Podcast Segment for Parents – Episode 261

It is an absolutely beautiful resource for goaltenders and you can spend hours going through all the different sections of Stop It Goaltending U, the app. Now goaltending and officials, there's probably no more individual on the ice highlighted more thoroughly and specifically than those two positions or those two roles.

There you go and that's the end of the parent segment everybody.

Really?

No. But that's you make a really good point. Goaltending and referee, great partnership just like InGoal and Stop It Goaltending U App. I I was thinking about this because Woody came back from the US Hockey National Goaltending symposium and mentioned the trouble they're having finding goaltenders and it's not just in The United States, but that's what brought it top of mind for me guys. And we hear the very same thing in a lot of associations about referees.

People often say that being a goalie parent is as hard a role as any in sports. Well, gentlemen, let me tell you, it's not a picnic being a referee parent either because you have two teams all over your kid. But but this week, I still want to encourage all goalies to try being a referee. And I've got five reasons and as often, one little bonus, and I'll share them, then maybe you guys let me know what you think. The first one, number five, it comes in at is don't know.

It feels a little bad saying this one, but you can make a few bucks being a referee, and it's not the reason alone you should do it. But especially as you're trying to move up to elite levels in sport guys, it's pretty tough to find a job, make some pocket money that fits your quirky schedule of training, and referees are always needed and they're generally paid pretty well. And at age 12, it's hard to find a job that can make you a few bucks, but you can as a referee. So that's kind of cool. And it builds some great skills that employers will love down the road as much as any job that a kid could have.

So that's number five. Number four, do you know you can get some calls for your team in a game if you are a referee? I'm not suggesting that referees will help out a fellow referee and just bend the rules for them. Although a few years ago, my son's goalie coach, and I have to say that is not the Vancouver Giants goalie coach, swore to me that his team got far more calls since he joined the team. But I mean, you can literally have a conversation with a referee that will help your team.

And it happens more often than you would imagine. It's happened multiple times for Matthew where he's called a referee over, where a mistake has been made, and they listen to him largely because he's right and because they know that he's an official and they respect his opinion. Just give you one small example. The rules in minor hockey were changed around here so that sleek slew footing, was no longer a two minute minor, but, a two minute minor was awarded for slew footing that gave Matthew's team a power play, but he called the official over and he said, hey, you got a good call there. But just so you know, the rule is now that you have to make that a double minor if you call that slew footing.

You don't have a choice. Call was changed. Two minutes was added. His team got an extended power play, and that certainly made Matty a bit of a hero with his coach that time and that sort of thing happens frequently. So knowing the rules, understanding the rules, and having a great relationship with the other officials definitely helps you.

One I know you're really familiar with, Daren, as being important is that skating an edge work. Right? If you wanna be a good goalie skater, I can assure you that all the miles that you log in player skates to help you become a better skater as a referee will benefit your goaltending. I don't know if everybody knows this, but at least over here, player skates are mandatory as a referee. You can't go out there in goalie skates.

I'm not quite sure why. I think if you can keep up, you can keep up, but but that's the rule here. I think it helps your skating. And it's a big skill in how referees are evaluated as well. And I'm also not sure if you realize that skating as a referee is a little bit different than as a player.

They actually discourage all the starting and stopping that players have to do, and they encourage a lot more edge work, a lot more looping around, and so on, as a referee. And I think that all really helps, you as a goaltender. So we often say that you should play out as a as a goalie if you can. That's not often easy to do. But in terms of getting the skating skills at least and a few other things, a referee can sort of supplement your goaltending in that respect.

Another one that was interesting to me, guys, was understanding the game actually helps your mindset. It's kind of related to what's gonna be my number one reason when we get to it in a second, but but when you understand how tough an official's job is, you actually probably don't get as upset at them and it becomes one less of a distraction for you. It's something that Matthew mentioned to me this season. He said, you know, I used to get angry all the time when the ref made a bad call or he didn't make a call, but I know how hard it is for them. So I just don't get upset.

It's it's really become a non factor. That's just one less thing for you to get stressed about during a game, and I think that makes you a better goaltender. Similarly, you know, if your teammates and coaches are losing the minds over a call, you might find yourself saying, look, guys, I know it's frustrating, but you actually got the call. Right? So so let's move on.

And and that could be helpful as well. So staying calm in those moments because you understand the game, you understand the officials, it's also gonna get you more respect with the officials so that when the time comes and you need to have a conversation with them, and this is a tip for all players and coaches, they're probably gonna listen to you a little bit more. And then the number one reason is as I I think everybody would have imagined is mindset. It takes real maturity to keep your head up and do your job when everyone in the rank on both sides now are getting upset with you even when you do your job well. And it's not just players, but it's adults yelling at young kids who are officiating, which should not happen, but it does, and often with some pretty colorful language.

So if as a a young referee, you can learn to deal with that, it's gonna help you as a goaltender too. There's there's pressure to get calls right. The impact of a decision can can matter to both teams. Even longer term, it can matter if you're calling significant penalties, kicking guys out of games, and so on. That's a lot on the mind for a young young person to to learn to deal with as they're growing up, and and it's a big responsibility.

Look. Even even managing the whole game itself is is a is a big responsibility. So it's not easy, but if you can learn to manage those stresses of the job, I think it's gonna make you a better goaltender in terms of being able to manage what you're doing out there. I do wanna give one sort of shameless shout out if I can here, guys, while we're doing this. We all know how important it is to have a position specific coach to help you navigate the waters as a young goaltender, and often young goalies don't get that.

I'd I'd say the same thing goes for officials. Dealing with all those things, adults yelling at you and so on is not easy as a youngster and having somebody to guide you through that is so important. There's a lot of mentors out there who deal with young officials. I wanna thank all of them. In our case, Cody Gessner is a local referee who has been a mentor to Matthew since he was 12 years old and continues right up to his time playing in the CHL.

They still talk frequently. Without these guys, we would not have the same guidance for our young officials and it would not be the same experience. So thank you to all the mentors. And I promised a bonus. I think having your son or daughter become a referee is good for goalie parents as well.

I'll admit that I was a guy who yelled at referees as a hockey parent, boys. We're not talking bat poop crazy hockey parrot, but I definitely got into it from time to time, and and I'm not proud of it. But I'll tell you that as soon as you imagine it's your son or daughter in those skates and the stripes out there, it's a real eye opener. And, having some good conversations with your kid about the position of being an official and and their experience out there helps you understand it even more. So I think it's gonna help you become a better person and enjoy the game and enjoy your time at the rink more without a doubt just as much as it's gonna help your son or daughter become a better goaltender.

So encourage your kid to give it a try. Become an official and see what it's like.

So I got a question, and this is just my nitpicky little goalie equipment brain working overtime. Mhmm. You're not allowed to wear goalie skates as a referee. Mhmm. With the

evolution At least here. I can't say that for everywhere.

Okay. With the evolution of with the evolution of goalie skates, like, who can tell?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can a little bit, but you're right. And so what's the point?

Yeah. I mean, I guess certain ones you could, like, you know, like a True one piece or a True wait. Wait. By the way, that's a nice tease for next week's Gear Segment with the new True Skate being released and us doing an overview with the Hockey Shop of that. But a lot of them, like, I look at my Bauer skates with, you know, the no cowling and or my CCM skates with the no cowling, and I'm not sure most people could tell.

From a distance, I think a lot of people couldn't tell. Generally, the blades are not as rockered, and that's probably the reason because they want those sharp turns as opposed to the starts and stops. But I can do them in goalie skates in in one direction.

I guess if you're the referee I guess if you're the referee though, you're probably supposed to listen to the rules.

You're probably supposed listen to the rules.

Know what

I'm But that actually I I actually I mean, come on. At age 12, that's not gonna make a difference, but it actually might keep a family who already has to spend too much to be a goaltender from having their kid become an official because now they have to buy another pair of skates as well. So come on guys, if if that is your local rule, I would suggest you do away with it at least until they get to the elite levels.

I like what you said about being more patient with the referees because of the tough job that they do and you can relate to that. I was actually going into it wondering if the opposite would be the case where you'd be more critical, but I'm I'm glad that you brought that up because I hadn't considered that.

Well, every everything's perspective, isn't it? I mean, you could look at something as a problem, you can look at it as an opportunity and how do you take it. So so I do think maybe those situations would magnify who you are, but but I would hope that if you're thoughtful and and as I mentioned in the end with my little shout out to all the the referee mentors out there, I think with the right guidance, in all those situations that you can learn to make take that to your advantage of understanding what they're going through as opposed to getting upset about it.

I'm a firm believer that everybody at the age of 14 on should have to take a referee course. Whether you're referee or not, but you take a referee course of any whether you're a forward, a defenseman or a goaltender just to understand the rules a little bit more and so I'm right with you on the benefits of being an official as you play goal.

We've actually talked about having a rules segment on InGoal. Be interesting to know what people think of us doing that. You could email us at parents@InGoalMag.com. Rules specifically related to goalies and the crease and so on because there's actually quite a few things that I think most people don't understand or at least a lot of people don't understand, so it's kind of fun. So even if you take that referee course, I think learning from case law, so to speak, different situations would really help you understand and enjoy the game more as well.

So I I agree with you, Daren, and I think we could take it another step further too.

Kinda goes back to that USA hockey thing about everybody trying goalie. I remember a great story about one of the one of their elite players who was always hard on the goalies having to do goalie for a day, and then after that, had a totally new appreciation for in his mindset towards the goaltenders, both his and the other changed entirely because he had to experience it for a day. In terms of weird rules, it's gonna take some work. We gotta figure out at at some point. I understand that we weren't allowed to tape our knobs with black tape because it could look like a puck, And that's the reason the no colored tape on the knob rule exists.

But at how are we confusing red or yellow or green or purple or whatever for a black puck? Like, why can't we have colored tape? Just make it no black tape. There's a rule that we need to change. It really doesn't mean much.

If I had a $100 for the number of times I found an NHL goaltender who actually didn't know the rule, I would probably have a couple thousand dollars by now. Like, it actually happens. I've explained it to a few guys. I had one guy tell me I was full of it and then call the equipment manager over as I watched him tape his stick with colored tape and the equipment manager's like, no, man, they can't do that. So not name names, but yeah.

It does happen and and I was I'm surprised at it, but that's that's a great point by you.

I remember back in the seventies, a lot of goalies would literally put a full roll of black tape on the knob. And I don't mean the Brayden Holtby be a thousand wraps, but I mean literally put the roll over the top of the stick and then tape it into it with black tape. And it was absurd. I think the idea they said was to make it easier to pick the stick up easier, but you can see where that confusion would have happened in the past. But, yeah, I agree with you, Woody.

Let's get rid of it. It's kinda cool though just to have that knob that's all one color and then that little wrap of white and people say, are you just a crazy goalie here? No. It's actually because of the rules. There you go.

Yep. A statement. A statement. Statement. I I like it because it's just it's sticking it to the man in a way.