Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast, where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become a better goalie.
Speaker: Goalies, welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie podcast. We got a crowded lineup today. So we got we got Billy Teefy back again, who's breaking records left and right as to how many appearances he gets on on the DIY Goalie podcast.
Speaker: um I think this is at least the third one. This might even be the fourth one. yeah can't remember. Yeah. Yeah. yeah so uh and then connor's obviously got emerson joining uh joining him and i know you guys can't see it on the youtube side but i got our little dog on my lap too so we got uh got lots of voices to to give today on the pod um so yeah first off uh thanks for joining us again billy um hopefully uh you're on the mend so we're gonna be talking about uh billy's trip down to the ggr and uh in colorado a couple weeks ago i guess uh was sick for one of the days but uh we'll uh we'll kind of dive into a little bit more of that but happy to see her on the mend and thanks again for joining us today how are we doing
Speaker: Yeah, i they appreciate to appreciate being able to come on again. Always enjoy it. So yeah, look forward to kind of sharing what we what we covered. At this point, we'll just make you like an honorary third host. yeah well Sounds good. We'll just have a weekly round table and then Billy and I can just roast Connor every week. yeah Okay, wait, I don't like this.
Speaker: So well not we were talking off air about the one thing that sucks when Billy comes on is he's got a way cooler background than we do for those of you watching on YouTube. So he's got all the vintage pads in the background, but um Yeah, so we'll dive right into it, I guess. um So obviously, the reason that we wanted to have you on was just to kind of recap your your stint down south there with the GGR. um So why don't we kind of start off just kind of explaining what it is. um It is run by Justin Goldman from the Goalie Guild, who was a
Speaker: on our show oh probably over a year ago now or close to a year ago it's been a while um but uh why don't you kind of give us just the lowdown of what the ggr is um it's what the global goaltending retreat is that is that correct yeah okay yes so the goalie global goaltending retreat um down in uh down in colorado there so yeah kind of give us a an overview as to what it is and and kind of how many times you've gone and and just the general lowdown.
Speaker: Yeah, you bet. ah So yeah, Justin Goldman puts this together. um This was, think the eighth or ninth um you know total event. This is the second one I've been to and everybody has reported back that it was the best one that they've ever done. So, which, you know, it was,
Speaker: I agree with it was a fantastic event. Um, so what it is, is we go down, <unk> it's hosted in Breckenridge, Colorado, which hosts the highest elevation rink in, in the U S. So it's a, it's a challenge just in itself, um, you know, skating out there and and the demo goal is really good. A good workout at high elevation. Um, but what, what Justin does just an amazing job of is bringing together people who,
Speaker: a great group of people who who are just really willing to learn and share and and really grow the game from from within and and grow the position. um And, you know, there's there's we there's room for challenging each other. There's room for learning. There's room for... um for really just kind of expanding understanding of of the position. and um And he's very careful about bringing the right people in to allow that to happen. So it makes it a really, really good event.
Speaker: um we've We spend four days, um you know, there's we get there on the Wednesday, come home on the Sunday. Each day there's two ice times, there's off ice stuff, there's, I'll call it classroom stuff, but we all hang out in the boardroom and... um you know, some pros will come in and do do presentations on whatever their discipline is.
Speaker: and And we just, and we get to talk through it. um And, you know, and and and again, challenge each other on it, ask questions, and and really dig deep into into what's out there and and what's what's up and coming, how things were before, and and just just a great, great environment to learn.
Speaker: So I'm looking forward to the The next one, Justin's already announced the the dates and times for the 2028 GGR. so and So we can start putting things together and prepping for that one as well.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: Talk to us about just kind of some of the topics that go on there. I mean, like, I'm sure a lot of it's probably, you know, technical aspects of it and just kind of maybe changes in terms of the position, in terms of, you know, how we move and all that. I'm sure a lot of it's remained the same as well. But just what are just some of the conversations that are had um while at this event?
Speaker: So it's interesting. This event, this year's specifically um especially, I guess, not specifically, this year's is but especially, we actually don't get into too much technique stuff.
Speaker: um You know, there's there's a lot of conversation about how people learn, about creativity within the position, a boat um about create how to create the right environment for a goalie to thrive.
Speaker: um and And less about specific technique. um When we get on the ice, we do we do delve into um into challenging some techniques a little bit more, ah you know, with the demo goalies. and and They do a great job of of working back with us as coaches when we were asking questions. Okay, so how do you, how do you prefer to approach this? Have you tried it this way?
Speaker: um And it's a back and forth of, you know, and coaches learning off of, off of all the different levels of goalies on how they prefer to learn and and how they approach things. um You know, a couple of main topics this year, we looked at some really cool tech from a company called Panther Tech.
Speaker: and the founder came and did a presentation and really it's, it um she utilizes it to, um I'm not gonna do, i think a good enough job of explaining it, but it's basically a clip on technology that that you can set parameters for motion and when you hit your spot within the motion, it'll give you a signal.
Speaker: um So and it's just, it's a very brief period of time of, of of training your brain as to this is your proper position within this motion. You work on it for 30, 40 seconds, then you go into the real real life situation and try and recreate that movement. right so She actually developed it for ah racket sports and and developing proper swing patterns.
Speaker: ah We got on the ice, we did it in the field house and on the ice. and tried to find places where it was applicable for goalie positioning and body positioning and and all of that. So really neat technology that is is up and coming, but it was also the conversation was, okay, so how do we balance the tech with real life?
Speaker: and And again, just learning how to how to incorporate this stuff. You know, another great presentation was from a PhD student out of Toronto um that is looking at impacts of of the position on the body, ah specifically hips, groin, knees. And so they would they would put on sensors on goalies and run them through. And you could tell you they could tell which angles um impacts force forces put on different joints and muscles as they're going through it. So she ran through a presentation there and she's doing it from like U10 all the way up to to pro. So of getting a really good scope of what
Speaker: of what the impacts are on, um of the position on the body and, and, you know, with the intent of, of injury prevention um as they go forward. So just, just some, some really cool deep dives and just some very specific topics. And then a lot, again, just a lot of collaboration.
Speaker: Nice. um I'm actually curious then now that you bring that up, like, did she really have any like key takeaways from that? Like, did they find like,
Speaker: you know any sort of um kind of legit findings as to you know any sort of movements that are a little bit more damaging on the joints or kind of like any sort of patterns that there are things that goalies can do to you know be proactive to kind of you know try and prevent injuries i guess long term especially um It's, you know, just the the butterfly, almost everything that a goalie does is against what the human body was naturally designed to do. So there's yeah there there's a lot of it. But, you know, they you know our RVH and the extra torque on the hips and, you know, over over rotation in the butterfly is, you know, a couple of key key targets, right? One of the neat things that that we kind of came out of the data that we collected on on the ice was, again, it's going to tough to explain, but you'll see a lot of kids when they go from their kind of secondary stance, we'll call it, into their full ready stance.
Speaker: that their knees will get closer together, right? So the instead of getting lower and a little bit wider in the feet, they'll kind of collapse their knees together. And and the force is measured when you butterfly from that position compared to,
Speaker: you know kind of just bent legs but strict you know not quite parallel but not collapsed was significant so being in that position of tension we called it and dropping down added significant force and torque um and also what we found with even the higher level goalies was that having that that level of pre-torque really changed how they made the rest of their saves, how they controlled rebounds, things like that. So that was really, really interesting to dig deep down into. I can send you some links for Meg's research um and she's you know trying to share it as much as she can. So there's there's some awesome data that they've collected over the last years.
Speaker: That's awesome. Yeah, we we can grab those and throw them in the show notes for you guys if you are interested in in checking that out. um Just to caveat that, um I do notice too, like that's a big thing, not only um on the injury side of things, because obviously i haven't dove into a study or anything, but yeah,
Speaker: I find on on the actual performance side too, like especially since our facility is synthetic ice and it doesn't bite like real ice does, um what I do notice is because the synthetic exposes it, I actually didn't realize how many goalies sit more on the inside of their instep and really you know put the edges through through the ringer and and holding themselves up. um And I do find like a lot of goalies when I make that adjustment to kind of stack their leg a little bit more over top of their foot and set a little bit more on their blade as opposed to inside their blade. um It's crazy the difference in movement and stuff too. And like.
Speaker: I do think that it's a good kind of trend performance wise that we're going away from such a wide and low butterfly. But it is cool to see that there's actual data as well relating to like the actual effect on the body too. um I do think that as we go, we might actually see a little bit of a reduction compared to maybe the last decade or so when it comes to joint effects on goalies. Because I do think we are starting to get away from default into the um RVH so much and getting away from kind of the light the wide low stances. So hopefully we can kind of get some more data like this out that kind of helps, you know, maybe shift the position more into that and kind of
Speaker: I guess, quote unquote, hybrid style. I don't know what you want to call it, but, but a little less ah in that RVH kind of dependency and in that wide stance that we see like Bobrovsky and all the Russians really good at.
Speaker: Well, it'd be interesting to see like, again, the amount of times like one goalie goes into the RVH in a single season. or even throughout their career, 10, five years, whatever. And just what the percentages are with, if you go into, don't know, 300 RVHs throughout the course of a total season, probably more than that, but point being.
Speaker: So what the percentage probably mixing in a few factors in there as well in terms of, hey, going to 300 RVHs in a single season, what's the the likelihood or there the percentages of coming out of it unscathed or maybe having a few injuries you know relating to the hips or the knees or the joints in a single season?
Speaker: Yeah, and Meg is tracking, um I think, some of that. I'm i'm not quite sure, um but it would be interesting to see. And I think the point of it, too, that that you brought up is that, you know, there's there's a lot of other factors. Like, you know, if I do five RVHs in a game, I feel it in my hips.
Speaker: Jack is hypermobile. He can do 100 and fine. be fine ah right for that one um you know so you know age definitely has an impact on that uh but as well as as you know the the rest of the body's position as you're going in you know are you collapsed over your knees a lot you have a neutral pelvis you know you know how ah how are you hitting your post like skate on to get my skate blade on the post and get my shoulder in nice and clean there's a lot more torque than shin on posts and get a lot of
Speaker: a good clean lean, right? So there's there's a lot of ah lot of, I think, stuff around it that that can change it as well. So...
Speaker: yeah Speaking of Jack, now that you brought him up, he joined you in your escapade down so down south in the Colorado there. For those who don't know, Jack Teefy, your son, one of our staff members with True North Goaltending this year. Love the guy, actually. Yeah.
Speaker: What was, like, what was, he what what what do you think his experience was with going down to the GGR? I mean, you had said off camera here before we started that he was, you know, part of the goalie demo group, and so he got to hang out with Bones and Kazmir Kaskasuo. Just...
Speaker: in as, as, as a dad and as a goalie aficionado, just seeing him be part of that and just getting to experience with that, with him, what, what just, what was that like with that? And just kind of be able to share that experience.
Speaker: Oh man, it it was, it was really cool to be able to bring him down um and and to see him on the ice and, with With the group, because you know some most of the group of of demo goalies I had met in my last trip down, so just knowing the environment that they have there and and how open and willing they are to just chat and work with people and um and you know how hard they work on the ice when we're there.
Speaker: Um, cause even though, you know, it's, it's kind of, we'll call it ah an educational classroom environment, the goalies on the ice, they work their butts off. Um, and you know, some of the guys and, you know, especially the, the, the pro e-bug guys and pros from around the world, they, they're, they're still competitive even there, right? Like it's that competitive edge doesn't leave. So it was really cool to see him, um, kind of in with that group.
Speaker: And he was a bit nervous going down, right? First time you know meeting some of these some of these people that he sees on social media um and and just other goalies that he doesn't know, right? you know It's a large group of people in in a very short period period of time that you meet and a lot of information covered.
Speaker: But he did so well. um You know, found a frowned a group of group of young goalies that he hung out with most of the week and and just really dug deep, worked his butt off, and and participated in the off-ice stuff really well as well. um And, yeah, it was just it was really cool to have him down there as a dad, as a goalie nerd, to kind of see him go through that process, right? Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, that's awesome. yeah I'm kind of sad I didn't get to go out and have the time off to be able to take off of work, but sad it is what it is. we'll We'll hop down there one of these years. Connor and I will maybe make a business trip or something. but so out of Out of some of the other like um maybe conversations you had, not necessarily like presentations, like but some of the less formal stuff when you guys are just kind of hanging out like after the day is done and stuff like that. um
Speaker: What sort of kind of topics, I guess, come up in those sorts of conversations? Because I know, you know, once you get... couple of the brews flowing and you know guys start to get a little more comfortable and a little more chatty I'm sure lots of the lots of stuff kind of comes up and there's some cool conversations that happen there so what are some of the things you guys kind of dove into a little more off the record and and kind of just a little bit more informal Well, you know, there still comes you a lot of shop talk, obviously. Right. And ah it was right. There was a lot of a lot of office's talk about Brandon Bussey and how he how well he was doing, because I was, you know, we watched a couple of the games down there while we were there.
Speaker: um and and that story but just a lot of sharing hey you know questions hey how do you approach this how do you deal with this when you're working with your kids and um or you know with myself because i work primarily with kids there's a lot of questions on how do how are you know how are you transitioning to working with the older goalies more competitive guys you know what or women, um you know, what's going on with that.
Speaker: um You know, they were fortunate enough, you know, we had ah a goalie coach from Romania, a couple from Germany, um you know, Mike Valley made it this year. And so being able to just chat with them about how they do things, how they're doing, right? What what what are they seeing in their world?
Speaker: um was was is To me, that's one of the best parts about it is kind of just that, just that connection, right? And then get asked, hey, if you're ever in the Philly area, you should come down and do a camp together or something like that, right? And and just extremely collaborative. And then we build throughout the next two years, you talk as well, right? um We've got a group chat that that we can throw questions out. Hey, I've got a goalie that's transitioning from big ice to like international ice to North American ice.
Speaker: any tips on helping them through that transition or or vice versa. Right. And, and so it just, just creates community with it, um, which I think is, is the coolest part. Um, but yeah. And then, and then, you know, just talk about, you know, what, um,
Speaker: really kind of had a ah good chance to to chat with with some of the tech, what what they're seeing, um you know, with Dr. Oh shoot, I can't remember her name right off hand. The Panther tech a developer really got a went for lunch with her one day and just chatted about, again, how how people learn, how how our brain works to learning new skills and things like that. And that's where I really nerd out on is is learning how we learn and learning how kids learn.
Speaker: um instead of, instead of, it's just in an ah in an effort to meet them where they are, right? um And that goes right up to the top level goalies is is learning how to meet them where they are so we can create an environment that's best for them to learn, right? You know, one of the big challenges that that I always,
Speaker: kind of run into um is that you know as a goalie coach our our touches um throughout the season with the with the goalies that we work with are a lot smaller than let's say the team coaches and head coaches right so our impact on their overall environment is is very limited compared to the team environment so where do we, how do we best influence the overall environment to to best help the goalies is is where I'm kind of really digging deep into to to learn more about. right
Speaker: Well, I can answer that one for you, and that should be is that every team should have a goalie coach on their staff. No questions asked whatsoever. dive put Put all of your money and resources into goalie development. Don't do planning player development because hockey is just mostly goaltending.
Speaker: That's how we fix the problem here, gentlemen.
Speaker: You know what? Preach into the choir there. Yeah. But no, I think yeah no i i think there is definitely, like, mean i I joke, obviously, but there is a little bit of a little bit of truth to that. mean, like, I even found, like, this past year working with... um you know casey minor hockey here i mean like i'm working with a broad group of goaltenders and then even then if you want to dive into it a little bit smaller where i'm working with the u18 uh casey colts team that i had out that i was out with this year and i'm out with them once once a week and i'm 20 minutes 120 minutes half an hour of of the hour and a half skate a half hour skate um
Speaker: and So there's like, you definitely have to, you know, pick and choose your information, if you will, in terms of what you want to convey, how you want to maximize the amount of detail and the amount of work that you put into, again, these very small and limited sessions.
Speaker: Can say personally myself, I've taken it upon myself to work outside of the ice and I had had a group chat with, you know, those two guys this past season and kept in touch with them. Hey, how do games go? Hey, what do you think of this? And we'd work on And we towards the end of the year, we did more video sessions than I think we did on ice sessions. And I think just.
Speaker: And that's where a lot of that comes from. And so, I mean, even then, like I found the same thing. Well, it wasn't really so much the same thing with the junior teams that I've been on few years beforehand, because I'd see them a little bit more than I have compared to my double A team this year.
Speaker: But I think it's just a matter of what can we do beyond the ice in terms and and like in terms of goalie coaches. right i think I think that part of that comes upon us as well to be able to excuse me to you know reach out to some of these kids you know away from the team, away from the ice and be like, hey, how's it going? Anything you want to chat about? Something along those lines. And then again, maximizing the limited amount of time that we do have on the ice working with the kids that we do have.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. um You know, I think that connection connection beyond the ice is an important part of it. um Because, you know, any not anybody, but ah it's it's easy to come in and just run through the drills and then, you know, I'll see in a week type thing, right? But being able to create um create a little bit of that connection ah outside of of um the ice is, I think, important. um Also creating creating the connection with the coaches that do come out in power.
Speaker: um I think is important to creating that environment as well. Right. You know, you're building that trust with, with the, with the team coaches and being able to suggest things in the practices that you're not there, you know, Hey, you know, can we, can we look at, you know, one thing that I'll do is I'll offer, um you know, send me your practice plan and I can tweak a couple of things to be, to help your goalie out through this practice without interrupting the flow of your practice.
Speaker: something little bit you can do here to to increase it for your goalie. So, you know, and because and the important thing for us too is is not only do we have to build more um more more connection with the athletes, but we also have to help them build autonomy within their position, right? Making decisions, problem solving problems themselves, accessing, finding their creativity themselves so they're not as dependent on us. you know There's a story shared um at the at the GGR um from the pro level where there was a pro level goalie um that the coach realized that they they were he was too dependent on him when every time something would happen, he would look up at the press box.
Speaker: right? um Say, oh, okay, so this connection is a little bit too, he's too dependent on me, right? So how do we build autonomy through this where where those decisions are being made by himself and not and not necessarily looking at me? So, um which but is important for all of us too, right? Because we all know goalie, goaltending can be a lonely position.
Speaker: um And, you know, each individual is their own best goalie coach at the end of the day. So being able to to allow them to process through that stuff, give them the tools to be able to process through that stuff is important.
Speaker: Yeah, i am I did freeze for a little bit, so I only caught about half of Connor's rant, but I don't know if you guys touched on this or not, but I know at GGR, you do get quite a bit of European presence there from from a handful of the coaches that come over from over there. um I know their system isn't necessarily perfect, but they are definitely better than we are over here when it comes to more exposure to goalie coaches.
Speaker: um And they seem to have more teams at the minor levels that have dedicated goalie coaches than we seem to over here. um and So maybe like, can you talk about some of the things that you're seeing from over there that, um,
Speaker: you know you think is really helping to generate like that wave of kind of european goalies being the ones that are you know a little bit more on the elite side i guess right like it seems like you know between the finnish goalies the russian goalies you know they're producing a lot a lot of high high-end talent um so what do you think just talking with some of the guys over there like what do you think that they're kind of doing well um that we could maybe try and implement a little bit more over here?
Speaker: You know, what and it's different regions, definitely in different countries have different some different approaches. But, ah you know, some of the the stuff that I have had exposure to.
Speaker: um Yes, there is the you know, the the the club system is different. um So it's not, um yeah you know, they'll have, they'll have, and some of our clubs are, I guess, maybe similar, but they'll have everything right down from the learn to play.
Speaker: you know, initiation hockey all the way up to the juniors ah teams on the same program. And they'll have somebody that's kind of, that that runs the goalie department basically for the whole club, right? And then and then there'll be coaches kind of within there. But there's there's a consistency of approach, I guess, to to each individual each individual club. You know, honestly, I think a big part of it too over there is is that um there is less of a financial barrier to play
Speaker: um And so more more kids that start end up staying in the in the position, I think, is an an important factor.
Speaker: ah But also there's there's a lot of intent, especially at the younger ages, to give exposure to young players for goalies, whether it's using quick change equipment um to allow three or four or even up to five goalies within a game to to play at the at the initiation ages, right?
Speaker: um So a lot more lot more exposure. And um and they the their approach to, again, very small window of of exposure for myself, but but what I see is their approach to the younger ages and not not being as focused on um competitiveness.
Speaker: and and performance at the younger ages. And it's a lot more about play. Um, you know, they, they pioneered the, the smaller ice, the smaller nets, um, to, to give, you know, young goalies a lot more touches and not just breakaway touches, right? Like it's, it's, it's, you know, there's, there's exposure to more of the game, I think, uh, at the younger ages that way. Um, and we've kind of started transitioning into that. Um, and, uh,
Speaker: And so, you know, there's value added there, but I think it's it's a consistency of approach um from the top down, um you know, a holistic look at goaltending from club to club.
Speaker: um But, you know, to be fair to there, there is lots of questions when the European goalies coaches come over, they're asking similar things of us, right? Say, oh, hey, you know, how are you guys doing that? You always have such strong, you know,
Speaker: big goalies. Right. Um, so, you know, I think a bit of it's, you know, and maybe sometimes as the grass isn't always greener, right. Because everybody's looking at each other like, yeah, your goalies are so good. Right. So, yeah, I do have a followup to that. Sorry, Connor. and I know you want to hop in there, but it I'll just sit and look pretty. It's fine. Yeah, that's your job. Uh, no, we, um,
Speaker: Like, I actually, the one thing I did here, and I think it was on the Goalie Science podcast, um when they had one of the Finnish coaches, I think the goalie development guy with the Red Wings, but um he was talking about the one thing he noticed most about the North American goalies is their ability to compete because, know,
Speaker: you know, the the road's a little harder over here, I guess, in terms of like, you know, it it's a little bit more cutthroat, I should say, right? Like there's there's a lot less of that. um you know, that kind of I guess, support system for lack of a better term. So like, you know, there's a little bit more scrappiness because if you look at even our pro system, right. I mean, you got the and NHL, the AHL, the East coast, and there's only so many limited spots. And basically when you're cut, you're cut kind of thing. Right. Um,
Speaker: So that is what I have heard. But I'm curious from your experience talking to these guys, um what more of the governing body system looks like? Because one of my kind of um criticisms, I guess, for at least in the Hockey Alberta, the Hockey Canada side of things is that the people who are in charge of, you know, running the goalie development side of things, they're doing a lot of good work. But the problem is, is they're not like that's not their dedicated job. Like, in my opinion, you should hire your goalie guy and that's his full time job. He's not a goalie coach for a WHL team or, you know, running his own private stuff as well and like that sort of stuff. And then he can build a team of, an you know, another three to five goalie coaches that can kind of run under them and be a full time as well.
Speaker: um Is that sort of how they kind of have things structured over there? Do you know? Or is it similar to here where it's kind of a hired position, but it's also not really a dedicated position?
Speaker: I think it depends regionally as well. um But, you know, I know um certainly, you know, especially in the Scandinavian countries um and, in you know, in some of the other European countries, it is that there is, you know, that head of goaltending for the club.
Speaker: um And then they'll have, yeah, that that number of people um below them that'll, you know, administer the program and and do the coaching. yeah I would love to see see that a little bit more. i know um you know Hockey Alberta has has really kind of stepped up as far as doing some of the training and in and things over the last few years, which is which is awesome to see. um But again, yeah, they're they all still do some multiple multiple things.
Speaker: um but I would love to see more, um, more from, from hockey Canada, I guess, involvement. It's tough geographically. We're such a big country.
Speaker: Um, and with, with so many, you know, diverse, um, areas that, that do things different. So, you know, I think it's harder than it is in some of the smaller European countries to, to have that more of a consistent approach.
Speaker: Um, But, you know, and i but I'm assuming some of it comes down to just funding as well. Right. and And where where that extra cash comes from to have those positions and staff and and all of that.
Speaker: So but yeah, i it would be nice to have to have that more consistent, um consistent approach across, I think. And then. it just allows for, I think better, again, collaboration and and development, right, um of of the coaches themselves.
Speaker: um You know, it'd be great to be able to have have something from from Hockey Canada where, you know, every association has somebody that's that's trained and and and can work with work with the club to help develop everybody.
Speaker: Yeah. I was thinking like along the lines of like why doesn't, again, we can rag on Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada we want here, but why don't you know these governing organizational bodies work with some of these hockey schools, goalie schools that's across the province, across the country here?
Speaker: Right. Like here in Alberta, there's us, True North Goaltending. There's Level Up, Ian Gordon, Curtis Muka, Goalie Academy on Beaumont, Doghouse Can't forget those guys. You know, it's, you know, we have all of these teams.
Speaker: well-qualified people and well-qualified coaches that know the position and are doing the groundwork with all of these organizations why doesn't hockey oberta hockey canada or whoever capitalize on this again may just come down to funding as well but why doesn't why don't they capitalize on again not bringing everything under one banner but again having kind of like hey here's the rough outline. Here's the, the rough guideline of, you know, what we expect our Alberta goalies to be like or anything and kind of taking a run with it from there. And then it's like, Hey, checking in, how are things going? You know, something along those lines, right? Like, I don't want, I don't want the, I don't want the government taking full control here, but you know, but that's um that's, that's, that's, that's the general idea is wide, wide, wide,
Speaker: why don't they do that? I think we all know the reason why, but do we so have, has there been any talk of that anywhere else while, while you were there? Yeah, I guess not necessarily in, in, in the groups, you know, there was, there was a couple of guys from Hockey USA, um, that, that have been out there, um, you know, and they talk a lot about, um you know, they're, they're trying to,
Speaker: yeah they work really closely with a lot of the the European countries. and And, you know, Steve Thompson with with Hockey USA is, is um you know, at a lot of those events that to try and, to try and um you know, build that system up down there.
Speaker: um So, yeah, you know, what its in in the Canadian group, it you know, it didn't really get talked about a lot. But i ah you know I think maybe it's it might be um probably more up to us to start collaborating more with with each other and and then reaching out, telling Hockey Alberta, hey, look, we've we've got together or we're hosting this event with all the goalie coaches. You guys should come and join us. And you know I think that would be um probably the best way to get that started.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, i think I think the biggest thing is we just seem so disjointed. um Like there's just, and like, I guess, yeah, again, that's just one of my biggest criticisms. It is it does seem like it's more on the private side to kind of fill in the gaps when to me, I think if you have a governing body, like They should be the ones filling in the gaps. and But it is what it is. like I do think overall there has been better strides compared to even when you know i was playing and stuff like that. But um i just yeah I think if we could have a little bit more...
Speaker: Kind of that unity, that collaboration, all of that stuff. um And then just a little bit more of a kind of guidance. Like I know there are some good resources, but I think there needs to be more, especially just for the regular coaches. I think that's where the biggest kind of downfall is, is there's not enough. like solid and like, I guess, forced, um you know, development for, for the regular coaches to kind of get some of that stuff, that knowledge on, goal tending.
Speaker: um We'll kind of start winding down here, Billy. I guess maybe if you want to give us your top couple of, of takeaways from, from your trip from the weekend and, and I guess kind of round up the,
Speaker: I don't know, one, two or three top things you kind of took away. I was going to say, sorry, before we, both sorry to cut you off your belly, but, but, but before we do, i know I had to step away for a minute here, but I did just want to kind of touch on this quickly again, just kind of in that same realm. Just tell us about some of the people that were there. mean, we've already talked about Kazmier's casket. So we've already talked about Bonesy already. Justin Goldman, just who are some of the other notable people that have been there?
Speaker: Um, well, want yeah. Um, They're, um you know, some of the regular guys that was there, you know, Z from Z's goaltending out in Philly.
Speaker: um You know, Eric from 3E goaltending out out in the eastern U.S. s A couple guys. um Actually, one of... one of one of the coolest guys I met, he he was new this year um from South End, um which is ah a ah um ah reserve on the south end of Reindeer Lake in northern Saskatchewan. um It was awesome to to meet him and what he's doing up there for that community ah is is phenomenal.
Speaker: um And then, you know, ah
Speaker: she's Anthony Stapleton, and you know he's coming out to help with my camp again this year. He was down there. Hanu Nyquist was there, who's always just an absolute um just you know the Yoda of goaltending and just his knowledge and and his approach to things is is just amazing.
Speaker: I love, love being able to spend some time with him and chat. Um, yeah, there's people from all over. Um, I, some of the names are are escaping me right now. Um, but, um, yeah, it's the coolest part about the whole environment there is that it's, it's less about who they are and what they've done, but more and more about just sharing what they know and, and the collaboration. Right.
Speaker: Um, and, uh, And yeah, there's there's a ah ah list um of people that I, it escapes me at the moment, but but um it's ah just the the environment is is the important part. So, yeah.
Speaker: what i what I guess I took my three to answer Nathan's question. The top things is is one of the biggest parts of the conversation was you know how do we create creativity or allow creativity for goaltending? That's where some of these goalies are are really being able to excel right now is is being creative in situations. right so And what that looks like. I went around and ah interviewed 18 different people on the ice one day asking them what goalies and coaches asking what creativity in the position means to them.
Speaker: And, and I basically got 18 different answers. Um, there were some similar themes, but it means it's something different to everybody. Right. Um, so, so it's hard to nail down, but important too important to have, um, just kind of looking at some of my notes.
Speaker: Um, You know, one thing that we talked about a lot is that sometimes, especially at the younger ages, that it seems like, you know, play has become a four letter word and it's it's being replaced by performance.
Speaker: um when When sometimes it's just at any age, sometimes you just got to go play, right? And enjoy the game as it is. and And that's where you'll find your creativity was is ah within your play.
Speaker: ah Looked at learning maps, you know, the foundations and fundamentals, right? Your athleticism, autonomy, decision making, and breaking out of the box, I think is is critical for for goalies as we move forward.
Speaker: um You know, being confident enough in your in your prep and in your work that when you get out there, you can access creativity because creativity isn't possible if there's tension, right? So being able to reduce that tension to to be able to access that.
Speaker: um And then, um yeah, I think those those are kind of my my three biggest takeaways um from from the week. Yeah, and that's something like I'm currently kind of the process of building out like a training course for our coaches like internally and whatnot. And um that's one thing that and kind of dove into quite a bit when we were when I was building that was the psychological safety. Right. And and.
Speaker: building an environment that a ah goalie, you know, feels comfortable taking risks and kind of, you know, trying things out and experimenting and stuff like that. Cause I do think, um, you know, like I know we talk lots about it. Connor hates the term, the cookie cutter goalies, the robot goalies, whatever that sort of thing is. But, um, I do think like,
Speaker: I don't know that we have gotten to a point that we sometimes micromanage a little bit too much on certain things when it comes to the position. And sometimes, you know, it's hard to be well, it's impossible to be perfect in our position. Right. And and sometimes we've got to be able to improvise a little bit and have a little fun and and experiment a little bit. So. It is nice to see that that kind of you know, shift is happening and that's kind of the trend towards development because I i do think we kind of swung a little bit too technical um for a stretch there where, you know, we're trying to shift, you know, tenths of inches on glove positioning and stuff like that. And, you know, sometimes I think i think we just got to
Speaker: you know, let them figure it out and and what works for them isn't necessarily going to work for the goalie you have in the next session. So um it is nice to see that that's kind of the trend that that we're we're starting to see a little bit more of. And i think it's it's it's definitely welcome. So.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. There's been a lot of talk between there and the and the last couple um couple trips to to Sweden. um you know and Thomas Magnussen talked about it a lot is is the pendulum, right? And the pendulum had gone to extremely technical and now it's starting to to work its way back to um to a little more little more freedom within the what' the positions
Speaker: Yeah, and I do think the elite level goalies have that balance. And where they fall on that spectrum varies per goalie in their skill set, but they all have that ability to kind of you know battle and improvise a little bit as well as you know hit their spots and have clean footwork and all that stuff. so I do think that's where the Russian goalies excel.
Speaker: right You're looking at all of them. is is you know Sometimes their creativity in the position um is is just stand out.
Speaker: Basically, that behind the back glove save is the Vasilevsky, right? because Because he was the first son to really you know throw that out. But i mean Quick, too, he's one of them that that kind of would do stuff like that as well. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, I don't know if you had anything else you wanted to add Connor or Billy before we kind of start signing off. No, I've had to run in and out of the studio a couple of times here. So probably need to go take care of that.
Speaker: um Billy, unless you have anything else here, sir, it's ah been a pleasure having you on again. And yeah, now we have another answer to another trivia question. It's had the most ah guest appearances. There we go. Yeah, I appreciate it, boys. And yeah, always look forward to it. So.
Speaker: Excellent. Well, that will do it, ladies and gentlemen, for another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. Go check us out at truenorthgoaltending.com. Our five-day and four-day camps have been officially booked up, so unfortunately, no more spots with that. However, if you do happen to find yourself in the Edmonton area and still would like to train with us, you can head over truenorthgoaltending.com and book a facility session with us, with either myself, with Nathan, or any of our other amazing staff members that we do have uh you can also check us out true north goaltending.com for all of our content our drills concentration grids anything that's going on with true north goaltending both news wise and uh technicality wise you can check that out on the website as well Also on t True North Goaltending, we do still have some spots, albeit very, very limited with our two three-day camp, beginner camp for our U7 and goaltenders. And then as well as we do have some spots as well for our Ringette camp, which we might be transitioning a goalie camp as well. Nathan's still working on the the details with that, but I'll let him ah post that in due time. um You can follow us on your favorite social media platforms, all at True North Goaltending, except on Instagram, because we like to be different. That one is Y-E-G Goalie Coach. You can follow myself on Instagram at MondayGC.
Speaker: Check us out on on your favorite podcasting platforms, whether that be Apple, iHeart, Spotify, all at the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. We release new episodes every Wednesday morning. And then same thing with the YouTube platform as well. If you want to watch the video side of things,
Speaker: Again, same deal. Hit the subscribe button. Hit the like button. Hit the follow button. Hit the share button. more people that we are able to bring it together, the better. um With that being said, I don't have anything else unless anybody else does.
Speaker: I guess where can we find you, Billy? twice yeah there oh Yeah, I guess there we go.
Speaker: want to plug your Instagram? five Yeah, sure. I'll throw quick plug out. DoghouseHockey on Instagram and ah and Facebook as well.
Speaker: And so also, there is still some room in our Learn to Play Camp in Viking, Alberta, coming up here at the end of July. So if if you're a U79 goalie that wants to come out and check it out, we've got two ice times, one off on ice time off ice time on a Friday.
Speaker: There's room.
Speaker: Perfect. Sweet. Well, ladies gentlemen, on behalf of myself, Billy TV and Nathan Park, this has been the DIY goalie podcast presented by true north goaltending. Make some saves goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.
