InGoal Radio Episode 273 with Cam Johnson

Intro

Alright. Let's drop the puck. The Hockey Shop. Thehockeyshop.com presenting InGoal Radio, the podcast. Source for Sports Langley.

Check them out for everything goaltending. It is InGoal Radio Podcast with Kevin Woodley and David Hutchison. We are ready to rock. We got a whole bunch coming our way, including stuff around training camps, our regular features, the Gear Segment, the parent segment. We've got, the feature interview all coming on board.

Looking forward to it. NHL Sense Arena stuff's happening in and around that product, which, brings us our feature interview.

Big time, Daren, Woody. You're gonna wanna get your headsets out and give it a go. And everybody else who listens to the show who's already purchased NHL Sense Arena, you are gonna wanna get your headset on today because NHL Sense Arena 25 is now out, and it's one of the biggest updates they've ever done. And as always, if you're already a subscriber, it's downloaded and available automatically just like all the updates that are included with Sense Arena all the time. That's one of the things I've said before I love about it.

They're always working on Sense Arena. This time, they've got this new system experience points. Also, some in app guidance for your training to add a whole new dimension to your training this time. Now every time, you do a drill or play a game or whatever you get experience points that you can earn, they've added daily, weekly, and monthly challenges, and those are all designed to target specific skills and keep you engaged all season long. So mom, dad, you're buying NHL Sense Arena for your goaltender.

You know that they've built in these things to make sure they keep taking advantage of that investment you're making. You get to progress through a 100 different levels from NHL prospect all the way up to NHL legend. You unlock all sorts of cool trophies, badges, and stuff to mark your achievements along the way. And now they've got this cool trophy room you can walk into and you can see all those awards that you've earned by training so hard with Sense Arena. Their latest, training in app guidance system also provides different tasks that, you can use to help with your development.

And again, you get cool rewards there that you can put into your trophy room. So just love all the stuff that they're doing all the time in Sense Arena. We know with all the goaltenders that we have on the show here and talk to them like Joey Daccord that it is one of the best tools you can use off the ice for your training. So head over to sensearena.com today and use the code IGM50, and you will save even more.

IGM50. Alright. Just writing that down. I actually don't need it. I just like to take notes during the course of the podcast.

If we wanna flip back to something, I'm I'm prepared. I'm I'm educated. I'm ready to go.

Hey, Woody. You're a great student.

What what's happening over in your end of the world? I hear you're breaking some news.

We had the Thatcher Demko injury update. Thatcher updated the media at training camp, and as part of that update revealed that it was a muscle issue, not a sort of joint ligament type issue in his knee that was causing all the issues and a fair degree of uncertainty. And since then, we have discovered that it is the now get your get your get your WebMD out, Daren. It's the

I got my pen ready. And

popliteus muscle, a small muscle behind the back of the knee. So this is as Demko told the media last week on the first day of training camp, and by the way, was so went out of his way rather than letting the team announce it. He wanted to get in front of the media and explain everything to him. Forthcoming open, admittedly frustrated at times by the injury and the uncertainty that surrounds it, but has had a real breakthrough in the last two or three weeks. And so a lot of the consternation that the Canucks brass were feeling in the summer when he had to shut it down for a month seems to have been alleviated despite the signing we'll talk about in a minute of Kevin Lankinen.

But this is a weird one. As he said, they were unable to find any other hockey player or goalie who has ever had it. This muscle is basically responsible for unlocking the knee from a straight position into a bent position. And the one sort of downside, because if you think about it, I was like, like, that seems huge. And I guess it is huge if you're in a straight legged position, which I don't know how often we get straight legged as goaltenders, other than maybe resting, but also sort of helps sort of rotate the knee joint a little bit to protect some of the meniscus when you're moving.

So how much that affects him as a goaltender going down? Clearly enough that he couldn't skate or do his normal training for a month this season. I think the rarity of it, the uncertainty of it, the fact it took so long to sort of figure out what exactly it was has contributed to lot to a lot of that sort of consternation here locally, but it really does sound like he's, pardon the pun, but unlocked a lot of things in the last two or three weeks. And I saw some video from him at camp this week, and he looked like he was flying out there. So hopefully a sign of good things to come.

We've now got a name on it. Don't know that it matters. There's still uncertainty because it is such a rare injury, but he seems to be feeling better. So I hope that's a positive because I love watching this guy play goal.

The spelling is p o p l I t e u s. I've never heard of it, but it comes up as a small but important muscle in the knee. And then you obviously explained the in detail the specifics of it. A small but important muscle, and we've never heard of this injury. It just shows you how rare this whole journey is for Thatcher Demko.

And for the Canucks. Right? Like, you know, I've I talked to a couple of people that have been doing this with NHL athletes for twenty five to thirty years, and they've just never seen it. So what that means is there's not a lot of protocol in terms of how you rehab it, what the chances of recurrence are. I mean, at at the at the nth degree of it, if you pull the pull it off the bone, you have to reattach it surgically.

But the fact he did have a surgery this summer he admitted, but it had nothing to do with this, hopefully, that means it's just a a tear that will eventually heal on its own. The timeline when you look this up is a very precise three to sixteen weeks. I mean, I don't know of anything that

Three to sixteen? Hold on. Three to three to sixteen.

So I don't know that anything screams uncertainty about an injury like a timeline that is as broad as three to sixteen weeks.

That's somewhere between the beginning of the regular season and Christmas.

Well and but don't forget the injury was sustained in the playoffs. So, you know, three weeks to four months, it'll be fixed in there. So, again, you can understand, especially when he had to shut things down for a month this summer and rest it, some of the consternation that, you know, that has followed in this market.

We're used to your insight and your expertise on InGoal Radio Podcast and InGoal Mag, but, this is, taking it to a new level when you get into your other duties, that you performed in the world of hockey. So breaking the news on the specifics of the situation for Thatcher Demko is significant for you. You this also follows the Kevin Lankinen and signing. Were those two connected, the and the Kevin Lankinen acquisition?

You're just gonna have to say that one more time for me, Darren.

Ain't sure. Popplite Popplite.

Popplite. Popplite. Popplite. There we go.

Popplite. I think it's Lithius, but okay.

Popplite. Popliteus is

easy say. Class in university.

I just watched some video on the Internet, man, so I could pretend to be a doctor. You'd be naive to think it's not intertwined a little bit, Daren. The depth chart here obviously contains Arturs Silovs and and friend of of yours and InGoal from his time down in in Vegas, Jiri Patera, but there's not a lot of NHL games between those guys. So I think it does two things. Despite the recent breakthrough, for lack of a better term, that Thatcher's experienced and and how good he looked on the ice when I saw the videos from training camp, this buys him time.

There is no rush to make sure that, you know, you're through as long as you need to be. And then it buys you a little NHL insurance in case some of that uncertainty leads to a reoccurrence at any point during the season, whether you gotta shut them down for a little bit or whether it's more extreme than that. There was not a lot of NHL experience on the depth chart, and the reality is Kevin Lankinen, frankly, should have been one of the best options in like, they got a little bit of a break here in that Kevin Lankinen and should have been one of the first goalie signed this summer. But for whatever reason, and it sounds like maybe the contract to ask because he was making 2,000,000 already with Nashville, Might have been a little rich for what others were willing to spend in the backup market. And for that reason, he ends up available here in late September, a guy who, you know, frankly, I would put ahead of a lot of backups around the league, at least statistically over the last couple of years.

They get him on a sweetheart deal, one year $875,000 in Vancouver. And I guess the big question that we'll have to see how this goes is what happens when Demko is healthy and ready to go. Arturs Silovs' looked ready for the NHL last year, by all accounts is and wants to be here, of course, everybody does, but he does not require waivers, and Kevin Lankinen does. So this could this could affect the depth chart all the way down to the American Hockey League this year. But, obviously, the the canucks need to take care of the big club, and Lankinen gives them an insurance policy.

Also, one quick little addition here. Kevin Lankinen has skated with new Canucks goaltending coach Marco Torenius back in Finland off and on for the past several summers and was on the ice with him two to three times a week this year. So there's familiarity there, and that will help the transition in terms of Marco knowing, you know, Kevin's game and what kind of things they they can maybe tweak if they see signs or areas they think they can improve and what stuff to leave alone.

So that's the situation with the Canucks. On a wider role, we've got new goaltenders in camp, new goaltenders trying different gear. Anybody catch your eye out there with some some setups that, we've seen in the first week of regular camp?

I think we need to go full, like, caveat on last week's podcast. Remember we talked about Joey Daccord wearing the Brian's or sorry, the Bauer blocker with the rest of his true setup. And Right. I kinda you know, when you asked me for other examples from last year, I I kinda blew it. I didn't have them, and there were several, especially when it comes to gloves seem to be the most popular one.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wearing true gear, but back in a Vaughn glove last season, curious to see what he's wearing this year. Maybe True's built him a glove that he feels comfortable in, with the Boston Bruins. But last year, which is what we're talking about at the time, he was in a Vaughn glove. Filip Gustavsson in Minnesota wearing, I believe, a true glove with an otherwise all Bauer setup. So we we did have more examples last year.

Scott Wedgewood, true guy, but at least last year with Dallas, I believe he was wearing a Bauer glove because there was there any he actually explained this to me once, and I'm struggling to remember the exact details of why he liked it something he picked up much like Joey Daccord and the blocker from Jake Oettinger and just liked the preference, and so he stuck with that last season with Dallas. But, again, let's see what he's wearing, you know, as the puck drops here in Nashville now that he's with the predators.

When you look at, setups, we go to Brian's, sighting with Adin Hill in Vegas. I don't know whether he stays in that or not. I gotta get some more on it. He was wearing true up until the start of training camp, then the Brian's gear arrived, and that's what he's used primarily in camp. So it's it's got the old, the

Heritage graphic. What's name of the,

yeah, the Heritage graphic. Kinda cool, to see, out there. So so that's a a different switch. Amazing how guys just take it right out of the shipping container, the box, and put it on in pretty pivotal situations. Carl Lindbom did that in rookie camp.

He got the new CCM gear and put it right into rookie camp and worked twice before playing in a game. Aiden Hill ran in a training camp.

I think that's a new trend. I I I just think well, and it kind of evolved with how the like, the gear used to be much more sort of handmade for lack of a better term. I mean, it still is. There's still people stitching it altogether. But when you were stuffing pads with, you know, horsehair and other materials or foam chips versus now, like, them coming in a solid piece, I I just think I remember long ago, like, he went from as Reebok went into, like, the p four generation, he went from being a guy who used to have to break in gear to a guy who could just take it out of the box and wear it.

And I think increasingly you're seeing that around the league. Not everyone. There's still gonna be guys that feel, especially gloves, they need to break it in for a longer period of time. But more and more, I think it's not so much a mindset. Maybe it is a bit of a mindset with the kids, but more so I think it's just the gear.

Once you get your specs dialed in, it sort of shows up ready and set to basically play and perform how you like it.

But the change in manufacturer takes it to another level too.

That's a big

one. Gloves, pads.

So so you're telling me that he at rookie camp, he that was his first time in CCM?

Sorry. Lindbom was CCM. He he wore CCM before. I was more talking the Adin Hill thing wearing an at camp.

Right. He had and he had been training in Brian's in the summer. We saw videos of him in Calgary training in a set of Brian's, just not the set that ultimately arrived.

There you go.

Yeah.

Okay. Same one. So there's some backstory that I did not know because I saw him in True when he was in Vegas, right before during the captain skates.

And I know you say it's more common now, which you you're quite right about, Woody, but I can remember you sharing that, wasn't it JS Giguere who used to just take a pair of pads out of the box and put them on for that night? But maybe that's partly because he also loved his gear really stiff, and maybe there's a trend towards stiffer gear now.

That's a limb bond explanation. He loves new gear. Loves it as stiff as possible.

Yeah. So Well, and I think, like I said

different thing for what we like.

Like, if you look at Giguere when he broke into the league and the type of pad he was wearing to when he ultimately transitioned into that more sort of preformed, precurved, solid pieces. Like, they one to another, the the Reebok stuff he wore towards the end, like, one set to the other was so similar. There wasn't a lot of change in.

Back in the day, we used to back the pickup truck over our pads to soften them up.

So I was just gonna say I talked to Frederic Braithwaite. He said he'd wear his gear for a month in practice before he'd use it in a game.

Well

Yeah. I'm more amazed by guys who can put a glove on and just use it. Mhmm. Because for me, that's where the feel is.

Nah. For me, it doesn't

Especially shooting. Right? They're handling the puck.

I was gonna say for me, it doesn't matter because it's like having a second blocker on anyways.

There's a situation, that's, involves personnel with the Philadelphia Flyers. Aleksei Kolosov. Kovasov. Kolosov is the name. I I you know what I wanna say is Kovalev when I talk about it.

That jumps in my head.

Terrorized goaltenders. He didn't stop pucks.

He he wants to play in the NHL, and he's going to have this standoff with with the Philadelphia flyers. It's similar to the, Askarov, Askarov, whichever way you line up on on that pronunciation, with Nashville. Guys wanna play in the NHL right now. It's not just limited to forwards, but we've got a couple of high profile ones such as with net miners right now with guys that if they sign, they're gonna play in the National Hockey League, or they're not gonna go down that path.

It's interesting. And Kolosov is especially interesting because the Flyers have basically said honor of the contract, I believe was the was the comment from Danny Briere in the contract Yeah.

He has a contract.

Right? The contract is a two way deal, which means you can go to the American League without having to clear waivers at this stage of his career as a 22 year old. But interestingly enough, as they draw that line in the sand, the other goaltender who appears set to be on their roster and much older, a lot more experienced at 27 after, you know, five, six more seasons in the KHL. But the big six foot seven Ivan Fedotov came over from Russia last year, went straight into the NHL, played three games, and by all accounts is gonna be on their NHL roster this year. So in some way, I fully understand the Flyer stance and, like, hey.

You're a younger prospect. Your contract is two way. We can send you the minors. Deal with it. And yet they also just basically handed a spot to a a free agent, and so he could have picked.

But Ivan Fedotov skates right into the NHL out of Russia, and Kolosov won't have that option. It becomes a it's I'm not saying anyone's right or wrong here. It's, it's just really interesting to sort of see that juxtaposition.

My worry is that it filters down to junior hockey, to minor hockey, where people start demanding that they have to play. Like, everything eventually gets down to the more basic levels.

Yeah. I kind of think it's actually partly coming in the other direction. We've had conversations with coaches that actually say the same thing in terms of technique that a lot of the stuff kids are learning finds its way up to the NHL. And in this case, I I think that's probably the case. Hockey has become so competitive in terms of finding players even at the minor hockey levels.

There's such a diversity of opportunities now and much of it being business based that that teams are committing to players at very young ages well before tryouts happen. And much like we see in the National Hockey League, that musical chairs situation for goaltenders and free agency, where if you don't grab your seat quickly, you might find yourself without a seat. At the minor hockey levels, we see exactly the same thing. Experienced it with my kid where he was offered a couple of opportunities with academy teams. We needed to wait one day for a bit of information before we could make a commitment and came back the day later and the spots were gone.

Their businesses, they need to fill those seats. If they wait till tryout time I used to always think all these academy teams would be, you know, the ultimate meritocracy because you can come from anywhere and they just build their team at tryouts, but but not the case. They need to sell seats in their program because it's a business. And so kids are getting committed to it younger and younger ages. Then you hit the junior hockey levels.

There's many leagues, many opportunities. If kids don't necessarily like exactly the opportunity given them, if they're good enough and they can actually demand that, then, then maybe they won't sign with a particular team in in junior hockey or a particular junior league. So I think that is starting to filter up. And then, of course, we see in a lot of other professional sports, players maybe taking more of a stand than they're able to in hockey, bit more of a traditional sport. So I think things maybe are evolving.

I'm a little bit with Woody and Briere in this case. If you've signed a contract, I think you should probably honor it. You knew what you were doing going in. But, if you're a free agent and you are lucky enough to have options I mean, don't we see it every year where certain players come out of college, sign that free agent deal, and teams agree to burn a year of their contract by letting them play a game? Not exactly the same thing as guaranteeing where you're gonna play, but if you have leverage, then it's it's a business.

The teams use their leverage. Why shouldn't the players?

I'm worried about this matriculating all the way up to beer league. At some point, somebody's just gonna come from my job and being able to say that Yeah. Hey, I have the cooler is not gonna be enough to keep me in the lineup.

I was just gonna say, I thought that's what you did was you were the guy with the cooler.

That was the plan, but, like, pretty soon somebody's gonna be able to say, like, hey. Listen. Goalie doesn't have to. Like, I mean, these are the lengths I've gone to to keep myself on the team, Hutch. So I I'm a little worried about these demands.

All I wanna do is be able to play.

Cooler guy and beer guy is a thing. Being invited and being part of the skate. That's a real thing. Nobody's firing the beer. I don't mind that at all that there's a cooler guy and a beer guy.

Hey. Listen. When the cooler guy and the beer guy also had the team bag, ran the team, and was the goalie, I used to walk into the rink. I my gear over one shoulder, sticks and pads, and then pulling a cooler with the team bag with the spare jerseys in it. And guys would be like, why are you taking all that stuff?

Like, you're the goalie. You shouldn't be responsible for all that. And I would just say this way, they don't kick me out.

I was gonna say they're taking advantage of you for sure. Just wanted to give a shout out to Cooper Black. Six foot eight. Listed six foot eight, was, in a preseason game for the Florida panthers the other night. A great connection to Hutch.

Yeah. Hey. Look. Lots of lots of young goalies getting great opportunities in preseason games now. It's fun to watch, and I did get to see Cooper.

Used to billet in our house. He, I believe, was listed, you told me in the game at six foot eight. I have a mark on my kitchen wall showing him six foot nine. And in the rookie games, they were saying that he's now listed at six foot ten. I haven't bugged Cooper because I'm sure everybody asks about his height.

But yeah, great young man, great young goaltender. One of the few people his size I've seen that uses the size to his advantage. So it's, it's fun to see. And and when I say that often, taller goaltenders play exactly the same way as maybe a smaller goaltender and as a result, as they move, they open up more holes. Maybe they're hold hold their hands in the same place, but then their hands up end up over the crossbar not covering that space and and Cooper's learned to use his body in in ways that, I think act to his advantage.

And and, yeah, great to see him having fun at all.

I, for one, hope he makes the National Hockey League sooner rather than later because if anyone is capable of driving the average height above six foot three, and it was right on the precipice this year for the first time ever with just one single appearance, it would be Cooper Black.

When you say he he uses his size to his advantage and wear hand position, like, how low would the hands be for somebody who's six foot ten compared to somebody who's six foot?

Yeah. I would love to actually do that on the ice and and play around with Cooper and and show what the angles do. But he really does look like he's carrying his hands almost at his knees. And I I remember a coach working with him once I was watching and the coach is trying to change him, try to change him. And Cooper's like, sure, I'll hold my hands where you want.

But if I hold them up at the same level as you would, they're literally above the crossbar. So that was just that's just one small example I noticed in his game that compared to his time at Dartmouth in the NCAA to now, the Florida coaches have obviously done a great job of reeling him in quite a bit. So he does play quite a bit deeper, than he was in college. And, of course, when you're when you're that size, why not play a little bit deeper?

I would say around the knees. I just looked up some images of it, and I think you're right on, Hutch. Like, he's kinda got them just right around the knees.

Would he be the tallest goaltender to appear in a game if if he plays a National Hockey League.

league game? If they list him at six ft 10

foot record him. Wasn't, yeah, wasn't Ben Bishop at six eight listed? And, so if they list him at six eight, then no. But if they are a little bit more honest with at least my measurements, then, he would be the tallest.

Gear

Cool stuff. I have the curve here on InGoal Radio of the podcast. Let's get over to the Gear Segment brought to you by the Hockey Shop, thehockeyshop.com, Source for Sports Langley. Things happening as we roll through September.

Yeah. All kinds of things happening. We're gonna have another segment this week dedicated to that second price point. Obviously, last week, we talked about the new Bauer MV Pro Glove, which give you a a custom graphic option in a different break in a second price point. And I think this is the time of year where you get a lot of goalies that are maybe moved to a different team, know where they're gonna be, know what their colors are.

Maybe they don't need top level or they can't wait for a top level professional, you know, the highest end equipment or a custom order. You are going to find more options at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports and thehockeyshop.com in terms of colorways than you will anywhere else. Now you can just go all white. They tend to stock heavy on that and mix in a little pad skins, which they also have there to customize your look to match your new team's colors, or chances are good they will have something in stock either on the wall or in that backroom with over 30,000 square feet of space at their new store in Langley to help you find equipment that not only suits your game and the level you play at, but also gives you a little bit of style and the colors you need for this year. So make sure you check them out and you have any questions about what level of gear.

For example, this week, we're doing the CCM AXIS F9, second price point gear. Is that good enough for me when I play at this level? Just call Cam and the crew at the Hockey Shop. They'll be able to give you an honest answer about whether it's good enough or whether you need the higher priced pro gear depending on where you're playing.

You got questions for Cam about the level and the appropriate gear? Take video. Bring it in. Show them. And or invite them out to watch your skate.

I'd love to see Cam just showing up at random rinks in around the Lower Mainland gauging appropriate gear for your level.

I would invite him out to one of my

On Woody.

I should I should invite him out to my skates so he could just sit he could just sit at the glass and laugh and be like, you don't need the good

stuff. Can you imagine the next Gear Segment when the two of them get chirping over Woody's game?

That would be outstanding.

Hey, listen. I've watched Cam play narrowest butterfly ever. He makes Giguere look athletic.

But he can play. Right? There's there's nothing wrong with this game. Real big pauses there.

No. No. Is that the world's

nation of

the The world's first silent chirp.

InGoal Radio, the podcast representing the Gear Segment brought to you by the hockeyshop.com. Source for Sports Langley. Let's send it over to Cam and Woody discussing the CCM Axis F9.

Welcome back at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports, Goal, the Utopia CCM Axis F9 second price point pad, which means about half the price of the top level with a ton of pro features, including some that are exclusive to Source for exclusive to Source for Sports. We're gonna get into it. Cam. Yes.

What do we got in front of us?

What do we have in front of us? CCM second price point in the XF.

Axis F9. Say that a couple times fast. Source exclusive light pads. Starting off with some of the features of the leg pads, some pro features that get brought down to that mid level pad itself. Speed channel.

Let's start with that first. We talked about this a couple weeks ago with the CCM XF and XF Pro pads.

No more? Speed scan. But faster with the speed channel. A little bit of a gap. They did a lot of testing.

This is the material. This is the stiffness. This is the space that reduces the reduces the friction hat will allow you to slide the fastest.

The flat gen pro, finding out that that again was the most consistent.

Also slid better than weave.

Yes. Which is A little surprising. Yes. Exactly. So the stability that that speed channel provides as well as that hard hard surface, I mean, even hearing.

That's what's giving you that stability and that slidability down when you're in your butterfly.

And you get it in the second price point. What else do you get in the second price point that's similar to pro?

Okay. So that same style of the knee. So their version of that integrated knee. So giving you again that more stability when you do drive down and drop down in the butterfly.

Helps get you to the ice. Get you to the ice faster.

Exactly. Moving on to the back pad, same DRS system, their direct rotation system, adjustable on the inside of the knee by removing the Velcro off the side. Quick motion strap two point o, so it's a little bit more adjustable. We have that ability to tighten up or loosen up as required. Open style leg channel.

Why do we have an open style leg channel,

Because it's a stiff pad.

Ah, but stiff pad from the boot up, pretty flexible down low.

Look at how flexible that boot is. It would

probably be it'd probably sound a little less flexible if you weren't grunting as you did that, but this is a good point. Flexible.

Anything on the post, anything crouching over in reverse VH situation, even a VH situation, allowing that pad to flex forward and not just shoot up your leg because of that softer boot.

Soft boot, stiff pad from there on up. What makes it source exclusive? A part of Oh, this.

So just a regular CCM elastics that we've seen before in the past, especially on like EFlex pads themselves. Again, that elasticity that we get there in particular. If we move on to the front of the pad, we also see that we have that knee break below the knee. So, exclusive on the Source Exclusive pads and that's in both senior and intermediate.

Okay. So the senior intermediate with the single break, what does that do to the pad? We talked about it being a stiff pad.

Give it a little bit more.

Gives it a little bit. Still stiff, but a So little

as soon as that breaks in a little bit more, again, we're gonna have a bit more curvature to your butterfly in particular, but the pad itself is very rigid. This is going to stay a stiff pad over its life for sure.

Nobody's particular about my butterfly Cam. What about the gloves?

So continuing with exclusive colorways, and again, pro features that are kind of dropped down. You still get that hex grip palm that you see in that pro blocker. No D30 in the finger, so that's gonna be something that you do see a little bit different.

I interestingly enough, though, no D30, but they've put a layer of foam padding around the index finger. Source exclusive.

So we do have, again, a little bit of impact foam around the finger to kind of give you a little

bit more of that pro feel in the blocker.

Stock inline blocker. No panic.

Camp's favorite blocker, by the way, who told us in our Axis XF review.

It was. I again, the way the rebound pop out of it, and that does translate down to the mid-range series. It's not gonna be as much because, again, they're using a different core to that blocker itself. However, in terms of that consistency of punch punch and balance overall, I did find that access blocker to be one of the best.

Glove.

Glove. K. 591 makes its return. Different though, we have index finger stall, pinky stall. Get that closer out of the box.

We've kinda talked about this glove a little bit before. Again, what's different? You're not seeing that exact same materials. You're not seeing d three o in the palm or anything like that.

But I see some exclusive things.

Skate Lace Pocket.

Skate Lace Pocket. Is it double t stock or exclusive?

Double t stock.

But the Skate Lace Pocket is exclusive.

Correct. You wanna learn more? (604) 589-8299 or 1-800-567-7790. You can check us out at the hockeyshop.com. We've got all of the fancy color ways up that we have available.

Any questions asked, Cam. But what's different between this? What level maybe this translates to? Where you can get away with using this? Where you maybe need a pro level gear?

Whether you need to mix and match, you'll find the pads will extend a lot further. Sometimes you get to a higher level, you want a little more protection in the glove. Cam and his crew will answer all those questions for you here at The Hockey Shop or hit them up by email at thehockeyshop.com.

Stuff that just makes me giddy is when I hear Source exclusive version. When when you guys throw that out there, that just gets me going.

That's an exciting thing because, you know, and Cam is on that source buying group. So you know when they pick exclusive items, they're things that goalies not only are just gonna want because you have to be cognizant to that, but things that goalies will actually benefit from having.

I would love a InGoal exclusive version. Wonder what we would put on that thing.

Two blockers? At least for me. I'm not speaking to your guys' abilities, but but for me, that might be the thing that might be the way to go.

90 degree precurve on the top so that you can close that butterfly even when your ankles are still touching.

Oh, yeah. That's a that's a good one.

I'm surprised Cam hasn't come up with that as a Cam exclusive.

Hey. When I was at the rookie tournament in LA, just popped in my head as we were discussing this. A lot of goalies using, sticks with the trigger finger.

Really? Kinda

yeah. A lot of them. And I I can't remember exactly which brands and whether they were done themselves or whether they were manufactured, because there there are couple of versions, but that that was very noticeable.

Oh. Daren, you gotta pull out the phone and start I know. Swapping pictures and talking to guys.

Woody's talked to me about this, and I'm I'm trying to get better. And it was right in front of me, and I didn't do it. I was more observing going,

wow.

K. So But it was more than one goal

Well, that's at a rookie camp, so you got young guys coming up. Like, listen. The reality is pro sign goalies can get custom patterns for the most part. They can get access to things like this and have them built so they don't have to cut it up themselves. But I am very curious.

I would be curious to know what brand it was because we've seen Bauer now is part of their custom program. You can order a trigger finger. Like, you and I can order a trigger finger. And I wonder as that becomes something that kids can do without having to get the hacksaw out on their own in order, does it become something as more and more of them try, we see more and more of as they graduate up to pro. That becomes part of their spec because they've had an opportunity to try it where maybe some previous generations, it wasn't as readily available.

Just look at the bob and the steep shoulders that we've had on the podcast and how many goalies are switching to a steep shoulder paddle now. And, again, I think part of that is Bob creating that awareness and and the uniqueness of his stick and the brilliance he plays with, but also it becoming more and more common at the lower level so the goalies try it and be like, hey. Wow. I really do like this as an option, and I'm gonna stick with it. Maybe we'll see that with trigger grips as well.

And I'll get better at documenting it and being able to, follow through with a little more detail other than I saw a bunch of guys using it, which is Hey.

We'll take that. It's a start.

Parent Playbook

It's a it's a little bit, of progress. Let's get into our Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment. Where are you going this week, and, what's happening over at Stop It Goal Tending U, the app?

I'll take the first part. Daily primers on personal integrity this week. So five daily quick hits there on sorta, you know, something that we probably don't talk about enough, although the parent segment's been good for that. Sort of what are your standards? What are your personal standards so that you make sure you have strong integrity as a goaltender?

They've got a really nice quick video on a glove, not just a break in method, but something that one of the prep goalies that works out at Stop It, Chase Anderson shared, using a rubber band to sort of help maintain your pocket so that it's always an easier easy closure. We've seen these various techniques in terms of getting the glove broken in. Well, he does it on the regular even after he's got it broken in. So he walks you through that in a quick hit two, three minute video. And then in the deep dive, Goalie IQ twenty minutes on a couple of Stop It Goaltending students who are now in the National Hockey League or were in the National Hockey League last year.

Joey Daccord and Devin Cooley, a game they went head to head late in the season. Cooley then with San Jose. Daccord, obviously, still with Seattle and with Seattle last year. Just breaking down some of the plays and some of the systems they use when they play the game, kinda like taking our ProReads and having an an independent person walk you through some of the highlights. So it's a great 20 video.

There's lots of little takeaways in there. And, of course, all of that is available at the Stop It Goaltending U, the app. And when you subscribe to Stop It Goaltending U, the app, you also get a free subscription to InGoal Magazine and all of our content at ingoalmag.com.

Hutch, as our dad, as our parents, you've got a very timely conversation this week.

Yeah. I usually just pick up on questions that I'm either seeing or getting directly. If you do have any questions, send them to parents@InGoalMag.com, and we'll be happy to try and tackle them together here. One that has come up a number of times in the last couple of weeks, parents who are frustrated because they don't see their kid getting any goalie specific coaching on the ice. Of course, team practices are set up so much more for players than they are for goaltenders.

We all know that. So they ask the question, my child isn't getting any goalie coaching. Should I speak to the coach? Oh, that's a tough one. It's a it's a very common question, obviously, as we said at this time of year because people are settling into new teams, new situations.

Parents are, in many cases, have worked really hard to get their kids these opportunities with teams. They can be quite expensive at times. And, and then you watch the practice and maybe you're not seeing what you would like to see for your kids. And the problem seems to be getting worse even though Hockey Canada and USA Hockey and other national bodies are trying lots of things to to help and make more goalie coaching available. So I wanted to look at the question guys in a couple of different ways, if that's okay.

One is, how are you feeling as a parent compared to how your child feels and your influence on your child? First, from the perspective of your child. We want them to be resilient, and we want them to learn to control the controllables as we say. So please don't share your frustration with them. If they bring it up, that's one thing.

But we don't need to put our own personal anxiety onto our kids. They might be perfectly happy with what's happening. And and if they aren't, then then help them look at things maybe in a more positive way. What can they do about it? So a few suggestions that you as a parent or or your child could work on together.

Some things that I've said to goaltenders on the ice when I've been a goalie coach out there before. One common issue with practices, the reps are just coming too fast. Flow drills and it's shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, and all you're really doing as a goaltender is surviving. And I'll take a kid and I'll just say, look, there's no way you can handle every one of these perfectly. You know that.

I know that. Let's focus on every other shot doing your absolute best, whether it's follow a rebound, track a puck, whatever. If the other ones go in, let's not worry about it. Or or maybe there's certain players on the team that you know are a real challenge for you. When they come down, you're just gonna give it that little bit of extra attention.

Treat things in practice as much game like as you can. So even if the coach isn't asking you to follow every rebound if you can. Cover pucks even if they aren't coming in to jam that puck in underneath you. There's a lot of drills that start with a pass where you know it's going from a pass to a shooter who will then take a shot, and you'll see a lot of goalies kinda cheat that and just wait with the shooter. And sometimes that is survival because they're coming so quickly.

But if you can, follow that pass out. Treat it as as a game as best you can and that will help you become a better goaltender. Come up with some movement drills that your child can do on the ice before practice. Other kids are typically skating around, just sort of goofing around for the first five or ten minutes of practice. Encourage your child to just pick a little area over on the side and work through some of the skating drills perhaps that you've seen it in goalmag.com.

There's some great ones with Dustin Wolf, Devin Levi, Kristen Campbell, just to name a few. If they just picked one of those little drills and use them before practice, they will become a better goaltender. Don't tell them to go and complain to their coach, but you could give them a little guidance and maybe they make a suggestion to the coach at the right time. Like, hey, coach, do you think on that drill instead of all the players just shooting and peeling into the corner, could you ask them to follow their rebounds and try and jam them home? It's gonna keep me more honest, and it's probably what you want them to do in a game.

Right? That's not threatening. It's just a little suggestion, little request to the coach to make it better for you.

And the coach will look like a genius.

Yeah. Exactly. I'm I'm a big believer guys in finding ways to accept the things that upset other people, that happen to just be part of the game. And finding a way to make it a strength gives you a huge advantage over all the people out there who are frustrated. That's sort of what I'm encouraging that your goaltenders do in this case.

Now, from a parent perspective and and the more specific question that was asked, here's what I would say if somebody asked me and and they do. First, be very careful about talking to coaches. In my career, my son's career, if we can put that in quotes, I can only recall doing this once. And while it's true that my son was always lucky enough to have a goalie coach with him and his head coaches were super receptive to ideas, I promise you all that there have been days, even entire weeks that I've been sitting around upset with how things, were happening out there on the ice for for my kid. But I held them in.

I know it will probably do more harm than good. And teaching my kid resilience is important. And frankly, there might not be anything the coach can do if you do go and talk to them. So you know that old twenty four hour rule where you don't talk to the coach about what happened in a game until at least twenty four hours if you're feeling a bit upset? I think as goalie parents, that goes double and it applies to practices as well where we can often get even more upset.

So take some time, cool down, reflect. The second piece of that would be, can you be part of the solution? The ideas I mentioned for your child should come first. See what they can do, see how that goes. But maybe you could take the Hockey Canada course and learn how to become a goaltending coach and offer to help out.

Especially if you're with one of those teams that don't have a lot of support, recreational teams, house league teams for sure don't have enough volunteer support in so many cases. You could offer to see if you can help out a little bit and you can make a difference for your son, daughter and the other goaltender on the ice as well. Now, especially if you're in a situation where you're on a team where you're paying a lot for your kid to be there, It's a league where parents reasonably go in expecting something more than you get in your local minor hockey organization and there still isn't coaching. What do you do? In that case, I think it's fair to have a conversation, but could I encourage you to frame it positively and frame it as trying to help?

So something along the lines of, hey, coach, I get this is probably just as frustrating for you because I know you want to help all the kids, but I see all the players getting great instruction on the ice, but it's mostly restricted to the forwards and the defense. Is there anything we can do to help get the goalies a bit of position specific help? Is there any way I can help? I think if you put it that way, it's not an attack. It acknowledges as well that the coach may not be the issue.

And in fact, they probably aren't. In one of those larger organizations. Maybe the general manager is responsible for it. Maybe no budget has been given to the coach to hire some support. And yes, that's a problem, but it's not on the coach necessarily.

And that opens it up to be a conversation. If you attack them and tell them how upset you are about the situation, they're just going to push back and it's not going to help you. It's not going to help your kid, but make it a positive gentle nudge. And you know what they say? Sometimes the sticky wheel really does get the grease.

But please keep your frustrations to yourself at home. It's not gonna help if you tell your child that you're upset that they're not getting goalie coaching or ask them if they're upset that they're not getting goalie coaching. Just help them to be independent. Help them to deal with the situation that they've been given. It won't be the last time it happens for them and chances there's other goalies they're facing out there despite what you might even be told that are also in imperfect situations.

And if your child can make the best of it, they get this huge advantage over the kids who do have a goalie coach on the ice with them a lot. After all, Woody, wasn't it Ian Clark who said, you have to be your own best goalie coach?

It was.

Woody nods. Yeah. So those are my thoughts. It's imperfect. I know often there's a whole lot of money involved and you get super frustrated, but, I do think we need to frame things as positively as we can.

If anybody's got specific questions or specific comments, do hit me up parents at ingo mag dot com. Or if you've got a tough situation of your own, just wanna chat it through, please, send me a note and let me know.

That part about not cheating on a drill or playing it like a game situation, that's a great thought on the Yeah. The passes. The the pass happens every shot over, and you you try and play it like it's a game situation. You're not just waiting for that shot to come over on the left. You're tracking the puck across.

A 100% working on your skating skills. You know, look, the tough part for kids is when those reps are coming so fast, it's really hard and exhausting to do that. When you're a goalie coach on the ice, you can give them permission to maybe dog it on every other one, or you can let the coach know that they're working on something specific here and that means they won't make every save. But, if you can open up a positive conversation with coaches, then over time, you'll be able to share some of those thoughts too, I think.

All this positivity has my head ready to explode.

Believe me, buddy, I told you. I steam away at home too sometimes, but, it only works if catch more flies with honey, don't they say?

So you're do adopt some of this into your men's league warm up, Woody?

Not a chance. No? I appreciate it. It's all exceptional, but, it's pretty clear there's no goalie coaching in men's league. It's also pretty clear the guy's shooting on you in warm up.

It you can't those are things that are hard to change, Daren. I've accepted it, as Hutch would tell me. I've just accepted my fate, and I try and make the most of it. Although, I did almost go full out snap show last week when a guy showed up for the first time and decided to stick handle, stick handle, stick handle all the way No. Till about two or three feet in front of the net in warm ups and then four in a row by my ear.

Now keep in mind that I'm on my knees at this point, And from that range, off my ear is off the glass. Like, you're not hitting the net from their butts. You're just ripping it off the glass, but you're putting it close enough. And then he did it in a game, and he missed so bad. And I was just, like, skated to the bench.

I'm like, see? At least I knew he wasn't gonna hit the net from there, but he did that in warm ups. And guys were just like, oh, I probably would have broken a stick on him.

I do not suggest that parents have their kids do this, but I'll tell you what I did in beer league. If they rung them off my head more than once or if the guy came in and stick handled till one foot in front of me, I just skated out of the net. And the guy who was doing it, I'd be skating out of the net as he was getting a foot away before he could even take his shot. Like, if you're not gonna play this right, I'm not either. See you boys.

Warm up's over.

Yeah. I was You guys

wanna work on their breakaways. Yeah. You guys wanna work on their dekes, their moves.

But that's the thing. He wasn't even

right situation. Wasn't even deking.

He just kept stick handling in tight, and then he got to, like, two, three feet in front of the net and basically put it, like, off the top of the glass over the net right by my ear, like, four times in a row, and he couldn't quite understand why I was done with it.

And chances are it's the second shot of the warm up before you've even moved anywhere too. Right? So Oh. Come on, boys.

Yeah. Gotta have the rants, Daren. You gotta have the rants. See, I was all peace, love, zen after Hutch's brilliant parent segment. Now you got me all fired up.

Feature Interview - Cam Johnson

What do you guys have to prove to you?

I got snap tastic too.

That that's outstanding. The NHL Sense Arena feature interview this week, features Cam Johnson. What a story this man is from a major college at UND to the ECHL where he is dominant.

Dominant to the tune of three straight ECHL Kelly Cup titles. The king of the coast, they they call him, Cam Johnson, and this is a fun one, guys. I don't wanna give it all away, but let's just let's just tease it with this. It's the team that signed him out of North Dakota after where he also won a National Championship, by the way, was one called the New Jersey devils and one of Marty Brodeur's former teammates and playing partners with New Jersey actually told Cam that he reminded him of Martin Brodeur. So make sure you you sort of tune in for the whole interview to get the specifics on that.

But I quickly gotta give a shout out to the guy that helped make this interview happen. Cam has had an incredibly busy summer. He did sign with Springfield in the American Hockey League, though he he will likely be back in the ECHL with Florida because as you'll hear in the interview, that's where he ultimately wants to be and enjoys things the most, but welcomed a new his first child, a baby girl, moved, three straight short summers with cup championship wins. And don't forget the Kelly Cup goes as long as the Stanley Cup, so it's late, late, late into the summer for three straight years. Tough to track down, but thanks to Shane McCoy for making it happen.

He's a he is a does pre scouts on goaltenders and system breakdowns right up to the NHL, does them for teams in the ECHL and the AHL and the NHL. He's kinda one of those guys behind the scenes that you don't often hear about, but he's doing a lot of the key work to help teams win championships, including three in a row in Florida and a couple in a row with the Hershey bears. Shane McCoy Hockey is where you can find him, and he played a big role in helping us. He lives in the he lives where the Everblades are in in Naples, Florida and helped us set up this interview with Cam. And I'm so glad he did because it, as you're gonna hear, Cam is the definition of a beauty, and it was a fun interview to do.

And I think everybody's gonna love listening to it.

It's the feature interview brought to you by NHL Sense Arena on InGoal Radio Podcast. Enjoy.

Really excited to welcome to the InGoal Radio Podcast, an an overdue interview. Probably should've had him after the first Kelly Cup, maybe the second Kelly Cup. But how about we wait till the third straight Kelly Cup ECHL Championship? Two time Kelly Cup MVP Cam Johnson. And not only did I wait too long in terms of shoulda had you on earlier because of all the success before, but then I just made it really messy because you're moving and you got a newborn in your life.

First off, con I don't know what to congratulate you on first. All the success on the ice or becoming a new dad. How are you handling it?

Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. It's been awesome. Obviously, a lot lot going on in my life, but it's all good things.

And, you know, I've I've I've been telling everybody my number one thing on my bucket list is has been to be a dad. So it's been rewarding, and it's it's been really cool. I've been enjoying the journey.

Okay. So we talked a little bit before we hit record here, the similarities between learning to be all the lessons as a goalie and all the lessons as a new parent. Yep. We see goalies succeed in all kinds of other walks of life, right, professionally and and in the business world and in every are there lessons you can take from the patience and all the things you have to have to be good at the position into the early stages of parenting?

Yeah. It I mean, you know, it takes a lot to be a goalie. You gotta be laser focused. Obviously, you gotta have good patience, and, you know, you can't get too upset about things. And and those, you know, three things have really been carrying me as a dad so far.

It's it's, you kind of a lot of sleepless nights and sometimes, you know, she'll be crying full belly, just changed her diaper. It's like, you know, what's going on? And, you know, you figure out, oh, maybe I didn't get a good burp out of her or, you know, she wanted to be held, and I sat her down to go back to sleep. So it's it's a lot of trial and error, but, you know, as you progress, you kinda learn more. And it's it's similar to goaltending.

You know? As you put in your time and you work at things, you get better at it. So day by day, I've been getting better every day.

And, you know, you it's funny because gear and equipment is such a big part of our lives as goaltender and learning how to wear it and how to put it on. You probably never heard of a swaddle before this, have you?

No. It's so funny too when we were in the hospital. Like, I couldn't figure out the swaddles. I'd try and do it, and, you know, an hour later, she'd have her hands out of it and be kicking around. I'm like, you know, getting so frustrated.

And every time the nurses would come in there, I'm like, alright. Can you teach me how to swaddle? And finally, I found one nurse. She's like, here. I'll I'll teach you a little trick of the trade that they don't usually tell you.

She taught me a good way of how to do it, so now I'm a professional swaddler. But, you know, it kinda kicks me in my butt sometimes. My my old lady will wake me up in the middle of the night like, hey. I need you to swaddle her. Like, come on.

You can't do it? So, no. It's been good, but, yeah, the swaddle's very interesting. It's it's cool once you learn how to do it and the technique, it's it works. Okay.

Right to sleep.

There you go. It it is so important. There's a lot of people there's a lot of young goalies right now listening going, what are these guys talking about? So Yeah. Right?

Let's learn. Yeah. Exactly. Let's switch from swaddling technique to goalie technique. Big question.

But, I mean, as you as you get through three straight championships, like, how's your game evolved? You're 30. You're Yeah. You've been at this for a while. First at, you know, at NODAC, and then as a pro with a couple organizations.

Congratulations on the Springfield contract in the a as well. But

Yeah. Appreciate that.

How how's the game evolved? Like, where where where's your understanding of the game and what it takes to have success when the games matter the most?

Yeah. It's you know, I always say goaltending is a huge, huge mental position, and I've kind of prided for you know, I pride myself on my ability to be strong mentally because, you know, there's a lot of things that happen that are out of your control or, you know, things you you can't you can't really get upset or put put too much thought into. So, I'd say as I've gotten older, I've gotten, you know, a more dialed in mindset, I guess, about how to, you know, control with the pro schedule, like, the games and, you know, sometimes a little lack of sleep. You're you got road trips or whatever. So I've been, you know, priding myself on my ability to be strong mentally through, you know, through everything.

And especially now since we've won a few few times, like, these teams are always gone in for us every year, and, you know, we've had a lot of success the the past few years. I can't take all that credit. I've had some really good teams, but, obviously, as you guys know, it always starts in from the net out. So you gotta have a a good goalie, and you gotta play good good defensively. So, kudos to the teams I've played on.

I've had a great group of guys, and, you know, we've had some good success the past few years.

When you talk about mentally and and sort of having to you know, there are things you can't control. Does that become more important? Like, I know we're heading into a new season, but to reflect back on playoffs and maybe a lesson other goalies can take into big moments in big games, does it become more important in a playoff run just because of the length of it and the ups and downs that inherently come with it?

Yeah. It's, you know, it's the season after the season. So sometimes the seasons are a grind too, and and you're kinda beat up. And, you know, once you get to the playoffs, it's a brand new season. So you find that little extra extra kick of energy or or whatever you need.

So here in Florida, we kind of pride ourselves too. Like, our we have a full time GM, which a lot of ECHL teams don't have. Our coach, he doesn't like losing. And I always tell people, I'm like, we lose, you know, like, three, four games in a row. We're gonna have some guys that are gonna be shipped out of there.

So it's you know, we hold ourselves to a high standard here, and they do a good job getting the guys that, you know, that wanna be here, that wanna play. We always tell guys too when they come in here, like, it's not a country club. You're not gonna come down here and, you know, just kinda golf and and sail off into the sunset. Like, we still have a job to do, and, you know, every year they do a good job putting on putting, some big good guys on the ice and and finding the balance that works.

Part of that too, at, you know, different levels, different at like, I know goalie coaches not Yeah. Common in the ECHL or haven't been maybe until recent years and not everybody has one. Where are you at? I know like, I know they had one in the past. I'm not sure if they if they still do, but having that support, how important has that been at different stages of your career?

Because as you said, like, the position, like, being a new parent, it constantly evolves.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we had we've had a couple goalie coaches actually in my time here. We had a full time guy.

Like, my I've been here for now five going on six years, I think it is. I always get those mixed up. It's either, you know, six yeah. Five, I think, going on six years. My first couple years, we had a full time goalie coach here.

He was great. It was awesome. He lived here locally. He was, you know, getting into goal goaltending or goal goalie coaching, and then he ended up getting a gig in Germany, I wanna say. Josh Robinson is his name.

He was great. Robo. But, anyways yeah. Robo. Yep.

So, my, you know, my past couple years, we've had, we had Jesse Kaliki here. He was, he was our assistant coach, but he played in, like, the SPHL, I wanna say. So he kinda had an understanding of goaltending, and it's nice too because practices, as as some of you listeners know, get a little out of hand sometimes for goalies. So, you know, having a goalie on the staff who can say, like, hey. You know, this one's gonna kinda kick their butt.

It always helps. And then the past couple years, we've had Anthony Peters. We had him last year. It was his first year, but he had just retired, and he was a a long time goalie. His brother is a goalie coach.

Believe the Ottawa senator's goalie coach. Justin Justin Peters. Yep.

Yeah. I believe for the Ottawa senator. So, we've had we had him last year. So I've been very blessed with my time here. I know a lot of times, EC ECHL teams, if they have an NHL contracted goalie, maybe they'll have, you know, their their pro their goalie prospect guy come down once a month or, you know, every few weeks, whatever it is.

So, we've been very blessed here to have kind of a full time goalie coach, especially with PD, like, knowing the position, understanding. And, obviously, like, he's ran goalie coach camps and whatever for as as as long as he's been playing the game. So, we've been very fortunate down here having having different goalie coaches. And then for me, it's, like, given me a couple different perspectives. Like, Robo, technical.

Jesse Kalickey was super laid back. Like, what do you need? What can I do for you? And then PD is, like, kind of a little bounce of both. Like, alright.

There there takes some, you know, technical things that you can or you you know and you do well, then, you know, let's build that. Let's work on other things. So I've had a nice balance of goalie coaches literally all over the the spectrum, so it's been good down here.

I was gonna say, was gonna ask, like, different voices in a short period of time. That can be that can be for a lot of guys when they change teams, you're getting it with the same team. Advice for other goalies, it sounds like you've managed it well, but sometimes that isn't easy to go from one voice to another. How do you you know, is there any advice you can pass along on how your approach might help others?

Yeah. I always tell guys it's, you know, it's what you need. It's what you're good at. Even guys like, I do a little bit of coaching here and there, and, you know, it's like sharpening, what what's what would the saying be? Like, being able to use different tools in your toolbox.

You know, like, everybody's got a got an understanding of the position. Everybody, you know, kinda does their things there certain ways, but I always say, you know, take a little bit whatever works for you from one guy. Like, hold on to that. And, you know, there's sometimes I disagree with coaches, and and it is what it is. Like, I'm not always right.

They're not always right. It's it's whatever works for you. Like, every goal is different. We all play the game differently. We all think the game a little bit differently.

So I always say whatever is working for you, like, take advantage of that. So, you know, talking to a few different coaches. Like, take a little from him. Take a little from the other one. Take a little from that one.

So you just kinda take a little bit from little bit at a time from different coaches and kinda piece that all together and what works for you.

And I guess the key of tools in the toolbox is being open to at least trying new ones.

Yeah. 100%. Like, I'll use an example. I was terrible at the RVH, and then I signed with Columbus my second year in Florida. It would have been the COVID year.

And Manny Legace was the goalie coach there at the time, which was really cool for me. I'm a Detroit guy, so I used to watch him growing up. And, yeah, I remember when I signed and I I went down there, like, we did one drill, the one RVH drill, my first skate there. He's like, oh, man. He's like, we're gonna just work and work and work at that.

And, you know, that's what we did. We just pounded out the RVH every day, and now I'm, you know, I feel super comfortable in the RVH. I use it all the time. I used to kinda be just a normal VH guy. Just drop the one leg and pop my glove up.

But now, like, I still do the normal VH. I do the RVH. So I, you know, added that RVH to my toolbox, and it's really helped my game out a lot, actually. But pounding that every single day, it was like and some days, I'd be like, man, you're like, come on. My hips are hurting.

I don't feel like doing this. It's hard. It's not you know, the drills we would do were tough, so it's like, I didn't enjoy doing it. But, you know, I just fought through it and eventually got pretty pretty good at it.

Now you you still mix it up? Still, like and I was, you know, wondering because a lot for a lot of guys, like younger guys, they come up and they've never seen a VH. Right? Like like, we've had the point where it's all reverse, reverse, reverse. Right.

You think there's a benefit to being able to throw some different looks out there?

Yeah. I actually do because, you know, when you drop into RVH, like, the only little window if you have a good seal, like, the there's a little window still over your shoulder. You gotta kinda stick your head there or whatever. So, like, I find the VH on my glove side, especially, like, I'll kinda bait guys into that little little hole, and then, poop, I'll stick my glove in there, and they just shoot right into my glove. So, there's times where that works.

Obviously, in the blocker side, you don't really have can't really do that. So I kinda use the RVH more on my blocker side. Glove side, I switch it up. But even the blocker, I'll use the VH if I have to. But it's all kinda situational, like, where, you know, where's the threats?

Where's the puck at? Are they coming, you know, towards me around the goal? Are they whatever. You know? Different situations.

So different thing different situations call for different save selections, and, you know, it's just helped me being able to kinda understand each thing and understand, you know, where my holes are or where they can see net. That's another thing that I've I've spent a lot a lot of time on. It's just kinda like awareness in your net, what you're giving up, you know, what the shooter can see, and kinda going from there.

So different thing different situations call for different save selections, and, you know, it's just helped me being able to kinda understand each thing and understand, you know, where my holes are or where they can see net. That's another thing that I've I've spent a lot a lot of time on. It's just kinda like awareness in your net, what you're giving up, you know, what the shooter can see, and kinda going from there.

Okay. I wanted to I wanna I wanna actually pull on that thread. But first, when you talk about save selection, I guess one part of that is, as you mentioned, the reads, all the different elements into whether you know, for example, whether you choose a reverse or a standard old school VH, patience is probably another one. Talk to me. I don't know your game intimately, but talking to some people that have watched it, it sounds like patience is a big part.

Yeah. Yeah. Patience is huge. Like, for me, I always try to react to what they're doing. And, you know, a lot of times, I kinda like to bait guys into what I know.

Like, I know what they're coming. I know what their options are, so I'll kinda bait them into, like, where I want them to shoot. And it works down here a lot. I know when I was up in the NHL, like, I would get sniped a little bit more. And, you know, you just kinda learn as you progress what guys are seeing, where guys are shooting.

And guys are getting really good now. Like, they'll pick that little spot over your shoulder. No problem. If you get dropped down into that RVH too quickly, like, they'll they'll snipe there. So, you know, it's just kind of been trial and error throughout the years, but I've gotten a pretty good pretty good understanding about, you know, where I'm at in my net and what guys are kind of looking at, what options they have.

I loved the way you said where they understanding where they can see net. Yeah. But walk me through that process because even when we watch video, quite often of ourselves as goalies, it's sort of bird's eye view. Are there any you know, what ways have you sort of learned to understand what shooters see? Are you using video and drills?

Are you talking to shooters? How do you how do you go through that process? It seems like a good one.

Yeah. So, like, a lot of guy I know a lot of guys like video, and I think video is really good. Like, for me, I don't I don't necessarily enjoy watching video because, you know, you can go down and you can break down a lot of different things and, oh, you could have did it this way. You could have did it that way. You could have did this way.

Like, I always I'll watch the goals, like, more than anything. Saves are whatever for me. It's like, I wanna know why I got scored on. So a lot of times, I'll go through, like, with Petey. Petey's great about Anthony Peters, my assistant coach here.

He's kinda great about what do whatever you need. I think, like, it was his first year out of playing last year, so he it was kind of, you know, feel out process for him. And he didn't wanna say, hey. You know, this is what I think. This is what you should do.

Yada yada yada. We would just go through. We'd watch the goals. He'd be like, alright. What were you thinking here?

And then kinda just talking back and forth with him. You you get a little understanding. Okay. This is what I was thinking here. This is what happened.

Like, you know, how did we get from point a to point b? And then how next how next time can I be more ready for this situation? So, you know, a lot of trial and error. I do watch video. I'm not I'm not huge on video personally for me, but it is a a good tool to to do to use and, you know, to learn about how you you played things different.

But, like, for me, I watch the goal. When I when I'm in the game, I'll watch it, you know, up on the big screen, like, how did I get scored on? What happened? Boom. See what happened, and it's like, alright.

I never wanna see it again. So that's how I kinda do it. I'm a little bit different than other guys. I'm a little bit old school now. These these new school goalies are like, you know, video, video, video, and certain technical things, especially on the ice, like, whatever they have their their stuff they're doing.

I'm like, I just want to stop the puck. And if if I stop the puck, then I'm doing my job.

You may just to go back to the, understanding what you're presenting and and what shooters can see. So how do you how do you without the video side, then how do you figure that out?

You know, this for me, it's I've I've been in the game for a long enough time now. I'm you know, I consider myself an old guy. Sometimes guys are like, oh, you know, you're not even that old, whatever. But, I've been playing for long enough. I I kinda understand.

And, you know, I got a lot of good buddies on my team down here. So, you know, when they score on me or whatever in practice, I'll tell them, like, you know, where where where did you see? What are you seeing from there? And, you know, guys will work back and forth with me. If I'm getting scored on blocker a lot, then I I usually after after practice, I'll grab a few guys.

Like, alright. Let's go through, you know, my blocker side. I want you to come off whatever. Come off the dot and just shoot blocker. Like, tell me.

I kinda get that, you know, repetitive feel. And once you kinda feel it, it's like, alright. Now I see, you know, what where I was missing or if I was off my angle a little bit. So it's like, for me, I do a lot of, you know, drills or whatever, trial and error, feel it out. How does it feel?

If I'm getting scored on blocker a lot, then I'll take some time after practice, grab a couple guys, and just rip it at my blocker. Like or I'll, you know, do what whatever it is. Whatever I'm struggling with, I always, you know, grab a couple guys, and let's just let's feel it out till I get that. I'm a feel guy. So, like, once I feel that I got it, I'm like, alright.

There it is. And, you know, sometimes maybe I'll lose it a little bit, but it's like once you get that feel back and, like, understanding, I'm like, alright. I got it. No one's sworn on me.

I love the fact that you play off of your teammates in practice and have those conversations. Have have they ever surprised you when they said, hey. Like, this is what I'm seeing, and you're like, man. Like, really? You're seeing like, you had those moments?

How do you see that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. Like, you know, I've I've had moments where I getting scored on, and I'm like, how is that going in?

Like, I feel like I'm there. And, you know, for me, it was like I wasn't lined up. Like, the center of my body wasn't lined up with the puck. I was, like, kinda late a little bit where I was be, like, lined up with, like, the outside foot. So it's like, I don't understand how these are going in and, like, video.

So this is another where video is good, like, on the ice watching practice. You can kinda see if you put the, you know, put the video on where they're shooting or whatever. It kinda gives you that that little lane where you can see, okay. I see now there's that little opening outside or, you know, low block or whatever it is. So, you know, video on the ice during practice helps, but just repetitive, you know, doing things a 100 times, then you kinda get that feel and you get get that understanding about where you are in the net and, you know, what they're looking at.

So will Anthony just have, like, an iPad out there sometimes that you guys can work off of?

Yeah. He'll bring an iPad out there. Really, I I gotta, like he'll do it, but I'll have to have to tell him, like, alright. Let's work on, you know, blocker. So, like, let's put the video over here so I can see when they're shooting.

Because a lot of times, guys will have it, like, back so you just can, like, see the whole flow of things. But I'm like, alright. Let's put it specifically where, like, they're releasing the puck so that I can see when I get there, like, what they're looking at.

So puck perspective. Yeah. Right behind the scene.

Puck yep. Exactly. Puck perspective.

Oh, I love that. I love that. And and how tough is that now, by the way? Because

Oh, it's crazy.

Where you position yourself, you mentioned foot, you mentioned on the puck. Yep. Got guys with these drag and pull and and even push out releases. How much harder is it getting? And have you found any tricks?

I've had some guys talk about positioning himself between the puck and the foot as a middle ground for the guys that like to drag and shoot. Any tips? Any advice for all the young goalies that are having to deal with all these damn shooters or getting better and better every year?

Yeah. That's the hardest thing to save, and I always tell my shooters that too. I'm like, change the angle when you're coming down on them. If you're just coming down and shooting, like, I'll make that save a 100 out of a 100 times. Like, if you come down, change your angle, even just, like, you know, a few inches is it makes all the difference.

So that's a huge thing now is these, you know, toe drags or shooting off one foot in stride, whatever. So I've kind of what I've done to develop, you know, my game with that is I almost like, I bait guys into it. So I'm, like, a little late getting there, but, like, I get there on time when I need to. But, like, when they're pulling, I'll give them that little half second, and then I kinda shift into the save. Or, you know, if they're shooting glove, I'll kinda bait them glove, glove, glove, and then just kinda throw the wall up there, you know, and get a piece of it, whatever.

So, I like to bait guys. That's that's my little trick of the trade. I'll kinda see they're coming and, you know, I know what I I'm giving up. I know what they're looking at, what their whatever their options are. And then it's like, alright.

I want this guy to shoot gloves. So I'll kinda, you know, bait him, be a little bit slower. And then as he's pulling, that's when I'll cover up that area. So that's how I do it. I love to bait guys into it. Yep.

Have you always done that? Is that, like, just something that became innate for you? I I play with a guy who's a little older than me that played some pro overseas, and he's always telling me to bait guys. And I'm like, his name's his name's Billy. And I'm like, Billy, I'm I I'm just trying to stay in the middle of the net, buddy.

I I like, I'm barely keeping up as is, but to actually be one step ahead of him, it feels like it's a bit of a lost start.

Yeah. It is. Actually, the where I got it from was my first year in New Jersey. My goalie coach there was Scott Clemmensen, and he used to tell me about Marty all the time. He would, like, compare me and Marty.

I'm not saying I'm Marty, but, like, we both had pretty good footwork. Like, that's what my game is. I got good footwork. I'm a, you know, smooth in the net, whatever. But he would tell me about how, like, guys would be coming down, and he would just, like, kinda hold his glove back there, and he'd just bait guys into shooting where he was.

So that was that's what I did a lot that year was just kinda figure out how to, you know, push the shooters into shooting where I I I know that I can, whatever, get there or or know what's going on. So I would say my first year pro with with New Jersey, that's kinda where I was working on. Alright. How do I because it's I was coming from college too. And, like, college to pro, it's not a huge jump.

But, again, like, as you progress, like, it kinda weeds out the weeds out the whatever guys that don't want it or I don't wanna say the worst, but the the lesser players. But, I mean, it is. It's a doggy dog world. So as you move up in, in levels, guys get better and shooters get better and and all that. So, you know, kind of my my first year pro, I was, like, coming out way too far.

So I, you know, cut a lot out of out of my game coming out as far. I play a little bit deeper in the net, so it's a little bit easier getting side to side and whatnot. And, you know, just kinda forcing guys to shoot into areas that I know that I can cover I know that I have covered.

I was gonna say, as at each level, you'd have to adapt a little bit because you'll hit points where that little split second of giving them that. If you're if you're a split second behind, it's it's too it's too late.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And it that makes all the difference. It's literally a matter of a millisecond or a game of inches.

You know? If you you miss one inch, then they score. If you you don't get your you get your arm up there, you get a piece of it. So it's literally a a millisecond or a game of inches.

Okay. So hold on here. Like, Scott Clemmensen, who played with Marty, and I and I've had the pleasure of getting to know over the years and a big fan of, tells you their similarities. Like, Marty.

Oh, yeah. Brodeur.

Hall of Fame. You know?

Like Yeah.

Like like, you know, he's he's you know, what what's that spot in The States where you put all the presidents? Like, he's on that. Right? Like, he's he's a top four all but he's a Mount Rushmore guy. See him a brain fart.

Too many pucks in the head. Oh, yeah. So what what like, what's that like? What was your experience like there? And you're coming out of college, and there are some adjustments there.

And just walk me through that and walk me through a little bit of your game, and and was there influence from Marty when you talk about the skating and that being such a big part of how you played the game and how you had success?

Yeah. So Marty, he used to, you know, he used to compare us because I'm kind of an unorthodox goalie. I'm not, you know, your your butterfly, your stand up. I'm just kinda stop the puck and however, you know, whatever need need means necessary. So, yeah, he used to use Marty as as my comparison all the time.

And, yeah, he would he would talk to me about because he played with Marty for how I don't know how many years, but whatever. He was Marty's partner in in the prime of his career. So he would tell me, he's like, I see so much of, like, him in you. So, you know, we worked at a lot of things and, footwork being being the big thing. Coming out of college, like, my depths were kinda off a little bit.

I was, you know, coming out challenging a little bit too much, and then I was getting beat, you know, whatever backdoor plays or whatever. I was kinda having a hard time getting there because it's, you know, that that much quicker in the in the professional level. So, you know, worked at a lot of things with them. He didn't try to change up my game too much, but that year, you know, it's kinda up and down for me. I was a lot of trial and error.

I was trying out some new things, trying to play a little bit deeper, and then I was kinda getting picked a little bit because I wasn't used to, you know, playing as deep. But, you know, you just learn and and you put in the work, obviously, and you feel more comfortable as you go. But, you know, I spent a lot of time on, like, my depth perceptions and, you know, getting to to the post and sealing the post. I was kinda having trouble sometimes sealing the post too, like, you know, getting that little gap of your foot and your your whatever, your skate and your pad, that little gap. I was kinda struggling there.

So, you know, just worked on a lot of lot of little things, kinda fine tuned my game to to be at the professional level. It's a little bit little bit different than college. College is you know, you play half as many games, and you kinda go into the weekend prepping the whole week for the team that you're playing where, pro, it's like, you know, you're in one city one night, you're in a different city the next night, and, you know, travel and whatever. It's just an adjustment. It's a it's a different game.

It's a little bit more fast paced. And, college, it's actually every game is has carried so much weight. So it's like every game is, like, game seven. Where a pro, it's like, you know, in the dog days, sometimes, like, the guys just won't have it. And, you know, we get beat, like, five to one, six to one, whatever.

And and I'd go and watch a video with with Clemer. That's that's what I would call him. But, you know, there'd be some times where I'd let in, like, five goals, and he'd be like, you know what? You played a great game. And I'm just like, what?

You know? And you're coming from North Dakota where it was like, if I let in more than two goals in a night, then it was, like, a bad night. You know? Three goals was like, alright. Well, you know, what's going on?

So, I kinda had to get used to, like, getting scored on, which sounds weird, but, you know, like, goals happen. And I used to get so pissed off, and I would get mad in games, and then I'd just be like you know, I'd get scored on in the first. Second period, I'd still be thinking about the goal that I let in in the first. So, you know, for me, I had to learn, like, forgive and forget. Like, you know, it went in whatever it is, what it is, and kinda just keep chugging along.

So, you know, that year, I I kinda worked on a lot of just stuff to to sharpen my game at the pro level. I was fortunate enough too. I got call up to the the big club, the New Jersey devils. I spent, I wanna say, like, a month and a half there. I didn't get any games, which is a bummer, but, you know, I was working with, Rollie Melanson, I believe was his name at the time, was the goalie coach there.

And Keith Kinkaid was my partner. He was great too. He was pretty similar to me, kind of an unorthodox guy. So, you know, it was cool spending time with him every day. But, yeah, just worked on a lot of lot of different things to to kinda get, you know, up beat in the in the pro aspect.

It kinda took me a little bit of time that year to get used to it, but, no. Once I started getting more comfortable with, you know, a little bit deeper depths and, just coverage in the net, certain situations, we worked on a lot of stuff that year. So, really just, like, fine tuning my game.

I was gonna say that's a lot. Like, that's a lot. It is. You come from NODAC. You won a national championship there.

Yeah.

And you like you said, like, you've had all this playoff success, and everything's like a game seven there. You have all week to prepare and all. And you also I would imagine as a guy that reads the game so well, you built sort of mental books on on what to expect, used whether it was through video or experience. Yep. Now all of sudden, you're in the pros.

Everything's different. Everybody's new. You haven't seen half these shooters, and they change every second night. And you're trying to change your game. Like, it just feels like you had a lot going on that first year.

Yeah. My first year was definitely my toughest year. I spent most of the year in Binghamton. We're Binghamton, New York. It's it was, you know, Yeah.

Cold

I've I've heard stories about bingo. I've had I've had guys I know some pros that retired rather than going to bingo.

Oh, yeah. It wasn't it wasn't great. And, you know, one thing that was an eye opener for me was, like, having beers after games and, you know, just kinda it's just so much different than than college was. But, no, it was it was good in a sense for my development that I learned so much that year. It was a tough year.

Like, my stats, sir, they weren't great. My team wasn't that great. We finished, like, bottom of the league, maybe, like, bottom three in the league. But, you know, I was getting a ton of shots every night. I was spending time, obviously, with with Clemenson.

He was with us full time, so I got to work with him every day. So, you know, a lot to learn that year. It was a tough year, but he was great. You know, we'd like I said, we'd watch video and get scored on five times, and he'd be like, you played a great game. So it's like, alright.

You know, kind of figuring it out. Like, it's tough, but, no. It was it was great great year for learning lessons. Tough year for sure, but, you know, I always say you gotta, you know, you gotta go through the the crap to make the, you know, the good times feel so good. So, kinda had to put my work in that year.

I you know, in that year, I struggled with I had this, like, stomach anxiety. I couldn't figure out. I was puking and games. Like, I'd come off, you know, TV time out. I'd have to skate to the bench quick and and puke real real quick and, you know, get back in there and then try and play while I feel feeling like I'm gonna puke.

So, you know, I was dealing with a bunch of different stuff that year, but trial and error, I got, you know, I got a good amount of games. I played, like, 30, you know, 30 some games, which is half the season, and that's a lot for for, you know, an an

First year for

year, yeah, first year goalie. And Mackenzie Blackwood was my partner that year, so he's obviously everybody knows who he is. He's in the NHL now. So, yeah, it was, you know, it was great. I've worked with different guys.

I had Eddie Lack down there for a little bit. Corey Schneider was down there. He was kinda going through his, I don't know, his hip and his head troubles, whatever he was going through with. So I got a lot of time with a lot of different partners, and and I had some good coaches that were very supportive of what I was going through and and helping me work through things.

You talked about some of the influences, some of the guys that helped you at different points with different things. I'm just curious early influences because like you said, you you've you've got a bit of an old school approach to you. Yeah. And obviously a lot of skill to have all the success you're having. Where you know, how'd you get started?

And where like, what were the early influences sort of helped mold a young Cam Johnson to what we see today?

Yeah. It's like, you know, I tell a lot of guys this. I played double a hockey basically my whole life until I was a senior in high school. That's when I made the jump to triple a. So it's like a lot of kids nowadays, they think, like, oh, you gotta play triple a, triple a, triple a.

Like, you really don't. Everybody has their own path. And I always tell people, if you're good, they're gonna find you. So, you know, I became a goalie because I wasn't scared of the puck. I remember when I started playing, everybody's gotta kinda gotta take a a turning goal, and my team would always wanna stick me in there when we were playing the good teams.

I'm like, you know, I wanna go out there and score goals. But, no, I fell in love with it. I love being able to design your own gear and, you know, design your helmet, whatever, and I was never scared of the puck. So ended up becoming a goalie. Like, growing up, I didn't really have any goalie coaching.

Once I got to high school, I had a coach whose son played goalie. So he would come out on the ice with us, you know, maybe once a week and just kinda do some goalie stuff. So that was about the extent of my goalie training before, really till juniors is when I'd started working with the goalie coach. So just kind of figuring it out by myself. I always, you know, I always knew I was pretty good.

I don't I never really knew how good I was until I started to progress. That's when it started becoming real to me. Like, alright. You know, maybe you can do something with this. So I won a national championship my junior year just at the double a level, but, again, it was, you know, a really cool accomplishment.

And then from there, our team kinda split up. So I was actually almost gonna go play high school hockey, and I got an opportunity to skate with Little Caesars, which is a triple a team out of Detroit. Yep. So I I went and, you know, skated with them throughout the summer, and then they called me at the end of the summer and offered me a position. So that's when I was kind of like, oh, all right.

Let's do this. And then spent my time spent my year with Little Caesars. Then, after that year, I got invited to a bunch of USHL camps, probably ten, fifteen camps. But some of those are, like, moneymakers. You know, they'll invite everybody and and anyone to those.

So you'll go to a camp. They'll have, like, six teams of guys. So it's like, you know, you're kinda looking at the writing on the wall. But, no, I ended up making the Green Bay Gamblers as a free agent too. I wasn't drafted anywhere, and their drafted goalie came to camp, and I actually beat them out of beat them out of camp.

So I made the Gamblers. And then the fall classic, which is, like, the beginning of the year showcase, we played the Fargo force, and I actually tried out for Fargo. They invited me back to their, like, 40 man camp, it was called. Yep. But then I went to Green Bay's camp, and they offered me a final roster spot.

So, obviously, I had to take the final roster spot, but played against Fargo in that preseason thing and shut them out. So literally before we got back to Green Bay, I was on the bus. I got called up, and I got traded to Fargo. So, you know, this was all new to me too. I was didn't you know, come in double a, triple a, then USHL.

I'm like, what the hell is this? Like, now I'm getting traded from Green Bay to Fargo, North Dakota. I'd never been to Fargo. I'd never heard anything about it, but ended up being huge for my career. Like, I went down there.

We had, you know, we had some good teams. I was there for for a year and a half, but my first year there, we went all the way to the finals. And my head coach at the time there was John Marks, who he's a UND legend. He was, like, the first, you know, first round pick I think they had that that went to u or out of UND. So, I know he gave them a call, and after my first year is when I ended up committing to North Dakota.

So it was quite a big jump. Like, I went from double a my junior year, triple a my senior year, first year out of school, played in the USHL, and committed to North Dakota after that. So it was kind of a whirlwind, but, you know, as I started to progress and obviously once North Dakota came knocking, that's when I kinda realized, like, alright. I'm I might be up to something here. So that's my little journey.

You've had the you've had all the success in Florida, Signed with Springfield this year. We start start with them. Like, walk me how and how much have you chased opportunities at the next level? Has that been all you do is win, man. So I'm trying to figure out why there at times, there hasn't been.

Do you think it's the unorthodox thing, the fact that it looks a little bit bad? Or is it just I mean, I the a is on an NHL contract at this point?

That's that's the big thing. And, like, you know, I I had a I had two years with Columbus.

And Right.

I ended up getting I spent the whole year on the taxi squad, and then I got COVID right at the end of the year. And I think they would have given me a game too, and I'm like, that could have, you know, rerouted my career. But I didn't end up getting a game. I got COVID at the end of the year, so I was sick the last two weeks, which I didn't even feel sick. I COVID pissed me off.

But, anyways, I didn't end up getting a getting a game with them, and then they resigned me the next year. So I had another opportunity, but just never really, you know, cracked into the NHL. I've I've been up there. I obviously spent the whole year there on the taxi squad. And, you know, after that, it was just like, I've always loved Florida so much.

Like, I love my life in Florida. Like, you know, there's life outside of hockey. Like, you gotta be happy. You gotta enjoy. And I think that's why I've done so well down here and and why we've had so much success.

Like, I love playing here. The fans are awesome. Everything we have, it's it's unbelievable. So, you know, like, for me now at my stage in in the career, like, I was signed with Charlotte the past two years too. I think I only got, like, one game with them, but I didn't even really wanna go up that bad.

So it's not like something that, you know, I was really pushing for, you know, getting in my agents here, you know, getting there here. I'd like to get up there. It's it's just kinda it's been nice to be on AHL deals because then I make a little bit more money down here, and it actually helps out out our team too against the salary cap. Because the ECHL, you have, like I don't know what the salary cap maybe it's, a $3,030,000 dollar salary cap you gotta stay on every stay under every weekend. So when you're on an AHL deal, you don't affect that very much.

But whereas if I was just on a ECHL deal, I'd probably go, you know, 1,100, 1,200 against the cap rather than, like, 500, I think, an AHL deal is. So, you know, I've just kinda been, like, I guess, a reserve goalie for Charlotte, and then I think that's probably how how it'll be this year in Springfield, probably pretty similar. And, you know, I know there's guys that are in the, you know, higher levels that I'm confident that my game's just as good, if not better. But, like, for me, I'm kinda done, I would say, chasing it. I don't know if that's a good way of putting it, but like I said, I just enjoy my life down here so much that it's like, don't even wanna go anywhere.

I'm 30 years old now. I just, you know, just had a baby, just bought a house down here. So, hopefully, they'll just keep me down here and and, you know, I won't have to go up there too much. But, again, I told them, I'm like, if you guys need me and I always, you know, I tell my coaches, like, if, you know, I get called up and they give me a shot, like, I'm not gonna not play good. So we'll see this year what happens.

But, no, the past few years, I've had a nice situation where I've, you know, made a little bit more money, but I've been down here.

It sounds like it sounds like you really appreciate, like, that that like you said, that there is more and that, like, that grind of chasing and getting bounced around and and

Oh, yeah.

The uncertainty that comes with and and like you said, knowing your game and knowing it stands up, but then sometimes it doesn't matter. Right? They people make different decisions for different reasons. Like, not making yourself a slave to that seems like a pretty pretty sort of mentally smart way to go.

Yeah. It was like, you know, my one year with Columbus and Cleveland, like, they wanted me to go to Kalamazoo because they were affiliated with Kalamazoo. Like, first year, I was in you know, I was taxi squad, so I was third goalie the whole year. Was like I was a shooter tutor. I was on the ice for, like, freaking three hours a day.

I I remember watching all the practices here and, obviously, just the Canadian division, but, like, that taxi squad was out there. And Insane. Little bit of goalie work, but almost all the rest was just put a target on your chest.

Literally. And, like, Manny Legace, my goalie coach, he used to come up to me, and he would just, like, you know, like, turn on your Ironman shield. Like, here we go now. You know? And just but, yeah, I'd be on the ice early.

I'd go out with the taxi squad guys, then the NHL goalies would come out. I'd do the NHL goalie skate. Then I'd go on the ice for the NHL practice. I'd do the NHL practice. And then after the NHL practice, the taxi squad guys would come out.

So it was like, you know, every day. And then after that, I'd get off the ice, go jump on the bike, do a workout, whatever. So it was a lot of work, which, you know, it's it was hard, but it was I learned a lot, and I enjoyed it. I had a a great group of guys there. Columbus, we kinda struggled a little bit.

But, no, my second year, I was you know, same thing. I went to Columbus' camp. They actually sent me down. I showed up to camp. I was, like, 13% body fat, and I left Columbus at, like, twelve point two.

And, you know, we had a tough year the year before, so they got fired Tortorella. They had a new guy taken over, whatever. So they just kinda made an example out of me. Like, you came in and, you know, you came into camp more worse in worse shape than when you left last year. Well, we hadn't even skated on the ice, so I was like, I don't know how they could say that, whatever.

But so they ended up sending me down, like, right away. I didn't even participate in training camp, so that kind of stunk. But then I went to Cleveland after that. They're like, Go home for the week and a half, couple weeks, whatever, get in better shape. So went home, got in way better shape, cut out all the gluten, was gluten free, all this stuff.

I lost ten, fifteen pounds in, like, two weeks, which is, like, unheard of. But, yeah, I went to Cleveland in better shape, they ended up signing another guy, like, you know, three, four days after they kicked me out of camp. So it was like, for for me, that was kinda like the last of it. Like, alright. I'm freaking done with this crap.

But, that year, I was you know, that was in Cleveland, and then they wanted to send me down to Kalamazoo. But the way that it worked, Florida had my rights, so it was, like, my decision. So when they said that, I was like, oh, yeah. No. I'm sorry, guys.

Like, I'm gonna head back to Florida. So whatever. However that ended up working out, I went out to Florida, and then they called me up to Cleveland. Like, I think I was up and down, like, 10 times that year, which is, you know, 20 flights. So it's like, I'd be up, you know, for they'd tell me I'd be there for a week.

I'd stay for a month. They tell me I'd be there for a month. I'd stay for a week. So, know, you the one time I I flew up there, I didn't even have, like, a winter coat. I didn't have anything warm, and then I was there for a month.

So, thankfully, I'm from Michigan. My mom was able to bring me down some warm clothes because I would have froze to death there in Cleveland. You know, being in Florida, it's beautiful here year round. But, you know,

that you're It's a grind if you're chasing like that.

A grind. Yeah. Exactly. And it and it gets old, and it was like you know, for me, it was like I don't know. I've been up to the NHL.

I see how it is. Like, I see, you know, where I'm at compared to where other guys are. Like, it's it's the best league on earth. So for me, like, really built my confidence that, like, okay. You freaking got it.

Like, you've been up there. So, you know, I just kinda got sick of the up and down and That's fair. The unknown the unknown, you know, not not really knowing. And then I'd get a call one day. Like, couple times I'd be you know, plan to start in Florida that night, and I get called, like, while I'm going to take my pregame nap, like, hey.

We need to fly you out here tonight. Like, oh my god. So, you know, I have to pack up my stuff and fly out that night. But, yeah, I just got, you know, kinda got sick of the up and down, and that's when I was like, you know what? I'm gonna like, I'm not gonna stop chasing it.

Obviously, I always have NHL aspirations, but, like, for me, it's, like, I consider Florida my home. I love it here. I think it's awesome. So, like, I'm happy down here, and I'm happy with how my career has gone where, you know, I I can hang my hat on that at the end of the day.

Well, I mean, you could hang three hats, one on each of your ECHL championships. Three Kelly Cups, my friend.

Right? I'm not done yet either. I'm not done yet. I I tell I've been telling my coach. I'm like, alright.

I wanna go six in a row, and then I'll call it after that. So I still got three more to go.

Someone told me king of the coast is the nickname. So you The Michael the Michael Jordan of the ECHL. Just six just need six.

Yeah. Exactly. And I actually had MJ on my my bucket this year. The the MJ picture, him winning his third championship, and he had a the the three fingers, I got that on one side of my helmet. So I kinda called it before before we did it.

Before you did it. That's even I was gonna say this year would be cool. Last year is, like, Nostradamus and and confident, impressive. I like it.

Yeah. I got a crown on my helmet, and I had MJ with the three. So I'm kind of an arrogant helmet, but, you know, I I tell myself, I'm like, I'm not cocky. I'm confident. It's like I kinda tread that line where I'm not arrogant, but I have a ton of confidence.

And especially being down here too, it's it's easy to have a ton of confidence.

Well, and it sounds like like you said, the organization takes care of you. They treat things professionally. They've got resources in place. And Yep. I mean, why wouldn't you wanna be in a place where you feel really good about yourself and your game?

Yeah. It's it's you know, I'd tell everybody, like, look at the the weather out here. It's beautiful. You leave the rink every day in board shorts and and flip flops. And, you know, what are you what are we doing today?

Are we going to the beach? Are we going golfing? It's like, you know, my my first year from Binghamton where it was cold and we didn't see the sun at all to I remember calling my agent after that. I'm like, screw this. Like, send me to the the best place, the warm you know, the warmest place, the coolest place to play.

He ended up signing my second year with Milwaukee, the admirals, and then they were affiliated with Florida at the time. I knew I kind of was, yeah, locking myself into Florida, which that was the other thing too. Like, coming off my first year, I was on an NHL deal, like, you know, pretty pretty highly touted out of out of college. And then my second year, like, the best that I could find was, like, a backup, you know, technically on the the depth chart, like, a number six spot within an organization. I'm like, this

is crazy. Yeah.

It changes exactly. It changes fast. And even when I came into Florida too, my partner was Ken Appleby my first year here, who he's had some stints in the NHL. You know? And

Last year when

when yeah. Exactly. And when he was here too, I remember in New Jersey, like, it was funny. I was the goalie that came in to replace him in New Jersey. They ended up, you know, not resigning him, and they they signed me.

And then we ended up being partners in Florida, so we're kinda like the New Jersey rejects. But I remember coming in here too. Like, I wasn't gifted games. You know? Like, they were riding him at the start of the year, and I love I love Apple.

He is such a beauty, such a great partner. But, you know, I'm competitive. I wanna play every single game. So I remember he got called up, and then I got to start, like, I don't even know, like, probably 10 games in a row and just went on a heater and kinda gained the respect of everybody after that because, you know, I was playing good, but I wasn't, like, the starter. He'd probably play like, it depend he'd play, like, two.

I'd play one. He'd play two. I'd play one. So Yes. It was frustrating.

But, you know, as you go through all that crap, it's just like you gotta be ready for when your opportunity comes then because they're so few and far between. So, you know, I always just used to be, like, locked in. Like, alright. Like, freaking give me my chance because when I go in, I'm not coming out. So eventually got my chance, and the rest is history.

You've made the most of it, my friend. Well, Cam, this has been fun. Really fun. I think I have to, definitely gonna have to schedule a part two after 100%. After we make it four in a row.

Yep. Just so many great little lessons and takeaways in here for kids, you know, including about what the grind is and what it's like. And there comes a point where finding someplace you're happy maybe matters a little more than the chase.

So Yeah. Exactly.

Thank you so much for sharing those lessons. It's sincerely appreciated, and I can't I can't wait to keep just to keep in touch and keep following along.

Yeah. A 100%. I appreciate you having me on. And to all you young goalies, like, everybody's got their own path and, you know, everybody does stuff their way. So do what works for you and work hard while you're doing it.

Love it. Great advice. Thanks again.

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Outro

Do yourself a favor and, and just do a quick search on on Cam Johnson. There's some great pictures out there, and you see right away the similarity or reference point to Marty Brodeur in a couple of those pictures.

Yeah. It's it's He plays the game a different

Hard to to make that leap.

Yeah. No. No. And so interesting to see that somebody who played with Marty did so as well. And, obviously, there's a ton of talent there.

Right? You don't win three straight titles without it. And he just seems to be one of those guys that when the chips are down because they were this year. Like, Florida didn't march right through to that. And as he said, they've always got a target on with three straight titles.

He just really rallied and and was exceptional for them. So in addition to the three three straight titles, two of them were as the, playoff MVP, so hell of a job for him. And and, obviously, as he said towards the end of the interview there, just really enjoying he just likes his life there. And at at the age of 30, he's just you know, he's not interested in chasing it so much all around the league. He's quite content with where he is, and that's where he plays his best.

You know what they say? It's, home is home is where the heart is. It's where he's happiest. And when you're happiest, you play your bestest.

I give him credit for that because it it's rare that you don't have that same person walking around complaining to the world that they're not getting the look for good reason. Like, really good reason if you if you're that successful. But to be content and be a a great team person, a great player for your coach, awesome.

And not a bad part of the world to settle down on the, West Coast Of Of Florida either. I hurricanes being the one cautionary tale.

Yeah. But they go through. They do. You you you know you know what you're getting there. Like, it's it's not like it's new, but doesn't make it any easier when it's gusting so much and running sideways and coming down in barrels.

Anything happening over at InGoalm that we should be aware of?

New article from Kristen Campbell, another quick pro drill on rotation from the knees that's up there. We had our Joey Daccord, little toe up glove action from the winter classic, Daren, that you and I got to witness firsthand. You did a pro

Oh, that was a classic. Yep.

ProRead based on that, and more of the same coming this week. Some more ProDrills, some more ProReads. Oh, you know what? We probably should have had this earlier on. Folks, make sure you check out the post we have on October saves.

We've partnered with them, and we would like to encourage and next week's podcast will go heavy on this. We would really like to encourage goalie schools. We're issuing a bit of a challenge here, and we will be doing on our social media channels in the very near future. Goalie schools, get in on the team competitions. You can win a fireside chat with Mitch Korn.

You know, it doesn't just have to be associations and individual teams that are part of the team challenge with October saves to help raise money in the fight against cancer. Goalie schools, we really want you to to form a team. Get all your goalies involved. Help spread the word. Help the fundraising.

Get people to donate on a per save basis to what all those pucks you're gonna stop in October, and you can win tons of great prizes while doing it all for a good cause. And this year, if you sign up, you will get a complimentary one week subscription to InGoal Magazine. If you have never subscribed before, you can check it out for the first time. Did I say one week? One month

I think it's a month, Woody.

Subscription to InGoal Magazine.

We're way more generous than that.

Well, I did you know, I thought maybe I was being cheap and forgot about it. One month subscription to InGoal Magazine, so you can check it out. And then if you decide to subscribe and, hey, why wouldn't you? It's the best resource in the world for goaltenders. You get credit for half of that subscription.

We're gonna donate it to October saves this month.

Well done. Educating and, raising awareness and, just being great to the world of goaltending and, and teaching us along the way. Popliteus.

Popliteus. It's gonna be our new sign off.

Yes. It is. I'm getting a T shirt done. Popliteus, take care of yours. InGoal Radio, the podcast presented by The Hockey Shop, thehockeyshop.com, Source for Sports Langley. If you haven't Google it, look it up. We'll talk to you next week.