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102 - Prep for Important Tournaments and Tryouts
109 Plays7 days ago
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With provincials and tryouts underway in a bunch of areas, we take this week to talk about how you can prep for success. We tackle things like mindset, how to stand out, tips for parents and coaches, and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to DIY Goalie Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast, where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become a better goalie.
00:00:18
Speaker
How are we doing today goalies? Welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie podcast presented by True North Goaltending. As always, well not always, we don't always have the two of us together, but today we do. So we have your host Nathan Park and with me is Connor Munday.
Off-Season Strategies
00:00:38
Speaker
um So we are you know entering that weird time of the year again where we have a lot more open time on our schedule and still don't make the best use of it.
00:00:50
Speaker
But hey, it's a little bit of a wind down time before we get kind into the off season side things. Hopefully you guys are doing well. We are going to be talking about kind of, well, I don't know exactly what Connor's going be talking about yet. He hasn't decided, but we're going to talk about it. I know, but you still had two or three things. We were bouncing around.
00:01:15
Speaker
ah No, we are going to be talking kind of on the, I don't know, very tail end of season stuff like, you know, going into provincials and stuff like that, if you guys are still going. But we're also going to be talking about kind tryout season ish. A little bit of that kind of touch on some of the the subtle habits and and stuff that we can do to set ourselves apart.
00:01:43
Speaker
um And yeah we'll be getting into it from there. So how are we doing, Connor? ah Doing good over here. you know It's funny we mentioned Provincials because that's where my team will be heading to middle of the week this week. I guess literally as this episode drops, the team will be on the bus down to ah down to Southern Alberta, home of Devin Hardy of ah Saga Goaltending. And um yeah, they'll be having their Provincials tournament down there. It's ah it's exciting. I'm not going to traveling with them, but it's exciting to be...
00:02:16
Speaker
part of that group, part of that team that's going to go down there and, excuse me, is going to try and, you know, not make a name, but, like you know, um try to be, like, the top team in the province, basically, which is exciting. I did i had a chat with our our head coach about it last week or the last time that was on the ice, and, yeah, I guess they were Silver medalists in 2024, bronze medalists in 2025. So hopefully to complete the trifecta here in 2026, but so we'll see. But we have a good group and it's exciting to ah you know to see where they're at and you know and the the accomplishments that they've had.
00:02:57
Speaker
thus far and you know just getting to be a a
True North Goaltending App Launch
00:03:00
Speaker
small a small part of that's ah you know really really exciting ah aside from that it's same old same old over here i'm mentally trying to prepare myself for the amount of times that nathan and i may have to talk to each other more in the off season for content purposes and everything else so you know beyond that um but yeah otherwise everything's all fine and dandy over here and uh glad to be back on the pod today Yeah, the I hate you is will be flowing freely.
00:03:29
Speaker
That's for sure. absolutely. Absolutely. You know, okay, well, you know what? Let's let let's let's start off with this here. let's start Let's start off with this I hate you. How come the how come the vlog hasn't been ah been posted yet?
00:03:42
Speaker
That's done. It's done, by the way. it's It's all done and completed. I've sent it over to him and anything. And Nathan just hasn't ah he hasn't uploaded it to the channel yet. so no When's this vlog that I worked so hard on coming out?
00:03:55
Speaker
i watched I've probably gotten around to watching about five minutes of it. um No, I am honestly, i i have been bad lately. um <unk> trying i'm trying to find that right balance right now of trying to kind of wind down from the season and get some like rejuvenation time while still getting stuff done. And yeah.
00:04:22
Speaker
Hasn't been a great period the last couple of weeks. But yeah, there's, i don't know. I do have a lot of other stuff that's kind of on the go with, you know, getting, you I guess since we are in the works with it, we can kind of announce it, but we are getting a new backend platform in the works that will actually have a True North goaltending app that will be going with it, which we are pretty excited about. So um that'll be, the app will be booking and content kind of centric, I guess. So we're gonna be,
00:04:58
Speaker
putting together some content to put up on there. And obviously for those of you local to us, you'll be able to book stuff. But if you aren't local to us, even through the app, you can book the virtual services that we got. So stuff like the virtual goalie sessions, the goalie mentorship calls, video breakdowns, stuff like that. So
Success of Goalie Camps
00:05:20
Speaker
I've been working on that and also just kind of trying to tie up loose ends from the season and kind of do a bunch of other the offseason checklist stuff so yeah i uh i have not gotten around to watching a full vlog or doing anything with it so that is on me it might it might make its debut on the app in like I don't know. We'll see.
00:05:46
Speaker
But... i can i can say what i can i can I can say with confidence that there's nothing to be worried about if you just want to blindly post it. um But yeah, no, I i totally i totally get totally got where you're coming from. we Like you were saying at the start, we're at we're in this like...
00:06:01
Speaker
weird point in the year where, you know, it's the off season, what off season that doesn't really exist in our minds half the time. And, you know, especially with all the changes and stuff and, you know, the, the, grind the grind never stops. So I would not be surprised, you know, like, cause we were talking about it last year, you know, just the grind that never stops, you know, so with all the changes and such we've been making, it's going to be the same thing that this year, probably going the same thing the year after that until we're, until we are both in a place where we're, where we're happy with it.
00:06:32
Speaker
And, uh, you know, we can actually take the summer off of and not actually have to worry about all the back end business stuff. So never. Yeah, basically. Yeah, because I guess on the other side of things too, we did fill our full week long camp in record time. Like usually we're filling our last spot kind of like June-ish and we killed it by March. So kudos to you guys. Shout out to you guys. Thank you for that.
00:06:59
Speaker
And because of that, we actually opened up a four day camp from August 17th to 20th that already has a handful of bookings in it as well. wow um So that's been another thing I've kind of been doing too with the camp prep. But if you guys did miss out on our August 10th to 14th camp, we do have an August 17th to 20th camp now the open.
00:07:23
Speaker
um So because it's only four days, it's slightly cheaper. But that is up for booking on our website as well. um i guess since we got off on a bit of a tangent we'll circle back to uh the actual relevant conversation here um so to segue about three minutes too late over here but uh connor is talking about provincials and um I kind of wanted to chime in on that too because one of the goalies that I work with on the mentorship side of things as well as the in-person side, but they just wrapped up their um their provincial tournament this past weekend. and They ended up getting bronze on that despite being 3-1 in the
Mental Preparedness for Tournaments
00:08:10
Speaker
round robin. They finished third due to a goal differential.
00:08:15
Speaker
But yeah, well, and that's what I don't like when they don't have a semifinal either, like when it's just one and two play for gold and three and four play for for bronze. But I digress. um The thing with like provincials and kind of other sort of like tournaments that are are like that, um a lot of.
00:08:38
Speaker
goalies kind of go in gripping the stick a little too tight and I guess just players in general not just goalies but um A lot of times with these tournaments, because they're so quick, they're so short and, you know, a lot of times there's a lot on the line at them.
00:08:56
Speaker
um It's very easy to, you know, go in, grip the stick a little tight, have a bad game or two or a bad half game. And then all of a sudden you're kind of behind the eight ball and and in a tough spot. so If any of you guys are still about to get into provincials or even down the road when you're looking at these sorts of tournaments, um the biggest thing is, is to just go with what you know.
00:09:25
Speaker
basically run your horses that got you there. So trust your game, have a little bit of confidence that you're there for a reason. Obviously you guys, your team and yourself had the skill set to get to that point.
00:09:40
Speaker
um So you kind of just got to run with that, have some confidence in that, have a little bit of swagger. And also like we've talked about so much on this podcast, the, the mind of a goldfish, right? You know, as if something doesn't go your way, if you let in a bad goal, whatever, we gotta, ah it's even more important in a tournament like that to be able to forget about it and move on and bounce back.
00:10:03
Speaker
Um, the other thing though, too, like talking with my goalie that, uh, just had provincials going into it, um, I really wanted to pass the information on about not worrying about what you can't control.
00:10:22
Speaker
So for this goalie in particular, um he got most of the games in playoffs. And then when it came to their provincials, he only got one of the five games.
00:10:36
Speaker
And he ended up winning that game, played well. um But still, that was all he got. And obviously, there's a lot of disappointment there. But I kind of had to talk with him to say, look, we can't control coach decisions. We can't control stuff like that.
00:10:53
Speaker
What you can control, you did. You... you had your shot, you had your one game, that was what you're given, you got the win, that was your job, you did well, and you can hang your hat on that. And I think a lot of times we focus a little too much on the negatives in these sorts of situations and tournaments, as opposed to going in kind of with a positive mindset and just having fun.
00:11:20
Speaker
And just being excited to be there, right? Like a lot of times we put too much pressure on ourselves. um We worry too much about the little details or we try and think too much, do too much. And that's when we get into trouble. So if you do end up in this situation, going into a provincials or a big tournament or whatever, just play your game, have some confidence, have some fun and and just do what you can do. Run with it.
00:11:48
Speaker
a And you know, what's funny is that I'm kind of going through that myself right now with my U18 group. um yeah we're We're in a spot right now where we're fortunate enough to at least have a like two or three practices before the team ships off to Calgary.
00:12:08
Speaker
um I've been out. I was out with them on Friday. They had a practice yesterday that I wasn't at. So I'll be out with them tomorrow. Yeah. And so trying to, you know, make the most of those two practices in a short time, you know, I mean, 45 minutes, but I mean, it's still like trying to work on, you know, as much as you can. And you're really not trying, like, you're trying not to...
00:12:34
Speaker
do anything new. You're trying to um focus on what's already been done and you're trying to been I've been trying to walk that line of, well, do I focus on anything that they really need to touch up on or do I focus on, um you know, things that we've already know and things that have worked for us and just go just treat Friday's practice and then treat this upcoming Tuesday practice as well as ah as a back to basics um type thing.
00:13:05
Speaker
um And i i don't know if i I don't know if I made the right decision. I don't know if I made the right answer because on tuesdays on Friday decided...
00:13:16
Speaker
OK, it's a it's a maintenance kind of basics day, but we kind of mix in a a few things that, you know, we have struggled with, um you know, throughout the year, things that we have struggled on personally.
00:13:28
Speaker
And then, um you know, this upcoming Tuesday, it's well i don't I really don't know what i want what I want to do with them yet. I was going to go through game tape here, but you know procrastination is always a fun thing. um Nathan knows that too well, actually. And the zinger. ziinger and And, you know, just just trying to make sure that, you know, we don't information overload them um before they head off into the biggest tournaments, one of the biggest tournaments possibly in in their hockey careers.
00:14:06
Speaker
So really just trying to find that line. And, you know, it makes it even worse for one of my goaltenders because he hasn't gotten in a playoff game all year. So we're we're two series in, we're six yeah two series, six, seven, eight games in playoffs, and he hasn't touched ice once. And so I have to make sure that he's in a spot where he can be confident enough in his ability that if he does get into a game, I hope that he does, you know, because it's always a good opportunity, but... if, if, and when he does get into a game, you know, he can go in and he's can rely on the stuff that we've worked on. And not only in the last two practices, but work on and rely on the um stuff that we've worked on and have done all year. It's it's, and that's, that's the mental load that, that he's got to carry with that as well as that, Oh, I haven't played in eight games. I haven't played a single playoff game this year. And,
00:15:07
Speaker
there's potential, you know, for him to always jump into one. And, you know, an now we're in a spot where he can potentially jump into one of the biggest games of the tournament. And, yeah, so it's it's it's just a matter of walking that line, right, of, you know, not changing anything now at this point in the year, relying on the skills and skill sets that you have, and then as well as, you know, just the the the mental aspect of that as well.
00:15:38
Speaker
Yeah. So to double click on that point there, um One of the things that sticks out to me the most of what Schwartzy, Dustin Schwartz, former Oilers goalie coach, um had said to me when I was working with him when I played junior.
00:16:01
Speaker
um So going into playoffs, he brought myself and we had a third goalie too that, you know, we were the younger guys. We didn't like we weren't the starters or anything like that. He brought the two of us in and he had said, okay, so your guys' role in this playoff run is to be ready.
00:16:26
Speaker
And what he equated it to, because this was back in 2012, and obviously, you know, we're in the Edmonton area, but he equated it to the 2006 Oilers Cup run, but on the Carolina side. And he said, well, who was Carolina's starting goalie going into playoffs?
00:16:46
Speaker
And we both were like, well, Cam Ward, because, you know, he won the Conn Smythe and, you know, everybody remembers that. And he's like, no, like mart Marty Gerber was the starting goalie going into playoffs for Carolina.
00:17:01
Speaker
And, you know, I mean, was I was 11 at the time, so I wasn't really paying that much attention, especially spoilers. um So i was like, oh, OK. And, you you know, you go back and, yeah, Marty Gerber was their guy for the first couple games and playoffs faltered a bit.
Supporting Athletes During Tournaments
00:17:20
Speaker
They went to Cam Ward. They actually went back and forth a couple of times throughout their playoff run there and ended up winning the cup.
00:17:27
Speaker
And so the point to that is, is that even if you're not the guy, whether it is provincials, whether it is playoffs, whatever the case is, the preparation still has to be the same. The mindset has to be the same that you just never know. You're an injury away or a couple bad performances away or whatever the case is from getting your opportunity and running with it.
00:17:51
Speaker
And that's something to like, we all want to be the one like we all want to be the guy. We all want to be the one that plays every single game, every single minute and whatever. Like we we'd all love to be that. But the reality is that's not the case.
00:18:10
Speaker
um You know, there's two goalies on each team. One of them might be the kind of go to guy for the coaching staff. And if you're not that guy or girl,
00:18:21
Speaker
um You want to make sure that you are ready for that opportunity if it does come. And so that means doing your warm ups properly, you know, still doing your ball drills or your visualization or your playlist, whatever it is that you need to do to get into that right mindset.
00:18:42
Speaker
and not being shy about it either like you you want to embrace that because when you start to doubt yourself if you do get thrust into that situation that's when things can spiral out of control so embrace it and be ready for it and you know want it be hungry for it and and obviously you don't wish any ill will on your goalie partner but you're you're almost bouncing ready for that that opportunity and and if it does come then then you can be ready for it but um that's something that's always stuck with me that shortsy has said and it's kind of like yeah i guess so right and you just you never know what uh
00:19:26
Speaker
what's going to happen. A little bit of a side story on that note, though, that playoff run that we had that year, i did get into two games. Both games were because we were up by a lot and I was the expendable one. So we were up by like six or seven goals.
00:19:42
Speaker
And our coach was like, dark sea, you're in. I'm like, okay, I guess I'm the one that can get run and break a leg. So yeah, that that was my role on route to, tobe finals loss in the AJ, but you were the, you were the, you were the make a wish goalie. Hey. Yeah.
00:20:04
Speaker
Woo. I got 10 minutes today. Yay. i Yeah. Um, no, yeah, no, I didn't, I didn't know that either. mean, mind you. Yeah. We were like five, six, whatever at the time. So yeah, no, that's, um, that's, that's interesting. Um, I don't know. I guess like,
00:20:27
Speaker
Because i've never I've never been in provincials. I've never been in most of the spots that you know the kids that I teach or yourself you know have been there. So I guess for somebody you know like myself, you know maybe a little more of an inexperienced coach in that aspect or just an inexperienced person in that general realm, is this how would you approach it from a coaching standpoint, from a parent standpoint?
00:20:53
Speaker
And we kind of touched on it already, but from like an athlete standpoint. Yeah, so um I guess before we fully dive into that, just on what you said there, embrace your opportunities, guys, because like Connor said, like he never got a chance to do some of this stuff. And so this might be your one chance, like if you do get to provincials, right, like not to put the pressure on kind contrary to what we were just talking about. But
00:21:25
Speaker
You know, like you hear that a lot. I mean, I guess staying on the cam word subject, the guy never got another chance at a cup, but I mean, he won the one in his rookie year. Right. So Corey Perry is another great example. Won one early in his career and has been the bridesmaid like five the last six years or whatever it's been now, which is ridiculous.
00:21:46
Speaker
um But yeah, in terms of approaching it, I guess if you're on the parent side of things, it will really depend on what age group your your athlete is in.
00:22:01
Speaker
um Because the the older age groups obviously are going be a lot more independent and probably going to be more with the team as opposed to with you guys. But if you are if you do have a younger athlete kind of in a situation like a provincials or, you know, some sort of big tournament or or playoffs or whatever, um making sure that you give them the opportunity to perform at the highest level they can. So that means getting them to bed when they need to, making sure they're hydrating, getting them good um nutrition, all that stuff, kind of checking in, being supportive.
00:22:42
Speaker
um That's kind of the route that you want to go. The other thing you want to do too is you don't want to play up the tournament or the game. You actually want to downplay it. um If you and kind of, you know, have the language of like,
00:22:58
Speaker
oh, are you nervous? It's a big game, like, or a big tournament. Like, how are you feeling? Are you doing okay? Like, if you make a big deal out of it, that's when kind of some of the the anxiety, the doubt, you know, starts to creep in with the athlete. If you can come at it more so of a,
00:23:18
Speaker
All right, have a good game. You know just another game, whatever, like that kind of sort of attitude, even though internally, I know you're probably freaking out and you're going get a few gray hairs in these sorts of situations.
00:23:30
Speaker
That being said, don't outwardly you know show that. right you go You want to be as kind of reserved as possible. um And you know that kind of helps translate that sort of even keel mentality to your goalie as well.
00:23:47
Speaker
So I think that's the big one is just give them what they need to succeed. And then don't like downplay the whole situation. right Just whatever. It's another another couple games.
00:24:02
Speaker
Um, the coaches side, are you talking like head coaches, goalie coaches, just both? Um, yeah, both. Yeah. they Yeah. They're both.
00:24:15
Speaker
So head coaches, Talk to your goalies. okay please the The goalie that I was talking about that just came off of Provincials, they found out at the rink who was playing, which is ridiculous in my opinion.
00:24:35
Speaker
um So give them as much heads up. And... So tell them ahead of time what your plan is and stick to that plan. So if you do have one guy that's your guy, talk to both of your goalies and say, we are going to ride this guy to start.
00:24:54
Speaker
But my other guy here, you need to be ready just in case, right? That's kind of the messaging that you want to have. um If you're going to split 50-50 and like around Robin and then whoever you think was better in the round robin gets the you know the matter games or however you want to call it the ones that you know have some actual weight to them um then say that say we we're gonna each give you guys two games and we'll see from there whoever has the hotter hand we're gonna ride right but
00:25:31
Speaker
you you have a plan, communicate that plan, right? And i think that's where a lot of head coaches kind of,
00:25:42
Speaker
falter a little bit especially with their goalies um is they're just not open enough they're not communicative enough and we've talked about this at length but there is a certain mindset that goalies are in to be successful um so we want to make sure that we give them the opportunity to to succeed there um aside from that I mean i don't think there's really much else a head coach is going to do for their goalies at this point in the season. Obviously, it's whatever you're doing for the whole team to make sure they're successful, like making sure there's enough rest and that team meals are good and there's like team snacks and stuff like that, whatever. That'll vary for each team.
00:26:30
Speaker
For the goalie coaches, I think you kind of touched on it already. Like at this point, we're not reinventing the wheel or anything like that. um It's a lot of feel good like feeling the puck seeing the puck you know getting a little bit of touches in some movement in um but i think a lot of where the goalie coach can be beneficial is you know having the talks about the approach and the off-ice stuff and whatever because at this point in the season
00:27:10
Speaker
we're we're not tweaking our game, really. We're not you know trying to you know work on fighting through screens or work on our post-play and our RVH integrations. like This is stuff that we hope to get through in the season. And if not, trying to introduce some new stuff just can throw the goalies off.
00:27:33
Speaker
So I think it's more of an approach of, you know, kind of like what Schwartzy was doing. Like, how do you get your, you know, starting goalie, if you have a starting goalie kind of in that mindset to run with it and have the confidence that they're there for the reason.
00:27:52
Speaker
And if you have a backup goalie, trying to make sure that they understand their assignment and that they're ready to go if needed. Or if it's a 50-50, just making sure that they both you know understand the stakes, but are also kind of even keel, um you know doing the proper preparation, having good pregame like routines and stuff like that.
00:28:17
Speaker
um I think a lot of at this point in the season, a lot of what the goalie coach is doing is literally just getting the goalies feeling good, um you know feeling confident,
00:28:29
Speaker
being, you know, I guess ah like shoring up the little details, right? The little details and the good habits going into the games and the rest kind of takes care of itself.
00:28:42
Speaker
um And then on the athlete side, yeah, we kind of touched on it. um Again, I think the biggest thing is just going into it, having some fun, being able to,
00:28:54
Speaker
you know have that confidence and that swagger a little bit. Like you are there for a reason, understand that, embrace that, have some fun with it, but it's just another set of games. Even though it's got a fancy tag on the side of it or an asterisk or whatever, the end of the day, nothing's really changed.
00:29:19
Speaker
um So I think just understanding that, having the same approach and, going in just with the mindset of, I'm just going to have some fun. i know what I need to do and, you know, let's get it done.
00:29:38
Speaker
Okay. so Yeah. all right. Cool. Yeah. No, that was, that was, that was something that i was rattling around in my mind for last little bit is I do feel like, feel like I'm not doing much, but I probably, again, as the old saying goes, you know, less is more. Right. So that's the, that's, that's the biggest thing with that there.
00:29:55
Speaker
I got nothing else to add on to that if, if you do, but. No, not really. i was just going to say, I find that as I'm progressing in my goalie coaching career, I think oh like there's a lot more value in what we can discuss with our goalies off the ice than I think we initially think there is.
00:30:18
Speaker
because even like... a little bit of ah a side tangent. But what I'm noticing to like talking to some of the goalies now that we are doing a little bit more on the mentorship side of things, um there's a lot of tools and stuff. And we kind of went over this in the over coaching episode last week, but there's a lot of tools and stuff out there, like in terms of, you know, having a sports psychologist and that that's great. And there's a lot of things they can benefit from or or provide benefits for. But I do find sometimes it's almost like too clinical and not like from a ah goalie standpoint. Right. And I find that that's the one thing that us goalie coaches
00:31:02
Speaker
can provide is that actual perspective of being a goalie and when some of this stuff might be too much because like, you know, sometimes trying to do your five senses visualization doesn't work or sometimes trying to do whatever reset routine that your sports psychologist gives you just takes too long or is too complicated or whatever the case is. So I find on that side of things, like that's where we can really provide that benefit um of having that little perspective and and almost just being like, hey, you know what? Yes, whoever you're talking
Standing Out in Tryouts
00:31:40
Speaker
to is an expert. And yes, there is merit to that. But you don't have to do it if you don't think it works for you or whatever the case is. So I think being that voice of reason and kind of that relatable perspective is
00:31:55
Speaker
is a lot more invaluable than I think everybody in the goalie community realizes, both on the goalie side and the coach side. um so yeah. So if you are a goalie coach out there, I think providing that perspective and that aspect of things is very valuable to your goalies.
00:32:16
Speaker
but that's all I got. Now I'm done.
00:32:20
Speaker
um but This entire episode will just be Nathan talking the entire time. I'm just here just because. Well, yeah, I mean, that's our podcast, isn't it?
00:32:32
Speaker
That's that's that's that's why your name is first. Nathan Park and Connor Monday. I'm the I'm the small sub. Connor turns in with the odd I hate you just to get Brad going. Shout out Brad McDonald, by the way. Yeah. um But no, that kind of ties into kind of the second point we were going to get into today.
00:32:54
Speaker
So I guess like in general, the topic for today is mostly just these sort of one off kind of I shouldn't say one off, but like these quote unquote like, you know, special occasions, I guess. So whether it is something like provincials or if it is more of a try out for a camp or some sort of showcase or whatever, because What I wanted to get into um is around Alberta Cup.
00:33:24
Speaker
So for those of you who don't know what Alberta Cup is, it's basically for you 15 players that um It's like a showcase tournament. So Alberta kind of splits up into a bunch of zones.
00:33:39
Speaker
And if you reside in that zone, you try out for um the team in that zone. And basically all the teams then play in a tournament together. And it's kind of like a showcase of Alberta's top talent, basically for the, for this age group. And it kind of aligns with the, you know, the WHL draft age um so that it's kind of like somewhere that scouts can go and kind of watch the top end talent from the province. um
00:34:10
Speaker
So like I will be evaluating or helping evaluate it at Alberta cup. And like a couple of the goalies we work with, they're going to be, at Alberta Cup tryouts. So um very similar to the conversation that we kind of have about provincials in terms of like the approach and the mindset.
00:34:31
Speaker
But one thing that I wanted to touch on, because I had this conversation with the goalie that I'm working with, because he's going to be at the Alberta Cup tryouts this weekend.
00:34:44
Speaker
And he asked me the question, he's like, um you know, what can I do to like stand out? Right. And and so for stuff like this, honestly,
00:35:00
Speaker
the attention to the little things, the little details, the little habits, those are going to be what sets sets you apart, because at these sort of events, um especially the higher levels you go, the tighter the competition is. So the gap is going to be smaller.
00:35:20
Speaker
And so you got to find ways to kind of set yourself apart. And a lot of that comes down to the small things both on and off the ice. So when we're talking off the ice stuff like keeping your stall clean, um you know, and just picking up garbage you see in the room and throwing it out if if nobody sees it.
00:35:43
Speaker
great, whatever, you're just doing a good thing. But if people notice that you're kind of doing that stuff without being asked, if you have the same sort of skill level as somebody else and you're both on the bubble, that might be what gets you picked.
00:35:59
Speaker
Right. and So keeping your stall clean, helping clean up, making sure you're not the last guy to show up and you're not the first guy to leave.
00:36:10
Speaker
um That's another big one too. um Nowadays, being on your phone, like put the phone away um and you know only bring it out if you absolutely have to. But make it seem like you want to be there and that you're excited for the opportunity, right? So don't bury your face in your phone.
00:36:34
Speaker
Make sure you have a firm handshake. You look people in the eyes when you're talking to them. And even just things like, and you have to do this genuinely. You can't fake it. But even just things like, you know, at the end of your camp or whatever, just shaking the hands of the coaching staff and saying, thank you for taking the time to come out this weekend or this week or whatever. You know, do the same thing with the training staff.
00:37:03
Speaker
Go up to the training staff and say thank you for all that you did this week or thank you for all that you do or whatever the case is. Shake their hand. You know, those sorts of things are what's going to help you to stand out from the crowd.
00:37:18
Speaker
um You know, if you're always early, if you're always kind of vocal, taking that leadership style of role, again, not forcing it, but, you know,
00:37:28
Speaker
If if you're on the bench in these tournaments or these showcases or these tryouts, whatever the case is, be positive, get hyped when somebody on your team makes a big hit or a nice goal, pat them on the back when they come off, say, hey, nice shift, nice shift to everyone that comes off. Be involved, be vocal when you're off ice doing dry land or whatever, help lead stretches or you know, whatever the case is. Right. And again, we want to be genuine about it. We don't want to force it
00:38:03
Speaker
But those kind of things are what are going to help you so like stand out. And it's kind of the same on ice to just the small details like rebound control and following your rebounds and being set early.
00:38:19
Speaker
You know, those sorts of things like quick puck movement. the communicating being loud that's kind of the stuff that'll that'll help uh help scouts or evaluators or whoever kind of notice you and hopefully push you over the edge you know what's funny is that i actually tried out for alberta cup many many moons ago had no business being there whatsoever give it given my skill level and and and just kind of how i played the game But it was still a um still a cool and still a fun experience nonetheless.
00:38:56
Speaker
um And to what Nathan's talking about, you can apply that to kind of any, for lack of better term, major tryout or just tryouts in general.
00:39:12
Speaker
It doesn't matter what you're trying out with, whether it's regular winter hockey, spring hockey, Alberta Cup. I had also seen that again here in Alberta that the Team Alberta for the Brick Invitational had done their tryouts. as well. um So for us as scouts or for us as goalie coaches who do evaluation, um you know, the little the little details matter.
00:39:44
Speaker
And it's not about, you know, posting a shutout. It's not about, you know, stopping 49 out of 50 shots or whatever, right?
00:39:55
Speaker
it's It's the work ethic. It's the um the the hockey IQ. it's the It's all of these little things that do amount up that people will take notice of. um Not always the case, depending on where you go.
00:40:13
Speaker
But general the general consensus is that that is what they're what they're what they're looking for, what people who are doing these evaluations are looking for.
00:40:23
Speaker
So best of luck to everybody that tries out. Best of luck to to to your guy that's that's that's trying out with with all that. And so it's just you know making sure that we're giving it our all 110% both off and off the on and off the ice. And, you know, just taking what we have and trusting in our skill sets and running with it.
00:40:51
Speaker
Yeah. The other one that is a big one too, and I'm kind of mad that I forgot about it until now, but body language, body language can make or break you, especially after a goal.
00:41:06
Speaker
You could have a fantastic, you know, first two games and in your third game, you let in a bad early goal, have bad body language and then kind of downward spiral and very quickly you'll be crossed off the list.
00:41:20
Speaker
i I have personally evaluated goalies that were at the top of my list after day one or day two and significantly dropped off for a variety of reasons. But um You know, the way they react after a goal is one of those reasons. um And that's another one, too, that is like if you do give up something that's like a stinky goal, your ability to bounce back will say more than that goal does. That's what the evaluators are looking for. Yes, they'll probably all be like, oh, that was that was rough. And you ah obviously want to make sure that that's a one and done.
00:42:08
Speaker
Because if you let that spiral and snowball, that's ah then you'll end up like me at my Alberta Cup tryouts, which I have tried to black out of my life.
00:42:19
Speaker
But I did not have a good Alberta Cup tryout whatsoever. oh yeah I mean, neither neither did I. But like I said, I had no business being there whatsoever. I was not on the same skill level as all as most of those kids out there. Although I held my own pretty well.
00:42:37
Speaker
Yeah, see, I was a U15 AAA goalie that did not get Alberta Cup tryout whatsoever. Yeah, and I was a U15, like, Tier 4 kid.
00:42:51
Speaker
But, yeah, that's another big one. But, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, kind of like with everything we talk about, the more pressure, like all the pressure really is internalized.
00:43:07
Speaker
Like, yes, it's high stakes. But at the end of the day, if you don't make a team or if you don't win provincials or whatever the case is like, it really isn't the end of the world.
Learning from Failures
00:43:18
Speaker
I know it feels like it. Trust me, it does. But the sun's coming up the next day, you know, life moves on kind of thing.
00:43:25
Speaker
So a lot of the pressure around these things is very internalized. And, you know, I mean, i do feel bad for these kids because a lot of it is because of the external, like the internal pressure comes from you know their external experiences right because coaches and parents and other players and all this stuff are like oh my god provincials oh my god albert cup oh my god like you know it's such a big deal like you know same thing when it is your second year u15 when it's you know the dub draft or the o draft or the q draft um or if you're in the states like whatever the
00:44:10
Speaker
you know, processes for the knowledge after the USHL or all of that stuff. But um we tend to make a big deal around these things. And yes, they're a big deal. But the problem is, is when we kind of internalize that and really elevate the the stakes internally, that's when things start to spiral a little bit. So um at the end of the day, just status quo.
00:44:36
Speaker
It's just another day at the office kind of thing. And, you know, have have the confidence in your abilities that got you to the point that you're at and just run with that, have a little bit of swagger and have a little bit of fun or a lot of fun.
00:44:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i mean, we've we've touched on it in previous episodes before, too, when it comes to just general tryouts. Right. And, you know, you kind of touched on already, but, you know, we treat, you know, these specialty tryouts no different than we would if it was a regular trial. It's that same mentality as, you know, for games.
00:45:12
Speaker
Right. It's another day at the office, continue to grind, you know, just treat it, treat, treat that how you would any other trial. You know, yeah, there's probably some weight behind it as well. Probably a little bit more weight than we're used to, but we still just look at as let look at it as, okay, let's go.
00:45:33
Speaker
Let's let's let's, let's put some work into it. Yeah. And the last thing I'll say on this is, um,
00:45:42
Speaker
It's like you can still reach your goals and get to where you want to go, even if along the way some of these things don't pan out. Like if, you know, there's five teams at provincials and your team finishes fifth and you don't even get to like a semifinal or whatever, that doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to go play college or pro or whatever.
00:46:07
Speaker
Same thing with if you don't make the brick, if you don't make, you know, Alberta Cup insert junior team camp or whatever other event, right? Like, yes, it's nice to, you know, make these teams or to win these championships or whatever the case is. And obviously that's the goal and it makes the path a little bit easier.
00:46:34
Speaker
But at the same time, There's plenty of players that have played at high levels that didn't necessarily make those teams or win those championships or whatever the case is. Right. So.
00:46:50
Speaker
the take what happens from these experiences, learn from them and kind of continue on. But again, don't put too much pressure on yourself and don't get too discouraged if it doesn't pan out because there's still more in front of you most of the time. I mean, obviously everybody's career comes to an end at some point, but you know, most of the time there's still more to do, right? So don't get too hung up on it.
00:47:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, I got I got nothing else to really add
Excitement in Upcoming Hockey Events
00:47:25
Speaker
on that. All right. Well, take us home before before I do. Before I do, I meant to mention this at the start. This is kind of another cool thing that, you know, I get to do. You're just being in the hockey world is on Thursday.
00:47:40
Speaker
I get to be the master of ceremonies for a skills competition for, uh, one the local minor hockey groups here in the city. Not anyone that we work with, but true North, but just, uh, I happen to have a buddy of mine who, uh, who works with the, um, the, the Southern division of one of the, one of the local minor hockey groups that we work with, but we're not contracted with them. Um, um,
00:48:04
Speaker
And so I've been doing it for the last couple of years. It's their, it's their skills competition that, that they do. It's called the spring on ice tournament. And they've had me come out and be the MC for that for the last couple of years. And so they've asked me to come back, come back again this year. So I'm, ah I'm very excited for that. And I just, you know, just want to give a quick shout out to, to everybody who runs that, who runs that tournament, runs that, runs that little shindig and happy to be part of it again this year. So Just had to throw that out there.
00:48:32
Speaker
Are you stealing the ghoulie science parting shots slash shout outs? No, I mean, you know, it it was you was it was it was part was part of the question that you asked me at the start. What's new? what's What's going on? What's new? I forgot to include that part. So, oh my goodness.
00:48:49
Speaker
Heaven forbid. Heaven forbid I try to, you know, promote the cool stuff that we get to do here. You know, Nathan just wants us to be dull the entire time. I hate you. i'm trying to name We are hockey players. So, you know, we have to have the same exact, you know, tro did the puck, you know, pucks in deep. ah what ah What's the other one that they use? You know, banging bodies and, you know, trying to put the puck in the back of the net, you know,
00:49:16
Speaker
We didn't get the bounces today, but you know're we came out pretty hard out there today. and you know Just got to get pucks in deep.
00:49:26
Speaker
What's that what's that what's that well letter, Kenny? It's pucks in deep. they they They had pucks in deep, banging bodies on like winning hot and you know wind hockey.
00:49:37
Speaker
what whatever Whatever that clip was there. That's funny. Yeah, that's a one show that I've only watched a couple episodes and need to watch it all. I just never have time to watch anything. But Shorzy, Shorzy's good. Shorzy is, Shorzy's a one. Yeah. That's another one I haven't seen, but I'm lame that way.
00:49:58
Speaker
Nathan's too busy and too busy building, building the brand here. So yeah, I still haven't even caught up to finish Stranger Things. So, you know, I've never seen it. I've never, I haven't seen Stranger Things. So,
00:50:10
Speaker
It's not really a show that I could, ah not not a show that I could get into, but that's all right. We're rambling. So take us home. Yes. All right. So that'll do it for another edition of the DIY goalie podcast presented by true North goaltending. Like Nathan said, we have sold out our first week long goalie camp in August, and we have opened up a four day camp the week after. So if you didn't get your spot,
00:50:38
Speaker
uh in the first go round make sure that you sign up on the second go round as spots can and will fill fast so go check us out truenorthgoaltending.com to book that we do also have a not like a tri-goalie camp but more like a introductory goalie camp for all the u7 and u9 goaltenders so uh that's a three day long camp over the weekend so go Again, you can go check that out on t True North Goaltending. We also do offer Ringette Camp as well this year. This is our first ever year running the Ringette Camp with our Ringette instructors.
00:51:10
Speaker
um So make sure again, go check that out. True North goaltending.com. There are lots of fun stuff over on that front. Again, i with True North goaltending as well, on the the website, if you are in the Edmonton area and do want to book a session with us, you can again go do that. hit the ah the book online button on the website and you can pick from many of our fantastic coaches that we do have on staff. and Again, as Nathan said as well, we are kind of changing the, not the booking process, but kind of the back end platform there and kind of how all that gets worked. So bear with us. If there is any technical difficulties, feel free to reach out to us. Goalies at truenorthgoaltending.com.
00:51:47
Speaker
um As well over on the website, you can find all of our our merchandise and our drills, and as well as all the rest of our content that we do have on, they used on the DIY goalie website, but now has transitioned over to the, to the true north goaltending website. Hopefully the vlog that I worked so hard on will be there as well, but you know, um,
00:52:06
Speaker
i Hey, I did my work with the content. Now I just got to trust the guy hit to hit the but the to hit the publish button. um Beyond that, make sure you guys go check us out on our social media platforms, all at truenothgoaltending.com, except on Instagram, because we like to be different.
00:52:20
Speaker
That one is Y-E-G g Goalie Coach. You can follow myself on Instagram as well over at Monday GC. um What else am I missing? Oh, yeah. Make sure you guys go ah follow us on your favorite social media, not favorite social media platforms, on your favorite podcast platforms as well, whether that is Apple or whether Apple, Spotify. I used to say I was so so used to saying iHeart, but iHeart's not updating for some reason on that front. So we think we need to.
00:52:48
Speaker
needs a relook into uh into that so apple and spotify or wherever it is that you do get your podcast platforms it's the diy goalie podcast presented by true north goaltending if you are returning listeners uh thank you make sure you hit the share button if you are a new listener welcome to our little show make sure you hit the follow button uh as well because the more goalies that we are able to bring together the better if you're over watching over on the youtube side of things and are a returning viewer make again hit that and subscribe not to subscribe and hit the like button hit the note hit the bell notification icon and as well hit the share button as well share to all your ah all your friends and family and if you are a new viewer to our little program hit the subscribe button hit the bell notification so then that way you get notified of when we release new episodes every ah wednesday
00:53:38
Speaker
and on that note, this has been the DIY goalie podcast presented by True North Goaltending. And on behalf of myself and Nathan Park, make some saves, boys. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.