InGoal Radio Episode 243 with Maddie Rooney

Intro

We're all back together in very different places, but we're all back together. Glad to be with David Hutchison and Kevin Woodley, the cofounders of InGoal Magazine. It's InGoal Radio Podcast presented by Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, The Hockey Shop, thehockeyshop.com. How's everybody doing? Let's start with Hutch.

Hutch, I've missed you, your guidance, your mentorship. I haven't talked to you in a couple of weeks.

It's been, fun hanging out with Woody, but it's never the same when you're not with us. So good to see you. I'm actually just around the corner from Woody today. I'm over on the Lower Mainland Of Vancouver and just hanging out doing some cool stuff over here, but great to see you again, boys.

So you're close enough, but you're you're still far enough away from Woody.

Didn't get the invite.

That sounds like exactly what happened.

I'm not hurt. Not hurt. It's okay.

Now now did Hutch not get the invite from Woody or did Woody not get the invite from Hutch? That's the big question.

I think the truth is it's way too early in the morning and we just couldn't get our poop together to get in the same location.

You buying that Woody?

Yeah. I know. I I I sort of slept in this morning.

Nothing wrong with that. I'm right with you. Hey. Congratulations to Marc Andre Fleury. We've got our Gear Segment coming up, the Vaughn Pants, and we've got a a fun feature interview with Maddie Rooney, and then we're gonna deal with goalie nights in the Canadian Hockey League, a fantastic event that the Saskatoon Blades, are holding every year and are just on the heels of.

But, Marc Andre Fleury, 1,000 games, and I saw a clip on social media where Chris Latang was talking to and said, I you've dressed you've dressed for a thousand games? Like, the players are even amazed at the at what happened, off of, the big night between Minnesota and Pittsburgh.

Yeah. I know. A nice celebration too, bringing his kids in to read the lineup. Like, just, you know, everything that we love about Marc Andre Fleury on display for the celebration of his thousandth game. And and, obviously, passing Patrick Roy for second and wins, and he finishes it with the like, everything just came together.

Right? Like, a lot of times on those nights, it doesn't end the way you want, but, like, a close tight game, Pittsburgh pressing at the end, Flower doing his usual Flower things, like making fantastic saves down the stretch to preserve a three two win. Like, if anyone in the National Hockey League deserved to have a night like that just go as perfectly as it did, it's Marc Andre Fleury. And, you know, let me give you let me give you just, you know, one example of why Marc Andre Fleury deserved a night like that. And it has nothing to do with this performance.

It has nothing to do with all the things we've written over the years. And, of course, you can check them out at ingoalmag.com from the way he has fun to his mindset to the gear, all those things. No. This is this is a a friend of the show sent us this note, and I'm not gonna use names because I didn't get permission on this. But a good goalie friend of theirs was having a tough time, had some emergency surgery, and a friend of theirs ran into Fleury on the day of of of his one thousand celebration, and he took the time to record a video message for this guy to lift him up.

And to me, it's just one more example of what we love about Marc Andre Fleury. It's not just the goalie, and there's lots to love about the goalie. It's the person. And we've seen it time and time again, and how he interacts with us at InGoal gives us a lot more time than maybe we deserve with my annoying questions. Just the way he plays the game, everything about it.

So I'm just I was just happy happy to see the night went so perfectly for him and and his family in Minnesota as they celebrated what a a fantastic accomplishment.

Right. Big three two win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not a dagger to the Penguins, but sure a little bit of a reminder that that he still got it. A guy that was cast off a couple of goaltending assignments ago.

He can still play. Yeah. And there's lots of buzz now about, you know Trade deadlines. Could he be a trade deadline guy? Look at the adjusted numbers, especially since the coaching change.

There's there's structure in front of him. He's like, I last I he's, like, in the top 15 and adjusted save percentage since that coaching change. Like, he can absolutely still play. Maybe it was just a reminder from flurry to the Pittsburgh Penguins that he can still play. Maybe maybe that's how you know, maybe maybe gets the band back together last year for one last run run next year.

Now you're starting rumors. That's just starting rumors. Tristan Jarry

I'm just have a little fun.

The the the great part about Tristan Jarry, I know Ned played, but Jarry, he's got shut outs in 20% of his games this year.

He's leading the league, isn't he?

Six shout outs. Yeah. It's pretty fun. Hey, and

Ned's Ned's playing really well for them.

And Connor Ingram's got five. Like, you look at the the shout out leaders and we really gone after the changing of the guard and and rolling over to an a whole new group of National High Kool Aid goaltenders, but that that might be signify it more than anything is the shutout leaders. Get guys that I'm not sure you would have taken Tristan to lead the league at the start of the year. Certainly not Connor in in that reign. I think there's only six guys with with more than three.

Yep. That's yeah. It's interesting about shut out. Well, we could get into a long discussion about shut outs are great. Shut outs are great.

But when the rest of your numbers add up, when you're when you got double the shut out to everyone else and all your other numbers the same, it means that the the

You've had a few rough games.

That means you've had just as many rough games as if you had zero.

The all or nothing performance.

That's me. That's me. The all that's a all or

nothing except for usually it's just Nothing.

All. As in all of them go in.

I have all of the nothings. That that that's my game. All of the nothings. Hey, Hutch. We gotta get you back out there, man.

We we gotta get you back part of the self criticizing group that Woody and I are chair people of.

It's probably gonna come. I'm working hard to get in shape, so maybe I maybe I make a comeback. We'll see how it goes. My wife is actually playing again this year, so she's sort of carrying the torch for the family. Yeah.

She's, rubbing it in really hard. She's getting more games than her son and getting more wins than her son, and it's driving him crazy.

Oh, that's really good. Well, we could all use some help along the way, motivation from the Hutchison's or we've got Gear Segment from Source for Sports, the hockey club, the hockeyshop.com. They Source for Sports Langley, which do such an amazing job. It's been a while since I've talked about Cam and Company. And today, we're going to focus on the Vaughn SLR four pants.

That's right. And before we get to the pants, just a reminder that, like, it's a weird year. Like, ever since the pandemic, you know, time is a flat circle and all that stuff. Like, the old days of everything comes out in April and May and even into June is gone. We've got new lines from PWHL.

We've got a new line coming from True. We've got a new glove that just released from Brian's. Like, we got stuff in the middle of the season. There is no downtime for gear launches. It's not all coming at once.

It's spread out over the whole year. And as always, they've got all the newest stuff at the Hockey Shop at the hockeyshop.com. And, of course, if you don't need the latest and greatest, that means there's sales on the old item. So as we roll into the Vaughn SLR four, you can get great deals now on the Vaughn SLR three lines, including the pants, which we're about to talk to you with Cam right now. Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports, Goal Media.

Gear

Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports, Goalie utopia. I'm with Cam. That's me. We got more new gear from Vaughn, the SLR four.

I sure do.

I don't know when we got into this world where everything didn't release in April, but I like it. I like having new gear year round. Today, we're taking a look at the s l r SLR four easy for me to say, Cam. It's right there. SLR four pro carbon pants.

Si. That I mean, hey. You got it all out. It's good. Tell me what's the deal.

Alright. What's the deal is, my friend?

Pro carbon pant. Then we'll go thigh up. 11 inch wide barrel. A little bit more rounded, especially on the inner thigh.

It's probably a little wide to be NHL legal.

It is not NHL legal. Nice thick thigh blocks on the inside too as well. So any of those shots that kinda come in and hit you on the inner thigh part of that thigh as you're closing down that thigh pole. Nice protection there. On the inside of that thigh, always a nice call out.

There is a tab, so if you are a laced in knee pad kind of person, you have that option. Round

so rounded barrel, but not okay. K.

But not not round number square. So see how we get that more around it, but then we have that extra travel space on the side. Okay. So

segmented. Oh, and but also double. Double. Double. As we've told you before, we actually had a Vezina trophy win.

Vezina trophy wow. I can't talk there. A Vezina trophy winning goaltender switch to these, maybe not this model, but Vaughn pants based on the double flap seeing it here from Cam listening to it. We're very proud of that fact that we actually have goalies at the NHL level watch these videos and switch gear based on the double flap. Little extra protection.

Yeah. Kudos, Cam. Good job. You said my

head was overinflated. I think you just took up the size of the room there.

Yeah. But I was, like, passing the credit to you. I'm very happy.

Good. Good. Perfect. So, yes, those double segmented, NHL requested. But it is a great option for covering that hip pad, which

always can be a little bit of a gray area. There's all there's little seams in there, and every once in a while, get one, and then you're black and blue for two weeks. But it Not on these pants.

Excellent flexibility in terms of the overall feel of the pant. So the SLR pants, in particular, are designed to be a little bit more of that loose fitting, wider fit. Some can say it's built a little bit more with that, like, tuck in mind in terms of tucking in the chest protector.

Of course, we saw just last week the SLR four chest protector with the segmented belly area so you can have combinations of tuck and untuck. They work well with these pants. Exactly. Almost like they were designed to go together.

Verify though, almost any pant can go with almost any chest and vice versa. Don't pigeonhole yourself.

Don't contradict me, Cam. But

inside, internal belt, frequently requested in terms of for pants that have it. Definitely not NHL legal.

To get that fit. But the nice thing is it is completely and easily removable. So all it takes is just threading it all out so you can have a little bit of a wider fit. So if you are going full tuck, sometimes I think the Internet, actual belt can interfere a little bit with that. So pulling that completely out, allowing that chest to go all the way in, nice added feature.

Primo and some of the high wear areas. Correct. Just, you know, a little little added feature. Just a kind of nice, you know, there you go seated in the front. Just kind of a nice high quality looking pant, a little more padding I think on the inside around the waist than maybe we saw in the previous model it feels like but

More comfort?

A little more comfort, but like as much as this is the latest and greatest, you know what that means, Cam?

Old one's on sale.

The old one's on sale. The SLR three with a lot of similar features is a little less than a $100 off. So whether it's the latest and greatest in the SLR four or the SLR three, you know if you're not sure which one you need or what the upgrades on the new one might be, whether they're worth a $100, I I know a guy you can ask. It's Cam or pretty much anybody that works for him. Cam, where can they get ahold of you for the questions?

Or the staff, (604) 589-8299 or 1-800-567-7790 or check us out at the hockeyshop.com. Yes. Both pants are up there. Yes. We know about them.

Yes. We can help you with fitting. Just give us a call or check us out online. Like you said, hockeyshop.com.

Good job, Cam.

My feeling on pants is this. They aren't the most sexy go grab, check out innovative part of the equipment, but you really know when you got a bad set or or a bad line. That that jumps out at you. So it it's not front and center, but boy is important. Right?

You what? The you know what? Then we'll have to get into this one day and dig into a little deeper. You know what I find with pants is I'm always hesitant to switch because of the break in process. So, you know, you're like, you're looking for games that are sort of maybe lesser competition on your schedule.

Obviously, us old men don't get practices, except Daren does, but he practices with NHL. Or it's like like, I don't have practice for beer league. So if every game counts, when do I find a time to break in a set of pants that because if they're too stiff and they don't move, like, you can't move. Like, it's a major hindrance in mobility. And I am finding that these newer pants, man, like, I've got a set of the new the CCM pants that actually aren't out until this spring.

We haven't even so nobody's even seen them, and we're testing them.

That's a flex right there. Can I just point that out? Yeah.

Yeah. I'm all about the flex because I've got no actual

Do those pants have a lot of flex in them?

I gotta tell you, I was shocked. I've been putting it off and putting it off because my pants were, like, so old. They were falling off. Like, they're basically disintegrating on me. Putting it off, putting it off, put them on, wore them, and I couldn't believe the mobility in them.

And so I think that's one of the trends that a lot of these companies have sort of developed. Like, hey, man. Like, we can't make this stuff so stiff off the rack that people are scared to put it on in a game. And we're starting to see that sort of mobility translate earlier and earlier as opposed to like, man, I need, like, five or six skates to break this in. Definitely wasn't the case with these.

And, you know, as I understand it from Cam, isn't the case with a lot of the new pants we're seeing out there.

Why for a lot of years, I wore a size bigger than I should have to avoid the stiffness of the break in period. It just gave you a little bit more room to move around up.

When It's one way to do it.

But it catches up to you on the other side. Right? When when you you should be wearing gold equipment that that's more comfortable to your size.

Well, I mean, hey, Ben. Bigger better. Bigger is yeah. Yeah. We had a we had a guy on my one of my skates show up with brand new pants, like, custom made from John Brown recently, and he showed them to me.

And, like, he's got extra blocks put in on the sides. These things were like, as he stood there in front of me, like they were wider than his chest protector, wider than his pads. Like, they just I'm like, they're like balloon pants. Like, I like, it's like he was wearing a barrel around his But hey, man. Yeah.

They're they're they're beautiful.

Okay. That takes me to a story. When Curtis Joseph played for the Calgary Flames, we were doing a tour one year and just happened to be in the hallway and Cujo comes over and we're shooting the breeze and he didn't have his upper body on and just just the pants. And he called them a barrel. And that was way before the crackdown on on gear specs.

And they were so big, it was obscene. It was beyond illegal or anything you would ever see today. And it was just to take up as much room as possible, and that's why he wore them. But I I couldn't believe that that he wouldn't get two legs into one leg leg hole. Like, it was

That'd be a photo.

But it was they they were massive around there. And and the upper body when I watched because I I so I was thinking, he's gonna look like a schmoo. Remember a schmoo? Like or a pear? Like, it's thin on top but wide at

the bottom.

That's what he's gonna look like out there. And so I paid closer to attention that night. This tells you how big his upper body was. He looked normal. Like, he looked like the same on top as the bottom, and no wonder we switched the gears gear specifications.

I was just gonna say, you know who who doesn't get enough credit? We don't hear about it anymore. Our good friend, Kay Whitmore deserves a lot of credit because they are appropriately sized now. You'll get the odd one that might look a little longer. Let's goalies have certainly done a great job of taking pad restriction and moving the pad up their leg and getting it back up to the top of their hips for sure with the way they wear them.

But, man, like, those stories, some of the stuff I remember seeing in a locker room that was just absurd and to where we are now where things are sized appropriately. And for the most part, they wraparound and they hug and they they generally present a lot smaller, which is why I always wonder why anybody at retail or in the beer league world wants NHL spec. Yeah. It's No kidding. Smaller and snugger.

Forget forget that. Give me the biggest stuff you can get. Like, it is a credit, and I don't think I I don't know that he gets enough credit. I think people forget how bad it was, and that's a great sort of example of why it needed to be reined in, and I think Cam did a really nice job of it.

A big gear, small gear, whatever, as long as you're wearing the gear, we love it. You're part of our community in the goaltending world, and the Saskatoon blades are doing wonderful job at promoting the crease coverage with their annual goalie night, and that goes into the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association at the different organizations that they have around Middle of Saskatchewan. And Jordy Jones is the manager of brands and promotion. And just tell us a little bit about what they're doing out in Saskatchewan. Hutch.

For sure. I saw this on social and got so excited, guys, that I just had to get in touch with the Blades and find out what it's all about because there was a photo posted, and they had goalies everywhere on the ice, and this is a game night. Look. You all know that, pretty much every junior team and even lots of national hockey league teams have a seventh skater on the ice for, you know, warm ups and the anthems. And, the Blades took it to a whole new level.

They wanted to celebrate goaltending. They wanted to promote goaltending. So their seventh skater was well, they're ninety sixth to a hundredth skater even. They had as many goalies as they could get on the ice for this game every night. It was just acres of goaltenders.

I was so excited. So I had to get in touch and find out what's going on. And I I won't, you know, spill the beans. I'll it's a quick little five, ten minute interview with Jordy who was fantastic to share all of it with us. The photos, by the way, will be in the show notes if anybody wants to head over to ingoalmag.com and check them out.

And just find out what it's all about. Look, I saw it and I thought to myself, teddy bear tosses happen everywhere, and they're fantastic. They're charitable. I don't wanna suggest this is above that. But right below it, wouldn't you love to see every single organization have a goalie night?

Celebrate goalies. Everybody loves goalies. The Blades, this year it was minus 50 out, so they were down to just about 70. But last year they had 96 goaltenders on the ice for warm ups in the anthem. And credit to the Blades goaltenders too, They high five every single one of the kids before puck drop.

So really, really cool event. We'll just let Jordy tell the story. And, from InGoal to everybody else out there who has any influence, let's see some more goalie nights spreading around the hockey universe. My guest today is Jordy Jones, the manager of brand and promotions for the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League. You know, we're all familiar with game day promotions in junior hockey leagues, trying to excite the fans, bring in a a new audience for the players.

My guest today is Jordy Jones, the manager of brand and promotions for the Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League. You know, we're all familiar with game day promotions in junior hockey leagues, trying to excite the fans, bring in a a new audience for the players.

And, recently, they held a really interesting one. They had a goalie day, which looked absolutely exciting and successful. We saw it on social media, and we're excited to learn a little bit more about it. So, Jordy, welcome.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you. And, what can you tell us about goalie night?

Depends what you guys wanna know. It's just one of our subthemes that we've done for about five years now. At the start, it was pretty light. There's about 10 or 15 goalies at the beginning, and then COVID hit, so it kinda took another hit. But the last two years, it's kind of exploded. We have a really good relationship with Saskatoon minor hockey, so they help us promote it. And last year, I think we had 96 goalies on the ice, and this year was well over 70. So

That's that's quite the sight.

Yeah. And then pregame, they can come in early and our goalie coach Jeff Harvey and Goal Tech from here. Roy Don's really good with us. So they do a free half an hour session with Goal Tech that you can take home, and then Harv and him do a quick speech. And we just have videos from our goalies and then Nolan Meir, obviously, still holds quite a bit of air in this city. So he always phones in and does a quick video for the kids too.

Oh, good for Nolan. Good friend of the podcast. Has been with us many times. I'm trying to picture a goalie coach running a clinic for 96 goaltenders. What did that look like?

Well, it's not an on ice clinic. Okay. We bring them in about an hour before our doors open for the game. Mhmm. And then they all come down and sit in the section, and then Harv and our communications guy just kinda run a hot stove more than anything.

Okay.

And then he just has videos that he's done with Oz and Evan Gardner, and it's kind of like our goalie mantra that they do with everybody, and he runs them through why they do it. And it's more so just a getting together thing and finding that there's a lot of them around.

Well, we we just saw it and thought what a a wonderful thing to do. People talk all the time about there not being enough goaltenders. It's tough to get kids to want to play goal. And, what a fantastic thing that you've done to try and, excite people about, what we think is the greatest position in the game. Was that one of the goals when you set this out?

Yeah. I mean, it's like pitching in baseball or any like that. Like, as soon as those guys go away, you can't play the sport anymore. Mhmm. I don't know if that was more so why we started it, but once the numbers started growing, we kind of we kind of have a reputation here of kind of channeling chaos. And so we were like, well, what else can we do? And we were like, well, what if we add in that they can go on the ice for the anthem? And all of a sudden, we got into the nineties, and we were like, can we still do this? And we were like, well, let's figure it out.

And so from the blue line all the way back, they're lined up. And last year, a few of them touched gloves with Aussie, and then this year, Harv in the pregame speech was like, I need all of you to give him good luck. And so that's when you see the video of them just surrounding him while they're trying to get the ice free for puck drop and trying to get them off the ice. And, yeah, like, 70 or more of them put on their full gear for three minutes of an anthem and were more than happy to come off and take it off and then watch the game. So it's pretty cool.

And fist bumps for the starting goaltender before the game started.

Yeah. Not many teams, I don't think, have the relationships with their players. This isn't our coaches are great for that kind of stuff. But, yeah, I don't know many goalies that would allow that to happen, but Oz was all for it and was like, absolutely. I love it. So tell them to come by. And usually from the goalies I know, they're far too into the zone by that point to want that to happen.

Oh, that's fantastic. What what was feedback from the families?

It's always good for that one. Obviously, this year, it was minus 54 outside, I think. And so we didn't know what was gonna happen crowd wise, and we had over 5,000 people come. And I just talked to a few of the dads. I'm like, what are you guys doing?

Like, it's so cold. Why are you here? And he's like, what else are gonna do with an eight year old when it's minus 50? He's like, we might as well come early. And so they were all for it.

And I think we I think everybody that bought a ticket showed up for the presentation. So, we were kinda surprised, but it just shows Saskatchewan's kind of sick.

I think Saskatchewan's a fantastic place and we we hope that maybe this catches on if we can amplify it a little bit. This will catch on and I would love to see just as many goalie days as there are teddy bear tosses because it would just be great for the game.

Yeah. It's it's fun and that's at the core of it. I mean, the smiles on the kids' faces are worth it. And if it makes them wanna come back and be a fan of Ozzy or Evan Gardner or Nolan Meyer or whoever's in that that night, great. Because we only got a few years of these guys before they move on. So Mhmm. It helps us amplify them too.

Fantastic. Well, thanks for taking the time with us. Good luck for the rest of the season. We know you guys are trying to make a big push for the Memorial Cup and, hope it goes well for you.

Thanks, David. Appreciate the time and, hopefully it, hopefully it's a long spring for us.

I think there's a great visual there looking from the other blue line. Like, you're the opposition. You're looking over and there's a wall of goalies from one side of the boards to the other.

Just a whole new strategy. Pull the players and put all goalies out.

You you can't you can't get any more intimidating than that if you can't even see the other end because of this wall of goaltending, you're already in their heads.

Beautiful idea. It was just it's so good. Did you see that story a few years ago about the high school team that actually tried to start two goaltenders? No. Yeah.

Yeah. The the coach knew it was it was one of these setups that just was completely silly and unfair. They know where they they were gonna get thumped by this team. I believe the coach even didn't think the game should be happening and they're so he just said, look, I don't see anything in the rule book that says you can't start two goaltenders. So he put four players and two goaltenders on the ice.

It didn't go well for him. Eventually, the referee gave him a delay a game penalty, but he tried to say, look, doesn't say I can't have two. Yeah. It was kinda funny.

I like these viral moments. I wonder if they killed the penalty.

It's a good question. I don't know. I hope their goaltender came up big.

Speaking of moments and inspirations from the InGoal Radio Podcast, they're trying to create inspiration. Real quick. We got a text or an email from Lloyd Drummond in Holland, Manitoba, right up here in Daren, with a picture of his son going down the stairs. Remember we're talking about rink with stairs recently? And he sent a picture of his son going down the stairs in Saint Eustache.

Hopefully, I'm saying that right. Manitoba. Saint

Eustache. Yeah.

He's on

The U. Saint Eustache. Yeah.

Yeah. On the

on the U 13 hauling rockets going down these stairs, 100%, like, two parts to it. I would be tumbling if I was leading the team down those stairs. But second, as you walk down the stairs, painted on the wall behind them is, you call it cold, we call it home ice advantage in this in this barn in Manitoba. So I was thinking about all those goalies that didn't wanna go out to minus 50 in Saskatchewan. He did mention that his daughter who's on the u 15 triple a in Manitoba fallen downstairs in Carmen, Manitoba in the past as well.

So we love it when when readers send us stuff like this and contribute to the show like that. So maybe I'll have to forward that or Hutch has it and make sure we'll put one of those pictures in the show notes as well. Your story is about having to go downstairs when you're heading into the rink. It was cool to see this, and 100% we appreciate it. A 150% I'm going ass over tea kettle if I had to do it.

More than half the rinks when I was growing up had stairs, some form of of stairs. And you had to decide, are you a heel walker going down those stairs? Are you really gonna dig in and try to get the whole foot on it? Because you you don't wanna hold everybody up either.

That I'd be like the little toddlers before they learn to walk out, they sort of do the bumps slide. Yeah.

I'm with you. I I like that idea. Awesome feedback. Awesome interaction with our viewers. And next week, I wanna bring up an idea on changing goaltenders mid game.

We got a lot on our plate next week. I don't know whether you guys saw it, but Vegas played Arizona, and they were up three one and they scored on the power play and Arizona made a goalie change. But then the goal was called back. So did the goalie deserve to go back in? Does it should the goalie stay out?

Because he's not allowing a a goal on the play. And Vegas was in the power play at the time. You're putting a new goalie in to face power play.

Wow. So

anyway, can can we write that one down for next week? You just crossed the No.

Note take.

Note take.

Let's get into our feature interview brought to you by Sense Arena, Sense Arena VR. We are discussing the PWHL with Maddie Rooney as things continue to happen. I've been using my Sense Arena a little bit more lately, getting into a little bit more work on the ice, trying to work in the glove hand. I've been struggling. So I've been zeroing in on the glove hand only, Hutch.

And isn't that a luxury?

Using the puck cannon? Yes. Great. So we've got drills over an InGoal that focus on the glove and now you can use Sense Arena and the puck cannon to, work specifically on your glove and you can use some of those drills. So Eli Wilson and Carey Price showed us a a moving glove drill for example.

You can replicate that on Sense Arena if you would like or any drill. Because when you're on the ice with shooters in practice or in goalie practice, not many of those shooters can even hit their spots. And I don't care what level you're at. It's hard to find a shooter who can hit his spots. But in Sense Arena, if you wanna focus on one particular thing, just dial in the puck cannon and say, I want the pucks here and repeatedly, you can focus on a particular skill.

We have Maddie Rooney this week as our feature interview presented by Sense Arena. You can face NHL and professional women's shooters in Sense Arena. If you'd like to level up your game, see what it's like to be Millard on the ice with NHL shooters, you can do that in Sense Arena too. So so many tools. You've heard us talk about it before, but it is really the greatest off ice training tool for goaltenders other than maybe a subscription to InGoal Magazine.

Check out Sense Arena. Head over to sensearena.com today. They've got an awesome deal. It's something like 44% off an annual subscription right now. And, if you use the code I g m 50, you get a little bit more off on top of that as well.

So Sense Arena, thank you for presenting these feature interviews as always.

Darren, you you and Joey Daccord. That's what he uses, the puck can and just loads her up on the glove. Remember he told us in between periods, he wasn't feeling good about the glove, went in in the intermission of an NHL game, loaded up the puck can, took a bunch off the glove, went back in second period, wide open with second or third, went back in the next period and felt great.

When Daren Millard gets into an NHL game, we will know Sense Arena is the training tool for goaltenders.

I don't think medically I'd be allowed because my hips don't move. There's not enough radius, movement on the hips.

Well, you gotta do some James Wendland 5 damn things then, buddy.

Yeah. I I I've you know, I getting for rotary to kill me. Yeah. Yeah. I I need some more in-depth, like, one on one therapy on that side of it.

Will connect you with James. People can't see this, but Hutch and I are on point today because I've been watching Woody and the different things that we've been saying, like Woody's been nodding and he's had his hand up like he's gonna say something and then he's nodded like we've said it. I love being a little bit ahead of the curve on Woody because he's he's always that wealth of knowledge to be able to tag whatever we're saying with just that perfect tidbit that brings everything together. And we're on our game, Hutch.

Well, the trick is we just have to keep talking and not let him jump in because soon as he does, he gets the second, third, fourth, fifth and tenth point. I can't tell you how many times one of you two have been talking about something. I'm literally making notes in front of me. Well, here's my response. Here's my response.

Here's what I'm gonna say. Here's what I'm gonna say. And then Woody just keeps going and I scratch the first one out. I scratch the second one out. I scratch the third one out.

So we just keep talking. Woody can't get his in and we're going to have a great time.

And it's true justice for the man that loves to talk. Right?

Right. We we love to tease him, but his points are fantastic and we wouldn't be where we are without Woody.

You got bobblehead you just got bobblehead Woodley Woody today, just nodding. Look at that. Oh,

there there's Lou should do a Daren Millard bobblehead night.

Oh, how about how about I practice every now and then, but how about Lou, Roberto Luongo being in? Like, that is that not the ultimate practice goalie? The Florida Panthers bringing a hall of famer in?

And are we seeing a shift here? Because Craig Anderson's been back on the ice as well since retiring. And I've written stories about this. Like like, hard and fast, those were rare, rare, rare exceptions of goalies that once they're done, they never wanna put the gear back on. Like, that is the maybe if it's a huge outdoor game alumni skate, they might consider it.

But, like, 99.9% of NHL goalies, once they retire, forget it. The gear is not going on. They it's not happening. So I love seeing Lou out there. I loved it when Craig got back out there.

It brings a massive smile to my face. And Lou, of course, with the full custom CCM all out graphics that they gave him for his induction night. He actually wears those out. I was watching that. Just like you, Daren.

Those are original set original CCM model that he's wearing like you.

Lou and I often get confused for each

other. Probably similar to

Hockey Yeah. Think we both went down in the warm up the same amount of times.

Just working

our hands.

Did notice that. Work on

our hands. That's all we gotta do. On the subject of Woody though, I'm driving around Vegas. Random day this week. And I'm listening to NHL Network Radio.

And the announcer comes on and says, in the next segment, we've got Kevin Woodley coming up. We gotta get through this goalie thing. What's going on? What's going on with the goalies? Nobody knows goaltending better than Kevin Woodley, and he likes to talk.

So we're gonna get into this with Kevin Woodley. And I'm like, all all that great promotion for Kevin Woodley, the thing that stuck out to me was, and he likes to talk. And like, they even know. Like, they must listen to the podcast. I don't know.

Was it Boomer Gordon? I can't remember who was

Yeah. That's where he started all this. Yeah.

Yeah. It was Boomer. So listen. Listen. This is the reason I get all these radio gigs.

That's what nobody's clued in on. It's not because of my expertise. It's because they know that they can kill a half an hour segment and only have to ask the question.

Yes. As somebody that does sports talk radio all the time, you are the you are the dream guest.

Exactly. You just tune out.

But you do bring incredible knowledge. So congratulations in in all of your work, NHL.com, NHL Network Radio, the the local platforms that you have in spreading the beautiful world of goaltending, which does take us into the PWHL and back to back weeks. So we've got a great guest here.

Yeah. Yeah. And back to back wasn't intentional. We were originally gonna have them on the air together. Nicole Hensley last week and then Maddie Rooney this week.

They're originally gonna come on together, but that travel that they we talked about with Nicole last week about how, like, you know, this is new and this is like they're flying commercial trying to keep up and it's, you know, late nights and getting in. We had to split it up, which was great. We just got both of them separately. And, obviously, Nicole was awesome last week. Maddie's great this week.

We wanna dig more into these goalies. They have great backstories. They're playing at the at the, you know, top levels in the world. We're talking about a two time Olympian in Maddie Rooney. So we got into all of that.

We got into sort of that history, her history in the game, and a lot of the same questions we talk with every goalie, like style, patience, how do you develop certain aspects of your game. She was awesome, and we look forward to having more of these with PWHL goalies. Excited about where the league is going. Excited to see the league up and running and all the crowds that are that are going out to watch these incredible athletes, and we wanna bring you their backstories and their insights into the position that we all love. Because a lot of these you know, I know for sure some of the stuff that, Nicole Hensley brought us last week were things I was thinking about when I went on the ice.

Like, I think there are lessons here whether you're a beer leaguer, a young up and coming goalie, male, female, junior, pro. There are insights and lessons that apply to every goalie from from these PWHL goalies. It's been great.

The Sense Arena VR feature interview is with Maddie Rooney from Minnesota, the PWHL. Enjoy.

Feature Interview - Maddie Rooney

Really excited to welcome to the InGoal Radio Podcast first time guest, long overdue. Maddie Rooney now of PWHL Minnesota, but also two time Olympian. You know her from her time with USA Hockey as well as at at the college level. Maddie, thank you so much for making the time amidst what I can only imagine has been a whirlwind. We just finished January, but that first month in the PWHL looked like it was busy.

Yeah. First, thanks for having me and to talk about that whirlwind. It's been a lot, a lot of travel, but it's also just been really awesome, like, to be back in that routine of going to practice every day with the same people and, you know, traveling on the weekends and even midweek now, which I haven't been a part of before, having games during the week. It's just been really special and exciting and fun.

What, it's funny. You mentioned the travel, and I never thought of this at the time, but, you know, primarily weekends at the college level. What's it been like? Because it it it has been like an, you know, that highest end pro level skit. You guys are playing, like, three games a week.

You're I'm guessing the travel is better than it used to be, but you're still not on like, the NHL guys hop on charters and, you know, break to their cars and all that stuff. Like, it's probably a little bit more of a grind, keeping up with this travel schedule you've got right now.

Yeah. Especially being the only Midwest team. We're kind of the team that takes the brunt of the rough travel, but, I can't complain too much. I mean, our equipment staff has made it pretty smooth with with everything once we get to the airport and the logistics and everything. But yeah, when I played college hockey at the WCHA, it was always Friday, Saturday games, and you knew, like, you always had that Sunday off.

Like, we always had that set day off, but here, it's really fluctuating, and you kind of don't know when your next day off is going to be, which has kind of contributed to being more of a whirlwind, but it's okay, like, taking it day by day. I think it's also pros and cons because, you know, playing Wednesday and Saturday or Wednesday, Sunday, whatever it might be, it's easy to get into more of like a rhythm and routine and kind of you're kind of just going. Like, season's gonna fly by with this schedule. That's for sure.

You don't have time to think, but the one thing that becomes a challenge time wise is time to manage your game versus taking that time off to manage your rest and your body. We see it even with guys going from the AHL to the NHL where, again, it's more weekend games to all of a sudden, you know, two or three a week or Wednesday, Saturday. That does become a bit of a balance losing that practice time with all the travel.

Yeah. Yeah. And we're starting to see that a little bit, but I think the team's managing it well. We do a lot of video. I think every player kind of knows what they need to do while they're figuring out what they need to do after this first month.

So I think we'll have it under control here moving forward.

What's been the excitement level? The record crowds in Minnesota and and around the league? Like, it feels like there's new records, new new things being set on a consistent basis. You've played on the biggest stages in the world at the Olympics. Is this different?

Does it hit a little different for you?

It does. Yeah. It does. I mean, I think Ottawa versus Montreal set that record initially with, around 8,900, I believe. And then we set the next record, a little over 13,000 playing home against Montreal too.

So for me, it hit a little different just being able to play in like my home state in front of a lot of my friends and family. It was really special to be able to play in that game personally, and definitely going to go down as one of the top top memories of my career, but it's just so big for the sport. And I think, not only fans in person breaking these records, also broadcasting, and, we're fortunate enough to have, like, our games live on YouTube. Minnesota's on Valley Sports North, and I know across the whole league, have great broadcasting options. And I know we've been having some great numbers there too.

I think the first game was over like 2,000,000 viewers or something like that. Don't quote me, but I think it was something like that, which is just super cool to see in a really exciting time for women's hockey.

I think the first game was over like 2,000,000 viewers or something like that. Don't quote me, but I think it was something like that, which is just super cool to see in a really exciting time for women's hockey.

Okay. So we're gonna like, everyone on this audience is is goalies. Just goalies listening to goalies. A lot we got a lot of parents and kids listening to this podcast on the way back and forth to the ranks. So I'm gonna pull out of there and ask for a little bit of goalie geek stuff here.

In those moments, whether it's at the Olympics, like I said, you've played on the biggest stages in the world, or that one that, like, as you said, hit a little different. How do you what tricks, what tips do you have for others in terms of enjoying the moment but not letting it affect how you play? Because that's not easy.

Right. That's a good question. Obviously, there's nerves going into those games. I think at this elite level, like every player is going have nerves before a game. It just means you care.

But I think the elite players are able to kind of channel those nerves into excitement. How a step by step process on how to do that, I haven't figured it out yet. But I know, like, for me personally, if I'm feeling a little bit, like, like, not too high, not too low, if I'm feeling more on that high side, I try to just kind of take the game five minutes at a time, try to just focus on the next shot, next save. It's always nice getting that first save underneath you and going from there. I think the crowds, it's actually been a little easier, I'd say, with the crowds being into it.

It kind of just even heightens that excitement about the game. And, so, yeah, I think my biggest advice is to just kind of take it in segments at a time, you know, and take a deep breath too.

I was going say breathe we've we've talked to goalies that use breathing tech techniques actively because I think that might be the easiest thing in goaltending to say and the hardest thing to do. Probably in golf too. Right? That next shot mentality. Next shot, next save.

It it can be tough sometimes to not let the brain wander a little bit.

Oh, for sure. Yep. I was just a part of a game last weekend actually where and this all goalies have been there, like three quick goals in a first period. It was hard. Like, didn't know if I was coming back for the second period, but I did.

And it's, it's a really tough position to be in, but as long as you can kind of hit that reset button, you know, whatever it is individually you have. Like for me, I do do the breathing techniques and just trying to calm the mind. And I think it helps for me. And so, yeah.

Now the breathing techniques, like like, not gonna ask you to do a breathing technique on the podcast here. That might that might slow things down a little bit. But, are they things you've developed over the years or worked with any sports psychologist? Do you use them on the ice in the moment, say, after a goal? Is it more when you get back to the locker room and you have a little bit of a chance to hit a more active reset?

Yeah. I've been fortunate enough to work with sports psychologists and have those resources available to me who have taught me, like, different breathing techniques. I personally use the square method, which is four deep breaths in, pause for four, four deep breaths out. And I don't really use them on the ice, like during the game. It would be during like a media timeout or in intermission.

Okay. So, and media timeouts are probably something that not totally new to you, but, you know, not something you would have had on an every game basis as well. Is there an adjustment period there to in terms of what you do with that time?

Yeah. It's a longer, period of time. It's a two minute media timeout, and usually, in the past, they've been shorter. So I think, like for me personally, I don't like, overthinking things. Like, I feel like if I'm overthinking in those moments, like that's how I kind of spiral down.

So I do do those breathing techniques and kind of just have fun with it, you know, look in the crowd. I know some goalies are like, no, they gotta be focused in. Like, for me, I feel the best when I'm kind of calm and relaxed. So I just kind of kind of live in the moment.

Anything you look for in the crowd? Like, do do you go into a game, stay at home knowing where certain people are sitting or just are you just trying to, again, just soak it all in in those moments?

Yeah. I'd say soak it soak it all in more. So, you know, like, look for the young girl in the stands. Give her a smile, you know, whatever it might be.

Well and okay. And how cool is that part of this too to see this stage, these crowds, this TV exposure, something that you may not have had yourself obviously growing up or wouldn't have had yourself growing up to look up to? Have you had those moments with young kids where you you know how much of a difference this is making?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, before, you know, being a part of the national team, I've definitely had those moments, but even more so now being a part of the PWHL, those moments have been definitely heightened. You know, as a young girl, there wasn't that league in the past and, like, grow up and be like, wanna play in the now PWHL, versus being a boy you knew he always wanted to play in the NHL. So, this is a super special moment.

And I think, like I mentioned to the broadcasting side, it allows those girls at home to not only watch elite level hockey, but also look on the screen and be like, I can play like her someday, like create role models. And that's also being there in person too.

In terms of the way things have been structured, like, you you were part of the PWHA as well. What like, what's the like, to you, what's been the biggest you mentioned earlier equipment. Just it feels like from the outside, and correct me if I'm wrong, some of the players we've talked to in the past before this started, one of the things that was really important to them was the infrastructure. You have a goalie coach now. You have training staff and access to facilities.

You're, you know, you're not having to chase down ice times for like, is it that side of it as much as a lot of people might focus on, hey, like full time job and payment and things like that. Is it is it more about that support structure that in terms of making this truly a professional league?

Yes. It's a night and day difference. And don't get me wrong. The PWH PA was a great setup for, what we had to deal with. But if to talk a little bit about that, it was basically like a group of Minnesotans.

There was maybe 10 of us tops on a given day would practice during the week, and then we'd fly out for games on the weekends versus the other teams. But we, the Minnesotans, were all dispersed on different teams. So we never practiced with our team in the PWH PA, which was very unique versus when we got to the PWHL. Now we show up to the rink, we have all the facilities, like we work out there, we have the same faces around, we can work on systems. Like, it's a crazy night and day difference.

That's for sure.

Now what about having a goalie coach too? Just and having a that more regular presence in in Brennan.

Yes. Having Brennan has been great. Not only, like, for the practice side of things, but also watch being able to watch video with him going over game film. He's been a great resource so far.

Okay. Where does video fit in? Like, and is it something you've always used or in terms of is it something you use to manage your game, make little tactical or technical adjustments? Is it more about sort of pre scouting other teams or looking at systems that your team's playing? Where where does video fit in for you in terms of your growth as a goalie?

For me, I've always watched it post game, with a goalie coach. I've done it on the college side, national team level, and now with Brian and PWHL. Not necessarily to nitpick everything, but, you know, just be aware. I think at this level, like in the moment, if a goal goes in, I can be like, yep, I did this wrong. Like I can, I can analyze things pretty well in the moments, but it's also nice to have another set of eyes on it too and adding in, like, just little tips here and there in the video?

Okay. So speaking of another set of eyes, your your playing partner, when we talked to her last, one of the things she mentioned that was new is the video board, the Jumbotron, the replay. Something that you would have had it at at various points throughout your career, but not necessarily all the time. Do you find yourself like, because we know there's there's moments, like you said, where you know exactly what happened. There's other with the chaos of 10 people flying around where you have no like, it hits bodies that like, you don't know.

Do you find yourself looking for in those moments to see what the heck just happened?

Yeah. Like, most goalies would say yes in this moment. I I don't like to rewatch the goals in the game.

Okay.

Well, I'm a little unique. I kinda just like to forget about it and move on, wait for the next shot.

Okay. Okay. I like that. I I gotta ask because you talked about inspirations and you're now inspiring another generation of who who was yours? Like, when you were growing up, what goalie did you wanna be?

Yeah. To be honest, like, I grew up playing boys hockey. And with that, like, I watched a lot of boys hockey. So my role model as a goalie was always Marc Andre Fleury, which is super cool that he's playing in Minnesota now. I've always been a big fan.

I just love the fun he has with the game. Like he's always smiling and just like his athleticism is unreal. And I would kind of describe myself the same. Like, I'm not really a technical technical style goalie. Like, I might be flopping around out there sometimes.

So,

yeah, I've always looked up to him. Okay. And now you have an opportunity, I'm guessing at the Xcel Energy Center in terms of practice schedules and stuff to to bump into flower every once in a while. What's what's that like?

Yeah. Yep. I was fortunate enough to meet him, maybe two years ago now and after a game that he was playing in Seattle. But we have bumped into him once or twice here at Tria, the practice facility, and it's really cool. He's always super engaging with the players and asking questions.

He's just great with it. But it's also, like, weird. Like, yeah, we just we're on the ice after the wild. Like, we see them practice before us. It's definitely a different situation than in the past, and it's been really cool.

Okay. So you described his game, and you described your game probably a little too critically in terms of diving around and stuff. But if I were to ask you, it's for the foundations of your game. Like like, what does Maddie Rooney see as her staples? What does she go back to if maybe things don't go well for a couple of games?

Mhmm. What what would that answer be?

Yeah. I've always been a really good skater. I've prided myself on, being a great skater. That's probably the one thing even growing up I spent the most time on was my movement style and, you know, playing boys hockey. Like, I had to be quick.

Yeah. I've always been a really good skater. I've prided myself on, being a great skater. That's probably the one thing even growing up I spent the most time on was my movement style and, you know, playing boys hockey. Like, I had to be quick.

Like, I'm not the biggest I'm not the biggest goalie on the ice, so I had to make up for it in other ways. So I really focused on my quickness and agility. And I think that has got me to where I am today. And like I said, critically too, sometimes I'm sliding way out of the net and trying to get back, but that is definitely a foundation that I've built my built my game on for sure.

Okay. So we hear that a lot. We do hear a lot like skating. Obviously, if you can't move in today's game, on on either side, you can't play. It's become so dynamic. Mhmm. When when you talk about working on your skating at a young age, walk us through some of the things like what that means to you or what that what what goalie skating is to you. We we do see a lot of, like, crease movement patterns as a foundation, but we're seeing increasingly, you know, dynamic drills that don't look anything like what we would do in a crease to sort of get that edge control. What what for you? Where did that foundation come from? What are some drills you like to sort of hone it in?

Yeah. So for me growing up, I was fortunate enough to have multiple different goalie, goalie coaches here in Minnesota. So I kind of, again, had, an opportunity to learn a bunch of new drills and skating drills. So I think growing up, like, the goalie coaches would put me through the ringer, honestly, with doing a bunch of movement drills. But I've learned what works best for me over the years and, you know, having access to those different coaches.

So now I kind of, I obviously still do the crease movements, but also just kind of do some freestyle movement, too. I do a lot of hinge work. I do just edges. Like, I go out there and do C cut patterns before practices and during practices if I'm not in the net. So, some C cuts, honestly, just butterfly slides back and forth, working in like imagining or imagining tracking, like a blocker save, bluff save, just feeling good on the edges.

Do you know what your speaking of edges, how have your skates evolved over the years? I know weird question. You're not getting this on most podcasts, but, you know, we we we get down into the minutiae here. What like, how has your like, are you dialed in on your skates and and and you're hollow and all those kind of things? How's that changed over the years as you get comfortable over those edges?

Yeah. Honestly, I'm not the person to talk to about equipment, but

And that's fair.

Yeah. But I know, like, with the hollow and everything, it has definitely changed over the years. Like in college, I did not like my skates sharpened. I maybe got them sharpened once a year. And now, at the professional level, like I get them sharpened probably once every two weeks.

I like them more sharp. So it's definitely evolved. That's for sure.

It's evolved, but you're not twice to the point where you're getting a sharpen right before you hit the ice every time yet.

Never. Nope.

No. Okay. Okay. That's fair. Yeah.

You you you mentioned equipment. So it sounds like we have different origin stories, right, for goalies. And and the most common ones are siblings or falling in love with the gear or just an inspiration. I'm guessing the gear wasn't yours based on your answer. How'd you how did how did you fall in love with this position?

Yeah, so I started playing hockey when I was four. My parents, I blame my parents. They didn't let me play goalie until I was age nine. So a second year squirt. And honestly, I think they kept me away from it just because the goalie position is expensive.

But for me personally, it just looked so much fun. I wouldn't say that I was intrigued by the gear at all, but I don't know. Just the competitiveness of the position itself, you know, make a big save, crowd goes nuts. Like, it's cool. It's just, it's the equal to scoring a goal, really is.

And so, I don't know. I think I tried it out that one practice and I never went back. I convinced my parents finally after two years to let me do it. Yeah.

It's it's tough on the parent. Like, I I would not wish being a goalie parent on anyone, but I understand how easy it is to get hooked. Was there any point along the way where because it is a tough position. Like, you're right. You're you get to be there all the time, and you get to be in the spotlight, but that spotlight can be tough sometimes.

Was there any point where where you thought this wasn't for me or or you thought about going back to playing out?

Yeah. I don't think I ever felt that, within youth hockey. Maybe there was definitely some challenges in high school when I played Bantams and then I transitioned into girls high school hockey. And I struggled. I struggled a lot because of, you know, the pace of the game is different and I was kind of over anticipating plays.

But I I figured it out and and enjoyed my time with Burnsville High School Hockey, ended up going to state. But then my senior year, I did end up going back to playing, boys varsity high sorry, I can't speak. Boys varsity hockey, which was really fun and definitely one of my favorite years of my career.

Was college the plan all along? When when did those opportunities, I'm guessing there would have been more than one, the opportunities and the decision to go to UMD?

Yeah. I committed to UMD at the end of my sophomore year of high school. So that was during playing girls high school hockey. And, yeah, I I knew I always wanted to stay in Minnesota, and I did come down to to Minnesota schools, but I ultimately chose Duluth because I loved the hockey city and the environment up there.

So anything changed? Like, like, for a lot of, goalies on on both sides, you'll get to college, and that'll be like, I've had a yeah. It surprises me how many it's like, oh, it's my first goalie coach. I'm like, what? But it sounds like you've had, you know, those those sort of lessons, those voices from a very young age.

Did anything change in your game as you got to college or anything have to change in your game as you got to college? You as someone who's embraced different voices, it's a different question. I I guess it would be more if they did ask you to change, were you used to it by that point? The whole concept of new coaches, new voices.

Yeah. So when I got to college, again, I went through the same thing that I just talked about where because I was going from boys' varsity hockey to girls' division one, which is still a high paced game, but the release of the shot is still different. So I was, again, over anticipating plays and luckily I'd kind of gone through that before. I knew how to adjust. And I worked with that goalie coach.

Like we were all on the same page where I was just was overplaying everything and I really had to kind of work to slow down my game in a sense and try to be more controlled. But I was fortunate enough to have a great college goalie coach who was with me basically the all four years there. So, it was a great a great environment.

In case there's anybody else going through the same thing, moving back and forth, trying to make those adjustments. Again, it's kinda like the one shot mentality. Saying slowing down your game sounds almost simple, but it's it's not. Like, that can't be an easy process to go through. Were there any keys? Like, tactically, did you back off a little bit in terms of depth, or was it just a matter of holding edges longer off releases and seeing more to get comfortable? How'd you how'd you get through that process?

Yeah, it was definitely Depth was a big part of it. On the boys' side, I had to play out quite a bit. And on the girls' side, I was just I was getting burned, you know, backdoor passes. I just wasn't getting there because I was so out far all the time. Or I was moving too fast, moving completely past the shot or, you know, whatever it might have been. But I really had to work on being more controlled.

Yeah, it was definitely Depth was a big part of it. On the boys' side, I had to play out quite a bit. And on the girls' side, I was just I was getting burned, you know, backdoor passes. I just wasn't getting there because I was so out far all the time. Or I was moving too fast, moving completely past the shot or, you know, whatever it might have been. But I really had to work on being more controlled. Like even off coming off the post of the RVH, would just be flying off that post into no man's land. And so that was a big part of it. But also, like I said, on rushes, when I was out so far, had to work on kind of drifting back and finding the right momentum. That was probably my biggest focus that first year.

Okay. So play with a little flow in your game. Do you still, like, still play with a little flow in your game? Like, we've seen that evolution. Right?

Like, some people want a little flow. Some people will become a little more static and positional and almost inside out in terms of depth management, but flow is something it sounds like you've always had. It's just a matter of adjusting the timing of it as you move through various levels?

Yep. Yep. I've definitely had, float in my game always. But honestly, right now I'm trailing trying to figure out what is the best, kind of speed for me too. I go in kind of phases.

Like, I if I don't feel If I feel confident, everything's going great. But right now, I'm trying to figure out, I'm going back too fast. I got to figure out that right balance of being set for the puck and ready and not drifting back too far and getting wide.

And I and width, obviously, is is sort of the enemy of lateral movement in today's game. We talked about, you know, the East West and how that's increasingly dynamic. Is that that like you said, it sounds like it's something you're still trying to work on. It's not easy. Right?

Like, it's like, every time you change a level or have different shooters, you you have to make adjustments as a goalie.

Yeah. That's something I'm working on right now too. It's what I've worked on probably the past two years is just having balance shuffles and not widening out. It's been a bad habit of mine. But again, I've been fortunate enough to have good goalie coaches who can work tediously with me on that.

And I know Brennan is now working with me on that too. It has really, developed my game though. And I can already see little changes when I do work on that balance.

Can you give us an example? Is there like an example you can share where you felt that difference and know that you, you know, not widened out, having your feet more underneath you has paid off?

Yeah. I think, to give a specific scenario, like when a player's coming down on a rush and they cut more towards the middle, they're kind of crossing that royal road. Before, like, I would just shuffle over and then by the time they're about to shoot, I'm like completely wide and say they have a backdoor pass option. I'm stuck on that shooter. Like, I would never be able to get out of that and push across.

And now I think being able to tediously work on it, like I said, I definitely have been giving myself better chances.

Okay. So more of shuffler than a t pusher? Obviously, it's situational. All depends on on what's going on, but that, I mean, that a strength of your game?

Yeah. I would definitely say shuffle over t push.

Yep. Which explains why you don't need your skate sharpened all the time.

Yeah. True.

Last thing you want is deep edges when you're shuffling a whole bunch. Yeah. What, is there any advice you can you can pass on? Because because I do think that this is something a lot of goalies are working on right now. We see it at every level of the game.

Again, because of the East West, if you get too wide too soon, it's really tough to recover. Anything that anything that you find helps, whether it's mindset, drills, tactics in terms of trying to keep edges underneath you more. Because that's the other thing. It's not easy. I think when we widen out, that's like our safe stand.

Like, we it feels more ready. Right? So being comfortable going into save execution from a narrower stance is not easy to to sort of get familiar with and get comfortable with.

No. And like I said, I've been working on this for two years and I'm still trying to master it. So my biggest advice would just be repetitions and finding, whether it's a goalie coach or even another play in practice to work on it with you. Just like, I will stand there, I will shuffle to the coach and take a shot in that balance position. Like, it doesn't have to be anything crazy.

It can be very simple. Just get the reps in.

And are you finding times? Like, have you got time in practice now more so than in the past to do some of that goalie specific work as opposed to everything being a part of a team environment? Not that there's anything wrong with the team environment, but sometimes those portions of practice aren't great for us goalies.

Yeah. Yeah. We're lucky to have Brennan, sometimes for thirty minutes before the team practice starts, which is which is nice. And then we have optional practice days where we can ask Brennan to come in or there's free time after practices where we can ask another teammate to, you know, shoot here or whatever we need to work on. So that's been nice.

I read, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but there was a time there where you were with the national team where you also did some volunteer coaching back at UMD in a goalie sort of consultant capacity. What was that experience like? Did you learn anything from the other like, is it a learning process for you even though you're there as a teacher?

Yeah. It was it was a cool experience because it was all done remote. Like, I wasn't there in person because at the time I was also coaching for Centennial Women's High School Hockey. And with the logistics, like, I couldn't coach for UMD, which is why it had to be a volunteer position. So and it was also the Olympic year.

So I was centralized. Like, I had a lot going on. So I was doing it remotely, but basically, I kind of created the goalie practice plan each week. And then I would watch the games, take notes on the games, whatever I was seeing from back here. I was basically just another set of eyes, like I said.

And it was cool because I was watching like Emma Soderberg. She was at UMD at the time, and now I just played against her in the PWHL last weekend. So it's all coming full circle, and, yeah, it was it was really cool.

Now we've seen you know, I know, like like, goalie coaches have been doing this for, like, thirty, forty years at the highest level still go to camps in the summer. And I always used to wonder, like, what? Like, are you still doing this? And they said, like, the position's always evolving, and this keeps me connected with that evolution at the at the lower levels and at the younger stages. Did you did you find any benefit?

Like, did it help your game to be working with and coaching those other goaltenders even remotely?

Yes. Yeah, it did. That's for sure. Because, like you said, it's always evolving. And, like, I'm a unique style play goalie, and other goalies are going to have different styles.

So it's not only picking up what they're doing, and I'm like, Oh, that's an interesting way to make that save. Maybe I'll try that out. Was kind of eye opening to see the different stages of goalies, especially the international goalies. Me, personally, that's where I was coaching at Duluth. Like, they have a totally different style sometimes.

So

Can can you give me an example of something that that Emma would have done differently that you hadn't seen? Was there any back and forth? And do you have to be cognizant as you're working with her as a coach that, hey. Like, I can't coach her how I would play this because she does do some things different.

Yeah. I knew that I know there's examples. I'm not thinking of them right off the top of my head, but I know, like, because I also had played with her at Duluth. She was my backup for two years. And our goalie coach would always have to coach us differently.

Like, I played a drill a certain style, and then she would play it completely different. And, you know, we'd have some arguments about it back and forth. But at the end of the day, whichever whatever you have to do to keep the puck out of the net, like, no one's gonna question you at the end of the day. So

Do you share notes with like, Nicole talked about her play reading being a big part of her game. Do you guys compare notes in terms of how you manage things with the two of you now when you're doing video? Or, like, is there are there things in her game that you find creeping into yours or vice versa when you guys talk?

Yeah. We do a lot of things the same and a lot of things different. I've trained with her now for six years almost. So we kind of, we're back and forth with each other. So she's been a great resource to have over the years and we just keep the environment fun.

Yeah, I think we do what we know is best to support each other. And, I'm always talking to her about like, what do you see? What did you see there on that goal? And she always gives me great advice in what she's seeing. So

Do you see it as something like I mean, way down the road, obviously, there's a long career left. You're still just 26, but you got a taste of goalie coaching. Do you see it as something you might like to do when you're done playing? A long time a long time ago or a long time long time away. Yeah.

Yeah. No. For sure. I definitely wanna stay involved with coaching moving forward, whether that's more of a part time role, but, I find it really rewarding, and it's just fun, to give back to the community. So definitely, we'll continue it.

Yeah. No. For sure. I definitely wanna stay involved with coaching moving forward, whether that's more of a part time role, but, I find it really rewarding, and it's just fun, to give back to the community. So definitely, we'll continue it.

Maddie, this has this has been awesome. I I really appreciate it because I know you guys you haven't had much breaks, and I've interrupted a portion of you a small break here for you. What, what are you looking forward to most is when when everybody gets back in boom. Right back into it in February. Like, what what excites you about what's happening and what's coming next?

Yeah. We're on a plane to Toronto tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. Just excited to see where the season goes. I mean, Minnesota, we we had a great start, but, you know, we're not done. It's going to be a long season and we're competing to win a championship at the end of the year.

So I'm just excited to see not only how my team progresses, but the league, how, like, they branch off to, like, the recognition that it continue continues to receive. So

Oh, and expansion too, I imagine, can't be far down the road. And I think a lot of us that watch it are like, okay. So selfishly, because I live in Vancouver and it's gonna be tough to get to Minnesota or some of the some of the road cities right now, Maybe not for you you having to do the traveling, but selfishly, we'd like to see some some West Coast teams out here in the near future. So keep that in mind.

Yeah. That'd be awesome.

K. Thank Maddie, thank you so much for your time. Like I said, enjoy the the the rest of the season. Congratulations on the success so far and look forward to watching more of it. As you said, great that we get a chance to watch it so easily up here in Canada, down there, and on YouTube channels as well.

We it's we've been enjoying it, and we look forward to more of it.

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Outro

Maddie Rooney. So we've got the goaltending tandem there. We should work through all the teams by tandem by tandem.

That's actually not a bad way to do it. We've got a few we've got a few more setup coming up in the in the in the coming weeks and months. Emerance Maschmeyer from Ottawa, PWHL Ottawa. She's killing it with them. She's just had a hell of a game last night.

I was watching watching parts of it as part of the rivalry series. Shout out the Americans three nothing. So she's on top of her game. And on social media, make sure you go check her on social media because there's, again, someone who shares insights into, you know, her game day routine, some of the habits she's developed over the years as a goalie. So some great voices, and we're gonna make sure we get to them.

This idea of a routine beyond just walking into the rink, throwing your bag down, getting dressed so you're not late. Like, there's more to it than that?

I've hit that point. We were bugging you about the hips earlier. I've hit that point now, Daren. Well, I will not go on the ice if I haven't done James Wendland's five damn things

Really?

At home before I leave Good for you. Difference. I I let myself run late and didn't do it once, and I just like, the butterfly everything hurt after the butterfly flare wasn't there. Like, I just find it loosens them up in a way that I mean, I used to you know me with the rollers, and we like to make fun of all that stuff. I used to do everything.

Nothing has just opened up my hips like that. And if if you once you get comfortable with it, you can do it in about ten minutes. Really? Yeah. 100%.

Get on it.

That doesn't sound like you're saying ibuprofen properly. Sounds like you're you're you're mispronouncing that. Just nuts coming out right on that side. Thanks to Maddie Rooney. Honestly, Jordy, what you did in Saskatoon, we're gonna take that, and I hope that's okay.

That we we spread that around the the hockey world, what the Saskatoon Blades are doing with their goalie night. And it's good to be with you guys again. This is this is awesome. I know it's only, like, a week and a half since I talked to you, but there was a void in my life.

We're happy to fill it.

Hutch was silent.

I'm just tearing up over here.

No. It's like Feeling pretty emotional about it.

I have to

do too many edits when Millard's here. Last week last week was really good. Not at all.

Don't have to run the show. I don't have to do anything when Millard's here. It's awesome.

I have a great woody in line

when you're not. We can't wait. Next week, we're gonna talk about the the goalie pull after a non goal. And how about maybe draft the Four Nations Cup from the different federations? We'll take three goaltenders from each federation.

Whether we assign each other a team, we'll need a fourth for that, or we'll just work through it, which will give us an opportunity to draft all four teams. I haven't just really determined a format yet, but that's next week. Let let's work through Canada, The United States, Sweden, Finland, and the goaltenders available.

Maybe we can get Michael Buble to come in and be the fourth.

Is he gonna Buble. Is he gonna bring some of his stuff with him?

I think he's got misquoted there, by the way.

But let's

not go there now.

Alright. Well, if he does, ibuprofen over here. Thanks, guys. We'll talk to you next week on InGoal Radio, the podcast.