InGoal Radio Episode 338 Stuart Skinner

Intro

We love our new masks, our fresh, kits around the National Hockey League or goaltending in general. But how about the brand new look for ingoalmag.com? Here are the cofounders, David Hutchison and Kevin Woodley. What did you guys do? Get out to the paintbrush and couple of hammers and go to work?

Oh, that would Yeah.

Yeah. Full hired a full on construction company.

If that's like, let's be honest. From a fix a website and make it look as as good as it does right now at ingoalmag.com, Paintbrush on my computer screen would be as far as my abilities allow, and it would be ugly. Thank goodness we have mister Hutchison here to fix all things tech at InGoal because I gotta say, golf clap all around. The thing looks sick.

Great upgrade.

Thank you.

Listen, it's, it's, both visible and invisible, the changes that have been made. It's basically a complete rewrite, except with the individual articles. So they still have the same old look. We'll we'll work on those over time. But under the hood probably in some areas 10 times faster, in some areas about a thousand times faster.

Yeah, absolutely. The the look has been updated of course but it's about the functionality. Go check out the coaches directory. It's just the coach menu. It's it's gonna be there'll be new listings as of March 1 when things go live, but we've updated everything that was there before.

Massive changes there. That part's got to be a thousand times faster, easier to get access to coaches, easier to sort through them. You just type in any city and instantly you get all the results. You can now switch between American and Canadian. You can look for coaches that have, you know, girl specific programs.

It is bullet fast. There's so many good things happening to the coaches directory. If you go to any of our, well the main page has this cool new feature on it now where if you look at the bottom, you can click this little thing that says browse mode and you can sort of flip through all articles on the site as if you were, I don't know, browsing through Instagram or something. Just a quick way to access all the stuff that's on the site if you want. We've added some fun tracking to the site.

If you go to your membership central, we call it, it's the my account item on the menu. You can check out how many days in a row you've read ProReads, how many articles you've read overall. There's there's all sorts of new stuff there coming online. The search for individual articles through the site now has been massively upgraded. ProReads, this one's a work in progress because we gotta work on how we've tagged all the articles, but you can search based on the particular type of situation like Go, there's a little drop down and you can select breakaways and you'll get all the ProReads related to breakaways.

You can even do it based on the individual goalie. And here's the neat part now, you can then ask for it to tell you some drills that we have on the site that match up with the individual ProReads. So learn about how to handle screens, then check out a couple of drills you could use to help you with screens. So that's just a drop in the bucket as to in terms of what's been on there. But basically anything that we've dreamed of adding, we've at least started to add to the site in the last little while here.

It is a work in progress. I appreciate your patience if there's any issues, and I appreciate your emails. If you send anything along to me, just send it to me personally, david@ingoalmag.com, and, and we will try and work on it as quick as we can. We're turning things around real fast, but we wanna make some fun changes for everybody.

And the website, ingoalmag.com. If you've never been there or you haven't been there in a while, that's where you'll find everything that's related to David Hutchison's work and the coattails, riding the coattails by Kevin Woodley.

I do ride a lot of coattails around here. That's Oh,

it's usually me riding the coattails. My job. I'm glad I could hop

in. The only downside is it hasn't cleaned up my writing, but thank goodness there's good goalies talking to us to provide the content because it overcomes my inability to write in a entertaining fashion.

So You can't code? Content. You can't code?

I can barely spell my name sometimes, Daren. Come on.

The the you got the Olympic games coming up, so let's get into something that, that Woody's dialed into. We we've debated all the the nations that, are going more specifically, focused on Sweden, Finland, a little bit on Czechia, Canada, The United States. Russia is not participating for obvious reasons, reasons that, I think we all support. And it's it's a dilemma, though, that leaves out one of the more, prominent nations in the world. Who would be Russia's goaltenders this year if the Olympic Games allowed their participation?

I feel like I want our listeners to weigh in on this. Like, it's gotta be Sorokin. Right? Like, he's number one in the National Hockey League. We've talked about how he was running away with the Vezina trophy at the midway point, although things have leveled off a little bit in the week since.

Maybe a bit of a jinx there by by saying how much he was lapping the field. Andrei Vasilevskiy's sixth and adjusted save percentage right now and due to his cumulative workload. One of the guys that's sort of closing in near the top of the the goal saved above expected list. There's Igor Shesterkin. Do you know who is actually ahead of Igor Shesterkin on a per shot basis right now in the National Hockey League?

He place for the Florida panthers, but he's not named Sergei Bobrovsky. He's not a two time Terasoft? Daniil Tarasov. Really? Tarasov is having a hell of a season quietly with the Florida panthers.

And this maybe brings us to our biggest question, because Bob hasn't had we we talked about this a little bit last year. We all know how incredible he is to back to back Stanley Cup champions. Full value in both cup runs, like, just incredible saves throughout. One of the best boys in the game, multiple Vezina trophies. But right now, like, we, you know, we mentioned it last week, like, his numbers are right there next to Jordan Binnington's Canada starter at the bottom of of my adjusted list for the season.

So it's a fascinating time. I mean, Russian goaltending is always a strength, but when you think of those names, Sorokin, Vasilevskiy, Shesterkin, Bobrovsky, one of those four already gets left at home, and then you look at a season like Daniil Tarasov is having and, you know, you not that you're supplanting what those guys have done on the international stage and and over the course of their careers with one good season, but, man, it would make for an interesting debate. Where would you guys come out on this one? Does does does Bob's recent wins put him in automatic?

He goes automatically. I don't know whether he plays automatically. I would go the big cat, Sorokin, Bobrovsky in that order.

There are some people who think Shesterkin's the best of the bunch.

Mhmm.

It's a hell of a dilemma. Right? This is why we wanted to kick it around. Like, it's I don't know the there you know what the beautiful part is? There's probably no wrong answer.

[crosstalk] No. Depends depends the result of the games.

Exactly.

Sir certainly, if you're Canadian, you're gonna If you're Canadian. It If you're Canadian. Months and months if it doesn't work. If you're Canadian. A whole symposium for what's wrong with Russian goaltending if they take Bob and it doesn't work.

If you're if you're Canadian handles it.

You're offering a passport to any one of those four.

It's, it's fascinating. The the Bob/Binnington comparison is awesome though, isn't it? I mean, you've got that difficult decision. Do you take Jordan Binnington having a tough season, but certainly earned it based on the four nations? Bob would be the same exact same situation.

I'd like to know, and I don't know enough about Russian hockey, would they be as beholden to the guy that got them there, so to speak, as as Canada is? Or could they be a little bit more cold hearted about it and just take the top three guys this year?

It's a good question, and I think you have to look at history. Like, I think Bob's represented and gone over, in years where they weren't in the playoffs to play in world. World championship appearances count, I think. Because world championships mean a lot to these nations in the past. And sometimes a guy's willingness to fly over there when his NHL season ends and take part in that ends up factoring in the these decisions.

We've seen it with other teams. Whether they should or not, I I don't know, but, they've certainly factored into these decisions in the past.

That's an that it's a very similar question. You know, I asked would would the Russians handle it the same way Canada obviously does, and I I would say it with respect to world championship appearances too. I wonder if they would be, as beholden to the guys who've who've been there for

I'm going back a long way here. I'm I'm I'm cherry picking, but, Russia, Soviet Union, also a team that took Tretiak out in in a pretty important situation.

Yeah. That's cold.

That's cold. It is. But but they they

That's a long time ago. But, hey. Things have changed.

Cherry picking here. I'm trying

to No. No. It's fine. It's great.

And I admit that. Yeah. Yeah. Go for it.

We don't we don't like cherry pickers on the ice, Daren. You you cherry you cherry pick away here, buddy. I hey. Listen. Yeah.

I watched the Shorezy classic last night loaded with cherry pickers. Our boy Eddie Lack faced two on o's all night. It was pretty fun.

Two on o's. Well, Stuart Skinner was used to that, back in the Edmonton days. He's gonna join us, today on the, Sense Arena NHL, feature interview.

Well, speaking speaking of goalies who are are up near the top of the National Hockey League, Stuart Skinner's numbers since being traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh, there are two goalies that have a better adjusted save percentage than Stuart Skinner since that trade on December 12, Ilya Sorokin and John Gibson, who we should probably give a little love to. Skinner has been unreal. I don't know that people see it. I mean, they see it in the wins. He lost his first three starts, including obviously an emotional one against the Edmonton Oilers head to head shortly after the trade.

Might have even been week up if I remember correctly. Lost his first three starts since then. He's won seven of eight, including the three losses and the lopsided one in against against his former teammates, Edmonton. He's still third in the National Hockey League since that trade. And I don't know if a lot of people see it maybe in the wins, but not in the same percentage stuff because the environment's not all that great.

As expected, his eight seventy four, so full, like, 14 points below league average, and that obviously drags down his run numbers. He's so I'm here in Vancouver. Obviously, we caught up with him for the InGoal Radio Podcast feature interview coming up, but watched him play an incredible game against the Canucks as well that night, including a save at the end in the final minute that was a little reminiscent of Marc-Andre Fleury's cup winning lunging save against the Detroit Red Wings diving across blocker and followed a conversation I had with Skinner. And I I I'm not sure if it was I think it might have been after we turned the recorder off about an article I had up recently about on empty net situations, get something to the middle of the net because no shooters pick corners. So it was a fun one to watch, fun game to see, and it's nice to see him nice to see him after a tough trade bouncing back in a real positive way.

I although, I think we know he always finds a way to bounce back positively, but on the ice too.

Looking forward to that conversation. I'm also curious, when we get there, what the difference is in the environment between Pittsburgh and Edmonton and, just, dig into that a little bit. But InGoal Radio, the podcast brought to you by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com, presenting our Gear Segment every week. How are Cam and the company doing?

Gear

They're busy, and they're busy in a good way for goalies. We're gonna get to our second item from the new Vaughn Ion line. We've got our Ion, the new line for Vaughn. I'll never get tired of that dad joke. I made it before you could, Hutch.

But to create space, that means that the old stuff goes on sale, and it's not just the Vaughn line. There are new lines coming. We saw True launch its customizer. We've seen Warrior launch their customizer. And anytime new lines come out, obviously, there'll be a new line for Bauer.

We've already seen the CCM new one. We can't quite talk about it yet, but we will shortly. Anytime new stuff comes in, the old stuff goes on sale. So they may have 35,000 square feet at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports. They may have surplus warehouses where they keep extra gear, but space remains tight at this time of year when all the new stuff starts coming in, and that means that Cam and his crew have got to clear out the shelves of the old stuff.

Great discounts for you. So whether you're looking to hop into the new Vaughn Ion like Calvin Pickard of the Edmonton Oilers or whether you're looking to save money on the SLR four or any remaining SLR three stock, whether it's pants, which we're gonna talk about today, chest protector, pads, or gloves, you'll find massive discounts at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports and the hockeyshop.com.

And this week, we're dealing with the ION pants.

And they got a little extra part in them. Little extra. Little built in. Bill, Louie, you

wait You got way too excited about that, Woody.

Yeah. I know. I mean, maybe maybe

It's a little concerning.

Maybe I took maybe it's maybe I took one recently in an not great spot, so that might have contributed to it.

Privates going public with the ION edition of the protection on their pants on InGoal Radio, the podcast.

Last week, we brought you the ION Pro Select pads and gloves. Now brand new in store available ION Pro Select pants from Vaughn. And is that a built in can? Is there a built in jock in this thing?

No. There's not a built in jock.

There's a there's a pee pee protector. That's an extra piece. That's not in other pants.

Oh, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Hockey Shop. That's what it is.

That's what it is.

Or it's I'm Cam. He's Kevin. He's excited. He's sniffing pants this morning. That's okay.

We have the new ION. Vaughn ION. I got ION the Jock. So we'll get to what that is in a moment. Some flaps.

That's a Vaughn staple. So let's talk about the front of the bed first. Then what we see. So some carryovers from the SLR four design. We do have that double flap initially called out here, adopted by an NHL goalie based on

adopted by an NHL goalie based on the call out here. Something we like to pat ourselves on the back about. Good for you too, Cam.

Yeah. Thank you. Good job. Similar rounded Vaughn barrel that we have seen before, but it looks lace tabs for knee pads as well. If you wish to be able to tie that in nice thick overall feel, great wraparound like protection level, this pants fantastic.

That's something that Vaughn's kind of increased over their years as of late of their protection. Yeah. You have the reputation that they were the most mobile, but you felt a few more pucks. They've moved away from that, still maintaining the mobility, but you're not feeling But still able to maintain that mobility. I think that's definitely a key thing.

Yeah. You have the reputation that they were the most mobile, but you felt a few more pucks. They've moved away from that, still maintaining the mobility, but you're not feeling But still able to maintain that mobility. I think that's definitely a key thing.

still maintaining the mobility, but you're not feeling But still able to maintain that mobility. I think that's definitely a key thing.

So this pant does give a reminisce of a bit more of like that gym short kind of style of a fit. Does feature the internal belt as well. Oh. So that's the difference between their velocity line and now what would be their ION line in particular. So velocity, no internal belt.

Ion internal removable belt, easy to pull that entire belt out of the pant. Making it a little bit more wide open for your talking guy in mind. If you would wish to wear your gear that way,

great way to wear your gear by the way.

All right, let's talk about it. What is this? I don't know what it is.

I don't know what it is. You tell me it's a hard plastic goes down like this

is like a fourth jock. If you wear three already, you got a fourth. Pro style. Almost call it like a pelvic plate. Pelvic?

It's not a jock. Ladies and gentlemen, folks does No. No. No.

Hold on. I called it a pee pee protector. Pelvic plate. See, you went somewhere else with that pelvic plate was that I had in mind the whole time, Cam. The

[crosstalk] ions in your brain must be working here. We're getting an eye on that in the inside. It seems like it's hard plastic and there we go. I haven't seen that before. It's definitely hard as new.

Gives you that double ended like double protection, basically.

Yeah. And you're you're always wearing a

[crosstalk] goalie jock, which is two anyways. If you wear a player can underneath, like, we're talking four layers. Exactly. And you know what? Sometimes they you know, sometimes it can't be enough.

So, you know what? Having that extra call out there is definitely worth, you know, noting for sure. And hey, if it is too much, it's in the way. No worries. It just laces out.

Why would I ever wanna lace out something that protects like that? Say you already wearing three cups. You should be wearing.

If you didn't want the fourth, but it's not a cup. It's not a cup.

It's a PP protector. It's a pelvic plate.

Ladies and gentlemen, if they have questions about how to remove the pillow. Hold on. You're the expert. Hold on. Hold on.

Hold on. Before we get to the next I would say a nice call out too as well. They've redone the front plate of their pant as well. So they've added eyelets instead of just overall nylon tabs was a little bit of failure there. These eyelets will be a little bit more durable in terms of that front face of that pant.

[crosstalk] Because you wanna have durable eyelets over top of your pelvic plate. On the back, one last call out here. And I really, really, really, really, really, really, really like this.

How much do you like it, Cam?

I really, really, really, really like it. Cut guard. So they have ballistics nylon in the back of your hamstring area.

[crosstalk] So if you're like Cam and you end up pitched forward on your belly doing snow angels in the crease and idiots decide to skate over the back of you, you're protected.

Yeah. Something like that. Or, you know, you're getting up from rotating and you happen to kick yourself in back. If you have any questions, give me a call for 589-8299 or 1805677790. Kevin was using all of the ions in his brain to get this one together.

We made it. Just

describe in more detail just what that little protection piece on the pants. And then the the rest of the pants are good too.

Yes. No. We don't wanna just, like, just get obsessed with that one thing. Although the newness of it you know me. I like newness.

I like innovation. It's like it's just like an insert. Hard plastic covered. I I know so much foam Hutch. It's just materials around it.

It just basically, I don't know, just inserts down the sort of front where you would normally have a cup.

Is it one of those things that you think, why didn't that happen before?

A little bit. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. A little bit.

For sure. For sure. Because it's less constricting. It's a little further away from you. So a little bit like, you know, when you wear that chesty out and it's got that space to absorb the shot.

Think you're getting a little of that there. In terms of what it looks like, Daren, I think about the Bauer goalie jocks where they don't really have a double cup, but they've got that extra layer in the front that creates the same sort of effect. So now you're adding another layer of protection there. I can tell you if I was shopping for pants, I'd be looking hard at these ones.

I don't know if you guys saw that on social media. It was like a joke for goalies. It was like a jock where you pushed a button and a little flap dropped down and covered your five hole with the out of the jock. It was like a joke.

Because that's great.

Yeah. No. All like, every guy on my old Bear League team sent me this video when it came out on, like, Instagram or off the I clearly, I now have to share it with you guys. It reminded me of, like, when goalies sewed the material under their arms to catch pucks under their arms. You know?

I was thinking about that yesterday. I was honestly thinking about that yesterday because I had one going 18 hole on the blocker side, and I'm like, why is that there? Why is that available? I should just sew my jersey to to my arm.

There you go. So this it's an extra layer of protection. It's it's it's funny because I do agree. Like, my first thought is why has nobody thought of this? And my second thought is because all the goalies were, like, three two or three cups anyways, but why not have it built in?

And, hey, as we mentioned in the segment, it's removable. So if if it's not working for you, it's pretty easy to take out.

Vizual Edge brings us ProReads. What do we have this week? Breaking down some tape, and what's happening at Vizual Edge?

Well, speaking of balls, if you want the puck to look like a beach ball

I wasn't sure where you're going with that. I had no idea.

I'm all about the segues, Daren. We've all had those nights as goalies here and there, maybe some of us more than others, where the puck looks huge, like a beach ball. You're ahead of every play. You feel calm, patient, total control. Then there are the nights that I know all too well.

You're half step late. You see it. You don't really see it. You're reaching. You're guessing.

You're fighting it. That's not your technique. It's your eyes and your brain not processing the play fast enough. Visual 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 a week on your laptop or tablet. That's all it takes. On your couch, in your office, maybe even your car, just not while driving. Do it anywhere. It's what NHL goal is used to make the game slow down when it matters most.

And, of course, you get a discount 10% using the code InGoal, I n g o a l, all caps. And if you're a member of InGoal Premium, you get double that discount. Just go to the latest or any ProReads on ingoalmag.com, the all new great looking ingoalmag.com to get your members only discount code and save even more on Vizual Edge, which, of course, presents our ProReads. This week, Casey DeSmith. Question for you, boys.

One timer on the power play. You're a little late. Are you sliding? It's like off the flank. You know?

Middle of the ice at the blue line down to the flank. So sort of high low into a one t. You know it's a one t before you push. This isn't a skate or slide decision. You're a little late because there was a screen, so you're sliding.

The question is, what's your path from inside the top of the crease? Are you sliding above your post or into your post? And what factors determine that decision? What do you got?

Well, I'm not gonna give away what Casey said. I think everybody needs to go check it out to find out, but, I will just say that I would go to the post. And, I've got two reasons that I always go to the post. It's the it's the shortest route, and I've always considered backdoor plays like a race to the post. I I know, Kevin, you said in a desperate situation, the players are gonna shoot it in middle of the net, but I think if they've got time, quite often they're racing to get that puck just inside the post the furthest they can from you.

So I think of it as racing to the post in most situations. And and I think of Ian Clark mentioning, you know, in difficult situations, you build your coverage from the bottom up. And if I'm going to the post, my pad is sealing the ice and it's getting that bottom coverage right away. But I totally respect that there's other reasons, for taking different routes.

What might the factors be of that shooter that would determine your routes and your and your place? Daren.

If he's a short side

I like feel like a I feel like a teacher here.

Yeah. If you you are being a teacher. Well done, Kevin.

I I think angle of the of the shoot shooter and just scouting important, the shooter. If he's a short side guy, you gotta you gotta go outside the post, past the post to make sure you got that coverage.

Okay. So, Daren, put your hand on the desk. I've got a ruler.

K. I'm getting slapped?

I was I was a fifties teacher. I was all about the discipline. No. Actually, no. Those are great answers.

Obviously, handedness. Right? Is it a one time option or not? I mean, I think I probably outlined that it was a one time option. Casey also talks about where he is.

And, obviously, this is a different formula for everyone. And you know what? There should be no hand slapping on the desk. I just always wanted to do that. Because the reality is there's no right answer.

Every goalie does it differently. And what the beautiful thing about Casey De Smith is, he walks us through why you might do both, why he chooses a particular route related to the play itself. So distance of shooter for him is a factor. This guy's at the dot. Casey's size is a factor here.

You know, he doesn't know if he covers high net. Knowing something about the shooter, you're right, Daren, is a factor. But there are several different factors. Also, Casey's got a really wide butterfly. So if he goes into the post, that short side that Hutch talked about, he hits the post with his skate, that delays him getting his body up against that post.

So he's got Jeez.

Think Kevin's giving the ProReads away here, buddy. Those are all different factors.

I shouldn't give to there are more, but case great. Good job, teacher Woody. But you

got Just read the transcript, Woody.

You gotta go to ProReads and get it from an actual NHL goalie, not a guy who just pretends to talk to him every once in a while. So Casey DeSmith was awesome. Walked us through the differences between one and the other. And this is what ProReads is all about, folks. Not me giving them a good chunk of the content away each week on on InGoal Radio, the podcast, but there are literally what are we now at, Hutch?

Like, over 300 of these things?

Oh, like, 320? Yeah. Like Just north of that?

Imagine plugging into 300 plus videos of NHL goalies breaking down their decision making process so that you can get better at reading the game yourself. It's funny. We talk about reading the game with Stewart Skinner in this week's feature interview and how you get better at it. What's one way? Video.

So we provide you with the video that NHL goalies look at and the goalies explaining why, all in ProReads at ingoalmag.com brought to you by Vizual Edge.

I love the way they're listed in alphabetical order on on the website, but also the number of ProReads by each goaltender. So Dustin Wolf, there's 10. Carey Price, there's seven. Alex Lyon, there's 10. Hockey Shop Sense, one.

I guess that's cool where you can find your favorite goaltender and and do it that way or just go through and go by, like, save selection or breakdown opt options.

Yeah. I'd be like Connor Hellebyuck. I think we had seven or eight with him. You've got it up there, Daren. I can't remember the total.

Connor Hellebuyck. Nine. Nine. Nine. Nine with a Hart trophy and multiple Vezina trophy winner.

Nine video sessions, and Hutch has put them all together. So if you wanna watch them at once and kinda like a what do we call that, Hutch? Like a like a what do they do that? Where you Yeah. Hutch.

What do they call that? Like a like a TED talk type thing with Come on. Come on.

Binge watching?

What's the word we use for that, Hutch?

Do you mean binge watching? I can't even remember. I I know you're talking about binge watching. It was a class. Oh, the Hellebuyck one.

Oh, the Hellebuyck one. I'm sorry.

Come on. And

well, and this is also why Woody was also right when he said eight because the master class is a compilation of all of them, and that's the ninth. So So I

had it.

Woody, were you were also right.

Hold on a second. Let me put my hand on the table. Masterclass. Remember that.

Hutch, I hope you're better in the parent segment brought to us by Stop It Goaltending the app.

Parent Playbook

Well, Stop It Goal. Before we get to Hutch and his brilliance and his experience as a goalie parent, did you know you can tap into twenty five years of NHL goaltending coaching expertise, all at your fingertips, all in your tablet or your phone? Tap into goalie parenting expertise that helped Joey Daccord reach the NHL. That's what you get with a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U, the app. All the knowledge from Brian Daccord, who has been an NHL goalie coach, scout, and director, as well as all the insights and expertise from his staff at Stop It, including a long list of veteran NCAA goalie coaches, all delivered weekly, actually daily, in easy to digest chunks, including five short primers every week, weekly style analysis, breakdown videos, and drills you can take onto the ice with your team and coach.

Plus, best of both worlds situation, folks. When you buy a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U the app, you automatically get a subscription to InGoal Magazine Premium. Make sure you check it out on the App Store or Google Play Store and get the best of both. Stop It Goaltending U and InGoal Magazine Premium.

It's a masterclass with Hutch.

Guys, this week, I wanted to talk about well, like, it's based on a question from from a parent about a coach questioning their goalie's work ethic and then kind of expand it. What about other vague criticism? It's difficult. Goalies get this all the time. It's, and it comes up more and more as you move up in the game.

This vague criticism for coaches who want you to do something, but they don't really know what it is. The first thing as a parent that you need to get right is that this conversation belongs between the goalie and the coach. I know we all want to rush in there and save them. We want to rush in them and make it better, but let's help them help themselves. It's fair.

It's actually healthy for a parent to encourage their child to ask for some clarity. It's not to defend themselves. It's not to argue the outcomes. It's not to it's just to understand what the coach means. Just just ask, can you help me understand what you're seeing?

It's a powerful question. And so is, what would you like me to do differently? And it does a couple of important things. It puts ownership where it belongs with the goalie, and it also turns that vague comment from the coach into something that's more actionable, something your goalie can do. Or it might just reveal that it wasn't a very specific or good question in the first place from the coach.

Here's an important truth for goalie parents. It only gets harder as the level goes up. The feedback gets shorter. The stakes are higher. Coach or a GM will just say, need you to be better.

Explanations are going to get fewer. Learning how to receive vague or imperfect criticism without unraveling or lashing back is a real developmental skill. Heck, it's hard for us adults. Your role isn't to fix it. Your role is to help them learn how to handle it.

And if they come away from a conversation with a coach with clear direction, great. If they don't, that's information too. Either way, the growth comes from how they respond, not from whether the comment was fair in the first place. Now, how do you help a young goalie let go of that vague imperfect criticism? Well, the old just let it go, it isn't very helpful.

You have to teach that skill. They have to experience it to learn how to deal with it. But here's a few specific things as a parent that you can do to help. One, teach them to sort the feedback they get into a couple of different buckets. After a comment from a coach, help your goalie ask themselves, is there anything specific I can learn here or control, I should say?

Or is it just noise? If there's something concrete, effort and drills, body language, practice habits, keep it. Try and act on it. If it's vague or emotional, it doesn't need to be carried forward. You can just say, I'm gonna keep the useful part of this conversation and we are going to drop the rest.

Yeah, I know that sounds like just teaching them to ignore it, but I think the skill of sorting through the criticism is is really helpful. Second, reframe something like work ethic as visible behaviors. Goalies often hear things that are vague like work ethic, and they feel it is an attack on themselves. We need to help them translate it into actions instead. Is it competing on rebounds?

Is it staying engaged between reps? Is it how they respond after a goal, energy and practice? See, I'm not just saying if the coach's comment is vague and if they can't give a good answer, just ignore it. I'm saying you also need to filter that comment and see if you can turn it into something more focused. Now, also as a parent, the third thing is to model what I would say, calm curiosity, not being defensive.

If a parent in this situation reacts with anger, sarcastic comment or blame, something I must say I've done before myself, the goalie learns that criticism from somebody else is dangerous. If a parent though stays calm and curious, the goalie learns that it's something they can manage. So a simple script that a parent might use to reinforce, I don't need to agree with it. I just need to understand it. That mindset alone lowers sort of the emotional charge in the situation.

Fourth, help them decide when the feedback deserves action and when it doesn't. Not every comment deserves a response or change. Parents can just help by asking, does this align with what you already know and what you need to work on? Is this coming from someone who sees you a lot, like your goalie coach maybe, and knows your game? If it does, then you should probably act.

And if it's just from somebody who doesn't know you very well, who you are, the position, whatever, acknowledge it and move on. Letting go doesn't mean ignoring it. It just means choosing. Fifth, keep the parent role here clear. As I've said before, you're here to support.

You're not here to sort of prosecute the case. One of the biggest gifts a parent can give is this message. You don't need me to fight this for you. I trust you to handle it. That's gonna build independence and emotional durability.

The goal isn't to make criticism disappear. It's to teach goalies that they can hear it, process it, keep what helps, and leave the rest behind. That's a skill that's gonna matter long after hockey's done. Now I can hear some of you saying this is tough for a young goalie, so here we go. Next week, we are gonna give some thoughts on supporting goalies of all ages in learning how to advocate for themselves.

Well done, Hutch.

Thank you.

A lot of thought in there. A lot of challenges in there. A lot of different avenues that you can choose in there.

Quickly becoming the best part of the InGoal Radio Podcast. That's

good stuff. I don't know. You and look. I say this all the time. I'm not on my preach soapbox saying I know how to do this better than anybody else.

I've made all these mistakes. That's why they come up. And you know your child better than I do, and you have to do that, what is best for you and your family. I'm just giving you a few thoughts that, maybe will help as you're moving along the the path of being a goalie parent.

As somebody who does a really poor job taking criticism, I appreciated it.

Oh, I'm terrible at taking criticism. I'm horrible

I'm horrible at it. And I can and and I know that I've struggled with it for my kid too, and I don't even understand her sport. So there you go. It's great advice.

It's almost like you have to consciously take emotion out of it while you're taking criticism. Like, you have to shut down that side of your brain. At least I do. Or else I'll be twitching in the chair and bobbing.

Billy Smith and things come in.

[crosstalk] But Yeah. I just tend to remember. But Yeah. I just tend to feel the emotion and hang on to it for months or years.

Decades in my case.

Yeah. It is a tough skill.

Criticism is something that Stuart Skinner, dealt with, at the extreme level, and he joins us this week on the NHL Sense Arena feature interview. And, he's now moved on to Pittsburgh, and things are going great. I was, throwing this question out earlier. The difference in his environment between Pittsburgh and Edmonton. The performance is great in in Pittsburgh.

Does that necessarily mean that he's got more support with the penguins right now?

I think support defensively is a game by game thing in the National Hockey League right now. Right? Like, we are seeing wild swings. And so I think an example of this road trip for the Penguins, which they just swept coming through Western Canada, four and o, is great. There was a night in Calgary where he didn't face much, and the defensive support was excellent.

There was a night here in Vancouver where he absolutely had to steal them the game with several difficult saves in the third period despite them having a three nothing lead early. By the numbers, in terms of expected save percentage, so, like, strip all of that's my eye test telling you about those games and a little bit of the game by game numbers. By the numbers since he got to Pittsburgh, he's got an eight seventy four expected. Obviously, like I just said, there's highs and lows in there. There's games where they need their goalie more than others.

But both him and Artur Silovs are performing in defensive environments that are well below league average. So that was that's

below what he faced in Edmonton?

Yes. Yes. Although the Oilers the Oilers at the start of this season that's a good question, Daren. The Oilers at the start of the season weren't exactly a treat defensively either. So, like, they really struggled with their, defending early you know, coming off two cup runs.

Like, it it was the part of their game that was the worst was their their sort of defensive environment. And it started to tighten up interestingly enough shortly before Skinner left. But his numbers sorry. I'm just looking it up, so nothing like talking through it as as we go here. But his numbers when he was with Edmonton before that that deadline.

He had an eight eighty six expected. There's a full 12 difference between what he had in Edmonton and what he's had with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wow. And he's outperforming it by a significant margin. So, no, this isn't.

This is this is almost the opposite of a team playing great defensively. Now where I struggled with this one, Daren, was the last few games in Edmonton, I don't know if you've watched, fire, wagon, hockey. So they found their defensive game, and then in the last week or so, they've decided they don't need it. Literally, there was a game on the weekend against Washington. I've never seen anything like it.

The score was six to five, and both goalies outperformed their environment. The Oilers had 20 high danger chances and six and a half expected goals against Charlie Lindgren. I've never I it may exist in the database Yeah. But I've never looked up a game and seen those totals. And at the other end, Washington had 14, which is almost unheard of, and five and a quarter goals expected.

And we've seen this trend with the Oilers. I just think they're a team that has the ability to flip a switch a little bit. And when it flips, a big part of it is their defensive conscience. And then everything else right now, they're scoring willy nilly, but they've abandoned their defensive game to do it. When they're at their best, when they go to Stanley Cup finals, both of those things come together.

They still score like crazy, but they also defend really well. Yeah. I guess for Skinner, the big point here is both Pittsburgh's a tougher environment, and he's outperforming it. This isn't like the MO or people talked about him in Edmonton like it was all about the team. He's really been a big part of the Penguins run.

So how's he doing?

Good. As we will hear in this interview. Really good.

NHL Sense Arena brings you your feature interview on InGoal Radio, the podcast. Stuart Skinner joins Kevin Woodley.

I don't think so. David Hutchison wants to talk about NHL Sense Arena before we jump over to Stuart Skinner. Hey. Look. One thing about Stuart Skinner is he's always got a smile on his face, and I'm sure he's a guy who loves the game.

And I just wanna remind everybody that NHL Sense Arena is a lot of fun. We often talk about the learning how to read shots and getting extra reps and all this kind of stuff. But let's just remember that NHL Sense Arena is a whole lot of fun. It's a fun way to learn how to read those shots and develop your hand eye coordination and just become a better goalie. And you can do it any day, any time without the ice.

It's an incredible tool that as we know is used right up to the National Hockey League now, with some great goaltenders. We shouldn't forget that hockey is fun and that's why we play the game and NHL Sense Arena is no different. Putting on the headset and walking into your favorite team's dressing room or playing on the Winter Classic Rink or in the biggest rink that most of us will ever skate in, seeing your name up on the jumbotron, it is fun joining in all on all the different competitions that they're running all year long. Great opportunities to have some fun while becoming a better goalie. There are so many features that make NHL Sense Arena fun that you almost forget that you're training.

And isn't that what we hope for as parents? I remember watching a game as a young kid and then tossing a ball against a wall to make windmill saves imagining I was in the NHL. Well, that kind of fun has come as far as the gear has now. It was available in the seventies, I'd have been wearing the Sense Arena headset in every break of the game I was watching, intermissions, even TV timeouts. If I had NHL Sense Arena when I started playing goal, I'd probably have been a better goalie.

It's a great way to foster a love for the game and for the position, and even your family can try it so you can share your love of the game as they learn what it's like to be a goaltender out on the ice. So, guys, head over to sensearena.com to learn more, and, of course, use the code I g m 50 to save even more at checkout.

Imagine the looks Hutch would have gotten in the seventies wearing that headset, Woody.

Oh, like, I'm I'm I'm kinda picturing, a Michael J Fox thing back to the future. You know? Like, Hutch Hutch would have found a way to to, like, turn the old turn something into a skateboard. I don't know. Something.

Would put, like, he would have put, like, wooden wooden panels around his headset and made it look retro fifties or something. I don't know.

Here's Stewart Skinner with Kevin Woodley on InGoal Radio, the podcast.

Feature Interview - Stuart Skinner

Okay. Really excited. A gentleman we've had quite a few conversations with over the years, but they've always been short. We're gonna try and make this podcast length, but not too long for Stuart Skinner. Now with Pittsburgh Penguins, man, what's what's the adjustment been like?

Yeah. It's been great. Honestly, like, the organization top to bottom has made it super easy for the transition. Obviously, I'm very fortunate to do it with a friend with Brett Kulak. So that made it a lot easier as well, but coming in coming in every single day, you know, the the people there, the the management, the coaching staff, the players have made it very, very, very just free to come in there and be yourself, and it's been it's been super it's been an absolute privilege getting to know everybody.

But, yeah, they they made it super easy and very welcoming to to bring us into the club.

Andy Chiodo is a guy we know him, known really well. What's that process like when you need to build a new relationship with a new goalie coach off the ice and on the ice in terms of him getting to know your game? You probably have some foundational things you wanna stick with, but are are open to other ideas. That's something maybe kids can relate to because they change coaches. They change teams quite like, what's that process like at the highest level?

Yeah. I mean yeah. For me, I mean, obviously, it was a change just even going with Peter Aubry to start the season in Edmonton. And then, obviously, a quick turnaround, and Andy made it like, it was amazing being able to get back with him. And it's actually funny.

I I skated with him when he was playing, and I was about 14 years old. And we were in Toronto. We were getting shot on by Speer. So it was kinda funny. Like, he called me right when the trade happened and was talking about, obviously, the excitement and just getting over to bringing the family over to Pittsburgh and the family stuff.

And then and then we talked about how it's pretty funny that we skated together, and then now he's coaching me. So it's it's pretty cool that, you know, we're in this situation. But, yeah, working working with him the first the first couple days, he was we were we were just kinda letting it kinda just letting me to just play because it is hard just to, you know, obviously, if you get traded and you don't wanna be thinking about a lot

of things because there's already

a lot going on. So he made it super easy and then obviously, as I started to play games, he got to know me a bit more. I got to know him a bit more and we were just really enjoying each other's conversations. We're super open with each other, so we've been able to get to work very quickly and he's brought up some really amazing things in my game that's really helped me and that I, like, very much appreciate. So, yeah, it's just that open conversation.

And, honestly, I think it you know, as a relationship builds and builds and builds, it's just gonna keep on getting better.

What what can you share? What Where how would you describe your game? What are the staples? What are the foundational points at? Because it it's evolved over the years.

Yeah. Where it's at, and what maybe if you can give an example of something that you're maybe in the last year think slightly different about.

Yeah. It's a good question. I mean, yeah, you're right. Like, it's it evolves every day, every week, to be honest. Like, even from the beginning of the season to today, it's evolved, I would say, quite a lot.

Obviously, in the summer, getting a lot of my work in with Adam and being able to get my body right, get my mind right. And then, yeah, with OBS, we're focusing a lot on just keeping the butterfly tight, making sure that I'm landing well because obviously, I wanna be able to not just stop the first one, but, you know, have a good recovery. And then with Chico, we're just trying to really slow the game down for me. I think that's kind of our main our main thing right now is just trying to slow the game down. There's moments moments in the game where, you know, it can seem like it's happening a thousand miles an hour, especially nowadays with the everybody with the kids coming into the league, like, there's a lot of skill, a lot of east to west.

Never been harder. Never been harder. And it's just gonna keep on getting harder and faster. So to keep up with the game, but not only keep up with it, but actually, you know, do my best to to quiet everything down and really slow the game down. So a lot of positional things, you know, reads, making sure I'm in good spots.

And I think as certain plays come your way, it really depends on how you play that and how you see it coming towards you because that that will either speed up the game or slow down.

Is it sometimes the speed up part trusting that you have time too? Like, because it is bang bang and quick, but just be like, hey, like, don't abandon my technique. I can get there if I do it this way as opposed to chasing and sometimes going a little quick and early.

100%. Honestly, just a couple games ago, I I found that that's what I was saying to myself is, hey, in that moment, I can still be in my technique, still stay in my structure. I don't have to, you know, go into desperation too early. So there's still moments in a game where even though I've been working on this craft for, you know, twenty years, it's it's there's there's still moments where I get out of structure when I don't need to because the game does seem faster. So that's what I've that's what I've been learning even a couple games ago is just, you know, still I'm I'm always gonna be trying to, you know, slow my game now.

Yeah. You said I think the phrase you used was landing well, if I got that right. Can you because it it jumped out

[crosstalk] to me. Like, I never heard that before. Would you mind explaining a little bit that? Yeah. Just on my knees, like, I think, like, Odds was telling me, if I land on my knees a certain way, it can allow me just to either, like, see the puck, have more control, I guess, on rebounds, things like that.

So really, like, landing on my knees in a way that I don't put strain on them and keeping keeping my knees together instead of kinda flaring out.

That makes sense. Well, I I'm as you can see by the quizzical look on my face, I think it makes sense, but I'm not that bright and my brain might frozen from the practice ring we were just at with you, so that's entirely possible. I wanna ask you a little bit about the mindset stuff. I think you played in an incredibly difficult market in terms of the focus and attention in Edmonton, and yet the way you handled the pressures and the questions of the media, and it always seemed to be through a growth mindset in terms of answering those like, where does that come from? Is that like, was that a mechanism for dealing with the media?

I whenever I saw it, it felt like it was just who you are and where you are with your game. And I'm just curious where that comes from because it's it's something that always made me smile. The way you way you manage it, a, but the way you thought about things always looking for growth.

Yeah. Well, thank you. Honestly, it was it was all very genuine. It wasn't just really me saying that, but I think I've I've learned that throughout my my career. I mean, you you can go back to when I was 16 in in junior.

I was learning that if I wasn't in a growth mindset, you know, if you're not growing, you're and you're staying stagnant, then that's you know, there there can be a lot of trouble that comes from that. And, like we just said it, like, the game's just gonna continue to get faster and better, especially with the kids coming in now. So if I stop that growth mindset, then, you know, I in my experience, even in my first couple years pro, American League, ECHL, if you're not getting better and you do stay stagnant, then you can get out of the league pretty quickly. I noticed that, like, I I learned that the hard way in Bakersfield. Even my first year coming in, I was one of the first cuts sent to the to the coast.

And, you know, that might have been one of the reasons why, but so for me, yeah, I just kinda learned it at a a good time in my just growing up as a man that, you know, it's a very important thing. I've also had a lot of amazing people in my life to help me learn that for myself. You can go back to childhood, how you grow up, you can go through a lot of different things that make you, you know, believe certain things and I've I've come to the to the true belief that growth is a major virtue in my life. Okay. One of the when

you talk about growth and always looking for ways to get better, started working with Adam in the last couple of years despite being in the middle of Stanley Cup playoff runs in very short summers. How difficult was it to make some of those changes? Difficult is probably the wrong word. Challenging Yeah. Especially when you had, like, no offseason, the shortest offseason anyone can have, really.

I think people underestimated I think at times, people underestimate how tough it is to make changes in season and then forget that two of your most important off seasons were severely abbreviated. What was that like that process? What led you to seek him out and walk us through that process and how it's changed your body and your game?

Yeah. I mean, going with with Adam, that was a pretty easy decision to make. He's he's obviously very bright minded in the game, not only in the game, but also off ice too. So I've learned a lot from him in many, many ways. It it is a challenging thing, and I had to figure that out my first off season, how I was going to, you know, really allow myself to grow and and dive into some different things in my game that can get better and some that were, you know, fairly drastic.

So, yeah, in season, it's it's honestly a really good conversation for me and Adam to have, me and my goalie coaches to have to make sure that I'm still growing in season, but just like what you said, it's very performance based in the NHL. So you don't get a lot of time. You don't get a lot of practice time, you know, you're playing every other night, especially this year, right, with the Olympic break where, you know, we're playing, you know, it's play it's kinda like playoffs, like, all your, you know, that type of schedule. So you really gotta just, for me, be smart with the things that you do focus on. You don't wanna put too much in your mind.

You wanna keep things very simple. That's for myself. Some people are some people could be very well different. But yeah, with the with the short off seasons my first year, I kinda made it a little chaotic so I learned from that talking about growth and then my next summer, I was really able to slow things down, went to Kelowna, had, you know, a full summer in Kelowna. So I was really able to dive in with my, you know, my whole my soul in into the game.

So it really cleared up my mind going into the season too. I felt much much better going into the season after I learned how to deal with, you know, a short summer the my first time.

Okay. Practice. Nobody's faced better better shooters in practice than you. You go from Leon passing the puck around and McDavid catching it and shooting it and flying all over the place to now Sid and Gino and Carlson and Letang and how do you how do you approach that in practice? Like, do you approach, like, know, because practices for goalies.

I I love the watching the work you just did with Andy. But then when you get into main practice, a lot of open looks from some great players. A lot of times in the past, we've been guilty at InGoal of being like, oh, it's not realistic. We need to make practices realistic for goalies. But in the moments where they're not, we need to find ways to get better.

We used to ignore that a little bit. How do you find moments to get better when you're facing the best in the world?

Yeah. I used to ignore that too, believe it or not. Yeah. I I think, again, like, I think it depends how you look at it. I've I've been in that victim mindset of, like, it's not realistic, so it's pretty easy to kinda give up or not try as hard.

But you can also see it as, you know, I'm facing the best players in the world. You know? Let's see see what I can do here. This is an opportunity for me to get better, and I think that, for me, that mindset has done me, you know, a lot more than the other one. So, yeah, whenever Dave O and Leo were giving me a tough time in practice, it was an opportunity for me to, you know, get it get out of the box and make some crazy saves or you let in that goal, at least you're, you know, given your full effort and you can look in the mirror after and, you know, be proud of yourself.

So I think I mean, to be honest, it's you can see it as an absolute privilege to be able to go on ice and play with world renowned best players that have ever played the game. It is pretty cool that, obviously, after the trade, it's pretty wild to think that I played with, you know, obviously, Leon and Dave. Well, not only those guys, but you go around the go around the whole the whole team, and I'm a 10 there's some special players. And then you get traded, and now you're with Sid and Malcolm and, like, again, look at our whole lineup that I'm on right now. It's kinda crazy.

It's unbelievable. So, I mean, looking at that from my perspective, I just think of how lucky am I that I get to be around these guys. And not only that, but also learn from them, get shot on by them, you know, solve the problems that they're bringing me every single day, you know. Like, they're trying to score on me every single day and that gives me a really good chance to work on my game.

That's funny you talked about the young players and the skill and how dynamic it is. I I think it was about eight years ago, 2018, I did a story for NHL about desperation saves and highlight reels and goalies ending up on the highlight reel. And we had some voices in that story, like, karath, Henrik Lundqvist. Like, the highlight reels are when usually because you made a mistake. Yeah.

But now, like, do you gotta sorta like, you have to be able to pull those out. Like, it doesn't require a mistake to require a highlight reel save. Is that and have you had to change your mindset around that a little bit?

Oh, yeah. For sure. I'm I'm I'm still learning how to get better at that aspect, but I think, again, where the game's trending, those saves are you you almost know that you're gonna have to make one of those saves every single night. You're you know you're gonna face multiple great a's a night. Some really good chances, especially on these lethal power plays that you face nowadays.

Yeah. Just like the rush game, the east like, everyone's just east to west. Some guys get open looks, they're looking for the backdoor pass. So it's in the game now where goalies have to be really good at making those big time saves on a regular basis.

So It's okay to end up on the highlight reels now.

It's okay to end up on the highlight reels. Yeah. I I think there's obviously still those cases where you do end up making a mistake and you gotta go into desperation because you screwed up. Bail yourself out? Yeah.

Exactly. But, yeah, I think you see a lot more in the game now that you there's a

[crosstalk] technique to it. And and a lot more East West.

All East West. It's it's a ton of East West nowadays. It's not really, like, just coming down straight line shooting anymore. I remember Calvin when I was playing with him, he'd always joke about it, like, when he first played in the league, guys would step over the blue line and just take a clapper, where now guys are coming down and I mean, you guys watch the game now. It's

Well, if come down and take a clapper, the coach get you get to the bench and you're in trouble because it's a turnover. Right?

Yeah. It's a turnover. It's an easy save to a whistle. You know, the game a lot a lot of the game now is about possession.

So puck handling. Excellent at it. How much did Smitty help you along with that? And what do have we changed the definition? Like, what what do we what do you think of when you think of a good puck handling goalie?

Yeah. I think I think even that's changed too. But even just the last few years, I think there's still I mean, you you look at the Korpisalo and Binnington and the way those guys play the puck, it's it's pretty incredible. Smitty's taught me a lot about just you have more time than you think. I think that was kind of the biggest thing biggest takeaway that I've had because it feels like guys are gonna be on top of you right away, but to be honest, you do have more time than than you do think.

So just being able to get your head up and, again, analyze what's going on in front of you to make the best play. And, obviously, as a goalie, the easiest play is to rim it hard to make sure that at least there's gonna be a battle in front. So for me, it's it's the simplicity of it. I do a lot of homework on teams, so I I try to do my best to figure out kinda what the best plays are for myself when I do get the opportunity.

So you're studying their forecheck? Yeah. I'm trying to look are you looking for individuals or or systems? And I I I didn't like, that's that's cool. You actually study the other team's sort of forecheck and and how you have to break it.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. That that's exactly what I do. I even, like, watch the game before just on, like, a condensed game and, you know, look for those breakouts.

I talked to Chico about it, you know, all those things. Because it just like like, for an example, certain teams have a four check until they're down a couple goals, and then they change it up. And then so just to be able to know that is really important because in the third period, if they're down by one goal, you know that they're gonna be coming a different way. So that play I made in the first period is probably not there anymore. So kinda like an example like that.

So, yeah, it's I mean, we're we're pretty privileged with the video that we get now, so why not take advantage of that?

Okay. So I'm gonna ask, and I and I promise I'll wrap this up soon because in my typical fashion, I'm already two minutes over how long I said I'd be. But this but this is good. You talked about reading the game and experience and that it comes with experience. You talked about the video on the four check.

How like, how much or how do you use video to accelerate the reads, do you? In terms of, you know, as Mitch Korn once said, it's a game of patterns, not a game of shots.

Yeah. I completely agree with that. I think that's why experienced players I mean, that's why experience is so valuable. I've seen a certain play this many times where you look at Helly, he's seen that play a lot more. You know, know, just, like, just with games played in scenarios and situations.

So you do see plays develop naturally. You kinda get a sense of if this play comes down your way, these players come down your way, what they're normally looking for. So, yeah, I think I think with the video and just talking about those reads, like, I look a lot of my game to see what I could do differently or if I play that really well, and then the next time that situation happens, I know exactly how I'm gonna play it. And also, with the experience that I've gotten through the playoffs, through everything, you get these you definitely find these patterns in your game and also in other people's game where you just kinda, you know, and you can anticipate it, but again, you still need that patience that patience virtue because players are pretty dang good in this league and and they they can change their minds pretty quickly. Yeah.

[crosstalk] It's a fine line between anticipation and going early. Right? 100%. I think that's that's a huge factor.

Yeah. Is it different in the East? Like, like, going from west to east, all you prop like, for example, I I live in here and cover the Canucks, and I know a lot of those tendencies. You've seen them a ton over the years, but now there aren't as many teams that you've seen a dozen times in the last three years. Have you had to go to school a little bit more heading over to the other conference?

Yeah. Definitely. I've definitely been watching a lot more hockey out East, like the teams out East anyways. I've been watching a little bit less of less of the teams out West. Because it's late.

Yeah. Well, there's especially that part. I'm I'm in bed by the time some teams are playing. But but, yeah, there's definitely been an aspect of more studying the teams on on my side, especially in the conference and the division, everything. So but that's honestly brought a lot of fun.

Like, it's been super enjoyable to, you know, watch other hockey teams, their type of tendencies, the type of game that's played, and honestly, East every single team, as you can tell by the points, every single team is you know, every single team is going for it. So every you know, it's it's really, really tough hockey. And it it was like that in the West too. But, yeah, it's I've definitely found a few tendencies that are slightly different, different forechecks, stuff like that.

Okay. Last one, and this one is a fun one because we talked about puck handling, and I know how well you chuck it. Goals have become more frequent for goalies. We've had multiple in a year. Yeah.

Fights. I mean, Smitty's is six years between Smitty and and and Bob and Ned the other night. So I've been asked to start asking around. If you can only pick one for the resume, is it a goal or a fight?

If I could pick when I'm picking a goal, I think that would be pretty cool. I feel like I I gotta try both at some point in my career. Love it. Stu, thank love love the success you're having in Pittsburgh. Congratulations on it.

I know it's not easy to change and pull up your life and go all the way across the other side of the country, but to have the success you're having early, everybody in the goalie union is happy for everybody. Really appreciate your time today.

Thank you very much. That means a lot.

Outro

You guys are just hanging out. It wasn't an interview. Just catching up.

Yeah. We weren't, like, quite literally hanging out in the back of well, he was in the front seat. I was

in the back

of his trainer, Adam Frantzie's truck. So that's there's the full there's the full the full scene setter for you. After a Penguins practice at UBC, rink was freezing, by the way. Canucks don't have a practice facility. They're out at the old barn at UBC.

Canucks skated on the main ice. Penguins skated on a small side rink, which was pretty cool. Also pretty cool, I gotta say, and we talked a little bit about that. Like, Stu goes from facing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, you know, from Bouchard, the Bouche bomb to Carlson and Letang in practice, and he talked about that. It's pretty kinda it was pretty cool.

I gotta say, like, as somebody who's been around the industry long enough to have covered most of Crosby's career from a distance, although twenty ten Olympics in person, to see kids that are, like, seven and eight, like, absolutely line up everywhere to watch him practice at UBC. It was pretty cool. The only cooler thing was seeing how late he stayed out after all these years to work on his one timer and other aspects of his game. So, Stu talked a little bit about getting the front seat to that, and what it's like in the work ethic and all those kind of things. Just yeah.

We we we just had a great chat. If if you listen to that interview and you sort of came away with a warm glow feeling good, like, that's how Stuart Skinner makes you feel when you're talking to him. There's just a positive energy that he brings to these things that is not put on in any way, shape, or form. It's just, as he talked about, the genuine nature of his growth mindset, it's just who he is. It's just who he is.

And so I think there's a moment in there where where at the end, I say I'm happy for you. Right? And some people might be like, oh, you're supposed to be an objective reporter. But, like, no. Like like, I you like to see good things happening to good people, and Stewart Skinner is one of the good people.

It was I really enjoyed my time with him. I always enjoy my time with him. This one was a little longer. We finally got him on the pod, and it was a great sit down. So I hope everybody else enjoyed it as much as I did.

You deserve to feel good about yourself, Woody.

Oh, thanks, buddy. I feel like this is what we we had Stewart Skinner, and now I feel like it what's this SNL skit? Was that this was that a Stuart?

Oh, Stuart Smalley? Stuart Smalley. I'm good enough. I'm smart enough, and doggone it. People like me.

Thanks. Thanks, Daren.

Little affirmation for you. You deserve it, buddy.

Yeah. And that's how I felt about that. That was the affirmation that I like, it's just yeah. I hope everybody else got the same thing out of it. It's he's doing good in Pittsburgh.

He settled in. Obviously, it was a massive change, somewhat unexpected. Just nice to see him having success there. And and I think the you know what it reminds me of a little bit? Roberto Luongo leaving Vancouver.

There was a point where Roberto came back the next year and him and I spent some time together. And not a lot of people know this, but before the trade, which was finally, like, the nail in the coffin was John Tortorella and probably actually goalie coach Willie Desjardins deciding to start Eddie Lack, who I saw last night at the thing, but deciding to start Eddie Lack instead of Roberto at the Winter Classic, the Heritage Classic, coming home off the Olympics. At that point, Roberto Luongo, who was waiting years for a trade that ultimately came for Corey Schneider and not him at that draft, had decided to move back. Like, he'd wrapped his head around staying in Vancouver and then that last straw broke. And next thing you know, he was traded to Florida within a week.

He comes back the next year and he said, yeah, I almost wish like, he kinda wished that he'd stayed in our conversation. And my what I said to him was, there was always another heritage classic around the corner for you in this market. And I kinda feel like that was the same with Stu and Edmonton. It wasn't really about whether he played like, there was just there was always it wouldn't matter if he went on a win seven of eight like he is right now in Pittsburgh and post top three numbers. Because the next time he stubbed his toe in a game, it would we would have been right back to square one.

It's just sometimes you need to move on and get a fresh start.

How's Eddie?

Good. Still a beauty. Still smiling. You know, it's funny. I gotta look it up to even remember how long he played here.

It was, you know, a handful of years. One one one run-in the playoffs where he was the starter, but there's a guy that comes in into a, you know, a charity game where there's just wide open chances everywhere. He's diving poke checking. He's the smile never let you could see the smile through the mask, which shout out to our friends over at Custom Cages, Basil, for creating the mask on three hours notice for Eddie to wear in the game, branded with Canucks on one side, Shorezy Classic on the other. At the end of the game, they showed him on the big screen, and the crowd started chanting, Eddie.

Eddie. And much like Skinner, like, it shows you that the impact that an individual can have with a little bit of positivity and a smile. Yeah. Because Eddie always brought that here. He had fun.

He was willing to share. He was willing to be open. He showed who he was, you know, through the media and his interactions with us, and the fans loved him. And so for a guy who wasn't even here that long to be to get his name chanted by and they sold out the entire lower bowl, which was a sellout. They didn't even open the top.

Full 9,000 people in a charity game at 09:30 at night on a Monday in Vancouver shows you that the impact, much like Skinner, an open, honest, showing who you are personality can have for for a goalie in a market. 09:30? By by they showed him on the bit at the end, but his hands came at the end.

I thought that was

the end of the game. They're really going beer league if they're starting

to Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. The Shorsey charity games at 09:30.

I was just thinking it was at the end. Like, they showed him up on the screen at the end after the game as he was con as he was as he was celebrating with the refs or or thanking the refs, and the chant broke out. And this is a game that had the Sedin twins in it. Cliff Ronning, Jeff Courtnall, Kirk McLean playing out, like, lot of, like, franchise icons. And outside of the standing ovation for the Sedins, because it was their first game on the exit Rogers Arena in a long time, like, that chant of Eddie was probably the biggest one outside of the shorts.

It was and a quick shout out reminds me we gotta catch up with him. Guess who was in goal for the Shoresy team?

I have no idea.

It's not Michaels, the guy who plays the goalie in Shoresy. I don't believe he's actually a goalie. He plays out. Ben Scrivens. No way.

So No kidding. Shout out to Ben Scrivens who made some hell of a saves in this game. And then when the other team got to 10, the Shorsey guys had to go tarps off for a lap. And to his credit, Scrivens fully geared down, chest protector off, undergarment off, and did the lap tarps off. So it was a fun evening, and it was nice to see Ben again, and it's a good reminder I'm gonna try and catch up with him.

Oh, that's cool. I hadn't had his name pop into my head in a while.

Another one of the good guys.

Yeah. Professor.

The professor. The the inventor of the professor strap. Exactly.

Is that still a thing?

It absolutely is a thing. It's got different names, but almost every company has an option to add one, and that's the guy who OG'd it.

Yeah. Because mine do have sort of an element of that, but it's just a little different.

Different. Yep. But but everybody's added something that allows you

to sort of

have that upper upper calf either secure or sit up on the upper calf.

You just have to have calves. Yeah. That's the challenge. Or otherwise, it just slips right down.

So in other in other words, we love you, Eddie, but you did need a calf strap.

Thanks for everybody for your, patience, with your, love of goaltending, with your fun correspondence with us. We love all of it. Sometimes we get off on tangents, and, you, bear with us, with that. But, it's a it's a lot of fun to, bring you this element, of the hockey world, the goaltending world, this journey that we have in our crease. So for David Hutchison, Kevin Woodley, and for, our good friend, Stuart Skinner.

I hope you feel better about yourself today after listening to that. I'm Daren Millard. We'll talk to you next time on InGoal Radio Podcast.