Mike Valley: 10 lessons from career of former Stars goalie coach Part 3

Lessons from Stu Barnes: ‘You Can't Cheat the Game’

Our limited series with former Dallas Stars goaltending coach Mike Valley highlighting 10 lessons from his fascinating career as a professional goalie, goalie coach and self-described serial entrepreneur continues with Part 3, featuring some great advice from Stu Barnes.

Valley’s presentation was part of the WHL / Hockey Canada Goaltending Symposium presented by InGoal Magazine, and thanks to that partnership, we get to share them with our readers. If you haven’t already watched the first two parts, you can still find them by clicking these links:

Part 1: Balancing technique with letting a goalie go out and play

Part 2: Lessons from head coaches: ‘There’s Winning and There’s Misery’

In Part 3 this week, Valley shares a lesson he learned from Stu Barnes, who played 16 NHL seasons: “The game always finds a way of putting you back in your place.”

This is easily the shortest of our 10 lessons, but in just a couple of minutes Valley ties in the importance of work ethic relative to talent, and shares an example of how much work his friend, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner, puts into preparing for a game, arriving three hours early to break down video and get himself set mentally for each opponent.

As he does each week, Valley ties the lesson back to how it relates to a goalie coach and a goalie: