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Episode 9 — Inside a Junior Hockey Journey with Colton Semenok
32 Plays4 months ago
In this special holiday episode, Leo and Lando sit down with a guest who knows junior hockey from the inside out — Lando’s younger brother, Colton Semenok. From moving provinces as a teenager to the grind of daily life in junior, Colton shares what the experience is really like: the people who shape you, the dressing‑room culture, the long bus trips, the highs of winning, and the heartbreaks that change a team forever.
Whether you’re a fan, a young player, or someone curious about the world behind the rink doors, this episode offers an honest, human look at the junior hockey journey.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and enjoy this holiday deep dive into the life of a junior hockey player.
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Transcript
Holiday Episode Introduction
00:00:15
Leo Ernewein
Welcome back to the Leo and Lando show. I'm your host, Leo. And as always, I'm joined by my co-host Landon Lando-Simonok. We got a very special holiday episode lined up. Christmas, New Year's, all the good vibes. And we're lucky enough to be joining or have someone special joining us today.
Diving into Junior Hockey
00:00:34
Leo Ernewein
We're diving into everything junior hockey, the ins, the outs, the behind the scenes stories and everything in between. Lando, my man. First off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. are you doing?
00:00:46
Lando
I'm doing well, man. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy new year to you too. I'm doing very well, thank you. Yeah, it's halfway through the holiday season. It goes by fast when you're having fun, isn't it?
00:00:58
Leo Ernewein
For sure, man, time is flying by and, you know, working every day too is helping it go by, I guess, a little bit quicker, right? I'm in a blur of almost what day it is. All I know is just targeting the next day off kind of thing.
00:01:12
Lando
Fair enough, man. I understand.
00:01:15
Leo Ernewein
But yeah, I'll let you introduce our guest here. Why
Special Guest: Colton Semenok
00:01:20
Leo Ernewein
don't you tell everybody who you got with us today?
00:01:22
Lando
So our guest is a very special person in my life. I've known since he was born. My little brother, Colton Semenok.
00:01:32
Lando
Welcome to the show and thanks for coming on. And before you answer, you are one of the two that gets to see how we do this.
00:01:43
Lando
Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. Happy to be here and, yeah, just... proud brother, I've been listening since day one. So it's nice to be here and support you guys and be a part of this.
00:01:56
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, right on. Thanks for joining us, man. I'm super stoked we were talking about this episode pretty much since almost the beginning, right, Landon?
00:02:05
Lando
Yeah.
00:02:06
Leo Ernewein
This has been cooking in the making, for sure. This has been, you know... Baking, I guess, is, I don't know what I'm talking about here. We'll just, you know what I mean? We've been making this one or thinking about this one for a while and to have it over the holidays and, you know, it just makes it every more special.
00:02:25
Leo Ernewein
I like how, shouldn't say I like, Colton's probably loved, how do you like being referred to as little brother as opposed to younger brother there, Colton?
00:02:33
Lando
Oh, that's all right. I'm not as little as him anymore. I've been towering over him for a lot of years, but little is fine.
00:02:40
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, that's true. You have been a lot taller than I was. You know, Lando's always the older brother. So, you know, that's, that's yeah. Much respect. And, you know, I'm the older brother too, Landon. I get how it goes.
00:02:55
Lando
Yeah.
00:02:55
Leo Ernewein
We, we run the show, right?
00:02:57
Leo Ernewein
This is, this our house.
00:02:59
Lando
Yeah. Yeah. The one thing, though, is that you're probably taller than your sister. So you've got that going for you.
Water Quality Chat
00:03:09
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, yeah, I suppose. I didn't really think about that. Yeah, although I most of my friends who have younger brothers, that seems like the younger brother always seems to outgrow them.
00:03:14
Lando
So...
00:03:20
Leo Ernewein
I don't know why.
00:03:23
Lando
I don't know either there must be something in the water i'll blame it on the bull valley water.
00:03:28
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, that I'd miss that Bow Valley water here in Calgary. I mean, it's not it's not really any different here in Calgary. But sometimes it is I don't know if maybe it's just the filter we have. It's not saying it's bad here in Calgary, but it's nice in the Bow Valley.
00:03:40
Lando
doesn't have that same correctness to it.
00:03:44
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, don't know. It's still really good water, like with the fact that I still drink under the tap all the time. And it's pretty lucky to say that we're able to do that, right? Certain places you can't, so yeah.
00:03:55
Lando
No, we have to count our blessings where we get them, right?
00:03:59
Leo Ernewein
For sure, counting the blessings over the hole. Sorry, over the holidays, before we jump into Colton's junior hockey career, let's warm things up here.
Canada's Hockey Performance
00:04:09
Leo Ernewein
Colton and Lando, what are your thoughts on Canada's team so far at the IIHF World Juniors after Game 1 yesterday?
00:04:19
Lando
It's always a fun time of year. It's exciting and interesting to see how every player sort of stacks up in their respective roles. As we all know, it's a very talented and deep roster. they can kind of all play up and down the lineup. But it's always interesting to see the guys that have to sort of play the third, fourth line roles, a more checking style versus maybe with their respective teams back home, where they maybe be more relied heavily on for power play or being more skilled guys. So it's very different where you have to see those bottom end guys dive into a more physical role.
00:05:00
Lando
And I guess for me, I mean, we talked about this back a couple episodes ago about the World Juniors and The exciting part for me is, yeah, Colton's bang on. But one of the things that I'm happy to see that they are competitive this year. And they seem to have rise to the occasion. And they managed to overcome one demon with the Czechs last night, which was...
00:05:28
Lando
December 26th. So yeah, I'm looking forward to this team. I'm not worried about them at all. I think they're they're gonna be just fine. They got the adversity team out of the way and now they should be able to cruise through to the metal rounds or the knockout rounds. So Leo, how do you feel about the team?
00:05:50
Leo Ernewein
I mean, I really liked seeing the offense. It looked like they were high score and, you know, Zane Parekh's shot was incredible. Michael Hage, I think he's a Canadian's first round pick.
00:06:04
Leo Ernewein
Correct me if I'm wrong, I think. I can't remember.
00:06:05
Lando
I think you're right. Yeah.
00:06:18
Leo Ernewein
I'm a little concerned about the defense, but at the end of the day, that Czech team is still, they've got some NHL caliber talent for sure.
00:06:27
Leo Ernewein
And they play as a solid unit, right? They're going to be in, I think, the medal rounds again this year. I think I'm going to place them third. But winning the third medal game, I don't know if that stacks up actually on the... Well, we don't know how the knockout rounds will go yet because we're only one game in so far. But yeah, and I mean, more happen. I think Canada's on the ice right now, actually, as we speak against Latvia. Yeah.
00:06:55
Lando
Lafayette is correct.
00:06:56
Lando
Colton and I are actually, we've got the TV on down low and we're, as we're chatting with you, we're peeking over our shoulders and looking at the TV, so.
00:07:05
Leo Ernewein
Nice.
00:07:05
Leo Ernewein
Have you seen anything as far as the score yet or is puck dropped?
00:07:09
Lando
Puck drops now for about three minutes here.
00:07:11
Leo Ernewein
Okay. Yeah. It's, uh, you know, I, I love as somebody who reports, what did I click on? Oh no. I tried to open the Canada score there and there's some sort of playing.
00:07:23
Leo Ernewein
Hopefully we'll see what happens there. But, Yeah, so puck drops in a couple minutes. as somebody who likes to, like, not likes to, but has to report on, well, likes to as well, report on games for a job. Sometimes it's tough when I'm like, oh, yeah, teasing, you know, puck drop for 6.30 because that's when it's supposed to.
00:07:42
Leo Ernewein
And certain teams, certain leagues especially, don't start on time. Cough, cough, the NHL and NBA. Not NHL. NHL is usually decent. NBA is always, like, 10 minutes behind. And I guess I don't really blame the World Juniors. It's...
00:07:57
Leo Ernewein
It's not necessarily one shouldn't be ragging on for this, but I don't know. Do you guys find that an annoyance when you go to watch and you tune in? Or do you like seeing bit of the pregame and set the tone and stuff like that?
00:08:10
Lando
It does hold a little bit of a charm to it for sure. gets the intensity up a little bit. Some of it can be overdrawn. a little bit and they just kind of yammer on and it's sort of like, let's get on with it here and drop the puck. But they all have job they're paid for and they just got to do what they got to do.
00:08:29
Leo Ernewein
Do
00:08:30
Lando
agree with that too. But I think one of the things that I think I find a little annoying is that let's just get the puck dropped. You had a 30 minute pregame show already. What more you have to talk about?
00:08:42
Leo Ernewein
you think they're basically recapping almost everything that somebody's already said or sometimes they'll find a little bit of...
00:08:47
Lando
Yeah, I think more in a shorter version. Yeah.
00:08:51
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, we've all seen pre-games and stuff like that too. But... You know, it's still, I don't know.
00:08:59
Leo Ernewein
I associate like Boxing Day the day after from Christmas up to New Year's, right? Like that's double IHF World Hockey Junior time for me, right? So it's, or World Juniors, sorry, time for me because I just, I loved seeing, I think we talked about this before Landon with when they played the, I think it was the outdoor game.
00:09:10
Lando
Mm-hmm.
00:09:24
Lando
Oh yeah, out in Buffalo, in the outdoor, Yeah.
00:09:28
Leo Ernewein
I brought that up with somebody at work today about how that game for me was the one that sparked more of an interest because it was actually a competitive game. I don't even remember if the States won. Do you remember?
00:09:43
Lando
Yeah, they did. think they won like, think was like or or Yeah, something like that.
00:09:50
Leo Ernewein
Alright, well, it like woke a fire in me to like start to want to watch more because it was like, yeah, I guess it was probably an eye opener and it probably didn't feel great at the time.
00:10:02
Leo Ernewein
But I remember watching and being like, oh man, it started rekindling kind of a passion for watching those players and hoping that they're going what their careers were going to be in the league and stuff like that. Because I found it exciting. was amazing.
00:10:17
Leo Ernewein
You know, I'm always enamored with, you know, rookie or sophomore games or anything like that. So to see the up and comers is always a pleasure to like, especially on a stage like that, representing your country.
00:10:28
Lando
I agree. Yeah, I agree. No, I 100% agree. And it's funny when a lot of the pregame stuff they show, you know, like they just showed just recently,
00:10:41
Lando
you know, number 17s that have played in the World Juniors for Canada. And it's just like it kind takes you back where it's like you see some of these names and it's like, oh, yeah, I forgot they played. I forgot they played in the World Juniors. You know mean? So I agree you. I think it's really neat.
Colton's Hockey Journey
00:10:58
Leo Ernewein
Do you guys want to jump over to the next topic here, the next segment?
00:11:01
Lando
Yeah, let's rock. Colton's on the spotlight here.
00:11:05
Leo Ernewein
Right on. Well, Lando, I'll let you take it away here then, bud.
00:11:09
Lando
Okay, so
00:11:11
Lando
Colton, I know the answer to this question, but to our listeners, how did you get into hockey and who was your inspiration to get into it and when did you start playing, if you remember?
00:11:25
Lando
That's a great question. Definitely heavily influenced by our parents, I would say. Definitely mom and dad getting us out on the ice up north at our home when we were younger, getting our first pair of skates, getting out there, making a rink outside our house.
00:11:40
Lando
Yeah, that was like the first kicker. And then obviously you being the older brother, you playing hockey, I think just obviously looking up to you and the older kids and sort wanting to get out there and participate and Being from a small town, I mean, there wasn't really much sports to choose from. Winter drags out for a long time. And so hockey was the most popular, obviously.
00:12:02
Lando
And then with the smaller amount of kids in the small towns to play sports, I actually ended up playing with Landon and his friends and teammates at a younger age, even though I was three years younger.
00:12:18
Lando
Often they would need extra players. And so I would get the call and... being that I could skate really well and buzz around out there. I didn't fall behind with the older, bigger kids and held my own. And I think I was even scoring goals out there as a young kid. So yeah, definitely mom and dad get me into it. And then Landon playing with his friends. I always just wanted to get out there and grew a quick passion for it and fell in love with that feeling of
00:12:47
Lando
buzzing around out on the ice being a strong skater just fell in love pretty quickly.
00:12:53
Leo Ernewein
Right on. Awesome. Well, I want kind of like, have you take us the listeners through like your junior career. So first off, when you were playing, like, what teams did you play for?
00:13:09
Leo Ernewein
And what was like representing each of those organizations, as you kind of, you know, took each step throughout the progression of your career?
00:13:19
Lando
Yeah, so growing up in Banff, spent a lot of my younger years traveling, had to go a lot of times out of town, getting into Pee Wee AA, Midget AAA. It was a lot of travel, so ended up going into Cochrane,
00:13:36
Lando
even out to Airdrie for Bantam AAA and actually ended up getting cut from mid to AAA. So my junior career started when I was 16 with the Banff Academy Bears.
00:13:48
Lando
So I was 16 at the time playing there and it was great. There was players from all over the world. We had Germany, guys from Scotland, Ireland, some local guys as far as Calgary, Edmonton, all sorts of stuff. And then right out of Banff too, there was a,
00:14:05
Lando
a few players at the time and it was great we were on the ice five days a week for the most part training working out going to school doing all that so the on ice exposure was great being a 16 year old playing against some bigger men 20 years old and going out there and quickly finding out that you got to move around pretty quickly when you're a small 16 year old and you're going out against guys that have beards and are quite a bit taller than you. So that was a big experience there. ended up signing to the Canmore Eagles in the Alberta Junior Hockey League as a 16 year old and started playing a few affiliate call up games through them with Bob Miller was the coach at the time.
00:14:52
Lando
And then my 17-year-old season was my first full year with the Canmore Eagles. They had a coaching change under Andrew Milne. So played a full season there. 18-year-old year, started out with them and then for a long story short, ended up getting released from the Canmore Eagles being the local kid.
00:15:13
Lando
And found myself having to take a whole new path, sending out emails, trying to find a place to play because I still had a passion. So ended up getting a tryout for the trail smoke eaters of the BCHL.
00:15:26
Lando
Went down there for quite a few practices with their team as they were having a tough time in the bottom of the division. Ended up signing me onto their team and for like more less a tryout basis. And then I signed with the Beaver Valley Nighthawks as a full-time player for them, which was in the BC Junior B League.
00:15:50
Lando
The SJ or sorry, I'm stumbling. Can't remember that off the top my head right now. But yeah, I played a full season with called games with the trail smoke eaters. And then, yeah, that just didn't seem like the fit for them or myself.
00:16:05
Lando
So after that season, started looking back out towards the AJHL and started going to some rookie tryout camps, went to the Calgary Mustangs, they were quite pleased with what they seen there. And it was an interesting organization.
00:16:24
Lando
basically trying get me to fight and stuff during camp to see what kind of blood I had in my bones, I guess, to see if I would stick up for teammates. And after they'd seen what they liked, they wanted to sign me. But I said, hold up, I'm going to the Brooks Bandits camp next week. I'm not signing anything. So then ended up going to Brooks camp.
00:16:45
Lando
Everything went really well. The Bandits, they loved me. And then after the rookie camp there, signed with them and spent my 19, 20-year-old season with the Brooks Bandits.
00:16:57
Leo Ernewein
And was that like the most fun hockey you've probably had?
00:17:01
Lando
Yeah, definitely. I mean, when I was playing for the Beaver Valley Nighthawks, that was amazing. kind of grew a passion for the game again, having fun, really started to enjoy the game again after a pretty tough situation with Canmore.
00:17:18
Lando
Really deflated my hockey dreams. And so that was kind of the start of it coming back. And then, yeah, going to Brooks, being on a good team, great organization. bunch of great guys and friends on that team. It was a lot of fun. Billet family was great. Just the town in general, really getting behind the team had a lot of fun there.
00:17:41
Leo Ernewein
Nice. So what advice would you give to another young hockey player that may be listening or somebody's parents that might be listening that maybe they're going through a similar situation in order, like yourself, being able to kind of put your head down and turn it around and make a successful career out of it?
Advice for Young Players
00:18:04
Lando
I guess just not to give up. There's always somewhere else that's going to either want you or be willing to develop you into a player. It just really comes down to that willingness to want to keep going if you're really passionate about it. Just work hard, work out, train.
00:18:21
Lando
do the right things for your body and just like have fun while you can. always really enjoyed working on skills, power skating, all that stuff was spoke volumes for my game going forward and playing in junior hockey. But yeah, just if you're in a tough situation, try not to get too down, just keep participating, be a good teammate. Be a good friend, listen your coaches, yeah, just work hard. You never know when you might get seen by somebody get that chance when you weren't expecting it. So you need to be ready to go.
00:18:57
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, man. Well, sounds like the hard work came naturally to you. So pat yourself on the back, man, because, you know, like you moved around provinces a lot at a pretty young age.
00:19:08
Leo Ernewein
From a parent's point of view, I wanted to. And from a brother's point of view, too, that's a huge leap. I wanted to ask, you know, Landon, like, how did your family kind of handle the transition?
00:19:20
Lando
looking back, I think it was pretty disappointing to see what happened with him in Canmore. mean, we're not gonna, we're not gonna get into the, you know, the ins and outs of what happened in Canmore. But it was, it a little disappointing that, you know, local kid not being able to make it on a local team.
00:19:38
Lando
But I think as far as getting his passion back, I think that was Beaver Valley, think, was the place for him to go and get his confidence back and get him going. Because I think it certainly showed in Brooks. Now, I know had a struggle to start with in...
00:19:56
Lando
in Brooks that he got healthy scratch I think once or twice but eventually it became a mainstay because one of their coaches got their assistant coach got let go and so after that I think yeah he just he took off in Brooks and it was I mean, it certainly was, you know, different being, turning into being kind the only kid in the house while Colton was away for a lot of the winter. But, I mean, we certainly got to see him quite a bit throughout the season because we certainly did our part to travel and go support him. So, but it was just, it was so neat to see, to see him grow as a person and becoming a young adult to see what he was doing and how he played. And it was such a,
00:20:42
Lando
a treat to have a front row seat to that and I want to go back a little bit to what he was talking about when he was a younger kid I mean I knew he had something special in him when he was a four-year-old playing with seven eight-year-olds and he was scoring hat tricks with with my team and helping us win go all way to the finals in novice and uh So I knew I had a special younger brother playing as a hockey player.
00:21:10
Lando
And like I said, it was neat to see, to have a front row seat to experience all that.
00:21:17
Leo Ernewein
Right on. When moving away from home, like, what was the hardest part for you, Colton, leaving? Like, do you ever get guilty or homesick?
00:21:29
Lando
Oh man, it was quite the adventure. kind of all started when went down to Beaver Valley to play with the Nighthawks, I would go to the tryouts with Trail there.
00:21:40
Lando
Obviously during the school year, and dad were still working, so they were able to come down for the weekend to sort of get me set up there, spend the first two days with me, I think. And then after that, it was me by myself in a hotel room for a couple days into a town of Trailbridge, Columbia that I'd never seen or been to before. No friends, didn't know nobody, but just waited to go to the rink and prove I could be there. And even at that point, it was really awkward because I was a new face coming in to potentially take somebody else's place. And so it was really tough. And then at that point, once I got signed on and was told to go see the coach of the Beaver Valley Nighthawks, Terry Jones, ended up just like, yeah, here's the address, drive over.
00:22:29
Lando
I met him at him and his wife's house and she had some hot apple pie ready and we sat down and chatted for a while before going to night practice there and meeting all those guys for when I ended up staying with them for the remainder of the season. And then after that night, spent one night with one of the guys on the team before getting settled into a billet house and...
00:22:56
Lando
That was also super nerve wracking. It was just like, here's the address again, meet these people and best of luck kind of thing. But I always had great experiences. It was with Corey and Laura Neal and then their two kids together.
00:23:14
Lando
Ryan and Haley and it couldn't have been a better fit it felt like home spent a bunch of time with them playing hockey down in the basement and video games and all that so it really became a family so that transition was nice right sort of just fit right in like an older brother and and a son to them so that was great and then again traveling to Brooks Same situation, you get there, you make the team, it's like, okay, here's your billets.
00:23:46
Lando
And off you go. And so you go over and meet them. And it was the Ironside family and they were great again, kids.
00:23:56
Lando
dog, the whole thing. And they were amazing as well. Spent a ton of time with them, whether it be hot tubbing with the boys or playing video games again with their two sons and spending time with the dog.
00:24:13
Lando
And yeah, it was all around just a great experience. I landed two really good families and it couldn't have been better.
00:24:22
Leo Ernewein
Nice. Yeah. I mean, like, well, you see it all the time, not just in pro sports, but in any sports, right? Where sometimes it just doesn't work out in one situation and then somebody else picks them up a well-run organization. And, you know, it's, it's all not necessarily all blooming flowers from there, but there's still a lot of hard work, but you do see the success of,
00:24:46
Leo Ernewein
come and it shows and it's just a chef's kiss, isn't it? When it all happens like that. Not all happens like that, but when it does turn out to be more positive than negative, right?
00:24:58
Leo Ernewein
So it's nice to hear that.
00:24:59
Lando
That's right.
00:25:00
Leo Ernewein
It sounds like you had some people that you met on the road who made you feel like, okay, I'm good here. And so that's a big difference, right? To have that kind of support group.
00:25:11
Lando
Yeah, it was nice feel like family for sure. It was Lana and Jason who were in Brooks. And yeah, it's always really emotional leaving once I left out of trail out of Corey and Laura's place.
00:25:25
Lando
And then the same thing out of Brooks when I left Lana and Jason's. It was tough because you really become part of the family.
00:25:33
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, it's it's short, but memorable, right? Because it's it's it means so much. So it's cool to see those kind of bonds built. Did you have any big, big personalities in the dressing room, glue guys, comedians, any leaders that you kind of bonded with stuff like that? Anybody you want to shout out?
00:25:54
Lando
Uh, nobody really in particular. was kind of always sort of the glue guy and the goofball in the room. and then, yeah, there was lots of leaders. ended up playing with some pretty, uh, skilled players within Brooks, like Matt Wilkins and Cam McLeese. There was a few guys that went on to, uh, a lot of them played, uh,
00:26:12
Lando
college hockey and whatnot after I went and played some pro too. So yeah, I always had a lot of really good talent around me.
00:26:17
Leo Ernewein
night
00:26:20
Lando
And as a whole, we had a lot of fun and really goofed around in the locker room out of the arena as well.
00:26:29
Leo Ernewein
lando do you want to ask any questions here real quick i feel like i'm leaving you out a little bit buddy sorry yeah all
00:26:33
Lando
That's all good. I'm having fun listening. So I guess, Colton, now we're talking, after you talked about all the junior teams you played for, what were bus trips like?
00:26:46
Lando
If you could kind of give us a sneak peek of what bus trips were like. Oh boy, every little trip was different. Often the shorter trips.
00:26:57
Lando
I was a pregame nap guy, so I'd be taking my sleeping bag and blanket and pillow and I would be setting up camp on the floor. So my across the bus, roommate would always, he'd get the feet up on my side there to get comfy and I'd get scooched down onto the floor and put the music on and sort of good night, Irene, and have a good nap and wake up, be ready to go. But some of those longer ones, it was, you know, movies, playing cards, joking around with the boys, goofing around. There'd be wrestling and pranks going on and stuff. So all that kind of thing was always great. But yeah, we'd play lots of, lots of cards, all sorts of movies, you know, the Happy Gilmores, the
00:27:44
Lando
Superbad and the Don Cherry Rock'em Sock'em. So yeah, each trip was a little bit different in that regard, depending on how far the distance was.
00:27:47
Leo Ernewein
I love those.
00:27:54
Lando
And sometimes if we'd be traveling before game day, those would often be the times where we'd spend lots time playing cards and a little gambling here and there.
00:28:06
Lando
And yeah, lots of fun.
00:28:09
Leo Ernewein
Nice. Yeah. I mean, some of those sports trips, whether it was basketball, volleyball, or minor hockey trips, whenever we got a bus, I think there was a few times where we went to Oyen as a group.
00:28:22
Leo Ernewein
And man, was that fun and expensive. And the whole felt like the whole weekend when really it was. Yeah, it was probably the, you know, it was the whole day for sure.
00:28:34
Leo Ernewein
And you basically wrote the rest of the weekend off. But I can only imagine travel for junior hockey is like that on steroids.
00:28:44
Leo Ernewein
It is, man, right? Like it's a whole other animal.
00:28:45
Lando
yeah well yeah
00:28:47
Leo Ernewein
He was just telling us about you're basically almost in a new province every six months to have Well, not half a year, but eight every season almost. Right. If not every next season, it's the natural progression almost for hockey in Canada.
00:29:04
Leo Ernewein
Pretty much not, not always, but it is a very common path. I should say, as, as far as like, you know, uh,
00:29:15
Leo Ernewein
Because I want kind of focus this a little bit for listeners, if they have young ones or stuff like that. What would you say if their kid was ready for, if they thought their kid was ready for junior hockey, what advice would you give them?
00:29:30
Lando
I mean, it's a big step. It's a big transition of having to obviously leave home where you're comfortable and potentially going far away from home. But yeah, if like you want to progress, you want to chase the hockey dream, naturally you got to leave home. You got to go somewhere else, get out of your comfort zone and be willing to try new things is the biggest part of it. You can't be scared to meet new people.
00:29:58
Lando
It's a huge transition and yeah, you really just got to be willing to try. if you're not able to put your big boy pants on and put your best foot forward make the most of your effort and time, you're going to just be disappointed and left behind. But yeah, if you do get the opportunity to play junior hockey, it's some of the best times you'll ever have.
00:30:20
Lando
You'll make amazing friendships, have a ton of fun, it'll be worth it in the end.
00:30:27
Leo Ernewein
Nice. Landon, do you want ask anything, bud?
00:30:29
Lando
Yeah, so you touched on Brooks as one of your teams. Do you take pride, Colton, quote-unquote, the start of the dynasty of the Brooks Bandits?
00:30:45
Lando
And my second part to this question is, Ryan started off coaching when you came in to Brooks. What was it like meeting him? Well, let's start with the Ryan thing at first.
00:31:00
Lando
When I'd gotten to rookie camp there on a trial basis, I'd ran into my old Bantam AAA coach. Brent Goulet was his name. We ended up chatting for a while and he had asked if I met Ryan.
00:31:13
Lando
And me not knowing very much or not doing my homework, I was just like, oh, nice to meet you. And that was about that. And off he went. And so I went out into the vehicle and told my parents,
00:31:25
Lando
I was like, oh, you wouldn't believe who I ran into inside for checking there. Old coach Brent Goulet was in there. He's a scout for the bandits. And it was like, oh, that's cool. And I was like, yeah. And then he introduced me to this younger guy named Ryan. And they both turned around with a really puzzled look to their face. And they're like, uh, that's the head coach. And I was just so embarrassed. Like,
00:31:49
Lando
What an idiot, had no idea. yeah, so it was a little awkward first interaction there, meeting Ryan from the kickstart, but all worked out from then on.
00:31:59
Leo Ernewein
How did he react? Do you think?
00:32:02
Lando
It was just a pretty brief handshake and a bit of a kind of scrunch of the eyebrows sort of situation and yeah I don't know I don't know if he was trying to play it off like he was somebody and I should know or it was just kind of all-around awkward things I had honestly no idea
00:32:24
Leo Ernewein
All right, well, tell us a little bit more about Ryan's, maybe something people that people wouldn't know unless they played for him.
00:32:32
Lando
I would say for the most part, a lot of people would think he's a bit of an arrogant asshole, but he cares a lot about his guys. He was always a lot of fun, sort of let us do our thing. He was really passionate about the game and really gave us a lot of leash to just be who we were, show our talents, and even like the off-ice stuff he allowed for us to...
00:32:57
Lando
kind of come together as a team. Obviously it had to reflect with on ice performance, otherwise that leash would get tightened, but Yeah, he gave us a lot of rope to go out and have fun and off the ice in the dressing room. He participated practice drills, all that sort of thing. So he just really gave an area for the guys to succeed, have fun, and just be a bunch of friends.
00:33:27
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, bonds again, man. They, you know, that it's what it all came down for me, at least for playing hockey was the friendships and stuff like that.
00:33:38
Leo Ernewein
And, and, you know, I still remember, I guess I only really had one hockey coach, but I still remember other coaches like that, that a lot of other people didn't like. And it seemed like you know, I still had a bond with them. And that was really important to me. And they didn't,
00:33:53
Leo Ernewein
You know, maybe, don't know, I'm not saying that they didn't treat him or he didn't treat them well or whatever, as far as former coaches go, but it's none of my business, right? Like it's, you know, it's whatever. It's my relationship with the coach and it was fine. And then at one point it did sour because I did...
00:34:12
Leo Ernewein
not no longer play for that team i i left on my own on my part it was mostly because i was a bum and i regret it but think they ended up taking it out of my sister with their grades because they were also a teacher but move on from that uh lando do you want to jump in with the next one here bud
00:34:31
Lando
Yeah, so like I said, Colton, you look back at Brooks Bandits being such a dynasty now, 15 years later.
00:34:46
Lando
you take pride that start of the dynasty? Yeah, of course. They really started making stride there, bringing in some good players. We started finding success pretty quickly. It was exciting, winning just consistently full-ranked, loud fans,
00:35:05
Lando
Town support all led to success on and off the ice. It made it a fun place to play. The town support was amazing. Couldn't recommend a better town for junior hockey experience, honestly. Just a great facility, great management. Everything was top tier there.
00:35:27
Lando
It was a fun place to play, and obviously winning the first ever AJHL championship for the Brooks Bandits in their history was pretty special to be a part of and definitely kick-started something special there, which continues to be successful organization.
00:35:45
Lando
So I'll step in real quick there, Leo. I want to ask another question.
00:35:50
Leo Ernewein
Yep.
00:35:51
Lando
So unfortunately during junior hockey, there's always been ups and downs, but This next question is going to kind is has or did hit you hard personally.
00:36:03
Lando
You lost a teammate and a friend in Nick Crosby who passed away in a car accident not too far from here in Banff and field.
00:36:14
Lando
When you heard the news back then, And you look back, how did, you know, the next season motivate you and the team going forward that year?
00:36:28
Lando
Yeah. Oh boy. It was, it was tough news.
Reflecting on Tragedy
00:36:32
Lando
I definitely remember I was getting my haircut at the time. We had just had our like summer get together camp in Airdrie and, uh,
00:36:44
Lando
had come back to Banff and had some fun with some friends. And Nick actually had come and stayed at night with me and we went out and had a bunch of fun and couple cocktails and just bunch of laughs. And then that next day a haircut appointment and got a call from my head coach and just kind of answered it. was Hey Ryan, like, can I give you call back and get my haircut? And he's like, well, not really great timing, but yes, you can. So instantly I'm thinking like, Oh,
00:37:12
Lando
geez, I'm about to get traded or sent somewhere. So wheels are spinning. So I give him a call back and he gives me the gutting news that Nick had been in a bad car accident and was on life support at the Calgary hospital there. And just remember going home, just distraught, just crying, crying.
00:37:35
Lando
Just, yeah, just beside myself, didn't really know what to do. And then days later, obviously getting the news that he had passed away and that his fight was over. And yeah, it was a super emotional time because I was the last person ever see him alive. had left our house here in Banff that morning. And it was about an hour and a half later that was...
00:38:01
Lando
That was it. The last I would ever get a talk with them or anything. So it super emotional and had a really tough time with it. lot of guilt. And it translated for my 20-year-old year. I had a really tough time starting off the season really mentally struggling on and off the ice.
00:38:25
Lando
Ended up going into the coach's room there and talking to them just... beside myself, just like telling them that know if I can do this. Like, I can't focus. I'm just like mentally not there.
00:38:39
Lando
Wasn't contributing offensively like I should be. And I just wasn't feeling like myself, but they, they really stepped up and supported me and gave me a lot of help.
00:38:50
Lando
And obviously having the entire team sort of the same So there was support there and we all talked and just we all wanted to do it for Nick. We had stickers on our helmets and did the ceremony and the whole thing. So it was super emotional year for sure. And then once we got the ball rolling there, it was...
00:39:13
Lando
almost unstoppable. think our record was 47 and seven or something like that. So we were, we were buzzing. But yeah, it was a great way for all of us to sort of just tug on the rope together, get it going, have something to play for, have something to celebrate each night, raising our sticks to his Jersey underneath the scoreboard there after every win. So it was, it was a special year.
00:39:41
Leo Ernewein
Well, yeah, it sounded like you kind of had a good group of people to support you guys as people and not just as teammates, right? Like, as you know, you had some people to lean when you needed it most during that time. And guys stepped up to be emotional leaders when things were at their hardest. So that is nice to hear. just wanted to ask you like a little bit about Nick as a person. What was he like? Like, it sounded like you guys were pretty close.
00:40:08
Lando
He was a great guy. I actually ended up knowing him through the Banff Hockey Academy years prior to ending up in Brooks together, oddly enough. And just a big, tall, friendly kid. Just liked to have fun and hang out with the boys.
00:40:25
Lando
Hardworking, motivated sports fan. Loved the San Jose Sharks. Just a great teammate. Very selfless. Just always wanted to have fun and allow everyone else to have success alongside him. So yeah, just an outstanding guy, great family, was never easy to lose somebody, but he was one of the good ones for sure that left an impact on everybody that he was around.
00:40:51
Leo Ernewein
Gone too soon. Rest in peace, Nick Crosby. That's for me. That's how I always know. Well, not always know because I don't want to discredit other hockey fans. But when somebody cheers for a team that is outside of their country, I know they're a real fan, you know, right? When they're cheering for the San Jose Sharks, you know, that guy loves hockey.
00:41:15
Lando
That's right.
00:41:15
Leo Ernewein
So I rest in peace, Nick. Gone too soon. You're a good man. Or sounds like you were a good man. Sorry. Didn't know you. So I can't see. Yeah. I want to ask you a little bit about the AJHL championship stuff, though.
00:41:29
Leo Ernewein
Who was the first person you hugged after winning?
00:41:33
Lando
Oh my goodness. it's honestly all a blur. It's just gloves flying, sticks going all over. And just remember just a big bear hug of the boys just yelling and pointing to the sky. And I don't think there was anybody in particular. was just an all around level of excitement just generally a lot of fun.
Playoff Experiences
00:41:55
Leo Ernewein
Nice. Landon, do you want ask anything, bud?
00:41:58
Lando
Well, you know, I guess What was it, you know, when you made the playoffs and obviously you were first in the South and first overall, did you ever feel pressure to, I mean, obviously the Nick thing was a big motivator, but did you guys feel pressure at all that you're the top dog, you're the top team that you need to win this or it? Yeah.
00:42:24
Lando
Oh, sure, there was definitely that level of nervousness. I mean, anytime you go into the playoffs, it doesn't matter if you're underdog or not. You want to step up, perform, and put your best foot forward so you can win the series. But I don't ever really particularly remember a time where we felt down on ourselves. Like we swept Canmore, and then we went in and swept...
00:42:53
Lando
was it maybe Olds and then Camrose. And then after that, we were, it was just full steam ahead. It was like, there was nothing that could stop us. And then getting up into Fort McMurray, was a bit more of a challenge. I think we won in game five, if I remember, because we won our game six.
00:43:15
Lando
So we won it up on the, on the road up in Fort McMurray. And, yeah, it was a bit more of a battle. They had great players on their team, like Colton Pareko was playing with them at the time.
00:43:28
Lando
So just, yeah, an all-around journey, just always wanted to compete, out there, be a difference maker. But I always think we had a confidence to us that we could get it done. And the fan support when we were in Brooks was unmatched. The horns blaring, the 50-50s going like crazy, the beer sales were buzzing.
00:43:51
Lando
Just all around fun time in Brooks during playoffs.
00:43:55
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I mean, playoff hockey in Alberta is definitely... I remember going to watch the Eagles versus Brooks games lots and always losing to Brooks. Not always, but most of the time, right? It was like a huge celebration if we beat Brooks sometimes.
00:44:15
Leo Ernewein
And I like how you mentioned
00:44:15
Lando
Yeah, it always felt good for me personally when we would beat Ken.
00:44:20
Lando
So always enjoyed that one.
00:44:20
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, I bet, right? That's a, you know, a bit of rivalry match set up there, eh?
00:44:25
Lando
Yeah, exactly. They always had it out for me. So it was a nice rub it in your face when we got a skate off the ice with the two points or the series win. was always a pretty good feeling.
00:44:37
Leo Ernewein
Nice. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about like the lifestyle for our listeners here. What does a typical day for a junior hockey player from like morning to night look like?
00:44:48
Lando
A whole lot of times it was wake up in the morning, you'd head to the rink, morning skate, kind of hang around the rink for a little while, end up playing some ping pong or shooting some pool in the locker room in Brooks.
00:45:03
Lando
And if it was a practice day, obviously there would be just getting in the gym or something after Or if it was a game day, then we just have morning skate and then you'd go home, get a meal and you have a long nap, get up pre-game meal and then head to the rink a few hours early.
00:45:24
Lando
get that game of sewer ball in. So it's just like soccer, juggling the ball, kicking it back and forth, competition, knockout style. And then, yeah, you do your warmups and puck drops. So, yeah, it was usually a pretty full day, but those practice days when you didn't have anything going on, get up, get to the rink, practice. Then after that, it was,
00:45:49
Lando
Back at the house with some buddies playing video games or whatever we'd be doing. A lot of times it was video games and hanging out and whatnot back in the old Call of Duty and Halo days, you know, spent a lot of time playing NHL and all that stuff.
00:46:05
Lando
So there was a lot of disguise hangouts and sometimes even buying Nerf guns and having battles and whatnot. So just a lot of fun.
00:46:15
Leo Ernewein
Nice.
Junior Hockey Life
00:46:16
Leo Ernewein
Like I wanted to ask you how different is, is junior hockey from minor hockey in terms of like the expectations and pressure?
00:46:23
Lando
Oh boy. Yeah. Far none. the, the amount they're investing into as a player, equipment wise, travel, the whole thing, meals, definitely a whole lot different when you're playing minor hockey, it's your, your parents are investing in you as a player. So, uh, the expectations are a little bit different. hockey, it's a sometimes,
00:46:50
Lando
Hey, good game and all that. That was awesome where there was some pretty quiet rides home until you get a little bit of a scolding for not performing or skating hard or whatever it may be. So, yeah, very different in that respect because you had a lot more onus on yourself to perform when somebody else is flipping the bill as an organization and to win games, bring revenue into the rink.
00:47:15
Lando
selling tickets and all that. So yeah, you're playing for something a lot different in junior hockey.
00:47:22
Leo Ernewein
So earlier Landon kind of threw you under the bus and said you got scratched. Thanks Landon. How do players deal with that? Like how do you deal with that being scratched or traded or cut?
00:47:34
Leo Ernewein
Things fans don't always see is it's gotta be one of the toughest parts, right?
00:47:38
Lando
Oh, certainly. Like there'd be, uh, times where there'd be fans walking around and obviously not seeing you out in warmup or dressed and they're asking you questions. And lot of times you don't have the answers, but, uh, it's just get back out there, get into practice, work hard, put in the work.
00:47:55
Lando
And like I had said earlier, when it's your time to shine, you better be ready step up and, uh, prove that you got what it takes. Otherwise, it's just going to be a continuous thing where going to find yourself taking stats and taking film up in the stands instead of being out on the ice trying to win games with your buddies.
00:48:15
Leo Ernewein
Yeah, nice. What's the biggest lesson in junior hockey taught you that people outside the sport could learn from?
00:48:24
Lando
I would say it's the adversity that you go through. There's the ups and downs, just being away from home, having to meet new people, just really putting yourself out there. And it's a great opportunity to learn about yourself, see what you're made of, how hard you can work, what you can go through.
00:48:42
Lando
It's all a challenge on who you are as a person and really builds you as an individual. There's no question about that.
00:48:50
Leo Ernewein
And lastly, do you think there's anything that people should appreciate more about junior hockey?
00:48:58
Lando
I don't know. Nothing in particular. It's just an all-around great experience. From an outsider's perspective, you might not get to see it, but it's all the time that you get to spend with the guys you go to battle with.
00:49:12
Lando
When you're at practice, I mean, things get heated at times. Often I was getting in fights at practice with the guys, gloves off, throwing bombs. So that level of compete is always intense when you're with the right group of guys and everyone wants to win the same.
00:49:29
Lando
the match-ups are great and yeah you really learn about yourself, your compete, what you can go through, ups and downs, the roller coasters and really builds you mentally strong.
00:49:40
Leo Ernewein
Colton, thank you seriously for coming on and sharing all that with us. Sounds like junior hockey is a wild ride here in the real stories, the highs, the lows, the people who shaped you, you know, the journey, you're standup dude, man. Like just getting to, getting to talk to you over this and,
00:49:58
Leo Ernewein
And, you know, hearing all this, all this stuff from Landon and stuff like that about you and stuff. You lived it, man. You told it honestly. And we appreciate that to everyone listening.
Episode Closure
00:50:08
Leo Ernewein
Thanks for spending part of your holidays with us, whether you're on the road or relaxing at home or sneaking in an episode between family dinners.
00:50:16
Leo Ernewein
We appreciate you more than you know. Enjoy the rest of the episode of the holiday season. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, and we'll be back with more 2026. Lando,
00:50:27
Lando
Yeah, Colton, thanks for coming on, man. I echo that as well, that we managed to make this work, and we thank you so much for not only being a fan, but now you're part of an episode. So we really appreciate you sharing the info and the stories. I mean, a lot stuff that you just said, I already knew, but it's good that you share it to everybody else who don't know, especially...
00:50:52
Lando
Somebody like Leo who doesn't know you very well. So no, thank you very much for coming on. And also I just wanted to do the same shout out to everybody too. want to wish everybody a merry belated Christmas.
00:51:03
Lando
A happy, healthy start to 2026. And thank you so much for being fans ours and supporting us. And thank you for listening to us. And like Leo said, thank you so much for listening.
00:51:20
Lando
All the best in 2026.
00:51:23
Leo Ernewein
Take care, everyone. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. wait, I didn't even hit the episode stinger. So we're not hit the episode stinger. That's it. That's a wrap. We'll catch you in 2026.