InGoal Radio Episode 332 Kayle Osborne of the PWHL New York Sirens, and a “catch up” with long-time NHL goalie coach Ian Clark

Intro

It's a two man show today at David Hutchison on assignment. So we are manning the controls along with Kevin Woodley and Daren Millard. Welcome to InGoal Radio Podcast presented by The Hockey Shop. Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. Planning to get to today.

The Brian's Iconic 2 line in our Gear Segment. Vizual Edge ProReads will feature Filip Gustafson. We've got our parent segment to NHL Sense Arena. Feature interview is a double dip of content, this week. But before we get into all that, how about the big trade that went down between the Edmonton Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tristan Jarry is looked upon as the guy to get Edmonton over the hump.

How about the job that Vaughn did getting Tristan Jarry his gear in time for his first skate, his first game in Toronto. Now a little caveat there. The only reason that can happen, in addition to Vaughn's expediency, which is I don't know, Daren, have we ever seen, like, a same day turnaround? Trade was in the morning, and by, like, two in the afternoon, they posted matching pants, embroidered gloves, pads, every like, I don't know that I've ever seen it that quick, but it doesn't work unless that first game is also in Toronto, which it was, which allowed Kay Whitmore, friend of the show, to come on down, measure it up, and sign off on it. Because remember, every set of gear has to go through Whitmore's offices at the NHL before a goalie can wear it.

This was a nice coincidence. The combination of Vaughn being so fast and the game being in Toronto allowed Kay to get that done so that Jari could look as good as he did. We just now we need the stick. That's gonna take a little while. That's from the Custom Warrior factory in Tijuana, so we'll have to turn that around.

And time for a new mask. I almost wanted to, like, call someone up in Edmonton. Like, I got a wrap guy that can have this to you by tomorrow. We'll just and it won't damage the mask underneath. We'll just put a wrap over top of it so that we can accent how sick that setup.

Who's your wrap guy?

I got Basil at, Custom Cages that does a lot of stuff for us. He's actually done one for Kevin Lankinen when they were waiting for a Davart mask to to arrive. And so the beauty of those wraps is that you can put it on, look great, look pro. Nobody can tell that it's not painted. And then when the new mask arrives, if the goalie, like Tristan Jarry, has always got the Dave Fried paints his mask out of Alberta, and it's always got the Tom and Jerry theme on it.

Like, they're great. They're one of the one of the best sort of steady themed masks in the NHL. It's always those two cartoon characters in different variations. So if that's a keepsake for him. The beauty of wrapping it temporarily is just get a hair dryer out, heat up the vinyl wrap so it softens a little bit and it peels right off and the mask underneath is, still a keepsake.

So, yeah, it's, I was I was really impressed with how they pulled that off. So stick taps to Vaughn for sure and to for Kay Whitmore as well for getting that signed off.

Like, I don't wanna take anything away from Vaughn because they had it ready to go, But I have a theory.

They knew they knew?

It was well, they may not have known, but there's enough out there to allow you to be prepared. And you can still move the gear at at some point if if you have to. I think it was already made. Possible. They didn't make that in the morning, that full set.

Possible. Definitely possible. I've sent a request to sort of find find out as much as I can. Not to rat anybody out because, hey,

like No.

I I think it

I think it's preemptive. I think I thought it was a great idea Yeah. For for them to to do it.

Hat tip for being prepared. Absolutely. So, you know, and it's one of the things like that that is one of the benefits of having North American manufacturing is you can turn things around a little quicker. And, I mean, it doesn't hurt when it's on hockey night in Canada on a Saturday night for his first start. And, hey.

Listen. We got obsessed with the gear, but a reminder for our audience, we did a breakdown. We used Clearsight analytics because goalie trades are hard to figure out. And the beauty of Clearsight analytics is they actually have a goalie swap feature, Daren, where you can take team a and insert goalie x into their environment and come out with a number on how many goals they would have saved or let in compared to the guys that were there. And so we did a full breakdown, full article at ingoalmag.com outlining what the analytics and, obviously, it's way more than analytics, comfort level mentally in a new environment, getting used to new teammates in a new system and the tendencies behind it.

Like, that all takes time. Jarry's puck handling, how does that affect? There's so many other factors. But from

that What's the Cole's note on it?

Cole's notes would be close to 15 goals saved this season if you took Tristan Jarry. And this is interesting. Not just Tristan Jarry this season because Tristan Jarry this season has been exceptional. But Tristan Jarry this season and last season, his combined stats. And last year, he cleared waivers and went to the minors.

It was not a great year. Finished in, I think, 66 out of a 103 goalies in adjusted save percentage combined and probably weighted more towards last year because that's the larger sample than this year. Still saved 15 goals in the Oilers environment this year. But before fans in Edmonton get too excited, only five of those were head to head with Skinner. The other 10 were with him playing Pickard's minutes.

So, I think this doesn't tell the full story, but we dug into the exact breakaways and rebounds were two of the biggest things that Jarry would have helped them with that that weren't happening at a high level, getting saved so far this season. There are some other areas, screens, and some net play stuff where he might give up more goals, but the Oilers don't necessarily give up a lot of those chances. So it was a fascinating exercise to go through. And like I said, not an end all be all, but just an idea of how it might look. And I'm really curious to sort of see whether, you know, how much the math sort of adds up as we get into this with Jarry and Edmonton.

And the other factor is he's comfortable in Edmonton. The irony the irony is they got rid of the goalie coach that he goes back to Edmonton every summer and works with in Dustin Schwartz. I think in a perfect world where they could actually afford it and Cap was part of an issue, you know, a tandem of this is no disrespect to Calvin Pickard in any way, but a tandem of Skinner and Jarry, especially with Jarry having a few injuries over the past few years, you know, might have been a little less risky, but let's see where this goes. He's clearly happy to be there, and he's a really talented goaltender with a lot of upside, a lot a lot more volatility in his game, statistically. But when he's on, he's on, and he's been on for most of the season with the the Pittsburgh Penguins.

So it's a it's a risk I understand them take.

Statistically, is it an upgrade?

Statistically, yes. Statistically, it's an upgrade. On Skinner directly, not a huge upgrade. Well, it's five, six five goals, I think, was what the math said this season. And interestingly enough, the the thing I like about the timing for them is if you had done this a month ago, Jari would have been walking into one of the worst defensive environments in the NHL.

That's not that's just no goalie is gonna get comfortable behind it because it was totally unpredictable. The mistakes they were making in front of their goaltenders, the the porousness of the defending. But in the last two weeks, they've gotten way better in terms of their defensive game. So he comes into an environment that's a lot more comfortable. Now interestingly, in those same two weeks, Skinner's numbers have actually started to shoot up, and you could sort of see some of the changes in his game being more comfortable in a more predictable environment with them.

And he was really ascending to the point where his numbers over the past two weeks are actually better than Jarry. So there's a lot of sort of curiosity in this decision and a lot of different ways it could go. And at the end of the day, the numbers only tell a sliver of the story, but we were happy to walk through them all in great detail in that article that's up now at ingoalmag.com. So if you've got questions, we've got answers. Thanks to Clearsight Analytics.

We haven't talked in the general media a lot about what this means for Stuart Skinner.

No. And that's you know what? It's a good question. I thought about this in terms of should we have the flip side part of this argument, or or presentation? I think everybody wanted to Edmonton's the cup contender.

Right? Yes. Pittsburgh's the likely rebuilding team that's outperformed all expectations. So that was naturally where we went with our first look, and we turned it around within an hour and a half of the trade. So it was a it was a really quick hit to get it up there.

I think we do need to to give it some time, and and I will dig into to Skinners because I think there are some things in his game that have evolved quite nicely this year. He's been a lot more patient with the positioning starting from a a more conservative initial depth, not chasing as much outside of a couple of moments where he really puts pressure on his skating, which I would, you know, I would argue, you know, on the strength to weaknesses scale, lateral mobility is not on on the strength side. It's not one you'd check off on that side. And he put himself in a position where he had to move a lot laterally, a lot further laterally at times. But we've seen that improve over the year.

Gonna be a tougher environment in Pittsburgh, moving forward than it was in Edmonton the past couple of weeks.

But a less volatile environment from a

Coresher standpoint. Yeah. Absolutely. Every time there was a bad

for game him to see him on that side of it.

Yes. Absolutely. And what I don't know is what the future holds for him in Pittsburgh.

Yeah. Expiring contract.

Expiring contract. And and I was on the air. I do regular weekly hits in Edmonton, and I'd said earlier in the week, like because they were kinda poo pooing the the Jari trade. I'm listen. Like, Jari's been excellent this season, so I wouldn't be so dismissive of this concept.

It was about four days before the trade happened. Tristan's been really good. I know some of the things

were radio, you said?

Yeah. I do that weekly. And so I I was lucky. I was kinda lucky because they were as they came on, they were sort of like, this isn't Great time. And I'm like, hey.

Like like, I don't know whether it's happening or not, but don't dismiss how good he's been at you know, when we're discussing his streak. He's and I know the work he's put into his game over the last couple of summers. So, and just the same as Skinner has in much shorter summers put in that work. And so I'm looking forward to seeing him get an opportunity away from that spotlight. I talked about defensive environment.

Edmonton's had improved in the last two weeks, but I saw some articles written like, hey. Like, Jari put up these numbers behind a terrible Pittsburgh team, and and Stews put up these numbers behind a great defensive environment in Edmonton, and it hasn't been the case this year. Yes. The Oilers after Nobloch took over were a great defensive team. They were for parts of last season, especially down the stretch.

But expected save percentage, which is the environment a goalie plays behind, eight eighty six this year for Skinner and eight eighty four for Jari. So not really that different between the two this season. It's not like it's not like Skinner's walking into a significantly worse environment than what he's faced this year outside maybe last two weeks. If you're Pittsburgh?

Or

yeah. If you're Pittsburgh, I think taking back Skinner was probably part of the salary cap math.

Okay. What about Edmonton?

They didn't wanna eat on Jarry. Edmonton, can I be quite honest? And this comes from somebody in the organization. They just didn't feel like they could lose again with Stuart Skinner in net. Yeah.

And I think I think And

I agree with that.

And the GM kinda said that. Like, it was just time for a change. Like, this is just every time they suffered a bad loss, whether the defense was porous or not, it the the question was right there. And that and much like here in Vancouver where the Quinn Hughes question became unbearable because it was constant and and you could see it weigh on the team, it it felt like that was part of this equation. We just needed something different.

I still

think won the Stanley Cup. It wasn't going away, and it's really hard to win the Stanley Cup.

But do you think you could have done it with both of them? Could the question could you have had because

Not with a cap.

Right. It just but if cap removed

And I think that would have been tough for Stu

as well. Okay. And that's fair. That's fair. Listen.

At the end of the day, I'm excited to see him in Pittsburgh, but I don't know that the long term future is there. And that's what I said on the radio that day. I didn't think Pittsburgh would necessarily want him back, and that's nothing to do with him. It's just, like, Miromtsev is a top 10 prospect in the NHL. When I consulted a dozen NHL goalie directors and goalie coaches this summer to try and get a feel for how they felt about some of the outside the like, the prospects around the league and how they'd rank them, like, he was right there, and so was Joel Blomqvist.

And they've got Artur Silovs. So they have a lot of really good young goaltenders coming. And as good as Stu is as a person that would be probably be good in a mentor role, does he have enough experience to be? I don't know. So I don't know that his future is long term in Pittsburgh.

He may hit the market as the UFA, and that will be that will be a fascinating part of his career as well. But I hope good things for him in Pittsburgh, because they're like, he's such a good person, and he works so hard at his craft. He's so dedicated to it. I think

game day.

Yeah. We like that. We like that.

We like that.

We like that. Accountability, the like, you could you could write a book on on, you know, like like, young goalies, parents, pay attention to how Stuart Skinner handles tough moments. There are great lessons there.

Could he be another Devin Dubnik chased out of Edmonton and then finds, like, an amazing home one stop or two stops later in Minnesota. It's got a Potentials there. I don't I don't know all the analytics about it, but it it's got that sort of vibe to it.

Yeah. You know, definitely possible. I I think the one difference would be when Devin was in Edmonton, they were train wrecked defensively, like, an absolute train wreck. And I think outside of the start to this season where they sort of looked like that, over most of the past couple of years, they've been a really good defensive team. And so the so if you put Stu in that environment, absolutely, Daren.

But as we see environments get tougher around the league, like, I don't know that he's a goalie that is gonna have the same level of success if you're asking him to to to stop bullets in his teeth. And the reality is very few do. Right? Like, it's pretty much Ilya Sorokin and everyone else. Ilya Sorokin has an expected save percentage of eight seventy, one of the lowest in the leagues.

What he's doing in New York right now with the islanders is not just should be at the top of all Vezina list at this point of the year, but it's should be in the Hart trophy conversation. It's it's Superman stuff for him right now with the New York islanders.

Gear

We'll get to the return of Connor Hellebyuck as well as a couple of other stories, from the American Hockey League and the ECHL. But first, let's slide over to our Gear Segment, brought to you by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com.

Man, it's such a busy time of the year. And if you haven't gotten your gifts yet and you happen to live in the Lower Mainland, you probably still can hit up our friends at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports to get something under the tree from the gift list that we published last week here at InGoal on the radio podcast and at YouTube. If it's if you're looking to ship it, we might be getting a little tight. It might depend on the size of the item. So make sure you ask them.

Check it out. They have no shortage of supplies, whether it's a jersey of your favorite goaltender, whether it's a hockey stick, little tough to wrap, mini stick, accessories, they've got it all at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports. So whether it's a stocking stuffer or that big ticket item, make sure you hit them up. And if you're a goalie and you don't get that goalie specific item under the tree when Santa ultimately comes on December 25, remember, there are all kinds of discount items right now at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports as they gear up for a new season of fresh equipment, including a huge launch from our friends over at Warrior on January 1. There is going to be a bunch of clearance item coming at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports.

So and sales, I know our American friends don't know what Boxing Day is, but up here, it's a big one. So keep an eye out for that shortly after Christmas. Get your gifts from the Hockey Shop Source for Sports. And if you don't get the gift you want, hit them up right after Christmas for savings on that same item.

Just think Black Friday, but at Christmas. That's

Pretty much it. Yeah.

What it is.

But we started it first, by the way. Proceeds Black Friday, I do believe.

Brian's Iconic 2 this week.

Yeah. A pad and gloves combination that you'd be familiar with, Daren. Carter Hart wearing it with the Vegas Golden Knights right now. Let's let's have Cam explain to us what's new, what's different, what's changed from the original iconic. What is X cross technology?

We're gonna tell you this week as we break down the new Brian's Iconic who can't think he's iconic. He's now got a pad that is iconic times two. So it's like twice as iconic. Twi so now we're into my level. Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports.

[crosstalk] I'm Cam. I'm Kevin. And we've got Brian's iconic too. We're a little late with this one. It's been out for almost a month now.

[crosstalk] A hot minute. Hot minute. Walk me through what's new, including the new

The new.

What was it I called? Come on, Cam. Pick me up here, buddy. Let's go.

Okay. So there's quite a few things to talk about. So what Kevin is currently referring to is Trying new to refer to. Trying to refer to is the new core option. So previously we only had two when it's come to the Iconic line.

We've had a regular flex. Okay. And then a stiff flex.

Regular and stiff. What do we have now?

And now we have a Cross form XCross. There we go. Xcross stiffness. Okay. X What does that mean?

What is x cross stiffness? So that one sits right in the middle, actually. So when we talk about stiffness profile of the pad, we are talking about our portion from here to here. Okay. Soft boot, shin of the pad does not change.

Any of those three options. Okay.

I mean, you're not like you have a lot of flex in the shin pad. Let's be honest.

No. It's pretty torsional, but Torsional. Okay. Yes. Twisty. Twisty.

Exactly. So why you would say want that middle of the road stiffness? So From here to here? Yes. Correct.

So one thing we did find with the, like, original Iconic is that Soft Flex was really, really soft, which is good. There were a few goalies that looking for that extremely, extremely soft pad. Soft becomes floppy. That's the only downside of that that down the road that can create some of that floppiness to it. So the answer would be to go with that stiffer flex, but then they would also get stuck a little bit in that middle of like, okay, now it's too stiff.

So we've gone kind of too far the other way. So what do we do? Create it in between. So thus, we get that

Xcross core. So So in here, I can see, like, the, like, the sort of like a I don't know if this is an actual break point or if that's just to sort of call it out physically, but you can kinda see that there.

Like, more of a stitch line of the pad itself. Okay. That said, in terms of overall technology, Bri core does make it return to the pad.

Bri core?

Yes. Opposed to bro core, which Bro core.

It's a

it's Sounds like the kind of music you used to listen to in college, It's

a quartet he sings in on the weekend. That's called

bro core. I would listen to

that. Okay. Let's go.

So carbon, foam, carbon, Bricore.

Carbon in front, carbon in back, foam in the middle. Correct. Okay.

So that's creating, again, what our stiffness profile is. That's also

Consistent helping with to

the flex as well. Consistency with rebounds as well. Oh, there you go. Active rebound. Yes.

Alright. And above the core, back of the pad. Switcheroo. At its current setup, very, very similar to what you see in the original Iconic. Little bit of a redesign on actually how the knee outer knee flap attaches to the pad itself.

It's been new. In terms of being able strap. Option to remove it at custom level. Furthermore, there is another additional option in terms of for strapping system. So we still kept it on the traditional side of things.

They do have their x cross strap, which literally stitches that knee strap to that calf strap and all goes as one. Combined as one piece or you can move it around? Combined as one piece. So that and what is that called?

They're cross form strap. They're Cross form strap. So on the cross form strap model, you can order this would all just basically be one. That's correct. Not sure why you'd want that, but okay.

Is that Hey. It's not I'm guessing you asked the same question because you ordered it without.

Yeah. Okay. And again, personal preference, keep things easy. I mean, if you really only want it to be like one strap, it could be.

I guess that would be the benefit. Just grab it and go.

So updated in terms of further upper control strap, very similar to the one you find on the Optic four. This one offers a little bit more give. It's actually elasticized.

Exactly. It's elastic. Super easy to attach on both sides.

Like Very easy. Yes. And the whole tabs just lace in and out. So say you don't want it, you can just get rid of it very easily. Definitely a recommended spec for sure and a welcome upgrade over the iconic one, which was just a nylon, not the flexible plastic.

This is an X Flex pad as we see on the bottom. We got the smart strap. Boot returns. And again, we still have our smart toe system that makes a return. You still get your Opti Slide.

Primo? Primo material.

What is it called Opti Slide?

I forget what brand has what? That desk. What I mean, it is like Opti Slide. Yeah. And then the high High right track.

High wear area under here. Now we noticed that there's a defined boot channel here, Tam. Always been on Opti the defined boot channel. Does is there any change in fit with this?

No. Okay. So we're still, like, walking around the same fit idea. It's just added some more durability aspect to the side of the pad. Usually, a high wear area, especially with Velcro toe ties are attached just to get a nice little added feature and Premo here

on a high wear area.

I like that the the inner calf pillow is segmented.

Mhmm.

So you get a little bit of support in your butterfly with a pillow.

You know where that wraparound connection feel.

Yeah. It's it it the way this it's segmented, it's got some flexibility in it as well, both in terms of getting to the ice with your leg. But as you said, if you wanna wrap it tight, you're gonna feel that connection.

Alright. Really quick finishing off. Nice material here too. Yes. Nice overall, their actual suede material.

On top of that, nice thick knee stack as well. Great for that butterfly support. Great for stability that's added as well.

A little bit of flex, but still so it's not like some other brands have gone to a full fixed connection to the face of the pad. A little more traditional in build, but there is some there's some stability there. Correct. Graphic, can't really see it in white. That's Cam's fault.

Gloves. Hey. It's on purpose. Okay.

That's a color. Yep. So we picked some of the most fabulous colorway to do

kinda the like it.

Hey. It stands out. Right?

Yes. It does.

What's the whole point? So Iconic 2 glove.

Let's

go. Yes. Glove wise, again, if you're familiar with the Iconic, you're gonna be familiar with this. If you're familiar with genetic gloves, you're still gonna be familiar with this. So the same 35 degree closure along the actual seam of the glove itself.

Very snappy closure out of the box. Things that have changed. So new dial system.

Not boa anymore, but it's the same.

And it's not a top anymore. It is now Moaz, another new supplier with them. So we're back What? Moaz.

I'm gonna leave that one alone for now.

It's a new dial, ladies and gentlemen. You know what? We're back to that pop up and snap. Bright core in the cuff. Still gives that rigidity, a nice stable platform in terms of any of those cuff shots that you do get.

Again, nice wide open presentation. It's always had great pockets. Don't forget about lace. Those beautiful V fives. Double tee.

Resigned the backhand a little bit more too as well. And another good call out, they've reinforced the finger stalls quite a bit more. So again, to prevent against some of that finger curl over time for the squel. Okay.

So you mentioned 35 degree break. That's their nomenclature. What does it compare to in the 590/580 world of things? We we have a whole full video on this that you can go watch.

Yes. But just as a refresher. June ish, five ninety kind of. Between the two ish? Yes.

Sorta? Yes. Okay. So you get that big style of that open pocket? How does

it how does it close?

So you still feel more of that, like, five ninety ish closure. So fingers into here? But you're getting that 600 presentation.

Okay. Blocker, which I have, actually feels a little more streamlined

on my hand. Yes. I would say in terms of overall, like, if any of the pieces that had the least amount of change, we're staring at it. So But, yes, read of like, you still get that same, like, bride core technology coming into the blocker itself. Again, the updated dial system as well.

In terms of overall feel wise, if you like the Iconic blocker, you're gonna like this. To me, does feel like they have lightened it up a little bit just in terms of taking out some of that weight.

Board thickness.

But beyond that.

Don't know what it is. That just feels a little more streamlined than some of the past ones I've worn. That's correct.

Alright. Okay. There it is. Brian's Iconic 2. Cam, I don't think we can let you go without one of your signature iconic.

What are we talking about today? Iconic. There we go. He believes he's iconic, folks. And where can you get this icon on the phone to talk about the new Brian's line?

(604) 589-1899 or 1-800-567-7790. Don't remember. You can be iconic too.

Oh, iconic too. I love good job.

Yeah. You mentioned Carter Hart wears it. I I appreciate that what Carter does with the blocker. He's got his number up there. A little little old school.

A little, like, seventies, eighties with with the number bold on the blocker.

I like that look. I like that look. I don't you know, it's funny. Was gonna say Igor Shesterkin also wearing Iconic too, but I'm not sure if he's still an optic guy or if he switched over to to the Iconic line for this season. And it's hard to tell because his custom pads don't actually bear the logo, the, like, the line logo on them.

He's always got the the full custom without that on it, so I'm I'm genuinely not sure. I probably should be able to tell with a closer look, but to be honest, it's been so nutty around here lately. Thank you, Quinn Hughes trade, that I haven't even had time to look.

The Shesterkin Century setup is beautiful.

Yeah. It's it's good. It's and it's good. Like, the the outdoor game, like, look with the the vintage I I It count me all in for that. I would yeah.

And, I mean, if it wasn't for the fact I had 11 home games to cover here in Vancouver, think a trip to Florida would suit me just fine on January 1.

Pro Reads

Got ProReads brought to you by Vizual Edge Talking to Filip Gustafson about what he's doing in the crease, and you can discuss and talk to us about Vizual Edge.

Do you want the puck to look like a beach ball? It rarely does for me, but it seems to be the goal for most. Every goalie has that night here and there where the puck looks huge. You're ahead of every play, calm, patient, in total control. Then there are the nights where you're a half step late.

I know those well. You see it, but you don't really see it. You're reaching, guessing, you're fighting it. It's not your technique. It's your eyes and your brain not processing the play fast enough.

Vizual Edge fixes that. It measures how well your eyes track and process the game then gives you a custom plan that trains it. Three fifteen minute sessions every week are all you need to do on your laptop, on your tablet, wherever you need to do it, easy. On the couch. No problem.

It's what NHL goalies use to make the game slow down when it matters most. And, of course, as a sponsor of InGoal Magazine's ProReads segment, anyone gets a discount using the code InGoal. You double your discount as a member. Just check out the latest ProReads to get your member only discount code on Vizual Edge. Be a great gift, I think, for parents listening, for for kids over Christmas, an easy one to access quickly.

And that ProRead segment this week brings us to Filip Gustafson, his first appearance. Hopefully, first of many. Our new ability to sort of walk into the room with an iPad and clips ready, enabled us to get this one with Gustafson. A quick bus prevented us from getting more, but he seemed to enjoy it so much that we have connected since, and there's talk of doing more over a Zoom type call. And I think when you watch this week's Daren, you'll realize why we're so eager to do more with him.

Really thinks the game well, articulates it well, and in this case, a play behind the net and how to avoid sort of that looking back and forth over different shoulders and getting lost and losing the puck. He makes a simple save out of a tough situation by anchoring himself to one post and not leaving it until he's visually connected over the opposite shoulder, making sure he doesn't abandon both his visual attachment, which we have to as the puck moves back and forth behind the net, and his position at the same time. He's got one anchored while he finds the other. It's a great approach to managing post play and managing pucks behind the net with scoring threats out front. And the way that Gus walks us through it with the video controlling the iPad is the kind of thing you don't get anywhere else but at InGoal Magazine.

Reminded me of the video we did with Bill Ranford on the LA Kings, sort of blocker side dominant shoulder position system that they use down there. There was a lot of that in the way Gustafson explained it. It was a great breakdown from a goalie who manages his post as well as any the NHL. I remember talking about Marc Andre Fleury last year, talking to them about Gus and about some of the things that he did that made him exceptional, and that was the first thing that Flowers pointed out, the way he works his post. So Gus walked us through that system in this week's ProReads presented by Vizual Edge.

You can see that, of course, at ingoalmag.com. And as we mentioned earlier, if you're a member, get into that article and get your double the discount code for your membership at Vizual Edge as well.

I was doing some work this week with a couple of guys, and there's some puck play behind the net. And I was thinking about the Bill Ranford approach, to the the puck being behind the net. It was it was with the teammate, so I was able to be a little more relaxed and a little more just casual about it and and and really think about it. It it's it's a neat approach. When when you have time to really dig into it, not a lot of us we go out there, we have three quick shots and we play.

So it was it was interesting, approach, and I like it.

So I was trying to execute it earlier this season more consistently in one of my drop in skates. You're right, though. It's hard when the pace comes up, but you can totally see as you rep it out and get more comfortable with it. If you can make it an innate sort of staple, you can easily see the benefits. And like I said, Gustafson does a great job in this video, so I'm really excited to hopefully do more videos with him in the future.

And listen, folks, Like, if you don't already have a membership to InGoal Magazine for our ProReads, we have a ton more new guests being able to walk in with the iPad into the room. They're not the same hour long sit downs we've had in the past with the Hellebuyck and the Demkos, but we're able to get so many more different voices. We got another couple with Alex Lyon coming up. We got UPL. Got a few more with Cam Talbot.

There's gonna be a ton more voices in ProReads this season, so make sure you get your membership to InGoal mag and InGoal Magazine premium because there is no better way to read the game or to play with and and get to understand how an NHL goalie implements a system like this in real time.

You mentioned the name Connor Hellebuyck, who returned off of injury and posted a beautiful performance. His perfect game ruined late in a victory over the Washington Capitals. I don't know how they do it. Like, it's not the first team that I would wanna play against, but Hellebuck jumped right back in there and was very comfortable.

If I'm not mistaken, it was just a five on three goal late too that that ruined his his his bid for another shutout. It's interesting. I know Scott O'Neill pointed out that it's also the first time they've had everyone healthy this season. Like, it wasn't just Hellebuyck coming back. I'm going to run through the numbers today to sort of see what the models look like.

And this is kinda goes to my point about Hellebuyck being the MVP last year. It wasn't even his best season from a statistical standpoint. Like, in terms of the saves he made and relative to the environment, it wasn't his best year. He his other Vezines have actually been better statistically. But I think you have to give credit to the impact that Connor Hellebuyck has on the Winnipeg jets and the buy in they get defensively knowing that if they do and execute their system, he will take care of everything else.

And so I think during that gap, injuries were part of it. I wanna look into the numbers while he was out because everyone's gonna point to the Comrie Hellebuyck sort of difference. But the reality is I think they play so much better when he's in there. Like, I think there's just

a belief. Were porous without

Yeah. They they left Hellebuyck. Right. They left Eric like, I still think last year, the way they played defensively and the way they were scoring, if this happens last year, Comrie's fine. I just think they weren't as good a team this year, but I do wonder again how much of that is we need to give Connor Hellebuyck credit for the way he inspires his teammates to defend better and the way they play in front of him.

Former partner of Connor Hellebuyck's making headlines as Laurent Brossoit attempts his comeback after a lengthy time off at playing for the Rockford IceHogs, and he's two and one to start, but that's not why we're talking about LB.

Goalie goal, baby. We love us a goalie goal. And I gotta admit, with all due respect to LB, he's I hopefully he doesn't get I I did not have him on my list of next discourse. Right? Like, I I mean, I didn't know he I I was unfamiliar with your game, sir.

I did not realize he had that in him to take that shot. We've seen a few goalies around the league over time.

Was a was a good chuck.

It was a good chuck. I mean, it wasn't quite Linus Ullmark at the far hash marks. I think it landed outside the far blue line, but he got it over a four checker in the neutral zone or a or a defender in the neutral zone, and it was from behind the net. You know, how much have we talked about? We just I think we just talked about this recently.

All the recent goals have been from goalies being able to catch a puck in front of the goal line and fire away. This was from behind the net. That's a hell of a job by Laurent Brossoit. So, exciting times for him. It's been a difficult time.

I think a lot of people thought he might be done, but he's battled back. He had the hip surgery. That seems to be have been the real issue they discovered as opposed to chasing fixes with the knee. He's back. He's healthy.

And curious to see where the future lies because don't forget, this is a guy who his last season in Winnipeg was exceptional. He was in high demand as a free agent, chose Chicago, and basically then the injuries came and he basically never played. Now that he's back, it may depend on willingness to maybe eat salary to move on, by the blackhawks down the stretch because he is on a 3,000,000 ticket, but he's a guy that might help a lot of teams if they if they need some insurance policies in the second half of a season where we've seen injuries so prevalent. He's a guy that can still play, and nice to see him back. Like I said, chucking sauce is not how I expected to describe Laurent Brossoit's return, but kind of exciting to see.

Yeah. You you're just trying to get back in the game and healthy, then you go out and score.

Yeah. As it happened. Where you know what that is? That reminds of the me of the T shirts when he used to crush everyone at the workouts out up in Kelowna, and everybody said we should have T shirts that say F U L B on them because he's always killing it. There's probably a lot of guys like, oh, yeah.

He's gone for a year, comes back, and and scores a goal. Scores. To heck with you, L B.

Parent Playbook

Hutch will join us in just a second with the parent segment brought to you by Stop It Goaltending U, the app. Well, twenty five years of NHL goalie experience at your fingertips. Sound pretty good to you, Daren? That's pretty good to me.

Well, twenty five years of NHL goalie experience at your fingertips. Sound pretty good to you, Daren? That's pretty good to me.

I would take it.

That's what you get from the Stop It Goaltending U, the app. You get all the expertise of Brian DeCord and his staff. They've been doing this for over twenty five years at Stop It Goal Tending U, the brick and mortar coaching facilities that they have in the Boston area. Brian's been a goalie coach for the Boston Bruins. He's been a goalie scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He's been a director of goaltending for the Arizona Coyotes and now is the director of goaltending for the Detroit Red Wings. He's, of course, the parent of Joey Daccord of the Seattle Kraken and kinda cool to see them on the the dad's trip recently this week. Saw some of those photos. Look like a good time for father and son. But all that expertise, not just from Brian, but from the staff he's built of goaltending experts at Stop It, all condensed into something you can access on your phone or tablet.

The app, Stop It Goaltending U. Every week, you get new daily primers. You get breakdowns on NHL goalies. You get drills every week that you can take out on the ice to help make you a better goaltender. All that content, new every week from the Stop It Goaltending U app.

And as a bonus, you get to access our best stuff at InGoal. Every membership to Stop It Goaltending U, the app, comes with an InGoal premium membership. It's the best of both worlds in goaltending to help you make more saves. The Stop It Goaltending U app, make sure you check it out on the App Store or Google Play Store wherever you access apps for your devices.

Not here for the full episode, but David Hutchison did leave us with this parent segment, Hutch.

Thanks, Daren. Holiday breaks, pressure, and doing what's right for your goalie. One thing I really wanna talk about around the holidays is the break we often take from hockey and especially from goaltending. That break matters and what it looks like should be different from every goalie and every family. That's actually the whole point.

There's no single right way to handle the holidays. And I want to be very clear about that because this is a time of year when a lot of parents feel pressure. Pressure created almost entirely by comparison and FOMO, the old fear of missing out. You see other hockey family skating. You see posts about camps and lessons.

You hear about extra ice, extra training, extra everything. And suddenly, it can feel like doing nothing is a mistake. It's not. If your goalie needs a break physically, mentally, emotionally, and you take one, that's a 100% okay. In fact, for a lot of kids, it's exactly what they need.

Rest is not lost development. Recovery is part of training and is part of development. On the flip side, if your team doesn't get much goalie coaching and you feel like the holidays are a good time to go to a camp and take a couple of private lessons, that's great too. If your goalie is energized by it and excited to learn, go for it. On the other hand, maybe what you need isn't training at all.

Maybe it's stick and puck or shinny. Maybe it's throwing on skates as a player, messing around, laughing, shooting pucks with friends, and remembering why the game is fun in the first place. That counts. And if what your family needs is to take the gear off entirely for a week or two and just be a family, that counts too. Some of you will have Christmas tournaments booked.

If that's the case, my hope is that you can frame those as experiences, not evaluations. Fun, not pressure. Memories, not measurements. Here's the key point I really want parents to hear. One week, two weeks, whatever you choose, That time will not break your goalie's game, not today, not this season, not over the course of a career.

Training because you're afraid of falling behind, Skating because everyone else is skating. Pushing because you feel pressure instead of purpose. That's how burnout sneaks in. Quietly, gradually, often with the best of intentions.

What can cause problems is doing things out of fear. Training because you're afraid of falling behind, Skating because everyone else is skating. Pushing because you feel pressure instead of purpose. That's how burnout sneaks in. Quietly, gradually, often with the best of intentions.

I've said this many times and I'll keep saying it. There is nothing more important in this game than having fun. Fun keeps kids engaged. Fun keeps them learning. Fun keeps them wanting to come back.

So whatever your holiday break looks like, more hockey, less hockey, or no hockey at all, if it's right for your goalie and right for your family, you're doing it right. Trust that. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone in the goalie union.

Hutch as a goalie dad, of a Western Hockey League player, it had me thinking about, Little Hutch, big Hutch, when I saw Jacob Fowler make his National Hockey League debut and the emotion that, that mom displayed.

That was so cool. Like, just just you're smiling the whole way. And, I mean, the kid's obviously an incredible talent. We talked about that list I did this summer talking to goalie directors and goalie coaches about the top prospects around the league. Jacob Fowler was top five on every list, if not top two in most.

So an incredible talent. I know maybe they didn't plan on using him this early this year, but to to have a game like he did on that stage. And to see his mom reacting that way, the emotions of it, like, just it it warms the heart, frankly. We get a little bitter and old in this in this game sometimes as journalists, but that one that one was exciting. The the entire goalie union was sitting there and with with him, and I'm guessing the entire I'm not a goalie parent myself, but I'm guessing the entire goalie parent union was sitting with her in that moment and and soaking it all in with her and and and the emotions that come with it.

It's a tough job being a goalie parent, but when you get to see the rewards like that, it makes you smile.

Didn't go his way, but his second starts at MSG. And he faces a penalty shot and then goes to a shootout in that one.

And Shesterkin at the other end.

Yes.

Right? Like like, I thought it was interesting that the Canadians were trying to downplay, you know, the impact. Right? Like, trying to trying to sort of lessen the state. Although I don't think that this young man worries about that.

Like, the stage, I don't think you know, I've got some tough bounces in New York, but I don't think it had anything to do with the stage just like making his debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Did you see the list of Canadians goalies who have won their debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins? No. Ken Dryden, Carey Price.

What? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Against Pittsburgh.

Like, specifically against Pittsburgh. And so, yeah, and and you know what, Daren? Patrick Roy. I forgot the I was brain cramping on the third. All four now, Jacob Fowler becoming the fourth, have made and won their NHL debut against Pittsburgh.

So, hey. Listen, kid. No pressure. No pressure. But we're gonna do the same thing.

Like, we're gonna this comparison is going to exist now forever. So, yeah, all four. Nothing like going into a franchise with that tradition of goalie history and immediately getting on a list that includes Dryden, Roy, and Price.

That's wild. That synergy.

Yeah. Yeah. It it it it is. And I don't know who pointed it out first. I'd love to give credit.

I saw it all over the Internet after after before and after the debut. And like I said, I'm not sure where it originated, but kudos for whoever did that research. It's a great stat, and it's kinda crazy, and maybe it's a little bit of foreshadowing.

We've got a couple of interviews, this week on the, feature feature interview brought to you by Sense Arena, NHL Sense Arena with unbelievable way to prepare yourself for the game. Ian Clark coming up. I'll tell you all about what's happening with Ian Clark and the relationship there and more access to the, Ian Clark catalog of information. But, first up, Kaylee Osborne from the PWHL, part of the NHL Sense Arena feature interview.

Well, speaking of NHL Sense Arena, our friend, Kasimir Kaskisuo, had a shutout in the ECHL last night. So fist pump there. We're not gonna take credit as an InGoal bump, but I'm willing to bet he would spread some credit to the folks at NHL Sense Arena for how he uses their product to prepare as he told us in last week's feature interview, not just between games, but actually on game day to get ready to play. It is just the latest pro validation that we've had for how good NHL Sense Arena is as a product, how legit it is. This is not just a game, although it has been gamified to keep young goalies engaged, but it is not just a video game.

This is real training. It is the best way to get ice time when you can't get on the ice. So if you're a young minor hockey goalie and you're only playing once a week, maybe gotta practice every two weeks, you don't have to wait to get your reps. You can get them in the virtual reality world with NHL Sense Arena. They've got specials on right now.

Dates getting a little tight to get shipped a full headset, but you can order NHL Sense Arena if you already have a virtual reality headset and make that the gift under the tree this year for the goaltender in your life. There's still plenty of time for that. So make sure you check them out. NHL Sense Arena. They've got tons of options, unbelievable training.

It's always evolving. You can play the the new sort of game of game style where it's just a constant flow rather than drill after drill much like playing a game. You can work on screens. You can work on tracking. You can work on anything you can work on on the ice using NHL sensor in it.

As a matter of fact, you can work on some of it a lot better. So check it out. I know Kaz would have used it this week heading into his ECHL shutout debut, and and obviously just further validation of how good a tool this is.

Feature Interview - Kayle Osborne

Tell me about your conversation with Kaylee Osborne.

First one. So this is kind of a get to know you with Kaylee Osborne. For me, for our friends at InGoal, for a young goaltender who's already starting for the PWHL New York Sirens and had an incredible start to the season. For a young goaltender who has put herself on the map with Hockey Canada, was a part of the rivalry series that recently completed on that roster for Canada. For a young goaltender who I didn't know all that well, just a great chance to catch up, find out about her roots in the game, her path in the game, the evolution of her game through college and now into pro, and someone I think we're gonna be hearing a lot more about not just with the New York Sirens of the PWHL, but with Canada moving forward.

So just a chance to get to know her and her game a little bit.

Enjoy the feature interview brought to you by NHL Sense Arena with Kaylee Osborne.

Really excited. First time guest on the InGoal Radio Podcast. We're in the process of educating her about what InGoal is all about. Kaylee Osborne of the Sirens, PWHL, New York, first year starter, second year pro, off to a great start. Has this been a step to go from playing what you played last year to playing as much as you've played now?

What's been the biggest jump?

Honestly, I think that kind of last year was a really good building block for me. I had two really good goalie partners in Corinne Schroeder and Abbey Levy that kinda honestly set me up for success this year. They were great mentors for me, I learned a lot from them. So I think this kinda next step was just kinda playing consistently, and I think I've been doing that pretty well. The start to the season has been great.

So, honestly, I think those two really set me up for success this year.

What kinda lessons are like, what are the most important lessons? We talk about the importance of mentorship. Is it like, is it technical? Is it tactical? Or is it more about just what to expect as a pro and all the things that come with this environment compared to college?

I'd say a little bit of both. Obviously, those two are very different goaltenders in the way that they play. So I think, technically, I learned a lot from Schroed, who was a goalie partner last year, and then Abbey Levy just kinda had to be a pro, show up every day and and do the right thing. So both of those kind of taught me what to do and what to expect, especially in big games, big crowds. Obviously, we played maybe not at home, but on the road in a lot of big crowds and I got a taste of that last year.

So, kind of coming in this year, lot less nerves having played in that before and received, like, kinda tips and guidance from them last year. So I made it this year a lot easier for me.

I mean, obviously, at Colgate, played in front of some big crowds there too and in in national tournaments. What's the difference? Like, what is there a difference, or is it a matter of sort of trying to approach it like it's not any different?

I would say a little bit of both, but more like there is a lot more fans. Like, going in for, say, Montreal's home opener is is like no other. They're on top of you. They're loud. They cheered everything.

And even playing in Seattle the other night, it it was insane. And, honestly, I've never played in anything like that in college. I got a little bit of a taste with that with the rivalry series, but nothing like the fans in the crowd that the PWHL in those markets have brought. So I think that coming into this year, I was honestly a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be, and I had a lot less nerves than, say, I did last year in games.

Okay. So advice now for young goalies at every level. If they get into a moment that's new to them, feels big to them, the crowd feels on top of them, how do you manage nerves? What what methods have you learned over the years to sort of manage those situations so you can be at your best?

For me, personally, I am not super serious. I'm the most laid back, take it easy before the game, play a little sewer ball, and have some fun kinda goalie. So I would just say believe in yourself. Like, nobody else is gonna give you the confidence to be there. And, obviously, if you're in that big moment, you're there for a reason.

So I would say trust the work that you've put in prior to that, and then just go out there and have fun and play your game. You're gonna be playing your best when you're at your loosest having fun, so that that would be my advice, is just go in and have fun.

Okay. So when you say staying loose, you're you're you it's you're not like the the old stereotype of a goalie that's like, nobody can talk to me on game day.

If nobody talked to me on a game day, I would be very sad. I would be so upset.

Okay. So that like, there's an important lesson there, though, because sometimes we we've run into it right up, like, right up to the NHL where there's an expectation that goalies are this serious, stoic, leave me alone. Don't is it important to be yourself on a game day? Find what it is that helps you be yourself and be your best and not give into those stereotypes?

Absolutely. I think, honestly, your teammates probably know you best and know what you need, and there is still goalies out there that need that and like that. But I think if you get to know your goalie and they're kind of a fun loving, happy go lucky love to joke around, like, nothing's gotta change on a game day just because it's a game day. Whether it's a big game, it's not a big game, it's a scrimmage, whatever it is, just if that's nothing changes on a game day no matter who you're playing or where you're playing it.

Okay. So getting to know your goalie, Kaylee Osborne, growing up in Ontario, how did you become a goaltender?

Okay. So this is actually a bit of a crazy story,

but We like those.

I had no interest in being a goalie, honestly, like none. And then my sister became a goalie, and I'm the youngest of three. So I was like, there's no way that someone is gonna be better than me at something. So I told my mom, I was like, I'm just gonna I wanna put on the pads. Like, I wanna get in there.

And she was like, all right, like, you can have one shot. Like, everyone got to play at that age. Kinda like, I think was around five or six. Everyone got a game. And my mom was like, yeah, like, she can go if she won't like it.

Like, she's just doing it to have a competition, like, whatever, because my sister was a full time goalie. And I put the pads on, and honestly, I never looked back, and that was probably my mom's biggest regret, having two goalies in the family. But my sister doesn't play anymore, so just me. But that would be how I became a goalie.

I feel I feel like it's every parent's worst day. I mean, it should be a good thing to have two goalies in the family, but it it's a tough position on the parents.

Oh, a 100%. I think I don't think my mom speaks during games. She'll sit by herself and not say a word.

Inspirations early, like, who I mean, you had a bigger sister that that played. Who were some of your early inspirations in goaltending? And when did you get to a point where it's, like, watching them versus maybe trying to emulate them?

I think Carey Price was huge for me growing up. I loved him. I thought he was such a good goaltender. So as a young kid, I I watched him and because every I mean, now people have the PW to watch and young girls do, but, I mean, there was nothing to watch at that age when I was a kid. So in the twenty ten Olympics, I remember watching Shannon Szabados, and I was like, oh my god, I wanna do that one day.

Like, that is so cool. I wanna be her. And, obviously, watch her career and never met her, but she's an amazing goalie, and that's kinda who I those two would be two that I really looked up to, I would say, playing playing watching them play. So yeah.

Her game was so refined technically even back then. Like, there were NHL, like, goalies that didn't move as well as Shannon did technically and tactically. Was there a point where you're watching her, you wanna be her, like, her you wanna be on that stage? When did you get to that point where, like, maybe technically you're studying or goalie coaches that would point to things where you started to develop that side?

Honestly, this is pretty rare for me, but I never had a goalie coach growing up. So I honestly didn't have a goalie coach until I got to college. So, for myself, that technical piece of my game came really late. I would honestly say, like, my freshman, sophomore year of college, it came. And, like, if you looked at footage from my junior career or even my freshman year of college, the difference is night and day in me technically.

I think that compete and that just drive to make every save can take you a long way. And I think that's a special lesson for goaltenders that you don't have to be the most technically sound at that age, but if you have compete and you work hard, that can take you very far.

And I think that compete and that just drive to make every save can take you a long way. And I think that's a special lesson for goaltenders that you don't have to be the most technically sound at that age, but if you have compete and you work hard, that can take you very far. So honestly, for me, that technical piece came. My sophomore year of college, I started working with top prospects goaltending in Chris Krob and Brad Kirkwood. So they really took my game to, like, another level, and that's when I really started noticing, like, changes in my game and and a real jump.

Give me some examples. Just some things that other people might hear and take away, like, where did that focus? Where was it directed in the beginning? What how's your game evolved in college to here?

A big thing for me was my stance. I would play very wide and I played back on my heels, which is honestly a recipe for disaster if you look at it now in the game, and my hands were back. So, as I kind of went along in my college career, you'll see my stance narrow and especially from my freshman year to even last year to now, my stances have been a huge piece of why I think I've been successful at this level.

Yeah. So a big thing for me was my stance. I would play very wide and I played back on my heels, which is honestly a recipe for disaster if you look at it now in the game, and my hands were back. So, as I kind of went along in my college career, you'll see my stance narrow and especially from my freshman year to even last year to now, my stances have been a huge piece of why I think I've been successful at this level. And even last year, like, just when when to set.

Like, you'd be in that tall stance a lot a lot longer in college, whereas, like, the release here is a lot quicker, so you need to be in that set stance just a little bit earlier.

Getting that time and you because that's something you work on in practice? We know that tall and narrow is a trend around all different parts of goaltending, but being comfortable in it. And like you said, knowing when to transition is a key part.

Yeah. Absolutely. So I think not as much this year I've worked on it because I think that's kind of been a little bit more of a staple in my game this year, which has been great, and especially something I've worked on all summer. So, not as much timing that I'm working on this year as kinda that narrow stance and keeping my hands in front. So, I would say last year, absolutely.

That was a huge One of the biggest things I noticed jumping from college to program was that you need to set in your stance a lot sooner because that that release is a lot more deceptive here. You have players that can really shoot the puck. And if you're not set in that stance, you're just gonna be on your heels and your weight's gonna be back.

If you were to describe your game for me, what how would you describe it?

I would honestly just say competitive.

Feel that's still a core core foundation?

A 100%. There's times where technique goes out the window, and it's just all the compete you have. And I think I've seen that in a few saves this year that haven't looked at technically soundest, but I think that that it can take you a long way.

As you've added that technical element and that that foundation, how do you find that balance between the two? Because you never wanna lose that compete. Right? Is there other times where you you find yourself in practice maybe getting a little too rigid, a little too structured, or how do you how do you walk that line? You work with your goalie coach on that.

Yeah. Definitely, it's something we work on, but I think I'm more losing the technique before I lose the compete, which is a good thing for me because I I don't that compete's always there, but it's learning when to alright. Like, that's not like, compete's not needed here. It's an easy save. Just let it come to you.

So kinda walking that side of the line, whereas rigid being more rigid is not not something that I've experienced so far.

The mental side of the game, any advice or tips that you've picked up along the way that might resonate with younger goalies who are, you know, hoping to be the next Kayleigh Osborne?

I think the biggest thing for me is do what feels best for your body, what feels best mentally, and it's gonna work. Like, you don't need a ton of things that you have to do every single game to play your best.

Yeah. I think that there's a lot of stereotype around you need a ton of routine and this and that, and you have to do the same thing every single day. I'm actually the complete opposite. If I wake up and feel like I need to go for a walk one day or I wake up and I feel like, Oh, I don't feel like doing anything, that's what works for me that day. And I found, honestly, especially playing more games this year, is the less routine I have, the more fun I've had, the more enjoyable it's been for me.

If I'm waking up every day on a game day and thinking I have to do 10 things before I even can get to the rank, I'm I'm not having fun anymore. So I think the biggest thing for me is do what feels best for your body, what feels best mentally, and and it's gonna work. Like, you don't need a ton of things that you have to do every single game to play your best.

How are you adjusting to this schedule? The demands of it, travel, things like that. You obviously went through it last year, but that's I mean, college is mostly weekends. It's a big step up. What's that adjustment been like in terms of managing your time, managing your rest while still getting the reps in to manage your game?

Yeah. It's been honestly quite the difference, especially with this. This is the first time I've ever been out to Seattle, Vancouver. So it's been a bit different in that plane ride was very long, but just we have a great team behind us, great ATs and great staff. And I think that they're doing everything to set us up to feel our best and play our best, and it's working because I think a lot of our team feels great and me, myself included.

So, yeah, I think that using the resources that are available to you and then obviously putting in the work yourself, doing mobility and doing all the things that make your body feel good.

What are some of the things that you've learned, like, on that side of, like, in terms of taking care of yourself and making sure you do that? Where is the focus on it? Is mobility the primary one?

Yeah. Mobility. And then I'm really big in ice baths. So mobility and ice baths have been huge for me, and I think they've kinda given me a little routine of mobility things to do that are gonna help me loosen up and feel my best. So I've just honestly been sticking with that and and making sure that every single day I can get in, like, a walk or some kind of mobility, and it's it's done wonders for me how how my body's feeling.

Okay. So sort of cliche stereotype goalie question. Are you a gear geek? Because you're you have sick gear style, but are you like, how much attention do you pay to the equipment side of thing?

I mean, if you see me using a Bauer stick and CCM everything else, like, I'm probably not that big of a gear nerd because that's a tough look.

But the rest of the look is good. Like, are you is it one of those things where, like, you just figure out what works for you, or do you, like, do you geek out at all on the details of your equipment and how it's set up or just, hey. This works for me. Build me more of this.

I know it might be, like, a bit of a hot take, but I hate designing gear. I hate

So you're not a back of the napkin, not even on masks?

No. Nothing. It actually is like I feel a weight on my shoulders when I have to do that because I'm like, another one? Like, I just did some last year, which it's a bit sad.

So who do you trust? Because it looks good.

Gord, our goalie coach. He has been phenomenal at that. And, honestly, he gave me my idea for this year, so I'm gonna give all the credit to him this year.

Not just a great goalie coach, and we know Gord a little bit, but also a great gear designer. That's awesome.

Himself might be a gear nerd.

We'll grab him on the podcast shortly then. Kaylee, thank you so much for taking the time, especially ahead of a big game tomorrow. Really appreciate it. Continued success this year. And we'll get you set up with an InGoal subscription so you can figure out what it is we do.

Yeah. Of course. Thank you so much for having me, and it was a pleasure being on it.

Always fun to get to know new goaltenders along the way. We've been doing this long enough that it feels like you've talked to everybody in the game.

It does. And it's, you know, it's funny because I I like it when it's when it's people we haven't talked to, and I think there's some more there's some great young goaltenders coming up in the PWHL. Like, some great young goaltenders as well as some incredible established veterans that we've seen on the international stage and the Olympics over the years. It's it's it's such an exciting time for the women's game. We talk about, like like, Gwyneth Phillips.

Right? Didn't know her until the playoffs really last year. We got to know her in her game and how good she is last year with Ottawa. Well, Emerance Maschmeyer, one of the more established names that we'd had on, was out with an injury. And then we got to know her on the podcast this summer, and I was even more impressed.

So there's a whole list of young goalies coming up through the PWHL that we're gonna try and bring to you through this podcast, get to know them, as well as some goalie coaches from the PWHL, some of whom I know already from past experiences, some of whom I don't. So look for us to kinda try and continue this and make sure that we've got the PWHL well represented here on the podcast, bringing you some new voices, some new backgrounds, and some new lessons and takeaways, tips, different way of looking at things. That's what it's all about for a position that's, you know, never the same constantly evolving, and and we're excited to bring you more of those voices here.

Feature Interview 2 - Ian Clark

I'm always excited when Ian Clark pops up on the list of discussion points. Tell me about what's going on with Ian.

Well, we recently had the opportunity to reconnect with Ian on the ice to shoot instructional content and some teaching tips with the longtime NHL goalie coach. Star pupils include the likes of Roberto Luongo, Sergei Bobrovsky, Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko. Obviously, time with the Vancouver Canucks, couple different stints, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. It's hard to it's hard to think of someone who's had a bigger impact on the game from a coaching perspective. And it's not just the big names in the NHL.

It's it's all the instructional content that he's produced over the years. The old projects like From The Crease and The Goalie News, which is how I got introduced to goaltending, working with him on that. I mean, it has impacted the game not just here in North America, but all over the world. I remember seeing the Swedish goalie manual and seeing illustrations that I recognized from the goalie news. And so the impact he had on his time working when Marcus Naslund brought him over to Moto to work with their goalie coaches.

You talked to goalie coaches all over the place that have been impacted, that have mentored under him, that are now working at the highest levels of the game. So it was a chance there's a project coming up, I can't tell you what it's about. That's a secret. But a chance to reconnect with him a little bit in both video format at ingoalmag.com for some teaching tips that I know goalies and goalie coaches will find valuable, as well as just a quick conversation at the end of that day of shooting video where we sort of talked about the writing and the instructional content he's produced and sort of the roots of it and the roots of him as a teacher and just a chance to sort of catch up with where he's at with all those things. So we figured we'd we'd hit record on it and bring you a little short podcast interview to sorta catch you up in in Clark's world.

Enjoy a little tidbit of what's to come with Ian Clark on InGoal Radio, the podcast.

I wanna talk a little bit about your history as a teacher. From the crease was pretty much a how to bible for goaltenders. Goalie news is how we met, and it continued sort of that teaching in print and through written word and illustrations along with some editorial, which allowed me to learn the position. I'm curious. Why?

Goalie coaches coach, privates, you had a huge business. Why share so much with everyone through the written work?

For me, I think one of the attributes that I had was the ability to break a skill down into manageable increments. And a lot of the time we see coaching and it's very much go do that. And the understanding of why we're asking that athlete to go do that just wasn't there. And so I really began to study not just the how, but the why. And then break that how down into manageable increments that were digestible, for the lay person.

And so, you know, it was, the original from the crease was, you know, very much a, obviously, a work of passion. I guess, what the whole my whole career has been a work of passion. But the opportunity to share with people the the incremental steps that it takes to build a skill, you just can't. There are so many micro skills within a goaltending technique that just saying to a goaltending athlete, go do that, and that, you know, that that athlete could be nine years old, or that athlete could be maybe they're more advanced and, you know, they're 16, or maybe they're in NHL. Well, I've I've I've coached the entire spectrum, and I've watched NHL goalies have difficulty processing and understanding why they're doing what they're doing.

And so the ability to really get a person, a learner, a student to understand why they're trying to achieve what they're trying to achieve is fundamental to their journey. And, you know, it's a you know, it's just it was always philosophically in me that that was the right approach. Whether whether I that was a learned trait of mine or whether it was just something that was innate in me. You know, it's just always something that I believe. So I really tried to, you know, really put down on paper, through the written word, as you say, document how each of these skills is built, the building blocks of each one of them in a cohesive package.

So that's what I loved. Like, when I got introduced to the position through you, it was through reading and editing a lot of those articles. And they were verbose at times. They were long. You had to make sure you focus like you're reading like you're trying to learn anything.

You had to focus on it. But if you came through the other under other side of it, you understood every element. It wasn't just as you said, go do this because I'm the teacher. You understood why angle over depth made sense, why it was the way to go. Do you have a teach like, I've never asked you this question.

Do you have a teach is there a teaching background in there that allowed this to come through?

No. I did start coaching goalies when I was 14 years old, believe it or not. And I'm not sure if you're even familiar with this name, but the one of the very first specialized goaltending schools was Vic Lamere's goaltending school. And, my parents sent me to Vicks as a young goalie, and I did multiple years at Vicks. And, you know, one of my one of my first first coaches at Vicks was Paul Fricker, of course, is the Vancouver Giants goaltending coach.

And and Fricker and I, we we we spent a lot of lot of time together, and I became an instructor. I got invited to be a summer coach, summer instructor, junior instructor of Vicks camps at 14. And then I was with Vic for a couple of years, and then I moved on, and I was asked to be the goaltending coach for Danny Gare's hockey training centers on Vancouver Island. And then I was, you know, I moved on, and Brent Berry, who ran the UBC hockey school, asked me to build a goaltending program at UBC. And and, you know, I don't know if you were with me at the q and a at TendiFest the one time when the person brought the evaluation.

It was like it was it was I can't remember how many pages, well, it was all handwritten. But, you know, it was it was just something that, I guess I get I don't have a degree in teaching, but I do have, as I said, I have this, I don't know, innate ability to break break skills down into, the incremental pieces or digestible components that, you know, and and the order that you want to build that skill, over the course of time. And, yeah. So that's that's really what my history was, as far as, you know, honing my craft as a coach as early as that. You know, I I I literally have coached goalies if you go all the way back to my junior instructor days for going on, what, forty six years?

We with that, with time comes generations. And I got into it at goalie news. Original From The predated me. There's gonna be people listening to this podcast that don't know what goalie news is because they've come into it later. For those that don't know what the original from the crease was, outline it for me.

Like, just explain it to because I think I don't think people realize that you essentially wrote a manual on how to goaltend. Yeah. I think Or some people don't.

Yeah. I think it well, I mean, it certainly it was a it it ultimately resulted in over 1,000 pages of technical content. And the way the original From the Crease was built, it was purely technical. There was an advertisement on the inside front cover. There was an advertisement on the inside back cover and on the back cover of the actual each periodical.

Other than that, it was 100% technique. It was also fully comprehensive from technique on the ice, tactics on the ice. It had goaltender physiology. It had goaltender psychology. It was we had a section.

And so we really tried to, you know, provide 360 degree development for the goaltenders, and it had a section for beginners. It had a section for more advanced goalies. It was It was a periodical? It was a periodical. It came came out six times per year, 35 pages, 36 pages of content, and it came out six times per year.

Designed to be combined into a binder. Right? It was designed to sort of be not like a magazine where you read it and you're done with it. Like, Goal and you just sort of read, although I do have a stack of them at home, but it was designed to be kept.

Yes. It was. We used thicker paper. The pages were perforated. You got a binder with your subscription, and you were able to file in progressive order with troubleshooting indexes all of the content, all 1,000 pages, all five volumes.

It was five volumes over a thousand pages of technical content. And, you know, at the time, you know, essentially, most goalie coaches in the world subscribed to it. And it was, you know, it was, you know, I would say, know, looking back in time, you know, a lot of the things that we brought to the fore and from the crease, we see in today's goaltenders globally. So it's

Well, I mean, I've seen the Swedish manual, and the there are illustrations in there that I very much recognize from goalie news, which, of course, came from from the crease.

And so one of the things we tried to do with from the crease is not only did we try to break the skills down editorially, but we had fantastic illustrations that would, you know, pinpoint those specific positions within each skill that were, you know, were super important. And by year three, we had FTC interactive happening, which was in the year, I guess that was in the year 2000, that included, an online component to your subscription that had multi angle video, slow motion video. And so one of the things we really tried to do with it was appeal to different types of learners because, of course, people learn differently. Some people love all that content. Some people love all that detail.

Some people prefer summary content and more visual. And so we tried to really, you know, try to hit different learning methodologies in how we presented the material. So it was, you know, it was it was, you know, we really tried to make it very practical. And the subtitle to the original from the crease was the self development guide to hockey goaltending. And as you know, through all of our years together, I am a big advocate of the phrase that you have to be your own best goalie coach.

This doesn't take away from all the great goalie coaches that are out there. K? That's not what we're talking about. Goalie coaches are often with their goalies once a week, couple times a month. Maybe a goalie is lucky enough to have more than that.

The bottom line is only the goalie is there in every moment. So the goalie has to be the commander in chief of their game.

The bottom line is only the goalie is there in every moment. So the goalie has to be the commander in chief of their game. And so it's always been a philosophy. I've been a goalie coach for a long time. I go to every goalie I coach, and I say, listen.

I'm the assistant goalie coach here. You're the head goalie coach of your game. Only you are there in every moment. K? Only you are there under the spotlight.

Only you are there in front of the fans. Only you have the responsibility for your mates. And so it's always been a philosophy. So the original From The was From The Crease, the self development guide to hockey goaltending, because I I really wanted to share with young goaltenders the ability to drive development, drive their own development. That's not to say without a goalie coach.

Goalie coach is very important to to support that developmental process, but there's too many moments, too many repetitions that are done with no one looking. And so that's where the goalie had to have the information. They had to have the understanding. They had to have the why. Why am I doing this?

And that was the big mission of the original From the Crease.

I don't think I've ever told you this either, but the reason that ProReads at InGoal Magazine has almost like a written sort of here's this scenario. What do you think? Like, we write it all out every week and puts, like, freeze frames rather than a lot of and we also put the ability to just say, take me to the video. I just wanna see the NHL goalie breaking down the save. But the reason we make sure we keep the other component was that same lesson that I learned from you.

Everybody learns differently. Some people are visual. Some people wanna read it to process it. So we try and present it in multiple different ways. So that's a that's a a hat tip, a stick tap as they say to the lessons from from Goalie News and our time together.

So I'm gonna leave it at that. I couldn't help but notice you said the original from the crease a couple of times. I think we just leave that as a little blind tease for folks. I know you've been busy. There might be something coming.

Stay tuned.

Thanks very much.

Anytime he's talking, it's it's must listen. Right?

Yeah. He's he really has. And I kinda set it up there a little bit because we were talking about sort of his past writing. This really was just an interview focused on reminding people of the roots of his instructional content. And so I'm not sure anybody's produced more, Daren.

Like and and it kinda puts him in a spot to talk about himself, and and I'm setting him up in an almost uncomfortable manner. I'm pumping his tires and then I'm asking him to keep pumping. But, honestly, has anybody produced more teaching content than Ian Clark? There's a lot of great goalie coaches. A lot of, like, legends of the game, the Mitch Korn, the O'Lear Brothers.

There there's so many great. So many. But in terms of actually just, like, taking that, putting pen to paper and sharing it, even though, you know, yeah, there were subscriptions from From The Crease and InGoal Magazine. There was a there was a a business component to it, but I'm not sure anybody's ever shared more with other goalies in the game on an individual basis because I like to pat ourselves on the back. I think InGoal shares a ton.

But then Ian Clark through those two publications. So, you know, maybe more to come and certainly more to come with the videos that we've got got, online at InGoal Magazine now.

And the rollout of Ian Clark's next project or what's to come is

It's coming. That's all I can say. It's coming.

That narrows it down because it's pretty good.

It is gonna be really good. But, I'm gonna stop talking now before I violate an NDA.

And you and you will.

That's You know I will if I keep talking. You're trying to get me to keep talking.

Well, I was just gonna one of the great interview techniques that I've learned over the years is just be quiet. Silence. And let the person fill the void.

And there's nobody that wants to fill voids when it comes to talking more than me.

Outro

I got a lot in today, buddy. Goalie goals and returns from injuries to the wonderful big news of the the trade. Lots lots to get in tune. I think we did a an economical job of of sorting our way through it.

Wait. Wait. There was a lot on our plate today. We got it done. Can't wait to have Hutch back in the near future.

It's it's it's a busy time of year for everyone. Mhmm. But we're getting there, folks. Enjoy I guess, do we have we have one more before Christmas. I was gonna say Merry Christmas, but I guess we got one more.

Well, you can still say Merry Christmas.

Oh, Merry Christmas, everyone.

Hey. If I don't see you, Happy New Year in 2038. Okay?

Okay. Okay.

K. Just along that vein.

Let's just say that when I do officially wish everyone a Merry Christmas, don't hate me for this, but when I do next on next week's podcast, it may be more of a.

I'm being silent now because I'm angry. Have a good week, everybody. Enjoy goaltending, and make sure you correspond with this. Something's on your mind? Let us know.

Something you wanna know more about? Ask us, and certainly give us your equipment experience, what you like, and and maybe something you'd like to try. It's InGoal Radio, the podcast brought to you by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley at hockeyshop.com.