InGoal Radio Episode 304 with Dan Stewart

Intro

Most beautiful part of my week. InGoal Radio, the podcast presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. We got some exciting stuff coming up. Saw some videos coming out from the boys over at the Hockey Shop, and Tendy Fest is around the corner. We'll circle back to that in just a little bit.

We're into the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I think we're still waiting for a goaltender to grab hold of best goaltender of the tournament. I just invented that award. What what are we seeing from the net miners in the final four? Woody and Hutch.

I'll go first because I got the fancy numbers. Oh. How's that sound?

That's really good.

You know what we're seeing? We're seeing guys rise to the occasion as the playoffs have gone on. And I to be honest, I get my backup a little bit in some of my other hits because guys will have, like, a three game heater late in the second round going into the conference finals, and all of a sudden they are the second coming. They are they are, you know, clutch there, postseason this there, playoff that. And I look at the numbers and it's like, yeah, but they were down in the series because they were very much not.

They're like four goals below expected in three games before the heater. At the end of the day, the value of sticking with what you do, not chasing things when it goes wrong, and being able to get back to your game matters. Maybe that's what it is. So Jake Oettinger had a very average first round of the playoffs. To be honest, statistically speaking, behind a great Dallas Stars defense, he had a very league average regular season, slightly below in fact, and has had a couple of them.

But in the second round of the playoffs, he was the best goalie by far. And he had a another game in game one where by the numbers, finishes below expected, but after falling behind, he just sticks to what he does. It's all calm. And the Oilers create some scrambles and some flurries, and Jake stays in position and pucks hit him and he makes saves, and then they storm back in the third period. And it's kind of the same with Bob.

Like in Toronto series, he wasn't great early, but he was spectacular down the stretch when it mattered. He gets them through to the conference final, and I'm not sure he had to a drop in game one while Frederik Andersen was under siege at the other end. But when he needs to, he comes up with those saves. So maybe after all the fancy maths and all the analytics, maybe it's just about timely saves and big moments when we get to playoff time.

That kind of language is unsuitable for our podcast, and we apologize to all the parents who are listening. Don't we Hutch?

Oh, I can fix it. You the the parents probably will never even hear it, but Didn't said something he didn't want to. He just gets so excited about his goal tending.

There's no urination on this podcast.

I've just enjoyed the drama. I'm enjoying the storylines. I am loving that we've got four guys who get the job done, but all in a very different way. So it's it's entertaining as a as a coach, as a parent, as a fan to to see how they're each playing the game differently. I've, renewed my fandom for watching Bob play the game.

I just think it's

So good, isn't

it? Way to play the game. Yeah. Beautiful way to play the game.

His I like hearing that because

I'm the I'm the same way. And

Oh, good.

I don't I don't I've never really noticed it before, but the last two years, I'm like, every chance I get to see him now, I dive in.

An aesthetically pleasing goaltender.

[crosstalk] Yes. Goalie porn. And there's there's no Like, words. He there's no yeah. What what what are we doing here today, Woody?

There's there's no, like, extra emotion involved. He he he has unique approaches to the position, but he still looks so much like I would wanna look. Yes. I don't look like that, but I would wanna look like that.

My legs would fall off if I tried to look like that. And actually, to your point, Daren, can't you say the same thing about Jake? Right? Like like it like, his level, his emotional level never changes no matter what's going on around him. You see it in the postgame interviews and maybe for all the attention that technique and tactics and how to beat them and how to score and what they're good at and what they're not that comes with the Stanley Cup playoffs, maybe none of it matters. It's just all about being able to stick with it through the highs and the lows and maintain a consistent level.

What I'm not enjoying is the number of fly by elbows, whoops, I just fell on the goaltender. I think it's up more this year than ever. I hate that the vast majority of it just reaches that line where especially in the playoffs, you know, they don't wanna call a penalty, but the sum of it is just too much. Obviously, we don't know what's being said on the ice, but I'd love it if an official would just go to the teams and say, okay, you've had your one. And I don't care how soft it is, the next one's getting called.

We gotta protect these guys.

Some is is accidental contact.

Some, but I'm sorry. Two of the most prominent ones are not, Daren. Like Bennett leans in and then against the other night, that's a lean in right into the head. You see it there, you lean into it, you make contact, you clip the side of the head. Definition of a vulnerable position is a goalie on his knees.

I'm sorry. And this crease in like, and both guys are in in or near the edge of the crease. Like, and this is where the lack of goalie interference calls throughout the regular season because, oh, don't worry, guys. We would have reviewed it if it went in and it wouldn't have counted, is piling up and you've seen three goalies get hurt, and the panthers were probably lucky that Bob didn't get hurt the other night because that was a pretty good one by the side of the head that he took.

Yeah. And I didn't see anybody selling on those.

No. No. And that that's that's where the goalie union doesn't do itself any favors is the guys that throw the head back at the slightest contact. Right. That puts the referees in a tough position.

What did you make of Connor Hellebuyck's comments in his year end media availability when he said, I don't wanna be tweaking as I go along. I gotta put more faith in my game. And he was referring to the first round series against the Saint Louis Blues and how he admittedly found his game by just exhaling and getting back to the foundation in in the second round and perform much better. But he he came clean and said, I I was chasing my game in in the first round. I I found it refreshing to to hear Connor, who's so steadfastly confident in everything he does, to hear him admit that he maybe stepped out of his foundation a little bit.

I think it's refreshing to hear anybody say something that's not just that standard hockey answer. They people feel you have to give little bit of emotion, little bit of open book. That is refreshing. I think one thing that many of us thought watching Connor in the playoffs was that there were times that he seemed to be I don't wanna. I'm almost gonna say guessing.

You know, he thinks the game at such a high level. He prides himself in his ability to think the game at a high level. It seemed that when the chips were down, he was relying on that thinking a little bit too much. And what you're referring to there, Daren, was what we've heard from so many coaches that we can learn all these things in practice, we can work on all these things in practice, but when the game comes, you have to step on the ice and just let it go and play. And I think maybe that was something he was realizing as he was playing.

Fine line between great reads and anticipation and going a little bit early. And certainly, there were times I thought in the playoffs where he went a little bit early, expecting something to happen that didn't happen. And you know the teams are looking for that. Like, they're trying to create deception. Mean, look at the Granlund goal.

Never looks at the net on the two on one, like, not once before delivering that shot. I I find it interesting. Like, he's being praised for being introspective about the first round last year. And the introspection is, I need to stick to my game. And an admission that maybe there were parts that changed.

Last year, he got ripped mercilessly in that market, especially for saying, my game is fine, I just need to stick with it. Like he basically said, there's nothing wrong with my game, I just need to stick with it. And so I kind of ironic that it comes back to sort of trusting his foundation, but the way he said it last year after a first round exit versus the way he said it this year after getting through the first round.

I never thought of it that way.

Treated a little differently. But this, after getting through the first round, he did. What didn't happen was the Jets didn't find their game. Connor Hellebuyck's adjusted save percentage in the second round, and it's a tiny sample, was better than his regular season adjusted save percentage. And nobody could tell because his environment deteriorated by 31 points.

So it was .903 in the regular season, which is really high, and it was .872, I believe, in the second round on the Stanley Cup playoffs, .865 on the road. We did an article at InGoal about sort of home versus road and the narrative around it and how much of it is Connor and how much of it is team. Like, they were unable to do the things they did in the regular season in the playoffs, and so it got a lot tougher. His expected save percentage, so then the the what the average goalie would stop facing that quality of chance deteriorated. And his performance relative to it was actually slightly better than it was in the regular season, and they're getting ready to give him a a third Vezina.

And probably from what I'm hearing from voters, a Hart trophy for it. So it really is interesting how so much of the narrative because even in the second round, I saw the criticism. Obviously, road woes, but about the overall performance. And the overall performance in the second round was better than what he did in the regular season, and we're about to hand him a bunch of hardware for it. So understanding that nothing exists in a vacuum when you're a goaltender and environment matters is a part of this discussion that I think and if I'm honest, it gets missed on both ends.

Not just the criticism of the second round, but the praise for the regular season. Like, that was a really good defensive environment.

Parent Playbook

Let's slide over to our parent segment. We're gonna change things up the order a little bit just to keep everybody honest. You you you can't just go through life doing the same thing.

Oh, I was cheating on my Reads, Daren.

I know you were. I could tell you were you were already you were grabbing it. So I'm gonna make an audible here. The Stop It Goal Tending U, the app parent segment with Hutch, but it's Woody with the explanation of Stop It Goaltending U the app and how you can benefit from it.

Success starts with discipline, boys. Maybe that's why I've had so little of it in my life. Success starts with discipline. That is the topic this week in the five one minute primers from Brian Daccord and the Stop It Goaltending U app, and this is your reminder that every subscription to the Stop It Goal Tending U app gets you five new videos every week from Daccord. They're called daily primers.

They're just quick hits to help you become a better goaltender. If don't want to invest too much time, get up in the morning, watch a one minute video. You'll be better for it from a guy who spent over twenty five years at Stop It Goaltending U, building that goalie mecca of instruction, but also in the NHL as a as a goalie coach, as a director of goaltending, as a goalie scout. So you get that advice in a quick hit format. Also, week, goalie systems, they're gonna take a look at low slot line plays with video and a drill of the week on backdoor quick transition.

So all of that this week at the Stop It Goaltending U app. Just a sample of what you get every week with the Stop It Goaltending U, the app, and, of course, a subscription to InGoal Magazine premium. So in addition to all their great content, you get all our great content, which is normally behind the paywall at ingoalmag.com. The best of both worlds in goaltending, Stop It Goaltending U, the app, and InGoal Magazine. Make sure you check it out on the App Store or wherever you get Android apps.

I don't know because I'm not an Android user, but find it there.

You know, when we started this podcast, way back when, there's a couple of elements in the program. And slowly, it's evolved, to have a bunch of different sections. And the parent segment is one of my favorite ads to this wonderful offering, through the eyes of Hutch and through the interaction of parents out there.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. But this time, it's not so much through the through the eyes of Hutch. We changed things up this week a little bit with our feature guest, Dan Stewart, who is the development coach for the Saint Louis Blues. And Woody and I did the interview together. I've known Dan for quite some time and thought it would be great to hop in on it.

And very organically, one question came up from me that, in retrospect, stood on its own as a really great parent segment. And I was tempted to hang on to it for one of those weeks when I wasn't quite sure what I was gonna do. I could parachute Dan in for the parent segment, but we decided this one's too good. We're just gonna bring it out right away. It's a really powerful suggestion for parents whether you're experienced or not.

And and I'll warn you if you're not experienced as a as a goalie parent or as a goaltender, the beginning of it can sound a little intimidating, but but hang in there and you'll get the piece that's there for all of us. It's a it's a deep dive into something we hear almost universally from our guests and that's the kids don't watch enough hockey. So we're just gonna roll it here. We're gonna let Dan talk to you about how we as parents can help our kids learn to read the game better. And now if I put my goalie parent hat on, how do I help my young goaltender learn to read the game, especially if they don't have that support in their team like you're able to give your goaltenders.

The biggest thing to me today is the kids don't watch enough hockey. Like, they watch highlights. Mhmm. And they watch this, you know, really boiled down version of of events, and they and they just focus on what's cool or whatever too often. I'm not saying all of them, but I would love to see kids watch hockey.

The biggest thing to me today is the kids don't watch enough hockey. Like, they watch highlights. Mhmm. And they watch this, you know, really boiled down version of of events, and they and they just focus on what's cool or whatever too often. I'm not saying all of them, but I would love to see kids watch hockey.

And if you're watching it with them, I would be like, hey. You know, watch through through the neutral zone here. Right? Tell me tell me the numbers of the rush as it's coming in. If you were playing that, what would you be thinking?

What would you be looking for? What would be your keys in terms of the things you work with your goalie coach on? If there's a a power play scenario and and, you know, they've they've got a setup and they've got a one three one setup against, say, a diamond, let's say. Right? You I would say to the way, look how this setup is.

Look where the puck is likely to go next. Right? Look how the goalie reacts to it. Now look how this other goalie reacts to it. And then, again, ask the same question.

Like, in this scenario, what would you be doing? What would your goalie coach say you do? Right? And that helps also get an idea of what the goalie coach is actually doing with your son or daughter as well.

And that questioning, you can do that as a parent without being a goalie coach.

100%. You're you're just asking questions, and and you don't you don't need to give any response to the answers at all. Right? It's you're even if well, I mean, my stepson is a a 21 year old goalie. And if if we were watching hockey or whatever, I wouldn't comment on his answers to that stuff.

Right? And and I'm a goalie coach, but I have the call. Okay. I had school.

Kinda reflects on what you talked about with your video sessions, how much less talking you do now and more just asking them.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I certainly try.

Kevin does too.

I don't try. I just talk all the time.

Wow. Look at you. You're like late night talk show bringing clips along with you. Nicely done.

Yeah. I'm not sure what's in this clip, Daren, but we'll just, we'll The studio sends something along.

Exactly. Set this clip up. I'm not sure what it is, but, okay. Just roll it.

Yeah. I'm definitely never gonna be the star on the talk show. That's for sure. But it's it's fun to pretend like we do.

So what what's your takeaway from what we just heard?

Well, what I what I need I'm to

sorry. Woody's gonna hop in because he he is want to do. Daren's laughing his ass off right now. But you know what my takeaway is?

We were almost having a conversation

a fantastic answer. And we haven't yet told people that Dan Stewart is also our featured guest this week on the InGoal Radio Podcast. So folks, you like that, stick around.

Were you not listening to the beginning of me?

I never said feature guest this week. You said we interviewed him, but you didn't say he was the feature guest in this week.

Oh, he might have might have you on semantics, but I was following what you were saying.

With our feature guest, Dan Stewart, who is the development coach for the Saint Louis Blues. Think most people are picking it up. Most people probably read the headline when they clicked on their podcast. It's okay, Woody. Thanks for clarifying.

So what what what's your takeaway there?

Well, what I loved was that it it went beyond the standard answer, which is just kids don't watch the game enough. They only watch highlights. And he got into specifics about how they can watch the game. And the message that I deliver so often in these parents pieces is we need to be involved, right alongside our kids. And it doesn't mean you have to be the expert.

It doesn't mean you have to know, much at all frankly, but you need to be involved in their lives because to just say go watch some hockey, not many kids are gonna do that. They're gonna take the method of least resistance. But if you sit down and do it together and you ask them to give you some feedback, if you ask them to teach you, you know, it's like the old one when our kids come back from school all the time guys. Hey, what'd you learn today? Nothing.

Nothing. Don't let that be the answer because that's a whole bit of the education right there is them telling you what they learned in school today so they can reinforce some of that. Well, let them teach you about the game and and I would add to to ask them to tie it back to what they're doing with their goalie coach. Whether it's as you watch the game together or you simply ask them, what did you learn today from your goalie coach? Teach me, help me learn to be a better goaltender.

I do that with my son all the time. Not so much, what did you learn today in practice from your goalie coach, but, we'll be watching a game together and tell me what you saw there. Why did you why would you do it that way? And quite often his thoughts are different than mine, and I get to learn something.

I love that approach. Experience. Teach me. Like, help me understand what you were doing. And that, I would probably guess more than half the time, will get the child excited to be the one sort of in charge, the the teacher.

Yeah. Yeah. But also don't be shy to maybe raise the the opposite. Well, would you not have thought of doing this? And it doesn't mean I'm right.

I'm just asking you the question. And I I actually say it that way quite often. I'm not telling you I'm right. I just wanna hear your opinion. Why wouldn't you do this?

And make them think even a little bit more deeply about what they're doing. A lot of fun talking to Dan again this week.

And he asked them why. Right? Like, he just asked just asked them. Why? Why?

Why? Why? I would have done this. Why?

Yeah. I would have done that. And then he would have said because. And or what did you learn? Nothing.

This. And then it would be over, and then I'd be frustrated. But that is brilliant stuff. I love that, Hutch. Again, such a great add.

Gear

ProReads brought to us by Vizual Edge, the great inside the game, leaning on a National Hockey League goaltender or a professional goaltender as they review some of their clips. It's like being in a video session, with a with a professional goaltender. It's so cool, and we love it.

It's exactly what it is. And this week's guest is Cam Talbot of the Detroit Red Wings, and we take a look at a two on one from the blue line. Cam does a great job of identifying information. You know, if you're sitting and watching hockey with your goalie as the parent segment suggested, you can pick up things from ProReads that are part of the questions that are gonna be asked during those breakdowns. Screens, tips, deflections, two on ones, odd man rushes behind the net.

We've got it all covered on our ProReads. And like I said, this this week is a is an odd man rush. So identifying key points, handedness, why does it matter in terms of how you move in the crease, what depth you select. Talbot walks us all through that. And then when it comes time for save execution, and part of asking why is, what would you have done differently?

And in this case, Talbot, if you answered the question, well, I wouldn't have been that far out, Talbot says the same thing. But I was this far out because this guy's an elite shooter, so I played him to shoot. And so once it gets that doesn't happen, he has to use a technique called the spread. And so he walks us through when and why and how and where he learned it and what a spread is. So this is all part of the weekly session we have with NHL goaltenders over at ProReads.

Talbot was a great guest and a perfect guest because it's sponsored by Vizual Edge. Vizual Edge helps you see the puck and see the game better through online diagnostic testing and training tools for both vision and cognitive improvement. You will be able, as Talbot has told us, to find pucks through screens faster and better. It will improve your ability to diverge and see the whole zone, to converge on a puck heading at you with your eyes and see it better from release through contact with you as a goaltender, whether it's into the glove, off the chest, or off the pads. All these elements go into the Vizual Edge training system, which makes them a perfect partner for InGoal Magazine and the ProReads.

ProReads help you read and see the game better. Vizual Edge will help you see the puck and the play better. Put them together. You've got a winning combination and one you can watch every week over at ingoalmag.com.

Over at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, theHockeyShop.com. They're getting those big trucks ready for a huge event coming up. They're not moving. Like, you're not leaving that space. The the store is staying in the right spot, but they they have, like, a, like, a pop up a pop up store.

Tendy Fest is coming June 14. Make sure you check out Hockey Shop for all the details, how to sign up, get your ice time to test all the gear. It is the best opportunity to get on the ice with the newest equipment and see what fits your game. And speaking of new equipment, there are also a lot of trucks pulling up to the Hockey Shop right now dropping off new gear, containers full of new equipment. We get into it this week in our gear segment with the new Bauer Vapor Flylite.

Get into the pads and gloves. But a reminder folks, it's not the only part of the line that drops this week. We can only deliver one at a time, but we have banked several deep dives into the new lines of equipment that are coming from Bauer, including the SV Pro. This is all gonna be online as of this week over at the hockeyshop.com. So you gotta wait for us to break it down and do the reviews on some of this stuff, but you don't have to wait to see it online to ask him and his crew questions about the new line.

Most of the Bauer product is dropping on May 23. So in addition to what we're doing this week, there's a lot of new there's a new chest. There's the new second price point line. There's more coming later in the summer, but there's a ton available now. And as always, that means previous generations are on sale.

So make sure you check them out at the hockeyshop.com or if you're lucky enough to live in the area or as far away as Seattle. People have driven up from the interior Calgary to see us at Tendy Fest in the past, make sure you come down and check out the latest and the greatest. The new launches are live at the hockey shop and the hockeyshop.com.

Brand new Bauer Vapor Flylite. You've seen it in the NHL. You've seen it teased. It's now in store. We've got a new slide tune fit strapping, brand new for this line, and the ability to order something at custom you have never previously been able to do.

We're gonna get Cam to tell us all about that later, but first, let's start with a general overview of the Flylite pad. It's a vapor line, so I'm guessing that means Flexible. Yes. Unlike Cam as a goaltender, this pad is flexible.

No. They're not a lot of not a lot of flex anymore. The hips are tight. But if you need a soft flexible pad, that's why we have the brand new Vapor flylite- Their softest flex pad. Oh, wow.

Yes. Exactly.

Because it's always the flex had always sort of been not limited to, but primarily down around the boot and the shin. They've got flex up top this time.

That's correct. But still maintaining rigidity in that upper thigh with adding that curvex.

So you can see if we go to the profile, can sort of see that flexes in in around the knee, but there's still Correct. You said some creating a

little bit more of Yeah. That l shape of of a style butterfly. But still, I

get Noticeably more than the previous generation. We never had a chance to test that out, but it feels like it's got more flex than I recall.

I would say it's just a little bit more flex. Even though it is, like, falling under the same flex profile, I do find that this, especially the boot area in particular Nice. Soft. Yeah. Nice.

You almost bounce it up and down like basketball.

It's now basketball, Cam. Tell us about the rest of the pug.

K. Moving on to the back. So let's talk about the knee stack first. Extend it. It's about a half inch longer than the actual surface area of the knee cradle than it was over the previous pad.

So that means to be NHL legal either a, this face is thinner than it was before and they've because the measurement is from the face to here. In front of crown. Yeah. Either that's thinner, this isn't legal, or the previous one was undersized legal. This is max. This is what you're telling me,

and then you'll notice the difference. That's all we You will notice the difference. I mean, that's what's important for guys that are not playing in the NHL here.

You will notice the difference. I mean, that's what's important for guys that are not playing in the NHL here.

That is a large landing area for those of you wearing oversized knee pads. I like that. Yeah. Continuing on, before we get

to their new strap Little

bit soft cushion. Like, it's nice and firm

and effort. More stability flex. Yes. Yeah. So it's still gonna be a little bit give

unlike the That's correct. Supreme line with Stabilis slide. Right. Which is very forelegic. Yes.

And there's a nice soft cushion to the landing area.

Yes.

So you get a little bit of shock absorption as you do drop down. But, again, there's a little bit of play, especially if you're moving anything on the post, reverse VH situations, things like that where you do the pad to walk or slightly as it moves with you, not against you. Hey. Options. The turn of the tabs.

Yes. Perfect. Something that was deleted off of Hyperlite two all the way throughout. So it could only be available to order custom on Hyperlite two. Now it's added back, so you can still have the tabs there to be able to add in your professor strap if

you wish. And Bauer makes a professor strap accessory that you can buy aftermarket. Can you order you can order it with the pad, I'm guessing.

[crosstalk] Absolutely. And does it come with or you gotta order it with? Aftermarket. Aftermarket. Okay.

But you can buy them here in store.

That's

correct. If you want that professor strap style. Okay. Now Do. Slide, tune, fit, strap, all new on the inside.

Single bar here. Yes. Little little little get my fingers in there. Much more plastic.

Yes. Interesting. So quite a bit bigger of an actual landing patch for the Velcro itself too as well. So what you're finding is is that because this sits on a little bit higher on the upper calf area, I can now nail down the adjustability with the tabs here. I can pull that a little bit tighter, a little bit looser if I want to.

Or a lot tighter or a lot looser if you got if, know, if you skip leg day, you can go right down there.

Correct. So depending on your size of calves and what your personal preference is, find this creates a little bit more of a locked in feel. Now me personally, I prefer the old two point

o tune fit strap and because these are just leather tabs that the straps slide through, you can swap it out.

You got it. Or if you like the tune fit plus that you find on the shadow,

guess what? You can put it in this.

Amazing. They thought of that, Hey. Not bad.

Yes. Transferability. Exactly.

Cutting me down with some a few upgrades as well. You can see they've called out and added some more material in terms of for some of their higher wear points in the pad that we've seen previously from different vapor models. Add a

little durability. Exactly. I also happen to notice there's a bootstrap tab here.

Again, something that was deleted, but it's now been added back.

So, again, it doesn't come with the pad. If you wanna add a bootstrap, you don't have to order. It comes automatically with the ability to sort of attach it.

Correct. Okay. What else? So now we're back onto the bottom of the boot. Flat boot construction.

Very flat.

Yes. I would argue that that is not a defined channel, Kaye Whitmore, but hey. I mean, there's a

little bit of an indent there, so let you know what

Yeah. There's lacing going through it, but hey.

It's indented. There you go. There's a boot channel. We found it. Vapor tabs, so that is just the thin leather flap at the front whereas post supreme has that full po bridge with that 80 foam in the middle.

Continuing on with their new style of bungee, kind of almost like a bit of a hybrid having a bit

of gap at the front. Fixed so it's not flexible at the front, but then an elastic material from basically the after the attachment to the toe. Because the last thing you want is to push off the post and have some give. So I get that.

Yes. So still, obviously, removal, change out to whatever you want if you don't like this, but good option off that. Last thing to cover, I've seen new updated graphic. Kinda hot. Like it.

Removal, newing, as usual. Alright.

And we cover the path. Let's go to the glove.

K. Options for the glove. Options. What are you holding?

I am holding, I believe, a Vapor 90.

So once again, Vapor 90 makes its return updated with the Flylight graphic. Single t, game ready palm. It's a little bit beefier in the actual break.

Yeah. It's Love it. It feels a little thicker through sort of the seam. And then without being able to take a puck off it right now, I'm guessing it feels like maybe they've added a little protection.

So mostly for the gloves, it's just a little bit of an update in terms of the materials. Nothing fundamentally changing Q2 much in terms of for playability. Still the same break angle. Stock flylight's gonna be that five ninety style closure. And his finger to the base of your thumb.

Kevin, obviously, 80. Okay.

So stock is 590. Vapor 90 is custom.

Or 580. And available stock off the wall in different colors to be able to match your gear set. Right. You have them. Yes.

On stock colors.

Okay. Walker. Any other changes to the golf cam? We kinda breezed through that one, buddy.

We did really breezed through it. But, mean, in all honesty, we are really talking about a similar glove. So if you do like your Hyperlite two, you're gonna like your Flylite.

You may have mentioned this already, but I tend to just ignore you. Double t stock on

the stock glove. Double t stock on

the Single t stock on the Vapor. On the Vapor 90.

A little

bit of a more rounded deeper pocket if we sorta show the people that compared to the Vapor 90.

So between the two, once again, we are talking about the break angle difference and the overall feel between updated glove. That stock nylon?

Stock nylon. Yes.

Okay. Yes. Alright. I'm gonna

do this. You want

if you want custom If you

want to get laced, you gotta order custom. Alright.

Okay. Yes. So K. Gloves. Blocker.

So, again, if you're familiar with your Hyperlite 2 blocker, you're going to be very familiar with your Flylite blocker. General, same overall feel. Slightly more opened up cuff trimmed down a little bit on the actual cuff piece itself. I still find that in an extreme forward position, I do find a little bit of torque on these elastics. Just something I noticed with my own personal set.

But I do feel that this is actually a little bit more mobile. I have less cuff interference in this over a Hyperlite two. Same tight fitting palm as well continuing that trend that Bauer's kind of coined, more of a player palm fit. So nice, good control. I find the blocker's nice and snug.

I don't have any slop with it. Nice overall good punch.

There's enough slop in your game, Cam. We don't need So don't need under my blocker. Absolutely. Okay. Well, we can we teased it at the beginning.

Yes. When we haven't gotten to it. There is a custom feature available on this pad that was never available before unless you're in the NHL.

Didn't I tell you about that?

The point would be to tell the people.

So not gatekeeping this any longer. Bauer offers custom thighs. Sizing. Plus sizing. Something wasn't available necessarily in the past.

So stock Bauer

You've got your small, medium, large Correct. Which is, for example, a plus one. So One point five. When did that happen? That's always been that way.

Used to be plus one, Cam. It definitely always

When they didn't use the when they didn't use the label on small, medium, large.

Don't make me go back to the archives in the first reveal It might happen. Original supreme Oden pad and tell you that it's 34 plus one. But anyways okay. It's now 34 plus one and a half.

Correct. Which is why when you see so, say, for example, you want a medium but with a large thigh, that's plus point five. Okay. That makes it a plus two.

So you can get customized thigh rises for the first time ever, something that was previously only available for NHL guys. You can now custom order if you're in a medium which is a thirty four where you've got super long thighs and you want an extra thigh rise or a little help close especially with this flexibility, a little help closing the butterfly you can add to that. Can you subtract? Can you make it shorter? Just add.

We are all about addition here on the InGoal gear review with Cameron so it's only add you can get higher thigh rises than the stock plus one and a half that comes with the Bauer Flylite. Custom.

Custom. Of course. Custom.

So if you want to talk about custom, give me a call at (604) 589-1899 or 1-800-567-7790 or check us out at the hockeyshop.com.

You can go get a coffee, wake up, keep up with the rest of us to the rest of this segment. Custom. Bauer, Flylite, lots of exciting parts. Make sure if you got any questions, Cam gave you the number. Give them a call.

Reach out. Get all your custom options custom and what they have in stock. They'll have plenty. Good job, Cam. Fly light.

So the vapor and the fly lite covering that right now, and you mentioned the second price point. It's I I get confused sometimes with the with the titles of the lines. Vapor, and is there another line of the year? Or Supreme.

So Supreme and vapor are your two primary families. Supreme being a stiffer pad typically, vapor being the more flexible. The Flylight is the latest iteration of the vapor line taking over for what was it? Hutch Hyperlite two.

Correct. So the Supreme dropping at the same time? Is it

Supreme will drop next year. They alternate

years. They alternate years.

Year was the Supreme shadow, and next year they next year they got something new coming. Oh, really? Little tease.

Love, love hearing that. Hey. I've noticed, Woody, online, social media, YouTube doing some stuff over there with some some A little bit more. Gear reviews. Green screen and

Nope. No green screen. But

Okay. What's the background? Because it's just it's it's just Woody doing some of this stuff.

Mhmm. Just a color backdrop.

We're just a little studio colored background.

It's really good.

It's story time with Yeah. You and

We just decided that we're taking the time to head over to the hockey shop. They've got all these fantastic resources there. We would take advantage of being together and having all our gear and everything and just shoot a little bit more a little bit more gear content that we can bring to people through the stories format on the various platforms.

Discovered that on my own and that that's through on YouTube where where I saw that?

You name it. YouTube, Instagram. Okay. Little bit of TikTok.

Yeah. Try and put it everywhere. It's basically, we understand folks. You don't always wanna sit through five minutes of Woody and Cam talking about gear. So we're gonna give you quick hits

Mhmm.

On your social medias and dig into one. You know, we just did an overview, for example, of the Fly Light line, and Cam talked about how the landing area is bigger, Daren. And I kinda you probably saw. Folks are reminder that our gear segment is simulcast over at YouTube. So if you watch it there, you would have seen a puzzled look on Woody's face.

Because how do they make the knee stack bigger? There is a NHL maximum on the distance between the face of the pad and the edge of the knee stack. So how did what did they do? How did they pull it off? Well, we'd get in went into the backroom and had a look and got the tape measures out and figured it exactly out and that'll be coming a little later in the week in a YouTube short or over at our Instagram channel.

It's just us digging into each individual feature of the new lines a little more personally, a little more intimately, and in a little more detail.

Awesome stuff. And I when I stumbled on it, I thought, where's Cam? And then it was it was shorter. So I saw what you guys were doing there, and it was impressive. I enjoyed it.

So it was shorter, and you thought, well, that's because Cam's not here. But how is how is it shorter if Woody's still here? Good point. I felt bad. The answer is director Hutch.

I missed my Cam. Look. Like, it's not as detailed of a breakdown of the gear. If if it catches your interest and you like it, you you probably still wanna get the the full complete version of you and Cam breaking it down, but, but it it is it is good. It's it's for being on the flow.

Yeah.

If you take the sum of all of those little pieces, it may well even be a bit more detailed because Woody loves to dive deep into things. So but one of those pieces on their own, probably a little bit deeper into something like the knee stack, for example, as Kevin was just talking about. But you'll just have to wait to see them come out over time so you can get the full meal deal.

It's Cam free year talk. That's what it is.

Cam free. I I saw the one with the True pants, and I'm I'm still buzzing about about those.

You're not the only one that's buzzing. We got a few phone calls from people this day saying, where the hell do I get these? It's not everybody has them yet.

Really? Yeah. Because they're still available because I was looking at them last night. So I'm a there's still stock left at the Hockey shop.

Cam ordered up. I'm a little surprised, but I do think there is a certain hesitation right now from from some people to order equipment and have it shipped across the border because there's uncertainty on both ends. Like, nobody knows. This is just, you know, and the Hockey Shop is honest when people call, they just can't be sure whether there's gonna be tariffs applied. Sometimes it's not even supposed to be a tariffed item and it gets applied.

Like, there just seems to be a lot of uncertainty around that. So some people don't wanna run the risk adding 25 to 30% to to a product and not having any control over it.

Good point. So work with them. They'll work with you.

They'll talk to them.

Everything they they they know about

Woody would smuggle it across the border for you and drop ship it, but he values his ability to go into The United States and his nexus pass, so not gonna happen. Don't call me.

He really just said that, Hutch. He would do it, but he's not gonna do it.

That's pretty much. Yeah.

We're we're

we're a long ways from the days in high school when I lived in a border town and people just freely passed from one direction to the next.

I'd do it for you, but I'm not gonna do it.

Yeah. But you know what? It actually also speaks to Woody's character in a really positive way. And it does. Because some stranger on the Internet could phone him up and say, hey, would you mind picking this up at the Hockey Shop and getting it off to me?

And Woody be up to his eyeballs in 14 different things and he'd drop everything to go and help somebody. So. Amazing.

Feature Interview - Dan Stewart

Sense Arena feature interview. We teased it.

And Woody

really, really teased it earlier.

Did we? I'm ready to hear the tape on that one.

With our feature guest, Dan Stewart, who is the development coach for the Saint Louis Blues. Who is it this week?

Some guy named Dan Stewart, but it's a good one, Oh, it's a good one.

Brought to us by Sense Arena.

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That's angles, traffic, and reading the release. Each course features three different difficulty levels tailored to your age and shot speed, three training days per level with six to eight drills per session. And of course, they all come with expert insight from Brian Daccord of Stop It Goaltending. This summer, you can let NHL Sense Arena and their new goalie advancement program guide your off ice development with structured expert led training. Visit sensearena.com and use the code I g m 50 at checkout and get started today.

Your turn, Woody.

I'm doing it. I love it.

Yeah. Who's the feature interview, Woody?

Oh, it's Dan Stewart.

Oh, Stewie.

I thought established we that. Stewie.

I love Stewie.

In case

anybody missed it.

I do love how you told me

that they probably know as soon as they click on the episode and the giant art comes up and shows them Dan Stewart's listen. Jokes aside about who our featured guest is this week and my inability to understand the nuance of Hutch teasing it earlier, There is going to be nothing misunderstood about this feature interview. Dan was excellent. Peeling back the curtain a little bit on what they look for, what they work on. No hesitation to give us specific examples.

I mean, think of the guys he's a hand had a hand in developing already early in his career. He's five years in at the American Hockey League level, but as you'll as you'll come to understand, been doing it for a lot longer than that at other levels. Think about Joel Hofer and how quickly he was ready for the National Hockey League. You think about Charlie Lindgren and the season he had with the Saint Louis Blues, one year there, springboards into an NHL opportunity with Washington and hasn't looked back. The changes in his game under Dan's watch working with David Alexander in the Saint Louis Blues system.

Dan talks about their working relationship, the way they operate as a department and support each other. There are so many different things takeaway wise in this one, whether you're a young goalie, a goalie looking to advance their career up through junior. By the way, Dan owns a junior c team in Port Hope, Ontario. We get into that. There are takeaways for goalie coaches.

There are takeaways for goalie departments in the NHL. Because I gotta be honest, when he talks about the way they support each other and work together, that doesn't exist on every team in the NHL. So from the lowest levels for young goalies that Dan works with in the summer right up to National Hockey League goaltending departments, There is something for you to help you get better at what you do in this interview with Dan Stewart. It is it is as I like to say and don't get to say often enough when I'm part of it. Maybe this is just because Hutch was in on the interview.

I can't miss her.

Enjoy. It's InGoal Radio, the podcast with our Sense Arena feature interview with Dan Stewart.

Really excited to welcome to the InGoal Radio Podcast. First time guests after five years in the Saint Louis Blues organization as the goaltending development coach and working with their team in the American Hockey League. Dan Stewart, I should note before we say hi to Dan, we've got David Hutchison with us. Dan is such a wealth of knowledge that we figured it required two of us to pick his brain. Dan, thank you for joining us.

Well, thank you for having me. I'm really excited about this, guys.

So we're gonna get into I know you've got a lot of great advice that is gonna resonate with parents and coaches and goalies. But first, I wanna hear a little bit about your path to here, and not before coaching. Like, the playing days, there was there was an entry on the, HockeyDB that I'm very curious about in the EPHL in 08/09.

Like, ten years after you finished playing Canadian University hockey in the OHL. So where did the passion start as a goaltender for you? Talk about your playing days and then that transition. When did you know that coaching was for you?

For me, I started my dad was a goalie, and my introduction to goaltending was, I think, him literally with my diaper bag over his shoulder taking me to his men's league games in Port Hope, Ontario, and then that grew into me playing hockey. And at four, I basically refused to go out there if I wasn't the goalie. So they came up with a a deal where I could do the practices in that in the games in in Goal or reversed. Actually, the the practices, would be the goalie, then the games, would have to play forward because our goalie, his name was Dan Gabbaugh, he didn't want to always be a net. And then the next year, I was full time goalie in what they called beginner back then.

Then played novice, Adam, Pee Wee, Bantam, and Port Hope. And there was no regional triple a back then, so you weren't allowed to just go play, quote, unquote, better hockey. But that also meant that the local hockey was better because the the high end players were just playing where they lived, and that was that. So after Bantam, in order to go to a a higher level, I went and played junior A on the Cobourg Cougars. So I was, I guess, 15 playing on the Coburg cougars, and then I was lucky enough to be drafted by London into the OHL.

Had a very minimal OHL career for sure, which is something that I talk to the goalies about a lot because I was a high pick into that league, and and it didn't work out because in my head, the the draft was, like, the pinnacle. And it was it's a good learning lesson for everybody that, like, stuff starts there. It doesn't end there. And and I am proof positive of that, with the minimal amount that I played. And then at 19, I was cut and played in the OJHL for the Lindsay Muskies.

Then I went out to Nova Scotia and played for the East Hants Penguins in the Maritime Junior A League. And from there, I went to Saint Mary's University. Trevor Steinberg, who's now a scout with Seattle, he coached me that last year junior and then got the job at Saint Mary's University and brought me with him. So I spent three years there, then I was done. And during my time playing in junior as well as playing in university, I worked at Rick Heinz Goalie Schools.

And the number of guys that I still keep in touch with today, Dave Delecky, he's a very good friend of mine, and he runs the Crease in Innisfaco, which is an unreal goalie school. I run into, you know, Alex Westland. Him and I sharing the elevator ride up together in an AHL game was was pretty cool. So I I did that work for Rick, and it was a great summer job. It was exciting.

A lot of fun city to city. And when I was done playing, Rick approached me and said, I wanna keep you as an instructor. I don't wanna lose you, so don't go get a job. I'll build you a mini rink, and you can do private lessons. And we chose Connecticut as as the location for that.

So I was, you know, 24 years old, moved down to Connecticut, zero students, zero clue what I was doing, built this mini rink, and I was, like, left to my own. Right? Like, there's wood, all this stuff for me to just build this rink. Never run a power tool in my life. His zamboni drivers were really helpful with me there in at Champion Skating Center and built a a business called CT Crease, and it just kinda went from there.

The number of guys over the years that we've had on this pod, I feel like at we're 300 and this will be 304 episodes in, Dan. And top of my head, like, I feel like gotta be at least a dozen that have talked about their coaching experience at Rick Heinz. Like, a lot of guys that move up have experience as younger goalies coaching at Rick Heinz Goalie Schools. I love that.

Oh, it's such a cool, like, cool gig. So you would you would Saturday was the flying day. So you would jump on a plane and and go to whatever city you're going to. You'd land. Rick would have the rental car set up for you and then the hotel, which was usually, like, the red roof in.

And you'd you'd round up the guys. No cell phones when I first started doing it. So, like, using those airport things to be like, hey. Ryan Lowe. Paging Ryan Lowe.

And and you're trying to, like, connect with these guys. And you'd you'd round up the troops, get in the rental car, go to the hotel, then you would spend the night in in the new city, right, which at that age usually meant some fun. And then Sunday, you would have to get yourself together, find the rink, get in contact with the local coordinator, and you would go to the rink and do the sign up. So at this young age, you're you're doing all of this this work that you're because Rick's never at these camps. So it's just you and three other guys kinda running it.

And you put the camp together, and then Monday morning, you go there and and you work it. It was like, you know, the job was 8AM until two, and you were done. So then you're sitting by the pool or or whatever if if you're at a nice hotel. And and then the next Saturday, you'd you'd go to the next city. If it was close, you'd drive, or you might have to take guys to the airport, for them to go, or you yourself is flying to the next city and usually meeting up with a group of different guys.

What was the what was the biggest lesson you took out of all of that that you think informed your career moving forward?

I would say problem solving. So, the number of times you arrive somewhere and things aren't at what you're used to seeing and you get there, for example I can't remember where this was, but I showed up and the local coordinator was new and there were zero shooters. So we show up, and there's 30 goalies on the ice. And there's the four of us plus, say, six local goalie helpers who are usually high school kids. And I was running the camp.

I was the head instructor. I think I was 20 at the time. And I had to figure out how to make this work in such a way that it wasn't going to be terrible, and I wasn't going to get back to my hotel with that red button just flashing Same call. So for sure, would say the other part is we had multiple levels out there on the same sheets a lot of the time. So we ran a regular and advanced and an elite program, and you had to find ways to get the goalies what they deserve to get from the camp given that there was all these different levels out there.

And and at a young age, we were able to do that. It was it was pretty cool. And Rick gave us the freedom to come up with solutions to that stuff. So I think I was the the first person we had an elite group, out there, and it was, like, three goalies, and the rest of the goalies were regular and advanced. Mhmm.

And rather than handing out three different drills or whatever, I just gave the elite goalies their same net. And everybody rotated around them, and they got the same instructor for the whole day who had his group of drills with those goalies. So things like that where you just have to be creative and and make it work as best you can.

Looking back on all of that and and those great lessons, those great experiences, there's a lot of young goaltenders who are winding up their career and deciding it's time to take that next step. What do what do you say to them as they step into the a coaching role? How do they establish themselves? How do they how do they continue learning in a job that is just grind, grind, grind to try and make a living? There's not a lot of time to lift your head up as you're trying to make a living as a young coach.

What what do you say to that young kid coming out of junior hockey, coming out of college, whatever, trying to set set up shop?

Well, I think for for a guy my age, like, I'm 49 now, and I moved to Connecticut in 2001 and was lucky enough to be the only guy down there doing what I was doing. So people came to me. The word traveled fast, and I developed a reputation that probably went beyond my skill set at the time. And people goallies today coming out don't have that luxury. It's it's very competitive.

So my recommendation to them would be to stay true to themselves, make sure that you you stay true to yourself, Be a good person. Right? Care and do good work. And the other thing that I would suggest to them is you are going to build your success one goalie at a time. This isn't something where you're going to latch on to a goalie that's playing at a higher level and and and they're going to be your ride.

You're gonna have to do it one goalie at a time, doing good work, caring, being a good person, and and that's what's going to have people recognize that you're doing something different. And once people realize that and you're just being yourself out there, then the the word travels around because they recognize that you're doing something different.

I love that you bring up being a good person, caring. We've had so many coaches on the show talk to us about how building that relationship with a goaltender is paramount before you can even affect any changes into their game. So talk to me a little bit more about the importance of a relationship, whether whether we're talking about the young kids that you've worked with along the way or or even at the pro level now.

Yeah. I I it's been everything for me. Right from day one when I was doing one on one lessons in Connecticut, my biggest thing was to make sure that I took the time to learn some things about that goalie that are gonna help them feel comfortable with me and also help me coach them better. In terms of pro, like, my my first full year in the American League after the COVID year, I had Joel Hofer and Charlie Lindgren. And Charlie's a battler.

He's an he's a warrior. And if I'd have worked with him in the same way that I worked with Joel now I joke with Joel. I'm like, sometimes I have to put a mirror under your nose to make sure you're still breathing out there. They're they're so different. Right?

And and if I tried to work with them the same way and not learn the things that that they value and and not make it very clear to them that I want to work with them to make them the best version of themselves, then I'm going to lose them. I can give them any knowledge or or any tips or anything. It it's over before it starts. So for me, the first thing to do is is learn about your athlete. Learn what makes them tick.

Learn their personality, learn what type of person they are, learn what they value, and then work within that to help them again just be the best version of themselves. Now, obviously, with Charlie, there were my discussions with him with him were, I love that you're willing to to attack and and play in battle like this. I want to help you pick some better times to not do it and understand that it's an asset that you have that makes you special if we cannot go to it all the time. With Joel, it was more like your your calm demeanor and your ability to wait, and and just be patient is so strong and so good. I want you to be engaged a little bit more and get in the fight a little bit more, and here are some scenarios where I think that would help you.

But, again, if I'd have just coached those two guys the same, I would have made them both worse.

Did you, with those two, not play them off each other, but the fact that they were so different and you they each had elements that the other could learn from? Like, are you using them together as part of this process? I remember I remember a similar story with Pekka and Husso Saros in Nashville where they wanted, you know, Pekka to be a little ironically calmer and mirror Husso, and they wanted Husso to have a little more of Pekka's compete. And so they tried to sort of have that conversation with all three, the goalie coach and both guys involved.

I think conversationally, yes. Video wise, no. So I never grabbed clips of Joel to show Charlie or vice versa. But certainly during goalie sessions, they're they're playing, you know, a scenario from the trapezoid up to the hash marks, let's say, and they're gonna have different ways of doing that. And I'm going to be looking for slightly different key points for both of them.

And I would bring them both in and and talk about it and say, you know, for for whole, this is and did you see how Charlie actually did do just that? I would like you to see you do your version of that and then vice versa with Charlie.

One of the struggles I think for a lot of young coaches, Dan, is is confidence. They're in a new environment. And a situation that you were walking into in the American League, you hadn't played at that level. You're having to go and coach for the first time at that level. How do you have the confidence to to work with kids that and I say kids because they are pretty young, that are that are playing at that level, and now you're arriving for the first time and have to be the leader?

I think I was really lucky. Two two things that I've been really fortunate with in my entrance to pro hockey. Number one is David Alexander. So David is the goalie coach of the blues and and runs our goalie department. And David does an unbelievable job of making sure that I never feel alone.

So we have a good relationship. It it's it's like business relationship. You know what I mean? And he does a really, really good job of making sure that I know that that he's with me, he's got my back, and that he's aware of what's going on. Now that takes constant communication between the two of us, but I think as the guy who's running our department, David does an unbelievable job of that.

And when you talk to some other dev guys, they don't have that relationship with the NHL goalie coach that I have. So that was really big for me. David always let me know that that he believed in my work and that he saw something different and that I was free to go. Now in terms of development planning and stuff like that, like, we do it together very much, but it's not just one of us coming up with whatever. This is us talking it through, doing it together, and and coming up with with a plan for each goalie.

And then it's on me to implement it, right, and execute it. So David was huge in that regard. Second was Curtis Sanford. So Curtis my first year in Utica, we shared that team with Vancouver. So once I, you know, tested negative for COVID and got down there and all that, I was in an office where I I shared an office with Curtis Sanford.

So he had done the job, with Vancouver as their go away development guy, and he gave me a lot of confidence. And we were on the ice together. Neither of us had our top prospects down there that year at the start because of the the taxi squad. Michael DiPietro and Joel Hofer were both up up in the big club at first, so, we had the the other prospects were there, and they're good goalies. But what that brought was more of a sense of unity for for Curtis and I to work with these guys together.

And then you're sharing ideas. You're sharing drills. And I remember one day, I kinda said to him, hey. How do you think it's going? And he was like, I've picked up at least three things from you that I am going to take forward and and utilize, and I hope it's been the same for you.

And I was like, yeah. Like, there's this one drill. I'm gonna do it from now on. He's like, awesome. He's like, listen.

Like, you're good at this. You can do this. Just go. Be yourself. And that was huge for me to have that because you're you're not you don't feel like you're just thrown in the middle of the ocean without a raft.

What would you suggest for somebody who doesn't have that sort of support network? Do you have to, as a young coach, just reach out and develop your own sort of mentorship relationships with somebody at a at another level? Or how do you network as a young coach? What what would be a good step to take?

Well, networking is something I'm not very good at, unfortunately. So I'd be probably the last person to to give advice on that. Now what I will say is, again, like, when you develop relationships with other goalie coaches, stay true to yourself, be yourself, and understand there's lots of goalies out there for for everybody to work with and and be above all the competitive junk. Perhaps arrogantly, when when I moved back to Ontario in 2009, it's a very competitive lay of the land here with with goalie coaches in this region, and I always held myself above it. And it's like, I'm not involved in that.

And assumed that others would feel the same way. No. I'm sure they didn't. But just understand that there are there are good guys doing good work out there, and and there are plenty of goalies to go around and have good relationships with other goalie guys. Don't make it competitive.

Don't make it so that anybody's gonna be able to say anything bad about you based on something you've said about them or whatever. And don't get defensive if a kid comes to you and says, you know, my other goalie coach says blah blah blah. Number one, you're not getting the goalie coach's version of what was said. You're getting the goalie's version. And number two, just because it's different doesn't mean it's wrong.

So you don't have to be right. Just just let it go and control the things that you can control, same as we tell our goalies. Right? So my advice to them, honestly, would be just that. Like, focus on the things that you can control, have good relationships with the other goalie people that you know and are involved with, have positive relationships with them, and keep them and and stay true to them.

And, hopefully, then you'll you'll be able to reach out. Right? Like, I have a network of of goalie coaches that I've come across along the way, and and I've kept in touch with for years and years and years because when when I started talking about them, I respected them. They respected me, and you're able to reach out to them. Right?

And and if anybody listening to this is is starting off and I happen to coach them or or be involved in their life in any way earlier, they can feel free to reach out to me, and I will help them in any way I can.

That decision to go back to Ontario and you went you end up starting at least from a coaching profile with Coburg in the OJHL, spent five years there. You were close to a decade working OJ up to the OHL before getting the opportunity to work the American Hockey League and and be and work with the Blues. Advice for that process? Was there any point along the way as much as you had had success building the business in Connecticut, was the goal always to be at the pro level on the other side of it? Were there any points where you wondered if that wasn't going to happen and what would your advice be?

Because that's nine years in junior and I know where that can be a grind. Advice for other goalies that are going through that right now in terms of being content where you are versus aspiring to keep moving up.

Well, I think for me too, it was nine years after nine years. So I I did nine years in Connecticut where I I you know what I was? Like, I I worked my way up to a division one college, goalie coach there. The the goalie school was was quite big and successful. And I moved back home and and was, like, hit over the head with a frying pan where there are other goalie coaches in the area that that kinda race around and and chase work practice practice, and I was trying to build this mini rank where kids would just come and it didn't happen.

So then I had to adjust my approach to to the work and accept the fact that I I can't just have goalies come see me, and I'm gonna have to go to their practices. And, it helped me a lot. And, again, Dave Delecki was huge in my transition back to Ontario because he gave me work right away. And and, again, you know, we're both high level goalie coaches, and he welcomed me with open arms and and never told me once what to do in my sessions. He trusted me that I was gonna do good work, and he let me go to it, same as I would him.

And then when I was working, my first junior job here was actually with the Port Hope Panthers Junior C team, because my dad volunteers and does the fifty fifty there and all that stuff. And that's actually built into my my wife and I buying that team last spring, but another story. And then I moved up, and to the the cougars, which is where I used to play. And it was around the age 35 where I recognized that, like, shooting pucks and being on the ice for nine hours at a cliffs was starting to affect my body. So I I kinda developed a plan to try and get an OHL job and then hopefully an NHL development job.

But the way to do that is to be where your feet are, be a good person, do good work, care about others, and and that's the key. And if you're not focused on where your feet are, you're in trouble. And that's the same for any culture player. You you know, take care of your business where you are, do good work, be a good person, and and and you'll get to where you should be.

That's great advice. Was it it is a grind, though. Right? Like, it can any advice for sort of managing that, you know, like, because at junior hockey levels, it can feel like a full time job sometimes, but it rarely pays like a full time job.

Well, I think before the OHL, was paid $0.00 by any junior program I worked with. You're you're doing it to to have your name out there and, you know, to be able to let people know that you're capable of doing higher level work as you're working with the kids that are paying for your mortgage. So the when I got the OHL job, it was a switch. At least I was getting paid. Now it wasn't a full time pay.

That's for sure. But it gave you that, respectability in the industry that now you're you're getting paid. You can back off on your sessions, put more focus into this because when I went into it I'll never forget Chris Boyle, the guy that did the shot quality project, and I trained his son, Patrick. And I remember when I got the job, Chris said to me, you need to treat this like it's a full time job. And and if it's something that they say will require 50% of your time, put a 100 into it.

Because if you don't do that, you're not going to be noticed as different from anybody else who's who's doing those jobs. And I took that advice very seriously and did it and then got lucky and fortunate that my hard work and some successes paid off, and and I was able to land this job with the blues, which is my dream job.

Do you have you ever had that conversation with Dave? Because his background in terms of that grind and that effort and that work at the minor league level to move up, I mean, it it feels like similar paths and similar approaches.

Yeah. For sure. And once Dave and I started through the interview process, I the number of people who applied was pretty high, and I didn't know David. So I did know Dave Vogelski who had the job before. He's one of the guys that I that I would touch base with, before he had his job in in Saint Louis, and I he and I would talk quite a bit.

And when Dave and I started along in the interview process, you know, he realized that I went to school in the Maritimes. And when we talked about PATH, it it was very similar, and that helped us kinda make a connection. And the funny part, and this is another lesson for for somebody hoping to move on, my biggest character reference to David Alexander did not come from Dave Vrgalski, who I thought it would. My biggest character reference to David Alexander came from a friend of mine, Chad Murray, who I played out in Halifax with that Saint Mary's University who happened to teach high school with David Alexander before he left.

Good lesson there about being a good person, I think.

Yes. Yes. Every step along.

Yeah. As a as a default, not just in front of the people you think can help you. Right? It's who you are around everyone else versus just the people you think can help you.

A 100%. A 100%.

Dan, can you can you talk to us maybe a little bit about what that day to day looks like? What did it look like when you were in the OHL trying to give a 100% to that job? And then maybe what's a little bit different about the pro game as well? How's a how's a pro goalie coach spend his time?

Yeah. So in in the OHL, I was in the Soo every other week. So I would get myself to the Island Airport in Toronto, and the Soo would have paid for a flight for me to to fly, to the Soo. I would get off. I would head to the the hotel that they had me at, and then I would be at the rank basically from about 8AM until 7PM every day in the Sioux.

Wow. When when I was they were long days. We had a morning group that would go on because they didn't go to school. So they would be at the rink for nine. They'd work out.

They'd go on the ice. And my first year there, Joseph Raaymakers was in that group. So I got to do lots of goalie work with them during during that time. And then there's the high school group that would get to the rink basically at 03:00, and Matt Villalta was in that group. So Maddie's goalie work would come either before practice or after depending on kinda what the schedule was for, from from Drew Banister's perspective as he was the head coach then.

And on weeks off, where I was home, my job would be to stay on top of things and send goalie drills and touch base with the guys and see how their day went. You're still on, but you're just not on-site. And then I would obviously watch the games online, and I would use my MacBook to screen record anything that I wanted to to review with them. I would make an iMovie, then I would put it into Coach's Eye, and then I would voice over and do whatever I needed to do and then send it to the boys.

Yeah. Also, what does a video review session look like? How how do you conduct a session, whether it's with those younger kids at the OHL level or now with your NHL prospects that you're dealing with?

I think so much of that depends on the goalie. But one thing I do know over the years where I've learned more and more and more and more is that video is for them, not me.

Mhmm. So don't I tried really hard to stop trying to make sure that they knew I saw everything or that right? And I tried to make the video session shorter and shorter and shorter to make sure that it was to hit the key points that that we want to hit, not just to make sure that they know that I saw everything they did right or wrong Mhmm. And that I watched the game or whatever. So a typical goalie session for me, say, with Colten Ellis or Vadim Zherenko this past year, I don't know, maybe maybe ten minutes in length.

I would have some handles picked out from from the game. I would have, some skating and reed stuff, in zone or off the rush that that I wanted to go over or maybe on the PK. Then I would have some, like, traffic and battle is is kind of a section that I would have for them where I just pick a couple clips and go over it, and we talk about, the other part of it for me is as as I get older, I talk less in those interview or those video sessions, and the goalies talk more. So there there are more questions from me saying, like, what did you see here? What what were you reading here?

What did you think here? How did you get here? That type of stuff. To the point now where, like, Colten Ellis will reach over and actually start hitting the buttons to to move move the video. Right?

I don't even have to do that with him, which is pretty cool. Hockey was the same. He he would he was great.

Is that is that something specific to the pro level? Or if you were to go back to the suit today or maybe even back to minor hockey, would you be working in the same way with those kids? And I'm talking video, but generically as well.

Yeah. I think for me, like, as as with anybody in life, I would love to go back and have a conversation with 26, 27 year old version of myself, then I would change all kinds of things. But we get to the spot that we're at through through all of that learning. Right? I definitely if I was to go back and and do an OHL video tomorrow session with the goalie, I would as long as they knew the principles that I was let's say we had five principles to the position that we're really focusing on for that year and and that goalie knew them, I would definitely let them speak a lot during those video sessions and and let them as well run parts of it and do what I do more with the guys in in pro for sure.

K. You piqued my interest big time there. To the extent that you can without giving away the secret sauce, can you talk about what maybe five principles would be for a goaltender with the sort of things that you're talking about?

Yeah. For sure. Like, obviously, like, for for me, the stance would be one. Maybe maybe the movement within their stance. A second one that that I would definitely hit on, would be access.

So for me, it's very important that goalies have access to their blades at all times. Whether you're down or up, you're on the post, you're wherever you are, I want you to have access to your blades in scenarios that the guy on the other end can't. And if you have access to your your blades through these more difficult scenarios further along the chain than other goalies, you're going to be good. Right? That I mean, to me, if if you're down and you need to get to your left and you're you're able to dig in your right leg from an extended position, and that's gonna leave your left pad flared out as well.

Right? Because if that if you pull that right leg in and wrap it under yourself, that or or in tight to under your hip for for, quote, unquote, more power, the lead leg wraps around you. If you can plant wider, that lead leg stays out and essentially closes the door early for you. Right? So I'm big on guys having access from that wider position so they're able to slide, especially the shorter distances where we don't have any time.

I want them to have access to that blade from a wider position where they could have some pop with that lead leg not wrapping under them because then they're they're already covering space before they go.

I'm curious because that's like, biomechanically, not everybody can do that. There are just gonna be some guys that are narrower in terms of not being able to have that flare. But do you get into things like equipment? Like, how you do up your pads and how you set up your gear can affect your ability to access edges from especially from extended range of movement? Like, do you get into those types of details with them, or you let they have to kinda figure that out on your own?

How important is, say, equipment to these conversations?

I will give them ideas. They're they're free to do what they want with with their stuff. Of course. But an example, one goalie, I had, we added some nonce to to the lace. And I am people who who know me, like, I'm the last guy to get into that type of stuff, But he was he was having issues with recoveries and slipping out a lot and didn't have access, and I knew that that's a way to have more access.

And I said, have you ever thought about boom. And he said, well, how many? I'm like, play with it. Come up with what feels right, and and and what has you still able to get that good push while not feeling like your your pad's all over the place. And and he did that, and it was a a great adjustment for him in terms of, you know, what kind of pads they wear or whatever.

That's up to them. I, again, know, like, if I think somebody would benefit from being in a harder pad, I'll let them know. If if I think a goalie is struggling to catch pucks because their glove breaks down too fast or because I've been using a break that isn't for them, I'll let them know. And then it's on them to kinda make that decision as to whether they want to make that change or not. I think if you overstep as a goalie coach and and start controlling that stuff, you're now going to go over into the goalie's comfort level, and you're gonna negatively affect them as being the best version of themselves.

They're going to now be doing just what they're told by you.

But you're cognizant of it. Like, I mean, I'm not sure every goalie coach, you know, is thinking about those details as part of these discussions.

Yeah. For sure. I mean, it's our job, in my opinion, to to have solutions for these guys and have ideas for these guys that that can help them. And sometimes you're gonna be wrong, and that's okay. But you have to make sure that you're giving these guys, as much help as you can in a way that works for them.

I've gone through my whole life being wrong all the time, Dan. So that's why I'll give Hutch the next question.

Well, you just piqued my interest so much with where you went with access because that wasn't something I was ready for. We've been through two principles. Can you give me a couple more? Because I think I'm gonna learn something else. I

think it's important. Again, these are gonna be individualized to you fully. Right? They're not they're not going to be, things that you're just gonna slap on. But, you know, staying within the frame would be one.

Right? So for me, staying within the frame would be making sure that that you have, you know, you're you're living between the the crossbar and the pose and that you're not, to use a Mike Lawrence term, that you're not let out to sea as the play goes off to the sides.

I like that one. I like that one. Is that part of, like, as you've adjusted? Because since you've started working at the pro level, the pro game has changed. Like, within those five years, what succeeded or what led to success as a goaltender five years ago might not translate the same result it does now and the East West nature of it.

Is that I mean, have you had to make adjustments that way as the game changes around your guys?

Well, for sure. If you don't adjust in this role, you're done. Like, as soon as you think you have it figured out, you are done. Now that said, what was important to the position when I was growing up in terms of the base principles, in my opinion, are still important today. And the easiest way or sorry.

The most effective way to teach those things is usually the most direct and simplest approach. So I would if I were to go do a session with a 13 year old tomorrow and do the same drills that I do with Colten Ellis, Vadim Zherenko, and Will Cranley, that goalie may leave that session and think, like, that guy doesn't do anything hard. He doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's incapable of of having me do these other things. Right? Like, I went, I went to watch, like, a U7 tryout as a as a favor to to somebody.

The most effective way to teach those things is usually the most direct and simplest approach. So I would if I were to go do a session with a 13 year old tomorrow and do the same drills that I do with Colten Ellis, Vadim Zherenko, and Will Cranley, that goalie may leave that session and think, like, that guy doesn't do anything hard. He doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's incapable of of having me do these other things. Right? Like, I went, I went to watch, like, a U7 tryout as a as a favor to to somebody.

And I watched the two goalies, and, man, they could go down. They could get in their RVH. They could slide around. They could do all kinds of cool things. They couldn't shuffle.

They couldn't t push. Right? They couldn't really c cut, and and their stance was all based around going down. Now for me, right, I I'm a believer in having your feet underneath you. Again, that starts the access process.

Right? If we start from a good position in terms of having access to our blades, the likeliness of having it further along the chain is just better. Right? Now in terms of where they hold their glove, don't that's, again, individualized, but you should have a a strong athletic position to start in that allows you to move and make saves. And I think if Colten Ellis were on this show ever, he would say the biggest difference between him being in the East Coast League and and being our MVP in the American Hockey League was he changed his stance to having his feet more underneath him.

And it was just it was such a change for him in terms of access to his edges, both up and down.

It's a trend we've seen. You're you're right. Like, that that's a we we talk a lot about it with guys narrowing the stance and and getting their feet under them and holding them under them and and as an adjustment up to pro. Sometimes not the easiest, like, really easy for us to say, really easy for somebody to point to, but sometimes not an easy process to get a guy to go through, especially from a stance perspective because they can feel like they're a long way from the ice, especially big goalies. Any advice for as other coaches trying to get their kids to there?

For sure. The first thing you have to do is help that goalie develop some confidence making saves from that position. And that's the most common, resistance to it that that I've found over the years is the goalie saying, I can't make a save from that stance. And I'll say, okay. Well, you're using it to skate everywhere.

Like, every time I put you in a skating drill, you go into the exact stance I'm looking for. Why do you do that? Well, it's easier to move. I'm like, oh, again, you're making my point for me. Now you need to trust your ability to get down to the ice.

Right? And you need to trust your ability to make saves from this position. I get it. You've never done it. I get it.

You've never had to. I get it. Your brain and athleticism have allowed you to never need to do this. But if you want to push through the envelope and gets to the next level, you have to do this. And then I will place the puck in between the hash marks right in the middle and say, now show me what stance you should use here.

And if the the goalie goes into that perfect one that David skied in or whatever, I'm like, no. Now you gotta get wide, buddy. Because now the play's in tighter. The the the emphasis on what we're trying to accomplish becomes different.

So much of that adjustment that you talk about, like, much as the foundations haven't changed, at least what I hear, it like, it's it's tactical. It's understanding as the game changes, maybe our applications of the foundations have to change at specific times, which goes back to one of your principles we talked about reads. And so that ability to read the game and know when to do what, how do we how do we help kids get their reading the because we hear that a lot. You talked about kids moving in the reverse, you know, I I has I'm gonna use the phrase, I I goalie school goalie. Hate to do it.

Quotes around it. But, you know, how how do we help them understand that moving is one thing, being able to anticipate and know when to do what and reading the game. Like, is it video? Is it playing? Is it what's how do you do that?

Well, again, my approach, I can I can only give you my thoughts on it and my examples, but video is obviously important? But so is like, so if a goalie is struggling figuring out when they can be a little bit more upright versus when they need to get lower, put them through a bunch of drills that do that. And and as frustrating as it's going to be for them or maybe even for you, put them through it. Right? And if I was introducing somebody to it, right, I would start with the shots coming from the area where I knew that I wanted them in that more upright feet under them position, then do a drill where I knew I wanted them wider.

And then the third part of that drill, okay. Let's open it up. And now you're going to need to recognize when when you need to be in each position, and I can help you through that. Right? But I'm not net like, tomorrow night, the puck drops, and there's seven minutes left in the first period, and a guy hits his situation.

I'm in the press box. I can't help you. So you need to feel it, and you need to be your own best goalie coach. Right? And, you know, I I'll say it to the guys all the time, take charge of your development.

It's on you to to learn this. I can't just give you the answers all the time. I can I can put you in the scenarios to help you learn the feel? I can talk talk through it with you. But at the end of the day, you need to work on this and and develop that feel from and that's that's same for any scenario.

This is just one example of of something we might be working on.

I'm I'm curious about scouting, Dan. Do you get involved in in the scouting side of things at all, and and what does that look like?

So my first four years was with the Blues, I did the amateur draft. We have since hired Brian Elliott, who takes care of that end of things. And I've kinda helicoptered in at the, after our season's ended to, you know, just just help him a little bit, but it's but it's his baby. I learned so much from from doing the amateur side of things. The the people are wonderful.

Getting to to see the goalies at at the events where there's a lot of pressure on them, see how they respond was great. Hearing the thoughts of other goalie guys that are that are doing what I'm doing, it's a pretty good community. Like, we we share our thoughts a lot, and they're again, they're good guys and good people. They're they're looking out for their own team's best interest same as I am. But at the end of the day, you learn a lot, and and it was really cool.

I think watching a goalie who plays in in the CHL and then going to watch a Minnesota high school game, and you have to compare those two goalies. One might be in a a year older than than the other two. Right? And then you somehow have to find a level playing field to to evaluate them at. It was a really, really cool challenge for me.

And the other thing that that I found exciting was, okay. What is it so that I could help this goalie with to give them more? And that was a question that I asked myself a lot through through the scouting was, k. Like, let's say we take this guy. What what would you do?

And and it was it was cool because then you with some goalies, you're you're you're like, they're they're trained to the point already that there's not much I can really do. So they're gonna still become a better version of themselves, but there's no big bang for your buck. And then you'd see a goal where you're like, poof. If I just changed this one or two little things, this kid's gonna go through the roof. Right?

Now keep in mind, usually, you haven't met the kid when you're thinking this, so you have no idea how receptive he would be or anything. That comes more in the interview process. But, yeah, it's, doing the scheduling thing helped me a lot. It was it was really cool.

We we've talked a little bit about the technical. We've talked a little bit about the tactical, but even watching watching the National Hockey League playoffs, over the last little while, the mental side is huge at that level. It's not refined yet. How important is the mental side of the game, and how do you as a coach support your goaltenders with that?

Yeah. I think it's massive. Like, if you look at, as much as we go on about cookie cutter goalies, there's a lot of different ways to play this position, and a lot of guys in the NHL do it and do it really well.

Mhmm.

And that is mainly due to their their mental strength and their ability to move from, you know, one moment to the next, with the with the moment before affecting how they how they handle the next one. So my biggest message to the guys is that the only puck that matters is the next one that's coming your way. So if you have just made the best save in history, what's your job? Well, to stop the next puck. If you've just let in the worst goal in history, what's your job?

Okay. It's the same thing. And the message that I send to the guys is you're equally dangerous to yourself in both those scenarios. So it's very important that you develop a routine that's fifteen seconds or less that allows you to completely reset after a goal or after any stoppage. And then it's very important during the play that you are in the moment.

And by being in the moment, that means you're trusting your training, you're you're reading, and you're reacting, and you're playing. We will work on the rest of the stuff in practice and in video, and your moment to play is just to show off all the stuff that you've worked on all week. So be in the moment, enjoy it, and play, and just play free.

And by being in the moment, that means you're trusting your training, you're you're reading, and you're reacting, and you're playing. We will work on the rest of the stuff in practice and in video, and your moment to play is just to show off all the stuff that you've worked on all week. So be in the moment, enjoy it, and play, and just play free.

The the the shot to shot piece that you're talking about, so important, but it makes me also think back to to you talking about your experience coming into the Ontario Hockey League and feeling like you'd made it. I I think that mental side of the game applies game to game as well. So instead of the next shot is the most important, like no matter what happens in the game tonight, the one that you just finished, what we have to do tomorrow is exactly the same thing. If you win, you gotta keep working harder. If you lose, you gotta work harder.

It's it's gone. It's irrelevant. The next step is to work hard.

No. A 100%. Or the next step is to rest. Right? Like, today's today's athletes, alright, we we take care of them a little bit better than we did fifteen years ago even, or or certainly than when when I played.

And maybe the next step is to rest and understand that the rest is actually you better preparing for what's coming next than going out and and banging your head against the wall over a bad game. And that takes some time for some some goalies to learn for sure. But, yeah, I I think within game, between games, even within a practice, it's it's important that your your memory is short. You're in the moment, and you just move on. Right?

And don't focus on the things that you can't control and be where your feet are and, again, be a good person.

You I love when you said that the there's no one way to do this. I think that's what we love about the position so much. There is no absolutes in it. What about that fifteen second reset? As much as there are no probably no absolutes, and you've probably seen a whole bunch of different ways for goalies to have that moment where they reset, whether it's after a goal or after a huge save and a whistle.

Any that you think you'd recommend to somebody who says, man, I I don't have one of these fifteen seconds routine routines. Dan, where should I start?

Yeah. I I think you start out by, you know, a sports psychologist can help you a lot with that, as well as ask yourself some questions. Right? Like, what what would have me be able to get back to a calmer state faster? Or, you know, if you're looking to do it on your own, what thoughts go through my head when when that goal goes in?

Then to each and every one of those thoughts, okay, is it fact? So if if your immediate thought comes out, I'm terrible. Okay. Well, what are there any facts that support the fact that you're actually terrible? No.

So you're not terrorists. So scratch that one off for you stop doing that. Now the sports psychologist didn't help them better to stop doing that than me just saying it, but let's say the next thing is the coach is gonna pull me. Okay. Well, what facts are those support that?

Right? Well, he pulled me that one time in wherever. Oh, okay. Like, you you let in, you know, four goals in two minutes there, and and he pulled you. Do you think that was right or wrong of him?

Well, it was right. Okay. So that's not something to be worried about. He he did that for you, not to you. And that would be my process.

And then, again, I would hand them off to the the mental skills coach. Right? But for me, I'm big on, you know, this is your worry or your concern or what you're talking to yourself about. Give me some facts that actually show that that's true. And if if you can do that, then we'll go from there.

But, generally, there there are few to no facts that support their worries.

This is why we don't have, goalie coaches in Beer League, Dan, because I could point to a whole bunch of facts as to why I'm terrible.

You and me both.

When that we were

seeing when I play golf.

Oh, when that thought goes through the head. So on that note, I gotta ask because we kinda tease it at the beginning as we wind this down. I do need to know how exactly while coaching in Connecticut after, jeez, almost nine eight, nine years after you finished your playing career in, Canadian University, you ended up playing two games for the Hudson Valley bears of the Eastern Professional Hockey League, a team that had a player coach many people may have heard of, some guy named Phil Esposito. There feels like there has to be a story there.

I think it was only one game that I actually played.

Okay. Well, you need to talk to them because they've they've spread it out over too. Maybe that was

to lower the, lower the GAA.

Yeah. I'm okay with it. I don't I don't even look at that. But, that's a funny story. So my friend Pete Alden, and Tory Jacob were both playing on this team, And I played I think I was coaching and playing men's league or whatever.

I just had fun. And the team, I can't remember where it was based out of before, but then Hudson Valley, these guys all had to go in and start playing for them. They were mostly Connecticut and New York guys. And they needed a backup goalie for a game. So I was like, that's fine.

Like, I will come. I am not going in. Right? Like, let's be clear. I'm not going in.

And sure enough, I can't remember what point of game. It's like, alright. Get in there. And I went in and made it very clear that I shouldn't have been in there.

But it was fun. It was

actually the day that that that plane landed in the Hudson River.

Oh, wow.

So I was driving down to play, because it was the Brooklyn Aviators, and they were based out of this rink that's like it's a hanger. And I remember the traffic was was vicious, and and that was wow.

Wow. Tied to a moment in history there. Last one, you mentioned the junior c team. What what leads you after all these years to want to own a Junior C team in Port Hope?

Well, my wife went to a game. She brought our youngest stepson there, and she saw my father running the fifty fifty table. And she saw, like, my mom's names up on the wall as as somebody that's been on the the foundations for refurbing the rink and accessibility committee and whatnot. My dad has, like, a a bench inside with his name on it and everything. So she said if this team ever comes up for sale, they're buying it.

I was like, yeah. Yeah. Wow. And then sure enough, we came up for sale. And what we learned very quickly, was that we couldn't do it ourselves.

So we were fortunate enough to have another couple, the Moores come in and and buy a bunch from us and relieve a bunch of our our stress on it. But it's been great. And my oldest stepson did away on the team. And my mom sells the the tickets at the front desk, and my dad sells the fifty fifty. And my wife goes there every game night and takes care of everything as I'm not there.

Love it. I love it. So staying and and so that's off season home too, still go back?

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm in Bowmanville, which is about fifteen minutes away from Port Hope. And that's the other part. Like, if if goalie guys are are looking for advice out there, make sure you've got a supportive wife because Amen.

They need to be strong, and and they need to be supportive because these roles will have you away from home or back and forth if if you're lucky or away from home for the season, and and you need to make sure that you have a wife that's gonna be really supportive of that, which I do.

Well said. Well said. This has been great, Dan. So many, like

Thank you, Dan.

My head is kinda spinning on all the takeaways in here. So much great advice, whether it's for parents, coaches, or young goalies, that I'm sure they're gonna soak up.

Oh, listen. I I appreciate you guys having me on. I I love the work that you guys do as you know.

Outro

Well done, you guys. The just the the cooperation and flow within a department that that that was I enjoyed that part.

There there were so many. I almost don't even know where to start. Like, just like I said, it's loaded. Like, it's loaded. Like, it's an it's an hour long interview plus the parent segment.

And other, you know, other than me making him go through his hockey DB early on, it's loaded with advice. Great stories about his hockey DB, especially one at the end there. Like, after almost ten years of coaching to somehow end up in the EPHL on a team that was coached by by Esposito. But just loaded with you can see why he's such a great coach. Right?

And and if he so chooses at some point, he's getting an opportunity to coach in the National Hockey League as well, but doing such a great job with the Blues right now.

Yeah. And comfortable where he is in the in the game. Right?

Be where your feet are.

Be where your feet are. Another great one.

I think I'm gonna put that on my wall to remind myself because far too many times growing up, I was focused on what was coming next and not making the most of every opportunity. And I think that's great advice for all of us.

Forget growing up. Like, now

I think I'm a little better than I used to be, but

I'm not. I'm scattered all over the place. That's a good t shirt. I I have a running list of great t shirt ideas, and that's that's another one. Be where your feet are.

Author,

Marren Mallard. It's Marren Dallard.

Oh, I forgot that wrong, but he's the author. Uh-oh. I had an epiphany this week. RVH and being able to push off and slide out to get to the angle of a pass in front. So you try to cut down that angle of a pass in front.

I finally figured out how to do it without really thinking. It was so much fun, and a lot of it has to do with with different elements that we've talked about on this this podcast. And it it all came together, and I can kinda do it now.

What was the key to unlocking it for you? I gotta ask.

Just being able to make sure I'm anchored on that post, but but having the foresight that I I can't just turn my shoulders forward and rely on stopping the puck there, that I actually have to push. I have to, like, use my momentum to to get out there. And it it was great, but a lot of visual cues of watching guys do it. And then and then putting in a little bit of time, being a geek off to the side and try and you know what I did? I did it on the sideboards and and just getting used to pushing against the boards and getting comfortable with that.

You've had an article with that?

Yes. That is a great takeaway. That's one of our that's from our old school magazine, Hutch. Like, the the OG original, I I think it was, like, format. We may need to pull that out and share it with people again because folks, you don't need a net and everything to be perfect to learn how to push off your post.

No. A lot of goalie schools do it.

And I wasn't worried about pushing the net off or

Yeah. Yeah.

Something like that. I was just I did it, like, 10 times each leg and felt immediately more comfortable and then worked into my game. So I just wanted to share that Good for you. I I I'm just not any good, but it was still fun to be able to stop a couple of pucks and be in more ready position to to cut down an angle.

Hutch, does that mean we can call that a pro drills? I mean, Daren sees pros. When we when we turn this little We two minute talk

need some video of Daren. We need some video.

Into an article. We're calling it Pro Drills with Marren Dallard.

I I guarantee they've got video in that practice rink. Come on.

Come on, Daren. Get that what what is that?

Live barn.

Live barn. Get me some live barn to Daren off to the side working on his RVH pushes off the off the sideboards. I need it.

I actually had one player escape by and go, what are you doing? Mike, don't worry about it. You wouldn't understand.

You'll know it when you see it, buddy.

Next time you think you got that open net backdoor on a on a on a pop pass and I'm in the reverse, you'll know what Boom. I'm

Boom. Because I would just just turn around and face and then it would go far side or I would get beat because I'm not cutting down an angle. And I think, how I am in a good spot. Why am I and I gotta push out. So there you go.

Thought I'd share that.

Love it.

Be where your feet wanna be. No. That wasn't it. Be where your feet are. That that

yeah.

That's definitely not where they wanna be.

And on the ice where

they are.

And on the ice, get to where they need to be, Daren.

That was

that was what you were doing. You were getting to where they needed to be.

And then once they were there, you were fine.

Get to where you need to be.

Or the RVH be where your knees are.

Yes. Yes. Very good. You guys have a great week.

You too, buddy. Thanks for this.

You guys are awesome. And thanks to Dan Stewart, as well over at The The Hockey Shop. And to you, the listener, and continue to share your stories. We're getting so many great reactions coming in, it's coming. And we're gonna do that all InGoal Radio listener show where we just bounce around with a bunch of different correspondences.

Yes. It's in the head. We'll talk to you next time on InGoal Radio, the podcast presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. TendyFest is coming.