InGoal Radio Episode 283 with Florida Panthers Goalie Coach Rob Tallas

Intro

We're sneaking up on it. The holiday season is right around the corner, and we are in full swing. InGoal Radio presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. We have a fantastic show coming for you today. All kinds of angles in the world of goaltending, the great one, the big cat.

Andrei Vasilevskiy will stop by with a couple of great takes on save percentages being down as we say hello to the cofounder of InGoal Magazine. It's Kevin Woodley. David Hutchison is on assignment, but he's going to be released, and he's gonna be with us in just a little bit. So we're looking forward to catching up with him, but, we got all kinds of things going on over at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley and InGoal Mag, buddy.

Yeah. No. Hey. It's Christmas time. And by the time I mean, given how close we already are to Christmas, it might be a little late if you haven't got your gifts purchased.

But

But we all we're always looking for one more thing.

Exactly. And for the goalies in your life, we have that one more thing, including from our friends at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports. And you're probably thinking, hold on. Hold on. It's way too late for me to get something shipped from The Hockey Shop Source for Sports wrapped and under the tree.

Well, how about we stuff the stocking with something that it can allow the goalie in your life to stuff their gear bag after Christmas? And, of course, I'm talking about gift cards from The Hockey Shop and thehockeyshop.com. All kinds of different numbers you can attach to it, whether it's a small gift or a big gift. You can get a gift card big enough to get a new set of gear. They've got it.

You can't maybe get a new set of gear.

Is that like one of those big checks that they use for presentations?

I think if you if you buy a big enough one, we can probably get Cam to deliver a giant cheque. I could picture him holding a giant cheque and knocking on your front door sometime in early January.

That would be really cool. Imagine unwrapping that.

Yeah.

Seems like here.

I yeah. There you go. There you go. So it like and the best part, of course, is that the goalie in your life gets to choose what they want. Right?

Because let's face it. It's a pretty unique individualized position. So whether you need help from the staff at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports picking out the right stuff, you know they've got the crew to do that, or if you just wanna let your goalie pick for himself, check it out. Hockeyshop.com gift cards. A great idea for stuffing the stocking.

And I gotta say, Daren, we've got a few more great ideas going up in InGoal, sort of our last minute gift guide. Almost everything on it is available digitally, and I gotta start with an InGoal premium subscription, folks. I know this is a little bit of back padding here at the InGoal Radio Podcast, but there is no better way to get better at playing the position than to read from advice from some of the best. Whether it's our ProReads, our ProDrills, all the things that we bring to you weekly, you can get an InGoal gift subscription, have it delivered, and under the tree, we'll even give you something you can print out featuring your goalie gift need person with their favorite goalie on it. So that was really good English by me there.

Hey, Daren. I was like, goalie get you. You get the idea, folks. Was goalie gift card.

It was goalie speak, buddy.

Yeah. From somebody who's been hit in the head too many times by pucks. But, yeah, we've got your goalie gift subscriptions. The goalie in your life doesn't already have a subscription to InGoal, you can get it. And like I said, we've got little gift cards that you can give to them featuring their favorite goaltenders.

Also, folks, if you purchased a goalie gift subscription in the past, remember, of course, those are only one year subscriptions. They're not the automatic renewals, and you will need to buy it again for the goalie in your life. So make sure you check it out at ingoalmag.com.

The goalie accessory page over at the the Hockey Shop Source for Sports, that's my go to. If you're not, going down the big ticket item, there's tons of options there that you can slide in on tape. Like, we all love tape. We need it every every every game. So go even go something as simple as that.

And when it comes to InGoal, there's no better resource on the goaltending world map than InGoal Radio or InGoal Mag.

And we've like I said, we'll have the article up shortly that'll have a lot of links to a lot of partners because that's the beauty. A lot of the the companies that you hear us talk about regularly here on the InGoal Radio Podcast, like Vizual Edge and NHL Sense Arena, all of their products are available digitally. So we've got some options there as well as some from some other goalie companies that we worked with in the past to make sure that you can get something last minute under the tree in the stocking for the goalie in your life.

Feature Interview - Andre Vasilevskiy

Just when we thought after the Four Nations rosters were unveiled, we might not have, a lot to nibble on here on the podcast that Igor Shesterkin signs the record setting contract with the New York Rangers. So what was your reaction to the number? Did it come in in and around where you expected?

Mostly in the sense that that's where the reporting was, that that's what it was gonna take. And listen, I know we've seen a whole bunch of goalies signed for eight and a quarter. Like, that became the new benchmark. But it was pretty clear from all the conversations and all the reporting that Igor was looking to set a new benchmark that it would be in that 11,000,000 plus range, but, you know, the argument being best player on the team paid like it. And, frankly, given how consistently great he has been, and I know things are not going well for the Rangers right now, but believe me, when I look at the numbers at Clearsight, it is not because of the goaltenders.

If you want that level of consistent excellence with the upside of, you know, Hart trophy candidate one year, consistent sort of in that conversation, if not always a finalist. There are only a couple of guys that are are as consistent as Igor Shesterkin. I mean, other than Connor Hellebuyck, it's a pretty short list. There there's the list of elite goalies is a little longer, but Shesterkin's fully worth the money. And I'm more curious now to see where everything else goes, in the coming years with with goalie contracts.

Because a lot of those other guys that got an eight in a quarter, they were looking at RFA status, and Igor could have walked as a UFA. And I think there are a lot teams that would have welcomed that level of goaltending into the vault and paid a lot for it.

We'd heard 12. Did you ever think that that as an AAV was legitimate?

I mean, we may be looking that as an average within five years the way the cap could go up. Right? Like like, at the end of the day, it's all percentage of cap, and we see these projections on revenue that could have it soar, like, even more than the current projections and quite quickly. So I hesitate to say we won't get there because I wouldn't be surprised if we're there in five or six years.

I don't think anybody's being Igor Shesterkin. We'll save that one for, later on, and the next crop of free agents that are coming up in the next couple of years. And if anybody's even gonna get close to 10, for an AAV, we'll, we'll peruse that layers. David Hutchison, who slides in. How was your assignment?

You don't have to tell us what it was. It might might be secret. It might be Christmassy. You might be in shopping for us, but how was it?

It was excellent. I don't think there's a whole lot of details to share right here, but, yeah, sorry for being late, boys. Thanks for running with the ball.

What was your reaction to Shesterkin?

I I guess for me, it was just a little bit of surprise that it was done mid season. And and maybe I haven't been keeping up on the news and the individual well enough to know that, but, you know, so many people wanna put it off and and look after those sort of details in the summer and not take away from their own game. But, maybe there was a desire on his part just to put it to bed so he can get on and play.

Pending UFA probably changes everything.

And the way that they were going might put a little more urgency to just put it aside and concentrate on on winning some hockey. Yeah.

Hasn't helped.

No. True. True. It comes at a time when goaltenders are fighting it a little bit. Say percentages are down Perfect.

Across the board. Then we're looking at legendary numbers when it comes to that SVPG column. Andrei Vasilevskiy had some interesting things to say to nhl.com's Kevin Woodley earlier this week.

Well, and InGoal Magazine's Kevin Woodley, because we're gonna run the audio portion of some of that here. Like, I think first the caveat, and that is that absolutely goal scoring is up because players have never been better. Like, the league is loaded with skilled, young, fast players. We've seen the complete erosion. Well, maybe not complete because we've started to see some teams focus on size of the back end, but largely the erosion of the defensive defenseman.

I'll never forget Brayden Holtby telling me and others that Karl Alzner was his favorite defenseman to play behind as an NHL goaltender, and the next year Karl Alzner was out of the league. Like, we have seen that change so fast. So you've got all this skill, all this skill focus at all positions, and you've got teams that have figured out how to score goals that, you know, funneling pucks from the point without any net front presence, that a lot of the ways that teams used to just weigh shots, is being replaced by high danger chances, cross ice passes, slot line, low high bumper plays, like all these things that are specifically designed to make a goaltender's life miserable. Goalies around league will tell you the game has never been harder. But as Andrei Vasilevskiy points out in this interview, with that has come a decrease in the amount of low danger shots that NHL role is face.

And talking to Clearsight analytics, the number backs it up. Some of the lowest danger chances over the last six years are down 20 to 27%. And so you add that up. I mean, inherently, if we have a near, you know, 25% on average reduction in the shots that goalies stop 95 to 99% of the time, and we have an increase in scoring the number of chances that go in 20 to 40% of the time, save percentage is gonna come down. It was one of the first things that Vasilevskiy mentioned when I asked him why it was happening.

You know what? Guys, I feel like guys don't don't waste shots anymore. You know, back in when I came to league, it used to be at least 30 plus 35 plus shots each game just you know, it's kind of was, almost every night you felt good about your your game. You you were pretty, you were into it all the time. Like, yeah.

And as I said, guys, nowadays don't waste shots. It's all Always with the quality.

It's it's all about the quality nowadays. The guys, they're all looking for that, perfect, perfect play, perfect pass, perfect shot. And now instead of, you know, even again, when I came to league once again yeah. I I mean, ten years. So it's it's a lots of players.

Goalies were playing on, like, on top of the crease. You know? Because for the most part, guys were, you know, skating into the zone and shoot right away and and go from there. But nowadays, again, guys, they were skating in the zone, and they're looking for a pass. You know?

They're looking for that tick tock way with that backdoor tip or something. So, again So do

have you backed off, like, depth?

Yeah. Yeah. Now, it's more about the blue paint game. You know, key I feel again, it's my per personal Everybody's opinion. Yeah.

I feel like it just it's really hard to play really aggressive nowadays in the NHL. So that's why even me, I I played really aggressive when I just came. But over the last a year, year and a half, maybe I'm trying to kind of manage my distance, I guess.

Yeah. When you said people aren't wasting shots, do you think that's why a save percentage is down?

Everybody everybody says, well, save percentage

is down, but the goalies have never moved out.

For sure. For sure. I all the goalies are obviously still great goalies. I mean, they're they're not playing in the HHL. It's you can see you're here for a reason. It's a you can be a bad goalie if you play here. And I feel, yeah, like, guys don't don't wish shots. In my opinion, all those young players, they're so super skilled. They they they know that.

They they don't wanna because once you shoot a net with no traffic or no It's like a turnoff. No. Exactly. It's electric. So, okay, goalie will catch it then then what?

Okay. So we saw that the play is dead, so no nobody will, you know, will pet him in the back for that. So that in my that's in in my opinion,

I I think you're right. I think I've seen other people talk about that. So what makes that harder then, a, save percentage comes down, and everybody talks about it, but they don't understand why. But b, you're not as busy. You don't get a lot of the shots that the ones that you feel and help you get into a game.

That good? Yeah. Yeah. Now that How hard

is that as

a goal with sometimes? Yeah. I mean, you, you know, you just stay in the blue paint and waiting for something to happen, I guess. And you have lots of energy, and you have lots of thoughts. And that's not not a good not a perfect scenario.

You know, when you don't have shots, you thinking about how you're gonna play instead of playing the game. It's because you have no shots. So but when you have a lot of shots that you you you don't think you just play. So, obviously, it makes it much more easier. Again, even even me, I remember I you know, after each period, I you know, during the intermission, I'm in the locker room, was ready, just like now and, you know, just sipping water, like, you know, can catch my breath, and I feel good.

Like, but, now sometimes I know, between the periods, I I I come to the locker room and I'm, you know, I'm cold. I dry. Like, and I'm like, I feel like I'm still, like, didn't even, play the game. It just yeah. Even one period.

So So the challenges become more mental than physical.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It's again, it's something to work on for for all of us. And, yeah, as you said, challenge and use more again, a different little approach to today's game, I guess.

But but, again, that's what makes it really fun to play this game. You you've it should find in all the time, you're trying to find a new new ways that will help you to improve your game and, you know, help your team to win games. So that's it. That's that's why we play the game. So

I think in my favorite part of goal time is the fact that there is no there's no there's not just, like you said, like, for Helly or but there's no one way that's for everyone. Like, can do it different. Right?

Yeah. I love that. For sure. For sure. Yeah.

We're we're all different. What works for one guy won't work for for the other guy. We're all different, and we all have to find our I mean, mean, all the NHL goals, already have they already made it. So Right. Right.

Right. But for the young guys, it's a they're obviously really

For for I have an NHL call, but we also have InGoal Magazine. Yep. And I'm always looking for advice for the young guys. Right? So if I could ask one last one, when you're not busy in those nights where you feel like you're coming in, you haven't played, how do you handle it?

Like, do you have a thing that helps you deal with nights where you don't see a lot of shots that a young kid might be able to Yeah.

For sure. I well, obviously, in kids hockey, there's probably no commercial break. Yeah. That's right.

Yeah. Yeah. Of course.

So but me, personally, during the commercial break, I'm trying to move a little bit. I do some, t pushes, like, all the Crease movements. Yeah. Yeah. But, again, they could do that during the stoppage of the game, like, during the whistle between the whistles.

Yeah. Your end? Exactly. Exactly. They could do that.

One, actually, one really good goalie in the NHL, he retired, but he told me, play with the puck more often. If you don't see much shots, obviously, not try what it's hard rim on the glass. Obviously, don't don't play that. But if you have an opportunity to play, just go and play, move your feet, like, may make the nice play, and you'll feel a little better after that. You know?

Used to do that. Right? Yeah. Yeah. When he went from one coach to where he was super busy, and then they had a new coach who was shot suppression. 20 shots a night. And he he liked to move. He was active.

Oh, he that was sick. So active. But, anyway, it wasn't his advice, though. It wasn't him. Wasn't him.

Well, it wasn't. But, yeah, he he's one that's me told the same thing. It's great advice.

Yeah. I I mean, that's at least that's what what I'm trying to do. Yeah. Sometimes I'm getting lucky, and I'm getting that 35 plus shots a game, and I feel great. Yeah.

So but, again, it's it doesn't happen that that afternoon nowadays, unfortunately. So What? But no. We'll we'll get through it.

Bit of an exclusive on InGoal with that audio from Andrei Vasilevskiy through nhl.com and InGoal at Kevin Woodley.

Do you remember the first exclusive we had with him years ago?

No. That was It was it it's perfect because we used it for it was a Christmas it was a Christmas theme, Christmas story.

Well, see, that's not the one I'm remembering.

Are you remembering the left handed one?

That's the one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I've used that a thousand times.

That was that was tied to not being able to get the equipment when I asked him about Christmas gifts, him remembering his first because, like, that's that's part of goaltending. Right? All these guys have stories about remembering Christmas gifts, but it brought about and he remembered a specific set getting back in Russia, but it brought about him telling me that he actually would have caught with the other hand if the gear had been available. But even in Russia with a dad that was playing professionally, he couldn't get it.

Remarkable. I've told that to so many people. I'm I'm telling them the third time now. I just love passing that story on about Andrei Vasilevskiy. So are are goaltender still as as good, or has there been a drop off in performance?

I'm curious how you slide through this. And the other question is, how low do you think this save percentage number gets?

I think we're I think we're headed for sub 900 as a league average.

Yeah. You do.

I think at the current trend, it was .901 when I wrote the article. And by the way, we have we'll have an InGoal version up this week because there are some other factors that I've since talked to other guys that didn't get included. And that includes shots not being counted the way they were before. A lot

That's true. That's true.

And we know why. Because there are there's an increased presence in gambling and over under on shot totals was constantly hitting over because everything was getting counted. And so now and the irony here. Now here's the real irony. Clearsight has said that the NHL badly overcount shot for years because Clearsight takes where the puck was released and draws lines to the post and sees where the save is made and can see whether it was actually gonna be on net.

So goalies will hate it. Goalies do hate it. I've talked to them. Pucks that are going wide by four inches that they catch, they're no longer credited with the save for. And the NHL is now actually following that up and talked to Spencer Knight about this.

He's like, yeah. Me and Bob will be sitting there at the bench. We'll look up, and it said 14 shots two minutes ago, now it's down to 11. And so they're auditing them like they never have done before. And so save percentage is being reduced because a lot of those long shots that I talked about are no longer being counted as shots.

And, again, Clearsight has kinda not counted them for a while, which is why their save percentage numbers have always been lower than what the NHL has had. But just to go ahead and some of the numbers, some of the specifics. So Clearsight shots from the perimeter, down 27.9% over the last six season. Clear sighted shots from outside the slot, down 20.84%. Net play, so shots from dead angles.

This is a really interesting one because for all the focus on reverse VH and the odd one that gets Sam Hallam the other night for the Philadelphia Flyers, I think it was Carcone off banks one in off his ear and in from a dead angle, and so everybody goes reverse VH and all this stuff. Guess what? Those shots, as much as they make headlines when they go in, are down 25% over the last six years. Dead shots. They are.

We're seeing results on some of them, but overall, dead angle shots net play attempts are down 24.93 over the last six years, which may be this is a discussion for another day, may inform a little bit of our coaching and how much time we spend focusing on dead angle plays and stopping them. And maybe the focus should be on, okay, having that insurance policy being able to seal in case it comes, but being able to move off the post. Because right now, what's going through the roof is passes from those dead angles and below the goal line up into the slot area. Low high pop passes, one of the number one increases in offense over the past two years. Other things that are up over the last six seasons, low slot line plays.

So below the hash marks plays across the middle of the ice, up 26.6%. High slot line plays. So, again, across the middle of the ice, make the goalie move, full rotation from one side to the other, 36 and a half percent screens. And this is one where the public data misses in a big, big way. There are screen attempts.

If your defenseman can hit the top corner with a layered screen, it goes in over 40% of the time. That's more than a freaking breakaway. But a lot of the public data does not actually, all of the public data and frankly, some of the private data of other companies does not even account for screens. And so shots that go in 40% of the time, if you hit a certain spot, are credited as 1% scoring chances. So we see some of the wide discrepancies between public and private data.

That's a big one. And guess what? Layered screens are up 12%, and screen deflections are up 43.7%. So teams throwing pucks to the net and trying to get a tip, throwing pucks wide and trying to get a tip back on net, that is a scoring trend that we have seen increase massively in the NHL. You add all this up.

Here's the other one. And Vassy talked about this because it changes the challenge for goaltenders. It becomes more of a mental battle as he discussed in that interview. Six years ago, twenty eight, nineteen, the mix of low danger to high danger was almost three to one. So far in 2425, it's closer to two to one.

So instead of for every high danger chance, you got three low danger, we're getting close to two low danger for every high danger. That's a significant change. It's not quite there. It's like when I checked in with them, it was 6,200 high danger to 13,000 low danger. So 6,500 would be a full two to one, but that's how close we are.

And six years ago, it was a three to one ratio. So these things are changing. I would argue in six years, given the history of the game, they're changing fast, and it's not the only reason save percentage is coming down. I think it's fair to ask, are goalies better or worse? And I need to dig into those numbers with clear sight to see how the performances has shifted relative.

But at the end of the day, this is definitely like, the math the math math. If you see fewer easy chances and more harder chances, save percentages are gonna come down even if goalies just say the same in terms of their abilities and performance.

And you've left out the players themselves getting better over that time as we've mentioned.

We start yeah. We started with that. Right? Like, they've improved. You know why?

Because they're going to goalie school.

Yeah. That's right.

They're working with skills coaches. The stuff that goalies had done for twenty years while the players were all bigger, stronger, faster in the off season, they're now working on their skills like never before.

I just wanted to rewind to one piece you said a little bit ago there, Woody. Because especially people who are a little bit newer listening in on the show might not be aware. You mentioned Spencer Knight looking up at the clock, seeing 14 shots, and then all of a sudden it's wound back to 11. I'm not sure everybody's aware that every shot is reviewed mid game and those totals do get adjusted on the fly. It's not like your minor hockey game where there's somebody in the penalty box hitting a button every time there's a shot.

They're actually being reviewed on video to decide if they are valid shots, and then you've laid on top of that, Woody, that they're reviewing them even more stringently.

Yeah. I don't I don't know I don't know how closely they were reviewed before. Let me tell you that. Yeah. They are being now.

I don't remember it either because, as somebody that, does intermissions on a regular basis on television, you have the shots and then they're changing mid intermission. That's a new trend where you you go to the first intermission with one total and you come out for the second period, with a with a different total. That's that's happened every night in every rink now.

And you'll also see it I I've been to games and I've been like this, but, know, goalie parents, every time there's a shot, they look at the shot clock. Did my kid get credited? Did my kid get credited? Yeah. What you will notice, especially in junior and and pro games, is sometimes there is that delay because they're reviewing it before they even put the initial shot up so they don't end up having to wind something backwards.

So you might

I actually had this debate. I was doing stats one night, for an American Hockey League game to have some fun to to try something different and and contribute. And what is a shot shocked me, and what isn't a shot surprised me. Tell me more. And well, just a a puck that would go in, I thought was a shot.

Yeah.

But it doesn't count as a shot all the time. They something from center ice

And Yeah. Goes in

towards the that before and whether that

that really do That's that's not a shot.

And so I'd love to know you got some direction on that because we've had that question before. We've had people say that unless it's a legitimate attempt to score, it doesn't count as a shot.

That that's what it was.

But I've never heard somebody go on record and say that, so that's interesting.

That was the direction I got and then a shot that was not going to go in, and and there was a save made didn't count, which you alluded to earlier.

Yeah. That's fair But

that's that's skipper from center ice that Marc-Andre Fleury with on and went into his net would would be the evidence for if it's on net, it should count.

Right. And then how do you have if it goes in though, it's a shot. If it doesn't go in, it's not a shot. That was my counter argument to this person because you can't have a goal without a shot.

But I was given a scenario the other day and I wish I could remember the exact scenario because I need it right now. Where there is a situation you can have a goal without a shot. And I think it's your own player directing it in.

I think it's the Fleury one.

Yeah. Like it's not a your player tips it into your net, but he actually fires it onto your net. It's not a shot on goal, but it's still a goal.

I I think the flurry one was also because we went back and forth on this.

So is the Lindgren one a shot on goal?

We'll have to look that up.

Yeah. Seriously. Go back to, the screens because you're you were rattling off so much, and it was fascinating. When you went 12% more layered screens, what was what was the category after that at at 40%?

Screen deflections.

Okay. So getting it up 40%?

43.7 over the last six years. So it's funny because we like, I mean and I live in a market where we're seeing this. The public data has the Canucks as one of the lowest expected goals for, so they generate the lowest expected goals. Like, what they generate should not lead to goals according to the public data. And they're all they're a very good net front team that has a dynamic arguably, most dynamic defenseman alongside Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes at the point who's able to get and, you know, someone a goalie coach actually told me his shot is 80 miles an hour and that they're actually preparing for his shot, which is a shot specifically designed to just quickly get it up and on net in a specific area maybe for a tip.

And so you have that elite talent, and you have a team that's conscious of layered traffic and tips and deflections at net front. And so the public data says they're the lowest in the league, and clear side data says they're, you know, flirting with the top 10. And that's because a lot of those types of chances, they're eleventh in high danger five on five chances. And everybody in this market screams that's not possible, but it is because the chances that they generate that can go in as much as you know, hit a spot and it's 40%. But even without hitting that spot, just an average, it's an almost 20% scoring chance, gets counted in the public data as a one or 2% chance.

Here's a change for you. I had this conversation with a player the other day, and it revolved around deflections. And we were talking about who, from the point, delivers the most deflectable shot. And I brought up well, that that person is really good at keeping it low. And the offensive player countered to me saying, I like them high so I can tip them.

That's a major change. Not too long ago, you didn't want a defenseman firing it high because it was dangerous. Nobody wanted to be in front of the net tipping a shot if it was gonna be coming, chest high towards you. Now the players actually like that the players providing the screen of the deflection like the shot high because it presents more of a challenge for the goaltender because it's a vertical tip and a horizontal tip if you want it, but a or a lateral tip. But you can you can go much lower with that deflection, and that's a major change.

I was surprised to hear that.

I think there's two parts to that. We just talked about Quinn Hughes and his sifter. Like, how many guys are loading up? Like, there aren't any like, I don't say there aren't any, but, like, there's not a lot of Shea Weber loading up the one-timer for a 100 plus mile an hour bombs that'll go through the back of the net like it did at the Olympics I covered. Like, there's not that many the guys are just trying to get it on net.

Yeah. You're not seeing the one-timer as a weapon nearly as much. Obviously, you have your Etchens and your Lish Patersons, although we almost never see that on the power point in Vancouver anymore. Those types of weapons. But for the most part, it's just getting in on net.

And to your the forward, I'm assuming you're talking to a forward's point there. A deflection on the ice historically goes in 2.6% of the time. A deflection in the air is close to 15%. So it's the difference between a really low danger chance and a mid percentage chance having that puck in the air deflected versus one along the ice. Because you know, unless you deflect it up off the ice, chances are the goalie's got the bottom of the net covered.

Except for those except for those ones that are a high tip that go down to ice level, those are actually hard to get to.

Yeah. That that's a that's a deflection in the air.

That that that's all I'm saying. Like, to say, yeah, we've got the bottom of the net covered. It's sure if you're already down, but it's hard to it's hard to get down and do those. I was just thinking that, Daren, your your question is sort of a a reflection of the skill in the league now too, isn't it? I mean, as Woody's talking about those one timers, it really was just guys wasting as the hardest shot they can on net as possible and who knows where it's going.

I think the forwards now trust that their defensemen are being a little bit more purposeful, a little bit more skilled with those shots, so more safety. And how many times have you seen guys in practices just standing there working on those tips and almost never missing? I mean, there's some guys in this league that won't miss those high shots now. It's, back in the day, maybe it's a little easier just to put your stick on the ice and tip that low shot. But but now they've got the skill to handle those ones that are coming in high.

One, to go back to our point about the Karl Alzner's of the league being filtered out defensively, you're no longer paying the price to stand in front and tip it like you used to. Like, you're absorbing some cross checks, but nobody's breaking off a a an old wood Sherwood in your lower back like they used to.

Wonder if slap shots are down.

Oh, yeah. I don't have those numbers in front of me, but I've seen stories documenting that for sure. Slap shots are way down.

Like, the eye test tells you they're down.

It's it's it's all about you know? And, part of this comes back to the analytics and recognizing what makes a goalie's life tougher and delivering more of those shots. And and what's one of the biggest things that makes our life tougher? Puck movement that doesn't allow us to get set and in position for the next shot. And the quickest way to do that now, okay, one timer works, but just quick releases and getting it on net is more important these days than the perfectly placed hardest shot you can deliver.

I laugh all the time about the story regarding goaltenders in the National Hockey League not being set and how you can take advantage of that. And then I think about my league and what it looks like when a goaltender is not set, and he's standing up, wobbling back, or on the ice. And, like, that's a that's a much different Slightly

larger percentage of not set. What we're looking.

I'm not sure I'm ever set.

If that's what it looks like when a goaltender is not set, then I've never you're right. Even in a drill, I'm not set. And it's the same guy coming down or the same slot angle on on the flow drills coming by. Fun stuff. Let's let's pursue this a little bit more because I've got some questions.

I'd love to fire it at you online and see if we can get some more I I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with all the research that you've got because you there's another level to the to the rabbit hole. The Gear Segment brought to you by the Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, the hockeyshop.com. This I just got a sneak peek of this. This is fun as we get into growing the next generation of of goaltenders.

Gear

Yeah. And a great little set of equipment. We're gonna let Cam explain it, but the idea here is to be able to get in and out of it at the really young ages. And I could probably maybe we save this for a segment, invite Steve Thompson from USA Hockey on. The idea of quick change gear has been a big program they've run down in The States.

The idea that kids at these ages shouldn't exclusively be playing goal, that everybody should be trying it. It's not just about the kids that wanna be goalies not giving them a chance. It's about giving the kids that don't know if they want to or not, them opportunities to try it. And so Bauer's got a great setup. You can, I would imagine this would be a great sales for associations, Hutch, as well as individuals on teams that allow you to let more goalies try the position, and I like what they've done with it?

We'll let again, let's let Cam explain the rest. Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports. We're over in Goalie Utopia where something that was built specifically for Cam is on display. Yes. Learn to save kit from Bauer.

About time somebody named something after your inability to stop pucks. But in all serious folks, we've been talking talking a lot about junior lines and and youth lines and kids lines, and Bauer's got a really, like, just comes in one box, in one bag, complete kit. Yes. Not quite no mask, but

Correct. Contrary to Kevin's belief, this wasn't designed specifically for me. This is designed for associations to be able to quick change goalies on the fly. So we're talking like a hockey one or hockey two, hockey three, you know, the youngest kids.

Cam's Beer league.

Exactly. They're gonna be wearing, you know, their shin pads and everything else. This gear has the ability to go over those shin pads, use the existing kids gear that the kids are already wearing. So you literally can swap, you know, guys and girls right out very, very quickly and giving them ability to try that goaltending position basically on the fly. So that's a

great thing at a time when we are seeing goaltender numbers dwindle on this side of the border and in The United States. I know these types of programs have been really active down there. The ability to get more kids trying the position. Also, associations where you don't want you don't want kids having to buy their own sets of gear at this age gives that option as well. So let's pull it out.

Show me what's in here. What makes

it What's in the bag? What's in the bag? Okay. Let's start.

You got the itty bitty glove.

I've got some leg pads.

And yet it still fits my hand. That may be an editorial comment of some sort. Closed is easy. I like that. Okay. I'll let you start with the pad.

Go ahead. Back back, folks. K. So nice wide open channel designed to go over that shin pad. You are getting, again, a basic kind of style of pad.

The whole point here is to get the goalie set up and get them in the net. So this will go over that shape pad. No problem. Wraps around. Still get those same elastic style toe ties that,

you know, Bauer uses. Simple. Yeah. Exactly. Get them on easy.

Simplicity here. That's why you're only really seeing two straps. Call 3 if you include the toe ties.

You know what I like? Because this is also good for Cam, but really good for new goalie parents. Left Left. And right. Yes.

And also, I think we should include this for Hollywood producers because every time they need a set of pads, they get it wrong. They get it wrong as well.

So easy to do up pads.

Easy to put on and close glove. I love like, look at how easy that is. Just like, you know, I don't have the strongest hands. Let's be honest. I'm a little soft, a little weak.

No problem closing this.

I didn't even have to say it. This is

great. Hey.

It's Hey. And you know what? Truth. You basically hit all the key points on the glove there. Again, the biggest thing here is that we wanna have the goalies feel comfortable.

So it's just a matter of having this easy close glove off the shelf. Cool thing about the blocker. So this, you look at the back end, missing a couple things. That's because it's designed to work with a regular player glove. So the goalie with their regular, like, playing out glove would be able to pop their regular hockey glove in there, tighten down that wrist strap.

They now have a blocker that's ready to rock and roll.

So The other thing I noticed when I looked left and right, medium twenty four inch plus. Are there different sizes of this?

Twenty four and twenty two available in the kits. So two different sizes.

Associations, take note. This is a good thing, not just for your goaltenders, but for goaltending in general. What else we got?

So one last thing is, okay. Well, what about a chest protector? That one's kind of hard to swap in and out. So Bauer just came up with, like, a padded jersey. This will slide over, again, those current shoulder pads.

This will give a little bit more abdominal protection. Again, we're not talking about, like, the highest level of play here. This is designed to have that quick interchange.

Note to all you coaches who like to be, like, weekend warriors come down and snipe on your eight year old goaltenders, maybe not the place for it.

Don't be hammering the pucks at. Yes. Exactly. So, again, it's not the thickest, but, again, it will be that introduction too. So all a great hit, and it comes in that easy bag.

Best part.

This really is good, like, not just for goaltenders, but for the position of goaltending. Like we said, we are seeing numbers dwindle on both sides of the border in terms of people that wanna play goal. Oftentimes, they don't get the opportunity to try it. This is a great way to try it. Really good for associations at that lower level.

If you got any questions, you're looking at multiple sets, give Cam a call. Where can they get ahold

of (604) 589-8299 or 1-800-567-7790 or at the hockey shop dot com. You give us an email at sales@thehockeyshop.com. We'll check it out, make sure we have the right product for you, and I'm out to you.

It's too late for Cam to learn to save, but not for you.

I knew before I even introduced that with you guys that you were gonna take a shot at at Cam about the learn to play. It was just it was there, and it was all teed up.

And and he knew it was coming, and the there's nothing you can do about it.

Nothing he could do about it either. Poor guy's gotta suffer through it.

He can't afford a pretty good old standard though, isn't he?

No. No? No. I'm just kidding. No.

I'm just kidding.

I I've I've heard good things about Cam's game. Calling

the kettle.

But but but I but I suck too, so

that that kit, and I know it's not what it's designed for, but there's always possibilities and and and results that that come from just looking at something and saying, I I could do something else with with that. The learn to play goalie kit looks like this is the first thing I thought of was, like, road hockey, ball hockey, street hockey is would be an awesome thing if if you're playing out there with with your buddies or your kids are out there and and they they want a goalie. You don't need the full kit, but the the jersey would be perfect. The pads and the gloves with the with the blocker, that that's genius, the the blocker. There's so many cool things with that beyond what it's made for and to get people to to play goal and and experience that.

Wouldn't that jersey have been nice when you had the old stinging orange balls when you were playing road hockey? Especially in Brandon Manitoba where it's really cold. Those must have hurt.

Darn. We didn't use them. No. What'd you use? It was tennis balls.

Tennis balls? Tennis balls. Yeah. Yeah.

In Brandon, those orange balls, you might as use rocks.

Plus those those orange balls, if you miss the net, those things would roll for three miles.

That's true. I think as as much as this gear is positioned for an association or a team that wants to share amongst players, I can see a lot of young families really wanting to have this under the Christmas tree. Because quite often, your child really wants to be a goaltender even though they talk about equal play. Some young kids at age five or six are playing more than others, and not every association has that gear for them that's gonna fit properly, is gonna be for them. So maybe something like this is something that a really young child would love to have.

Well, I could see teams making this decision. If your association doesn't, the cost is low enough here that you could split it among a group of parents. And I know hockey is expensive that as it is. But if you're if you if you believe in the things that USA Hockey believes in and and I there's a after seeing the presentations, there's a lot of reasons to believe in them, and you wanna see more kids tried at the really young ages. You don't want your kid to be the one stuck in the net all the time.

You wanna see everybody get an opportunity to play. Like, I could see teams making this purchase just so they can have that experience. It's a it's a great idea. It's a great execution in my opinion by Bauer on this one as Cam outlines. And, yeah, like, it's, there's there's a lot to like about initiatives like this.

And nice to see that it's not just the, you know, larger, entities like USA Hockey that they've got partners at the sort of, manufacturer level that are getting on board with these types of initiatives as well.

What is the price range?

I couldn't find it off the top of my head, Daren. I I just couldn't Google fast enough.

Alright. I'm surprised that it took us this long to come up with a blocker idea like that. I love the concept of the pads going over top of the shin pads. That is cool. And stick tap.

And you pointed it out with Cam, the left and the right. Brilliant.

Yes. For for guys like Cam that can't figure out I mean

For like, everybody's done it at some point. Like, you you've been around where it's happened. And when you're new, you don't know.

And as they point out in the video, how many times do we see Hollywood make that mistake?

Right.

I threw a screen cap from Hollywood into the So go take a look folks on YouTube because all the Gear Segment I are on was gonna ask people to guess maybe before they watched it, but yeah, that's exactly

I'm where I sorry.

That's all good.

So on today's episode of Kevin is an Idiot, the key to finding the Bauer Learn to Play Goalie Equipment is to actually call it by its proper name, which is Bauer Learn to Save Goalie Equipment. And the the price for a set at the Hockey Shop Source for sportshockeyshop.com is $399 Canadian, folks. So for you Americans, that's like a trip to Starbucks the way the dollar the way the dollar's going right now. But, yeah, $399, at the Hockey Shop Canadian Funds for the complete setup. It comes in a nice little box, which I believe, if I remember correctly, has a little handle to carry it with.

Maybe there's a there's a bag as well in there, isn't there, Hutch, that that you can There

is a bag that comes with it. Absolutely.

You can Everything comes with its own bag. Everything you

need but a cup.

Much is self contained. Yeah. Definitely get the cup.

Well, and a helmet too, actually. A few things.

One more one more idea.

Yes,

sir. The these jersey the padded jersey. We we have padded underwear, padded undergarments. Could you could you wear that as a padded undergarment?

You totally could. And if parents are looking for a great gift under the Christmas tree that's affordable other than the InGoal subscription, Any of those padded undergarments are fantastic because you might use them at the low level like this, but you see them all the way up to the National Hockey League.

I well, you see them in the National Hockey League already. They're being used to they're being used to make them look bigger.

I just ordered a new set.

What'd you get? What'd you get?

The same one that I had before, the Vaughn one, because it makes me look bigger. I like sending Woody selfies because I look like a like a Hulk. I I look like a legitimate huge human being with with that thing on. And I I wore I didn't wear it the other day, maybe like three weeks ago. And I felt like I was tiny without with just a regular shirt underneath.

I'm waiting to I'm waiting to see the well, I mean, I've seen a few, not quite to this extreme, but variations of it. Guys in the show, like, with multiple shirts or different combinations of shirts to make sure that they're bulked up underneath your chest protector. Multiple.

K. Where do you get more more stingers?

Oh, Woody never gets hit.

Mine's the arm. Woody

never gets hit. He's fine.

His puck goes in the net all the time, Daren. It's hard to get a stinger when they don't hit you with it. The thigh, upper thigh, and then that's probably it. Like, honestly You're catching them

all the pocket. Are you, Woody?

No. No. No. But we've established we've established that, like, I don't believe in bruises. I don't think this position should hurt that much, and there's equipment out there that will prevent it.

Like, you know, and, like, yeah, like, my better games are against players that are way over my head, but it's not Shea Weber. We may we may have somebody we know that does skate with Shea Weber and has had some damage done. But, listen, it's he's not you know, like, I I don't feel like I should be black and blue, and I'm not very often. So I there's equipment out there that can prevent you from from taking these, and I wear most of it. I've got a undergarment shirt on.

I have a very beefy chest protector on, one that's not legal in the NHL because I don't feel like I should hurt all that often. I am soft.

Parent Playbook

A dilemma that, has occurred at every level of hockey. That is the subject that our Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment this week. Stop It Goal Tending, one of our great partners this year.

You know what Stop It Goal Tending also has with their Stop It Goaltending U, the app, Daren? A great Christmas gift item. It may be just around the corner, but you can get and download Stop It Goaltending U the app in a matter of minutes. Whether it's their basic $9.99 per month subscription or a premium $19.99 a month subscription that comes with one on one coaching and access to their coaches on phone calls and video sessions or the basic level. There's something for everyone at the Stop It Goaltending U app.

It will make you a better goaltender, and, of course, it all comes with a subscription to InGoal Magazine, the best of both worlds, InGoal Magazine Premium and Stop It Goaltending U, the app, literally hours and hours and hours of video tips and instructions at your fingertips on your phone, on your tablet. And as we've said before, you can digest it in small chunks. Daily one minute primers, five minute videos on the weekend, twenty minute videos on the weekend, and, of course, all the material from ingoalmag.com. Go down a rabbit hole, spend hours on it, or just dedicate thirty minutes a week, and you will become a better goaltender with Stop It Goaltending U, the app.

Okay. This week, guys, I took this one straight from the goalie parent Facebook group that I follow along with. And the question was, how do you deal with a team goalie coach that is undoing prior goalie coaching by teaching the wrong things? I do wanna say before I jump into this guys, I don't know the individual very well. I don't know much about the situation.

I didn't hop in and answer something on there because there's too many nuances involved. So anything I'm doing here or saying here is not directed at that individual. I would ask a lot of questions before I jumped in and answered this one. But in general

My first question is, how do you know they're doing the wrong thing?

Well, exactly. Right? I was gonna say there's there's so few absolutes in this game. There's so few things that if you got a group of goalie coaches and put them together in one room, they would all insist on your kid doing. So unless that kid's being asked to make a skate save or to never look at the puck when they catch it or something like that, I was really curious.

What do you call is wrong?

And, you know Whatever Woody's doing.

Yeah. Like there aren't many absolutes also because of the reads in the situation. Like think about last week's ProRead with Joseph Woll where he went into the RVH in a place so many coaches would say is an absolute, you must never do it. And yet he did have a reason for doing it there. So the first thing I'd say is I would really encourage a discussion that is framed more in terms of making the assumption that you don't completely get what the coach is asking and then trying to learn from their perspective.

I think you're gonna have an easier discussion with them if you approach it that way. And keep in mind again what we hear from so many NHL goalies that it's about tools in the toolbox. Like give it a go, try what they want. I think even Eric Comrie in that last interview talked about it. And if it doesn't work for you and you've really tried it, well then we get to a discussion about how you can talk about it.

But but first, I would also say to parents that if there's going to be some level of discussion with a goalie coach around this, I would encourage you to help your child take responsibility for that. This is not the time to call a parent meeting to tell the goalie coach that you think there's a problem here. Taking the time to help your child learn to handle these things on their own is so important, and it's gonna be essential as they get older in the game. It's gonna be essential away from the rink as you handle other situations in life. And if your child is nervous or they're unsure about it, then role play it with them.

This is a big deal for them. I really do believe that. So taking the time to work at their approach and to help them learn how they'll deal with this discussion, that's a skill you're going to help them with. It's going to help them in life way after they're making stick saves or dealing with puck tracking or whatever. So what would you say?

I would say something like, I just want to make sure I understand what you're asking me to do here because in the past, I've had some coaches ask me to do it another way. Were they looking at things in a different way? Or maybe you could explain to me the advantage of why you're asking me to do it a little bit differently. I'd try to be looking at it from different angles. And if I still really felt like I'm in the right here, still approach it from that maybe I don't completely understand perspective and see what you can learn in a discussion.

It's less threatening. It's not going to have the coach with their backup wanting to argue with you. They're gonna see that you're just trying to learn from them as well and and maybe even include that idea. But when you say something like, hey, coach, I I really do think it's important for me to try new things and I've been working at doing it your way over the last little while in practice, but I'm still struggling with it. Can we talk about this a little bit, please?

And and maybe you even talk specifics, in in what it is that you're trying to do and and that's okay as well. But it is about relationships with you and the coach as well. I think I need to say that. And, but if you present it the right way, you might find that you're more or less on the same page or maybe you're gonna learn something from the coach when you have a good discussion about it rather than a come in saying you're wrong about this. We need to do it a little bit differently.

And you know what else I've seen happen before, guys? When you have those proper discussions, the coach might learn something from you as well. I've certainly learned things from all sorts of different athletes I've worked with. Your relationship with the coach is so, so important that it needs to be in the right place. So you need to preserve it in how you're having this discussion.

You also need to recognize, is it in the right place to even be jumping into this? Because just like a coach needs to earn your respect, you need to earn their respect before you go in questioning what it is that they're doing. Have you been that kid who really digs deep, tries everything, puts their head down and works? Then you're gonna have more respect from the coach and more opportunity to questions. So is it the right time to even be going at this?

But please, please, please don't just jump into it and say, coach, that's not right. Or my other goalie coach says I have to do it this way. Or at my goalie camp this summer, they taught me. That's just setting up an adversarial relationship and not that partnership that you want with your coach. Imagine for a second that you were teaching something and your student didn't didn't agree with you.

How would you want them to bring it up with you? Try and do it that way. I was on the ice with an NHL goalie a couple of summers ago and he wanted to discuss every suggestion that came his way. I actually like to do it this way. Can you explain to me what you mean by this?

It was literally every suggestion it came up with. But you know what? He's in the National Hockey League. He's earned that opportunity to have that discussion. He was still open to talking about it, which was fantastic.

But a younger goalie is not in that same position. So you got to be careful you're not going to harm that relationship if you question everything or you question too often or you don't approach it in more of a shared relationship way. The reality, as we've said, is there's so many different ways to play this position. There's so many different variations on a situation. So be open to other things and learn from other coaches as best you can.

Give it a go or find some time at home to practice what's going be that best approach with the coach.

Put in the work. You don't have to use it in every game, but put in the work. Because we always we all learn something, trying something different or new.

Yeah. I mean, look, even if the coach is telling you to stand up in the post and not use the RVH, what another coach has asked you to do. Try it. See what happens. You might learn why you like the RVH.

You might learn that maybe there's a situation that his technique actually does work for you. I think it would be a very rare coach that would be teaching everything completely wrong and say it's my way or the highway. If if if that really is the case, well, reach out parents@ingoalmag.com and I'd be happy to talk your specific situation through.

Trying to think of Woody.

Well, know what?

On the back

of the net.

Well well, me. I mean, anything I do is wrong. But you know who I had this conversation with recently was Joonas Korpisalo. Because there's a guy who went from Columbus starting with Ian Clark to Manny Legace to LA with Bill Ranford to Ottawa with Justin Peters and now in Boston with Sergei Bobrovsky in a matter of what? Like, the last three teams are all within, like, a year and a half.

Lot of different voices, lot of different ideas. We had a long chat about sort of how to manage different coaches and different voices. And much like our Vasilevskiy chat earlier, not enough to be a feature interview, but I think I'll I think I'll see if it's it was just in the locker room with voices in the background, but I see if we can package that, maybe include that because I think it would be a be a good part, a good answer to that parent segment to hear an NHL guy talking about all the different things, that he's added to his game and his approach. Tools in the toolbox was how he put it. Mhmm.

Always be willing to add them.

That would reminds me, as you mentioned, Bill Ranford, the segment we published out of the Hockey Shop's day, where Bill Ranford was talking about the net play system for the LA Kings, and he had my son Matthew demonstrating. And they had a discussion beforehand as as Bill was teaching the system to Matty. And and Matthew just said to him, hey, Bill, like, I think this is really awesome, but my goalie coach in Vancouver wants me to do something a little bit different in this position. And it wasn't an argument. It was a discussion.

And Bill came back at him and said, that's fine. Do it his way. But here's what you can pick up from my system that maybe you can add to what he's asking you to do. Really great way of doing things.

And I think it's a great conversation on the on on the Facebook group. I I think it's really a great question.

And Korpisalo integrates elements of Bill's

There you go.

Play thing. Yeah. And still uses part of it, but has blended it with some more new things that he got from Sergei Bobrovsky. So it's really it's fascinating.

On to ProReads, brought us brought to us by Vizual Edge.

Ah, Vizual Edge, our new partners for ProReads. Makes sense that they would partner with ProReads because ProReads is all about how NHL goalies see the game, and Vizual Edge helps NHL goalies and everybody below that level see the puck better. Visual and cognitive training tools all delivered online and to help you through a bunch of different visual skills, identify through the edge test where your strengths and weaknesses are. They customize a program that you can do on your computer, on your tablet, continue to build up all those skills so that you can see puck, see plays, read plays, do it all better than you did before. Cam Talbot, one of the many NHL goaltenders that have used it and attributes his late career success and all the all star games he's made over the past number of years to adding it to his repertoire in 2021.

And, oh, did I mention, like a lot of the other elements we've talked about today, because it's a digital product, it's not too late to get it under the tree for your goaltender. Make sure you check them out at Vizual Edge, proud presenting sponsor of InGoal ProReads.

So our ProRead this week, guys, was, Devon Levi of the Buffalo Sabres. And I thought one of the things that was so cool about it is this particular play had him thinking back to another play that he had made previously where he made a mistake. And it was an eye opening one for him. It said, wow, I've just learned something about the National Hockey League and it had him play this next one just a little bit differently. I don't know that we need to get too much into the specifics because you should go and watch it over at ingoalmag.com.

A reminder, if you're not a member yet, you still get to see everything except that final little ProRead where he actually walks through it himself. But you get to see the play, you get to see it, everything gets set up and make your own decision. And and I just the the fact that he learned from this play, look, we've seen him in some amazing nine one one situations on ice in the summer and yet you still have to play the game. You still have to see what happens on the ice. You still have to learn from those situations on the ice as he has in this one.

One the other part is you could argue if you wanted to that part of what he learned was not to over commit to one side. And some people might look at how he stays in the middle and think, oh, he's cheating a little bit for the past. But there's a there's a reason. There's a it's a fine line between cheating and being ahead of it. And in this case, he was ahead of it, and it was fascinating to have him explain why and as Hutch said, the history that led to it.

And, of course, you can check out Devon Levi on video breaking down this save and others exclusively in the ProReads section at ingoalmag.com presented by Vizual Edge. There are over 350 now videos featuring almost 40 NHL goaltenders breaking down saves that they've made and explaining the save selection, depth decisions, what they see, why they do it. There is no better way to learn how to read the game than InGoal Magazine's ProReads section. Check it out now at ingoalmag.com.

Amazing feature interview this week, with Rob Tallas in our Sense Arena, feature interview. Robbie covers a lot of different areas with the Woody, all brought to us by NHL Sense Arena.

I remember as a kid, guys, at Christmas, there were some Christmases where I oh, my parents were super, super generous, but I didn't get that thing that I could just play with right away. You know? I might have got a new pair of pants, a cool new shirt, something like that, but I wanted something I could pull out from under the tree and use it right then and there. And one of the things you could do is get a Meta Quest headset and get a subscription to NHL Sense Arena so you can play goal underneath the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. It gives you the opportunity to do all kinds of fun things, but you also get access to the entire library of Meta Quest games that you can go out there and grab.

So little Johnny might be having fun being a goalie, but right after that, every other member of the family can be trying something cool in virtual reality. But in terms of sense NHL Sense Arena, you get so many great things. Like, we're talking about having a little bit of fun on Christmas morning. You can go out there to stick and puck and mess around on the ice with other people, even chitchatting with them as you're setting up cool things to do on the ice and have a whole lot of fun. Or you can just do some individual neurocognitive drills and work on that eye hand coordination and all sorts of cool things.

You can go out and do warm ups. You can do drills. You can do them on outdoor rinks. You can hang out in an NHL locker room. There are so many cool things you can do with NHL Sense Arena.

Oh, and by the way, it makes you a better goaltender just like Joey Daccord of the Seattle Kraken who uses it before NHL games, has even used it in between periods during NHL games. It's gonna make you a better goalie, trust me, while giving you hours of fun. Check it out at Sense Arena Dot Com. And as always, try the code IGM50, and you will save even more.

Just a tip. If you do experience this for the first time around the holidays, make sure it's in a different room than the tree.

Yeah. Or you have a lot of space away from the tree. Yeah. Yeah. We've we've all

Because you'll end up Yeah.

Or you know that Bauer learn to save, gear might be good.

Yeah. Put that on.

You throw that on your hands so that you're not banging into the Christmas tree. Seriously, Meta Quest does let you set up a safety boundary before you actually use it. Sometimes we've all been a little bit too lazy to set up that boundary or we've just moved into a different room and all of a sudden, we're making blocker saves into desks and so on.

I've I've walked into things. Yep. Couches.

I've been tackled by the dog.

That's not actually kind of cool.

Mid save. Yeah. It's kind of fun.

Let me try.

Well, it's screen. It's dealing with traffic.

Yeah. It's

Dougie. Dougie. Let's get to Rob Tallas. This is the the fantastic conversation, isn't it?

Oh, it really was. One of my very favorite just especially as a coach, but I actually think for goaltenders because I, gosh, I do this so often. The second I edit the thing, I send it on to my son and say, you need to listen to this. This is just such a fantastic interview. But yeah, just setting up that relationship between goaltender and coach, talking about the approach that they take with each other, talking about that experience of being a pro, just all of it was was fantastic.

But we should we should let Rob tell the story.

Feature Interview - Rob Tallas

Here's Rob Tallas, the NHL Sense Arena feature interview on InGoal Radio Podcast with Kevin Woodley.

Really excited to welcome to the InGoal Radio Podcast. An an oversight, a massive oversight that I have to say first time guest, our subscriber does it at InGoal Magazine will know him very well because he's he's helped us out with drills from time in Kelowna at the Net 360 camp and times we've seen him working with the Florida panthers. Florida Panthers goalie coach Robbie Tallas, Robbie Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers goalie coach coach Robbie Tallas. Thanks for joining us, buddy.

Thank you so much for having me. It's it's it's great to be on here. I I I love what you do. I love how you I've always communicated with you over the years, and you've been unbelievable for the goalies across the world.

Well, same goes for you. I right down to the Matt Villalta drill that we've got, and then we had him on as a guest as well. You've always been so kind to share your knowledge and experience with us. We can't thank you enough. I know our audience has enjoyed it, and we're looking forward to this.

So I guess Perfect. Let's start with most recent. What's it like? What was that like, the run, the emotion, the swings, having been there the year before in the final to finally get over the hump?

Yeah. You know what? Especially for our team. You know, it's it's been kind of a whirlwind in the past few years. You know, we were president trophy winners a few years back thinking that, you know, that was our time and and that, you know, we we kinda went in the playoffs and got past the first round finally and and all of a sudden came to a halt against Tampa.

And, you know, it's it's crazy because you expect that year was gonna be our year, and then coaching change. Paul Maurice comes in, changes the complete dynamic of our team as far as all offense, all run and gun to adding, you know, a lot more responsibility defensively and and just that change. And and, you know, it took a while for us to for a team that played a certain style for a few years to to adjust and and no longer really carry the puck in, but rim the puck in and go get it and play a harder style. And then you could see as the season went along, as we bought into it more and the guys started to feel comfortable with it, now playoff started we we could we were playing a playoff style of hockey. And going into that first run, losing to Vegas was was was an interesting kind of series because with every series, there's there's belief and doubt, and you've hear that all the time.

With it's such a roller coaster ride where one game, you you feel like, okay. We've got this series, and then losing the game, you feel like the series is out of your hand because you're going back to their rink or they're coming back home. So there's just it was a real learning process for myself and for our goalies and, especially, to to control that, to control to really focus on the now. What is what the day is laying out for us at this time. And it was always our slogan a little bit was, like, live in the day.

You know? Like, just live in the day. As simple as it sounds, we cannot get ahead of ourselves because it does tie you up, and it it grabs your emotions with with the way the series goes. And so that was our approach. And, you know, we we finally get to the finals.

And, you know, losing in the finals, we were pretty banged up at the time. It's not an excuse, but we we were really injured, and we lost. And this is what I took out of it. After the loss, I was coming down, and I was walking in the coach's office, and there's a feeling of sadness. There's a feeling of, oh, we came so close.

And and yet there was a feeling of reward, like, how far we came. We just got into the playoffs, and we were underdogs the entire way. And then you walk in the coach's office, and you can kinda see that with all us coaches sitting there, you know, the the the heartbreak, but also, like, that huge achievement except for Paul Maurice. And I looked at him, and he he was mad, And he was disappointed, and he was the he was a different emotion, and I didn't understand it. And, you know, then, you know, we wrap up things, and we go home, and, you know, it's a short summer when we come back.

And then as last year kinda starts off, you know, we had some injuries at the start, but we had a great start. And then you start to realize why he was mad because of how hard it is to get there. And you get caught up in the playoffs, and you're living in that moment, and you're going but you also forgot how hard it was. And and you're also like, this might not ever happen again, or this might happen in five years. This might happen, you know, next year.

You don't know. And and that's when I realized that that why he was the way he was. And then last year, successful season, we we had the confidence of how we played going into that first round last year, and then just how it carried out and the way we just approached every series, every game, how prepared we will were, and then getting into that final series. I mean, it was a different dynamic team that we faced all all from the East Side. The East Side is, you know, a lot more checking, a lot more dumping, a lot more grinding, and now we're facing a team that has such offensive power and two of the best players in the world.

And, you know, truthfully, the the first couple to be up three nothing, none of us saw that happening. You know? We we figured that this was a seven game. We prepared every round that we prepared. Paul does a really good job of preparing us not for four games, but or four wins.

It's seven games. So going into that series, you know, being up three nothing was incredible at the time, but also the shift in the pressure, like, all of a sudden. Because you have the entire world saying it's only been done once in the history of hockey. You guys got this. This is yours.

It's yours. You're gonna win. It just whatever game it so now you start to feel that pressure building. You know, they blow us out in game four, which, okay, you know, that happens, but game five should be our game, and we know it. And and we played well that game, and we lost.

And now we felt their grip. And I think one of the best things was what happened in the Boston series the year before. We gripped them. They were the best team in the history of hockey. They were up in the series three games to one, and we just we gripped them, and we didn't let go.

And we knew that with every second that we kept it close, that we kept it tight, and every second that came off the clock is our advantage. And so going through that series and how we felt Edmonton we knew Edmonton had that grip on us, and so we had to counter it. We had to let go of that grip no matter what. And it was tough. We knew it was tough coming back to Edmonton to win it, and we lose in game six and the hype.

But after game six and coming back, I think Paul's speech to our team, a little bit about playing with freedom and and just his how we worded it and also the two days prior to that game, there was a almost a relief of the pressure. And now we're both kind of on equal playing field again. And I think that that relief is what helped us win that game seven.

Because they're playing I mean, after going down three nothing, they're playing with nothing to lose, and all of a sudden, they have something to win.

Exactly. Exactly. And it and and and now the playing field kinda got even a little bit there, we felt that and we felt the confidence. I mean, Paul's an incredible coach. His speeches are incredible.

And I think he just kinda let the guys know before the game that, you know, it's kind of alright to make the mistakes because we got each other's backs in here. And, you know, and we just went out, and and we played that style of game that, you know, we played for the last two years and what we've learned through the playoffs from the prior season. And it's just it's it was incredible two years of of making it to the finals and then winning it and just, you know, you you talk to people about it that won before, and now it's undescribable. It it true because you you don't really realize that when you talk about it, you know, it's something you've dreamed your entire life, and it's so hard to get. You know, you you dream about making it as a professional hockey player.

Right? And a lot of guys make it. You know? And and then to finally win something that you've just dreamt about your entire life or visualize and that coming true is is such an incredible feeling. And then to enjoy it with your family, your friends, and everybody is is just something that now that you have the taste of it, you just wanna do it every year.

So it's it's been incredible for sure.

Well, and to do it in a place where you've been for sixteen seasons with this team, like, you know, a true, like, pillar of the franchise from the goalie coaching side for so long, mean mean more of that regard as well.

Well, for sure. Because it's the it's it's your team. You know? You you I've been so blessed to be with one team. You know?

The Without a doubt, there's years that you you probably should have been fired, could have been fired. New coaches come in. It's kind of a maybe a little bit of lucky with goalie coaches sometimes and even assistant coaches where new coach comes in and gives you that chance for the year. And, so you're kind of, like, just proving yourself a few times, and and then, you know, if the coach likes you or or, you know, your goalies are are playing well at the time. And, you know, you just you get that balance a little bit where you get a little lucky and and it you know, you roll into the new coach.

And and, you know, I was fortunate to go through a couple changes like that and and and also learn from a lot of great coaches too, that they kind of teach you that, like, their ways so you can kind of almost you know, you look at it for as long as I've been here with some of the coaches I've been here, it's almost like being on, you know, four or five different teams. So you learn so many different things from different coaches that you can apply to yourself and build from, and I think that just makes you actually a better coach yourself. So I think I've kind of taken advantage of that, and I've been so fortunate to have some older goalies. You know, my first year with Thomas Vokoun, I feel like I have some guys, like, almost into their retirement years Lou. In trying trying to get the best of them from Thomas to Theodore to, you know, Roberto coming back and and getting the best out of him in in at the end of his career.

And and, you know, I was fortunate to go through a couple changes like that and and and also learn from a lot of great coaches too, that they kind of teach you that, like, their ways so you can kind of almost you know, you look at it for as long as I've been here with some of the coaches I've been here, it's almost like being on, you know, four or five different teams. So you learn so many different things from different coaches that you can apply to yourself and build from, and I think that just makes you actually a better coach yourself. So I think I've kind of taken advantage of that, and I've been so fortunate to have some older goalies. You know, my first year with Thomas Vokoun, I feel like I have some guys, like, almost into their retirement years Lou. In trying trying to get the best of them from Thomas to Theodore to, you know, Roberto coming back and and getting the best out of him in in at the end of his career.

And then, you know, Bob even signing with us as a bit of an older guy kind of you know, the first couple years were not easy for Bob here. And then, you know, the adjustments that he's made, he he continues to grow and craft his game. And and it's and you look at him now, how he plays is it's as a 36 year old, 35 year old, 36 year old, you know, Bob's, you know, playing some of his best hockey still.

Is that, I mean, the common bond? I mean, you're talking about some of the greats. Thomas Vokoun, to me, criminally underrated historically in the game. Roberto's in the Hall of Fame. Bob's gonna be in the Hall of Fame.

No doubt. The one thing they have in common, I know for sure with Roberto, and you mentioned it with Bob, is never content with what they're doing right now, always looking to evolve?

Yes. So that's that's one.

They're what?

I think the biggest thing is is what you said. They're they they don't just get stuck in their own ways. They're willing to learn. They're willing to evolve. And you know what?

But most goalies have to. If you if if anybody that even the good goalies that played long careers in the NHL, they're gonna have to change things as they go. But I think and it was funny because me and Spencer just did some video, and we're talking about this twenty minutes ago. And I said, well, there's a lot of really good goalies in this league. And then there's a few great goalies in this league, and those are the hall of famers.

And so what separates them? What is that separation? And for me, with even a guy like Thomas Vokoun, very underrated, probably a guy athletically that and I'm not saying this in any negative way about him is he's he probably isn't the most athletic guy.

And narrow butt I think of the narrow butterfly and yes.

But he's a very thick man, very strong, very powerful, a goalie that can't do the splits. You know? That's why he had a narrow butterfly. But one thing, Joseph Theodore, guy, light on his feet. You know?

One thing that all these guys have in common is their preparation, the way they get prepared on a game day. And it's not about all their mental toughness and all that. It's about how they their ability to truly dedicate their life to their preparation to play their games. They don't just show up, play soccer, stretch, and say, okay. I'm gonna go play the game tonight.

They truly are some of the first guys at the rink. The the amount of nonsuperstitious things that are that are in their way, they truly get prepared each and every way differently throughout the day to get their body and mind ready for the drop of the puck. It doesn't matter who they're playing against in a sense. It doesn't they're not looking at, oh, I'm playing the rangers tonight. I'm playing the Canucks tonight.

I'm playing It's about getting my body and mind ready for the drop of the puck to give my best performance. And you watch them get prepared. If people could see the camera in the room, especially Lou when he was injured and he was coming back from his hip surgery, the amount of hours he put in to play a game.

Okay. I remember him telling, like, two hours before a morning skate.

Before a morning skate, and then he'd come back at the rink and then get ready for the game. Right now, if you put a camera in the room and you watch Bob's preparation and the details that he goes through, just to prepare himself for the game is incredible, and it's exhausting. You know, for a lot of people to do the same thing over and over every day is mentally exhausting. It can drain you, but they've they've truly found a way to prepare themselves, get themselves ready, and enjoy it. And and and I find that that is the separation from greatness to good.

Any commonalities? Like you said, they're all different. Different athletes, different routines. I know Roberto's became more about hip maintenance by the end there, but I've I've been blessed a few times to be in the room after. Like, Bob's doesn't end when the game ends.

Right? You get last night, I was leaving and headed back up to the press box to write, and there's Bob heading out to do some exercises in the little makeshift gym behind the visitors room at Rogers Arena. Like, is there is there any commonality other than that they all dedicate themselves to that preparation? Is there any are there any over the years that you'd be like, if you had a new guy, you'd be like, hey. I think this is something that should be a part of it, or is it just a matter of finding what works and making sure you stick to it?

Well, I think that's the challenge. And and I and and for young guys, they have to find what works for them. You know, for Bob, it's probably more mental, a lot of the stuff he does. And, also, for Bob, the physical stuff that he does, you know, a lot of his physical activity, a certain guy could probably do in forty five minutes and have it done and be just as strong, where Bob might drag it out two hours because it's part of his preparations, part of his fields, how he you know, the details of of how he looks at his body is is in-depth, where Lou wouldn't have to do that as much, but Lou's confidence came from how he stretched, how he prepared, how he got ready mentally, and got himself up for that game. So I think it's that's part of the process that guys have to go through and take out the superstitions, put in the the facts that work for you to get yourself ready, and make sure that you're confident feeling great at that time.

You know? Bob is, like you said, unique where last year, when we went, you know, five overtimes with Carolina, it's 03:30 in the morning. It it was actually, it was 02:30, I think, when we got done, and we're kinda celebrating that win when I come down, and he's getting on the bike to to to cool down. And I'm like, like, what are you doing? You know?

Get off the bike. We we actually have to go have a a meal. And so we we end up going back to the hotel and having a team meal at 03:30 in the morning.

Because he ain't got

a fuel. But that's how he's dialed. He's dialed to make sure that his routine is complete even when the game's over. So and that's I and and it goes back to that word of that dedication. That it it's it's a strong word to use because not everybody is truly dedicated.

You have talent. You have skill, and you come and you play and you to sacrifice a lot, family time, extra hours at the rink, all that extra stuff, injury stuff to to recovery. It it takes extra. And it's easy to go home and just like, okay. I just need to get away and relax.

Just I need this day off. They don't. They make sure that they complete everything before they enjoy their day off or their time to relax.

It's a great lesson because a lot of kids like, lot of guys will arrive. I mean, you get to the show, you gotta be a pretty special talent, right, like, to begin with, but there's that's the next level.

For sure. You know, I I was fortunate enough to get there, and I had no knowledge of that. I just kinda played and worked hard and did my whatever I could do to to to be at my best and and had zero knowledge of of of of what guys have now. And to learn that, and and it it's it's it's pretty incredible. And and I think that that it's a big stepping stone with the things that Luz passed on to a lot of the guys that were his partners that seen him prepare, in Thomas and and Jose and and and also, you know, like, the way Bob reflects to to Spencer.

It's it's important that that the young guys see that and understand that that that there is a difference.

Fine line, though. You mentioned it can be exhausting. Do you there and avoid the superstitions because we've seen guys that you know? And and we're guilty of it at InGoal. We're always, like, picking these guys' brains for new little things.

Well, if you were to read every article and add everything, you'd have a six hour routine. Right? Like, do you really need to narrow it down? Is that part of the process as well?

Well, for sure. I mean, I think as you get older, you start to realize, you know, your skill level, and you start to trust yourself more too. And I think the trust is the big factor that once you start trusting that, you know, having a cup of coffee at 04:00 isn't the the result of a winner or a loss, you know, but making sure that you you're just getting your body and mind in the right spot. And I think that the trust is a big thing. You know?

It's easy. As coaches, we do it. I I use the black pen through the entire playoffs, and if I lost the black pen, well, oh, no. What's gonna happen? It's it's not changing the outcome of the game.

So, you you know, you gotta make sure that you just trust what you do. You trust your ability, and, you know, you you just continue to to build your game correctly. I I think sometimes in situations, you you you don't wanna add too much to it, or you don't wanna self correct right away. Just because you made a mistake or had a couple bad games, you know, you don't wanna flip everything upside down and be like, okay. What's going on?

You know, I think that's the worst thing to do. To simplify, get back to your structure, get back to your foundation, and keep it simple, and then build from there. And I think that it's important that these guys trust that. They they know when things aren't going right, and they know that they have to sometimes back off of things to get back on track.

Chasing change for the sake of change is never a good thing.

No. Exactly. Exactly. And it happens, though. It happens.

You know, we we talk like, our team this year is a little different. Like, we don't give up a ton of shots, so it's hard. Like, you go into a game, you you you let in three goals or four goals and 20 saves, and you're kinda looking at it going, well, what would I do different tonight? Like, what would I do different on these these saves? So you can't we you know, if you're getting 40 shots and you're in the game, you're feeling it, and then you're like, okay.

You can you have a better feel for things. When you don't you have a lot less shots and you're giving up goals, you start that's when you start to question. Like, what do I do now? Do I and once you start squeezing it, now all of a sudden, now you start over challenging. Now you start chasing the puck or dropping early, and that you don't want those habits to creep in your game.

So sometimes you you know, we are a subject to the game that's played in front of us to our team. And in whatever's happening in front of us, but those are the adjustments that we gotta make throughout the game. You know, have it be a 40 save night one night, and then the next night, you can have 15 saves. You know? So making that adjustment is so important and being able to control that where if you start chasing and correcting everything on every night, it's gonna be a long season for you.

I I was just saying, I mean, last night's a prime example. Like, just some of the craziest bounces I've ever seen and ends up being 15 on 19, and you're like, there was nothing wrong with his game. It's like

Well, that's I you we looked at each other after the game, and I just I actually looked at Bob last night and just laughed. And and that's all you could do. It'd be like, listen. These games happen. They're gonna happen where, you know, you get a bounce off the boards.

You get a tip-off your defenseman stick for the first shot of the game that goes in. Like, it's what would you do differently? So you you wouldn't. So don't overthink this. This is one of those games that we move past, and now we move past it.

I I love that. Like like, viewing it that way rather than worrying about, oh, four four on 19, like it's a bad night. What would you do differently on the goals? And if the answer and it has to be truthful and honest and reflective, but if the answer is nothing, then you've gotta find a way to move on.

Yep. You move past it. I think it's important that on nights on games like that, when it is a night like that, when there isn't a lot of correction and what what I could have or should have done, you know, you move past it. And moving past it is your next practice that you actually have to enjoy your next practice. You can't go out there and then try to be perfect in practice and think about your angles and then, you know, to have to stop every puck or, like, the minute you start doing that, now you start questioning things.

Now all of a sudden, guys are scoring in practice, you're gonna start now all of a sudden, negative thoughts will start to creep in where our next practice, I actually want him to really enjoy his practice to the point where he's having fun coming across, where he's talking to his teammates, where he's he's just out there really almost practicing subconsciously where there is no thought. And that's the most important part for me on that day is just to go out there and play because there is nothing to really correct about last night's game or even focus on it. We have to move past it, and now we get we live in today. And so we say we live for today, and that's what we focus on.

The foundation. I mean, important to have a foundation that you go back to. You talk about simplifying at times, and and sometimes maybe trying to do too much is a bad thing. How do you help young guys identify what that is? Because it's different for different guys.

How do you and is it important for young goalies to identify, like, without being stubborn about it, this is what I do when I'm playing well? Is that a way to good way to look at it?

Yeah. For both for young guys, that's the challenge. Right? Because, you know, they they just it's the experience part of it. They haven't gone through the experience part of it.

But Bob's played over 700 game. Like like, he's there's an experience part of it. And so I guess that would be my job is to make sure that the way I communicate is to share that experience and tell them the experience that other goalies have gone through, that it's okay to to feel this way. It's okay to wanna do that, and it's okay that you should be doing this today. And and and, you know, there's some goalies that have so much structure built into them that, you know, they're they're so built on practice that sometimes you're like, hey.

Listen. You gotta get out of that comfort zone and and just have a practice day with no coaching today. And just go out there and be a goalie and have fun and enjoy your sport. And I find that young guys have a hard time doing that sometimes.

I was gonna ask, are we losing that a little bit?

I think so. I do think so because there's so much structure built in and this and that that you you you can't lose sight of, like sometimes you just gotta react. And, you know, you look at some goalies that have played this game, and they are great goalies and Tim Thomas and and, you know, guys that just on, you know, pure instinct could stop the puck. And there there there's a little part of those guys in in in every structured guy, and you've gotta make sure that that part of it is still part of you.

It's funny. We I was talking with Spencer yesterday about what's changed. Like, what's changed in the game for these guys? And I guess for a goalie coach, it's probably a different answer, but, what, like, what what do you see? What's the biggest difference?

What what's made it so much harder for these guys? I know the the the there's so many great offensive players. There's all that element, but we're Spencer and I were talking about there's no there's very few low danger shots anymore. The ones that you used to rely on, you get 10 a night. They they'd help you feel good and into the game.

Now you might get five or six.

Well, that's, that's probably the most of it right there. I I think that, you know, when you look at the players nowadays, it's they're so good. They're like, you you could go back, you know, not too long ago where you had your first line that was your stars, your second line was a, you know, a great line, but then you got your checking line, and then you had your top guys. And, you know, so you're really concentrating on two sets of lines that put up the most goals. You know, you look at every team now on any given night can do damage to you.

You know? And and fourth line players are talented. They've got skill. They were top players in their league in junior, in college. They can deflect puck.

Some of the best guys in front of the net are fourth line guys. And it's just it's just their role in the NHL. So the high danger shots that they get when there's opportunities, it's a whole different league. And the the quality is so good, and then and then the pressures of it. The the league is so tight.

The teams are so good. The, like, every game the the value to every game is so important that, you know, there's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure. And as the season goes on and you feel that pressure, it draws the excitement and the fun out of it. You know?

And and I think when you start to lose that and it just becomes a singular focus of just, you know, playing games, playing games, and and you start to lose that other side of it, you know, I think you that's when you start to get in your ruts a little bit. And you've gotta make sure that there is that excitement in a January, in a February. You know, there's always excitement in February and March because you can start to smell the playoffs coming around and at the start of the season. You know, Christmas time is always a nice month to play hockey and, you know, you're you know? But there is a lull in the season, you've and gotta make sure that you don't fall into that.

And, you know, and and then there's patterns for goalies too. There's there's guys that can play every single night as starters, and they've earned their positioning. And then the young guys that are backups that are kinda playing once a week, you know, that's a tough role because there's a lot of pressure that on you to, one, to try to win the game, first and foremost. But, two, you can't get pulled because you're giving your partner a night off. You know?

So so there's that pressure of preparing yourself and sometimes over preparing yourself to play that game. You gotta have that balance.

Sounds like like as much as we tend at InGoal to focus on technical and the evolution and how things are always changing. It sounds like really the biggest challenge right now is mental. And you've mentioned fun multiple times. So I'll I'll leave with this one. Last one.

How do you make sure you guys are having fun? Do you have drills you like to do? Like, how do you keep that in their game when it can become a grind?

You know what? I go back to mister c. K? He was my grade eight social studies teacher. It's probably I enjoyed going to that class.

Out of all my classes that I went to, it was the one class that I love I love going to. He was a teacher that would give you the answers before the test. You had to learn them and study them. He he just made it fun every day coming to the class. And it was him.

It was hit the way he approached it. I want the guys every day that they come through the door. My goal is when they see me, they don't feel like it's gonna be a grind, that it's gonna be a workday, that we're gonna work, and we're gonna have hard days and stuff. But I want them to be able to see me, put a smile on their face, and enjoy what they're doing. And I wanna make sure that I recognize that.

I'm a I'm a big believer. And, you know, in pregame skates, when we're out there skating and, you know, we're done after fifteen minutes, and I and there's times. There's and and then we have an extra hour of ice. Right? And there's times to work your guys, and they have to work, and they have to stay out there and do some extra guys, and you have extra shooters.

But I also believe that you know what? They need to go have lunch with the rest of the guys. They need to be on the first bus. Just because they're here doesn't mean I have to keep them on the ice and and overgrind them or overwork them because there's an importance for them to have lunch with the guys and sit at that table and laugh and have fun and not show up an hour later, eat with one or two guys that that missed or that ended up walking or taking an Uber back from the from the the pregame skate and almost feel solitude on their own island. So I make sure that I try to create an atmosphere where they come to work every day, and they're getting something out of it, but they're enjoying it.

But I also believe that you know what? They need to go have lunch with the rest of the guys. They need to be on the first bus. Just because they're here doesn't mean I have to keep them on the ice and and overgrind them or overwork them because there's an importance for them to have lunch with the guys and sit at that table and laugh and have fun and not show up an hour later, eat with one or two guys that that missed or that ended up walking or taking an Uber back from the from the the pregame skate and almost feel solitude on their own island. So I make sure that I try to create an atmosphere where they come to work every day, and they're getting something out of it, but they're enjoying it.

They're enjoying the hard, but they're also enjoying their time there. And and it's it's not an easy thing to do because, you know, you're coming in off a loss. There's a lot of emotions that go up and down, and it's not rah rah like, you know you know, cheering them up every day. It's it's not that. It's just making sure that that mister c's class, when you walk through that door, the mood changes, and you can create that mood with the way you act, with the way you talk, and what you present to them on the ice.

There's days to to work them hard before practice, and then there's days just to warm them up the right way. There's days after practice to do some drills that are gonna be quality drills that reflect the game that they're gonna be playing or or maybe some of their, you know, like, strengths. I like to focus on their strengths more than their weaknesses because those are comfort drills. And then there's times to have a fun game at the end of practice, but not all the time. Because if you overdo it, then then you're drawing it, and you're taking some of the stuff away from them.

So I think that that's kind of the biggest role that I'll try to play in them is making sure that they come in every day where they enjoy it. And when you enjoy something, you'll bring your best out.

I I I love it. I can't say how much we've enjoyed this. I gotta let you go. We could probably go for a long time here, but I know you've got other things you gotta do today. The enjoyment that you bring, I gotta say, walking into that room yesterday and talking to Spencer who wasn't playing that night, so he had a chance, but it's still a game day.

I think it shines through, the enjoyment you pass on to them because the conversation we had was as enjoyable as any I've had walking into a room in a while. So I I I like to think that's probably a reflection of what you've got going there because it we just we talk goaltending, and we smiled, and it was a back and forth and one of the best days I've had in a while. So it seems like it's working for you.

Well, I appreciate that. And you know what? I I I take pride in that part of it. You know, I from past playing, you go through your experiences, and it's just I think that it it's a hard job. It's a hard job being a goalie, and I don't wanna make it any harder.

And I think that's my goal, and and the guys see that. And I want them to have fun. It's it's fun watching them have fun. It's fun watching Bob, you know, chirp and practice and and come up with highlight saves in practice, not just being structured and making, you know, the save that he he should be making, like, on a regular basis. Like, have a little fun with it.

And that's kind of our theme here, and it you know, in the last couple of years, it's been working, so we'll try to keep going.

Okay. Well, it was fun talking to you, and it was fun watching you and our old friend Roberto Luongo lift the cup as well as Bob and everybody else there. So looks great on you, Rob. Thank you so much for taking the time, and for all the support at InGoal over the years. It's meant a lot to to me.

It's meant a lot to our audience, and we can't thank you enough.

You're fantastic. I appreciate it. Anytime, buddy.

Outro

Being able to lean into somebody who's, like, in the fire, like Rob Tallas is in the National Hockey League, but hear them be so open and honest. Not vulnerable, but you know where I'm going with that.

Oh, for sure. For sure. You listen to so many interviews.

So neat. Yeah.

If you just I mean, you must experience it when you talk to players for a broadcast on television. They're a little bit more guarded. They're a little bit more set and pat in their answers and you know what's coming quite often. When you get a goaltender or a goalie coach on our podcast where they know they're talking to an audience of goalies, goalie coaches, and goalie parents, they tend to be a little bit more open and they tend to enjoy talking their craft and they understand who it is that they're talking to. And, and they want to help.

They want to give back. And their Rob in this case is no exception.

Fun stuff. Great episode of InGoal Radio, the podcast that started off with the contract. Got in some great numbers, about save percentage. I love the explanation of the challenge in the parent segment. Like, that that will stick with me.

Just how to handle that kind of that kind of dilemma, if you wanna use that term.

Yeah. Thank you. I think well, I think it's so important and and probab for me, I think the most important thing I I probably didn't underline well enough is it's important to give your kids those skills to deal with them because I promise they will face this situation again. I promise you can't be there when they're playing higher and higher levels. It was probably Bantam where it became clear that even though I was a coach, the organization my son was playing for wanted things to be not parent involved.

And, and you there's a moment you gotta step back and you wanna know that your kid is, well prepared for having those conversations. I might say, Daren, I I didn't actually add this in the parent segment, but goalie camps, as much as I love the one on one situation where it's just you and a coach, they're very valuable and they're a good investment. Goalie camps have a different level of importance to your child, I actually believe. Because if they're with kids that are like minded and a similar sort of level or above their level, they get that opportunity to learn from other goaltenders from other goaltenders experiences, especially if they're older than them. You you get this mentorship relationship set up that I think is so important.

One of my best buddies through life, Damon Kustra, I met at goalie camp way back when.

That's awesome.

Dauphin guy, went on to play in the Western Hockey. Like, he was way better than me. But awesome stuff. Played at the CIS level or u sports now. So

That's awesome.

You're right. You can find like minded people. Hey, buddy. Great job. Thanks for fitting us in into your schedule and joining us late.

You too. Thank you.

You you you could've you could've taken a pass, and you didn't.

Well, you're the only one who's actually survived the entire episode.

Yeah. Because Woody had to to run to, practice balancing out nhl.com and InGoal Radio. So we find a way to make it work, and so will you on InGoal Radio, the podcast. Happy goaltending, and we'll talk to you next week on InGoal Radio, the podcast.