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076 - Finding the Right League for You
115 Plays13 days ago
Check out the new and improved website, combining our DIY Goalie content with our True North Goaltending coaching services at https://truenorthgoaltending.com
Looking for placement or representation from Nathan? Visit advocateathlete.com or email goalies@truenorthgoaltending.com
This week's episode revisits a listener question from our mailbag episode a few weeks ago. We tackle this one in it's own episode as it asks what to expect going into the draft eligible year for the CHL and what the advantages and disadvantages of certain leagues are.
We speak mostly on the leagues in western Canada as that is best related to our experiences, but talk about some advantages and disadvantages of academies vs club hockey, unsanctioned vs sanctioned, etc.
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Transcript
Introduction to DIY Goalie Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast, where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become ah better goalie.
00:00:18
Speaker
Goalies, welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. Take two, hopefully this one goes as well.
00:00:29
Speaker
We're continuing Connor's momentum from last week of having like seven takes before he got the episode right. Um, we're finally back together. seems like it's been a while since just been an episode with you and i So as always, myself, Nathan Park, and my co-host Connor Monday, and we are joined again by Emerson Monday, who is learning all the ropes as she's, you know, a month or two old and, uh, really going to be a superstar in the making with all the info we're feeding her early on.
00:01:02
Speaker
Um, how are we doing over there today, Connor? uh yeah um i'm showing her pro reads right now and pro drills and all that with with our fellas over at uh at in gold mag but uh no we're just passed out my arms right now she uh she's fussing a little she was fussing a little bit but uh we've uh managed to kind of calm down so now she's asleep in my arms so we'll just uh Hope that is the case for the rest of this pod. And yeah, like Nathan said, we're, we're take two into this today. I just, I'm just, unfortunately just couldn't collect my thoughts last time. Couldn't do it this time.
00:01:39
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it, it is what it is, but yeah, no, it definitely feels like it's been
DIY Goalie and True North Goaltending Merger
00:01:44
Speaker
a while. Cause it was me last week. And then we had Riyad Kamas the week before. And then I think the week before the, the week, the week but before that was, was me again. So where you been, man?
00:01:56
Speaker
I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere. Yeah, we're we're finally starting to wind down a little bit after the craziness of e valuation season. We've got a nice little little bit of a lull before all the actual development stuff kind of kicks in here. So, yeah, it's it's been a busy time.
00:02:18
Speaker
i It's nice to finally have the new website from the DIY goalie stuff all merged over to True North Gold Tending.
00:02:29
Speaker
That is done. There's still things I need to do to the website to spruce it up a bit, but it is functional. It does work. So if you guys want to go over, check that out. We do have a concentration grid generator on there, as well as the merch drills, the articles, um, the podcasts, all that good stuff.
00:02:50
Speaker
And of course our in-person goalie coaching services, um, what's coming down the pipeline too, uh, once I get time, which I don't ever have enough of, but, um,
00:03:02
Speaker
We are going to be working on our virtual programs and streamlining that a little bit to be able to offer a little bit more for you guys. And we are also going to be putting together that coaches course for how to support our goalies a little bit better.
00:03:21
Speaker
So that's on the docket. That's going to come down the road. i'll I'll try and streamline and be as quick as I can on that, but things things are usually busy and in my side of things. So um
Reviving the Art of Using Sticks
00:03:36
Speaker
yeah, we'll we'll see how that goes. But I think before we get started, i need to have kind of an old man yells at cloud rant um before we get into David's.
00:03:49
Speaker
Yeah. so I've obviously been watching a lot of hockey over the last little bit in terms of doing evaluations for programs, as well as like evaluation goalie sessions and stuff like that.
00:04:04
Speaker
Um, started working with an academy recently as well. Um, I don't know how much of this is me getting old and, you know, now that I'm in my thirties, I know a lot of you out there are probably like, you're not old, but,
00:04:20
Speaker
terms of uh goal tending i'm old um i don't understand why everybody is so anti using their stick nowadays like i get the movement like or i get the thought process behind using the pads with how like much the puck bounces off pads nowadays and sometimes we don't have the um time, I guess, to actually execute a proper stick save.
00:04:52
Speaker
But I feel like goalies are actively not using their stick and I know there are goalie coaches out there that are not teaching using the stick at all and just using pads.
00:05:03
Speaker
And that's my kind of old man yells at cloud moment. I'm just kind of sitting here like, I feel like it's a dying art and we need to implement our stick more.
00:05:17
Speaker
It's kind of baffling me a little bit because I saw a lot of goalies actively not using their stick and using their pads and kicking out some pretty atrocious rebounds that they do not have control over when it was a very easy situation to make a stick save with.
00:05:37
Speaker
And you have so much more control using a stick. And yeah, I don't know. That's just my old
Impact of Pad Technology on Rebound Control
00:05:44
Speaker
man rant for today. I had to get that off my chest before we get going. So is that your segment today? Is that the segment for today? Why is nobody using their stick?
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah. See you go Well, goalies, thanks so much for listening to the DIY goalie podcast presented by true. Um, no, I, I, I totally, I totally get it. Like, um, I know, like I've seen it a bit and I know that pad technology nowadays is geared more towards controlling your rebound or getting a better pop off the pad where it basically flies to the blue line.
00:06:20
Speaker
Um, yeah, I don't know. Like, I think, um, I think we could be running into some real trouble with that. um Because like otherwise, like what's the point of the stick, really? I think... Well, actually, you know what? like as As I'm thinking about it live, could be this way. It could be the same mentality as kind of as the RVH and how it's misused a lot.
00:06:43
Speaker
Right. So I think just kind of like because goalie goalie companies and goalie pad companies will gear more towards, you know, ah hey, our pads have better rebound control, this, this and that. So you can pop your rebounds farther, this, this and that. And so I think goalies.
00:06:58
Speaker
are so geared or so excited rather towards that, that they forget about the stick entirely. And with some goalie coaches are teaching. that I just, I think it's the same mentality, I guess, in a way as, as the ah RVH, it's just, it's starting to get misused.
00:07:18
Speaker
You know, my theory on it is, Now sticks are $450 and nobody wants a single puck to touch their stick. That's true. Where's our, where where's it? Where's our boy, uh, uh, belly with, uh, if you guys go back to the episode of Nathan Bellable, there is a, a coupon code to use at KYC sports.
00:07:42
Speaker
Although I don't think they have any goalie sticks right now. I think it's just player sticks. There's still, I think trying to figure out, um, figure out the technology on the goalie side.
00:07:53
Speaker
But I feel like, I feel like we should be involved in that. I feel like there should be like a KYC sports true North partnership there. Yeah. I'm sure we could figure something out. um I'll fit it into my schedule two months from now. Just add it added on to bullet list the list of things that you already have going on.
00:08:11
Speaker
Anyways, I get like, I gave, i gave you props in the last episode, but I guess I'll actually, you know, be mushy gushy and give it here, man. Like you've been, you've been on the grind. You have been on the grind and just putting together just some excellent programs here. And ah so I guess just like like I said in the last episode, I'll put it here as well. The stick taps to you for, you know, grinding away and getting all this getting all this stuff done.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, thanks. i Some days I kind of question why I decided to do all of this, but you know we're here. We're we're pushing through. and is there's there is um There is one other thing that I wanted to touch on here before we kind of jump into our stuff
Nathan's New Role at Advocate Athlete
00:08:54
Speaker
today. And I don't know if we've talked about it yet in ah in a pod, but you were hired as an agent slash goalie director with uh with with an agency so just kind of just kind of talk talk to us about that like how did that all i mean like you've told me personally but just kind of tell our viewers it's like how did that all come about and uh and uh what can we expect out of you
00:09:16
Speaker
Yeah, so I was actually going to touch on that because it does relate to the um topic that we're going to cover today. um So I was going to touch on that later, but we can get out of the way.
00:09:27
Speaker
So, yeah, there's I joined an agency called Advocate Athlete, and it was started by a former teammate of mine when I played in Fort Francis in Ontario.
00:09:41
Speaker
um He actually got the RBC Cup game winning goal in overtime against the brook band Brooks Bandits in 2017, I think.
00:09:53
Speaker
um Point shot from the blue line overtime winner. So he started this company a couple of years ago and they've kind of started not only doing the agency side of things and the representation, but they also do like mentorship stuff and video breakdown stuff and kind of their philosophy behind things was trying to get, programs set up that they didn't have while playing, um, him and a D partner that he had, they kind of started this together.
00:10:26
Speaker
um, So they're looking to basically just provide resources and programs for players to, you know, further their their careers and help them find placements and stuff like that. so Um, I've been looking to get into more of the hockey side of things to hopefully be able to move towards doing this full time because some of you may know, some of you may not. i also have a day job on top of the business, on top of two kids and a wife, on top of having two billets.
00:10:59
Speaker
Uh, so this is, uh, hopefully a step towards being able to do this a little bit more full time, but, um, Yeah, so they didn't have anyone um who had any knowledge with goaltending. So I've kind of come on board to help them with that. So I've done like some video breakdowns with ah with some goalies already. And then, yeah, just kind of trying to get my feet wet and learn a little bit on the agency side of things, because I think that's good to know and good to get connections with and just kind of you know start that side of things. So
00:11:35
Speaker
and Yeah, it's a bit of a new venture, kind of testing the ropes, testing the waters a little bit and helping them out too. And yeah, they they're building and trying to kind of, you know, um revamp but a little bit and as they figure things out too. And so I think it's a...
00:11:56
Speaker
pretty cool thing to be a part of so we'll put uh all that in the show notes if you guys are interested in getting advisorship or mentorship or anything like that um it's advocate athlete but yeah we'll put in the the socials and and the website and all that in the show notes if you guys are interested and want to reach out and you can always send me an email goalies at true northgoaltending.com too that's always an avenue if you ever want to get in touch so
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's kind of, you know, didn't think I had enough on my plate, so figured I'd add some more.
00:12:34
Speaker
so Well, you know what? i I have no sympathy for you. Nor should you. I did it to myself. But yeah, so that's right. What are we talking about today?
00:12:48
Speaker
Yeah. So going back to, well, we're probably like a month or two ago now when we did this, but kind of our listener question mailbag episodes. um We touched on it briefly, but there was one question that we said we would circle back to.
00:13:07
Speaker
And today is that fateful day that we're circling back to it. So David M, who is ah friend of my mom's actually, and I've worked with his goalie before, and but his question was, would love to learn more about what to expect coming into your draft year.
00:13:28
Speaker
pass for goalies and late bloomers, and feedback on the advantages, disadvantages of the different leagues, AEHL, CSSHL, JPHL, AJHL, BCHL, etc.
00:13:42
Speaker
So for some context, they're based in the Calgary area. um So a lot of these leagues are kind of, you know, in Alberta and BC, kind of Western Canada.
00:13:54
Speaker
um So we'll kind of touch somewhat specifically on them, but we'll kind of also touch on just kind of general paths too for careers, because there's a lot of things that have changed over the years.
00:14:07
Speaker
um I'm still trying to kind of figure it out too, because things are very different than even five years ago, um as well as like when we played, like when we played, there's kind of basically one stream through minor hockey, and then you split into either major junior or kind of the junior NCAA route.
00:14:30
Speaker
And now that is all in a blender and all up in the air. So we'll kind of go through some of that. And yeah, that's kind of going to be the topic for
Handling Pressure During Draft Year
00:14:42
Speaker
today. So and Connor reached out to Curtis Mooka, who is the Edmonton Oil Kings goalie coach, as well as kind of a former coach and mentor of Connor.
00:14:55
Speaker
I don't have as much experience with Curtis, but I have helped him out, um, in his kind of goalie coaching side of things before. um but Connor, why don't you kind of give us the Coles notes a little bit on what Curtis, uh, gave you for information, I guess, based around, uh, around this question.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, I guess first off, just like huge, thank you to Curtis for, uh, you know, taking my call and just kind of chat with me about it. Uh, um Yeah, so um when I was talking with Curtis, we kind of talked quite at length a bit about this.
00:15:32
Speaker
And so the biggest thing that he was saying um that he kind of takes away from kind of what to expect or your expectations um when it comes coming into your draft year is pressure.
00:15:43
Speaker
How do you handle the pressure, whether it's pressure from the media, self-induced, um you know, just kind of in that sort of spectrum. It's just how do you um how do you handle the big moments essentially is is what he was going on about and those was that so that's that's i think makes a lot of sense you know when we see guys like nil yakupov as an example you know he was supposed to be like this next big thing coming into oil country before conor mcdavid and and he just he he completely he was just he was not the guy that uh
00:16:19
Speaker
that's a lot of fans had ah had had envisioned him to be. So I think just kind of that was that was the biggest takeaway with him was just how do you handle the pressure, you know, whether it's coming from yourself or um media fans, the organization, whatever that may be, is that we we want to make sure it's just, you know, how how you handle yourself.
00:16:43
Speaker
and how you perform, excuse me, in the, in the big moments there. um And so, I mean, like we, we deal with pressure all the time and, you know, in any sort of circumstance, you know, whether it's overtime or, you know, you're up by a goal or you're down by a goal or whatever that may be is that, you know, we deal with,
00:17:01
Speaker
those certain types of things. And so it doesn't matter at what kind of age level that you're at, um, is just your coaches want you to thrive under pressure and, you know, and to be able to perform in the big moments. And, uh, and so that was, that was, that was the biggest thing.
00:17:19
Speaker
And I think, I think it's a good thing to, to, to take away from, from that is, you know, what, what Curtis was saying is just, you know, how do you, how do you handle, how do you handle the big moments? How do you handle the pressure? Yeah, big one too that I know like the scouts and the coaches look for is their kind of version of consistency. Like does the way you play kind of, you know, offer the same result pretty much night in and night out? Like coaches want goalies that they can rely on or that they know what they're going to get from them, right?
00:17:55
Speaker
So if you're a goalie that maybe – struggles with, you know, your mindset or your routine or something like that. And it leads to you being in one game where you have a 55 save shutout in the very next game, you're letting in five of the first six shots.
00:18:14
Speaker
um That might be something you kind of want to clean up a little bit because that is definitely something, whether it's right or wrong is another argument. But that is for sure something that most coaches are looking for when it comes to draft.
00:18:30
Speaker
um The other thing when it comes to going into your draft too, is if you do find yourself in the year or two leading up to a draft year, and if you're in a position that you might potentially be drafted, whether it's a Bantam draft, whether it's an NHL draft, a junior draft, whatever the case is, and we need to make sure that you're You're doing the things you need to do off the ice as well as on the ice. And that means like active act professionally. So are you dressing properly when you go to the rink? Because you never know when scout might be at a game. They like what they see. They ask your coach to send you out to talk to them after the game or whatever, because that does happen.
00:19:17
Speaker
And if you're walking out in Crocs and socks and, you know, a button up Hawaiian shirt or whatever the case is, right? um That sort of stuff is kind of stuff that they will make note of, right? So make sure you're acting professional, um you know, you're showing well, you're you're being, you know, you're having a good attitude, um all of that sort of stuff. Make sure when you're on the ice, your body language is good. Even if you let in a bad goal, show, you never know, somebody might be there, show them that you bounce back properly, um that you have a good reset routine, you don't let it derail your game, all that sort of stuff.
00:20:00
Speaker
That's kind of the stuff that people will see you when they come and scout you and they come and watch you. um The other thing is too, is you know Try and ask around, find which tournaments or which camps or whatever that these coaches or scouts will be at because that can kind of help get your name out there too. like But make sure that it's legit because a lot of these um camps and stuff can say that they have a bunch of scouts coming to them and it's really just a cash grab.
00:20:32
Speaker
So kind of ask around, you know get some intel from maybe – you know, parents or players that have been through it maybe two, three years before you have and kind of get the the info on that to be able to put yourself in the right spots to get looks because a lot of hockey is right place, right time.
00:20:55
Speaker
You can have all the skill in the world, but if nobody sees you, unfortunately, you don't go anywhere and vice versa. You could maybe not be the most skilled guy out there, but You have somebody looking for a third line grinder for their team at the right place and they see you grinding it out. They like your attitude. They like your effort. All a sudden you're on their radar, right?
00:21:16
Speaker
So um just make sure that you're doing the right things.
Creating Video Packages for Scouts
00:21:20
Speaker
You're staying true to how you play. Don't try and play like somebody else and be professional and all that good stuff and make sure you're doing the right things because you never know who's watching.
00:21:32
Speaker
Same goes with practice, right? Your coach has a lot of input for these guys. Make sure that they have a good word to say about you.
00:21:42
Speaker
i was going to, yeah, I guess I was going to jump on that just kind of with the, the, the, just kind of you're representing yourself, you know, like you're, you're, you're advertising yourself in a way. Right. And so that's, that's, um that's a big one there.
00:21:59
Speaker
Um, speaking of coaches talking to each other, i did ask, um, just kind of the question because Dustin Schwartz and Curtis Mooka, two former teachers of mine, um, very, very close and very, very tight. And so it just kind of was a match made in heaven with,
00:22:17
Speaker
dustin working with the oilers at the time and curtis working with the all kings so i did ask the question of is there any um kind of communication i guess between him and uh dustin shorts of the edmonton orders when it came to goaltending prospects with the all kings um and talking about just kind of was there any dialogue there the answer i got was actually quite surprising and there actually there wasn't really um the only uh the only time um that i guess they kind of really did talk about any goaltending prospects which i i'm i'm i'm assuming that they did but i guess like in terms of anything that like could have had any actual potential or any real value was when uh sebastian kosa was um uh was in his draft here and drafted by the red wings um so i think so it was it was quite surprising to me that you know they didn't really talk very much regarding kind of potential um
00:23:13
Speaker
prospect, goaltending prospects when it came to the Oil Kings and the Oilers, which I suppose makes sense to ah to an exam. The Oilers do have their their goalie kind of scout guy. And um i was in the the old Kings, they have their due process ah and when ah when it when it comes to that. But, mean, the the the thing is, and that and the the takeaway at the end of the day is that like the hockey world is small, the goaltending world is smaller, like Nathan likes to point out. And so we do we do all talk to each other. And so and the word of mouth does fly around very, very quickly.
00:23:47
Speaker
Yeah. So that that is something to consider as well, is that, you know, you want to be, if you if you're going to be so if you want to be spoken about, you want to be spoken about in a positive light rather than negative. yeah so that's going to be a big thing leading into the draft um the other thing too so we're in the age of technology we're in the age of live barn and black bear tv and flow hockey and whatever else there's like a bajillion it's basically like cable now you have to have like 12 different subscribers to watch players play um but
00:24:26
Speaker
If you are putting together like, um you know, a video package or whatever to send to coaches or scouts, um don't make it just a highlight reel.
00:24:41
Speaker
Include some goals against. And if you can, try and group things in games. So like have... one game worth in one video of saves and goals and puck playing and then have another video that's another game's worth of saves and goals and puck playing.
00:25:01
Speaker
um There's a lot of kids out there that put together their best highlights, their top highlights and send that out and around as packages.
00:25:13
Speaker
It's it doesn't tell the story. It really doesn't. Right. Like Coaches and scouts, they want to see the things you need to work on just as much as they want to see the things you're good at.
00:25:26
Speaker
And the other thing is, too, is every other player out there is sending their highlight package. So you'll actually stand out a little bit more if you are willing to put yourself out there with your mistakes as well.
00:25:42
Speaker
And to be like, hey, I've let in these goals too. This gives you an idea of some of the things they need to work on. But, you know, as a goalie coach, like if I'm picking between four or five of, you know, I guess two of like four or five goalies that I'm looking at and they're sending me video and stuff like that.
00:26:05
Speaker
I'm gonna look at maybe one who you know, maybe they are foundationally very good, but they just don't have the skating ability and they play too far out of their net because of, or like, and it doesn't support their skating ability.
00:26:23
Speaker
um That I can look at and be like, okay, we can fix that. I don't mind like every goal they're letting in. They're just a little bit behind because they're too far out and they don't skate very well. We can fix that as opposed to maybe goalie,
00:26:37
Speaker
B, that is letting in goals because they can't track a puck or, you know, they just, you know, are lacking some other foundational skill or they don't have the situational awareness or they don't have the effort or whatever the case is that's harder to teach.
00:26:53
Speaker
That's going to play a factor into the decision I make. Right. And so that's why you guys want to include goals as well saves and puck playing too. So you can showcase those skills as well, because that's important for these coaches too.
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah, no, for sure. That's a, that's a big thing. um I want to move on just kind of talking about late bloomers um for a second there.
00:27:23
Speaker
And so Curtis was telling me, you know, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of good stories, you know, about goalies and players just in general, just kind of coming up in late bloomer stages, you know,
00:27:37
Speaker
um Obviously, the grind to get there is a little bit more more more more uphill, I suppose, in a sense. And so, you know, the biggest thing, you know, he was he, Curtis, was telling me was, um you know, like, like and if you're able to get on with, like, a junior team of some sort, you know, in the AJHL, BCHL, or anything, you know, along along those lines, um you know, you just...
00:28:05
Speaker
that is, that is an option and an Avenue, you know, in order to get to the next level. I mean, we've seen stories like Kale McCarr, uh, who played, I think it was with the saints and it's Brooks bandits, Brooks bandits. Thank you.
00:28:19
Speaker
Uh, who then went on to play down NCAA wins the Hobie Baker and then gets drafted by the Colorado avalanche, you know? So like there are, there are options for that. And, you know, like we talk about goalies a lot, you know, just kind of, um,
00:28:34
Speaker
you know, really being a big culprit when it comes to that, you know, late bloomer um stage, you know, where we see prospective goalies that, you know, will get drafted, but we won't really hear from them again for another couple of years. Jesper Wohlstad coming to mind as an example.
00:28:52
Speaker
Stuart Skinner, again, as much as I like to plug him around here. ah But another another good prime example of that is just, you know, just, be aware that, you know, it will take a little bit extra, extra time just to kind of put nose to the grindstone, if you will.
00:29:12
Speaker
And, um, you know, just do, just do what you need to do in order to get to the next level. Yeah. Um, How I see it is, i mean, part of it, I think, is kind of the lack of development goalies get during their career.
00:29:29
Speaker
That kind of leads to us being a little bit more quote unquote late bloomers. The other thing too, is there's just so much less spots for goalies, right? So like, it's hard to break in as a new goalie. And unfortunately too, the mindset is always experience trumps all like,
00:29:50
Speaker
If you look on paper, a junior team would much rather take a 20 year old over a 17 year old just because they quote unquote have the experience. Whereas that's not always the best move. Your 17 year old goalie could potentially be better than that 20 year old goalie, right?
00:30:07
Speaker
um So there's a lot of factors I think that kind of play against us as goalies that lead to us being, you know, labeled as late bloomers. um I think the biggest thing is, is just trying to push through the adversity um and trying to just continue to do what you need to do to improve your game.
00:30:32
Speaker
um Put yourself in the positions as best you can to get the looks. Because again, that's kind of what it comes down to in the goaltending world. Like we talked about, it comes down to a lot of who you know and being in the right place at the right time, right? And so,
00:30:50
Speaker
You know, that's again kind of why nowadays having an advisor at a younger age is becoming more and more common because a there's so many different options now and B, because people are just trying to get names out there, right? They're trying to get on people's radar.
00:31:11
Speaker
There's so many teams nowadays, there's so many leagues nowadays, and it's really hard to navigate this current landscape of hockey. And we'll kind of get into that a little bit more and in a little bit here, but... so The more good things that you can do, the more you can improve your game incrementally every single day.
00:31:33
Speaker
Those are the things that are going to help you to really kind of push through that mold, regardless of what age you're at. Right. I mean, you look at guys like Victor Foss, who is what, 30 something when he broke into the and NHL.
00:31:45
Speaker
I mean, he only was around for two or three seasons, at least notably. Right. But that's something, you know, You just never know.
00:31:56
Speaker
i mean, there was, am I thinking of? Zach Facali, I think, um who's just been grinding and grinding and semi-pro in Europe, has had a couple ah cups of coffee in the NHL.
00:32:11
Speaker
um But you just never know. Like, I mean, even a guy like Calvin Pickard, who looked like he was kind of not going to be in the NHL anymore and just going to be a career AHL goalie, all of a sudden gets a shot with the Oilers and, you know, has kind of gave himself some career stability.
00:32:29
Speaker
um So if you are serious about wanting to play at a high level and at an elite level, Just keep putting in the work. It might not always pay off. That's the unfortunate reality. But at least then you can kind of tell yourself, hey, I did what I could. I put in the effort. I tried. It just didn't happen. But um it's tough. Like the odds are stacked against us as goalies. And that's why I think we're always labeled as late bloomers.
00:32:59
Speaker
But just do what you got to do. Put in the work and get better every day. And yeah, do the right things. Yeah. When I was chatting with Curtis, um, we talked about, we we talked about a number of different
Differentiating Goalies for Scouts
00:33:14
Speaker
things. So I'll just kind of rattle it off here. Like I was telling them, um, and this kind of paints me a little bit in a bad light is that there has been a couple of points in time where I have struggled to, um kind of differentiate between two goalies. Sometimes it's just, uh, I think the example that I used was, uh, like a 17 year old Sebastian Casa and, um,
00:33:36
Speaker
I think I said, i don't remember who I said. I think it was like Stuart Skinner or somebody along those lines um where, you know, both of which two very good goalies.
00:33:48
Speaker
um And so just trying to, like, like if if if you were to tell me, you know, one of them's a WHL goaltender and the other one isn't, I wouldn't have been able to pick them out in the crowd. kind of says a lot about me to be honest um and so i was telling him it's just like what would like i had asked him and we kind of touched on this already just kind of what would define a whl goalie or they differentiate you know a a goalie that's at the brink of being able to make it to the next level um
00:34:20
Speaker
and or And and and the W.H.O. goalie. And so he was saying consistency, which we kind of talked about already. um And so that was that was the that was that was the biggest takeaway with that. So, you know, I guess, you know, I guess in terms of expectations for draft is that, ah you know, how do you handle it yourself under pressure and then maintaining consistency?
00:34:41
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, too, like. In my opinion, a lot of it, when you get to those higher levels and the margin is so razor thin, lot of it comes down to fit, right? Like, are you a team that gives up a lot on the rush?
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, the goalie that's better on the rush is probably going be a better fit for you, right? Or are you a team that really collapses in the house and you need somebody who can fight through traffic really well, right? Like these are the things that at those higher levels,
00:35:14
Speaker
are going to be kind of make or break, right? And what i like, one thing that I think um goalies kind of struggle with too is the situational awareness. That's one that at the higher levels really is going to make or break a team um as to if you can actually, you know,
00:35:42
Speaker
beyond the team, I guess. So like the scouts or the coach or whatever is going to look at these things like situational awareness. That's going to be a big one for them. and That's going to really set you apart at that higher level.
00:35:56
Speaker
um There's also going to be just kind of those subtle things like um how much is your effort or your battle? That's a big one that coaches look at too.
00:36:07
Speaker
Do you battle hard on every play? Do you try and throw something out to keep the puck out? Do you follow your rebounds and push to them? Do you push across on lateral plays? You know, like all of this stuff.
00:36:19
Speaker
um They're like that on top of the stick handling. Those are kind of, you know, the smaller details that when you get to those levels and the margin is razor thin on skill set.
00:36:35
Speaker
That's what they're going to look for. Right. And just coming out of evaluations at like double A levels and stuff like this over the last couple weeks, there's a few times where goalies are really close together in overall skill set.
00:36:52
Speaker
And I have to talk to the coaches and be like, what are you looking for? Right? Like, do you want a goalie that can skate better and battles hard?
00:37:03
Speaker
Well, then this guy's your guy. If you want a goalie that's more positionally sound and kind of more of a calming presence, well, then let's go over to this guy. The other thing to think of too sometimes with these um teams, are they planning for right now or are they planning for down the road, right? So do you want maybe goalie X and goalie Y are really close together in skill set and maybe goalie Y gets the edge because they're younger and they want to build for the future or whatever the case is, right? So these are some of the things too that go into these decisions.
00:37:41
Speaker
um But as best you can, just each level you take, get better at the situational awareness. I think that's number one. Get better at finding pucks through traffic. That's another one.
00:37:54
Speaker
Get better at communication. Get better at puck playing. Get better at effort in your battle and your compete. And those things are kind of probably going to cover more often than not the the general what coaches are looking for at those levels.
00:38:11
Speaker
And the consistency, like we've mentioned.
00:38:17
Speaker
You're muted. You're muted.
00:38:26
Speaker
Maybe you're muted on Zencaster.
00:38:32
Speaker
There we go.
00:38:35
Speaker
Oh, boy. It's been a recording. You're going to have with this one. Fuck. Yeah.
00:38:43
Speaker
Switching gears, um, kind of a little bit. And, uh, I feel like we're kind of taking maybe a little bit longer than with this part of the segment than, uh, than we would. i just I did want to just touch on just kind of the leagues quickly because that was the second part of ah David's questionnaire.
00:38:58
Speaker
um We didn't, Curtis and I, we didn't really jump into kind of the differences between every single league because otherwise that would have been a 45-hour conversation.
00:39:09
Speaker
um Instead, what we decided to do is we just decided to kind of combine everything into one um kind of question. And so the question that I asked Curtis was,
00:39:21
Speaker
um went when it came to drafting um players into the WHL,
00:39:30
Speaker
Do the Oil Kings, or do you think that teams in general in the WHL, would consider looking at kind of more of the outlaw leagues? like do are Are they part of those conversations or not?
00:39:48
Speaker
um Now, for obvious reasons, Curtis can tell me kind of what the Oil Kings do. Um, but he did mention that like, there were talks about players, um, when it came to, um when it came to the old Kings drafting, um,
00:40:08
Speaker
that are from these other leagues. um But he did mention that, you know, generally a lot of teams specifically in the WHL kind of stay away from those leagues.
00:40:23
Speaker
And I recall working with a coach a while ago that was not a huge fan of kind of the outlaw leagues and such, and had felt that, um you know, if you want to play at the WHL or play at,
00:40:35
Speaker
a semi pro ish level, then, you know, you'd want to stray away from those leagues. Understandably. So, um, he, curt Curtis did mention, you know, that, you know, the track record kind of with these other leagues, um, albeit provided that, you know, there are some programs, um,
00:40:55
Speaker
JPHL kind of being one of them, um you know, that do offer some good stuff. And then there's some programs that don't offer some good stuff. And that is both in the Hockey Canada and the non-Hockey Canada um um system.
00:41:08
Speaker
So I guess just... Kind of in terms of that is that like biggest thing with anything is that you want to make sure that you do your research over anything. um You know, read what's online in the forums.
00:41:21
Speaker
I would maybe take I would personally take other people's experiences with a grain of salt, but it definitely is something to keep in or bear in mind. um But you would definitely want to do your research out.
00:41:33
Speaker
An advisor's position, like in Nathan's case, um you know, just you you want to make sure, again, that you're going be able to find what's going to be the best fit for you. Now, bear in mind that, you know, if playing at the WHL level or at the CHL level is is um is it's something that you want to do, then maybe playing in these outlaw leagues is not going to be something that you're going to be want to be looking towards.
00:41:58
Speaker
You know, like Curtis was telling me is that I think it was played by Nathan Kent. ah was nathan kent or Kemp or whatever his name was. I don't remember specifically what the name was, um who played in the JPHL was somebody that, you know, the old Kings were looking at, but had felt that they needed defense rather than forward So, yeah.
00:42:18
Speaker
that guy was out of the question, but I believe he did get drafted by a team in the WHL. So it does happen. It can happen, but it doesn't happen generally very often enough. And so even then he was, he, cur Curtis was mentioning, you know, with the changes in the NCAA rules and, and all that is something that he couldn't really comment on because it's something that's happening in real time. So we don't know what really the, the, the, the outcome or just kind of what the, the optics with that would look like um so that is just something that we did just kind of touch on as a generalization rather than going into each individual league because each individual league has their pros and cons but if you want to make it at the highest level possible um there are definitely some leagues that that will get you to that level compared to others i guess
00:43:13
Speaker
Yeah, so obviously we can comment more so on Western Canada, specifically Alberta.
Sanctioned vs. Unsanctioned Leagues for Development
00:43:20
Speaker
um I'm not as familiar with the landscape currently in the States, but my general kind of thought process on it is these unsanctioned Tier 2 Junior Leagues tend to more often than not, not really be a good option for...
00:43:39
Speaker
trying to get to that next level and get drafted and stuff like that. Like you can still do it. It's just, in my opinion, a harder route to go um Now, when we're talking about the unsanctioned leagues, like the HSL, like the PHL, like the JPHL, I don't know if I really want to include the PHL in that because the I don't know, the skill level tends to be a step down, I find, from the HSL.
00:44:07
Speaker
um But in in our area, the unsanctioned leagues are getting a ton of traction because of the development plan that they offer. And now a lot of times what's happening is...
00:44:20
Speaker
when you graduate basically from the HSL at 12 or whatever, um you usually kind of want to hop over to the U15 or AAA stream that is sanctioned in Alberta's case in the AEHL.
00:44:36
Speaker
um but uh that tends to be what a lot of players are doing because you get so much more development with the unsanctioned side of things like i think the minimum is 10 hours of goaltending development um per team so that means like one on two goalie development um some programs offer 15 or 20. um um And that's just kind of unheard of on the minor hockey side of things. Now you're paying a little bit more for it, but normally it's a lot more stable. You're not picking up ice randomly. You're not doing as much fundraising normally.
00:45:13
Speaker
um The other thing is too, is there's a lot more travel involved, a lot more commitment involved. So you've got to kind of weigh the options there. Like, can you swing it financially? Can you swing it with the time commitment?
00:45:27
Speaker
um And then... From there, it's kind of a decision. Do you go double A or triple A route or do you go the Academy route? um And that's kind of another decision that you need to make.
00:45:42
Speaker
So there's pros and cons to both. Like the Academy route is way more money. Normally the JPHL is a little less money than the CSS HL. So the JPHL is kind of the Academy that's unsanctioned where the CSS HL is the one that is under hockey Canada.
00:46:02
Speaker
um But It's kind of all inclusive. You don't really have to pay anything extra. You don't have to pay like for hotels or travel or anything like that. It's all inclusive.
00:46:13
Speaker
The nice thing about the Academy route too is you kind of get your evenings and most weekends back because normally ah kids are practicing during the day.
00:46:24
Speaker
um Obviously you lose weekends that you do like showcases or games for whatever, and each league's a little different in how they do that. um So if you can swing the financial side of things, which is ah whole other topic because of, I mean, we've touched on it before, the increase in cost of hockey, like the academy side is very expensive.
00:46:50
Speaker
Um, if you can swing that, I find it's probably a good route cause you're getting basically, you know, four to six ice times, like development ice times a week plus games.
00:47:02
Speaker
And a lot of times on the goalie side of things, there's a dedicated goalie person doing video and doing, um, goalie sessions and whatever. So the development is usually pretty good.
00:47:14
Speaker
Um, you kind of get a little bit more kind of work life balance a little bit. Now, You have to work a little harder at school because hockey takes up a little bit more of that school time.
00:47:25
Speaker
um But it is definitely an option if you can swing it. Now, the double, a triple side of things, you don't get as much ice, but it is cheaper and you still get lots of looks like it's still a premier kind of route to go, I guess, if you're looking to get drafted on all that stuff.
00:47:47
Speaker
um That's kind of still, I guess, the cream of the crop way to go is the AA, AAA route. But I do see the Academy side getting a lot more traction, getting a lot more looks from these high-end teams.
00:48:00
Speaker
um But again, the unfortunate part is the unsanctioned side of things still gets... kind of the nose turned up to it. um So I think Curtis had said there are some WHL teams that will not look in these unsanctioned leagues, like the JPHL, like the HSL, kind of those kind of leagues.
00:48:24
Speaker
um So you could potentially handcuff yourself a little bit there. I also find too, because people are somewhat reluctant, There's not as many people going that route. So you could argue that the skill level is hit and miss, depending on the program, depending on the age level.
00:48:43
Speaker
So it's tough to say, like, I think the unsanctioned side is doing a lot of good things, but I still think there's a lot of you know, animosity between the two sides that can kind of leave you at a bit of a disadvantage going the unsanctioned route.
00:48:58
Speaker
um with the NCAA changes that kind of changes everything now too you don't really have to pick one side or the other um so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out but I think uh I think gunning for CHL position now is going to be kind of what everybody's wanting to do um if you don't make a team there then that's where i think these junior leagues are going to kind of be that you know catch-all for those kids that can't make um major junior and then that kind of goes back into the late bloomer talk like you know maybe you weren't there at 16 but at 19 20 you are or something like that and then you can still kind of scratch and claw your way up to an ncaa spot or or something like that
00:49:49
Speaker
um But I think we'll probably also circle back to this kind of topic as well. Once I get a little bit more involved on the advisor side of things and learn a little bit more of this, we can kind of have a little bit more of an in-depth discussion on it and and kind of once they get a little bit more experience on that side. But the biggest thing is just write down your options, weigh the pros and cons to both.
00:50:16
Speaker
um ask around and kind of see like what sort of exposure your routes go and all that stuff or get um what exposure they get and kind of make a decision that makes the most sense for you as well as your family and go from there. Because the other thing with the academy side too is it's kind of professionalizing kids a little earlier.
00:50:41
Speaker
and sometimes that might not be desirable, like right? Like you might not want your kid to leave home and bill it at 14 years old or 13 years old or whatever the case is, right?
00:50:53
Speaker
So that's stuff you have to think about as well too. um And yeah, just kind of make the decision with the information you have that's best for your situation. Yeah, I got nothing really else still to to pile on top of that. i think we kind of...
00:51:11
Speaker
I think we kind of nailed on top on on top of all that. And, yeah, definitely say maybe something circle back to a little bit later down the line. But, um yeah, no, I think all just kind of good stuff there for that particular question. And, again, a huge shout-out to Curtis Mooker for taking the time from me and just kind of going through that with me and just um you know just having a chat about it. And it's always ah always always a pleasure to talk to them And we might be breaking down his walls and maybe get him on the podcast sometime in the future. We'll see. We're working on it. But that being said, we do have some exciting stuff um coming down on the podcast in the pipeline that we're looking forward to. so
00:51:56
Speaker
next week's episode is going to be a good one to tune in for I think um we haven't done the interviews yet but they are lined up so I think it's going to be a good episode and what we're going to try and do is kind of front load a couple recordings here to put ourselves in a better position so we're not as scrambly but yeah why don't you kind of go through some of the new stuff we have to offer on the True North goaltending side and maybe how we can get get supported a little bit.
00:52:30
Speaker
Oh, you're putting me on the spot here, are you? Oh boy. most ah The DIY stuff now under the true. Yeah. I tell you, I, I, I touched on it in the last pod, but yeah we'll touch on it again here. As we have officially moved everything over from the DIY goalie website over to true north goaltending. So if you guys head over to true north goaltending.com, you guys will see our new updated website where we have all of our coaching services available.
00:52:59
Speaker
ah Whether you want to book online with us out of at our facility, our goaltending camps, ah how we can support your organization and off-ice and virtual programs like Nathan said we were to talk about. But we also new have a content tab that is available and ready to go, which touches on all of our podcasts that we've released up to this point.
New Resources from True North Goaltending
00:53:20
Speaker
I see something here for courses as well, which my internet doesn't want me to and see for some reason. Yeah, so we have the complete goalie breakdown course, and then we' we'll be working on one for coaches and for goalie parents too down the road.
00:53:37
Speaker
um Moving on from that, we do also have our blogs that have now been moved over there as well. I haven't done any blogs, but I know that Nathan does do them from time to time. And all of our drills um that we use at True North Goaltending are available at TrueNorthGoaltending.com. So if you are scrapped for drills or anything along those lines, feel free to head over to TrueNorthGoaltending.com and you can...
00:53:59
Speaker
rip some drills off from our website. And as well, we also do have concentration grids, um like Nathan i was saying as well, available for that. On top of that, we also do have our online store featuring such things as school is important, but goaltending is important to a unisex adult hoodie.
00:54:18
Speaker
um And let's see what else we got here. We got my, I don't, my posts are listening. That's another one. Don't make me use my goalie dad or goalie mom voice. And then certified beer league beauty, another one just ah popping up here.
00:54:32
Speaker
um with that. But yeah, no, you can head over to truenorthgoaltending.com and that is where we have all of our DIY goaltending, DIY goalie stuff um available. And it's ah it's all under one umbrella now. So we have officially, Nathan has officially yeah moved all that over.
00:54:52
Speaker
And I'm sure that that is probably the the biggest thing that he wanted to get done over the off season. And i'm certainly I'm certainly thinking that he's happy that it's all done. Yeah, now to tackle the 18 other things I added to my list since I started that.
00:55:09
Speaker
So, you know. Yeah, there you go. so there's there's the ad read for for this pod. So there there you go. You know, it all it ah it all looks great. I definitely recommend everybody going over and and checking it out.
00:55:24
Speaker
um And that's something. It's a fun one. Yeah, that's something too. We'll, we'll be doing a bit of a better job of staying on top of. So I know there's some drill while there's quite a few drills that we have in our repertoire that aren't on the website. And so that's stuff that as we go, we'll eventually kind of be updating.
00:55:44
Speaker
I do want to do more blog posts. I do want to do more video content and that's kind of stuff that's going to be coming down the pipeline as I can slowly tackle it. But, uh, We do have a social media person on board with us too for like the last month or so. So that's been nice to get some more content out.
00:56:01
Speaker
um So yeah, where we're slowly getting there, slowly building, slowly pushing, trying to to give you guys more resources and more content and and more stuff to you know just be better goalies.
00:56:15
Speaker
Yeah. See, there you go. You don't see any other goaltending, uh, goaltending companies do that. So, definitely, uh, definitely love to see that. So yeah, no, go do, I do give Matt props to, uh, Jamie and what he's doing over with the elite goalie method and all that stuff. Yeah, exactly.
00:56:35
Speaker
Yeah. But yeah, no, go check it out. Go, tune with goaltending.com. It's where you get, it's your one-stop shop for, uh, everything coaching services related as well as, uh, kind of online courses and online, ah online content, uh, in terms of goaltending for you guys. So definitely, uh,
00:56:55
Speaker
Go check it out. And I'll go check out some of the other stuff that we do have over at TrueNorthGoaltending.com. If you are in the Edmonton area and you know want to want to join our ranks, so you can go to the our company and join our team section. If you have any questions or anything, you can contact us, goalies at TrueNorthGoaltending.com, or you can go to our contact page, or you can learn a little bit about all of our amazing staff members.
00:57:17
Speaker
with truenorthgoaltending.com like myself, Nathan, Ethan, Kylie, Troy, Zach, Courtney, Skyler, Caden, Riley, and Ty Swanson, another one that's ah that's recently joined us. And as well as we do have some ringette coaches um on staff with True North Goaltending as well, which we've got to get profiles for, but It's a slow burn. It's a slow process.
00:57:40
Speaker
um But, you know, a lot of a lot of great stuff happening over at truenorthgoaltending.com. So make sure you guys go check it out. Hi, everybody. Future Connor here ah after editing the pod. And obviously, it wouldn't be a DIY goalie podcast without some kind of technical issue.
00:57:57
Speaker
And unfortunately, I'm the one that's experiencing it this time. So, um yeah, ah we were we were overdue for one, I think. And so all of Nathan's technical problems that he was dealing with,
00:58:08
Speaker
early on in the uh in the podcast is now befallen upon me as i was the one having the audio issues i was the one having the video issues so uh unfortunately all the original audio and video was lost uh it was just the outro anyway so i'm just basically here to redo it um But yeah, no, like I said in the last clip, ah there's a lot of good stuff happening over at true north goaltending.com. So make sure guys go check us out there.
00:58:33
Speaker
All of our DIY goalie stuff has officially been moved over. That's it. We're done. All of that can now be found at true north goaltending.com. I've already kind of gone through that. So if you guys want to re-listen to that, you're more than welcome to.
00:58:46
Speaker
Um, but yeah, beyond that, we were unfortunately able to get to Nathan's segment in this episode. Um, so it'll either be the next episode of the episodes following that we will be getting into Nathan's segment.
00:58:57
Speaker
We do have ah some exciting stuff coming down the pipeline here. So we want to make sure that we get that out as soon as possible to you guys. Cause, uh, I think so what, I think what we have coming up is very, very exciting and, uh, can't wait to share that with you guys. so So with that being said, that will do it for another episode of the DIY goalie presented by True North Goaltending.
00:59:18
Speaker
Make sure you guys go follow us on your favorite social media platforms, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:59:22
Speaker
wherever you can find us all there at true north goaltending except on instagram because we like to be different that one is yeg goalie coach you can follow myself on instagram at monday gc if you are watching over on the youtube side of things and you are a returning a viewer thank you very much make sure hit that like and share button if you are a new watcher new subscriber whoever that may be make sure you hit that subscribe button and that so you never miss a moment uh same thing on the podcasting platforms as well if you are a returning listener thank you please hit that share button
00:59:52
Speaker
ah If you are a new listener to the pod, whether that be on Apple, iHeart or Spotify, make sure hit that follow button as we do release new episodes every Tuesday. And yeah, just hit the share button.
01:00:03
Speaker
The more people that we can bring this awesome content that we have to. Um, the more goalies that we're able to bring together, the better basically. Um, yeah, go check us out. True North goaltending.com. We have a lot of good stuff happening over there. And if you do happen to be in the Edmonton area, and if you want to book a session with us, go visit us. True North goaltending.com book online. Go come visit our, synthetic ice facility. Uh, we have, we have, we've gotten a lot of great feedback there. A lot of fun stuff. So, uh, yeah, go check us out. True North goaltending.com. And, uh, we'll go at it from there on behalf of myself and Nathan park. It has been another edition the TIA of the DIY goalie presented by true North goaltending.com.
01:00:38
Speaker
I'm tired. Make some saves goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.