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048 - Making Income Related to Goaltending
80 Plays1 month ago
Show notes can be found at https://thediygoalie.com/pod048
This week we go through a list of things you can do to make money related to goaltending. Whether it's through your own business idea, a career, or even getting play to play goalie, these are things you can do to help boost your personal balance sheet.
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Transcript
Introduction and Season Wrap-up
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 ah better goalie.
00:00:20
Speaker
Goalies, how are we doing today? Welcome back to the DIY goalie podcast with your hosts Nathan Park and Connor Monday and we are uh getting real close to the tail end of our, uh, our winter season, I guess here, we've started to wrap up a couple organizations and in the next week or two, we'll be wrapping up a couple more.
00:00:45
Speaker
So we're getting down to the nitty gritty. So for all you guys still in playoffs, good luck for all of you who have already played your playoffs. Hope it went well. And, uh, you take some time to reflect on a good season this year.
Personal Updates and Listener Engagement
00:01:01
Speaker
And, uh,
00:01:02
Speaker
yeah hopefully you guys saw some development over the course of this season um how are you doing today connor what's going on it uh well it has been a wild two weeks i should say um i guess starting off with My dog of 14 years passing away. That'll be two weeks tomorrow, actually, as of recording this. It's...
00:01:35
Speaker
kind of wild uh and then we about a week later we do our uh my wife and i do our gender reveal uh we're having a ah little baby girl on the way very excited for that and thank you again for allowing us to use the use of facility the true north goaltending training facility to uh to do that and then two days ago we just welcomed a uh a brand new a brand new puppy a little little girl puppy into the into the family and uh So it's been a ah it's been a wild two weeks. So that's why I yeah that's why i wasn't around last week. um
00:02:11
Speaker
For those who commented on the True North and my personal socials for the for the gender reveal, thank you very much for that. And same for those who... commented on the uh on the 14 year old retriever passing and then welcoming in the the new seven week old retriever into the into into the family so it's been ah it's it's been a wild two weeks um i guess just shout out to the old dog bella you know thanks for bringing some joy into the life for the last uh last 14 years and uh welcome welcome abby to the uh
00:02:45
Speaker
to the family. And then, uh, again, wife and I are welcoming a ah little girl, uh, due in July. So we're, we're very excited for that. So, uh, just wild two weeks is all I have to say.
00:02:57
Speaker
So, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's been crazy. It's okay. We, uh, we held down the fort and by we, I mean me, but you know, I did, i did. i have not, I have not listened to the episode yet, but, uh, I, I trust you. I trust you that you did. So yeah.
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, shout out to those smaller
Monetizing Goaltending Skills
00:03:18
Speaker
goalies out there. All right, so we are going to dive into it. and I am going to go first today with my segment, and it's ah it's one that interests me a lot, and I've been thinking about it a lot, and it's been on my list of segments to do for a while, but...
00:03:40
Speaker
We are going to kind of dive into the income side of things when it comes to goaltending. So kind of some of the things you can do related to goaltending, using your knowledge of ah as a goalie to kind of, you know, help make some extra income, whether it's a side hustle, whether it's an actual full-on business or a career.
00:04:03
Speaker
um Just kind of wanted to go through some of the options that you have out there. So whether you're you know, a teenage goalie looking to kind of figure out what you want to do after college or whether you're beer league goalie, just looking to, you know, make, uh, make some ends meet with some extra ah cash. Uh, I know all of us up North here, uh, there's been nothing but tariffs talk for the last, you know, week or whatever. So, uh,
00:04:34
Speaker
We won't dive into the politics side of things. but Speaking of that, considering that this is a Canadian show, we're imposing a 25% tariff on every yeah every American listener. I'm kidding. yeah Yeah, no, we are not going to dive dive into that.
00:04:51
Speaker
Shout out to the Aussies. We'll keep you around. No. But anyways, yeah, so I've got kind of some things I wanted to go into as to and what you guys can do um some of it will be personal experience and some of it will just be putting it out there and I'll have less input so it'll be more on you guys to go look into a little bit more but um to start off I am going with making money as an actual goalie playing goal now
00:05:27
Speaker
The obvious one of that is the professionals among us who are playing you know in the NHL, AHL, East Coast, in Europe, all that stuff. That one's kind of obvious. um But for some of us who aren't quite familiar,
00:05:43
Speaker
there. um Me personally, i was able to get back in scholarships when I went to college more than what my tuition costs for my two years of college. So technically, I guess got quote unquote paid because most of those were through athletic scholarships.
00:06:02
Speaker
um So that's an option. But for the average Joe out there, there are rent-a-goalie options so you actually can get a little bit of cash to go out and fill in for somebody um what we will do is I will link some platforms in the show notes that you guys can visit if that's something that you are interested in but um just to rattle a couple of them off there's goalie up the puck app rent-a-goalie my puck
00:06:35
Speaker
And then you can also um and go on Facebook groups, ah local Facebook groups, and and maybe put it out there that, you know, you're a last-minute goalie for hire. Or, you know, you can go on Kijiji if you're in Canada or Craigslist if you're in the States or or any of those kind of apps. But I think you'll probably get a little bit more success, I guess, if you're kind of in the tailored Facebook groups or insert social media platform or whatever here.
00:07:08
Speaker
um So it's not much. Usually it's, I think, around 30, 40, 50 bucks for a game. But for those of you who can't get enough of of being in the crease and you get a little bit of extra, you know, beer money or whatever it is in your pocket for doing that,
00:07:29
Speaker
Uh, that's kind of a bit of a win-win for you guys. So more ice time and getting paid for it. So those are, uh, that's one option to check out so you can actually get paid to play goal. So that's kind of cool.
00:07:43
Speaker
Um, yeah, I, I guess talking about that, like they're like, I've, I filled in for numerous teams and just kind of offhand, um,
00:07:57
Speaker
scrimmages i guess we'll call it um most recently played at the the mall here in edmonton that was fun um but yeah like there there are definitely options out there and even speaking of with the uh
Content Creation and Marketing Strategies
00:08:12
Speaker
uh the you know the ones that you know like hey last minute goalie for hire and stuff like that it's a
00:08:20
Speaker
great Great way just just just to do that, you know, and just kind of add a little more cash into your pocket and, you know, have some fun meet some meet some new people on the way there as well. Yeah. So if that's something that interests you, one thing I would recommend is see if you can get on like a local hockey players group, um, and just post on there and say, hey guys, I'm a goalie. I play this level and I do last minute, um, you know, fill-ins or whatever, uh, for, I don't know, 40 bucks or whatever it is.
00:08:56
Speaker
You can put the post out there and then, uh, You know, just make sure if you want to do it somewhat long term, I guess, um and if you're able to show up consistently and fairly last minute, um that'll probably make you higher on the list for somebody to call if if people need you. So just keep that in mind, I guess. If you can be consistent, that'll help lots.
00:09:22
Speaker
um Moving on from that, um this one's probably a little tough and I know some people might have some moral questions about it, but gear flipping is something you guys can do. So if you can find a really good deal on some gear, like some used gear or whatever, you can maybe turn around and and sell it for a little bit more too or whatever the case is. i mean,
00:09:50
Speaker
not not condoning, I guess, necessarily, like gouging people for for gear prices, but it is something that you can do. You can maybe go to you know, a play it again sports, or maybe you can find something if you're lucky enough at like a secondhand store or thrift store or something like that and and turn it around and make a little bit of extra cash on it.
00:10:14
Speaker
um So that that's another option that's kind of more of the average Joe something they can do. um i know a lot of guys, well, not a lot of guys, but there are people out there that try and track down like pro stock return, um just get gear from the pros and they kind of, because it was worn by a pro, there's a bit of a heftier price tag to those usually. So that's, ah that's something that some, some goalies out there do
00:10:46
Speaker
Um, after that too, another thing that kind of all of us average Joe's can do is content creation. Now,
00:10:59
Speaker
There's a caveat to that because it Yeah, I do have some comments on this. Yeah, it is not necessarily easy to make money off of. I know Hutch talked about it in our interview with him from Ingole Magazine. and And as, i mean, I know we're definitely...
00:11:20
Speaker
not anywhere near into it as we could be, I guess, or as we should be if we wanted to seriously try and make a run at making cash off of content. But there it is hard. It is hard to do that. You have to be very consistent with posting. You have to basically market yourself constantly. Like I know um I was talking to Hutch and he had mentioned Nick the Goalie and had said that he's had to pivot a few times throughout his content creation career to try and stay relevant and and you know keep those deals coming in. but um
00:12:04
Speaker
When it comes to actually making cash off of content, you can do so through like affiliate partnerships. So that's where you basically get a commission for referring a sale. Usually it's kind of online through like a link.
00:12:20
Speaker
um Or like a coupon code or something like that. Like we have some affiliate partnerships um through the DIY goalie. um You can also get sponsored. So you can do like sponsored posts or sponsored videos or whatever. Or if you're doing a podcast, you can get sponsorships for that.
00:12:39
Speaker
um And basically, if you want to be successful making content, you have to find kind of a unique angle that obviously resonates to a lot of people.
00:12:50
Speaker
um You have to have some sort of monetization strategy and build your brand too. um Like I said, the biggest thing is is you're basically just constantly marketing yourself and or whatever content it is that you're making.
00:13:05
Speaker
um I know Connor is probably going to get into this a little bit more, so I'll just make a quick comment on it, but make sure to please make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons and you're not just out there trying to ruffle feathers um as your unique take.
00:13:25
Speaker
And as best as you can, put out good quality information out there. We don't want people getting hurt. Like, I know we kind of stay away from talking too much about, you know, like,
00:13:39
Speaker
the off-ice a strength and flexibility training like specifically because you know i don't want anyone doing something we tell them to do and they get hurt and all that stuff so you guys got to be careful with that but uh i'll let connor kind of dive more into that because i know he he's got some takes on that yeah i want um i got some i got some takes on this because i've been i've been i've been doing content creation myself not specifically for goaltending uh but just kind of content creation in general since effectively 2000, 2009 when YouTube was a thing, I've had like multiple YouTube channels and all that, but um yeah. And so there are there are quite a few good goalie channels, good goalie channels out there. Nick, the goalie, Dem bones, Kazimir, Kasko, Jamie Phillips, Cain van gate. I enjoyed watching him. Yeah. bro Yeah. All,
00:14:39
Speaker
All those guys there. Sam Mantini, he doesn't post very much anymore, but the puck stops here. enjoyed watching his goalie stuff content there. There was one other person that I was thinking of.
00:14:51
Speaker
DIY goalie guest, Connor Lacouvet. Yeah, there you go. There's lots. We could be here. Yeah, there's yeah there's there's there's plenty there's there's plenty of it out there.
00:15:02
Speaker
um And then there's also some less than favorable players I would say less than favorable goalie content, goalie content, former pro goalie content creators out there, not naming names.
00:15:16
Speaker
um But just me like it's one of those things where, you know, anybody can pick up a camera. Anybody can do what we do essentially. um But we find or you will find that the best people,
00:15:35
Speaker
have or will or will have kind of the least amount to say i suppose if you will um you know because because they're so good at what they do they're so good at their craft and they are just so knowledgeable at the end of the day you that's that's in terms of like if you want to learn how to be a better goaltender i'm going to kind of throw myself under the bus here um On my YouTube channel, I actually have two Be A Pro series going specifically for goal attending. I have an NHL one and have a PWHL one.
00:16:08
Speaker
if you want to get into goal tending create like like If you want to get into content creation specifically for goal attending, we talk about niches. you know like Think about what like what you want your niche to be. Do you want it to be you uploading clips of your...
00:16:25
Speaker
beer league games from that are at like 10 o'clock at night do you have um you know do you want to do like gear review stuff there's plenty of good i know i know there's a lot of good player gear review channels out there i don't know how much there is for goaltending. I know there is a couple that I, that I follow. There's plenty of goalie coaching channels out there, ourselves included, not specifically with true North, but with the DIY goalie.
00:16:51
Speaker
um And then even then as well, there's there, there are some good video game goaltending
00:17:02
Speaker
content stuff out there. That is not the word that I wanted to use, but that's where the music, um, so just So just really just like like if that's the route that you want to go, and I highly recommend it for anybody um because it's a lot of fun to do.
00:17:15
Speaker
Think about what it is that you want to do and what kind of and what kind of content um um that you want to post. By proxy to that as well, you don't want so you also don't want to just stick to one platform.
00:17:30
Speaker
you know You want to maximize yourself across all platforms that you can. TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, ah podcasting even. like we're We're on Apple Podcasts. We're on iHeart. We're on Spotify. We're on insert podcast listening place here.
00:17:49
Speaker
But, you know, I mean, even YouTube as well, you know, you guys get the video feed of of this podcast here on YouTube as well. So you want to make sure that you want to make sure that, you know, you're you're you're expanding beyond the main platform.
Authenticity and Feedback in Content Creation
00:18:06
Speaker
And that's how you drive rent. and That's how you drive traffic back to your channel that in turn will drive round of revenue.
00:18:17
Speaker
I post like gently do the the way that I kind of have myself structured in general when it comes to just general content creations that I have my gaming channel, which nobody should go watch.
00:18:30
Speaker
um But beyond that, say, oh, hey, here's my here's my Instagram. you know Go follow what's on my pure what's going on my personal life while we're on Instagram. you know So you get you you want to like have different apps or different places to put your content, but it'll all be kind of relevant so that it does bring you back.
00:18:50
Speaker
to the main to the main and source. um Again, just kind of equivoquating it to to to Twitch streaming, I suppose, at a moment. You know, you got, like, the Twitch streamers and the gamers and out there and whatnot.
00:19:02
Speaker
So, like, they, you know, they have a really a good match or whatever, like a good rounder. Like, they get, you know, kill of the killer the kill of the game and, like, Call of Duty or something. You know, they'll post that to TikTok. That blows up and then that, in turn, ends up driving...
00:19:19
Speaker
traffic back to whatever their main channel is. Same same idea realistically for goaltending. That's why Nick the goalie blew up the way that he did you know in his goofy what is it, 30-second videos on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram reels, excuse me, and everything else. And then in turn, because of that popularity, because Nick the Goalie has such a personality, and Nick, if you are, if you do happen be listening or you somebody knows Nick the Goalie, please tell him that if we want him on the podcast, um that in turn ends up driving traffic back to his main YouTube channel where he posts whatever it is that he posts on his YouTube channel, goaltending-related stuff.
00:20:03
Speaker
content. So content creation, if done properly, and again, marketing yourself properly can work and can do, can do wonders for something like just doing something like this for for me is, is more of a hobby over anything. I don't intend to, to do any, to do anything with it. I know Nathan has plans with it and I'm just, I'm just, I'm just in the passenger seat along for the ride, but um content creation done properly,
00:20:33
Speaker
and you're not doing a podcast with a radio host just absolutely dog pooping on everything in the league because you can make it where you want to make it, um can be done properly. So, again, we all know who I'm talking about. I'm not naming names.
00:20:52
Speaker
and And, yeah. Yeah. i I will say... um you do definitely have to enjoy it. Like, yeah, when it comes to the DIY goalie, I'd love for it to be to the point that it's like a full-time gig and paying the bills. But at the end of the day, we keep coming back because we enjoy doing it.
00:21:14
Speaker
The one thing I'll say, if you go the content creation route, you will have to have thick skin. You can't take things personally. um I've learned over the years that, know,
00:21:27
Speaker
Even though I'm trying to be helpful, I guess on the internet, things don't get construed that way. And, you know, sometimes I've chimed in on videos I see that people post to their kids or whatever of them or whatever, and I'll just be like...
00:21:47
Speaker
Hey, yeah, that was awesome. I noticed like as a goalie coach, like, you know, this, this could be done better or whatever. And then I've learned I don't do that anymore because sometimes, sometimes people enjoy the, yeah the feedback and sometimes people don't.
00:22:05
Speaker
I've been like, I like the, like the amount of times that I've had to bite my tongue and put the keyboard away on Stuart Skinner slander as much as it's probably warranted.
00:22:17
Speaker
It's been a few podcasts since I've had the chance to talk about Stuart Skinner, but the amount of times that I've had to bite my tongue and put the keyboard away because Oilers fans have no idea what it what they're talking about when it comes to goaltending.
00:22:34
Speaker
I mean, mind you, he's not doing too well in general. Neither is Calvin Pickard. But um yeah, no, but no, I get it. But again, like internally doing something like content creation, whether it is doing a podcast or ah a YouTube channel or even a blog.
00:22:50
Speaker
um
00:22:53
Speaker
The best way that I would look at it is just you're just out here. We're just out here. sharing our experiences, sharing our knowledge to people who are to, to those who are willing to listen. If people have questions or anything, then they can comment on the, on the bottom of this YouTube video. They can comment, uh, um, on our Facebook pages and Instagram pages and whatever else they can send us emails to info at the DIY goalie or goalies at true North goaltending. You like the plug there.
00:23:22
Speaker
Um, But it's there, there, there are different revenue or there are different streams to, to share ideas and and to share content. And, I think sometimes we get away from that as a society just in general. And I'm not talking about just in goaltending at this point, like just in general, because I think in in a way that's what the internet is meant for, for the sharing of ideas and content and everything in between.
00:23:48
Speaker
But, um but yeah, no, but that's, but that's just, you, you, you want, again, like I said, like Nathan had said before, you want to get into this to, for the right reasons. And I think just the, the, the right reason in general is just to share your experience and to share your knowledge.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, and be prepared to be called an effing moron. yep That has happened to me a few times. So just, just remember that, uh, you know, strangers on the internet know nothing about you and your background, even though you might know what you're talking about.
00:24:21
Speaker
They don't know that. her Exactly. you And take that with a grain of salt. Cause like we've said before, we're constantly learning and there might be things we've said on this podcast that we've changed our mind about or are wrong
Business Opportunities in Goaltending
00:24:34
Speaker
about. So disclaimer there.
00:24:37
Speaker
Um, All right. the next one that I have is kind of, i guess, two categories that I put together as one because they're pretty similar, but that's merch and products. And that's kind of one that we do here at the DIY Goalie. We have kind of the, you know, shirts and hoodies that we make with like our own kind of cool custom goalie themed clothing.
00:25:03
Speaker
designs on them. um So if you guys are out there and I've actually seen a couple posts on you know the Facebook groups that I'm a part of lately of a couple kids that have started their own merch lines, goalie related merch lines, which is kind of cool to see. um But whether it's merch or products, that's another way that or another um avenue you guys can go if you wanted to do something goalie related.
00:25:33
Speaker
There's all sorts of things you can do like hats, um phone cases, you know, the shirts, the hoodies, all of that stuff. You can do like the print on demand even so you don't really have to handle anything yourself.
00:25:46
Speaker
That's how I started with the DIY goalie stuff, but I kind of wanted to lower the prices and have a better margin on things. So I bought myself a heat press off of Amazon and I pressed them all myself. So If you guys have ordered a DIY goalie item, thank you for that. And i have made it with love in my basement. That's an absolute mess. so
00:26:13
Speaker
But there's other things you can do with them with the products too. So you can you know work on training aids. um you know there's all sorts of stuff on on that front um you know there's like the sport goggles or whatever the the vision i can't remember the name of them now but um stuff like that uh you can if you are really ambitious you can try and make your own gear like there has been a few people that have done that and have been pretty uh
00:26:49
Speaker
you know, successful with that. You know, you look at like the the John Browns of the world and and all of that. um Obviously, they just retired. But, you know, that that's an option you could go to. You could figure out how to sew and how to put stuff, you know, together, buy some old sets of gear, take it apart, see how it works.
00:27:11
Speaker
it works um And then like accessories too. So like you see people that are selling like and special pegs that sit better in the ice for goalies, um you know, stuff like sweat bands, like for those of you who are part of GDSU, like Eric Vogel has the Vogel sweatbands, Vogel hockey sweatbands, you know, there's the cut resistance socks, like all sorts of stuff, all sorts of avenues that you guys can go down.
00:27:44
Speaker
um And, you know, The one thing I'll say is the goalie market is quite small when you look at actual markets. But that being said, if you can hit a pain point, they're definitely loyal. So if you can figure something out, what I mean, that the goalie block is one, right? Like you see Bobrovsky using it and stuff, and it's just a little...
00:28:11
Speaker
silicone thing that wraps around your your paddle and stops pucks from hitting you in the finger like something simple like that right can can't can say that's one of my favorite products because you know i never got hit in the finger because i know how to use my stick properly but anyways um i was gonna say you know as well um i was gonna say like the guy who invented blocker sleeve What was his name? It was Marco Marciano, I think it was, you know, had like the Velcro.
00:28:43
Speaker
I don't want I don't know what to call it, the Velcro sleeve, I guess that that goes over the blocker, you know, and that was the training aid to, you know, help goalies, you know, learn to train better with their blocker.
00:28:57
Speaker
You know, and such as well there. So there's a whole bunch of stuff. And then, you know, you got programs, you know, such as, you know, from like increased performance and the DIY goalie, for example, you know, for in terms of like goal, like goalie handbooks, you know, yeah um and all that stuff. I mean, again, goalie coaches, ah the guys over at goalie coaches,
00:29:19
Speaker
You know, they do they do a good job when it comes to to their to to their to their marketing. You know, like they got like their app. And I know that ah Jamie Phillips has his app. I think that's in development or is out by now. The Elite Goalie Method um app or the Elite Goalie Method website or program or whatever it is.
00:29:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:43
Speaker
and and yeah so just think about you know like where where is the need greatest? ah you know Or do you have ah do you have a training idea? or do you have ah like a new equipment idea or or anything of the sort that can that can you know help the goalie market and so and such? And so again, with like Nathan and said before, it is a very small market. So the supply versus demand market isn't exactly there and it's not like you're going to be making thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars off of it um but it is there you know the wherever the need greatest is i mean again like as much as i'm not a fan of it the goalie block is a very smart idea and probably was something that for the vast majority of goaltenders
00:30:31
Speaker
need because it is ah it is a cool accessory and you know it does serve a purpose for like, hey, any extra protection to our hands, might as well take it.
00:30:43
Speaker
Yeah, so I know I mentioned it before on the pod, but um I do listen to a lot of, you know, side hustle and business and entrepreneurship podcasts and read the books and stuff like that. And kind of across the board, regardless of what you guys get into, the big thing is, is to just Have that everyday kind of open mindedness about solving problems. Right. And so if you guys have a pain point in your everyday life as a goalie.
00:31:20
Speaker
try and think of a solution for it figure out what works and then put something out there, even if it's not pretty and reiterate and refine and just keep going. Right.
00:31:33
Speaker
Um, but the big thing is, is you got to take action on it. And too many people are like, yeah, I'm going to do it one day, one day. And you just got to do it. And you end up with,
00:31:45
Speaker
You know, not the most pretty podcast out there like like what we're putting out. But hey, people are... What are you talking about? What are you talking about? People are coming back. but yeah, so just make sure that... um Or if you guys do want to go that route and be kind of, you know, more on the entrepreneurship side of things when it comes to goaltending or just in life in general, just keep an eye out and, you know, start looking at life with a problem solving lens.
00:32:19
Speaker
Um, so from there, the next one that I have is gear repair and like skate sharpening and kind of anything related to, to that sort of stuff, um, gear enhancements. So, uh,
00:32:35
Speaker
you know there's a few people in the edmonton area that uh are kind of doing their own thing and i'm sure wherever you guys are whatever is local to you there's probably ah guy or a couple of guys that everyone knows and you know they they call them up and they say hey my blocker's got a hole in the palm can you repalm it or hey i need my glove relaced or hey i've got a skate cut in my pad or hey, my chest protector is 10 years old and I'm feeling shots. Can you beef it up or, you know, whatever? And
00:33:11
Speaker
Kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier about making your own gear, but so probably a lot easier to get into and stay into um is the repair side of things.
00:33:23
Speaker
and But just learning, you know, how to sew and kind of how gear works and and figuring out what materials work best and all of that stuff. That's something you guys can do as well.
00:33:39
Speaker
Yeah, just I would just say, though, with the skate sharpening thing, though, I think that'd be harder-ish to do because everybody, almost everybody nowadays has it has a Sparks machine. Exactly, yeah right? so Yeah. although i don't Although I don't know how.
00:33:56
Speaker
i know Sparks is more geared toward player skates, but I don't know. specifically what for goalies but i mean even then like skate sharpening and machines in general are not exactly cheap but uh i'm certain you know probably goaltending or goalie equipment repair would actually probably be a little bit cheaper but uh But yeah, um no, I'm sorry. I want to go back to the sorry. Just I want to go back to the to the to the to the products thing just for a moment. Just you mentioned books and it sparked something. And he said, go write a book.
00:34:28
Speaker
You know, it would be more. I would say i would say that idea would be more so geared to like the guys who play like college or like somewhat pro level um or have coached in a somewhat pro profession.
00:34:40
Speaker
um But yeah. dead just that just that's, that is another idea. And I'm disappointed that I didn't mention that earlier. Not like I read a lot of books in general, but regardless of that point.
00:34:50
Speaker
um But yeah, just go, sorry, just, but just going back to like the the equipment repair and, and all that early. I mean, again, like, like we had talked like I'm kind of mentioned earlier in the pod, you know, like there's, there's a guy here in Edmonton that we're, we're quite fond of. And um you know, he does, he does some really good work if, and go check them out on Instagram. But,
00:35:10
Speaker
um But, but yeah, no, that, that, that is a, that is an option there as well. And I think could lead to, to something more interesting down the road. If like, if you were serious about wanting to get into like making your own gear or something along, something along those lines or wanting to start again, start getting into more gearish type stuff, whether, you know, you end up getting a job at, you know, your local hockey shop and,
00:35:38
Speaker
you know, you're selling, you're selling goalie gear or you do manage to get in with, you know, one of the gear reps or one of the gear creators, companies, companies. Thank you. Um, in, uh, in, uh, in, in, in the sport.
00:35:54
Speaker
Yeah. And that's, that's another option too, is, is becoming like a gear rep. Um, you know, what is it? Jorg or Yorg?
00:36:05
Speaker
I don't, i don't know how to say his name. The Fort Worth true guy. no he yeah I can't remember his name, but yeah, he he would post all the time because he'd be traveling like you know from team to team and he'd be sitting down with guys like Flurry or you know insert top goalie here and talk to talking to them about the gear they want because he's the the rep and And then they would just be talking about other stuff too. And that's kind of a cool way to, to kind of get yourself into situations that the average Joe doesn't get into and and meet some cool people.
00:36:47
Speaker
um But yeah, so yeah. Moving on to the next one is probably the one we can talk to the most about, which is coaching. My favorite. but Those who can't do teach. So that's what we do. But no, unless you get goalies that ask you, or how did you actually play goal? Happened me three times this year and I'm still salty about it.
00:37:16
Speaker
And the end yes, I did play, by the way. and But yeah, that's I think when somebody thinks career, when it comes to life after playing, whether it's goalie or player or whatever.
00:37:33
Speaker
um The kind of automatic answer is coaching. um That being said, not everybody is a good coach, even if they're a good player. Not everybody is a good coach.
00:37:47
Speaker
I'm not saying we're perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but. Speak for yourself. Yeah. Okay. Sorry.
00:37:57
Speaker
man up that No, that's staying in. Oh boy. oh um But yeah, it's, it's one of those things that even if you didn't play anywhere near a high enough level, basically as a coach,
00:38:16
Speaker
You need to know more than who you're coaching. That's what it boils down to. So you make yourself a student of the game and you also have to figure out a way to communicate well. You have to figure out a way to be able to teach and to articulate.
00:38:33
Speaker
And you also have to kind of be a little bit... and charming i guess or have a good personality like you can't just not get along with the kids who work with the goalies you work with um you got to have a little bit of a little bit of you know the personal um and side of things i guess um a little bit of personality but uh Yeah, there's lots of things you can do coaching, you could do camps, you could do sessions, you could mentor.
00:39:06
Speaker
um There's lots of stuff you can do in the coaching side of things. It's fairly easy to get into, um you know, especially like if you if you're just starting out, you don't know what to do. There's a lot of organizations that would love to have just volunteers.
00:39:22
Speaker
volunteer coaches to start get your feet wet a little bit and then you can go from there kind of start to build a name for yourself because When I first started, i was volunteering. And then when I started going off on my own, I just made a random couple posts on Facebook. Then I started a Facebook group that was literally called Nathan Park Goalie Sessions.
00:39:47
Speaker
And I think i ended up getting like 100 people in there or something like that. And then eventually I was like, okay, this is something that we really have to dive into. And that's when True North Goaltending was born. And we kind of went from there.
00:40:00
Speaker
I know Connor has a slightly different but very similar story too but you got to start somewhere and organizations love having volunteers and you just kind of learn as you go.
00:40:13
Speaker
and The biggest thing as a coach is having the open mind and willing to learn new things and willing to talk to people and and get different perspectives and the willingness to change your mind or to admit that you were wrong or to admit that there's a better way of explaining stuff or whatever.
00:40:31
Speaker
Cause you know, there's always something to be learned ah even if you're the one teaching. So. Yeah. um And ironically enough, that's kind of how we're, I'm at today. Cause I never played at,
00:40:47
Speaker
high level not that I knew high levels existed um and like um um I mentioned this in a previous episode before too just kind how I got into things but Again, just i I really try to drive home the fact that, like yeah, you didn't you didn't have to play at a high level to to be to be a good goalie coach.
00:41:10
Speaker
It might help with your marketing. but It would, yes. It absolutely would. That's why that's that's why I ride the coattails of you. but oh Connor Monday exposed.
00:41:22
Speaker
Yeah. it's but anyways but yeah i mean you know i get like every every goalie that's in the minor hockey system probably would have done some type of mentoring or some type of junior coaching at some point or another whether it be like a one-off at camp or uh you know if you have like a younger brother that's And letting a couple levels below you, then you have probably been out there as the the the goalie coach or as the mentor goalie coach for for for your younger sibling and such.
00:41:59
Speaker
um Nathan is right. Like, yeah, if you did, if you did play at a high level, a higher-ish level, then yeah, it probably does help with the marketing and such and, and all that. But, uh, there are, ah there are some good goalie coaches out there that, um,
00:42:17
Speaker
you know never played at a high level, Mitch Korn comes to mind and he would be a fun guest to get on. The thing to be realistic about though, and I and i saw this on Future Pros page, Steve McKeek, and um most, you got to be kind of realistic. As a coach, you need you do need to be realistic with kind of your expectations in terms of where you would want your career to to take you.
00:42:44
Speaker
And that's something that I'm kind of learning myself lately. I mean, obviously everybody's dream is to be in the show one way or the other, whether it is, whether you're like our previous guest, Nathan Beliveau with, uh, um, you know, being a, being an equipment manager, or whether you want to be a goalie coach for even a player playing in the show.
00:43:02
Speaker
Most of the guys that do end up in the show or at some high level probably have played at that high level. And it's so, you know, the, the term, the old boys club and, uh,
00:43:15
Speaker
and In that regard. um So you do so you do need to kind of take a step back and think like, where do you want your career to take you? Where do you where where what's the highest that you want to get to? And for me, it was coaching junior a at that point. My D was chair to junior a ninth, Nathan, of I, and Nathan and I have had some fights about this, but, uh, regardless, ah um, you know, that, that will be the, the high, probably the highest point in, in, in my career. And it's only downhill from here at this point, but, uh, um,
00:43:53
Speaker
you know But that's that that realistically probably is the highest that I will go. Obviously, I'd like to go beyond that, but i that is that's the highest that I will have been at, and i'm and I'm quite
Off-Ice Services and Analytics
00:44:02
Speaker
okay with that. So you need to think about, if you are going to be a coach, what's the highest that you realistically can get to in and in this profession.
00:44:12
Speaker
Well, and the other thing, too, because you and I kind of have differing, I don't know about viewpoints, but I guess um approaches, like... For me, i like doing more so what we do with True North where we run camps, we run sessions, we kind of like go to the goalies and, you know, or they come to us kind of thing.
00:44:34
Speaker
And um like I personally like doing that better than being on like a coaching staff. Whereas I know Connor really likes being on a coaching staff and part of a team where you get to see the same goalies day in and day out. You do the video with them. You're talking with their coaches and all that stuff.
00:44:53
Speaker
um And there's nothing wrong with either approach. And you can also do both approaches. Like I have been on a junior B coaching staff for when one season, but If, you know, an NCAA job came my way or, you know, a WHL job or something like that came my way at some point, I would probably take it to experience it and to see. But um in general, I do like the other side of things better that, you know, we run sessions and and kind of do the development that way. But there's, you know, whatever the saying is, there's a thousand ways to skin a cat or whatever, you know, you you can.
00:45:36
Speaker
You can go any way you want, um do what works for you and go at your own pace. You don't have to come out guns a blazing and, you know, try and get to the WHL in two years as ah as a goalie coach or whatever. You just...
00:45:50
Speaker
Learn along the way, meet some good people and build some relationships. And, you know, I like to say, I know it's a bit of a joke and a bit of an exaggeration, but before we go on the ice a lot in our group sessions, I'm like, let's go change some lives. And, you know, even though...
00:46:08
Speaker
it's a It's a bit of a joke and an exaggeration. I mean, as a coach, you get to impact these kids' lives and even the adult beer leaguers, you know, we work with some adult goalies and, you know, they get lots out of it too. So it it's kind of a cool thing to be a part of you what you You want to be the coach that they that you wish you had it, if if this is something that you want to consider.
00:46:36
Speaker
It's cool for me to see because I have now have, mean, we have a couple of my former students that we now have on staff um ah at True North Goal attending.
00:46:47
Speaker
and And even then, I know of a few of my former students that are doing their own type of goalie coaching within their organizations and such.
00:46:58
Speaker
um Whether I had an impact on that or not, it's not something that I really care per se, but it is something that I do find cool and that I do take great part great pride in. and um whether they will admit it or not and whether I really care or not, I, I probably did have a, a type of impact on them at some point.
00:47:26
Speaker
um I think just more so the cool thing is for me is that like, Hey, now I'm on, now I'm on staff with a couple of my former students. So like you have that relationship there. Right. And so, and you have seniority.
00:47:38
Speaker
I do. I do. Still boss them around. Yeah. That's that's the important part. Yeah. All right. so moving on from that, something very similar to coaching, but slightly different. um you You guys can offer services to um outside of the on ice development. So.
00:48:00
Speaker
um One of our staff members that was one of your former goalies, he is currently taking personal fitness training at school. And it's very possible that once he graduates and as we continue to grow at True North Goaltending,
00:48:17
Speaker
that I, you know, I might ask him to run some off ice sessions for us and do some strength and flexibility stuff. Right. And so that's a, that's a route you guys can go to. Um, there's the sports psychology route that's trending way up. Like I never heard of one kid growing up that had a sports psychologist. And now like I almost think half of the kids out there have one that they go to regularly, which is awesome.
00:48:48
Speaker
So that's something you guys can do um Again, kind of related to coaching, you can do some mentorship stuff. You can do some video breakdown stuff. um There's lots of stuff off of the ice that you can do ah if you have the skill set for it. um you know Diet, dieticians, sleep work, vision training, cognitive training, whatever the case is, there's A whole list of things that you guys can do um away from the rink or I guess off the ice that's very similar to coaching um but is is slightly different. So that's something you guys can think of too. Again, it's all personal. It depends on the skill set, the training, the experience that you guys have.
00:49:39
Speaker
I personally... didn't want to be within 10 feet of a or 100 feet of a of a gym so I'm not going to be the one going out there teaching kids how to work out properly i know my limitations but you might be a gym rat and you love going out there and and lifting weights and you know how to properly you know or have proper technique and all that stuff so that's something you can pass on to the goalies out there as well And it doesn't have to be goalies either, but, uh, you know, I find people love this specific training. So if he can advertise as like goalie specific yoga, goalie specific, you know, flexibility training, yeah blah, blah, blah, whatever. Right. It's, uh, it's something that you can, you can kind of take advantage of there.
00:50:30
Speaker
And outside of that, so now we're kind of talking a little bit more on the career side, um but so you can get into the kind of agent or a scout or advisor side of things um where you're working with an organization to scout players or you're working with players, getting them deals, getting them on teams, you know, getting them set up with development programs, all of that stuff.
00:51:03
Speaker
That's a very largely or quickly growing industry as well, um especially the advisorship thing. Like, again, growing up, I don't remember really anybody having an agent or an advisor until, you know, they get maybe to like major junior.
00:51:23
Speaker
and now there's kids that are like 11, 12, 13, getting advisors and agents and trying to get them to land them places on teams and all that stuff. So That's another route you guys can go. i don't have much experience with it. I can't really chime in too much about how you get started and all that. But as with a lot of this stuff, it's going to come down to networking and making good impressions and doing the right thing.
00:51:52
Speaker
um And you'll kind of have success there. I got I got I got nothing for that either. I know. Yeah, I know that I know that we have a staff member that that has a little specialization in that.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah. And if you can surround yourself with people that have different skill sets, like I said, with us at True North, down the road, I can see us getting to a point that we have a bunch of different arms of the business doing different things just because we have a bunch of people with different skill sets. And you know you can kind of leverage that and work together to do some things.
00:52:34
Speaker
cool stuff. um The other thing you can get a job doing is some sort of analytics or statistics, you know, video, like a video coach, stuff like that.
00:52:47
Speaker
um When it comes to the analytics and the statistics side of things, I'm going to assume that it would probably help if you had some sort of like math, you know, stats, analytics kind of education background, especially if you want to get to the big leagues.
00:53:03
Speaker
um Me personally, like I like the analytics side of things, but I just I'm not around it enough to really dive in um to like actually be serious about it. But I do think there's big benefits from um proper numbers, proper stats, um and being able to break them down.
00:53:25
Speaker
um And again, it's a big trend in in the industry. um you know Teams are spending more and more each year on, on their analytics departments and making sure that they have the right stats to, you know, compliment their team, see what's working, see what's not. And as we go, that's only going to continue to get better. So that's something you guys can hop into as well, especially if you're kind of the more logical thinker, um you know, the more analytical kind of brain that, uh, that would help lots, um, on that.
00:54:01
Speaker
Um, Connor's favorite. Moneyball. Yeah. Moneyball. My all time favorite sports movie, Moneyball. um Which is kind of ironic, isn't it? I know. I was just thinking that, Mr. I can't stand analytics, but I love Moneyball.
00:54:23
Speaker
Okay. Well, I've made my case on this before and I'll make my case again. You cannot base a goaltender's performance on save percentage and goals against average alone. That's why I hate stats.
00:54:37
Speaker
I know, but those are garbage stats. You need to use proper stats. I've got to defend myself here for like the third time in this podcast series.
00:54:50
Speaker
I'm not totally dumping on stats. I'm not. I'm just saying because, again, Oilers fans rile me up so much because, again, of all the gosh darn Stuart Skinner slander that you cannot base a goaltender's success or failure totally on goals against average and save percentage alone.
00:55:13
Speaker
You cannot do that. That's what makes being a pro so f fuckingin so freaking frustrating as well. But anyways, I'm not dumping on that entirely.
00:55:26
Speaker
When I listen to Engel and I listen to Kevin talk about, you know, clear sight and the go this saved the goals saved above expected or whatever, that stuff is interesting.
00:55:39
Speaker
Yes. Because it is. Because that pains ah it does paint a little bit of a better picture.
00:55:46
Speaker
Cannot use percentage of goals against average alone. So stop using it. Please. They're good stats. They're fun stats, but they do not measure a success or failure.
00:55:57
Speaker
So stop it. and Stop hating me as a bad guy here.
Technology in Goaltending and Future Plans
00:56:02
Speaker
It wouldn't be a DIY goalie podcast without me getting you riled up. Yeah. all right. So bringing me to my closing item that I had and that's software and tech.
00:56:16
Speaker
And that's ah probably the furthest out of my scope out of all of these. As you can tell with the the technical difficulties we have almost on a weekly basis here.
00:56:30
Speaker
so i was i was gonna say okay so this might be more my area of expertise not that i'm totally involved with um all this stuff but mean again like so again i've talked like i've talked about it in the content creation side of things but i'll talk about it again here you know like and NHL, the NHL series has their be a pro stuff. Right. So if if that is, so if you, if you do want to put goaltending content out there, playing be a pro as a goaltender does provide some unique, uh,
00:57:05
Speaker
some unique perspectives. And especially for somebody like myself, who is a goaltender who does play this mode and puts it out on the internet. Um, it makes it frustrating, but in the same breath, it does, it does.
00:57:17
Speaker
There are people out there who play this mode and they're like, Oh, like goaltending is actually hard. Goaltending is actually difficult. And so they learn to kind of bike by, by accident, learn kind of the position that way.
00:57:32
Speaker
Um, with that being said in the same breath, you know, you also have apps like sense arena, which is like the, the number one VR training tool. I think the only VR training tool, um, when it comes to that and not saying that I haven't used it and I would love to use it and true North needs to get you to get it in the budget to use it.
00:57:55
Speaker
Um, I'll supply the, I'll supply the headset. Um, But that is that is also another option if you are able to create a similar-ish thing, excuse me, two two cents arena.
00:58:11
Speaker
again they we we live like We live in the 21st century, and so we have all this technology at our fingertips. We do have the ability to... to
00:58:24
Speaker
make the um technology and to make this the software and the apps that we that we would that we think that we would need to to have to to have better goaltending training.
00:58:37
Speaker
um It just takes the the right person with the right amount of patience to ah to do that, which unfortunately is not me as much as I love technology. But it it ah it a i'm I'm not that guy.
00:58:48
Speaker
I'm not that guy. Yeah, and there's lots of stuff you can do. There's going to be a bunch of stuff that we haven't even thought of yet that's going to ah come around. But yeah, you talk about like apps.
00:59:00
Speaker
um There's lots of apps popping up. like You look at you know Mark Vizentine as the Netminder app. There's Mike Broder that has the Balanced app. And you know there's a bunch of goalie coaches. Brian DeColo is just going to say...
00:59:18
Speaker
to cord um so apps i mean there's people asking all the time about shot counting apps um i know like ethan and i the other day were talking about if you could take that a step further and have some sort of meaningful like and kind of analytics tracker for you know average goalies i think there is like something that would there might be yeah um That would be something I think that would be beneficial.
00:59:48
Speaker
um Even look at stuff like sideline swap, like somebody, you know, put together basically Facebook marketplace for goalie gear. um You know, there's there's so many things that you can do. You can make platforms, you can make memberships, you can make courses, you can make apps.
01:00:07
Speaker
um Whatever the case is, there's so much with with the technology and subscription platforms, as much as we all hate having subscription everything. I mean, the reason is is because it's profitable, right?
01:00:21
Speaker
and You look at, you know, like Visual Edge, Sense Arena, like any of those things. um It's... It's providing a benefit and it's also a good way to kind of keep some steady cashflow coming in. So if you guys have the chops to bring something unique, that's helpful and beneficial and you can kind of, you know, easily market it and put it out into the world, then, you know, have Adder and,
01:00:50
Speaker
and hit us up and we'll, uh, we'll work out sponsorship deal or something going back to our, uh, content monetization. But, uh, but yeah, so that kind of rounds out my list. Um, I know there's other things you guys can do, um out there that aren't on the list, but this was kind of, you know, ones that, uh,
01:01:14
Speaker
came up with and and could put it out into the world and at least chime in on some of them from personal experience. um But again, just look for problems, try to solve them and be passionate about it.
01:01:30
Speaker
Be passionate about making the difference. You don't even necessarily have to be passionate about the specific thing you're doing, but just the process. Right. Like that's the fun part the process of building something, putting it out there, gaining traction, growing your product, your business, whatever the case is. that's That's kind of all the fun stuff in my opinion anyways. But that's ah that was supposed to be a segment and it turned into an episode. So here we are.
01:01:59
Speaker
And I apologize. like wanteded and get Yeah, Connor didn't get to slide anything in today. But maybe he can do a full episode next time with with something with the topic.
01:02:13
Speaker
Um, but yeah, no, there's, the there's a lot of great options out there. And so the more goalie printers, we'll call it, um, trademark that. but Yeah.
01:02:30
Speaker
Goalie. Copyright.
01:02:34
Speaker
The more, uh, the more, the more problem solvers that we have out there, the better. And, uh, Um, it just takes that one person to, uh, to get the ball rolling on it. And, uh, we got our stuff here at the DIY goalie and true North goaltending, um, dealing with all that. And so that's going to be, uh,
01:02:54
Speaker
we'll ah we'll We'll figure it out as we go. but But yeah, and as as always, another fantastic episode here on the DIY Goalie Podcast.
01:03:05
Speaker
I know that you did mention it in the last episode, but we'll mention it again in this episode. I feel like we'll probably mention it moving forward until the change is actually made. Yeah. If you didn't catch it in the last episode, we are, or Nathan rather, is planning on merging the DIY goaltender, the DIY goalie and True North goaltending into one thing under one umbrella.
01:03:28
Speaker
um So, which means that the DIY goalie website and... And its content will be phased out and all of the content will be moved over to the t true notes, goaltending website.
01:03:41
Speaker
However, the podcast still will remain same. Just now presented. Sorry, everybody. Yeah. he stuff yeah So yeah, um unfortunately. um I will not be phased out, which is yes.
01:03:58
Speaker
um
01:04:01
Speaker
Anyways. um Yeah. So, we so that is, that is a thing that is happening. um So just be on the lookout for that. Nothing really will change in the grand scheme of things. It's just, everything's just going to be under one umbrella. So yeah, really. So everything's just going to be under, under one umbrella now. So, ah so, so yeah but Yeah, i got no I got no final thoughts, Nathan.
01:04:28
Speaker
Take us home. Perfect. Sounds good. Well, thank you very much for watching. If you are watching over on the YouTube side of things and for listening on your favorite podcast platforms, Spotify, Apple, iHeart, et cetera. Make sure you guys go follow us if for the time being over on our social media platforms, all at the DIY goalie, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, et cetera.
01:04:51
Speaker
And make sure you also go follow us on our in-house goaltending company here in the Edmonton area. uh, at Y E G goalie coach over on Instagram and true North goaltending across your other favorite social media platforms.
01:05:06
Speaker
You can give myself a follow over on Instagram at Monday GC. They should go check out our websites at the DIY goalie for the time being while we still all have all the content and everything on that side. You can check out all the articles and drills and, uh,
01:05:20
Speaker
whatever else that we have on there, go check on our mark go check out our merch store. so There's a lot of fun stuff over on there. You can also go check us out over on the True North Goaltending side of things at www.truenorthgoaltending.com. got a bunch of camps happening in the summertime.
01:05:35
Speaker
We also do have facility sessions if you are interested in working with us here in the Edmonton area. For the time being, this was the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. My name is Connor Monday. That's Nathan Park.
01:05:46
Speaker
Make some saves goalies. We'll see you guys next time.