Chris Driedger: What the KHL Taught Him on the Way Back to the NHL (Ep. 368)

Intro

Presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com. That's David Hutchison, Kevin Woodley, I'm Daren Millard. We are InGoal Radio, the podcast. Gentlemen, getting set for the start of training camps. Opening this week.

We're through the rookie tournament, so we're in that zone where team training camps haven't started, and we've got preseason games in the National Hockey League starting this weekend. It's it's gonna come, and it's gonna come fast. I I mean, so fast, then in the case

of the Vancouver Canucks, the team I sort of cover on a more daily basis for nhl.com, actually has a preseason game in Seattle on Saturday night, and their training camp is still going to be going on in Penticton, which is like a eight hour drive into the interior from Seattle of British Columbia the following day. So their preseason, their their training camp getaway will still be going on, but a group of them will be shipped down to Seattle. I'm assuming they get a plane, not a bus, to play a preseason game on the Saturday. Well, training camp is technically still going on through the Sunday until they come home. It's a you're right, Daren.

It's, I am all for short preseasons and shorter training camps as the players are. I'm hearing the players are really liking the idea of no fitness testing either, by the way. But yeah, that one was a bit of an oddity to me. It sounds like they're not the only group that's in that boat.

No fitness testing, but can the coaches still be bagging them on the ice?

Not with a timer. No stopwatch.

No stopwatch but

Don't count in your

head. Away the opportunity for coaches to have a a hard couple of skates.

There's a difference between a conditioning skate and a fitness test, but they can still do the conditioning skate. Now, if you if if you have guys, I I I hate to say it, I'm not gonna name the name of the player, but he basically became a meme here in Vancouver because he ended up curled up in the fetal position at the end of one said conditioning skate and basically couldn't get through it. There are a lot of coaches around the league that like to bag skate guys hard early in camp. And to your point, Daren, I don't think any of that's changed. So you can't have a stopwatch out, but if you're the only guy puking, that's probably not a good sign.

So is it worth it then to avoid the fitness testing, but knowing that the coach is going to test you or challenge you in different ways? That's

I actually the think it's actually think it's backwards and I can understand why the players negotiated for this. But if you think about it from a sort of more of a scientific standpoint, they still get the worst of it because of the bag skates, should a coach wish to do that. And now they lose what I think would be the only point in the fitness testing, which is actually to help prescribe the training that they're doing through the season. Because I don't believe for a second anybody gains or loses a lost It's

baseline, right?

Based on a v o two test or something. Yeah, it's used

for a The fitness testing is huge for A 100%

huge for A 100% the baseline. Baseline, prescription, tracking, but yeah. It's bit I get bit silly, but I understand why they did it.

And the other part is like, we talk about these bag skates, they're not de facto everywhere. Right? Like, different coaches are sort of famous for running different levels of

For sure.

Preseason training camp Conditioning, know, test. Not again, can't use the word test, but but the bag skates are not universal is what I'm saying. So in the case of if you had a hard ass coach that loved it, I mean, I remember with Torts, it was a it was a run, like not even on the ice. It was like a one mile run I think he did when he was in Vancouver. It was sort of famous for everybody knew it was coming.

Of course, Daniel and Henrik Sedin finished first, but

Grouse grind.

If you if you get that and the if you have to do the win like, the the bike, the v o two max, and then two days later, you're getting the bag skate, I mean, hey, they're professional athletes, but, yeah, you get you get the double whammy. Now you'd only get the one.

The other part is, if you are a a a elite fit person, even among your peers, you lose out on that that carrot, that ranking that that you've been able to lean into.

Yeah. That opportunity for the young guns to come in and show up the vets.

None of us are getting that, by way.

I just Now I wanna know my biggest question is without that, did the practice these new practice goalie E Bugs, are they gonna have to do the bag skates?

Could you imagine? Well, I

can't personally thank you very much. That would be oh my god. We lost we lost an E Bug on the first day of camp. No. He didn't miss his turn off.

He's actually dead.

The players would negotiate for that.

E Bugs don't have to go to camp because they're not required until the first the the the first game is when they're they're

Okay.

Available or required. So there's there's too many goalies around during training camps for e bugs to be Good point.

But the e bug could save the e bugs could save the players in the skates though. Because if you can't start the next rep till the e bug makes it down to the goal line Oh, yeah. Saves the place. Of course, no coach would do that, but it'd still be a nice little rule if you're gonna put something in.

Yeah. I would be a very popular e bug in that case. Everybody's getting their breather because Woodley's crawling across the finish line on all fours.

Thanks to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com for presenting InGoal Radio, the podcast, as well as our Gear Segment. The NHL Sense Arena feature interview, Chris Driedger standing by in just a little bit. He's on PTO in Vancouver. We've got our Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment, and Vizual Edge ProReads with Eric Comrie coming up. But a little bit of news in and around the National Hockey League, Connor Ingram announces his retirement. Woody?

Yeah. And I think probably caught a lot of people off guard, that don't know him or know him well. I certainly wasn't expecting this. You know, I was surprised, to be honest, and we'd expressed this on the show a few times, that he hadn't been signed. I mean, amongst the UFA goalies, he had the best, you know, analytics by Clearsight.

He's one of the few guys that was actually positive, outplayed his environment in in a tough environment it was in Edmonton last year. He's a guy that I think, you know, absolutely could, if he wanted to, still play in the NHL at a really high level. I think some of his performances when he was in the league were underrated because they were behind poor defensive environments. He always seemed to outperform what was in front of him, what he what he saw. But at the end of the day, it's you just want him to be in a good place and be happy.

That's all that matters. We've talked. Obviously, he's been in the NHL assistance program. I didn't see this on on on his post, but Elliott Friedman, I saw him tweeting or reporting that the plan was to do some education around psychology so that he could help others, and good on him. Like, good for him.

You have to protect your own mental health. And if another year in the National Hockey League wasn't gonna be good for Connor Ingram, then I'm glad he's gonna go to a place where he can help others that maybe are going through some of the same things that he went through earlier in his career. It's funny. As that announcement was happening, I was at an event for a mutual friend where Corey Hirsch showed up. And Corey, obviously, has the book.

We've had him on as a guest on the podcast, has gone through a lot of mental health struggles of his own during his career and coming out of his career. And he is actually finishing up his counseling degree, his certification, so that he can help others, as a counselor, which sounds like what Conor Ingram is considering doing as well. So guys that I think probably helped a lot of people just by willing to share their struggles publicly even while they were in a national spotlight. Connor Ingram still in the NHL. Corey after he retired and was still broadcasting.

But then, you know, taking that extra step and going back to school, which is not easy, by the way. Always just applaud anyone willing to do that later in their life and to do it for the right reasons to help others. I just I mean, wish him nothing but the best.

You're not going back to school anytime soon?

No. I my my my my younger brother went back to school. He was a mechanic, and he went back to school in his thirties with two young kids to become a mechanics teacher, and he actually teaches mechanics now at BCIT. So at the the post secondary level, I saw how hard that was. My brain doesn't work that way anymore.

It barely functions as is. I admire the hell out of people that do that later in life. I I think that's really, really hard to do. And so I have nothing but admiration for those that are willing to sort of balance whatever their life is at that point with education on top of it, especially when everybody else in your class is half your age.

I've thought about electrician or plumbing. I'm leaning towards plumbing over the years just to get baseline so I could do the cottage

to have all those skills or you just pull out chat chat GPT and YouTube and figure it out, you can do it. Might not be legal to later sell your house having done all

that. The problem. Yeah.

Yeah. I've seen you handle the puck behind the net, Daren. I'm pretty sure you got the plumbing down part down part.

That's where the leaks come out. I'm that's the significance of the challenge there. We've also got Cam Talbot signing a deal.

Yeah. With the Columbus Blue Jackets, just like hours before we went on air with this episode to record this. Good for him. Good like, the NHL with Cam Talbot is a better NHL. One of the great people in the game.

He's had a great career, had a lot of success early, and through the middle point of his career. He's bounced around a little bit the last couple of years. Results have been a little more hit and miss, but you think of the veteran experience he has. He's such a smart goaltender. We've had him on ProReads before.

I always learn something from Cam, and I think that's the what's allowed him to stick around for so long is he's always willing to learn something new as well. We've talked about him over the years. Like, you know, he gets to LA. He adds the sort of Bill Ranford system, the, you know, glove side shoulder inside the net, sort of blocker side dominant net play. Like, always willing to adapt and learn and get better and such a smart goaltender to start with.

So nice to have him in league. It'll probably be good for Jet Greaves just to have that experience, somebody to lean on around. Obviously, with Elvis Merzlikins looking to having shoulder surgery and not being an option out of the gate. And I would assume that this timing is you know, it's probably not a coincidence that this comes after the Conor Ingram retirement because that would have been you know, again, just based on the numbers and the success he'd had in recent years, Conor would have been on top of my UFA list. And and he retires this week and a few days later or late last week and a few days later, early this week, Cam Talbot signs with Columbus.

So I my hunch is that that may have some connection. Would he set a record for

playing for the most teams?

Oh, I feel like I feel like we we might need some type of artificial intelligence to solve this for us.

Cujo played for a ton. Sean Burke suited up for a lot. Yeah. Cam But Tal okay. So Talbot's at nine.

That ties Sean Burke at nine, our good buddy with the with the Vegas Golden Knights. Cujo, 11 teams.

Wow. We're gonna need we're gonna need just for well, we don't want this because Cam's got a young family, so I won't even put it out But a a two way a a two team trade in the middle at the trade deadline to get him to 11.

Does it count if he just He's got a

young team.

On the wire?

Yeah. You're right. But but nine teams, like here, that's a third of the league. That's crazy.

Yeah. And he's had success in a lot of those spots. Like, like, really good. An all star in LA. Yeah.

You know, had success.

Couple of all star game appearance.

Rangers, Edmonton, you know, and and tougher environment in Detroit for all the goaltenders there. But, yeah, the guys just

Had some success in Calgary.

Remarkable career. All I can think of in Calgary is is the Mike Smith. The scrap? The Mike Smith tilly. Yeah.

That's that's the only thing that comes to Yep.

That's funny. That's that popped right into my head as well. But no, I I think that's a good signing for for Columbus knowing that that that they need some support for for Jet out of the gate.

Yeah. I mean and and we don't have a timeline yet on Merzlikins, I've said it, you know, a couple times on the show, like, typically shoulders just take a while. I've seen some video where Elvis is doing everything in his power to stay sharp and strong lower body through this, doing a lot of lower body stuff with his his shoulder sort of protected and and I believe in a sling. So you know that as soon as it's possible to get back, he will be back. But the reality with shoulders is it's usually a much larger time window.

So you've got to have some insulation there. You know, they did they had a they had experienced Phoenix Copley in the number three spot would have been the other option, but just sort of boosting that just seems like a smart decision because there were options on the waiver wire. You know, like sorry. Not the waiver wire on on the UFA list. We talked about Ingram, Talbot, Reimer still out there.

There's still some guys with a lot of NHL experience that wanna play.

I think the waiver activity with goaltenders this NHL season is going to be active.

Yeah? What makes you say that?

Just the there's a couple of teams with uncertainty that I think will be looking to grab a little bit more of a solid foundation. Also, knowing that there's some fluidity in in a couple of stops, I. E. Winnipeg, where we don't know exactly how that's gonna play out.

And Kevin, you've made the point many times that you think that you're gonna see more teams carrying three goaltenders, which might suggest that they won't be slipped through the waiver wire. But the opposite side is there might be more teams willing to pick a guy up because they're willing to carry three. So it's very interesting. That could cut both ways.

Yeah. Touch his nose on that one. That's that's the part that I'm fascinated by. I I don't think it's gonna become the norm, but I think it's gonna become more normal. We've already got a couple of teams that did it last year talking openly about doing it again.

So just to sort of explain if people are trying to follow along and and wondering how that impacts the waiver wire, the reality is if you claim a guy off waivers, you gotta keep him. You gotta keep him in the National Hockey League. If you send him to the American League, the other team could just claim him right back and send him straight down or somebody And they often do. Claim him. So and quite and quite often, that's what limits waiver mobility.

But if you've got a whole bunch of teams with tons of cap space because the cap keeps going up and a and a lot of the middling teams have space, have room, they might claim a guy and just keep three if they're willing to do that. Or to Hutch's point, the fact more teams are willing to keep three means you might be sitting there hesitant to sign someone in UFA because, hey. I think there might be a better option on the waiver wire. Well, what happens if that team decides to hold three for the season and doesn't put that guy on waivers? I think here in Vancouver, Nikita Tolopilo.

You know, Ryan Johnson, the GM, told me already that he definitely does not like the idea of having three goaltenders. He's against it. Just philosophically in terms of what it does not only to the goalies, but the coaches that have to manage their time, I thought that was interesting. But at the same time, understanding with Demko's uncertainty, and obviously, our guest this week, Chris Driedger, could factor into this if he signs a contract with the Canucks, after coming in as a PTO, but, understanding that they had to be careful about mitigating the risk of maybe losing a Nikita Tolopilo. I think the Ottawa Senators are gonna be in the same boat.

Devon Levi had a tough year last year. Two seasons ago, he was exceptional. There are a lot of directors, goalie directors, goalie scouts, goalie people around the league that have him as a top 10 guy. And so if he ends up on waivers, do you look at him as like, hey. Reclamation project.

We could turn this guy into a legitimate NHL, or I know last year was a down season, but he's capable of more. You know, our friend Dylan Garand with the New York rangers, does he end up on waivers behind the Kochetkov acquisition and and Igor Shesterkin? There are a lot of questions. Clay Stevenson, another friend of the program in Washington with Charlie Lindgren, and Logan Thompson there. Could Clay Stevenson end up on the waiver wire as a guy who had good success in a small sample last year, has great size, and might be attractive to a team whether they want him for right now or they wanna stash him as a three because they've got the room and they see him as a as a as an asset.

I'm with you. It's the middle guys, not necessarily the young young guys, but but those middle of the the pack of guys who who require waivers, and you could see them as as pseudo projects, developing them into something, huge opportunity there, not not not just the the veterans. Ilya Samsonov, also back at the National Hockey League or North America as he signed on with the San Jose Sharks, so a familiar face on that side assuming that he'll be with the with the Barracuda. But if teams are keeping three goalies, then you add in this E Bug practice goalie, there's there's four sets of goalie equipment going on the road every trip. Equipment managers are gonna be grumbling.

Okay. You almost shouldn't have

to have an e bug if you've got three guys on the roster.

Like, four sets of goalie equipment on every trip.

You do though. That's the thing. We looked into that. You do have to even if you carry three. Because I remember at the end of the season Yeah.

Lindy Ruff actually came out and said postseason, like, hey, everybody was critical of us having three goalies. We not only did we make it work, we think it worked in a positive direction, and we're gonna go that way again this year, the Buffalo Sabres. And we think maybe it'll mitigate us having to have a practice goalie. Well, he was wrong only about the last part because the reality is you can't guarantee the health of the three you have, so you always have to have that third ulti.

I thought that was the point of how

the third the third goalie can't

That go doesn't make sense.

The third goalie can't go in in an e bug situation.

Right. But

Oh, the third goalie can. If you carry three goalies and one of your starters gets hurt

Yeah.

You can put the third goalie if he's on your roster in as your emergency backup.

I didn't think that was allowed.

Well, we gotta now we gotta look up the

what is the point of the ebug.

You can in the playoffs. We've seen

it in

the playoffs.

I don't think you You can

put a black ace in as in the playoffs if a guy gets hurt during the game. Don't have to go to an Ebug. What's the difference?

There's no salary

in the The rules are different in the playoffs.

You have to put the cap. No. But no. No. But you have three goalies on the salary, you can have three goalies.

If you've got three goalies on your roster But you have to I was under I was under the impression if you had three goalies wait. We should actually see what happened. I think there was a with Buffalo. But I was under the impression that your third goalie could go in. The reason you have to have the other guys is like, Seattle, for example.

Seattle had three goalies last year, but Matt Murray wasn't healthy for a good chunk of it. So you would have had to have hired a practice goalie. You can't hire a practice goalie once the guy gets hurt.

Yeah. But you can fix that easily. You just say if you've got if you've

gonna check on it. You check on it.

It's really easy to check. If if you have three goaltenders on your roster, you don't need an e bug. I know that you do, but I'm just saying you could make it work. If a guy has to go on injured reserve or something, okay, now you've gotta have an e bug. It seems a little silly to have to carry four.

Well, except except if you're making it okay. May maybe it seems silly to force them to to travel the fourth if you've already got three, but you're making this your this is supposed to be a permanent position within each team. So you can't just be like, hey, we're not hiring until somebody gets hurt and then we'll hire you, like like

And there's limitations on experience that that on the I

don't know. If if you can carry three, I'm just having fun debating this, but if if you can carry three NHL goaltenders, then anybody can carry three and it's a decision whether you do or you don't. I I don't understand why you have to have to have to have one. It just I know they've established it, but why not just say, I know they've established it. I know they've got rules for how much time they can have had in the league. It just doesn't seem to fit when you could fit a third NHL goalie on the roster.

Okay. So then when that third NHL goalie gets hurt, like for Seattle example, and they don't have somebody to bring up, or maybe he's not an LTIR, they no longer have the cap space, they can't have a third NHL goalie on the roster, then where do you get your e bug? You just go higher midway through the season on short notice? You have him sitting Yep. Like, that that's the only question there.

Like, to be fair to the e bugs, and there'll probably be guys lining up, but that's what they're trying to avoid. They're trying to create a permanent position as opposed to pulling somebody off the street. And not having somebody on staff for the whole year puts you in a situation of essentially pulling somebody off the street once one of those or if one of those three were to get hurt.

Hutch, remind me next time we all get together just to confirm exactly where this

Please do. Falls. That would be great.

I'll I'll do some checking and Woody will do the same thing. I like your sources better than mine. Doesn't But We're both getting it from the same people.

Doesn't it just seem odd though that you're saying to one team, you have to have a guy who's got minimal pro experience just in case we need someone. Unless you decide that you want to have an NHL goalie on the roster as your third guy. It's bizarre.

Yeah. Because the the NHL because because up until this year, nobody Especially if Woody's rule is shot. If Woody's

right that you can play that third guy, then it makes the E BUG a bizarre thing that you're doing.

Except for up until this season, essentially. Most teams didn't have and some teams still don't have the space to have a third goalie. They just

do not have the room in their their choice. It's a 100% their choice. Exactly. Of course, they have the space.

It is their choice, but that's the point. You can't now you're mandating that they have a third I'm not mandating it. Nobody wants to be mandate a third NHL goalie. The the E Bug doesn't count on the cap. You if they have the space and they wanna have it, that's their choice, but you can't.

You you are mandating if you're saying you can't have an e bug.

Okay. What's the stop just a a team signing for the for the league minimum, Marc-Andre Fleury, and having him as your Nothing. Third goaltender on your roster

Nothing. To able to go there. Nothing. But don't forget the league minimum's over $1,000,000 a year right now. Like and up until this year, everybody was so jammed up against the cap that we had salaries coming down. We had suppression everywhere.

Like, the league minimum's a mill over $1,000,000. The second part of that is there's already teams around the league that are pissed off they have to spend, you know, $50, $60, $80 thousand, up to a $100 grand on this position. They sure as crap aren't giving a million dollars to it. We're talking about the NHL.

You're talk

you're talking We're totally coaches of the low

goaltender like that with with significant experience, that's different than an e bug candidate.

Yeah. But that a 100%. You can do it if you want. I'm just saying nobody's gonna do it.

I think Hutch and I are onto something.

I think you're both out of here. You Well, actually, we can all be right

with If you're right, Woody, you're right that you can play your third guy as an then the whole thing is ridiculous. Because you're just saying that doesn't make much sense if you can do that. Your third guy as an e e bug. It makes zero sense because what you're saying is that every team in the league must have this guy, you know, unless you wanna hire an NHL guy to do the job, which is effectively what you'd be saying. And you're restricting the experience of the e bug unless you feel like hiring an NHL guy at full salary to do the job.

It's it's a weird dichotomy

of this. Have to be in it I agree. It's weird. But in order for hiring the NHL guy, you gotta have a million dollars in cap space, league minimum.

But all I'm saying is you shouldn't have

But teams don't have it. You can't mandate that they do You can't mandate.

Take a look at where the cap has been for the last That's four years their decision. Nobody has the space.

Decision how they spend it. Okay. We're gonna exactly. It's their decision and you can't tell them they have to have three goal I'm not. I'm saying it's bizarre that you can fill it with an NHL goalie if you want.

I'm I'm saying this is all on the assumption that you're right, that you can play a third guy as your e bug. I'm if you are, it's just bizarre because you're saying if you wanna pay a million for it, you can have an NHL guy. But if you don't feel like paying a million for it, you're not allowed to have a guy that's got hardly any pro experience. That's the dichotomy.

By the way, by the way, it's not just a million dollars. It's not just a million dollars. You have a roster cap of 23 spots, which is only three extra. So it can now you've you now you gotta make a choice between having a third goalie, an extra second defenseman, or an extra second forward. Like, are limits on how many guys you can have on NHL contracts.

So, yes, the it is weird because some teams are choosing to do three. But how many are we talking about? Two did it last year? Like I said, it's not gonna be the norm. It's gonna be more normal, but it's not gonna be the norm that teams carry three.

Stay with InGoal Radio Podcast presented by the Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley and thehockeyshop.com as we dig into this further on the next episode of IGR. And crowning David Hutchison and Daren Millard champions of this debate and and knowledge. The Gear Segment presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com, dealing with the the Bauer GSX pads and gloves as things get going over at The Hockey Shop.

I'll just be over here meditating, trying to calm myself from my hockey shop, read after getting

The Bauer GSX, so good, you could wear it as an NHL e bug.

Oh, wouldn't I?

No. Perhaps by the way, to have,

like the same gear clearance as everybody else.

Yeah. Kay Whitmore has to sign off on your equipment to be an e

bug because e bugs could just wear whatever they wanted. Like, there was no formal like sign off.

And and speaking of that, it's freaking hilarious to me that there was a report this week about how teams didn't have to submit the name of their e bug to the National Hockey League until forty eight hours before the season started. I'm thinking to myself, you may not have to submit the name, but you better give K more than forty eight hours to sign off on the gear, the measurements, and ship it back to your team if you expect that guy to be an option in game one, or at least a legal option in game one. And I gotta say, Daren, you know, Hutch to your point, we have maybe not GSX, but we have actually seen NHL contracted guys, I think a Cal Peterson wearing Bauer's second price point. I think in the PWHL, I think Carly Jackson might be in a set of second price point Bauer right now as she prepares for the upcoming season. Careful Woody.

You were just saying how every team in the NHL is up against the cap. They're gonna start mandating their players wear second price point gear now.

Oh, yeah. Save some money. Gotta save some money. New set of skates for some guys every day, but gotta save some money. Cheap out on the goalies.

Like everything else you do, cheap out on the goalie coach. I'm gonna rant again. If if I'm just saying if in this hypothetical world where everything comes down to the last minute and you need gear of a certain size and a certain color to satisfy the National Hockey League and these rules that Hutch and Daren think shouldn't exist, there is no better place to get it than the Hockey Shop Source for Sports because nobody has more sizes, more inventory, more options, more selection in more colors with better knowledgeable sales staff to make sure it's the right game or the right gear for your game and your level than our friends over at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports. Things are crazy there right now. People are coming in last second, making sure their kids themselves for beer league are all outfitted for the upcoming season, but that's the benefits of 35,000 square feet of goaltending heaven.

Including above and beyond that, the extra warehouse space where all the gear is stored. They have so much equipment, which means even amidst their busiest time of the year, they still have options to suit your style, your colors, and your game. So check them out now at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports in Langley or thehockeyshop.com.

New slogan, The Hockey Shop. Source for Sports Langley or thehockeyshop.com. If the e bug shop there. Why don't you?

There you go. I like it. I like it.

I think we can we can go there because it it does fit in And I you can get last minute gear.

I actually do know of one goalie who has been an NHL practice goalie. I'm not sure if he is going to be this year or not, but he buys all his gear And his kids who are right into the NHL first camps this year, they also buy it there. So shout out to Alex Kotay. I'm waiting to hear whether he's gonna be the new Vancouver Canucks practice goalie and a full time Hockey Shop customer.

Join Cam and Woody with the Bauer GSX pads and gloves.

Gear

Welcome back to the Hockey Shop Source for Sports where we continue our breakdown of Bauer's lower price point models. We've sort of Cam's done a really nice job, not to give him too much credit or grow his head to the point where it won't fit inside his mask, but he's done a really nice job of sort of giving us that good, better, best comparisons.

Mhmm. GSX line today, pads and gloves, you know, and that good, better, best, this is good. Yes. This is their lowest price.

And you wanna know what's better? It's even better than it was last year. So one of the things that Kevin did off camera before we started filming, he picked this up and he was like, wow, this is this is nice. What's happened with the GSX line year over year since it was first introduced has started to receive more and more of those pro kind of pro style upgrades that have been trickled down throughout the lineup. This year, now what it's featuring, so it still has the Stabila flex knee which it was available in the previous series model.

Okay.

But they have fully extended that into that max coverage as possible they can get out of it which we saw in the Flylight pad. Yep. We now add a little bit of that bevel from the supreme pad in terms of the cap plate. Yep. So that's nice and rigid.

So in other words, if your surface, the idea is most of the pressure comes on this thin strip and this is not pushing on the ice, basically the knee and this.

Correct.

Less resistance to sliding.

Yes. We don't feature any core tech on this pad. That's something that you can see higher price points. But that said, still with that nice hard slide surface, you are gonna get a very good slide out of the pad.

You should

move. Flexibility of the pad designed to be a more softer, more forgiving pad at

this Look price at that, Thighrise Flex. Yeah.

We're not gonna get any curve x composite or anything like that in the pad again. It's fair. Those gonna see at higher prices.

Those cost money, gotta pay for them.

Exactly. Exactly. Looking at the back of the pad where we do see more of the familiarities from previous models on the GSX. Tune fit 2.0 strapping, something we saw on the Vapour Hyperlite two. Nice wraparound, can kinda create that tight fit.

Good general overall feel. Kind of exactly what you're looking for. Hold on.

There's your butterfly assist. Yes. Removable. I need a butterfly assist.

[crosstalk] Calf pillow. Yeah. It's Also called butterfly assist. I I like it. I know you're you're a guy for

names too.

I'm a marketing guy, like it.

Flexible boot, vapor modeling after the boot itself and closest to almost a bit of a in between of the two boots that are technically available. It's not 100% flat. There is a little bit of that concave to it, having more so based off of the price point and their same elastic toe tie that you do find on the higher priced models. Wow. So again, a lot of good value here.

Additional size available this year, extra small, so thirty two inch senior.

Okay.

And then this line

Does this extend down into youth and kids?

So this goes all the way through. So we're talking senior, intermediate, junior. Youth is slightly different which we will cover another day.

So you can wear this all the way up to Beer League. Okay. But you can also for kids, like I'm guessing this is an ideal product for young goalies.

Again, growing, learning but still wanting you know the pad to be able to perform and have some of those pro features, you are gonna get that.

Okay. Let's go into the glove because this has seen For a base model like lowest price point glove like the way it closes, the way it feels on the hand like it's

The size it presents out at? Yeah. It's

like it's I'm impressed.

This is modeled after the shadow glove. Same style of closure. You're not gonna get the same materials inside by any means. Still more of that basic. Again, cut and sew, PU leathers, that kind of thing.

Skate lace pocket which is nice. That wide open shadow feel which you became to kind of be known for. Yeah. Really nice presence. Yes.

And still like there the internals don't feel like you've taken a big massive nose dive either. So there's still a lot of richness to it and again a lot of ease of closure as well. So definitely something worth checking out. Is it the highest price point glove? No.

Is it gonna protect you like at about that mid tier level? Yes. Anything higher than that? You're probably

gonna be you're You're feeling pucks. Yes. Feeling pucks in the palm. This isn't gonna have any other special padding or foams or

No anything like that. You you get what you pay for. Probably gonna break down a

little bit faster without the curve x, things like that. But I mean

That's it. Still Maybe a once a week kind of player. Again, somebody kind of tearing through. High level recreational like blocking and stuff like that options for

sure. Blocker?

Finish the series off. Still modeled after what would be the Fuse and shadow blocker. No curve x composite, just HD foams.

Of course. Still gonna have the same pop.

Correct. Still the same style of pawn though for the most part. So again, some more of that rich set there. Same style kind of piano finger connection to it well. Great overall feel.

Nice and lightweight. There's nothing really say too much to say about it other than it's

And it's the lowest price point. Like, you're you're you're I'm not good at math folks. We've established that. I'm actually not good at much, but you're talking like a fraction of the cost per level here. Yeah.

A fraction.

I mean, like you will call it almost like tiering up again as you go through. So I think it's set like this kind of runs in and around that $1400 range.

For everything on everything in. Yeah. Last okay. Cam, have you got any questions about, hey,

like my kid or I am playing at this level, do you think and do you ever get to the point where it's like, hey, like, the pad will be great but maybe if the shooters are at a certain level we need to look at upgrading the glove a little mix and match on this. Where Where do they get

a hold of you to ask those questions?

(604) 589-8299 or 1-800-567-7790. Or check us out at the hockeyshop.com where you can also find last year's stuff-

on sale. On sale.

What do you like about those?

I I I like how the quality even at the lowest price points is still the baseline is still really good, Daren. Not just from a obviously, you're not getting the same materials, but from a functional standpoint, especially for the smaller sizes and the young kids. Like, it's a pad that's gonna seal. It's a pad that's gonna support and help you stay balanced in the butterfly. It's going to behave like a higher price point product even if maybe that glove isn't you don't wanna be catching pucks from NHLers in it unless you're gonna catch everything in the pocket, which I don't, so that doesn't matter.

But I I just like how, obviously, it's a shaved down version. It's it's, you know, like, the less tech and spec as you get lower. But at its roots from a functionality standpoint, it's very similar. It does a lot of the same things. Maybe not to the same level with, you know, active rebounds and sliding materials and things like that, but what you get bang for your buck is is really impressive.

And, again, other other brands have followed suit, but, they deserve credit for sort of leading this path, over at Bauer.

I've gone through a pile of sticks this summer. I don't know what it was about the particular stock that I had, but the other day, I was using somebody else's twig, and I didn't have another one ready to go, and I took a shot off the shaft of it and it bent it. It cracked it, bent it, and somebody said, your stick's broken, and I said, yeah, fine, because I was gonna get through the drill or and and without changing it. Next shot hits the shaft, knocks the broken part off into the in the corner. Two shots later, and so now I'm using a shaved down stick.

Two shots later, it hit the shaft again and sawed it off even further. It was the best. It was unbelievable how good I was at stopping sticks with the with the top part of the the handle of the stick.

You know they give you a blocker for a reason buddy.

I know. But it was like, I keep

They give doing a shaft for a reason too.

Exactly. That that was a good save. I couldn't believe how effective I was with half of a a handled stick.

Nobody's got a better flagpole save than Millard.

Nope. I and I and I wear that with pride. I stop more pucked with that thing than I do with the paddle part of the stick.

We need to get Guaranteed. We need to get you some new CCM Tacks sticks. I will say, as I've told you the stories of the ex NHL that just loves to do the same thing to me just over the blocker and warm ups and just like shred the shaft of my sticks, not breaking nearly as many on that shaft geometry of the Really? See. Oh, like it's it's night and day difference because there's just no corners for that crack to start on.

I've thought about Dick putting a like a couple of paths of tape down just to see if I can A

roll of sock tape.

That or that or the Warrior with the with the unique geometry up shaft. There's just not as much flat space.

Are there rules about how much tape you can put on your stick?

I don't

think so. Four feet wide right up the shaft. Yeah. The biggest knob.

Woody's making up his own rules anyway today, so we can do whatever we want.

I don't think there's rules on helmet sizes either. I had it suggested you should just get a four by six helmet.

That's a good point. I don't know whether there would be.

Well, would be in a second.

Protection wise, it might not help you but

Your tracking might go down if you got a four by six piece of plywood behind your head.

You're getting a little too strange here.

Tracking? Watching it. Yeah. The different terminology over the over the years that that we've gone through. A Vizual Edge ProReads, Eric Comrie coming up as ProReads presented by our friends at Vizual Edge.

Oh, you gotta stick around for this Eric Comrie one. It is exceptional as is our friends at Vizual Edge and the offers that they make us. Every goalie knows the feeling. Those nights where the game feels slow, you're tracking puck's clean, reading plays early, and nothing seems to surprise you. Then there are the nights where you're reacting instead of anticipating.

You're just a split second behind. You're reaching. You're guessing. Most goalies try to solve that by getting more reps on the ice. Vizual Edge takes a different approach by training the visual and cognitive skills that help you process the game faster.

Things like tracking through traffic, picking up releases earlier, recognizing patterns, and making quicker decisions. From your laptop or tablet, personalized assessment to identify where your visual game can improve, then you get a customized training plan that takes about fifteen minutes three times a week. Plus an open gym to get as many exercises in as you wish, and an eight minute warm up called game day mode that is favored by NHL goalies like Jordan Binnington. It's all there in Vizual Edge, so head to vizualedge.com, use the code InGoal to receive 10% off. Or there's an extra code if you go to our ProReads each week to get 20% off.

But they're only for members, member exclusive. Make sure you check it out at ingoalmag.com to save even more. And speaking of saves, Eric Comrie wraps up. We've had a lot of Eric Comrie on the website recently, a lot of ProReads because we wanted to get through all his Winnipeg stuff before he starts with San Jose, and it has been full value. But he wraps things up with what is practically a four minute TED talk on managing rush chances in lateral plays.

Everything from reading hands to hand placement when you move, he gets into every different aspect of it. I I feel like this isn't one where I can tease you guys because the tease wouldn't be enough to ask you questions. Eric just digs into the nth degree on everything you need to know about reading rushes. It is one of I believe 18 different video sessions we have online now with Eric Comrie and one of almost 400 with NHL goalies around the league. So if you wanna learn how to read the game better, process the game better, anticipate the game better, there is no better way than ProReads at ingoalmag.com.

And if you wanna see all of that information earlier and make those decisions quicker, that's what Vizual Edge is for, and that's why we bring them together, the best of both worlds, discounts to Vizual Edge, double discounts on every ProReads at ingoalmag.com.

We have people new to the goaltending world every week that listen to the podcast over at InGoal Radio, the podcast. If if they wanna check out ProReads, how do they go about it?

Well, just go to ingoalmag.com and you'll get a tease. You don't have to be a member to see a tease of what it's all about. We do have some unlocked samples over the years, but I'm actually now that I'm thinking about it, are they on the main ProReads page? I think there might be some samples there that you can go check out. So go to ingoalmag.com and click on ProReads.

They used to be there.

But if you want the full experience

want the full experience, you gotta You can

really you get a great feel of it, Daren, if you go to any ProRead because most of it is unlocked. You get that full experience of Kevin setting the stage for what's gonna happen, looking at a screen cap so you can evaluate what maybe you'd be trying to take in at the time. Then you get to see the save made on its own. Think to yourself, did he do what I thought he might do? Was there something else I noticed in there?

Then you get the instruction to watch the ProRead itself, and we even give you thirty seconds or so of the ProRead to get a feel for what this goaltender is like when they're talking about this particular save. And then if you really wanna see the full thing, which I would hope you would, and 300 more, right there you can sign up and see the rest. So I think you get a really, really good flavor for all of these ProReads, in there as well if you'd like.

And if you wanna subscribe, it's only $50 Canadian, which is like $36 American right now. So make sure you grab a subscription and check it all out.

Like a trip through the drive through with multiple people, not just by yourself.

But I mean $37. You gotta be you gotta be the passenger in the car. Oh, trip through that trip through the drive thru. That maybe like you walk in the drive thru. Never mind, Daren.

I've lost.

Look at look at Hutch's face. All scrunched so

I don't know. We're going in different places with the drive thru. Let's just say it's like pretty much, you know, couple of fancy coffees get you a full year of InGoal.

Parent Playbook

NHL Sense Arena feature interview coming up. First, Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment.

This one I got, Daren. If you want twenty five years of NHL goalie coaching experience at your fingertips, you wanna tap into the 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's been an NHL goalie coach, scout, and director, as well as all the insights and expertise from his staff at Stop It, which includes a long list of veteran NCAA and minor pro coaches, all delivered in easy to digest chunks, including five short daily primers, weekly style analysis and breakdown videos, and drills that you can take onto the ice with your team and coach, plus an InGoal subscription included. So check it out now at the App Store or Google Play, get the best of both worlds with a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U the App, and a subscription to InGoal

Magazine. Hutch.

Last week, I talked about routines and then went in a bit of a different direction. So I want to get back now to where we started last week because September is when this really matters. Whatever habits your family falls into over the next few weeks, well, probably going to be the same ones that you have in March and we're trying to build a foundation here but the cement is still wet so we have time to work it. I wanna come at this though from a different direction than you might be expecting. When we talk about routines in hockey, we almost always mean game day.

There's a whole industry of advice out there about pregame meals, pregame naps, the playlist, you name it. Here's the thing, your kid is gonna go to more practices than games, I hope. If you're gonna build routines, you wanna build them where the reps are actually happening and frankly, when they're predictable. See practices on a schedule, Tuesday at five all season long, same rinks, same drive, game day moves, different rinks, tournaments, maybe a 6AM draw that appears out of nowhere. You can't teach a kid to own a routine that changes every week, So teach it on the one that doesn't and one that once they've got it there, well, then we can talk about carrying it over to the days that are harder.

Now before I start handing out jobs for your kids, a quick word to the parents. This isn't another thing for your plate. If you've got three kids and two jobs, the midweek logistics are already a chore and nobody's asking you to take, turning your goalie into a fully self managing adult on top of that. What we're doing is the opposite, just gently handing a little bit of time to your kids so that they learn. So a few seasons from now, practice night runs itself and you're just the ride.

There are really two routines in fact on a practice day. There's getting to the rink and there's what happens once you're there. So let's start with the first one. The youngest ones can pack their own bag. Yep.

Even the youngest ones. You might have to supervise, you might have to support, but look, it's the same bag, same night, every week, it's the whole assignment. Little tip here for you, have your kids pack the bag in the same order every time so nothing's forgotten. Even as an adult for me, it was imagining putting everything on in order and then that is the order I placed them into the bag. That way I don't forget anything as long as I remember to put it on.

Now, after that with your kids, they know what time practice is. Can they work backwards from it? As they get a little bit older? Ask them to calculate when it's time to eat, when it's time to leave and eventually, you get to where we we got to just asking our kid, what time do you need us in the car? And he ran everything else.

You're still supervising the whole way of course, you're just doing it more and more quietly, doing it for them, then checking that it's done and then eventually trusting that it's done. The hard part of course is that last step. Now at the rink, there's a second routine and this is the one I really want you to hear about. We've been in rinks with guys like Dylan Garand, Joel Hofer, and many others when they were kids, long before anybody knew their names. And what we saw even then was a goalie who'd built his own thing.

The stretching, the eye work, the ball work in the hallway, and even a skating pattern the moment they hit the ice before a coach had said a word. Self directed, even if it's Saturday morning at 8AM with nobody watching. Then they became pros and we see the exact same thing. It didn't get installed when they turned pro, it was already there. The ownership showed up years before the skates did and that's part you can start now.

Your nine year old of course doesn't need a full pro's routine, but they can have one thing that's theirs. The easiest place is to find it in the hallway before they go on with ball work. That catch with a purpose, a tennis ball off the wall while they wait for the ice. Two of them maybe if they're feeling brave. They'll do that for fun long before they understand why it works and it's theirs from day one.

Now when they're ready for a second thing, take it onto the ice. We've got Garand's and Wolf's skates from the first few minutes of practice up at InGoal, Link's in the description. Go check them out together and let your goalie pick one piece that looks cool to them. Just one. That can be their thing.

And if they picked it, it's theirs. If you assigned it, it's a chore with your name on it. One rule here from me, never make it a condition of getting on the ice. The moment it becomes you can't skate until you've done your warm up, you've taken it back, it's yours again. If they drop it for a few weeks, let them.

It has to be allowed to lapse or it really was never theirs. Because one day, they're gonna be at a camp or billeting on a long road trip and nobody's gonna be asking them anything. You want that to feel like an ordinary Tuesday routine. All of this is for the days that go to plan. What happens when they don't, when the schedule blows up, when the routine goes with it, that'll come next week.

We're gonna pick up right where we left off last week, making the bumps in the road your superpower. See you then. I think my favorite part of that was the gear check. Yeah. Because that's one place you could make a mistake?

I think my favorite part of that was the gear check. Yeah. Because that's one place you could make a mistake? No. Because I do it all Like like, I I do the exact same one. I'm like, like, before I leave, it's like, okay. I just basically go from the bottom up. Yeah. Skates, knees, jock.

Like, you I'll literally be in the garage pulling my pants up. Get pants, neck protector, chest, helmet, gloves, stick, pads. Like it's It like literally I'm I'm like a mime getting dressed in my garage as I walk

100% know that. I did the exact same thing. There's one flaw in it. Some pieces of equipment don't fit in your bag and I literally went to a game once for getting my pads. I have no idea how I did that.

As an adult, thank God I lived about three minutes from the rink so it was okay. But

What do you think the most forgotten piece of equipment

Cup. Knee pads, something like that. Something small, something you'd never think about. We know Woody's forgotten his cup before. Yep.

Yep.

Mask?

Yep. Our kid forgot it once when he was younger. That was the hard lesson day when he wasn't allowed to go on the ice because he forgot it.

I definitely, definitely forgot the mask once. I've I've panicked called my wife more than once to come bring a mask.

And she said, Kevin, it's time you learned your lesson. I'm not bringing it.

No. She No. She brought it. Although she as I told you guys earlier, she didn't bring the cup. She said we got enough kids.

I've heard people forgetting sticks too.

Oh, yeah. At least at least then you could beg beg one from the other guy, so

Something Hutch has done.

On the ice mid game.

It's good. Now did you did you you didn't break it.

What? My stick or the other guy's? Yeah. No, I didn't break it.

Nope. Good. Imagine if you let in a goal and you just went full hex all over the crossbar with the other dude's stick.

It'd be funny if you could substitute in one without him knowing and then make him think that.

So I I Yes. That would

be I saw that in the golf course where

You know what? We gotta we gotta suck

on that. Golf course where a guy sort of tickled our ankles with a drive and my wife's uncle turned around and just dropped one out of his pocket. But of course, the guy never would have seen and then drilled it back at him.

That would that would Yeah. You gotta be careful on golf courses in Canada that could lead to a

He'd never get it anywhere near this guy, so it's fine.

But the I have lent loaned out a stick in a game to a guy and then spent the whole game watching him super aggressive like he was an aggressive post happer. And so you get it you get it back at the end and like we talked about the shaft being compromised. Yeah. And like literally there's like chips all along the edge of the shaft because he's like, you just hear it like the whole time, whack, whack, whack and you're like, dude, not your twig.

Did he say anything?

I could totally see Woody just stop.

You'll argue with Hutch all day long.

Me, not me. You could just see me go like like from like all of sudden in the middle of the play, one end to the other like just

Everybody thinks there's a fight about to happen, you just want to treat them tell them how to properly treat your twig.

Snap tastic. Yeah. You're paint that

thing after you're done chipping it? Best post tapper was Hextal. He had a full on orchestra going back there in the day.

We'll have to look that up.

Up. Oh, is a full size. This is an Olympic sheet, South Surrey Arena, Olympic sheet, big big barn and it was loud enough that I could hear it at the other end.

NHL Sense Arena feature interview. Chris Driedger joining the Vancouver Canucks on a PTO, brought to us by NHL Sense Arena, Hutch.

It is. This week's feature interview as always is brought to us by NHL Sense Arena 26, which is the next generation hockey training platform. And Chris Driedger is back to the rink because September is back to hockey month at NHL Sense Arena. They have five weeks of what they're calling a stronger start. All month long rolling out new training, new challenges, and tips to help you shake off that summer rust and get your game ready for the season.

The season of course is right around the corner. Just next week, we're gonna start seeing those exhibition games in the National Hockey League. It's time to get back into a routine and start building those game ready habits. And that's exactly what Sense Arena is built for. Reps, reads, tracking, right from home, you can do Joey Daccord's pregame routine in your headset.

They're also running huge giveaways on social all September, including a chance to win the ultimate back to hockey package. So go follow NHL Sense Arena on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord to enter. NHL Sense Arena twenty six, the season starts here. And of course, when you go get your copy, use the code IGM 50 and you'll save even more.

This conversation with Chris Driedger comes at a different time during the course of his career.

Yeah. I mean, coming back off a year in the KHL, which he talks about, had some really great stuff in here about, you know, different mindset approach foundational, that he learned, from from goalie coach, a Slovenian goalie coach that he worked with when he was over in the I loved that part of the conversation. Talked about his path over the past couple of years, his path overall. He's sort of a longtime friend of the show. It was great to catch up with him again.

I can't wait to see him at the rink. We we go way back to, like we we kinda did the math. It was, like, a decade ago at one of the first net three sixty camps back when he was with the Ottawa Senators. He had a lot of success in Florida, and then in Seattle had the, obviously, the the terrific or, like, just horrific, not terrific, horrific knee injury in the gold medal game with Canada at the World Championships a few years ago, just hasn't had a chance to really sort of get back into the NHL. And we talked about that, like, in some ways, his game might suit the NHL better.

We went all over with this one. It's a great conversation, including, I'll leave this as a tease, why he's wearing Joey Daccord's Team USA World Championship pads for the captain skates ahead of training camp here in Vancouver. A switch from Vaughn to True, but also a unique backstory on why he's wearing the red, white, and blue to start the year.

Feature Interview - Chris Driedger

The NHL Sense Arena a feature interview. Kevin Woodley with Chris Driedger on InGoal Radio Podcast.

Super excited to welcome back to the InGoal Radio Podcast. Can I can I call you a friend of the program? It's been it's been a few years. We've connected many times over, but it it's been a while, Chris Driedger. How are you?

Well, it's good to be back, and I I think so. I think we've been in touch for for way, for definitely enough time where we can we can say I'm a friend of the show. It's an honor.

I was gonna say it's like, we're going back to, like, you know, the early day. I remember I think we met at the Net 360 camp back when it still existed. One of your first trips up to Kelowna.

A 100%. Then that would have been that might have been ten years ago, to be honest. Well I think I was I think I was, like, yeah, maybe second or third year pro, something like that. So that's a while back now.

We're gonna have to quit going down memory lane because I'm starting to feel old, my friend.

Yeah. You and me both, brother. You and me both.

A lot a lot of stops along the way. I seem to remember some of it was Ottawa Senators Vaughn gear back in the day, and now as we catch up with you, in Vancouver with the Canucks on a PTO coming off, last season in the KHL. And so first off, I did see a picture of you online as part of the sort of captain skates. And am I correct in are you wearing Joey Daccord's USA hockey? Is that a true story? Are you wearing his his old USA hockey pads?

Yeah. It's kind of, well, it's kind of a tough look wearing the, World Championship USA pads up here in Canada, but, Joy is a good friend. We were together in Ottawa originally, briefly before I went to Florida, and then we reconnected in Seattle. And and even in between that, I would I spent a few summers in in Boston and trained at Stop It, his his his dad's business and with him for a few summers. So Joey and I know each other quite well.

And so I'm I'm making the switch to True gear this year. Okay. From Vaughn's, which is a big big move. Hard hard decision, obviously, but I their their gear is just it works. It works for me, the true stuff.

So I but I like the model that Joey's in. It's a little more similar to the Vaughn's. Okay. I get a little bit more of a a boot channel for the pads to sit. Like, I I don't love how they sit so high on a lot of the the the new style.

You wanna feel a little bit of, like, a like, almost like a it's shaped over the top of your pad as opposed to sitting flat.

A 100%. So those pads, they don't have any demos because they don't make them anymore. They only make them for the guys that are still using them, more of them being Joey. So I was talking to the rep at True, and I'm like, hey. Can you give me some of these to try?

Just so I you know, before I don't go into camp, you know, with brand new gear in the middle of training camp. Guess not the not the best idea. I should be used to them before before camp. And so then he's like, well, you know, do you know anyone wearing them? I'm like, well, I know Joey.

Like, maybe I can see if he's got any laying around or something. So I texted Joey. Was like, hey, buddy. Like, this might be a big ask, but I'm trying to try out some some of the gear, like the same stuff you're wearing before the season. He goes, oh, dude.

I got my World Championship pads. You want me to ship them up there? Was like, that'd great. Thanks, man. And so, yeah, I've been repping those ever since.

I think my gear comes next week, so so I'll have have my own set. But, yeah, I heard there was some some speculation amongst the fans here in Vancouver. Oh.

Yeah. Oh, seriously. This

is When it to the metro jersey Yeah. Gonna come back. Or

Well, welcome to Vancouver. They pretty much had taken your pad borrowing from Joey and turned it into a whole new uniform that was gonna come out special order for this year. Yeah. So

Well, who knows? Maybe we sparked something, but we'll see. But but, yeah, no. It's nothing more than just me trying the pads out. And I and I have a mask.

Usually, like, I'm pretty particular with my gear. I like everything looking good and and clean. And right now, got a True, like, True pads, a Bauer blocker, a Vaughn glove, and my my helmet's from the KHL last year. So I'm all and and I think I have Warrior sticks. So, like, I I think the only brand I don't have visible is, like, CCM or or Brian's maybe.

But Oh, yeah. Hey. You me

to help out. We've got lots of both sitting in the garage here at the, at the InGoal headquarters if you need to just diversify a little more.

Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Hey. Throw one pad Brian's, one pad True.

Just just complete the look.

What what's that like, though? Like, like you said, you're going into a training camp on a PTO, coming off a year in the KHL. And by the way, when you say you like your gear to look good, shout out to the Kraken set that you had. That was still one of my all time favorites. But

Yeah. We had we had a lot of fun with those with those designs. That was, yeah. Those were those were pretty cool.

They make they make for good pads, that setup. But but what's the mindset? Like and and like you said, like, try new new gear, working through these things, and and we're into a short preseason and of four day four games and a tiny camp and into the season. Like, what's how's the approach?

Yeah. Well, first time on a PTO, so it's, I I I guess it's a little different when there's nothing guaranteed after the after the training camp. But I I found I've always played my best hockey with when I have a bit of an underdog mentality. And I had that mentality when I was, you know, in the minors and working my whip into the NHL and my first few seasons in the NHL. I I I definitely had that, and I think it served me really well.

And then once you've been there and you're you know, you've been there for a few seasons, it's like some somehow you you shift away into a different mentality where you're, you know, you have the confidence of being there for a while, but you don't have that I I could say maybe you you lose a bit of that, like, hungry underdog mindset. And that's something that I focused on. Like, let's get that back. Let's get that back here. And it's a perfect circumstance to be, you know, to kind of cultivate that for me being on a PTO, last year being in Russia, going home earlier than I really anticipated.

And, yeah, it just seems like a good place to have my my headspace. But at the same time, it's you know, I'm an underdog, but it's nice to go into the rink and just you know, I know a few of the guys. I've done this before. You know, I know I'm capable and just just have that little extra hunger and that extra drive to, you know, keep the puck out of the net net and and make the team here.

You you had, like you said, comfort level, a lot of success in the National Hockey League. You had the devastating knee injury at the World Championships. Like, when I look at sort of the history, like, it looks like you're more comfortable in the National League sometimes than the American League. And is that like, you you're a guy that I've always felt really reads the game well and thinks the game well. Is it easier sometimes in the NHL behind a structure that yeah.

The AHL just at times can be a bit of a mistake league, and it's hard to read off those mistakes for somebody who seems to anticipate the game at such a high level. I don't know if that's a fair observation or not. I'd be curious.

No. I would I would say it's a fair observation. I have found that for sure things I don't know for whatever reason. Like, you guys are so skilled at the NHL level that they're gonna make the best move possible. And I've just for whatever reason found it, You know, if there's if there's a play to be made where, you know, he gets the puck here and he's gonna pull across and and he's gonna go right over the pad.

Like, I I know where that's going, and and it kind of helps me read the game and anticipate where sometimes there was it's funny it brings up too because when I was playing the East Coast League, that was that was about as structured as I've ever seen, and it was quite difficult to to read those plays. K. The American League is obviously quite a bit of a step up from there, but you still do have a lot of, you know, unpredictability out there that can be tough. I will say, like, when I was playing I played for, you know, a season in Coachella Valley. We were a really good team with a lot of good players that would have fit into an NHL lineup.

You know, that was that was definitely a manageable experience too, like, just because we were so well coached. And the guys had so much experience. Like, we weren't a young team really at all, and and the young guys we did have, I think, are all playing in the NHL. So it was a it was a good team. But but but, no, there's something about just the level of the pace of the NHL.

It's there's honestly, there's something too just about being in the best league in the world. Like, it it brings your game up to another level, which, you know, I think is a big part of it too.

How's your game evolved? Like, it's been a while since I've seen you. Obviously, Seattle and and when you were in the American League, it was on the East Coast team, so I didn't get to see you here coming through town. You're in Russia. How's I mean, the game's changed.

Like, if you think about it, how much has the game changed in the three years since we talked last? And I'm curious how your game has evolved along with that.

Yeah. It's gotten faster for sure. Just the speed and deception of guys is really I I noticed the deception a lot. I even if you noticed the other day, I'm like, when I was coming up, like, my first half of my career, everyone would shoot high. So, like, I got really good at making like, even just in practice, it's like I think games, more or less, it's the same, but guys now shoot low over the pad, like, with the just incredible precision.

Yep. And I and you and it's so it's caused me to change my hands a little bit. Like, I I got really comfortable with making saves up high, and, you know, I'm a bigger goalie. Although at at the NHL level, I'm pretty sure I'm I'm probably spot on the average at six to four. But still, I've got enough height where I can get you know, I can make saves with my shoulders, you know, when I'm, you know, in down in the butterfly as long as, you know, I have my my depth, you know, in a good place.

So but now when these guys are coming in and they're changing the angle and they're putting it right over the pad, it's a long way for your glove to get all the way down there or your blocker to get all the way down there if you're also covering the the top half of the net. So guys have just been kinda figuring out the goalies, I think, is along the way. So there's just little changes like that. And then as I've just gotten older as as in regards to changing my game, I'm trying to keep the speed. Like, when I'm you know, as as as a young goalie, you're quick, but you don't really have the the reads down quite yet.

I've always been calm, but you really just have that built in motor when you're 23 years old where you can just fly across. And it's just you know, you don't really have to work on it. You just you got it, and and it's there. And now at 32, I think it's been you know, I need to work at it. I need to make sure that my pregame, my everyday, my prepractice routines are okay.

Hit your spots. Be fast. Be explosive, also be quiet, but still have that explosiveness. Because it it I've noticed it doesn't just come naturally anymore. You have to work at it and keep it.

And and I've noticed, know, a lot of the guys that stick around a long time, they have these off ice habits and the prepractice habits dialed into a point where they're working on them every day, and that's why they're able to to play at a high level for such a long time.

Well, I mean, you you played with Bob in Florida. You've seen it firsthand. Like, any any examples that you can cite where, like, be beyond him or besides him or even from him where, you know, you've evolved the way you train and prepare after having seen it?

Yeah. Well, I remember walking into Florida thinking like, hey. I'm I'm gonna be the most prepared guy here. I'm gonna be first guy at the rink. And I'm I've told this story before, but I showed up and Bob was doing, like, a handstand at, like, 07:30 in the morning in the gym that I was walking past.

I'm like, jeez. Like, okay. I guess I guess I wasn't the first one at the rig today. And he's just, like, in there, like, upside down. And then I walked back, and he's got, like, the Swiss ball out, like, in the splits.

Like, I'm just like, okay. Well, this guy's on a whole whole another level. And but, yeah, his preparation was was genuinely very, very impressive. And and the craziest part too is he'd be doing all this stuff at the rink, and he's got a full gym at home where he goes home, and he's doing stuff for hours and hours at home. So, like, you don't even see half the stuff he's doing, and he's still doing more than everyone at the rink.

So, yeah, that kind of like, you you hear you know, you you read books or whatever. Like, you know, whoever prepares the most will will play the best for the most part and, you know, you have to work hard, all that stuff. It really strikes a chord when you see it, like, in practice with a guy like, you say, oh, that's that's what they mean by that. Like, this guy is committed with every every, you know, bone in his body to be the best in the world. So I think it's yeah, it's it was it was eye opening for me to see it the first time.

It's definitely helped me kind of realize what I need to do in my preparation in order to compete at the highest level.

It's probably why those of us who have seen or heard these stories, you know, don't fall into the trap of, oh, he's he's 40 or, you know, he's gonna fall off a cliff because of his age because you've seen the work. But, like, it's not for everyone to that level. Right? Like, how do you find that balance, between, you know, that extreme and something that's a little more manageable. You like, a manageable one might be the wrong Yeah.

Chris, but you know what I mean. Like, not everyone can be that tenth degree and still be themselves and be at their best.

I find there's a bit of a balance to like, you need to do the work, and then you also need to know that the work that you've done isn't is enough. Like, that confidence that you're like, I've done it, and and I'm good. Like, I don't need to because I've seen guys, they get in their head, and they're like, well, oh, no. But I didn't I didn't do this. Oh, and then, oh, I need to do this.

I find there's a bit of a balance to like, you need to do the work, and then you also need to know that the work that you've done isn't is enough. Like, that confidence that you're like, I've done it, and and I'm good. Like, I don't need to because I've seen guys, they get in their head, and they're like, well, oh, no. But I didn't I didn't do this. Oh, and then, oh, I need to do this.

Oh, I'm you know, I don't feel that great. Let me just bounce the ball off the wall a couple more times. Like and then it kinda becomes an anxiety thing, which, in my experience, doesn't help doesn't help me play well. I I don't think it helps, you know, most most people when you're when you're playing anxious. So, yeah, to I I I really like the idea of you go in, you do a lot of work, and you do what you need to do, but you're confident and you know what it is you need to do to play your best, and you're at peace with that.

And and you know that your training's enough. You don't need to chase chase more little tiny little things here and there that can maybe they'll make a tiny difference, but then you also are compensating with with some anxiety that, you know, that's not gonna help you play your best. You need you need that confidence, little swagger even, I think. And, like, knowing knowing you've done the work that you need to do and being good with that, I think, is is pretty important too.

Kinda like it's an oversimplification in terms of a comparison, but, like, going to school, you remember the you you knew when you walked into a test whether you were ready or whether you hadn't done your homework and you were panicked. Like, that feeling of sort of feeling you prepared for the test almost.

A 100%. Yeah. And it's I mean, every game's a test. You've So be comfortable with the work you're doing. Right?

Speaking of work, I'm curious what type what type of, you know, like, type of coach? What what was the experience like in the KHL? You said it ended earlier than you'd hoped. What was the coaching like? What was the approach like?

Was it what you expected? We see so many. We talked about Bob. We see all these young goaltenders coming over just uber skilled. Talked to a lot of them about the way the game is played over there.

It's quite an quite different than over here, but also the way the goalie coaching has gone over the past. I'd be curious what your experience was in your time there.

Yeah. I had a great goalie coach over there, Peter Skrelly. He is I'm gonna get this wrong. He he's either lives in Slovenia and is from Slovakia or he's from Slovakia and lives in Slovenia, and I could never get it right which one was which. Because they're such similar countries in my head.

Having not not been to either of them, but but he's a good guy. Really nice guy. Younger guy. He's been there for a while. His approach he was pretty good.

Like, he his whole thing was, like, if I could just boil it down, put it put it simply, it was just balance. Like, he wanted you to be balanced, like, basically at all times. Like, you you come, you get to your spots, you stop sharp, and you're in the stance you need to be in, whether it's, you know, shot ready stance, maybe maybe it's like a mid mid stance, or or if it's, you know, far if it's a point point shot or or the puck's a little bit on the perimeter, you'd be in a higher stance. And and but just the balance of that, like, didn't didn't wanna overdo it and and, you know, didn't wanna be too busy and just always able to move quickly. And, yeah, like, you could just always they can practice.

If if I were number off a little bit, you you just go on balance, balance, balance. Let's let's, you know, get our feet under you. You know, don't wanna be too wide in certain situations. So it was pretty simple. Like, it sounds simple, but it kind of just framed the game in a in a pretty, like, I guess, manageable and digestible way for me to kind of think about it, which which I really enjoyed.

And and and he was he was great. The coaching over there in general too is, like, it's I mean, we had an American or I should say Canadian Canadian coach, Ben Grrew. Yeah. I played against him, actually, his team in Syracuse when I was in Binghamton back in the day. And he was good.

He was yet a North American style. But but over there, the Russians are quite skilled. Like, the the defense is not the level of defense that you're seeing in North America.

Lot of East West.

Lot of East West. Lot of East West breakaways, guys coming in, trying all sorts of, you know, like, silky smooth mitts over there, you know, trying to hit the short side, which, you know, from, like, sharp angles a lot. So and there's skilled players there. They're hitting their shots too. Like, it's it's it's a high level over there.

No doubt about it. But but, yeah, it's it's not the most not the most goalie friendly a lot of the time. Like, there's a lot of, yeah, just a lot of high percentage plays and keeps you on your toes. But, yeah, it was different. It was a unique experience over there.

Like, I'm I'm I'm glad I went to just see what it was like over there, but also glad to be back here in in Canada at the same time.

Well, I'm biased, but in the best part of Canada too in Vancouver. So clear by

It's beautiful here. It's beautiful here. My wife was looking around. She's she's never been to Vancouver before. She goes, you know, we could live here if you if you think about it.

Like, it's not so bad here. I'm like, yeah. It's a pretty nice city, and it's been sunny here for the last week. Like, we've been here a week and a half. And Yeah.

Tell her to give tell her to give it a month.

Yeah. Yeah. No. And I I I did. I said it gets a little rainier here, so you gotta be ready for that.

But it is a beautiful city. I mean, there's a reason that Vancouver gets rated one of the, you know, top 10 cities in the world to live in every year. Along with Calgary, though, we're is my hometown.

I know. I know. It's a good spot too.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I I tell her, I say, we're we're, you know, we're both in two great cities. We haven't moved quite yet, but we do love it here.

I loved you talking about the balance. Does that almost become foundational for like like you said, it's a nice simple, like, philosophical, something you can go back to. Does it almost become foundational? Like, hey. Like, when when you look at your game or you're evaluating, like, different guys have different phrases that they'll sort of have in their head or come back to.

Like, balance seems like a really good one, way the game is going. The ability to move if we're in balance, we can move in any direction. We're not caught. We're not stuck.

I I I definitely picked it up as a keyword since working with Pete. And it it just means so many different things kinda like you said. Like, you're in balance. You you know, you're ready to make a save, and you're ready to move. Like, you're not committing early, and you're just in a place where you're you're reactive. So I I do really like it, and it's super simple. It it encompasses a lot, but it boils it down into just one simple phrase that kind of triggers a lot of different responses on, like, how you need to play to to, you know, be your best.

Yeah. I liked it. I I I definitely picked it up as a keyword since working with Pete. And it it just means so many different things kinda like you said. Like, you're in balance. You you know, you're ready to make a save, and you're ready to move. Like, you're not committing early, and you're just in a place where you're you're reactive. So I I do really like it, and it's super simple. It it encompasses a lot, but it boils it down into just one simple phrase that kind of triggers a lot of different responses on, like, how you need to play to to, you know, be your best.

You come into town early, know, get to meet some new teammates, old teammates. You've played with a bunch of the guys that are here with the Canucks, but a new voice, a new goaltending. I asked you what it was like in the KHL last year. Obviously, Coachella, Manitoba, different voices there. Probably probably have some advice on how you do that.

You got Marco Terranius now here who also has KHL experience. A lot of young goalies out there right now heading into a new season with a new voice. How do you how do you manage that? What's the best way to sorta, you know, stay true to who you think you are as a goaltender while still being open to new ideas and philosophies?

Yeah. Great question. Marco's been great too. And he's he's Finnish, and my wife is Finnish. So I've I've been I've been using a couple of my my few Finnish words that I know on him to try and those Finns are kinda tough to crack sometimes to make them laugh, but I've I've I've got them going a couple times.

So it's good we got

It's a good start.

Connection there. But I really like his approach to the game. He has thought through the game to in a level of detail that I think is pretty rare. You know, it sounds like him and and Ian Clark, you know, have a are, you know, very locked in to, like, what the framework is when it cut like, how to how to keep the puck out of the net in the in the best way possible. So it's been a lot of fun.

Like, we've just been going through some video and just, like he's kinda just breaking the game down just, like, piece by piece, and we'll just go start going through as a little just as a little, refresher before camp. He's like, here's how I think of both things, and here's your game, and, you know, here's where I think you're really strong. Here's where I think we can make some improvements. And it's been good. He kinda gives me, like, a couple things to work on, like, for a few skates, and then we'll talk again and give me a couple more things just to think about.

He's like, I don't wanna overwhelm you, but, like, let's just take a couple things. Have intention have intention in your reps. That's been good. He's yeah. And he's got a good, really good eye for the game.

He's he's noticing some things. He's, yeah, he's he's always paying attention. Like, when I say, hey. How was how was that here? And I'll have something in my head.

He'll pick it out every time. Like, he's he's pretty he's pretty locked in. So it's been good. I've only known him for a week and a half now, but already picked up some good stuff and, yeah, looking forward to getting to know more and and, continuing to pick his brain.

Going back to that Net 360 camp and your time with Ottawa, I remember a drill. I think it was you and doing the drill at the same time, and it was a puck at the point and then a backdoor pass. And you were playing it with a little backflow from the top of the crease at a time when everyone else was set square. Now we've seen Swayman and Ullmark talk about recoil in Boston. They call it motion with the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Buckley.

I think in Nashville, they call it teeter. There's different names for this concept of like that, hey, set in square just means stuck in a game that's constantly moving. Have you continued to sort of have that little bit of a drift is another phrase I've heard? Like, it's not the huge old school backwards flow where you're really flying against a rush, but it's just that little subtle release that I remember at the time thinking, I don't see anybody doing it like this. And now here we are, you you were just ahead of the curve.

Yeah. I I think it was the only way I could make those backdoor saves in that in that joke. Was

Tough drill. I remember it. Yes.

But no. I actually remember that specifically. And because me and LB were were talking about that after, and he was just like he's like, I didn't think I needed motion, but and, obviously, I did because I was getting exposed. And we kinda had a a fun little conversation about it.

I think it was Freddie Freddie Chabot at the time. I think that now the goalie coach for the Minnesota Wild was the goalie coach in that Yeah.

That's For sure it was. Yeah. That's fun. That's a throwback for sure. That's a good memory you have on you.

Recoil's always been a part of my game that I think has made me able to get to plays that are tough to get to.

But, but, yeah, no. Recoil's always been a part of my game that I think has made me able to get to plays that are tough to get to. Like, if if a guy comes in and he's a shot threat, but he's also a pass threat and you're stationary, you just don't have much you don't have much of a plan b, and I think you always need a plan b. Like, if things don't go the way you read them, like, you can't be just down and out. You gotta have something left to give.

And just like retreating retreating just a touch. Like, I like the the turn that he's a boss and the recoil because you're not you're not flying backwards. Right? You're Right. It's just a little bit of movement so that when you rotate, it just gives you a little a little more of an angle to get to your post in which you're okay.

Like, you can get to your post. Like, I make a shot. You have you have at least a pad and some sort of extremity to keep the pocket on the bat. And a lot of the times, you get your eyes there, like, you can you can be decently confident that there's a good chance it's gonna hit you. You know?

So especially this plays that are happening so fast these days.

Well, everything's

getting off if you can get there.

East, west, and bodies in front, like, the amount of broke like, the amount of broken plays in the like, I I had the numbers. I pulled them for a thing we did. I don't have them in front of me, but, like, the amount of broken plays in the playoffs last year was up, like, 50% from the year before. It's all about and so if you're stuck on that, you don't have that little bit of motion or movement or recoil or whatever we wanna call it. I guess the one thing that Sway and and Ullmark have talked about.

Like, they get a chance to get to those pucks.

Yeah. And it served them both really well. But, yeah, I I keep that in my game. I think that's a foundational piece for me. I need to be strategic about where I deploy it.

The other thing about that recoil where I've noticed we talked about the league changing, is guys are taking the middle ice more. And so if I use something I've had to make a bit of adjustment with is if I'm sinking back and the guy jumps to the middle, then all of a sudden, I'm way too deep. So that's an instance where I have to say, okay. I need to regain my depth. And then, you know, if he starts coming in, then I use use the recoil.

But that's a play where guy if if guys can take that that middle ice and they come in, like, there's gonna be traffic. It's a good scoring opportunity. Then, you know, there's plays available. There's there's gonna be options for them to go East West. I mean, it's a it's a dangerous play that guys are realizing that they need to take that ice.

And with I can't retreat.

Right. I was just saying with more goal like, a lot of the for a lot of goalies, the solution to all the East West has been to play deeper. And Right. What's the one thing that exposes that more than maybe anything else is middle ice. Like, if if you're playing back and somebody gets into the middle, there's just the net opens up that much more.

Yeah. And especially, they're always a shooting threat from there. So you have to be you have to be at least toes on a crease line, I would say, when that happens. So so that's kinda one of the exceptions, and it's kind of yeah. I had to, like, deprogram my brain from, like, the recoil mindset to then, like, okay.

He jumps in the middle. Let's get let's grab depth and then work from there. But but other than that, like, especially play developing on a rush coming down two on one, three on two, any play like that, like, I I need my backwards momentum, my recoil just to it it just make gives me a chance. Gives me a better chance to have better depth on the initial shot, and that then I'm still able to get to the pass, you know, when they inevitably do make it.

Any other things that, like, little foundational tips that have stayed in your game that have always been a part of your game that that, you know, that you can share?

Good question. I mean, my game's always been very, like, calm, like, no over movement, be good with my rebounds, and well, I I would say another part of it's, like, just the little baby shift into the into the save. Like, be patient with it. But when they shoot, shift into it, maximize the the the square footage of my body and my chest.

Shift rather than reach.

You know, that's how you yeah. Shift rather than reach has always been my approach, and and I've noticed I've noticed that that you know, When guys are on their game, their shifts are impeccable. A good a good example is Dustin Wolf. Like, he's a small, small goalie, and he covers a lot of net because he is so good at reading the releases. And, I mean, his feet are are incredible also.

And he can just shift into it. So he he you know, he's never, like, reaching out and having to make it, you know, those reaching saves, which I mean, when you reach, obviously, you open holes up. So that's that's been a part of my game. I I don't really need to unfortunately, I have a bigger frame. I don't need to overdo it too much on the shifts.

But when I have just a little baby shifts, I you know, puck stick to me, And that's been a, I think, a a strong point of of my game, and it kinda works works well with just being being calm and and and not overdoing the movement and just the little shifts and try to make things as simple as possible in a very complex and fast moving, sport we play.

Toughest job in sports. That's what I say.

Yeah. It's, it's easier some days and and very hard other days. It's yeah. You never yeah. Can't can't get too comfortable ever because it's the game will humble you quickly.

Last one, you you mentioned, Wolf, are there guys you like to watch? Are there guys that you still like I know you're a student of the position. Your your passion for the position rather than you don't just go out and play it. You think it. It's always come through in our conversations.

Are there guys that you like to watch and sort of go to go to school on any any more than others? Or you just always watch them?

Yeah. I would say, like, well, my time in Winnipeg, I was watching Hellebuyck, and he was he was like, it was really good to see him at such a close level. Like, I've seen his, obviously, him on TV and and whatnot all, you know, a bunch. But in person on the ice with him, seeing his practice habits, and seeing how he plays a game was pretty pretty, you know, for me because he plays quite deep. He also has the biggest frame I've seen since, like, Roberto Luongo.

Like, he is I was a good

when you walk by comparison.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, both those guys, off ice are just enormous. Like, shoulder to shoulder. Like, I'm fortunate I have, like, a pretty wide set of shoulders.

Like, this guy's got me by, like, five inches, like, maybe more. Like, it's just it's it's it's incredible. So he's has that wide frame, and he's kinda able to just then play a bit deeper and get to he gets to everything. Like, there's no pucks that are like, he doesn't have a chance at at making the save. So it was cool to see him and just how calm he was because he takes kinda my calmness to the, you know, 10 times times more calm than me, which was which was cool to see.

I like watching Joey, my my buddy there. I think his game's evolved quite a bit over the last, like, five years. Like, he's really, really found his stride, and he moves with with a lot of power, which I which I you know, I I like the like, his technique. I think he's done well for himself. I really like.

Trying to think. Obviously, Bob is fun to watch. He's not him and I don't have really very similar game styles, but I still just love watching them. Well, they're

they're all unique, the ones that you mentioned. Like, they all have different strengths and weaknesses that you're not there's not a cookie cutter in them. Like and being around Helly, like, his ability to read and anticipate the game. I don't know if you got to be a part of any of the video sessions they would do, but Oh, yeah. Sees things as he sees things before, I think, maybe any other goalie in the league sees them.

It's impressive. He's he's got his game in a great place, like, just in a really, really good place. And Flats there too. Wade Flaherty is just such a good sounding board for him too. Like, they just have such a good little, like, one two punch with how they look at the game, and and Flats is just, like, a good guy too.

It's like, he's you know that hell he's just like, he's adding to his confidence every day, and he goes in there and you just know he's gonna keep the puck out of the net. So that was pretty cool. But, no, I I I love watching Bob because, like, think my my favorite save that I've ever seen, and he's done this, like, dozens of times, is where it'll be a two on one, and Bob will be, like, so aggressive and then with, like, a little bit of recoil. But then some guy will like, whoever's on the the puck carrier will make a pass across, and it'll be from his glove side to his blocker side. He'll drop his stick, come across with no stick, and make the blocker save.

And, like, he does it in practice, like, decently often, and I I would just go bananas. Like, whenever I see that, I'll come down like, that's vintage Bob. And he's like, vintage Bob. He loves it too.

So did you guys ever talk about that? Because, like, my like they worked on that in Columbus when I mean, again, you're in Vancouver where Ian Clark is now. Like my understanding is they worked on that and it wasn't just a stick drop. Like he tried to drop it in a place where if that guy that caught the first pass decided to go the other way, there was a chance it hit the stick. Like, it was that methodical.

I didn't know that, but that makes sense. I I didn't talk to him too much about it. Like, I I've done like, as soon as I see saw Bob doing it, like, years ago when I was this person in Florida, like, have done that in games, like and especially in practice. Like, because you do just get a better angle. Like, your stick's heavy.

It slows you down. And if you need to get there and you know it's gonna be fast, like, you can throw a blocker out and get a little bit more a little bit more square footage towards the puck. And and when it and when it works out, it's, like, you know, one of the funnest saves ever. Like, those and and a scorpion save are, like, one and two on my list. But but, yeah, it's just fun.

Like and then he's having fun in practice. Like, it's just fun to see and just his athleticism too. Like, he's so fast at getting across, like, so explosive. But, anyways, I just thought I I had to throw in a a Bobrovsky story for you just so he's he's

Love it.

Such a such a great guy and such a good goaltender. It's yeah.

I love it. I appreciate it. And now in practice, cause you know Marco Marco is gonna be looking for it. Now I need to see at least one of those in practice when I when I get out to the rink and training camp starts and I'm I'll

see what I can do

for I'm gonna looking for the placement of the stick, not just the drop, but the actual placement. Now I got you thinking about it.

Yeah. Now you do have me think because I didn't even know that that was part of the strategy until now, but, it makes sense. I I like I like that that he's thinking about the game that, you know, that that in-depth. So I'll see I'll see what I can do for you on the stick drop vintage Bobrovsky saves.

Well well, I'll if when even when it happens, make sure you look up because up in the media, I'll be just nodding along saying vintage Bobrovsky.

I'll look at you.

Chris, this has been fun, man. Way overdue. Can't wait to see you at camp and and see you back on the ice with the Canucks. Looking forward to catching up more as we go on here. Thank you so much for the time today.

Thanks for having me, Kevin. It's always a pleasure to chat.

Outro

You teased the pads that he's wearing, Joey Daccord's team USA version, that that got people going a little bit.

Oh, yeah. Like, hey, mean, it's Vancouver, right? Like Canadian market. Triggered? Never.

No. They no. No. They weren't. I I guess actually, there might be some I mean, let's be honest, Canada USA.

I mean, we talked about Chris representing Canada at the World Championships and getting hurt there and wearing team USA pads in Canada in the midst of a trade war. It might trigger some people if they actually knew, but they were actually just speculating that it was part of a new jersey. That he that somehow he was ahead of the curve and had gear that was gonna be part of a a new third jersey that would be unveiled this year. So never a dull time. I honestly, when I first saw it, had no idea what it was all about.

I I hadn't even had my list of questions, and it was like, oh, yeah. I gotta ask him. Like, why is he wearing this gear? And the story was fantastic. So they've truly got a a a really good friendship.

He mentioned his time spent back in Boston at Stop It Goaltending. You know, like, he's just one of the great guys in the game, and I'm kinda hoping he gets a shot here because, like I said, like, the last couple of years he was in the National Hockey League, his numbers, his success, it was really really good. Even coming off the knee injury, know, he's a guy that really reads and thinks the game really well. I'd love to see him get an opportunity.

And that's an interesting priest to start the season in Vancouver.

Yeah. A lot of questions about who's gonna be healthy. Obviously, you know, when will we see Thatcher Demko? Camp opens in three days, and so far there's been no commitment to him being a part of it out of the gate. Doesn't mean he won't be, but it sure sounds like some of the reporting around it as if he might need a little more time coming off the hip surgery.

So, fingers crossed for him too. This has not been an easy time. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to rehab and rehab and rehab and then keep getting hurt again. That's gotta wear on you mentally. So your hope for him would be if he's not available at the beginning, then whenever he is back, it's that he's back for a long time because, he's he's been through the wringer.

And if in the meantime, that means we get to see Chris Driedger, count me in.

Looking forward to the next time we get together. Also, to settle our little bit of our debate.

Is it a debate or a grievance

would say it's a debate. Okay. You're taking it as a grievance.

I take everything as a grievance. Let's be honest. I'm like it's like that it's like when in the Avengers when they say to Bruce Banner that it's time for him to get angry and he says, that's the secret. I'm always angry.

You got you got a little bit of a burr under Hutch's saddle today too. That's when I know that you're argumentative.

I'm just having fun.

I liked it.

Yeah. It's like Hutch likes to poke the bear. I do like to poke the bear. I like to take the opposite side. If Woody had taken the other side, I'd be all in on his side.

It's He

just just go in. I enjoyed hearing your your voice raised.

Did I raise it? Raise your voice.

Oh, yeah. It was pretty good. There were some upward inflections Sometimes you have

sometimes you have to to get a word in edgewise with Woody around.

That's true. Just hopefully your levels didn't peak.

Talk to everybody next time. When we visit again, camps will be open, and we will be another step down the road towards a new NHL season. This is InGoal Radio, the podcast presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Langley, thehockeyshop.com.