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107 - How Goalie Parents and Coaches Can Hinder Development
103 Plays9 days ago
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This week we tackle a couple different but similar topics that relate to influential people in a goalie's life doing things that can hinder development. We talk about the tendency of some coaches to force certain techniques that may not work for the goalie in question. We also talk about some things goalie parents do that can also get in the way of their goalie's development.
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Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Goalie podcast where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Monday share their insights on how to become a better goalie.
00:00:20
Speaker
Goalies, how are you doing today? Welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie podcast presented by True North Goaltending with your two hosts as always Nathan Park and Connor Monday.
Guest Introduction: Emerson Monday
00:00:34
Speaker
um And we also have a future True North goaltending instructor and probably client too at some point. Emerson Monday with us as well today. So um she might might have a few things to say on some of the topics today. but I know Connor's pretty excited for the one that he has. He's got a bunch of passion behind what he's going to be talking about today. ah But thanks again for joining us, guys. um
00:01:04
Speaker
We are... ah I know we've said it for the last couple weeks, but we do have a couple of guests that shop are going to join us at some point. um We have a couple kind of high level goalie coaches that we are in the works with, but they're still doing stuff with their seasons. So we are kind of going to be putting those on hold for a couple more weeks until their schedules free up a little bit. But we're also looking into some other kind of related but non goalie people that we'll hopefully bring on for certain topics as well in the near future here.
New Website and Updates
00:01:41
Speaker
um
00:01:42
Speaker
On our side of things too, we do have our new website up and running. It looks a lot more slick than what we've had before. um And with that, we also have kind of our new back-end booking platform and system set up and ready to go with some of the cool things that we talked about still in the works, along with like our app that we talked about last week and all that stuff that will be coming out soon. But because we are doing this, there's going to be a lot more focus on getting content out to you guys. So one thing that I'm going to be doing in the near future is really updating our website with drills because that hasn't been updated a lot yet um or in a while, I should say.
00:02:27
Speaker
um So that's coming down the pipeline. And yeah, so if you want to check out what's new, you can head to truenorthgoaltending.com and keep an eye on that over the next few weeks as the drill library kind of gets built out a little bit more um and is a little bit easier to navigate.
00:02:45
Speaker
um with that being said how is it going connor haven't talked to you in like over a week it's been a blissful week to say that much um yeah no things are going well on on my side of things um like like nathan was saying like uh lots of exciting stuff happening in the behind the scenes stuff i do have some guests that i have written down just have to reach out to them about you know getting them on the pod and whatever else, but the list the list keeps growing by the day. um and And we don't knock anybody off the list.
00:03:22
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
Shoutout to Marlon Boissoneau
00:03:24
Speaker
um Speaking of guests, though, however, I do want to give a quick shout out to previous DIY Goalie podcast guest.
00:03:33
Speaker
a Third string goaltender for the Minnesota Frost, who played in her first game for the Frost, Marlon Boissoneau. Unfortunately, ended up in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Golden Eyes, but she played a a played a hell of a game facing 24 shots and only allowing three in. So, you know, not bad and not a not a bad not a bad um debut for her for the yeah for the Minnesota Frost.
00:04:00
Speaker
I thought you said four went in. Oh yeah. Well, I mean, overtime, you know, but whatever, but, um, overtime will still count. Not in my books. Um, but yeah, no, just, you know, just congratulations to her. She, she, she played well. Unfortunately, the frost weren't able to, weren't able to ah pull out the wind, but they are in the, um, uh, what's it called? The Walter cup playoffs now. So they're, uh, they're, they're on their way there. So best of luck to, to her and them. And, uh,
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, otherwise on my side of things, you know, like I said, not not too bad here. Just enjoying time with with little Miss Emerson Monday here and i'm just kind of waiting for things to pick up a little bit on on the True North goaltending side of things. But, you know, beyond that, we're just we're just cruising.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah, you're going have to wait until August before it really picks up. And it's also a good thing we hired Connor for his goalie coaching abilities and not his math abilities. So, you know.
00:05:01
Speaker
ah I mean, fair, but you know. um Hurtful, but fair. Yeah, I mean, overtime goals count as goals against. But anyways, I digress. ah So,
00:05:16
Speaker
What we're going to talk about today, um I'm going to talk about you know the um i guess forcing of techniques sometimes that we see happen in the goalie coaching community and kind of what the issues that arise with that and kind of how we can kind of work out a situations where we find ourselves um facing that.
Adapting Goalie Training Techniques
00:05:43
Speaker
And then Connor is going to kind of i talk about some parent stuff on the back end of the episode. So we'll kind of get into that um later on. But what i wanted to dive into was I know Connor's favorite term ever when it comes to goaltending is cookie cutter goalies.
00:06:07
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, and we'll get, we'll get the visceral reaction from that. But as we've kind of talked about a little bit on the podcast before, I mean, there is a little bit of merit to that, um, to an extent, like, um,
00:06:24
Speaker
There's a lot of, I know the term cookie cutter goalie, we don't like, but the kind of principle behind it, there's a little bit of merit to that because there are some times I find where,
00:06:39
Speaker
goalies are maybe pushed too much to do specific things as opposed to kind of finding what works for them and, you know, figuring it out a little bit for themselves.
00:06:51
Speaker
um And that's one of the biggest things that I've kind of changed in my approach as I've gone on here as a goalie coach is embracing a little bit more of the chaos when it comes to um practice structure and trying to get a little bit more um randomness, a little bit more of kind of the game like scenarios where there's more variables and stuff and actually have goalies being able to react and process that and make proper decisions based off of what's and developing in front of them.
00:07:25
Speaker
um but that being said there are a lot of coaches like a lot of goalie coaches out there that kind of do have the it has to be done this way mentality and really try and push goalies to you know the whole square peg and around hole type situation right the cliche saying where you know They're trying to push things on goalies that might not work for them for various reasons.
00:07:57
Speaker
And sometimes I find too that there might be a little too much um focus on things that don't make as much of a difference. so If you guys have heard before of the 80 20 rule um where like 20 percent of your efforts translates to about 80 percent of your results.
00:08:22
Speaker
um The saying of that is kind of like we need to focus more on the 20 percent of things that are working and generating 80 percent of the results. And sometimes I find with some goalie coaches, they focus too much on things that don't make a huge difference, like glove positioning, like fingers up, fingers down, you know, risk location, whatever stuff like that. Right. like Yes, obviously we don't want the glove behind or back or facing the ice or anything like that. Like, yes, there is a certain point where, you know, glove position can be hindering.
00:08:58
Speaker
But if a goalie is catching pucks, if a goalie is making saves, um we don't need to be, you know, making too many drastic changes when it comes to the glove positioning if it's working for them, even if it looks weird.
00:09:14
Speaker
I've had goalies that literally like if you guys are watching on YouTube, they kind of have like the elbow up kind of rotated hand like on their shoulder type deal.
00:09:26
Speaker
um And I've seen goalies do that, that it really doesn't work for them. And we adjust and we make the change. But I've seen goalies that do that and it actually they're snagging pucks left, right and center. So as a goalie coach, who am I to tell them that that's not working for them? Because it is.
00:09:44
Speaker
it's Right. So um I find sometimes there's maybe a little bit too much focus on some things that don't actually move the needle too much when there's bigger fish to fry.
00:09:57
Speaker
And then the other thing is, too, is like I said, I think sometimes there are certain goalie coaches that things worked so well for them when they played that entertaining the idea of something else potentially working as well doesn't really click.
00:10:15
Speaker
Right. And so A big thing with with goalies out there, if you find yourself in a situation where you're kind of being told to do something and it's just not working out for you, maybe a i think the first step is A, to ask for some clarification because maybe you misunderstood.
00:10:37
Speaker
Or maybe it's just the way that they're explaining it, like didn't click or whatever the case is, because there could be some merit to what the goalie coach is saying.
00:10:49
Speaker
But if there's something that really isn't working for you, you've tried it out it looks like it's it's good and you you gave it an honest try, not just like a two minute try and no, that doesn't work for me or whatever.
00:11:03
Speaker
um Have that discussion. Because i think the majority of goalie coaches out there are open to the discussion as long as you go about it the right way, not saying, hey, your technique sucks. I'm not doing it.
00:11:17
Speaker
Like just being like, hey, coach, like I honestly feel like this is awkward. It's uncomfortable. And I find I'm getting beat lots. Is there something else that we can do or can we tweak this a little bit or, you know, like, do you notice anything I'm doing wrong? Like,
00:11:36
Speaker
you know, it's not working for me. I liked it better what I was doing before. um Can you help me out a little bit? And I think most goalie coaches will be open to that discussion.
00:11:47
Speaker
um But they don't know if you don't say something to like, I can't speak for everybody, but I know for Connor and myself, we love having that back and forth. And it's good that the goalie is actually thinking about it and, you know, kind of giving their two cents. And, you know, we want to work with you to find the solution, not kind of, you know, debate back and forth, ah you know, kind of get into an argument. It's more kind of that collective discussion to find something that works together. Right.
00:12:21
Speaker
It looks like Emerson has a question. Like, hey, my hand.
00:12:26
Speaker
But but yeah, so I don't know if you kind of have anything you wanted to chime in on that or um or kind of build off of that at all. But. Yeah, everything that you said is wrong. um And so just just completely throw everything that Nathan said out the window. um No. So I feel like I have to defend my position every single time that we talk about cookie-gutter goaltenders. And it's not that I don't totally disagree with the phrase, but I disagree with the phrase.
00:13:01
Speaker
I think too many people generalize that as it has to be done this way. You know, these are specific ways, you know, you have to make saves and this is a specific way on how you have to, you know, move and square up on the puck and everything else. That's not what it is.
00:13:19
Speaker
What? It is is just like you have the basic foundation of goaltending. Good skating, good tracking, good positioning.
00:13:29
Speaker
And then you can make certain tweaks about it from there. that's That's essentially the the the whole the whole point of it.
00:13:41
Speaker
we know Nathan and I know people too well that are like that. It's like, no, it has to be this way. You have to look like Carey Price. You have to look like um oh Jacob Markstrom or Andre Vasilevsky or whoever, be because this is what works for them.
00:14:00
Speaker
not always going to be the case. And so just the phrase of cookie cutter goaltenders just bothers me so much because that's not that's that's just that's just not what it is at all.
00:14:15
Speaker
have to have good foundations, have to have good skating, good tracking, good positioning, good angles. And then you can, you know, make tweaks and make processes from there. So is it, you know, fitting the mold of what, you know, the highest standard of goaltending is to start when you're first starting out? Sure. But then those tweaks can be made gradually as it goes on.
00:14:38
Speaker
um I remember this past season with my double A team, where it was not not an argument, but it was always a conversation you know between between me and one of the one to one of my goaltenders, where it was, hey, this isn't working out for us right now. Let's make this tweak. We'd go and run a few reps and be like, okay, how do we feel? Well,
00:15:03
Speaker
like this, don't like that, or I'm not entirely sure about it yet, okay, let's go back, run a few more, just get comfortable with it. Or we make tweaks about it you know as as we go, essentially.
00:15:15
Speaker
So there is always that dialogue. It's never really my way or other or the highway. Nathan haig and know some goaltenders and goaltending coaches that are that are that are like that, but just... Again, it just...
00:15:31
Speaker
the the I always trace it back to having proper foundations, having, um you know, proper just goaltending knowledge. And then, you know, you can make adjustments from there. So just, yeah, just the phrase cookie cutter goaltender, just it bothers me so much. Yeah.
00:15:53
Speaker
Well, and that's there. There's a foundational set of non-negotiable skills that every goalie needs to have. But um and and I guess that kind of is where people get the cookie cutter thing from. Like, I think a lot of it, too, is just the people that want to see goalies stand up and pad stack again, because for some reason they think that that is a superior way of goaltending. But anyways, I digress.
00:16:21
Speaker
um I think, yeah, the biggest thing it's it's the It's the outside edges of your game that come around that non-negotiable foundation. And even with the non-negotiable foundation, there is still some variance in the way goalies approach it and the way that it works for them.
00:16:45
Speaker
um Especially since you think about like, you know, even just something as simple as size differences, like the way a tall goalie moves around the net is going to be slightly different than a way a shorter goalie moves around the net and all that. But the thing is, is I find that too many times, um,
00:17:07
Speaker
There's there isn't as much personalization as there should be when it comes to goalie coaching. um And I also think that one shift overall that needs to happen when it comes to goalie coaching is letting goalies figure it out a little bit more than we have traditionally.
00:17:27
Speaker
and getting slightly away from the structure that we traditionally have had with goalie sessions. Cause it's always like, I'm shooting here, you're pushing here, you know, blah, blah, blah. It's predictable, which isn't what happens in a game.
00:17:42
Speaker
um And it's the same thing with our approach to the foundational skills and just like how we approach the game in general. For the most part, we want to follow a script, but then there is a little bit of having to improvise that needs to come into play there as well. Right. So um that's kind of, i think just the general message, I guess, is if you're a goalie coach out there, take a look at some of the hills that you've been dying on and ask yourself if they're actually worth dying on that hill or if there's maybe some leniency there. And depending on
00:18:23
Speaker
you know, the the individual things that your goalies are bringing to the table. And then same thing with you guys that are goalies. Take an actual thought as to what you see the pro goalies or the goalies that you look up to, whether it's junior, pro, college, whatever the case is. and the way they play, ask yourself, well, yeah, that works for them, but is that going to work for me?
00:18:51
Speaker
And maybe the answer is yes, and you can try it out and great. Maybe the answer is no. Right? Like not everybody's going to be able to be as flexible as Vasilevsky is and be able to hold their edges when their knees are an inch above the ice.
00:19:05
Speaker
And same with Bobrovsky. um But at the same time, some goalies are going to be like that. So a goalie like that shouldn't play like Aiden Hill. um And a goalie who's like Aiden Hill shouldn't play like Vasilevsky. And if there's a goalie coach out there that's trying to make everybody a Vasilevsky or everybody in Aiden Hill, it's not going to work.
00:19:27
Speaker
And so you guys also have to take onus on yourselves to be like, OK, what can I take from videos, from courses, from goalie coaching sessions? What can I take from those that are going work for me?
00:19:44
Speaker
but Also understand that it's OK that some things that you are being taught or that you see don't work for you. And most of the time, it's OK to make adjustments to that work for you.
00:20:00
Speaker
As long as you're still finding ways to be efficient, you're still finding ways to get results and get the job done. So I'm not saying that, oh, well, coach told me to have my hands up and in front of my body. Well, that's uncomfortable. That's a lot of work. And my arms get sore. I'm just going to keep my hands, you know, resting on the top of my pads.
00:20:20
Speaker
Like there is some things that, yes, you have to do as a goalie to be successful. But just some of those kind of edge skills or whatever you want to call it, those ones kind of more on the perimeter that really define who you are as a goalie.
00:20:38
Speaker
There is some leniency there and you don't have to force something that doesn't work.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah, you you kind of nailed that already. like there's there's there's a thousand different There's a thousand plus different ways to to to play it to play the position. But yeah, there are some non-negotiables for sure.
00:21:00
Speaker
And there are some negotiables, but they have to make sense at the end of the day. That's that's the biggest part. I remember one goalie in particular that I was coaching who always had his hands tied to his hips.
00:21:15
Speaker
Never understood why. i Always kept getting beat on the sides because he had those holes open. And I kept telling him, get your hands off your hips. Would refuse to do it. And would kept wondering kept wondering why he was getting scored on every time in the game, but kept making those saves in practice.
00:21:35
Speaker
So, I mean... as long as like like As long as with whatever it is that you're doing, as long as it doesn't interrupt the basic fundamentals of the position of goaltending,
00:21:49
Speaker
is if it if it if it if it works, it works. But again, like i said, like as long as it doesn't interrupt the basic foundations of goaltending and you're able to back up the claim of here's why I'm playing the way that I'm playing or here's why I'm doing whatever it is that I'm doing,
00:22:06
Speaker
that is making me successful as long as you have that again that that that show your work essentially right um we're we're we're all good with it but if it's not working and we can see that it's not working and it's and it's hindering your ability to make saves or it's or it's costing you or the you or the team goals in in in in big moments well then yeah we have we have to make those adjustments it's not boom, boom, boom, you know, my way to the highway, essentially it's, there has to be some malleability there. And that's what makes the best goalies turn the goalie coaches.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah. I guess the best way to sum it up would be if it ain't fit or ain't broken, don't fix it. Yeah. But at the same time, if it is broken, then yeah figure out what you need to fix. So do you think, um, just, I'm thinking about it here live. Just, do you think there's,
00:23:05
Speaker
You know, because, you know, establishments such as, you know, ourselves with Trinor's goaltending and, you know, goaltending coaches in general, do you think.
00:23:19
Speaker
Because they rely. so much on the successfulness of what we see at the amateur pro and pro areas that um that's why, you know,
00:23:40
Speaker
how do I want to word this? You know, that's that that's that's why we see such stubbornness, I guess, for lack of a better term with, hey, have to have, you know, fingers pointing straight up, you know, as an example, or hey, have to have toe bridge on the post. That's a fun discussion that I like to have all the time, um you know, just or anything, you know, along those lines where it's hardnosed hard nosed, hard press set because because we've seen that success,
00:24:09
Speaker
in the amateur pro and pro leagues be just there's there's a there's a a quote from young sheldon you know it's funny enough uh you know where they were talking about punting on fourth down Well, why do we have to punt punt on down? Well, because everybody knows that you have to. Everybody everybody says that you have to.
00:24:32
Speaker
Well, why does everybody knowing something make it right? You know what I mean? like you know You get like you got what I'm saying from there? So just like, do you think just because of, like, hey, this is because this happens, everybody has to do it?
00:24:47
Speaker
um I do think that's part of like why some guys get so focused on a specific way of doing it. like I think there's various reasons why, and it's going to change per individual. like I think one of them might be past success. like If there was a couple goalies that really took off and yeah maybe made it to the and NHL or something like that, or high...
00:25:14
Speaker
high elite levels. um There could be a bit of, okay, this what this worked before, so now I'm sticking to it. um It could also be a little bit of this worked for me when I played.
00:25:31
Speaker
And because it worked so well for me when I played, this is the way it has to be kind of thing. um And then part of it, I think might just be sometimes an ego thing, right? Just like,
00:25:45
Speaker
What I find sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes with guys that do get stuck on specific ways of doing things, it's because they almost want to have like that quote unquote like trade secret or, you know, they want to have something that sets them apart for the sake of having something fresh or different or new or whatever the case is. Right.
00:26:14
Speaker
And sometimes that can work. But a lot of times, like I think we've gotten to the point with goaltending that. We've at least in terms of.
00:26:26
Speaker
The statistics of it, like the probabilities of things, we figured out what the highest percentage way of playing most situations are.
00:26:37
Speaker
um Yes, there's a lot of variables and yes, there's still room for improvement, but i I don't think we've gotten like, I think we've gotten to the point that I don't see there being any major, like, you know, somebody comes up with a massive game changer. That's their proprietary, you know, I coined this and now I'm the guru of goal. Kind of thing. But I still think there are people out there that have that mentality that they can find that, or they can be, and who knows,
00:27:14
Speaker
maybe that does come. Maybe somebody does stumble upon something and it changes the face of goaltending as we know it. But um I don't know. I just,
00:27:25
Speaker
I think for those reasons is kind of why some guys get set on certain things. um So a bit of what you're saying, but I think there's also a couple other things that play into it as well.
00:27:39
Speaker
um But yeah, I do think goaltending in general does suffer from a bit of complacency and a bit of historical bias as opposed to, you know, trying to play for the current game, the modern game. Sometimes there may be some, some traditional set ways that are still out there, but.
00:27:59
Speaker
yeah I don't know if that kind of answers your thought or question. Yeah, yeah i got yeah in ah in a in a way, yeah i just yeah. I've been fortunate enough lately to not have that.
00:28:14
Speaker
i just I know and I remember early on in my coaching career where you know it's not necessarily a you know ah a back and forth, but it's ah more I'm trying to convince people somebody to get out of their set ways and they're like, oh I'm doing this because, you know, whatever, because certain goalie coach, you know, said to, or whatever. And then I'm just, I just keep thinking myself. It's like, like, why does somebody knowing something always make it right?
00:28:47
Speaker
You know, you you know what I mean? You know, just always be open to new ideas and sometimes it may work better than others you know and we've nathan you and i have both seen it on on our side where you know we see something um well we know isn't working we go when they change it and sometimes it's either the parent or the goalie or whoever just get so offended by it and then they end up going back to whoever it is that they're working with before which hey not a problem about that but it just you know it just kind of makes you wonder like are you just going back because you didn't like a new way of thinking or yeah well and that's like the thing that i think the biggest thing to keep in mind with this is
00:29:40
Speaker
whoever is telling you this could very well be right. Yep. But they're not right for you. Right. Like whatever they're saying to you might not work for your game. And that is something to keep in mind. If you are struggling with a certain technique that somebody is teaching you, it might.
00:30:00
Speaker
And there's a lot of variables in this. So we're not saying this is the case all the time, but it might just come down to the fact that that way of teaching or that specific skill or adjustment or whatever just doesn't fit you personally.
00:30:19
Speaker
And it doesn't necessarily mean that they're wrong, but they like whoever is teaching you this should be able to recognize hopefully when something is working for a goalie or when something isn't and that is something to keep in mind too for you guys because like we've talked about before you guys are your best goalie coaches right you know yourself better you know what works best for you for the most part I mean Yes, guys like us from an outside perspective who have the experience and the knowledge can for sure give you lots of tips and advice and guide you. But I mean, i can guarantee that there's things that I've coached goalies on that they that they haven't taken with them through their career.
00:31:07
Speaker
And there's probably other things that they did, but certain things that I said to them, probably they just said this didn't work for me. And another goalie coach told me this, which works better. so I'm going to do that. And that's kind of why we talk about we've talked about before having multiple voices. You can still take things from each person that you work with, even though there's varying levels of skill and and, you know, the ability to teach and to coach.
00:31:38
Speaker
Most of the time, there's still at least something you can take that's a fresh perspective because we all kind of have our different ways of seeing the world or different experiences, right? So there's usually something you can take from everybody, even though everything that they're giving you maybe doesn't work for you.
00:31:55
Speaker
So that's just something to keep in mind too.
00:32:01
Speaker
Don't always have to be loyal to one person. As a matter of fact, I'd rather you didn't, um both in the sporting side and on the world political side, but that's a different conversation. um it um Yeah, no, there's more.
00:32:21
Speaker
we always We always say it, you know, more tools in the toolbox, the better. um And, you know, that's that's that's just what's going to help make you successful. That's what's going to help you succeed. So, yeah.
00:32:35
Speaker
I don't know, just something that i know that we've been talking about a lot and something that we see a lot of. um And it's always just a rinse and repeat cycle. And we'll get there one day, but, you know.
00:32:50
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So what do you got on your end for us today? Oh, you got the fire extinguisher ready. You might go. I got it. I got it.
Impact of Goalie Parents
00:33:02
Speaker
I got it. I got a barricade doors here.
00:33:05
Speaker
OK, goalie parents. Let's let's have a chat here for a second. I love you guys. I love, you know, the the conversations and the back and forth, you know, that that that we get to have.
00:33:18
Speaker
But y'all are y'all are crazy sometimes. um No, so yeah my my segment today was just something that i've that we've been thinking about is, are goalie parents getting in the way of their goalie's development?
00:33:39
Speaker
And you think you would think that the answer is like a resounding no or a resounding yes. Nathan and I have seen both sides of it where there's a goal where we have goalie parents that are too overly involved, you know, want to, i you know, not question every little thing, you know, for the, for the, under the guise or the sake of understanding. um But they just, they just kind of get in the way of the actual development of what's happening. And we've seen goalie parents who just couldn't give a damn, about their kids actual development and you know just kind of pick up drop off you don't really stay sit in the stands whatever so this kind of goes out to the to to those goalie parents today there isn't anything wrong
00:34:35
Speaker
with wanting your kid to succeed. There isn't anything wrong you know with wanting your kids you know to to be to be successful and to be the best goaltender that they can be.
00:34:48
Speaker
But they have to do it themselves. You can be there for support. You can be there you know you know for somebody to just to to be there and to listen and to learn at the same time. um But when you start getting in the way of the development and, um you know, saying like, no, this is this isn't what it was like when I played. oh what's matter?
00:35:18
Speaker
What's matter?
00:35:22
Speaker
You OK? Yeah,
00:35:26
Speaker
I'm going to be that goalie parent that's going to get in the way.
00:35:32
Speaker
I got Mario to come out with Hayden the other week. Oh, really? Yeah. It was our goalie development session with the aces. And I'm like, oh, there's one on the other sheet in Devon at like 15 minutes later. I'm like, I'll go to that one. Mario can go to Hayden. I thought I was supposed to go.
00:35:55
Speaker
Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure you were working that day. Probably. Because that was last weekend. Weren't you working last weekend? No, I wasn't. Oh, no, you're in Calgary.
00:36:07
Speaker
Yeah, I was in Calgary. Yeah. So you were gone. right.
00:36:15
Speaker
That's what it was. i knew you were gone, so i didn't even bother asking you. Yeah. All right. OK, what did I just end with? Uh oh, lost connection to server.
00:36:30
Speaker
Oh, he's frozen. Uh-oh.
00:36:36
Speaker
Hello?
00:36:43
Speaker
Nathan, don't know if you can... oh okay. He's gone. Oh, God.
00:36:52
Speaker
Can you hear me now? Yeah, your audio is a little late from your video, but... Okay, well, yeah.
00:37:03
Speaker
So I guess let's just start off with this. There isn't anything wrong, you know, late like I said already lately, there isn't anything wrong with wanting to be involved in your kids development. but You have to kind of let them figure it out for themselves. There kind of has to be that dynamic back and forth with, you know, goalie coach and goalie. There doesn't need necessarily to be that third party insert in there.
00:37:31
Speaker
However, with that being said, you know, especially for younger goalies, closer towards like the U11, U9 area, maybe even U13 as well, depending, um there can be that...
00:37:47
Speaker
echo i guess, um you know, from the goalie parent, you know, just echoing off of what the, um you know, what what the goalie coach is saying.
00:37:58
Speaker
um It can go the other way very, very quickly when it's the goalie parent that is... I don't want to say questioning because, you know, that kind of just negates everything that we were just talking about. You know, but when it's when it's constantly questioning, you know, what the goalie coach is doing, it can in a way kind of create that doubt of the goalie itself.
00:38:20
Speaker
If mom and dad's always getting involved. Is the guy that I'm working with actually actually good or not? Is he actually helping? you know Kids kind of imitate off of off of off of their parents. i Not entirely sure what's going on in my arms here. I've never once done this, but you know it it it is it is what it is.
00:38:41
Speaker
so the the The other side of it as well is when you have a goalie parent that's not involved whatsoever, it makes it kind of difficult, you know, in the same breath of, you know, is the is is the goalie actually working on what he's supposed to be working on outside of working with us, right, with working with the goalie coaches. Yeah.
00:39:06
Speaker
You know, and and I know that, you know, there are some goalie parents that are like, oh, I don't understand it. I never played goalie as a kid or oh I just I don't want to get in his head. I don't want to mess up whatever it is that's that's happening. And that's fine. But there's but at the end of the day, too, as much as we always preach about, you know, goalies have to be there have to be their own best goalie coach.
00:39:29
Speaker
And the role of the goalie parent in particular always helps in some way, shape or form, whether it's just, you know, somebody to listen, you know, just to have just to kind of the goaltender talk to somebody.
00:39:41
Speaker
And so then they can kind of figure it out in their own head. And then there can be that back and forth, especially, when you know, when it's people like that or Nathan and myself, you know. who have who i i don't have a goal yet in the system but nathan does have a goalie in the system you know or and i'm sure as hayden will grow up he'll kind of ask questions or he'll have ideas that he'll want to kind of bounce off of you and then there's like there's that dynamic right you you don't want to be yeah you just you don't want to be overly involved you don't but you don't want to be under involved either the best way i can always say it
00:40:14
Speaker
And we've talked about another practice or practices. Jeez. We've talked about another podcast before as well. um You know, it's just kind of just taught just just talk to your goalie. Hey, how did practice go? What did you learn? Oh, hey, I don't know. Hey, you're you're talking about, um you know, being in position no versus being square. Aren't they the same thing? Can you you know describe that to me? Or, you know, kind of get your goalie's mind working.
00:40:40
Speaker
And ask him those questions, even if you don't have a lick of what he's talking about. But just ask those questions. And, you know, if you do have that goaltending knowledge, kind of maybe throw something back about him. Oh, hey, what if i what about if I'm in this position? the way am i Am I right or am I wrong?
00:40:56
Speaker
You know what I mean? But it can't just be, oh, your goalie coach is telling you to stay square to the puck. No, how about you be three feet off to the left? Oh, we're okay.
00:41:07
Speaker
We're okay. Be three feet off to the left. And, you know, you can just extend your block. I'm being extreme, obviously. But that's... that's the general idea. It's like, oh, hey, goalie goldie coach told me to do this. you know I need to you know drop down on my butterfly when the puck's below the waist.
00:41:26
Speaker
Goalie parents will be like, no, when i play, you have to stay standing. you know do the Do the good old Cujo kick save or whatever. like that's just that's that's That's what you don't want to be doing. You want your goalies to be engaged. You want your goalies to be involved and you want them thinking.
00:41:45
Speaker
That's how they're going to grow. And then if there's anything that they want to bounce off of and if you know you want to kind of help engage in that or even just as well, if there's a question that a goalie has and but he's not entirely sure how he wants to word it to his goalie coach, parents can step in and help them word that question. They don't want to be the one going and asking that question for them.
00:42:10
Speaker
You know what I mean? So we want our goalie parents to help not hinder a goaltender's performance or a goaltender's development rather. And we also don't want them to hinder a goaltender's performance as well.
00:42:26
Speaker
You know, if if if if if you're that goalie parent that likes to that likes to hang off to the side and just kind of be by themselves, whatever, you don't that's that's totally fine. But really don't want your goaltender to be distracted by you there.
00:42:40
Speaker
right Don't want them always looking for mom and dad after a save. Don't want them always looking for mom and dad after a goal. you know Anything along those lines. um you know we just we just We need our goaltenders to focus on their development. We need them to focus on the game and what's happening in front of them.
00:42:57
Speaker
Yeah, kind of the best way I can... um I don't know I guess compare this is it's the same or not the same, but a very similar approach to like the head coach and the assistant coach, right? When we talk about like role in a goalie's development is the parent. Now you just add the fact that the parent needs to be a little bit more supportive, obviously, and a little bit more involved than the coach or the head coach, assistant coach, whatever. But so the reason for that is the most hindering thing that goalie parents can do is the same thing with the the coaches, is the general blanket statements like
00:43:40
Speaker
oh you need to stand up more you need to try harder you need to get quicker that's one like before i started true north when i was coaching for another entity around the edmonton area had a i was helping out with a camp and um one of the kids was zooming through our skating like just going balls to the wall as quick as he could. And everything was wrong. Like technique, hands were all over the place, like no rotations, nothing like that.
00:44:11
Speaker
So I stopped him. I'm like, okay, we need to get our technique down and then we can speed it up. So you need to go slower. We need to get our proper rotations. We need to have our hands in front, all of that stuff before we push. Then we make our push and go. And as we get that down, we can speed it up. And he's like, no, my dad says i need to be faster. So I got to be faster.
00:44:35
Speaker
And I'm just like, think because that's also one that you just know you're not winning that conversation. You're not winning that battle, right? Because when he gets in the car on the way home,
00:44:49
Speaker
He's going to like dad's going to be like, you look slow out there. You need to be faster. And because kids around that 24 seven pretty much at home, he's going to listen to that voice as opposed to our voice for the, you know, 10 hours that they get over the week at the camp or whatever it is. Right. So.
00:45:07
Speaker
um The blanket statements, those ones can do a lot of harm because as we've talked lots before, goaltending so situational. There is no one good answer for everything. It all depends, right?
00:45:23
Speaker
um So that's one thing that we need less of from from the goalie parents. The other thing too is kind of blowing things out of proportion, both on the good and the bad side. So like,
00:45:39
Speaker
us goalies, we know when we weren't great. We know when we've let certain things in. We also know when, you know, people are almost, you know, kind of being a little condescending or something like that, like, oh, you played so well. And we're like, dude, I got pulled after four goals on five shots. Like, don't patronize me. Right. Like, you know, whatever. Like, I get you're trying to help your kid and and bring them up and support them and stuff like that. But we're also not naive. And it kind of is worse when we know we didn't do good. And people are trying to be like, oh, my goodness, Timmy, it's such a good job. bubb Right. like
00:46:19
Speaker
yes be supportive but be like do it in a way that was like hey you know what that wasn't your best game but that's okay you've bounced back from poor games before it happens right you're not going to be on every day it's fine push through battle hard and come back at her again right like that's more helpful for a goalie than just sunshine and rainbows all the time but at the same time if You know, your kid gets into the car after three one win and you're sitting there like, man, that goal was terrible. Like, what were you thinking?
00:46:53
Speaker
That's also not helpful too, right? So that balance between realistic but supportive, that's kind of what really helps helps out where you guys can actually be involved, but be involved in a useful way.
00:47:08
Speaker
is you know like connor said being that sounding board like after they have a tough game and they want to vent about it be there to help them vent about it and just say yeah you know what now you know what to do next time go work on that and practice and be better for next time it's all good world's not crashing it happens let's get another kick at the cat um and then i guess like the last thing on that front too is just make sure we're not also kind of messing with your goalies mentally. Cause that's a big thing on, on the, on the development side too, right? Is the day of a playoff game being like, Oh my goodness, this is such a big game. I hope you play well, like blah, blah, blah, like building those nerves, you know, that sort of stuff can be hindering to a goalie when you put a lot of pressure on a certain situation.
00:48:03
Speaker
um And then the other thing is too, from that front is, you know, if you are a little bit overbearing, if you're really involved, if you're always on your goalie, sometimes,
00:48:19
Speaker
like Connor said, they make a save or they let a goal in and then they're looking up in the stands, looking for dad's reaction, looking for mom's reaction, right? And that messes with them mentally because then they're not focused on the game. They're not ready for that next shot or they're worried about what you're going to say afterwards, right?
00:48:38
Speaker
Yes, you can chime in. Maybe you can say, here's one thing I thought you did well. Here's one thing I thought you could have done better in the game afterwards and leave it at that or something. Like that like if you want to be involved and have a little bit of say there, you can do something simple like that and that works well.
00:48:55
Speaker
But it has to be that nice balance of yes, we're involved. Yes, we're being supportive, but we're also letting the professionals do their job and they're the ones that can help your goalie develop. So let them do their job and then chime in if something is egregiously out of line. Like if if you have a goalie coach that's screaming at your kid every session, then yes, you need to step in for that, right?
00:49:20
Speaker
But if you have a goalie coach that, you know, maybe sees the potential in your kid and is trying to push them a little bit to to succeed, like push that bar a little bit, push them out of the comfort zone, and maybe they are getting on them a little bit and lighting a little fire under them.
00:49:36
Speaker
If it's, you know, constructive and it's, you know, providing a good value, then let it be. You don't have to step in every time.
00:49:54
Speaker
shut the bleep up sometimes. it was like that's that's that's that's that's That's all you just need to do is just be quiet. you know Golden rule, if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. um Yeah.
00:50:12
Speaker
Yeah. It's... it's We both know that that's not going always be the case. We all, we all know that there are going to be goalie parents of said goalie or other goalie parents on the team that will always have something to say, whether they're think that they're being helpful, but in reality they're being hurtful or just not being helpful in general. Um, um,
00:50:41
Speaker
it's it's It's going to happen and but sometimes just best way just to deal with it is just take it with a grain of salt. Don't give it any life, um you know, unless unless there is something to it. But, you know, generally nine times out of ten, there's not. Um, so sometimes we just, you know, need to just move on with our day and just be like, okay, whatever, you know, and, and move on with the next one. But that's, that's the other part goaltending as well. as like, we like to white knuckle hold onto these things and, you know, kind of let it fester and, um,
00:51:20
Speaker
yeah but I don't know. just That's just been something that i know that I've been thinking about lately. and just you know Sometimes the Facebook groups that I'm in make me sad. but Whatever. it is it it is It is what it is. I'm not technically a goalie parent yet, so what leg do I have to stand on? but you know wow For me, Hayden got his first, I guess, like league win yesterday morning. Oh, there you go. Look him.
00:51:53
Speaker
Yeah, they won, I think, or something like that Actually, the goalie they played was fantastic. He was so good for being 6 or 7 or however old he is. But, yeah, that's – as someone who is a goalie parent, I was even telling Connor I got one of our other coaches to come out for a goalie development session for him because, you know, I'm like, hey,
00:52:15
Speaker
I'm dad for the most part. And i think it's, it, it's going to have to be sometimes that there's some other voices involved on the development side. So there was a two skates going on at a twin arena for that. We were doing development for us. So I said, see you later, I'm going to the other team and got one of our coaches that to be with Hayden and his goalie partner. So, so yeah, I mean,
00:52:43
Speaker
you know I'm a professional goalie coach and I'm still trying to stay out of my kids' way a little bit. I guess ah if if that helps you guys out, then you know you can take that for what you will. would love...
00:53:00
Speaker
to get brian the cord on i've reached out to him and he's read my message yeah we're small fish yeah but would love would love to get you know brian de cord or another goalie coach who has a amateur pro or pro goaltender in the system And just get um their perspective on it and just maybe kind of share their insight or their words of wisdom. You know, especially being, you know, somebody, you know, like Brian, who's very well respected and very well known in the goaltending community. And then subsequently his son, Joey, who's a star. I think he's a starter for Seattle, but one of one of the top two goaltenders for the Seattle Kraken.
00:53:49
Speaker
They work together on a semi-regularish basis, but just would love to know what their dynamic is like. I'm sure there's probably videos on it somewhere.
00:54:00
Speaker
You find it. we we'll well we'll We'll reach out to our contacts in Goal Magazine. um But, so you know, just would love to just would love to just to kind of get their relationship and see their dynamic um with that. Because I think the relationship that those two guys have with each other, both family-wise and goaltending-wise, can...
00:54:24
Speaker
you know, would be super beneficial and super helpful for any goalie, goalie parent, goalie coach, who's a goalie, who has a goalie in the system.
00:54:36
Speaker
How many times can I say goalie in one sentence? but yeah But that's, but that's just the, but that's just, that's just the idea. Right. So. Yeah, well that's um one that's closer to home that we can maybe try and get on is Jason LaBarbera.
00:54:53
Speaker
see's Oh yeah. Yeah, his kid's playing triple, I think, if I remember correctly. He's actually, am pretty sure his kid made Alberta Cup and is playing in that this weekend.
00:55:07
Speaker
Um, but, uh, yeah, he's the flames goalie coach, former NHL goalie, obviously. Um, so yeah, maybe we'll, maybe we'll try and get the barber on. We can, uh, we can run that by him.
00:55:20
Speaker
that So I'll see what, though I'll see what strings I can pull, but yeah, on Facebook, Jason. Jason DeRuto. Um, but no they send to Anyways, you want to take us home? scott but dad He's not going to come on now. he seems he's He's not coming on now. ah No, i got i got I got nothing else to add. Hopefully there are some takeaways from both segments for goal for for goalies and goalie parents today.
Future Podcast Plans
00:55:52
Speaker
um I would like to... do a more technical episode at some point it's kind of hard to do in the audio format of things but just with some of the things that we've seen in the nhl playoffs this year i think kind of doing like a like a goalie breakdown or just something along those lines just maybe picking apart one play i don't know in in particular and just kind of maybe dissecting that a little bit would be would would would be a lot of fun yeah i'm Yeah, we're we're starting to free up a little bit on on the time and that's going to go entirely to building content, whether it's pod or, you know, I actually am going to do something with Conor's vlog one of these days soon. um I promise that. it It is on my list and it's slowly climbing the list.
00:56:43
Speaker
um But yeah, we're gonna be leaning into the content for you guys and kinda that's one thing that Conor, I have talked lots about for this off season. I know it's already almost May, which is ridiculous, but we will crank some stuff out for you guys.
00:57:01
Speaker
um and yeah well like we said we'll try and get some more guests too so you don't always have to hear our takes on things and kind of you know listen to us drone on all the time but uh but yeah we'll uh we'll keep working on that and uh yeah have some exciting things coming down All right. Well, that is a good place to end it for today. Thank you very much, everyone, for listening to the DIY Goalie podcast presented by True North Goaltending. Make sure you guys follow us on your favorite social media platforms, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Twitter, whatever that may look like, all of which is 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 over at Monday GC. Go check us out. True north goaltending.com. Our new booking system, like Nathan was saying at the top of this episode is live.
00:57:58
Speaker
um So all that fun stuff over there, you guys can book with Nathan, myself, or any of our other fantastic staff members that we do have at true north goaltending.com. Also at True North Goaltending as well, our week-long camp is officially filled. It is booked. There are no more spots. However, we do have some spots available for our four-day camp afterwards.
00:58:21
Speaker
think most of our spots are filled already, so make sure you guys jump on that if you do happen to find yourself in the Edmonton area and want to work with myself and Nathan. on top of that we do have some spots as far as i'm aware uh available with our beginner goaltender camp that is the what is that the the august 8th and 9th august 8th and 9th thank you very much um so we do have some spots available there so go check us out trunautsgoaltending.com and lastly if you are a ring at goalie and i've been struggling to find uh development for yourself or for your ring at goaltender we do offer that as well with our dedicated ring at goalie coaches that is the week after the weekend after our five day it's our five day camp that is the weekend after right because it's the same four day because that's why the four day one is four days because we have the friday for the ringette so the ringette's august twenty first to twenty third the friday saturday sunday
00:59:17
Speaker
There you go. So make sure you guys head over to truenorthgoaltending.com. Book your spot now. think we're the only goaltending firm in Alberta, at least in the Edmonton area, that offers ring-head goaltending coaching. So go check to go check us out, truenorthgoaltending.com. If you are listening on your favorite podcast platforms, whether that is Apple, iHeart, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts, if you are a returning listener, thank you very much. Make sure hit the share button. the more goaltenders that we are able to bring together, the better. Same thing with the YouTube side of things as well. If you're returning subscriber, hit the like button, hit the share button, all that fun stuff. If you are a new listener or viewer to our little program, hit the subscribe button, hit the follow button. We release new episodes every Wednesday morning.
01:00:00
Speaker
And with that being said, on behalf of Nathan, myself, and Emerson Monday, this has been the True North Goaltending DIY Goalie Podcast. I've already screwed out the outro. I'll see you guys on next one. Make some saves. Take care.