Podcast Segment for Parents – Episode 256

Hutch coming up with the Stop It Goaltending U, the app, parent segment. How do you motivate your child? I'll get into that in just a little bit. From motivating to just managing, the expectations of your athlete. The Edmonton Oilers went through that this weekend.

I I called it the nuclear option in putting Stuart Skinner into a backup role for a couple of games for Calvin Pickard. Just initially, how surprised were you guys that they did that and now have subsequently come back to Stuart Skinner?

Well, it worked out for us because we had Cal Pickard on the podcast.

And I was talking on Vegas radio, by the way, I was singing your praise saying go over to InGoal Radio the Podcast because

Oh, thank you, dude.

Kevin Woodley has the Edmonton Oilers starting goaltender.

I I think conversation. When they they came back for game five, I went over to the locker room. I said to him, that's gotta be the biggest game goal bump we've ever had.

Absolutely.

So listen. Playoffs hadn't gone well for Stu. You've heard me talk about what he is as a goaltender. He's proven he's a number one for them all year. I think we forget.

It gets a lot to ask. Second year NHLer, here's a team with a cup or bust mandate. You're the starter. There were some moments within the games early against Vancouver, and I've been around this Oilers team for a little bit where, frankly, I think they think it was or thought it was going to be too easy. They didn't bring their best, and their goalie didn't bail them out.

Like, the the he'll tell you that. Right? There were some you know, I would I would argue giving 40 goal score Brock Boeser time and space in the slot twice in game three probably isn't a great way to handle your defensive duties. Time to pick a spot. But, you know, hey.

Goal has gotta make some of those saves too, and and Stu will be the first one to say that. I think what we saw there, and it's interesting because he's not the only one, a bit of a reset. And for him, it was more mental. We've seen other guys physically. We talk about the Carolina Hurricanes, giving Freddie Andersen some time off, right, during a series.

Like, the game's never been harder mentally or physically. And so I applaud the Oilers for having the bravery to switch, but then also go back and say, hey. We've given him the time. We feel like he's hit that reset button, he's gonna be good for us. And listen.

The Canucks didn't test him much in game six, but there are a couple of saves in there, a couple of key moments, especially in the five on three. Hughes had an absolutely labeled top blocker corner shot with a layered screen, which is a quality scoring chance. Stu looks around the screen to the left, so on his glove side, and as the shot's released, has to come cross body on the screen and get a blocker up at high on the glove. Like, that's a tough save. And so there were moments like that that were difference makers in the game.

So good for him. Kudos to the Oilers for having the bravery. I don't think a lot of coaches would have had the courage to switch and switch back. So good on them for recognizing, like, they could have just gone with the narrative. Oh, he's our guy.

We'll keep going with him. But and then when the other guy played well because listen. Calp gave them two really good games. You'd argue the best goaltending performance of the series was Cal Pickard in in game five, and they lost, and they go back to Stu. So I I just think it's nice that you're probably talking a lot to your goalie coach, Dustin Schwartz, and having trying to have an understanding of where each of his guys are at and trust them to deliver in those moments when they have.

How about a strong mindset on Skinner, though? Because So lot of pressure they put him under last night. And he was came out and said he wanted the net, and I'm sure he did want the net and felt confident. But if you weren't quite so strong, you could look at that as, jeez, he maybe didn't do as well as he expected. They lost, so they had to switch somebody else in.

Now they've put him back in with the series on the line. If he lost last night, where does that stand him for the future with the team, for the future anywhere? How is he feeling mentally about that? I mean, there was a lot at stake for Stuart Skinner last night, and he came through.

And even within the game. Like, they go up one nothing early. Mhmm. And then they give it back, and it's not on him. Mhmm.

Like, the defending on that play, Petterson down below the goal line to Elias Pettersson in the slot to allow him to find that seam, both players. Like, you know, and both teams are guilty of some pretty poor defending, like the Canucks too last night. But Pettersson gets first save. Stewie makes the first save, and he's wide open to get the rebound because there's nobody within a couple feet of him. Like and so all of sudden, it's one one, and there could have been a lot of doubts.

Even though it's not on you necessarily, there could have been a lot of doubts creeping in in that moment as well. So, I the one thing I've never worried about with Stewart Skinner is the mental strength component. I he's just always sort of has this growth mindset. And so it's yeah. Good good on him.

And we'll see what happens in game seven, but regardless, that was an important bounce back in game six.

Oilers won two of three after the change to Calvin Pickard, so it's worked so far. They they still have to complete it, but if there's a message there, and I wonder, did the rope on starting goaltenders in hockey get shorter because Edmonton Oilers went to this drastic measure?

I think that it depends on what your starting goal to who you're who he is and how long he's been at it. Right? Like

But overall, as a league, that gap between starter and backup has got shrunk. Right?

So But this, like It's just piece of puzzle. To be a possibility with with all due respect to Pickard. And it was a great story. Nobody was cheering for him harder than me. This was one of those, whether you wanna call it the the Vasilevskiy, the Hellebuyck, the Demko, where if you're healthy, you're staying in no matter what.

Yeah. I mean, I just think that you have to read the situation and the situation, like, made sense in this case. Right? Like, are you doing that to Vasilevskiy? No.

Are you doing that to Igor Shesterkin? Because you saw the wheels not come off against Carolina, but they certainly started to wobble. And again and I think you can make the case with Freddie Andersen too. I think Carolina waited a little too late late in the playoffs to get him a rest. You know?

That they could have done that sooner because once he got it, he came back strong again. But if he'd done it sooner, would he have gotten him stronger for longer? You know, Shesterkin, even Shesterkin is in the conference finals. As the games piled up and the stance widen, which is what happens when he gets a little fatigued, the goal started to go in. But you're not putting Jonathan Quick in there.

I I wonder with the three you know, they were up three nothing in that series. If they'd done it at some point with Quick, if they would have gotten just jerking back to how he played at the beginning. Right? So nobody's gonna do that. I think it does depend on the situation.

There are certain guys that are just staying there regardless. Jeremy Swayman was staying in there regardless. He was fantastic for the Boston Bruins in that series. Even with Linus Ullmark, a trophy winner who had posted exceptional numbers against again this season sitting on the bench.

I was doing some research for the Chirp Podcast and was talking to a National Hockey League head coach on the Eastern side. So not familiar as we are with with Edmonton. And he just said, given what happened last year, he was encouraged that they made the change in the sense of he supported it, but it was still a a bold move. I just felt that after last year, you you kinda had to shake something up, and he wasn't sure whether Skinner would get back in, but he he liked the move.

And I think I think the fact you were willing to put him back in was part of what makes it you know, you didn't just yank him. You yank him and said, okay. Let's let's get a reset here. I watched him do some work with Dustin Schwartz. The morning of game four here in Vancouver, they went out there and they worked hard on his games.

As matter of fact, actually, one point, thought he might have gotten injured. He was down for a little while. And, hey, you're gonna get back in here. You got the opportunity. Make sure you're ready.

And he was.

Yeah. If if Oilers are gonna go deep, they were gonna need him again. And that that's the reality of it. Awesome stuff from Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard being able to go in and, and just give, whether you wanna phrase it, Skinner the time or just give Edmonton the opportunity to stay in the series. Awesome stuff there.

And and a great story coming out of Arizona. Maybe the final note on the Arizona Coyote franchise for now in Connor Ingram winning the Masterton trophy.

Yeah. Well deserved. And and, you know, there were other good choice obviously, there always are when you talk about the Masterton and and perseverance and dedication. I mean, Freddie Andersen, who we just talked about, came back after missing all that time with blood clots and and was a, you know, a star for the Carolina Hurricanes down the stretch. But what I love about InGoal story is his willingness to tell it.

He's not a guy that likes the spotlight. We've had him on the podcast here before, but he's not necessarily a guy that likes that focus, that attention, that spotlight. And so his willingness to go into and talk about his battle with OCD and where he was at and the how much he needed to get that help and how it's allowed him to get to this level as a goaltender, which is, you know, a legit number one in the National Hockey League, has been for a year and a half now. There's a especially given his reluctance for the spotlight in other situations, like, that take requires a level of bravery. And I think because it benefits other people to see that these, you know, professional athletes who can be viewed as superhuman are in fact human and go through some of the same struggles that a lot of other people do and that it's okay to reach out for help.

You know, to me, that's just one more feather in his cap for what he's been able to do and well deserved that he gets the Masterton as part of that.

Connor Ingram, the Masterton Trophy Winner, and now he gets to Connor Ingram, the Masterton trophy winner, and now he gets to embark on a new chapter of his career in Salt Lake City with the Utah Hockey Club. Do you by the way, do you guys have a favorite of all the nicknames that have been tossed out?

That's it right there. Yeah? Utah think it sounds classy. It's I I just I don't know. I just like it.

Yeah. It's less artificial. It's it just kinda

It's old it's old school. Old school

in the in the soccer

Their barns outdated, so their their name might as well be too. Don't mind it too. They're they're I'm going Yetis.

Oh, yeah? I don't know whether Yetis has too much of a tie crossover with Colorado. That's how put it on the other shoulder.

Yeah. I agree.

Yeah. Maybe. Maybe. But I just I listen. I'm with actually, Hutch, I'm with you.

I like old school. Right? We're all old here.

And you can still have a nickname attached to it. Soccer teams or football clubs, they they they have soccer club or football club, and they still have the the Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth in the premiership, they're called the Cherries, but the Cherries aren't connected to the actual name. So you can still have you can still have that nickname somewhere.

I just see I'm with I'm with you guys. Like, that works for me too. But I just see the home run that is the Vegas Golden Knights as a new franchise and the marketing and the shield and the the helmet and all the pregame show. I see how the Kraken have embraced, you know, and I love the logo, the s with the glowing red eye and the fans, you know, rockets red glare when the when the anthem comes on, how they punch that for the eye and it lights up in the arena, and they've got the tentacle. I just I just think that this is an entertainment business.

And as much as old school works, I think you gotta entertain it in a new market. Hey. Let's be honest with you. It it ain't gonna be hockey club because the merch isn't gonna sell. They need they need to move merch, and that means getting a name that's infectious with young kids, and everybody wants to wear the jerseys so there'll be bright colors in Vegas, Seattle.

I don't know. I we'll see. Trust that they'll do a good job with it.

I think you're underselling what the marketing people could do because there's a chance to make it all about everybody being part of that club and bringing the whole community together. So we'll see.

Well, I I expect we are

too old and it won't be that. They want are gonna want something flashy, but I still think there's a cool opportunity there if they chose to embrace it.

Well, I just have covered the Vancouver Canucks for twenty four years. So it's, inherent that I underestimate a marketing staff.

Here's the thing. They're gonna get a good look at the Utah Hockey Club. And if it hits and it goes Mhmm. They have the option to stay with it.

Mhmm. And if it

doesn't, they can tweak it and add a nickname or they can do a full re reboot in year number two. So they they've actually positioned this pretty well.

Well, listen. If they're gonna go Utah Hockey Club, they got Connor Ingram, who's a Bauer guy, and they got Karel Vejmelka who's a Brian's guy. I need to see some vintage retro sets big time on both of them. And they both those companies are capable of knocking it out of the park with with with that type of design. So, hey, listen.

If it takes hockey club for us to get more vintage retro sets in the NHL, I'm all for it.

I I do think the tie in with Yeti and, and the Avalanche a little too close. In Denver, they've got some good things, going right now. A nice run by the Avalanche and another championship season out of DU. Matt Davis, the starting goaltender there. He will join us for the NHL center in a feature interview in just a little bit as the two time NCAA champion goaltender, first time as a starter, and boy, was he spectacular.

But first up, the Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment with Hutch who is motivating us or helping us with the motivation factor.

Well, before Hutch gets to explaining how to motivate your kid, I think I have a tool that will help them a little bit. Because one of the things about motivating kids is getting them to sort of watch hockey. We hear that from a lot of goalie coaches. Watch hockey, sorta embrace the game. And between the two products you now get when you sign up for the Stop It Goaltending U app, and that, of course, is the app itself, but also now a free subscription to InGoal Magazine, our premium product.

You will have access to the type of tools, and videos, and things that will entertain your young goalie while also educating them. And it doesn't have to be an all day, you know, five hour grind like it's a job for them. The Stop It Goaltending U app, they have every day of the week, five one minute primers. Just spend one minute on there, and then once a week, they have a one twenty minute full video. Over at ingoalmag.com, we have, know, with that InGoal premium subscription, we have ProReads every week where you basically sit down like you're in a video session with an NHL goaltender coach or an NHL goaltender.

Between the two of those, you will become unstoppable, and you don't have to grind eight, you know, eight, ten hour like, it's not a job. Just spend a few minutes a day on both of those products, especially the Stop It Goaltending U app. You will become a better goaltender. You will learn to enjoy the position more, and you will get better as a result.

Hutch, give me some help. I'm trying to get my child to be more active, more involved. How do I go there?

Well, every kid's different, so I'm just gonna give you some ideas that have come from my experience. It is as a parent, but it's also twenty years as a teacher and a coach. So I've I've dealt with a whole lot of kids over the years in in different sports. And so I've got a few ideas. Before that, I do just want to mention one thing related to the parent segment.

Our good friend, Pete Fry, the goalie mindset guy, is going to be coming on the show next week as part of our parent segment. So if anybody out there has any questions, around mindset, mental training, and so on for goaltenders, let us know. Parents at ingoalmag.com. And we are going to pick a couple of questions out and share them with Pete. One of the reasons we're bringing Pete on is is just to celebrate the fact that in July, July 20, in fact, in Vancouver, we're going to be hosting a full day seminar with Pete that will be available both in person and online.

We'll have lots more information available, at InGoal about that in the future. But Pete's also a great guy. I actually thought about asking Pete the question for today's segment, boys, because I'm sure you'd have some great things to say. But I thought I'd I'd share mine. Maybe it'll come up again next week.

I think this question has been coming up a lot in in the last couple of weeks, guys. And maybe it's just because it's summer, it's less structured for hockey. And when kids don't have practices to go to, I think people look around and they wonder why their kids aren't working harder. And there's a whole lot of reasons, but I think and I've been there too. A 100% have been there, guys.

It's sort of a grade A FOMO situation. It's a it's a real fear that maybe my kid's sitting down watching TV, playing a video game, doing something like that, not training. And you're imagining all those other kids their age out there working hard. The question comes from parents of kids who are as young as six or seven, honestly. Right up to I've had that question from a parent of a kid who's playing U 18 and wants to be in the NHL and doesn't really do anything beyond practice or even in practice.

So it comes at all different levels. Like I said, everybody, every kid is different. I can't promise that, what I'm going to share today guys will make your kid the next Crosby or MacKinnon in terms of work ethic. But, but I do have a few thoughts. What I often hear in response to it is people saying, well, it's gotta come from within.

Just let the kid be themselves and they need to learn to work hard on their own as if somehow built into our DNA. I don't know. Maybe it is to an extent, guys, but there has to be more to it because we teach our kids just about everything that they know. And you also can't be the taskmaster just standing over your kid with things for them to do all the time because that's not what the game is about. It's not going to teach them to have fun.

It's nothing I would ever endorse. But like I said, lots of experience. So I've got a few thoughts. One of the ones that I've said many times to to both of you on the show, guys, is that kids want to please, they want to be spending time with you. So the first one I'm going to say, and this relates back to Sense Arena, set the example.

It's no surprise that if you love golf, your kid's probably gonna love golf. If you love fishing, you're probably gonna raise a kid who loves fishing. Pick any other passion that you have. Your kids are probably gonna give it a go and probably grow up with similar interest to you. I know you've got lots to do in your life, mom and dad.

I know you got long days at work, you've got family to look after, far more obligations than your kids do. But if we come home after work and we sit and just watch TV, what do we think our kids are going to do when they're not at practice? If the only exercise example you're setting is sending them to practice, having them do what they're told to by their coach, and then they come home and nothing else is being done by you at home, where do you think they're suddenly going to get motivated to be an athlete? So I'm not saying you have to go and train like a goalie. Although if you want to put Sense Arena on and play with your kid, I'm pretty sure they'll have a good time challenging you and and doing the different drills with you and so on.

But something that shows your kids that you really believe in working hard and training, physically, I think is a really good example. I've I don't think I've told this story to either one of you before guys, but, my mother was not an athlete. My father was not an athlete. I remember at six years old standing in the kitchen with my mother and we're partner juggling oranges just to try something athletic. And she loved the fact that we were trying it too.

She didn't care if I dropped them on the floor and they got all squished and so on. It was just about doing something together. She'd bounce a ball for me to catch as a kid, as a young goalie, just anything to get involved in what I was doing, even though none of this was her kind of a thing. So you don't have to be training, you can just get involved in your kid's training. And my mom didn't have Sense Arena in 1972, but I guarantee she would have given it a go if, if we did have it guys.

But there's other ways beyond your own training that you can set an example. And here's a couple of thoughts. Do you only get excited about the big highlights when you're watching a hockey game on TV? Do you just call your kid in and say, look, Igor Shesterkin just made this unbelievable save. That's gonna stoke their dreams and that's really cool.

But what about encouraging what it takes to get there and be Shesterkin? I like to get excited about other things that the kids are doing. So you've heard me talking about catching athletes being good and then making, you know, like maybe making a good decision in a game. I'll talk to my goalies about having made a great decision to hold their edges in a particular play. We'll celebrate that.

It's not just about the save, it's about how they made that save that we're going to celebrate. About skating to another position instead of sliding. About making a desperation save and holding their balance so that they're there for the next save as well. Mom and dad, you can do that too. You can pick out those things that that are part of the process and celebrate them.

And it also applies to hard work. Look, it's not as easy to find, but you can do it. We used to travel to practices, one year where it took almost an hour each way to get to practice a couple times a week. We'd put on an audio book, maybe you listen to the podcast. We would listen to an audio book, for example, about Kobe Bryant, who is one of the legendary hard workers out there.

We would celebrate how hard he worked. And this isn't about programming your kid. I was just sharing something about an athlete that I genuinely admired. And guess what? My kid does now too.

Or I'll send along a clip I see on Instagram or Twitter or whatever of some athlete who just busts his butt and works really hard. It's about celebrating the process. But speaking of Stuart Skinner, I was at the Eli Wilson Goaltending School in Toronto, guys. Stuart Skinner was a student there at age 16, and I got one of my favorite photos, I've ever taken. It was at the end of an ice session.

All the goalies are filing off the ice. They'd been out there almost two hours. They had another two hour ice session to come that day. And these are all the guys and girls that have the aspirations to play at the highest level of the game, and they're filing off the ice. The Zamboni is coming along and there's Stuart Skinner at the side of the boards doing crease movement drills on his own.

I grabbed that photo. I sent it home via text as quick as I could. Not with the message, here's what you have to do if you wanna be good. That just brings up guilt and stress in your kids. But it was just celebrating something that I thought was really impressive.

And I just said, look how cool this is. And Stuart, I think, was about 16 years old at the time celebrating hard work, celebrating the process. We always talk about focusing on the process and not just the results. And I think we can do that as parents and celebrate that. Now, not everybody has those experiences, guys.

You can't all be on the ice with Stuart Skinner or at an NHL practice like Woody gets to be to pull out some cool things or you get to be Daren. But you still can focus on what your kids are doing well and working hard and just give them a little nudge. So was there a drill on the ice and your kid beat another kid in, say, a skating drill? Those awful skating drills at the end of practice, and your kid happened to dig deep and beat one of the players. Celebrate it afterwards.

Even if they were last, were they a little closer to their partner than they were last week? Celebrate that when they come off the ice. Tell them that you just loved what you saw about how hard they work. And when they come out after practice, give them a high five and say, man, it was so clear that you were just busting your butt today. I promise they're gonna wanna do that more next time.

Focus on the process, not what they need to be doing results wise. So those are just some examples of catching kids being good, of doing the things that, you want them to do, but also focus on the fact guys that it takes a long time. It takes years. Kids are gonna wanna please you. They're gonna wanna do the best.

They're gonna wanna work hard, but it's gonna take time and be patient. Your seven year old is not gonna grind like Nathan MacKinnon does. But, if you pick on a few of these things, I think over time, ten years later, you might find that your kid is being described by other people as a self motivated athlete who loves to push himself. So just a few thoughts, few things I've been through both with goalies that I know with athletes that I've coached, students I've taught, and I hope a couple of them maybe resonate with people, guys.

And just like that, little Hutch comes walking into the room. Perfect timing on on that behind you.

And we're gonna celebrate the fact that he's come into the room to get me another coffee. An awesome kid getting his dad.

Thumbs up. No arguing. Nothing.

he offered He texted halfway through the show, I'm making coffee. Do you want one? Love it.

And and motivating your child to do more doesn't involve like walking by as they are on their phone or their TV and say, let's get up and do something. It takes some planning, takes some effort, it takes some organization on on your part too.

Yeah. It takes takes but but I think it's just about building some of that stuff into your life and and into your routine. So maybe your kid doesn't have an off ice training routine, but maybe you've been on InGoal and you've seen a few things. Hey, Johnny, let's try this together. I would I'd love to work on this balance exercise.

I'd like to learn how to juggle. Whatever it might be, you can do it with them or just show them that you're working towards a goal. Like, maybe you are not a runner, but you've decided you want to take on your first five k. Make it real obvious that it's okay that you're walking first before you're running, but you're working hard and you're having fun. Just share something with them.

Why does Johnny get a bad rap?

I know little Johnny. Hey? Yeah. It's tough. It's tough.

Little Johnny is a hardworking kid at the end of the day. I love him.

Poor little Johnny. Listen, the Stu Skinner story reminded me of one of my own Program of Excellence Camp, Hockey Canada. I was there as a video coach, and it was actually the camp where Stuart Skinner met Dustin Schwartz, which I think played a strong role in the Oilers drafting him later that summer. And after one of the sessions, one of the main goalie coaches introduced me to the group and said, hey. If you've ever got any questions about things like equipment or whatever, this guy knows his stuff.

He can probably help you. And I was like, I don't know. I thought he was just pumping my tires because I'm basically just in the background there. I'm not really doing much doing video. Stuart Skinner was the only one that sought me out later to ask questions, introduce himself, and have a discussion about gear adjustment stuff that might be able to help his game.

And and listen, we've been there. We see that. I see guys in the NHL that are wearing equipment that's in a way that's prohibiting their game, but you nobody asks those questions. He's always had this growth mindset and this desire to sort of always be looking for opportunities to expand himself and get better. And so whether that's work ethic or asking questions, I just love I I I love that about the kid.

That that's why I don't think it's a coincidence that despite getting those two games off in this series, he came back and looked like himself in game six facing elimination.

He could be a gear coach. We might see that at some point.

He could. He could. Woody could get a job at the Hockey Shop.

I could. Then I'd have to put up with Cam all the time.

I think Cam would have to put up with you. Let's be honest.

Let's be that's that's a fair assessment.