Mike Valley: 10 lessons from career of former Stars goalie coach part 8
- Goalies must take personal ownership of their preparation, development, and in-game performance — just as a NASCAR driver, not the pit crew, ultimately controls the car.
- Goalie coaches and parents risk stunting a goaltender's growth by fostering over-dependence rather than building self-sufficiency.
- Mike Valley uses a real video of a pit stop gone wrong to make the lesson concrete and memorable for goaltenders at all levels.
- This lesson is part of a WHL/Hockey Canada Goaltending Symposium series featuring real-world stories from Valley's career as a pro goalie, NHL goalie coach, and entrepreneur.
- Part 9 of the series will draw on Navy SEALs wisdom with the lesson: Time and Tide Wait for No Man.
The Driver Drives the Car
When we started this 10-part series with former Dallas Stars goaltending coach Mike Valley, we teased it as lessons from a fascinating career path on the ice as a player and coach, and off it in a variety of capacities as a self-described serial entrepreneur. It’s lived up the billing, especially when he combined soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a young Henrik Lundqvist and Cal Petersen last week, and it continues with lessons from a NASCAR pit crew this week.
It includes Valley’s personal video of a pit stop gone wrong, and lessons from it. It’s an important one for goalies on the need to take responsibility for your performances, development and preparation, and for goalie parents and goalie coaches as well on how to make sure they don’t create goalies that are overly dependent on them for everything.
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