InGoal Radio Episode 284 with Kristoffer Eberly of The Ohio State University

Intro

Beautiful Christmas music. I love it. The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com presents InGoal Radio Podcast, Daren Millard, with the cofounders of InGoal Magazine, David Hutchison and Kevin Woodley. And Hutch is mad at me right now because I just talked to him about the music, and now he's gonna have to dub in the music post production. And he's thinking this won't work.

It's Christmas time.

Oh, life is way easier when you just tell me what to do, Daren.

I could just provide it right now. There you go.

That's pretty good. It's not bad, buddy. You have a little bit of musical background?

No. No. No. Absolutely not.

You you got some tone there.

No. My kids my kids, my wife will tell you that I have zero rhythm, zero anything. Both my kids are musically inclined, and it definitely did not come for me.

We are a few days before the big day. Are you guys done your shopping? And, I'm sort of putting myself in the listener shoes right now wondering, is everybody finished, and what are you looking for for that last minute? Because I'm going out this afternoon. I'm gonna do some stocking stuff first, a few different things.

You guys wrapped up

and ready. Don't even waste your time, Daren. Just go to ingoalmag.com. All your friends and family get a gift subscription to InGoal Magazine. Don't you

think? Done.

That that that does work.

Yeah. I lit I literally think that we have, in addition to subscriptions to InGoal Premium, we've got an article up on the site with last minute gift guides. And to answer your question about gift buying there, no, I haven't done any of it. And it is three days before Christmas as we record.

You haven't done any?

That is the way I roll. And that is probably why our gift guide is geared so much towards last minute. Like, if you've got a goalie in your life and you're looking for a stocking stuffer or a big item, that gift guide of ours, all of it is items that you can order right up till Christmas Eve and have on Christmas morning, including the InGoal premium subscription. So Hutch would prefer if you didn't order.

You're putting a little pressure on Cam there because the Hockey Shop is on there. You probably can't order a new set of pads on Christmas Eve. Let's

be You can order a gift card.

Get from them. Yep. You can

order a gift card. Digital online gift cards from thehockeyshop.com. Can't figure out you know what? The gift card, actually, hell of lot easier to stuff a gift card in the stocking than it is to stuff a hockey stick. So everything pretty much everything.

There's a few book items on there, that that would require a little more time than we have as a record in terms of, you know, mail order from Amazon. Although, man, they can get it in a couple days. Yeah. We we we've got you covered. We've got the procrastinators of the world covered with gift ideas.

And as you said, number one on every goalie's list should be a subscription to InGoal mag InGoal premium.

Do you guys remember a goalie gift from the past?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. It's still around here somewhere, in fact. It would be that Cooper GM.

Was it a '12 or a '21 trapper? I, got that when I was probably far too young to be using what at the time was a pro level glove, and I used it all the way up to university hockey. And, wasn't weren't the times different that you could get a glove or a set of pads and use them for five or six years because that doesn't happen too often anymore.

Well, it took you three to break it in.

Yes. That is true. I'm not sure it's broken in still. Let's be honest. It certainly doesn't have that beautiful closure.

It's, it's not a five eighty, a five ninety, or a 600. It's a I don't know. It's a negative 32.

You have to get the the deer oil out and Yeah. Slosh it in And then take wrap it up with the softball inside and there's all

kinds of pancake. But yeah. No. That was a huge moment when I got that.

What have you started into the position lately? But did you did you have some?

I so I don't. Yeah. Because I didn't start till I was an adult and never got

Did your wife pay for the Ken Dryden tattoo? Can we count that?

No. I paid for that one myself, so we can't count that. It was more of a summer thing than a winter thing, so not a Christmas gift. We can't but I will tell you that I have asked this very question of a good 30 or 40 NHL goaltenders over the past twenty five years in the in in the job, and we've got a collection of some of the best ones, up at ingoalmag.com for readers because there are some fun stories. The Carrie Price and his red Vaughn pads that he'd asked for that he that he swears to us.

He did not go snooping for the gifts. He just happened to find them. Guys talk about that. You know, for some of them, it was like that that, you know, that magical connection between gear and goaltending and and how it's a life blood for this position and getting that magical piece of equipment, that memorable piece of equipment under the tree. For some, it was, you know, like like the red pads or or a piece of gear you wanted.

For some, it was like a sign that they'd hit another level, like a professional level mask for the first time. So NHL guys have memories like that. I may be too old to the position, but most of the guys that play in the show have some magical memory of Christmas and gifts and gear. And we've got a whole bunch of them up at ingoalmag.com. You can link to it off of the gift guide.

Jerseys. Every every hockey player along the way has received some kind of jersey. Your favorite team, your favorite player, everybody has received that.

I've got a team Canada from the Canada Cup with Bill Ranford on it. Really? Yeah.

Yeah. He was one of my favorites.

And And you get to meet him. How cool is that?

Huge moment when that finally happened. How about you, Daren? What about a big gift for you?

My brother and I, I'm a twin, and we had epic road hockey games with the the boys from a street over, another set of twins, Rob and Patrick. And so my parents gave us road hockey gear, and I got the right pad. My brother got the left. I got the blocker and my twin brother, Derek, got the trapper. So we had to share.

So as long as you just stayed in the VH all the time, you were good with just the one pad on the one side. True story here. We had a gear company only send us one pad to do a review on years ago and we needed to do sort of a cover photo of it. And so Woody very strategically put himself into the VH as a model for this photo because we only had one pad. True story.

Go searching through the archives, see you can figure out which, set of gear that was.

I'll give you When you did

the review, did you I'll give you a hint. One of their models when they launched new gear now is no review needed. Needless to say, we don't review their gear.

When when you wrote the review, did you talk about the the, like, the right pad gives off amazing rebound control? Or

It was it was The left one hurts like hell. Yeah.

Yeah. It was clearly more of an overview than a review. Yeah. They were kinda infamous for this. They might have an unpaid bill with us too, so go go go make sure you figure that one out, folks.

I don't I don't wanna get

too far into it. Grinch.

I'm not gonna I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna throw them on the bus or ask you guys to throw them out of the bus. But did you

I just did.

Did you acknowledge them that that they did not send you both pads when you wrote the review?

No. No. I don't think so. We tried to we tried to not throw them out of the bus at that point.

Yeah. Because you can still do some work.

Still paying their bills back then.

K. He's gonna get us into trouble. You know that Hutch.

I think he probably will.

He's gonna have let's let's switch gears. Christmas came early for Igor Shesterkin, and Igor has that $11,500,000 AAV. I am here right now stating that nobody's gonna beat that for how many years do I wanna go here? Nobody's beating that for the next six years. And that's a lifetime in the salary cap world the way it goes up.

And the way it's Am I anywhere close to being right?

You might be, Daren. It's a tough one. Right?

Like Pretty good number. I had five or six in my head, but Woody's got the list of goalies coming up there.

Well, I mean, at at the end of the day, five or six years from now, I don't know that we know who that goalie is. I think Daren made a good point when we sort of preamble this before we hit record. Like, it's probably going gotta be a young guy, rising star that hits between now and then, you know, and then I'm about to see one tomorrow night. You know, Yaroslav Askarov, can he be a guy with, you know, another Russian goaltender like Shesterkin with a lot of pedigree, a higher draft pick, had a hell of a night the other night in Edmonton, just breaking into the NHL. If he becomes a star in the next two or three years and the cap keeps going up, is he a guy that sharks lock in long term at a high number?

I think that's the kind of thing you're looking for. Because if you look at who's going to be a UFA in the next several years, like, two years from now, you know, it's a pretty good list. Like, there's some impressive names. Sergei Bobrovsky, who was one of the highest paid guys, but he's not at that age. He'll be 38.

He's not getting it. Markstrom, but he'll be 36. He's not getting it. Even Demko, who will be 31 years old and has the talent to be one of the highest paid guys in the league. But I think given some of the history in terms of injuries, he would have to play basically completely healthy for the next season and a half and at the Vezina level he had last season.

And I still think he's probably more likely to be one of the, you know, eight and a quarter, eight and a half guys where that sort of second tier bar has been set. So I'm with you, Daren. It's probably a name we're not thinking of that's gonna hit.

All the other guys, the Hellebuycks, the Ottingers, the Swaymans, the Ullmark's, the everybody's Saros, they've they've all signed for long term.

Yep. Absolutely. I mean, there again, there might be some guys that were not you know? Spencer Knight, after Sergei Bobrovsky, assuming he moves on from the Florida panthers in two years, is Spencer Knight, who we all know how good he is. And if he were to pop in the meantime as a number one goalie, you know, might he be a guy?

Joseph Woll is a great another great example. You know, Sebastian Cossa, slow and steady, but a high draft pick who's who's having real success in the American Hockey League this year. Know, at the end of the day, it's gonna probably be one of those younger names that really pops and hits in the next couple of years in order to get there. The the one I wondered about, and again, to me, it's the ceiling's probably more eight and a quarter, but two years from now, Filip Gustavsson's an unrestricted free agent. And last year didn't go as he'd hoped, but the year before was unreal.

And right now, he's top three in the league statistically. So, but is he a guy

Might be able to get to 10. Might be able to get to 10 with the way the cap's going up.

Yeah. I mean, it's it's rising fast, but I think you're looking at, you know, I think you like you said, minimum four or five years and, you know, Vasilevskiy is a free agent in 2028, but he'll be 34. So it's it's it's sort of tough to know. Joseph Woll, we mentioned him. He's he's a free agent in 2028, but he'll already be 30.

Are you giving him I'll put it that there is one trend that might change us, Daren, and that's if GMs with all the volatility in the position decide to trade dollar for term. In other words, we'll give you more, but for not as long. If that trend were to start and at the risk of my union card, given the volatility in the position, I've said the one thing I might try and avoid as a GM unless I had a Shesterkin is term. If the cap goes up significantly, you might see a team be like, yeah, we'll take you for three years at this money, but we're not committing to eight. But I think I think yeah.

I mean, at the end of the day

Don't lose your union card for that because that's a chance to make even more money if the goalie can keep delivering.

Yep. There you go.

That's fair. I I gotta I guess what I'm saying is I agree with Daren. I don't think we're seeing this for a while.

There's more defensemen. There's more forwards. So you're going to have changeover at the highest paid player at those positions. But this this has the potential to hold that that belt of the best paid goalie for a long time for. Bob Bob had it among active goalies.

Carey Price. Carey

has had it. Yep.

Carey's a free agent next year. Maybe we could

But but this is a this is an interesting line of thinking when it comes to

I guess unless somebody wants to walk all the way to free agency, then what you're saying, Daren, sort of works in their favor. There are so few available. If somebody's young and goes all the way to RFA, then what happens?

They'd have to go to UFA. Right? Like, that's the thing. Igor was about to UFA. To say that.

Igor was about to become a UFA and if you and and same with Linus Ullmark who got an eight and a quarter. Right? All you're right. Hellebuyck, Markstrom, Swayman, Otttinger, all these guys are locked up long term.

Was Bob the last one that went the distance?

Yes. I believe well, I mean, there's been some And other

that paid off. But but

Markstrom did. Markstrom was a pretty big name, but the market was so depressed. He only got 6,000,000.

Yeah. That that was bad timing. Wasn't it?

It it was a little bit of bad timing.

It's just where the market yeah.

Absolutely. You sign a long term deal as the market's going down, but I am not going to shed I mean, I love Jacob Markstrom and this isn't personal, but I'm not shedding a ton of tears for a guy who had to settle for $36,000,000.

We've got our parent segment presented by Stop It Goaltending U the app coming up. We got some tips for goaltending families over the holidays. ProReads sponsored by Vizual Edge, which, features the return of Alex Lyon. And Kristoffer Eberly is the NHL Sense Arena feature interview, and that is a fun, conversation with the Ohio State University product. The Gear Segment, brought to you by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com.

The Hockey Shop is the place to go if you haven't gotten a gift for the goalie on your list. And, yes, you're listening to me and thinking, but, Kevin, it's December twenty second, twenty third, twenty fourth by the time you listen to this. If it's the twenty fifth, it is too late. Any of the other ones, not so much. They've got gift cards, digital gift cards, stuff it in the stocking.

This way, the goalie in your life make sure he gets the equipment that he wants or at least a significant discount on the equipment he wants or she wants if their eyes are bigger and they're looking at a bigger ticket item, and there's no better place to get it than the Hockey Shop Source for Sports in Langley, the hockeyshop.com, where their staff all play the position, know the position, and understand the equipment that can help you play it better. Make sure you check them out at the Hockey Shop in person in Langley. And if you can't make it, it is worth the trip. May plan a holiday around it as several others have, or check them out online at the hockeyshop.com as Daren does on a pretty much daily basis.

I do. And I thought of a great accessory for a stocking stuffer the other day.

Let's let's hear it.

Replacement cages. We all go through them, throw a couple of

How big is your stocking?

In in in the stocking.

Well, you can you some big feet.

You got you can tag it in there, and I do got I trust me. I put them in my mouth enough. They're big. But replacement cages are perfect because we all love them. May maybe you throw a couple of different colors in there for your for your favorite goaltender to match the mask.

Hutch, how how how convinced were you that he was going dangler?

Yes.

K. That that's a no brainer. That replacement dangler is good because you do break them. You know why? Because they're protecting you.

Those are important. Those are important. I why didn't I do that for you guys? I I might call up the Hockey Shop to get ahold of Cam. Go online and

I was thinking another cup because it could hold the toe of the sock open and then you can fit more stuff in there. So you get that cup that you need. A lot of goalies wear two. A lot of goalies wear the double cup. You get that extra little that little well, that's kinda what I was talking about.

Put the little player cup in the toe of your stocking. Now you can slide in a couple more chocolate bars or oranges or something.

I was just gonna say, does everybody get oranges in the bottom of their stocking? Because I like, as as much as the orange would fit nicely into the back of the cup, I'm not sure I'm eating the orange after.

Well, it's a new one from the Hockey Shop. Cam doesn't take for a test drive before he puts them on the shelf.

I don't trust Cam.

Serious question. You mentioned three cups?

Well, it's basically a a like a player cup and then a double cup over top. Double cup. If you count a double cup as two, a lot of guys wear an actual player cup underneath and then a double cup over

top. And then they they goalie jock with a double cup in there.

Exactly. So essentially, you've got three cans in there.

I I wasn't sure that I was missing out on something there, but so I'm right on I'm up to the trends when it comes to that. And and we're supportive too. Keep everything tight, nice, and wrapped up in there. It's it's all good.

Have as many cups of you as you want, but if things are hanging out underneath them, it ain't doing you much good.

Exactly. Doesn't make any sense that that you wouldn't wear that that support. Oh, we've got the Brians Optic three intermediate chesty. Anything you wanna say before we get into, the conversation you had with Cam?

I think Hutch made a really good point about this. We we describe it in the video, so we'll get to that. But Hutch made a great point. This is when you think of Christmas gifts for kids and because it's Brian's, it'll ship both sides of the border from the hockey shop, more protection because this really is in a smaller size, a full pro level protective. Like, if you're at an age these kids are ripping it and your kid's getting shy, he's getting bruised, he's not playing the position the way you want him to play it or the way he should be playing it because the puck hurts, this is a really great option.

I guarantee after watching this segment, if my kid was still that age, I would have been picking up the phone and calling Cam because I'm that guy. Need one, Cam.

It is a confidence booster. It's the Gear Segment brought to you by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. Let's get over to Woody and Cam.

Gear

Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Goalie Utopia, where there's a familiar looking optic three two. We've done this Cam.

No. We haven't.

We've done this.

No. We haven't. We did the optic three. I

complained to you about how it couldn't possibly be legal for the NHL by way. But they do have to stitch down the Velcro tabs on the shoulder flaps.

That's irrelevant to what we're about today, though. Intermediate. Oh, it's EBB. Custom. Come on.

Made in Canada. Hand built by the fine crafters at Brian's Custom Sports.

Okay. So optic three chest protector in intermediate sizing available in full custom?

In full custom. So two sizes, small, medium, large, extra large. We happen to have a large, extra large unit here. Adjustable arms to be able to bring them up and down. So great because obviously in this kind of stage, of geared towards two.

Either we're smaller goalies looking for that utmost protection, can't find it in a full senior unit, need something a little more scaled down. Hey. We got an option for you. Hold on.

What? That might fit Hutch.

Oh, it might. But he's sitting behind the camera, so, you know, you never see him.

It's okay.

That said, between either, you know, kids tearing up, growing in, they haven't quite settled into that full senior size. Once again, playing that high level of hockey, we need that protection option. Girls looking for a better fitting unit, giving better protection as well, offered in those smaller sizes. Once again, option. Kids, this is fantastic.

Yes. It is price point reflective, but that said, you know, if you're looking for the top tier protection in that smaller size, once again, there's an option for you now.

And by pipe price point reflectant, mean it's not cheap? No. Pro level price.

But that's pro level pricing.

But it's a pro level product. Exactly. Exactly. So tons of protection.

Easily adjustable. Lots of bulk. I wouldn't necessarily say bulk. Bulk's like kind of a weird word That's

I like that. That's better.

So lots of coverage with this unit. Bulk is based off of perception. Yes. Is it gonna be the most flexible unit out of the box? No.

But Will it break in? Yes. Will it last longer? Probably because of that too as well. So a lot of upside to this chest.

We really, really do like it. It's an easy order, like, chest custom order. Custom colors available. You get to do what you

want, change color zones, give it a nice gray black pattern.

Where would they customize it?

At TheGoaliesOnly website, and then it spits out a little reference number, and then that you can bring to us. Okay.

If you've got any questions about buying one off off the shelf, sizing, fit, as Cam said, we can't really say what age it's for because kids are different sizes at different ages. There's lots of different

options to be fitting this. It's the same. So it's not necessarily age dependent. It's just finding the right size, which that's what we're here for.

So give them a call.

(604) 589-8299.

And see if it's for you.

You didn't ask us on the 800 number.

Well, then

give 1-800-560-7790. Sales at the hockeyshop.com. Check this out.

Hutch, why didn't you try that on?

Well, I did, but it's on the cutting room floor. So I tried it on in good fun because the boys teased me and said maybe it would fit me. I'm not even teasing. That's actually a compliment. I've been doing a whole bunch of running before the the filming of that and the boys thought maybe I could fit into the intermediate size.

So I did try it on in the video, But I'm a little bit too modest and I am also in charge of the edit, so it is on the cutting room floor. You will not see it unless we come up with an InGoal video

Blooper reel. Outtakes?

Blooper reel.

There you go.

Plea let's please not do that because I've got a number of those that I know No.

No. No. See the light of day. That's actually a good idea. Everybody loves bloopers. Got we got Life is a blooper. We can start saving the bloopers even from this podcast and and our recording.

We should start saving our outtakes or our screw ups.

I had a Woody file for a while, and then it just became too mean, I ditched it.

I thought you said it was gonna it was taking up too much space.

It takes up too much space. That is mean too. Hey. Yeah. To that Brian's intermediate chest protector and pro level protection at a smaller size.

It would be a great Christmas gift. The question, as Daren asked to us before we went to air, how you wrapping that bad boy?

I I think you you put it in a box. You can't wrap it with it. Fun. I know.

No. I'm that guy who tries to make it so the kids have no hope of guessing. So I'd put one arm inside the unit, one arm out probably with a

You'd like have it doing a statue of liberty?

Sticking through it. Yeah. Something just to so you have no clue. No clue. Because I remember as a kid speaking of Christmas gifts and it wasn't a hockey one, but I was quite young.

We had a kid billeting with us and he actually got me a metal toolbox because they didn't sell plastic ones back in the day. And he put a single ball bearing in it so that when I picked it up and I just hear this ball bearing running around and that absolutely fascinated me and that turned me into that guy who always tries to wrap his gift so you have no hope of guessing.

Okay. So two things. One, have you guys ever taken delivery of a chest protector when it's been shipped? Yeah. Because most people buy them at the store.

Right? We get them shipped to us. So like the arms just basically get tucked into the body and it becomes a a square square ish box. I think you could wrap that. And I actually think if you wrapped it that way, you might give give someone a little trouble to because if you've never seen it like that, if you only seen it at the store with the arms hanging out, it looks very different shape wise.

If wrapped it in a blanket?

You can do that.

And wrapped it.

You could do that. I mean, it'd be like the NHL guys except for they wear the blanket underneath the chest protector with all their puffy shirts. Like pirate, like Jerry Seinfeld and pirates. Give me a puffy shirt. Puffy shirt, Jerry.

Hutch, I wanna know if you've ever wrapped a stick for your young goaltender in your life. And if so, how the hell did you hide that one so we didn't know what it was? Must have at some point.

Must have at some point and I do not remember ever doing that. But if it's me, I probably take, like, a piece of an old broken one and cross it so it turns into sort of a a cross or something something to completely mangle the shape or I would have extended the toe or I definitely would have done something creative.

You guys didn't realize this. Hutch may be on the island where everything is very left wing and peace love dope and recycle, recycle, recycle. But he is actually single handedly keeping the wrapping paper industry in business trying to hide gifts from his kids.

Unless he used We've actually had years we've used newspaper and just sort of drawn things all over them and everything. So, yeah, Pease love and Salt Spring Island here.

I got it. I I called it. I like the idea that that Hutch's family thought they were getting the Heisman trophy for for Christmas with the way he was changing out the the the arms and adjusting things.

Oh, yeah.

Parent Playbook

Oh, adjusty. The parent segment presented by Stop It Goaltending U the app. This is awesome stuff. The plan for the holidays gives everybody some downtime, and you're offering something to work for. We'll get into that after a message from Stop It Goaltending U.

Well, speaking of plans for the holidays, Stop It Goaltending U has some good ones for you. Another one of our presenting sponsors that would make the ideal Christmas gift for the goalie in your life because, a, it's instant, downloadable, and deliverable on last minute notice. But b, it also comes with the first item we talked about, a subscription to InGoal Magazine. And it will give you something to do over the holidays for you and your goaltender. It's the beauty of the Stop It Goaltending U, the app.

It comes with twenty five years of knowledge from one of the biggest schools in North America led by Brian Daccord, who's been the goalie coach for the Boston Bruins, the goalie director for the Arizona Coyotes, run the school, sons in the NHL, just so much knowledge from him and his staff all packed into the app, and it's packed in there in a way you can digest your choice. One minute quick hits every day, five minute videos heading into the weekend, or twenty minute longer feature videos. Get in there for a couple minutes a day, get in there for long sessions on the weekend, Get go down the rabbit hole and watch all the old archive footage, drills, how goalies play, tactical advice. It's all in there. You can spend thirty minutes a week, and you will become a better goaltender.

Thanks to Stop It Goaltending U the app. But if you got extra time on your hands over the holidays, you could probably spend thirty hours in a week going through it and just digging into all the content, especially when you add in the InGoal Magazine premium subscription that comes with it. So perfect gift idea for the goalie in your life. Stop It Goaltending U, app, in partnership with InGoal Magazine and InGoal Premium.

So proud of our relationship with Brian and, and what we've been able to do, between InGoal Mag and, Stop It Goaltending U. Hutch.

Let's see where the Stop It Goaltending U the app would fit into my five tips for goalies and their families over the holidays. You may be a family who's new to the sport. Maybe you're new to competitive or rep hockey or maybe you're just a little bit worried that your son or daughter is gonna fall behind as a goaltender over the holidays. Even if you're more experienced and you know what you're up to, going into this holiday with a plan is probably a good idea. So a lot of people, this is sort of like a mini off season right now.

You might be getting a week off, you might be getting three weeks off and it's really the first thing I want to say is that it's an important opportunity to reset physically and mentally. Rest and recuperation are tools just like training hard and you should make use of this opportunity to have your young goalie ready to hit the ice with enthusiasm in the new year or whenever they'll next be on the ice. Honestly, guys, healing, nagging injuries, and getting rid of some of the feelings of maybe mild burnout that can come after a long grind, just letting your body get back to normal will set you up for a better season this spring. You're gonna have more energy on the ice and you're gonna want to go to the rink. So with that in mind, here are my five thoughts.

Number one, sleep. Kids need sleep. They need more than the seven, eight or eight hours that, we need. Nine, ten, maybe more. And how you manage this, of course, as a family is up to you.

But I would encourage you to keep some sort of routine for as much of the break as possible. Late nights playing video games followed by sleeping till noon might still get you the required hours of sleep, but you're gonna be in trouble when it's time to go back to school and back to hockey. You're gonna end up undoing a lot of the good that you've done over the break. So little bit of routine for sleep would be a great idea, everybody. Number two would be nutrition.

The same kind of advice. There's gonna be lots of treats on the break, of course, but some moderation and healthy eating is a key part of your recuperation over the break as well. So have some candy canes, Woody.

But a fan. Not a fan.

Healthy meals and avoid the junk food where you can. In Woody's case, we just need to remind him to eat because when he gets working hard, he does forget to do that. Woody, fruits and veggies are your friend and are gonna help you stop more pucks. Number three, stay in touch with the game. NHL goalies and coaches that we talk to all agree kids don't watch enough hockey.

And we mean games, not highlights on social media. I would encourage you to encourage your child to watch with a purpose. What do you like about this particular goaltender? How are they playing things compared to what the goalie at the other end of the ice is doing? Is the guy you're watching tonight doing what your goalie coach wants you to be doing, or do they play a little bit differently?

Give you a quick story, boys. My son, Maddie's team, after their last game of December before the break, They had a community skate, couple of 100 kids and families on the ice with them just for a meet and greet after the game. And one young goalie who I wish I had met, Maddie told me at no more than 10 years old, came up to and said, why are you playing so deep in your crease tonight? My coach wants me to play way out at the top of the crease. Seriously, for a kid that age, awesome question, awesome observation.

And there was a goalie who was watching the game that day with a purpose. Really cool. Oh, and watch some pro reads because they're easily digestible for kids. You get to watch a save by an NHL goalie. They get to think a little bit about it guided by the article, and then they get to listen to a few minutes of an NHL goalie explaining what they saw and what they did.

So one pro read, maybe five minutes, you get a mini goalie lesson every day. Number four, stay fit and stay ready. Lots of goalie schools have camps at this time of year. If that's a refreshing thing, if it's a fun change of pace for your kid, if it's a chance to maybe touch base with a coach they love after half a season with not a lot of goalie coaching on their team, then by all means, go for it. But if it's not in the cards for your family for whatever reason or your goalie just wants a break, that's okay too.

Don't feel guilty. You're not going to fall behind. I don't think our son went to a Christmas goalie camp once as he was growing up through minor hockey. And that's okay. But do stay physical.

If your team only gets a couple of days off before they're heading to a tournament or something, I guess it's not a big deal. But otherwise, let's try and get some mobility work in and let's try and get some exercise in. Maybe go check out Maria Mountain's links in our Christmas article for some mobility work you could be doing. Go for a run. Go for a bike ride if you're somewhere where you can do that like Daren is.

Cross country skiing. I would suggest maybe some mobility work on almost every day of the holiday and try and get something aerobic in for half the days or so, and you're gonna be ready to hit the ice having a great time in January. Last one, have fun. Ping pong, shoot some hoops, go to stick and puck, especially as a forward. Borrow a stick and some gloves and go have some fun out there.

Just about every sport you play is gonna have some benefits for you as a goaltender. And more importantly, we want them to have a smile on their face this holiday. Still excited to get back on the ice when it's time. That's it for me everybody. Enjoy the holiday.

Goalies, parents, Kevin and Daren, best of luck in the new year.

I was going to enjoy the holiday, but you talked about candy canes.

Yuck. Oh, you don't like candy canes? Yeah. Oh, what okay. What's your treat of choice over the holiday?

Well, I can't have it this holiday because I don't want to gain 30 pounds, but shortbread. Moderate. Christmas don't when it comes to shortbread in me, there's no like two things that I can't do in moderation. Shortbread and nibs.

Wait till I bring you my father's shortbread. I will do that. He makes Scottish shortbread, which is just a little different than the English stuff, and I really love.

I have Scottish roots in my gran that you're bringing back memories and perhaps a tear to the eye, Hutch, because I that I know it well. I know it well.

How much shortbread are you eating?

I have I have a problem, Daren.

Like, one or two cookies. But

Yeah. I was the kid that mom had to hide them from because one or two turned into the whole box. I

got Really?

Sugar's a bad thing for me. Shortbread and my my my my kryptonite is nibs. That stuff's like crack to me.

So one of my five things is all about moderation and nutrition, and now we're riffing off on

Well, don't be me.

Sweets. That's bad.

Yeah. There's a reason there's a reason that I'm playing in beer league, folks. If you want to not be the old man beer leaguer, then

Well, you also didn't start playing goal until you were in your thirties. Yeah. But let's be honest, it didn't matter.

You put yourself behind.

Hey, Hutch is good advice. If you feel too, like, you need a break from the ice, but you wanna get your hands going, our friends at Sense Arena can help you out with that too.

I did a warm up the other day. I didn't have a ball to to bounce off of before a skate, and I I didn't have my Sense Arena around. So I took a roll of tape, a half used roll of tape on the the thin side and just started bouncing it off the wall. And it it was unpredictable. Bounces, it could go anywhere.

And I tried that just as a way to get myself going. And it it could go anywhere. It could say flat against the wall. It could bounce up, down, left, right. That was my new new little convention.

Plus, it was free.

I got a reaction ball I should send to you, Daren. Those would be fun.

Yeah. It it it works out the exact same way as that, except I just stole it from the the roll of tape from somebody else's bag and and used it.

Remember, is the guy who played with one pad in road hockey, so a homemade reaction ball.

No. I used both we used both pads. It's just that we couldn't it wasn't just the pads. I I it would have stopped the fights between the boys. Basically, we had to get along.

So hold on. Hold on. Just out of curiosity here because I've taken enough crap over the years for, you know, my warm up stick and taking things a little too seriously as an aging beer leaguer. Was this a ball drill against the wall warm up routine that you've got going, Daren, before you were going up against NHL shooters or just beer league with the boys?

NHL.

Okay. So it's okay. Forgivable then. I was picturing, like, I was picturing early Kane Van Gate, KVG videos. I don't Daren do, like, dynamic warm ups before an 11:00 game on on Thursday and doing his juggling.

Here's the thing with the the unpredictability of of the tape or a reaction ball against the wall, you get that in in my beer league warm up because I'm getting three shots at the same time. So it serves the same purpose in a beer league warm up as as what I was trying to do. Yes.

You're like No.

You're like the goalie and slap shot in that game where he's just getting ventilated. The arms are just flailing everywhere as he comes back to the locker room.

I was watching a stick and puck the other day, and I swear this is the honest to goodness truth. And there's maybe 10 skaters out on the ice and one goalie, and the kid skates in. And he's on the beginning side of the the position, the the early stages, and he's so pumped up to get in there. And all the players are so excited to have a goalie in the net. Instantly, shots are coming from everywhere all at the same time.

And he takes one off the side, out he goes. He he lasted about thirty seconds the first goal around before he put some rules in place about who was shooting from where. I was surprised you were out of

a goalie at stick and puck.

I know.

Didn't think I didn't think it was allowed. I thought because pucks start flying and going head high and nobody's got equipment on. That's interesting.

Yep. We went to stick a couple summers ago, locally, and not only could you have a goalie, but Connor Lacouvee came out and asked us to sort of show him some of the things we've been working on. He wanted a little goalie lesson at stick and puck. I thought that was really creative of him.

That's wasn't it Eric Comrie who went to stick and puck back in day? Were working as

Public skates movement.

Public skate.

Yep. Connor Hellebuyck. Connor Hellebuyck went to

to yeah, public skates before he went to his tryout, his first one in the NAHL that started it all for him.

Just work on on their their movements. Let's get over to the return of Alex Lyon to the Vizual Edge of ProReads.

Yeah. Presented by Vizual Edge. Our ProReads are now sponsored, and it is a perfect sponsorship partnership because ProReads help you see the game better through the eyes of an NHL goaltender, and Vizual Edge is helping goaltenders right up to the NHL see the puck and read the play better. It is a visual and cognitive tool that much like all the other partnerships we've been talking about today is a excellent Christmas gift and very downloadable on short notice. You can run it off your computer, run it off a tablet.

You take an edge test to give yourself baseline scores in key areas of vision, and then you get a plan. Fifteen to thirty minutes a day, three times a week, you work through the drills, and you will see improvements in those visual skills that will lead to improvements in how you see the puck on the ice. We can even ask it's funny. I didn't realize this, but our featured guest this week is a user and has noticed the difference in his game. Cam Talbot has noticed the difference in his game over the past three years.

So, a lot of great feedback from guys right up to the high highest level for training your eyes. We train our body. Why wouldn't you train your eyes? As Brighton Holtby once told us, the most important muscle a goaltender has, visual edge helps you train it at home. And like I said, the kind of thing you can get on short notice for the goaltender in your life and have it already under the tree, get them started on visual edge, get them seeing more pucks, and stopping more pucks.

What do we see from Alex Lyon this week?

More brilliance. I love his ProReads. He's he puts a human element into it because human nature plays a role in some of his reads. Like, are times but there are just times where you gotta know that weeks.

Yeah. Definitely. There are just times where it's like, hey. In this situation, this guy has to shoot the puck.

Or when he goes back to the bench

He's gonna hear about it if he doesn't. Like, there are just some spots where it's like, this guy's gotta shoot. Because he he you know, you know what it's like if you miss or if you try to make a a cross ice play that doesn't convert. So that was part of this read, and he sort of walked us through that. He also talks about and this is you know, I'd be curious, Hutch, I don't know if your son sees this in the WHL.

I don't know how much it trickles down to minor hockey league, but the way power play set up to generate a guy coming downhill from the circles with a pass tip or shoot option. So many power plays in the NHL are being structured to create this exact scenario that Alex Lyon walks us through, walks us through what makes it difficult and sort of how he manages it. And I think it's one that my hunch would be, because so many people do mimic what happens at the highest level, that a lot of goalies would would see this and recognize it. And Alex walks us through why it's important how to manage it.

For those that are new to the podcast, where can they find ProReads?

Oh, yes. That would be a good start. At InGoal Magazine or ingoalmag.com. It's part of our premium subscription. And in addition to this week's ProReads from Alex Lyon, there are several 100 ProReads from almost 40 different NHL goaltenders, including Connor Hellebuyck, including Thatcher Demko, including some of the biggest names in the game.

Linus Ullmark has sat down with us and walked us through his reads. This is NHL goalies reviewing video and explaining to us what they're looking for, what they're seeing, not just from the attacking players, but from their own defense, and how and why they're positioning themselves or making save selections as a result of those reads and anticipation. There is, as NHL goalie coaches have told us, no better way to learn how to read the game than InGoalmag's ProReads.

If you go to ingoalmag.com, top of the page, there's a menu bar, and one of them is ProReads. It'll take you to the index page for all of the ProReads. You can see every goaltender there. You can click on their page to see all their ProReads together. And if you're new to InGoal and haven't subscribed yet, you'll see about a half a dozen ProReads that are unlocked that you can go and watch today.

And, it'll give you a flavor for what they're like, give you an idea for what you could see more of if you get yourself a membership or if you give a gift subscription for the goalie that you love. How much have you guys seen the NFL games where the Manning Brothers sort of simulcast and watch They had a Manning cast.

Comment on the game? Yeah. Manning I would love to do a Lyon cast of of an NHL game. Just sit with Alex Lyon and let him talk us through what's happening. He's When he's done playing as a goaltender, he'd be an unreal color guy, I think.

He's so good. He I love his approach and I love that he brings that in. Like we had that one, you know, I think it was a month ago where, you know, he makes a backdoor save and it's a difficult save because he has to get across further because he doesn't overplay, but he stays committed to the short side. Like he doesn't cheat off the short side, even though he recognized the backdoor option early. Because in his words, he can't give up that short side goal.

Like, knows how he can't give up the bad goal. So even though he ends up making the big save, but he basically admitted that he was hedging towards not giving up the bad goal even at the expense of giving himself less of a chance of making the save he did on the backdoor because you just cannot, like, from a coaches, from a teammate standpoint, give up the short side one. And and so they it's not even emotional, just sort of the the game management aspect, the human nature aspect that Alex Lyon brings into his ProReads. It's been a welcome addition. It's been fun to listen to, and, thankfully, we've got more of them coming.

That's hard to do is to focus on not giving up the bad goal and leaving yourself vulnerable for for a pass or an option.

Yeah. No. I mean, a temptation, it might be to cheat because you see it coming. And in this case, he read it perfectly. He knew exactly where it was going.

But as he said, like, because these shooters are so good, if I start if I start hedging early or going early, they'll hold that puck and rip it short side. And short side from a certain point on the ice, it just has an odor to it. You're gonna hear it from the bench. Your coach isn't gonna have much confidence in putting you back in their next game. Your teammates are gonna sag.

Like, there is a very human and emotional element that it becomes part of how we play this position. And I and Alex does a a great job of breaking it down.

Feature Interview - Kristoffer Eberly

Kristoffer Eberly has, just joined the green room, so we'll bring him in in just a little bit. He is the NHL Sense Arena feature interview this week as our partnership with NHL Sense Arena has soared this year.

Sure has. Sense Arena is an awesome tool for goaltenders. I I couldn't help myself, guys. I had to have a little fun here. We always talk about Sense Arena heading into the feature interview and this is sort of the year of AI.

Everybody wants AI everything on computers and phones. So I went to AI and I said, can you tell me what I should talk about with Sense Arena today? Literally, the script was created for me. Goalies, are you ready to take your game to the next level? NHL Sense Arena, the ultimate virtual reality training platform designed specifically for goaltenders.

Train your mind, sharpen your reflexes, and gain the edge you need to dominate on the ice. NHL Sense Arena offers cutting edge drills and game scenarios created by experts all from the comfort of your home. And there's big news. For a limited time. NHL Sense Arena is celebrating the season with an incredible Christmas sale, 50% off an annual subscription.

But of course it gets even better because if you use the promo code IGM 50 at checkout, you'll get another $50 off the annual package. Parents, if you're looking for the perfect gift for your young goalie, this is it. NHL Sense Arena is not just a training tool. It's an opportunity for them to have fun while learning the game they love. Help them train smarter, react faster, and enjoy every moment of developing their skills.

Don't miss this chance to give the gift every goalie will love. NHL Sense Arena because great goalies are made in the details.

You like going all announcer, don't you?

Oh, it's so fun. Radio voice Hutch.

That was fun to do. And I I didn't write that. That was like, listen to the experts with all that intelligence. They'll tell you what to do.

So what did you put in to get all that?

Basically said, what should I say to promote NHL Sense Arena, on a podcast and focus on, I don't even I think I did mention that you should talk about having fun, but it wasn't much more than that.

Wonder if we can do that for Woody.

If Woody doesn't show up one day, we'll just have chat GPT.

What would Woody say here?

Yeah. Mean Well, I'm

gonna try that for next week.

One more question.

The longest script chat GPT has ever produced.

It was actually kind of creepy because I actually said thank you after one of these things and the response was you're welcome Hutch and two emojis related to goaltending. And I and so then I went, how did you know to call me Hutch? Well, your profile over at InGoal Magazine mentions that people call you Hutch. Wow, that's kind of creepy.

Oh, that's that's really cool.

Yeah. But fun too.

Creep, creepy, fun, but, but cool. Kristoffer Eberly, let's, tell everybody, who he is and why they should pay attention to, one of the great players in NCAA hockey this year.

Well, .941 save percentage. Hello. Having a hell of a year.

.941

.941. Video game numbers, man. Actually, I guess video game numbers normally favor the favor the player. So if video games were for goalies, those would be video game numbers at .941. He's he's on a tear.

He's .901 with The Ohio State University, second year sophomore. And to be honest, this is a little bit of a get to know you session, Daren. I have trouble keeping up with all the different levels. And so when Christopher was sort of introduced to us, you know, it was a chance to to catch up with the next generation. And lots of great stories at Red Wings development camp.

He has a history where he was once coached by Connor Hellebuyck who gave his mom his number because a young Connor Hellebuyck thought that a young Kristoffer Eberly reminded him of himself. There's some really great stories in here, some really great takeaways. The things that has developed and improved in his game this year, and he even gives gives us one of the drills that he uses in his basement in order to work on the thing that's changed or one of the key things that's changed as he's had this rise to prominence in the NCAA this year. So just a great interview. Great young man.

Really enjoyed meeting him. And, you get a glimpse of sort of what's gone into this great season he's having, who he is as a goaltender a little bit as a person. And I think our listeners, will enjoy this as much as I did. Get to know Kristoffer Eberly of The Ohio State University.

A sophomore, NHL free agent, and joining us for the NHL Sense Arena feature interview.

Really excited to welcome to the InGoal Radio Podcast. First time guest, but I have a funny feeling it. It might not be the last time. nKristoffer Eberly of the I Ohio State? The Ohio State.

Right? Like, I'm not a big college like, I'm not a college football guy, so I like, that's how I'm supposed to do it. Right?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can't forget the The That's

so Ohio State. So blame me on that one if I didn't get it off the bat. Having a hell of a year down there, 9 and 1, .941 save percentage as a sophomore. First off, what's going well?

I mean, I think the biggest thing is just how good our team's plan. Everybody's playing really good. Everybody's cleaning up each other's mistakes, and it's just been super fun playing with the guys. I also think, for from my standpoint, I'm just having fun this year. Right?

Like, I think the biggest thing is just having fun. I've been able to to just come to the rink every day with all the guys and have a good time.

So Okay. Now is that something that you made a conscious focus of? Because the irony here is we're coming off last week's featured guest was cup winning goalie coach Robbie Talus, and he talked about that being such a focus of what he's done throughout his career as a goalie coach and the importance of it. We've had Marc-Andre Fleury on. Obviously, the focus he has on always having a smile on his face.

Is that something you made a conscious effort on this season? Because it seems like an innocuous comment, but we can lose that sometimes as goalies.

Oh, for sure. Yeah. I think, I think a lot of the times you can get carried away in practice of, you know, waking up and going through the motions, and it can be tough for sure, especially those early mornings. And then, you know, you got school after as well. But, yeah, I I think a big focus of mine is is just having fun, kinda joking with the guys.

I think I think that that makes it just, you know, just enjoyable because, like, shoot, you forget kinda how how nice you have it. And then, when you can just kind of enjoy it and and do your thing. Right? You've been playing the position for so many years that just got to enjoy it a bit.

Okay. You said early morning practices, finance major, if I if I've got that right, which means you've got a you've got a pretty committed school workload as well, balancing those two things. And I guess it part of what makes it important to have fun is if you're having time management like that, you better be enjoying the time you put into the hockey side.

Yeah. It's been, shoot, my freshman year, was pretty tough. Right? Like, you come from junior hockey, you're not doing anything. And then, you jump jump back into school.

And then now you've got even more early practices. And then right after that, you gotta rush to class, make sure you're getting all your your schoolwork done and making sure you're getting good grades. Otherwise, coaches are gonna be on you. So it was definitely my first couple of weeks were a wake up call my freshman year. But kinda once you get once you get into it again, it kinda becomes routine.

You find you find what works for you and stuff like that.

So Any tips for, like, kids that aspire to get to to college hockey in terms of like, I'm I don't wanna put words. I'm guessing time management is an important aspect of your life. Is there is there ways you've gotten to be able to manage it better in in the past year and a half?

I think, from a school standpoint, I think trying to get all my work done right away, especially, when we got road trips coming up, we leave on the Thursday. And it's it's no fun when when you're on the road and on the bus or on the plane, you've got a bunch of assignments you still have to do. So I think trying to get all your work done and then giving yourself some time to focus on getting ready for the weekend, getting ready for for your game and and what you need to do to be to be successful.

So in other words, no procrastinating, a lesson I wish I had learned about fifty years ago.

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I For sure.

What and you you mentioned the team's playing well. Everything's going well. What about you? Where like, where's your game at? And maybe for those who aren't familiar with it, describe it for us.

Like, what do you see as the the strength? When when Christopher Eberle is playing well, what does it look like?

I mean, shoot again. Like, I think I'm playing my best where I'm having fun. And right now, I think my confidence is really good. I started out I think it was good for me this summer. I really worked a lot harder.

I think for sure I have I have had a better season than I did last year, and I think that comes down with my preparation. I worked out at a gym in Ethos in Michigan that really helped, and then just training with my goalie coaches, so that really helped as well. But but, yeah, I think my preparation for this season really helped me. And then I think, some strengths in my game is I'm a competitor. Love to compete.

I think I'm a good skater for my size. And, yeah.

Okay. So, you got you you said you worked a lot harder. What was the focus in the gym? Obviously, as you get to this level and up to higher levels, the attention to detail, the focal points, the need to sort of, we hear this phrase a lot, you know, be a pro even though you're in college like that have that so pro mentality. It shifts.

It becomes more intense. So what does that look like for you from a workout perspective in terms of what you're focusing on in your body and and how to manage a big frame effectively in the net, in the gym and off the ice, or sorry, off the ice and then on the ice as well? What kind of work did you do? What were the focal points?

For sure, yeah. So this gym, like it's it's tough. And I think some of the biggest things, that they focus on is just how hard it is, and it it's not so that it's it's building up your muscles. Like, obviously, is, but it's kind of just a a mental battle every time you go there. And I think that's one of the biggest things is how hard can you push your body to the next to the next level without, you know, like, without without quitting.

And I think just kinda developing that mindset, just developing, you know, you gotta keep going. I mean, really helps when you're really late in the season, you gotta you gotta keep going when it when it really matters. And then I think another really great thing about, where I've been working out is is there's a lot of great players that that you see working out there. And when when you see those great players, right, that are kinda at the next level, like, you it makes you wanna push yourself, push them, and, hopefully be where where they're at someday. So

So any names that we would recognize that you're out there working out with watching?

Nedeljkovic, Kyle Connor, shoot, who else? Those are the, only couple of guys, but there's for sure some other some other big guys for sure.

Well, we've had Ned on the podcast before and we're big fans there. Have you had a chance to meet him and pick his brain at all?

Just a little bit. He's a he's a Ohio guy, so it's cool. I think I'm pretty sure he's an Ohio State fan. So, yeah, I think, he's on my side there. But, yeah, he's he's a great guy.

I haven't bothered him too much, but it's it's cool to kinda see him in the area and, you know, look up to him as well.

What, you mentioned goalie coach. Who do you work with in the off season? And and, again, just sort of focus. What are the things that you chip away at each summer? What was the focus this past summer?

Yeah. I work with, Kevin DelMarter, and, Rob Liddell. And kinda just with my game, I wouldn't say I'm the most technical goalie. I think I'm more of just a competitor, I think.

Yeah. You mentioned you mentioned compete, so I wondered if that meant going going outside the structure sometimes.

Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I I think, yeah, my structure for sure falls apart, and I definitely make, you know, some saves that, you know, I open up a bit, which which I need to work on for sure.

But, I think shot shifting is a a big one that that I've been working on. And I think as you go up to the next level, right, you can't just be just moving your arms and just reacting like that. You gotta be shifting your whole body because the puck's coming that much quicker and, you know, you really gotta gotta keep, keep your head kinda on top of the puck. Right? So that's been a big one.

But, I think shot shifting is a a big one that that I've been working on. And I think as you go up to the next level, right, you can't just be just moving your arms and just reacting like that. You gotta be shifting your whole body because the puck's coming that much quicker and, you know, you really gotta gotta keep, keep your head kinda on top of the puck. Right? So that's been a big one.

Okay. So shot shifting. I mean, got a lot of young kids and parents that listen with their kids to the show. When they hear that, it means different things to different guys. So a, what it means to you and how you worked on it.

What were some of the things that you focused on? Because it's really easy to say, hey, move your body into the shot instead of reaching. Right? Like, you know, you can't miss with a chest. You can with a hand.

Right. But, you know, how do you like, it it's a hard it can be a hard habit to break. How what kind of

things did you do?

What kind of things did you focus? What made it click for you?

You know, it's it's tough when, you only get a certain amount of time with with a goalie coach on the ice. Right? Like, usually, we only have an hour. I think a big thing for me was just off the ice, just being in a butterfly position, having a racquetball, and throwing it off the wall. And then, you know, you lean into that to that save where the ball is going, you hold it for a couple seconds, just shifting shifting kinda over top of it and just repetition.

Right? Like, keep doing it over and over and then just just till it's till it's like walking. So that's kinda what I did to help me out.

I love that because it's something you can do without having to be on the ice. For Okay. So now I gotta know. I gotta pick away at that thread a little bit. Who who introduced that to you?

And when you say repetition, like, are you, like, hours in there? Has it become something you do on a daily basis or, you know, did during the summer on a daily basis? Because it it I mean, it's a great example. You know, I know you're a Connor Hellebuck guy. Right?

And we'll get to him in a bit. But, you know, there's a guy that same thing, couldn't get goalie ice. He would go to public skate. You gotta find ways to get better without necessarily always having a goalie coach there with you.

Yeah. I think it started at a young age for me because I had a I had kind of a tough tough path to to get where I'm at, and I kinda developed a a work ethic, at a young age. So I think it it really started when I was younger, and I didn't really have the the connections to goalie coaches back back when I was younger and stuff. So kinda started when I was younger, and it's to to now, it's been an everyday thing, just always kinda working on my tracking, making sure that kinda getting that that repetition in every day and, you know, making sure that that you're ready when ice time hits. Right?

Like, making sure you're doing it before practice and and stuff like that. So

Okay. So the on the the butterfly and the racquetball is something you might you do on a fairly regular basis still?

For sure.

Yeah. K. You mentioned tough paths, I gotta ask. Like, let's rewind it a little bit. Where'd you start?

How how how did Christopher Eberle become a goalie?

Yeah. So I, I've got two cousins from, Stockholm, Sweden, and they were actually, so my mom, she's from she's from Sweden, then came over here. But they were two, two goalies as well. So they started, and I, at the time, was just playing hockey. Like, you do every position.

Like, it was my first year playing. You're just switching around.

Like, eight years old kind of thing?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Seven seven years old. And then they they came over to The States, and they brought all their goalie gear.

I think that's what did it. Right? Like, both of my cousins were doing it. My uncle, he loved it. And then I just saw, like, their goalie gear, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

And then, just halfway through that year, my dad, he bought me the full set, and then I was committed to the the full time goalie on that team. And then ever since then, I've stuck with stuck with it there.

It's it's hard to ignore how cool it is. Like, we get to be the coolest people on the ice. Right?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

How did the passion ignite from there? Like, did you mentioned not having goalie coaches early, so you just start playing goalie in minor hockey, self taught for the most part at the early ages, and when did when it kinda shift to a point where you're like, hey, I'm pretty good at this, this is something something I might be able to do as you head to the USHL and and up to NCAA?

I actually went to I'd go to a summer, goalie camp with Future Pro and Jeff Lerg.

Okay. Yep. Yeah. You mentioned Rob Liddell. That's a name we recognize for sure.

Jeff Lerg, a name we recognize as well. So, yeah, these are guys we we've we've run across.

I was there definitely when, it was Rob's younger days back then. So it was it's cool to, like, kinda full circle back with him and then, you know, yeah, just look back at back at the days. But, yeah, I think that's really kinda with that group, it really kinda I found my fundamentals and more of my passion towards the game. Growing up, I I always played double a hockey. I never could make a triple a team, and that, again, kinda put the work ethic in me, and I just I just felt like I wanted it more.

And then I I played high school hockey. It wasn't it wasn't good hockey at all. It was division three Michigan high school hockey, so wasn't great. And then, after my sophomore season of high school, I went to the Metro Jets in the USPHL Premier. Worked with Randy Wilson.

He was great. Following that year, it was my last year of eighteens. So I played, AAA Compuware. And really, was just playing, like, I was playing to have fun. I was working hard, but I had nothing lined up after.

I was, you know, I was for sure worried, like, how you know, like, you think your your career is done. And then, you know, I I really think the team in the NCDC that I played for, I think, was seeing some clips of me on one of my goalie coaches' Instagrams. And I actually got, an Instagram message from them, a DM, saying that, they wanted to tender me. And so it it really worked out from there. I I then went there, and I had a a really good year.

Great goalie coach too, Joe Fallon. I'm not too sure if if you've heard of him, but we still keep in touch. He was super good for me that year. And then, towards the end of the year, I got called up to Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, and then it it kinda all worked out from there. It's it's crazy how, quick it all happens.

So super grateful.

Yeah. You're talking like that's, you know, three and a half years ago, you're not certain about your future and here you are one of the top goalies in college hockey. That's that's a pretty fast arc, my friend.

For sure. Yeah. It it happened quick. So, I mean, I'm super thankful where I'm at. It's it's been a journey for sure.

And I neglected to mention development camp with the Detroit Red Wings this summer. What was that like?

Yeah. It was super cool. Kinda just seeing, like, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Kronwall, just big guys like that. It it was, you know, I'm a Michigan guy too. So, like, the Red Wings is is all I grew up watching.

And you just see these guys, and it it doesn't feel real because they're just so humble and, you know, they're having conversations with you. And it's it it was super cool to to see them and kinda just see what it takes to to be a pro and be at that level.

Any lessons in terms of your game? I mean, we know that a development coach there, and and scout fellow is here as well as some of the goalie coaches. What was that that environment and that experience like trying to just sponge up as much as you can? Anything that stuck with you in terms of your game and and what it what it takes at the pro level?

Yeah. Definitely. I think I think the biggest thing that that they had at a goalie standpoint was you gotta be a competitor. And it was it was it was a grind when I was there. You had to follow every rebound and every practice drill, and all you're doing pretty much is is those shooting skill drills.

Right? So, like, that was that was a lot. But I think actually, like, the biggest thing that I learned, that I think is super important was, like, the nutritional and, like, the sleep kind of, the PowerPoints they had on that and how important, you know, your sleep is and how the most little thing can mess up your your sleep. So I I think that was pretty pretty cool to hear, and I think it's something, you know, so simple that anybody can add into their game to make sure you get better sleep or you're eating right.

Okay. So I've figured out where the Henrik Lundqvist thing because I saw that you were early on a Henrik Lundqvist guy. I'm guessing that has to do with your Swedish cousins and your mom having roots there.

Yeah. Definitely. Yep. Yep.

Okay. And so Michigan guy, obviously, Wings fan, but how'd you end up being a Connor Hellebuck fan?

Yeah. So Connor, you're from from Michigan as well. Right. I, so I remember when I was younger, my mom just told me I had a goalie skate, and I was like, alright. And it's, it turned out that it was with Connor Hellebuyck, and he was he was a lot younger at the time.

He was still in college playing at UMass Lowell. And but everybody was telling me that, oh, he's he was drafted in the NHL. Like, you got you got Connor Hellebuyck. Like, he's gonna be a good goalie that that just coached you. And I was like, oh, like, I didn't I didn't really know much of it at the time.

I was still a young guy. But he actually, he gave my mom his phone number after and and said, to my mom that I reminded him of himself at a young age and that if I ever needed any help later in the future to to reach out. And so that was kinda it was it was it was really cool just to have that from from him. And then obviously looking at him now, like, he's one of one of the best goalies in the NHL, and it's just kinda something I didn't realize when I was that that little that that he was gonna be such such a star. So it was it was really cool.

I love it. Now you now I've I've read in some spots that you model your game a little bit after him. Are there like, as you come up these these routes and you get different goalie coaches, are you also watching the NHL guys and, you know, trying to put pieces of their game into into your game? And when you say model after Connor, like, game is unique. Right?

What are some of the things that you like about it that you might try and put into yours?

Yeah. For sure. I think I think one of the, biggest things about kinda learning the game is is definitely watching the pros. Right? I try to try to model everybody.

I think you can get a lot of bits and pieces from everybody. And for from Connor's game, I really like just how kinda deep he is in his net. He's big and he fills it up. He's always on his spots. And it's I feel like it's never, like, really that pretty.

Right? Like, he's just he's playing, like, not I didn't mean, like, not pretty, but I mean, like, it's not, like, as super technical to a tee where where the save just just looks perfect. Right? He's just playing. But I I also love watching Vasilevskiy, Spencer Knight, those guys that that do it so perfect.

Like, they move so perfect.

You watch a lot of hockey? I I mean, it's I'll be honest, it's something we hear from a lot of goalie coaches right up to the NHL. They don't think kids watch enough hockey. Like, seeing the game develop is how you learn how to read the patterns of the game.

For sure. Yeah. Yeah. I I think, most recently, yeah, I've definitely started to watch it and pick up on it a lot more than than I I did in the past.

Okay. So you talked about the racquetball drills. I'd love that one. Other things, other tools that you use to try and, you know, develop, you know, one of the things with Helly is his visuals are incredible. We see him do the eyes and the, you know, every day he's doing the eyes before the games.

Are there tools you've used over the years to try and work on the visuals, work on the focus there?

For sure. Yeah. I just started using Vizual Edge, so it's been super important towards my game. Think shoot, like, right away. Like, when I first got it, I I was a little hesitant.

Like, didn't know if it was gonna work or not because I I I've been using the racquetballs for so many years. But, I feel like the first week I I used them. It I I felt just right away towards my game that it impacted. I think in just the smallest ways, like, just a small reaction that you wouldn't really pick up on, I felt like I was starting to pick up on. And in in terms of tracking pucks too as well, like, I feel like I've gotten a lot better at at seeing it all the way into my body and and and things like that.

So it's been it's been such a good tool for my game, and I think I'm I'm never gonna stop stop using it, in the future. And, yeah.

Say we're new to it, actually, so you can help me out, Christopher. We're kinda new to Vizual Edge. Walk me through how you got you you took you take the Edge test. Yeah. And you get your scores.

I'm not gonna ask you to share them. And then you just Oh, start my

score was terrible. Yeah.

Really? Which in which you're hearing, like, mine was I could my divergence was great. My convergence sucked. And this is this is a little embarrassing. But I always used to say to my business partner in InGoal, I'm like, what do you mean you see the puck all the way in?

And the convergence score says that I've never really seen the puck all the way in, which is why I'm playing Beer League.

Yeah, yeah, my score was actually in everything. It wasn't too great, but I think some of it had to do with I was just a little new to it and didn't know really what was going on. But, sorry, what was the question you asked?

Well, how do you use it now? After you get that score, how use do it on a regular basis? Like do you set it up as like the drills part of your day? And how have you sort of worked your way through it as a newcomer to it like us?

Yeah, so I definitely, I always try to get through the sessions they have planned for me kinda right away throughout the week. I need to do a better job, I think, of doing it in the morning before my practice. I think that'll help out a bit, but I've been doing it right after practice when I get back home. So, yeah, I try to do their sessions right away, and then once I get that out of the way, I start just kind of messing around with it because it is a lot of fun. I could sit there, I feel like, for hours just doing it.

Because because you're a competitor, and there is a competitive edge to this, isn't there?

For sure. Yeah. Right? You always wanna get, get a good score. But, yeah, I I'll I'll just mess around with it.

I'll do a bunch of I I love doing the the convergence and and divergence. And then I think just just a big part of the the game day routine is there's a game day mode game day mode, and I I go through that mode, I think, twice, kinda added it towards towards my routine on game days. And I feel like that really helps me, kinda just pick up my tracking and pick up my reaction time, get me ready for games and stuff like that. So

So so you're new to it this year. When did you start using it?

I started using it, I want to say maybe a month and a half ago.

Okay. Wow. Okay. Maybe even shorter,

but yeah, it's been it's been great. I I I've really enjoyed it.

Well, we we we I mean, .911 last year, .941 this year, we won't say it's all Vizual Edge, but it sounds like it's made an impact.

For sure. Definitely. For sure.

Okay. So gear. I wanna get back to gear too. So that's one of the is there any other training tools you use? Is that the one that you've added primarily, like, in terms of off ice and getting ready for games?

Yeah. So we're actually, fortunate enough to have a light board at at our rink. So I've kind of been using that, but ever since I've gotten the the Vizual Edge, like, I felt like there's no need. Right? Like, it it's, like, kind of the same the tracking, but it is good to to kinda, get in there.

Right? Like, if feel like we're fortunate to have it, should be using it. So gotta use all the tools.

Okay. So let me let me ask you about gear then. We'll switch which we'll switch over to gear. I noticed in some of the USHL pictures, Bauer guy, now a Vaughn guy. That shift, what you're in, what you like about it.

Yeah. I I can't say good enough things about Vaughn. Like, they've been they've been so good to me.

Michigan guy, so Michigan company.

For sure. Yeah. So I I was in, Bauer Gear last year, but I was in a Vaughn and Vaughn glove and a Vaughn chest protector at the time. And then so I I kinda got to know Scottie and and all the other guys, and I knew they were great guys. And then this summer, they made me a set to try.

So I was like, alright. But I was I was a little hesitant. I didn't know for sure if I was really gonna like them or not. I I kinda thought maybe I'll wear them once and then go back to the Bowers. But

Right. It's a different it's a different style pad. Right?

Oh, for sure. Yeah. Completely different. And I I put them on and I absolutely love them. Just, from day one, they slide so good.

I love the glove, the blocker. Everything's been perfect.

Are you do you know what model it is or what what sort of setup you've got going?

Shoot. I they they literally made me just a set and I stuck with it. So it's an SLR three. Right? That's the newest Vaughn.

Alright. There

there there's a four now, but that's pretty new.

It might be the four. It's

an SLR, like there's two different lines and it's little more flatter, flat faced butterfly pad as opposed to the softer, more flexible

line. Yeah. Yeah. Then, it's got a single break, and then, I believe they're 35 plus two.

Nice.

And then I've got the, is it V8 catch glove? Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I believe V8.

So yeah. They literally I'm shoot. I was such a goalie gear nerd when I was younger. So they kinda just gave me the gear, and I really haven't paid too much attention to to what I've got. But it's been, I mean, just so nice of them.

Like, I'll stop by. I'll go to their shop or their their factory and they'll just should be throwing gear at me. So it's it they're they're the best.

Not a it's a good place to be. We've been there. Met met Mike. It's a, it's a great place to be a goalie gear nerd, as you said.

For sure. Yeah, definitely.

Okay. Last one. Number 60, a little untraditional. What's the story there?

Shoot. I don't really have a story. Like, it's just different. Like, I really like I think just being different. Growing up, I was always, like, 35, 30.

Usual.

Yeah. Right. I think, kinda as I got older, I kinda wanted to to kinda be myself. And I remember when I was younger, my brother my brother, he was a player, and he'd he'd always tell me, like, oh, 60 would be such a cool goalie number. You should be 60.

And so I I feel like that kinda had some influence on it. But

I was just gonna say it sounds like, you know, between the you know, like, just focusing on having fun and, you know, being yourself like, it sounds like that's a big part of this. Right? Rather than try and just conform to what hockey expects, it sounds like that smile that smile you got on your face right now is a big part of the success you're having.

For sure. Yeah. Definitely.

Okay. It was a good lesson there. Kris Eberly.

Yeah.

Almost did it there. Thank you. This has been fantastic. Really enjoyed. I think there's a lot of great little takeaways that that parents and and young goalies can get from you on this.

I'm definitely gonna turn the vault the racquetball one into a separate story over at ingoalmag.com. I love that one. Really appreciate you taking the time. I know you're you're on your Christmas break right now, so it means a lot to us that you would, you know, spare some of your time for for the folks over at InGoal, and best of luck the rest of the way. Congratulations on a great start to your sophomore season.

We can't wait to see what's next.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you guys having me.

Outro

There's a guy I'll be following along, and he might be the next guy in the Jeremy Swayman category because Swayman was somebody that I first became aware of through InGoal Radio, the podcast. You guys interviewed him. We had him on the podcast and started following him and look where he is now.

There you go. Making eight sheets a year. I'm pretty sure Christopher Eberle would have happy to be the next Jeremy for you too.

I think he'd take that.

I think anybody would. You know what? I mean, we got into it a little bit there too. Henrik Lundqvist fan, mom's from Sweden. Cousins come over, how he got started in goal.

The cousins come over with goalie gear. They're both goalies in Sweden. I actually really regret not asking him whether you know, because we hear so much about the Swedish model and development, whether he's ever had a chance to go over there or whether that's something he wants to do to see some of the family in Sweden and do a little goalie training. So when he hears this interview, yeah, send me an email because if you do head overseas, Christopher, we've got some people you can connect with as well.

Well, it comes to that point where we have to wish everybody a happy holiday and a Merry Christmas.

May it be filled with Scottish shortbread and not candy canes.

Butter tarts and eggnog.

Oh, my grandma used to make a killer butter tart. Oh, I think I just gained five pounds thinking about it.

You know, butter tarts are, like, medium. People in The States have no idea what a butter tart is.

That's right.

Wow. It's like that diet.

Something similar in The States that people just don't call butter tarts?

Nothing I know of. But I was explaining, I was talking about it the other day at work and people like, what's a butter tart? Oh, dude. We have to go

to Vegas Hutch and open a butter tart store. Yes. Or Get them all hooked.

Yeah. And bring in from Quebec the tarte au sucre, sugar pie,

And maybe sell some wonder bars.

And some Scottish shortbread. And Hutch could bring in some Nanaimo bars. Do you have Nanaimo

bars in there, Daren?

No. No. I might lose

some Nanaimo bars.

Can't stand them.

Hold on. I missed that, Daren. Do you have Nanaimo bars in The States?

Nope. Nope.

Oh. Hutch, you're from Nanaimo. You live in Nanaimo Hutch. Like my grandma used to make Nanaimo bars too because she was from Nanaimo.

Have you ever have you ever skated on one of those indoor rinks on plastic? Yeah. The little bits of the little plastic shavings that can come off sometimes. That's what shredded coconut tastes like to me.

No. So we're not gonna win you over?

No. There will never be an Nanaimo bar in my life.

You guys I don't even remember

them having shredded coconut.

Oh, yeah.

That's what I What

are you guys doing for the holidays? Do you give people a peek behind the curtain of InGoal?

Well, last two nights, we've gone and watched, Buddies of Matthews play hockey because my son is in town for ten whole days, a giant break for his league. So we watched some buddies play hockey and watching him officiate some games and then just hanging out with family. We're gonna we're very fortunate that my parents and my wife's parents all live by here, we all celebrate the holidays together. So it's nice and easy.

Woody?

I've been at the rink pretty much every day. Can I

What are gonna do over the holiday?

Night. I'm gonna I'm gonna go see my mother-in-law who is the the last surviving grandparent in our family for our kids. And I'm gonna count my blessings that she spends her holidays in Maui. So we're gonna go visit her. That is a let's just say that when people say they gotta see the in laws, it's not a tough visit for me.

So everyone.

Outstanding. You guys deserve it. Enjoy some downtime. And

Daren, you're here? No?

Oh, I just chill out with the fam. My family's going to Mexico right after Christmas, so with my brother and his wife and and some other family. So I will be spending Christmas morning with with my kids and my wife, and then I will be solo because we play ready for Christmas. So that's good. But I also get the house to myself, which isn't isn't a bad thing.

Home Alone. This is like this is

like Home Alone. Game.

Yeah. Home Alone. Exactly.

Daren's version of Home Alone.

I'm not getting into a game, but I practice and do enjoy it. I do enjoy that. No pressure and nobody keeps score at practice. Yeah. Chirp, but nobody keeps score.

Hey. Love to everybody, our audience, our friends, our world. The goaltending journey never stops, and, we're thankful that, we have you along for the ride. Be safe, be happy, and we'll talk to you after the holiday.

There you go.