298 Parents: Parents Can Live by the Same Advice Goalies Often Hear from InGoal
The audio segment published here takes you directly to the Parent Segment from this episode.
- Stop calculating your child's save percentage during games — it adds to their mental load when you share it post-game.
- Apply the same 'next shot' mindset goalies are taught: acknowledge frustration, then consciously move on.
- Use breathing exercises not just as advice to pass on to your goalie, but as a tool for yourself in the stands.
- Build a pre- and post-game routine that brings you calm, just as goalies are coached to develop their own routines.
- The mental resources InGoal offers goalies are equally applicable to goalie parents — you're allowed to use them too.
In the Parent Segment, presented by Stop It Goaltending U the App, we talk about the importance of parents listening to — and living by — the same advice goalies often hear from InGoal.
“Physician, heal thyself.”
Or should I say… Goalie Parent, heal thyself.
As I listened to this week’s feature interview, I mentally checked the box I often do:
“Yes. This one’s special. I have to send it to my kid.”
So many things resonated—from picturing Matty and his best buddy screaming support for each other when they played on the same team, to all the incredible insights into the mental game.
And as Mikey spoke more and more about his mental approach, it hit all really home personally—not for how I saw my son in it but for myself as a goalie, and as a goalie parent.
I tease Woody about watching the shot clock, but I’ve done those very same calculations a thousand times in my own games: “Okay, 2 shots, 1 goal… need 8 more saves to get back to .900.
Wait, 3 shots, 2 goals… now I need 17 more saves on the next 17 shots…”
I do the same thing as a goalie parent. I know many of you do too. You start calculating how many more saves to get to .900, even calculating the save percentage of the kid at the other end in the same game for comparison.
Whether it’s tracking shots, judging goals, or obsessing long past the goldfish-length memory, these thoughts creep in for goalie parents – it’s perfectly normal.
And if we share them with our kids post-game?
We’re adding to their mental load.
We’re setting the wrong example.
But today’s segment is about you.
Being a goalie parent is hard.
But you’re not destined to live in a state of constant stress. There are things you can do and they’re right in front of us!
Whether it’s passing on this episode or any other tools we want to give our goalie kids normally? Know this: they’re available to us too:
- Don’t count stats.
- Do your breathing exercises.
- Give yourself a moment to be frustrated… then move on.
- Next shot. Let’s go.
- Build a routine that brings you calm.
(And let’s be clear—I’m not claiming perfection. Far, far from it.)
When I’m able to follow this advice – the games are so much more enjoyable.
I’ll admit it’s so much easier to do when things are going well – but that’s kind of the point. There are tools to help when they aren’t.
So here’s your homework this week:
🎧 Listen to the feature interview. Make some notes.
Or head to InGoalMag.com and click the Mental Game link at the top and
Read something. Watch something.
Find one thing to work on—for you.
Whether Johnny or Suzie is playing spring hockey, tryouts, baseball, soccer—whatever—pick something for yourself to work on so you enjoy the next game a little bit more.
Then hit me up at 📧 parents@ingoalmag.com and let me know what you’re working on.
I’m here to listen—and learn – from you.
This segment is from InGoal Radio Episode 298 Michael DiPietro of the Providence (and Boston) Bruins
Episode Transcript
Just gonna have a little bit of a word with the parents about how some of the advice that we give to goaltenders also applies to us as parents. But I think Woody's gonna tell us a few things The
weekly primers this week at Stop It Goaltending U are on resiliency, the journey to bounce back. So five one minute quick primers from Brian Daccord about resiliency. They've also got a new drill of the week. It's a triangle drill for two on ones. Just a quick breakdown.
They've got multiple videos on that. Good drill for goalies. Fits a lot of the stuff we do over at ProReads as well. And, of course, if you get a membership to Stop It Goaltending U, the app, you also get a membership to InGoal Magazine premium. So the best of both worlds.
You get Stop It Goaltending U with the weekly primers, five new videos every week. They do all kinds of drills, tips, goalie breakdowns, pep sessions, all of that on Stop It Goaltending U the app, and you can subscribe and become a premium member and get access to even more services, including, resources around if you're making the step to junior or college, advisory stuff. It's all in the Stop It Goaltending U the app. And as I said, buy a membership, a monthly membership to Stop It Goaltending U, and you automatically get a membership to InGoal Magazine premium.
Hutch.
I was listening to this week's feature interview, which will be coming up soon, and the phrase physician, heal thyself popped into my head, guys. Or I guess I should say, goalie parent, heal thyself. That's from a phrase originally from the bible, but now it's, more commonly used just to suggest that we should take care of our own issues before we start pointing out others. And like I said, the interview resonated with me this week. And as I was listening, as I often do, I mentally check this box that says, yep, this is a special one.
I need to send it to my kid. And so many things in the interview when you hear it, I hope resonate with you as they did for me. I could picture my kid cheering for his partner in the middle of a practice and so many great insights into the mental game that I thought applies for him and so many young goaltenders. But, you know, as Mikey spoke more and more about his mental approach, it actually started to hit home personally, not for how I saw it in my son as a goalie, but actually for myself as a goalie parent. I, I tease Woody every now and then about watching the shot clock, but I have to say that I've done the very same calculations a thousand times in my own games.
Okay, boys. Two shots, one goal. Jeez. I need eight more saves to get myself back to 900. Wait.
Oh, no. Now that's three shots, two goals. I need 17 saves now to get myself to 900.
I do that all the time.
Absolutely. Still.
Yeah. Me too. Me too.
The calculations get harder, the more pucks go into the net too. It's just a feedback loop.
Guys, give up 50 The
feedback loop. Yeah. So but the thing is I do the same thing as a goalie parent sometimes, and I know lots of us do. You start calculating how many more saves your kid needs to make to get to 900. You even start calculating the save percentage of the kid at the other end for some sort of comparison purpose.
So whether it's tracking shots or judging goals or obsessing long past the goldfish length memory that we should have, These thoughts creep in for goalie parents. And guys, it's perfectly normal. And then if we go and share them with our kids after the game is often we will, those thoughts that we had, all we do is end up adding to our kids mental load. All we do is end setting the wrong example for how to handle the situation. But today's segment is about you and me, the goalie parents.
Being a goalie parent is hard. You're not destined to live in a state of constant stress, though. There are things that we can do. And as I've discovered, they're sitting right in front of us. So whether it's passing on this episode or maybe some other tools that we have normally to our goalie kid, we need to know that they're actually available to us too.
All the lessons that we're hearing for for goaltenders through InGoal and through today's interview and so many other places, they apply to us as goalie parents. Don't count stats. Do your breathing exercises. Give yourself a moment to be frustrated, but then move on. Next shot.
Let's go. Actually, as a parent, you could build a routine that creates calm for you. And let's be clear here, boys. I am not claiming perfection on any of this, far from it. But I do think it's good advice.
When I'm able to follow it, the games are so much more enjoyable for me. I will admit that these things are also easier when things are going well for your kid, but that's kind of the point. There are tools to help you when they aren't going well. So here's your homework this week, everybody. Listen to this week's feature interview and make yourself some notes with that context of yourself as a goalie parent in it.
What are you gonna do for yourself? Or go over to ingoalmag.com. Top menu, mental game is one of the links. Click on it. Go find an article and read it or watch watch something in there.
Find something that you're gonna work on for yourself this week. Whether Johnny or Susie are playing spring hockey or they're in tryouts or maybe they're playing baseball or soccer, whatever. Pick something for yourself this week to work on so that you can enjoy the game a little bit more. Then hit me up parents@ingoalmag.com and let me know what you're working on. I'm here to listen, and I'm here to learn from you.
That's great advice for the mental challenge to goalie parents.
And all sports parents. Right, Woody?
Yes. It applies to those with daughters in volleyball as well.
You have plenty in the game with them.
Or sons.
Yeah. Are you a goalie are you a Oh, yeah. Crazy sports parent, Daren?
I I would I would go off by myself and watch. Because I found I would just get talking too much and wouldn't pay attention or get distracted. So I would just go off by myself and pay attention and and focus. I don't know whether that helped anybody. Maybe she my daughter wanted me to be distracted.
I don't know. Maybe you're qualified to be a goalie parent too then, Daren, because we like to hang out in the corner of the rink all alone quite often.
I love the, parent segment brought to you by Stop It Goaltending U.
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