:07:07

the role that they're not gonna get on the ice every shift like

1:07:10

, can they play the role I need them to play

1:07:12

? And Sometimes , you know it's the reason

1:07:14

why you know players as free agents go

1:07:16

certain places and don't like , hey , can

1:07:19

you , if you're a pitcher , can you

1:07:21

, can you resort to being a two-inning

1:07:23

guy , like is ? Are you gonna accept that or you're gonna

1:07:25

be a bitter , you know , frustrated athlete

1:07:27

and Parents don't get to see

1:07:29

the coach , the GM , the people

1:07:31

making these teams . Maybe we have to do all a better

1:07:34

job of describing what we're looking for

1:07:36

and why the teams are picked , but the other day

1:07:38

a parent needs to say , listen , this is the team

1:07:40

they're picking . I

1:07:42

think objectively we can say you're better than so-and-so

1:07:44

and so-and-so , but there's a reason why they

1:07:46

picked them and you know . Maybe we could

1:07:48

find out why , or we could find out where you

1:07:51

were , you know , deficient . But a lot

1:07:53

of times it's gonna be like and I did college tryouts

1:07:55

all the time like , listen , I love you , I think you're a great

1:07:57

player . You just don't . You just you're never

1:07:59

gonna accept the fact that You're

1:08:02

not in the power play . I know it , you're just not gonna accept

1:08:04

it . And you're not gonna be on this power play because I have

1:08:06

seven other guys that are gonna be on this power

1:08:08

play and since you're not gonna accept that , I can't

1:08:10

have you in the locker room Bitchin and moan and

1:08:12

undermining me saying that you should be

1:08:14

on the power play . So

1:08:16

you you're you .

1:08:17

I'm still waiting for the first 12 year old just to

1:08:19

embrace being a penalty killer . I have not found .

1:08:23

I was a great panel kill . I used to love that . Please

1:08:27

tell me , take another 10 minutes on that , please .

1:08:31

No one ever talks like man I . I love

1:08:34

playing on the penalty .

1:08:34

I've now heard a kid at this level , at the PUE

1:08:37

level , say I really love playing on the

1:08:39

penalty kill , but you need those players

1:08:41

as much as you need the five out there on the power

1:08:43

play , probably even more so and

1:08:45

that's what's great About athletes , right , and in your profession

1:08:48

, and broadcasting , right , you can't you listen , everybody can't

1:08:50

be in front of the camera , everybody can't be interviewing

1:08:52

, somebody has to , like you know , plug the damn

1:08:54

thing in and get the satellite , you

1:08:56

know , figured out like so there's , there's roles

1:08:59

for everyone and that's , I think , what Lee's point is right

1:09:01

that sport is supposed to be teaching us all

1:09:03

of these great things and Sometimes

1:09:05

we lose the fact that that's what . That's

1:09:07

what sport is at any , in any sport , and

1:09:09

it's it's . It is , you know , it's great

1:09:11

when you see it happening . You

1:09:13

know in a positive way , because that's the funnest part about

1:09:15

this is like , oh my god , like you really made

1:09:17

something of this , because you embraced

1:09:20

who you were , what your role could be and

1:09:22

being the best at that role , and

1:09:24

that's really that's like a great lesson

1:09:26

to your kids , I think yeah

1:09:28

, yeah , I would 100% agree

1:09:30

with that .

1:09:33

Yeah , and you know I , there's

1:09:36

so much video out there . You know

1:09:38

I know the kids like watching Connor

1:09:40

Badaard and how great he is Connor McDavid

1:09:42

, it's so fun to watch . But the

1:09:44

one thing , my favorite player and

1:09:47

I don't know if there ever be somebody that

1:09:49

will surpass this for me my

1:09:52

favorite player and the player , the NHL

1:09:54

player that I like to show my son

1:09:57

and other players the way that he

1:09:59

played the game was pavlet that soup . Because

1:10:01

not only was he flashy we

1:10:03

all love the place hands , his hands but

1:10:05

he was what he probably could have

1:10:07

reeled off a hundred point seasons

1:10:09

you know five or had five or six

1:10:11

but because he was so dedicated

1:10:13

to playing so sound defensively

1:10:16

and how well he he , how hard he

1:10:18

played for such being a small guy and

1:10:20

how he used his stick and and created

1:10:22

takeaways and stuff . All you gotta do

1:10:24

is just go on to YouTube and look up Pavlet

1:10:27

that soup hundred greatest players and

1:10:29

that video reel of how he would play defense

1:10:31

and just pick guys pockets . It

1:10:33

just really was something . That that is

1:10:35

. You still see it . You know you like that

1:10:38

. You hope that more players at these younger

1:10:40

levels will take a pride in playing

1:10:42

that way , because that's the way that the game

1:10:44

has to be played .

1:10:45

I Totally

1:10:47

agree , john and I'm gonna say this too that I

1:10:49

was spot-on about having less questions today

1:10:51

, because we had a fantastic

1:10:54

discussion today and we've

1:10:56

kept you off for over an hour and I think we could do another hour

1:10:58

, but but I'm we're there .

1:10:59

Were there any questions in there ?

1:11:03

Discussion . But look , john , first

1:11:05

off I just want to thank you again for giving us some time For

1:11:08

the whole listening audience . Again . His podcast

1:11:10

, this title , raising a champion . I highly

1:11:13

recommend it . If you like our show , you

1:11:15

will love his show , so please give

1:11:17

him a follow . And , john , I'll give you the last word

1:11:19

before I close it out . Again , this has been a fantastic

1:11:21

conversation .

1:11:23

Yeah , it's First off

1:11:25

. I'm so glad that you guys have a podcast

1:11:27

like this . Our kids play hockey . It's , it's really

1:11:30

cool and I'm seeing more

1:11:32

and more of these , and

1:11:34

I that's . I spent a lot of my time just listening

1:11:36

to podcasts , but you know , I guess a

1:11:38

lot . The thing that I would like to

1:11:40

go out on is just Don't

1:11:43

get caught up at the age of five

1:11:45

and six and seven . To my hockey it

1:11:48

really doesn't matter , it's about having fun

1:11:50

. Here's what I'm

1:11:52

gonna say . You're not gonna

1:11:54

create an NHL superstar at

1:11:57

the age of six , seven , eight , nine , ten , eleven , but

1:11:59

you can certainly burn them out of the game and

1:12:02

that's to me , the

1:12:04

bigger takeaway is Make

1:12:07

sure that you're creating an environment

1:12:09

that's instilling passion , like

1:12:11

that they want even more , instead

1:12:14

of sort of Robbing

1:12:17

them of that

1:12:19

energy , because

1:12:21

it's a long process , like

1:12:24

it . What if you're a parent and

1:12:26

you got a kid that's now seven and eight

1:12:28

and you're like I think he's got potential , potential

1:12:30

potential ? You're not gonna know that . You're

1:12:33

really not gonna know that till another seven or eight

1:12:35

, nine years . They start to hit puberty

1:12:37

. It because the whole thing changes . Enjoy

1:12:39

the ride early on , you know . Teach

1:12:41

them to be a good teammate . That's

1:12:44

when you can start instilling , you know

1:12:46

, leadership qualities , because they're they're

1:12:48

actually listening at that point . Once they get to be like

1:12:50

11 , 12 , 13 , they start to tune you

1:12:52

out , you know . So when they're young kids , that's

1:12:55

when you can start feeding them little nuggets and

1:12:57

little things that they

1:12:59

can take with them , because they'll

1:13:01

remember that . You know the kids are sponges at

1:13:03

that age and so that's a . That's a

1:13:05

good age to where . Don't worry so

1:13:07

much about the hockey , but teach

1:13:10

them little things to be good teammates

1:13:12

. You know , because they're gonna be playing , especially at the

1:13:14

might level . They're gonna be playing with kids who are

1:13:16

falling over their laces . You

1:13:18

know , for the most part , encourage them . You

1:13:21

know I do take pride in the fact that my son tried

1:13:23

to get every single kid on . That is my team

1:13:25

involved and the game is frustrating

1:13:27

, as it may have been , but it's my hockey

1:13:30

man . You know , if you you can , you

1:13:32

can be a really you can really teach your

1:13:34

kid a lot of life lessons . And

1:13:36

in that age group and it's not about wins

1:13:39

, losses , it's not about how many goals they

1:13:41

score , it's about none of that , it's just about

1:13:43

going out there having fun , creating

1:13:46

an experience for not only you

1:13:48

, but for everybody on that team .

1:13:52

Well , john , I'll tell you , our target

1:13:54

audience , our main audience , is that age group , and

1:13:56

I think that's a great note to end on . And

1:13:58

I'll say this to the listeners If you like what he just said

1:14:00

, go check out raising a champion . You

1:14:03

can listen to wherever podcast heard . You can also listen

1:14:05

our podcast out . Yeah yeah

1:14:07

, podcast heard , but

1:14:09

for Mike Bonnelli , john Boreg , I'm Leo Elias , everyone

1:14:12

. Thank you so much for listening this episode . We

1:14:14

will see you next week . Have a great time with your kids skate

1:14:16

on . We hope you enjoyed this

1:14:18

edition of our kids play hockey . Make

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very proud of it . But thanks so much for listening to this edition

1:14:42

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on the next episode .