Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast

In this episode, Scott recaps Otto’s parity event with his new team this past weekend. We also dive into the looming puberty wave for the 2012 birth year players, the some of the cost difference between Tier 1 & Tier 2, and all things youth hockey as tryouts for the older age groups approach next week. And of course, no podcast would be complete without a little Iron Mike Tyson talk.

What is Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast?

A relatable and honest podcast about the highs and lows of being a youth hockey parent. Join us as we share real stories, struggles, and wins from the rink, offering insights and support for parents navigating the world of youth hockey.

Jamie:

Here we go. Episode four What's up? Of the podcast. 31 total downloads.

Scott:

Let's go.

Jamie:

I can't wait to get to 50 and then a hundred. It's gonna be very exciting. I'm looking forward to it.

Scott:

Oh, so amazing. It's amazing.

Jamie:

How was your weekend?

Scott:

My weekend my weekend was eventful. I, you know, went to another hockey rink. Shocker. Yeah, was a Shocker. Yeah, we had a parody event.

Jamie:

Oh, yeah. And how did that go?

Scott:

Parody. Went

Jamie:

saw your son yesterday.

Scott:

Oh yeah, that's right, you did.

Jamie:

I saw your lovely wife and your son yesterday and I asked him, how did it go? And he's like, it went great. I'm like, were you awesome? He's like, I sure was, my God bud. So I gave him a nice little pound.

Jamie:

Yeah, so he was, listen,

Scott:

he was feeling good. Yeah, listen, he's psyched for a lot of reasons. Think early- Good. Yeah, early indication is that he'll be one of the better players on the team. But that, look, we'll take it a day at a time.

Jamie:

Played offense or played defense?

Scott:

Played offense, no defense.

Jamie:

Okay. So back to offense.

Scott:

Well, he finished the season. So last year he started off offense and then the plan was always to rotate some of the forwards back through defense. That was going be like a regular rotation. And Otto, after his first weekend at defense, he said, I want to play defense.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

And I said, okay.

Jamie:

And you were a defenseman as a kid?

Scott:

Yeah, was a defenseman.

Jamie:

A very large defenseman as a kid.

Scott:

Yeah, I'm on the larger side. Yes. I'm on the larger side.

Jamie:

In a good way. I would think your son is going to be large as well.

Scott:

Yeah, probably.

Jamie:

I you're six, three, four?

Scott:

Nah, like six, three.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

Six, three. And when I was playing, I was probably, I don't know.

Jamie:

Around ninety five, two,

Scott:

ten. Yeah. Somewhere around there.

Jamie:

Listen.

Scott:

So look, he probably won't be as big as me if I had to guess. You don't think so? I don't know how it works.

Jamie:

Well, misses is what? Five? Five five. Okay. All right.

Scott:

So even if he's somewhere in between, that's okay.

Jamie:

Listen, even if he's six foot, that's fine.

Scott:

Yeah, we'll see.

Jamie:

Can't imagine him being small though.

Scott:

No, small, I don't think so.

Jamie:

Yeah, he's not gonna be down there. Know

Scott:

that he's gonna be as We'll see. Obviously, we'll see. But again, there is a chance of being taller.

Jamie:

Yes. I would think so.

Scott:

But yeah, no, so we went to What was I saying? We went to the parody event?

Jamie:

Yes. Oh, somewhere in Jersey Shore ish area.

Scott:

Yeah. You were saying that you saw him.

Jamie:

I

Scott:

did. And he was feeling good. Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah, he looked good. He was all excited. Big huge smile on his face.

Scott:

Listen, he's very excited. I think he feels a sense of relief that he knows that this season, if nothing else is not gonna be as Tumultuous? Tumultuous. Maybe that's it. Stressful?

Scott:

I think stressful is probably the best way of putting it. The competition level is gonna be lower, the skill level will be lower. And we're not gonna be looking at my hockey rankings every week and all that stuff.

Jamie:

You still do it, by the way. And maybe it's not as aggressive as when you play triple a, but you still do it.

Scott:

I maybe. Yeah.

Jamie:

It took me two months

Scott:

to start looking at my hockey. To stop or to start? To start. Again. Yeah.

Scott:

After you stop.

Jamie:

When we when Don played triple a, I was looking at it every

Scott:

Wednesday morning.

Jamie:

Every Wednesday morning. Can I just tell you, we had a father? We had a parent on our team that would literally like early Wednesday morning would keep hitting like the refresh button until it popped up. I'm not joking. I and I love the guy.

Jamie:

He's he's a great dude, but this is what he would do. He would keep hitting the refresh button. I didn't really care that much. When it was Wednesday, like midday, I would be like, oh, my hockey came out. So I would look at it because our team was, in the top 10, top 15.

Jamie:

So I would look at it. When Dom went down to tier two, I didn't look at it for like at least two or three months.

Scott:

Alright. And then you had a curiosity of like where where

Jamie:

are his The other parents were talking about

Scott:

it. Oh.

Jamie:

So I'm like, so then I looked.

Scott:

Yeah, that's fine.

Jamie:

You'll see. You'll do the same thing.

Scott:

You won't care at all at first. I'm pretty sure I don't care now.

Jamie:

Yeah. That's the right attitude to have by the way. Cause it's not important. No, it really isn't. I like, I like my hockey rankings for, matchup purposes.

Jamie:

Right? Like if you're scheduling, you're a manager and you're scheduling kids games, I think it's, a good tool to which is why I believe it was invented in the first place.

Scott:

You're definitely right. Right? The founder was on one of the I'm sure he was probably on all the podcasts,

Jamie:

but I heard him. Oh, you heard the interview

Scott:

with him? Interview

Jamie:

with him the Was he father and son? Am I making up?

Scott:

I don't think so. Well, there was a father who had his son playing and they were Same exact thing. They would schedule a game, some of them would be throwaway. It was hard to figure out if there was good comp or not. And then this algorithm and the platform was born, you know, for that purpose, but then it obviously became like the standard for national rankings and all this other stuff.

Scott:

Yeah, yeah, did. No, but you're a hundred percent right.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, listen, I think it's great for matchmaking purposes.

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

Right. I do. Cause if you're a team manager and you're looking to play like outside your league where you have to fill Saturdays or Sundays during the hockey season, I think it's very appropriate to, to, and I think in my opinion, I think that every page, the manager's number or email should be there because sometimes it's not. Sometimes the coach's name is there, but the manager's number should be on that team's my house. I wonder why

Scott:

it's optional.

Jamie:

I don't, I'm not sure it shouldn't be because you should, because that's the idea behind you is to reach out to the person and say, Hey, listen, you and I, our teams are in similar spots.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

You know, we have an opening X, Y, Z. If you give us ice, we'll give you reciprocal ice, you know, and we'll do it like a home and home type thing.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Like, I think it's great for that. Unfortunately it got away from that and, you know, gravitates toward, Oh, look, we're fifth in the country come to our team, which listen, it's not the worst thing in the world, but it, but it changed it's it's it, I guess it changes for certain levels.

Scott:

Like I guarantee you,

Jamie:

our coach is not going to people going, look at our, my hockey ranking this year. I can guarantee that conversation is not being had.

Scott:

Listen, I think at a certain number and it's different for everybody, like you get to like, I don't know, you get, I don't know, 100 just playing at random. Like maybe after, if you're on a team that's at a hundred or lower, maybe you just quite frankly don't care what anyone else is doing around you.

Jamie:

Probably not.

Scott:

Unless you're looking at the state specifics. And then you want to see where you are in the state because maybe you want

Jamie:

to push No question. Yes, yes. You're absolutely right.

Scott:

But yeah, besides that, I would imagine that there's the elite teams and the families and the players that are like, I don't know, probably at a minimum 30 plus, if not 20 plus, certainly 20 plus. They want to know where they are.

Jamie:

You know what? You know what I noticed? It was used a lot this year and we, and we did this in the past when Dom was playing AAA and, but obviously at tier two, same exact thing. When you go to tournaments.

Scott:

Yeah, totally.

Jamie:

Right. Like everybody's not everybody, but a lot of people are going in. There's a couple of parents our team that were going on my hockey constantly. Were looking at where they were, their state or if it was a Canadian team

Scott:

I would make spreadsheets.

Jamie:

Oh, see, there you go.

Scott:

I would make spreadsheets and I would copy the entire my hockey rankings.

Jamie:

Buffalo, right? Buffalo. Remember Two ago. Yes, two years ago?

Scott:

And last year as well. Oh, you did? Yeah, downloaded like the top one.

Jamie:

You were like the analytics guy?

Scott:

Oh, yes. But I wasn't so into it where I was like all the time making sheets and all this stuff. But

Jamie:

you do it for tournaments?

Scott:

Definitely for tournaments.

Jamie:

Oh, that's so funny.

Scott:

Forgot you that. To understand like in our bracket.

Jamie:

Hey, forgot you did that. You showed it to me years ago. That's right. So you did it this year too.

Scott:

I did this year too.

Jamie:

Yeah. Parents would look and they would I didn't look, but they would tell me, Oh, they're XYZ

Scott:

or they're I want to know for the same reason a manager is going to want to know how good or not good the competition could be. It's no different from a parent. I'm gonna go up there, is my kid gonna get smoked all weekend? Are they gonna have a reasonable chance of playing

Jamie:

on Sunday? No, you're right. Our coaches use it too, by

Scott:

the way. And for what it's worth, for tournaments, look, yes, I'm the one that took time out of my day to copy and paste and organize and sort.

Jamie:

Right, that was fancy.

Scott:

Well, it's not fancy, but it's easy to look at and then you're like, Oh, okay, this makes sense. I see where we're at. I see where we might run into a problem or what game might be the must win game

Jamie:

that you think we're gonna go I get it. You get it. I do.

Scott:

Okay. So

Jamie:

I turned

Scott:

it into a goddamn table.

Jamie:

No, you did well. I think it's, listen, listen, it was funny that I didn't know this. So, you know, that Dom's coach, his father is the president of the organization that we play for. Right. So which, which now you're in the same building.

Jamie:

So you're in that organization too now. But what was funny is that he, the dad, the president was looking up the rankings and telling it to his son, our head coach, while we were away in like Utica or Buffalo or Lake Placid, where we were. He was the father was looking it up and texting his

Scott:

Well, that's a hands on president.

Jamie:

Listen, was impressive. He also came to the district finals. That's awesome. He also came to the league finals. Yeah, he brought his wife.

Jamie:

It was very nice of them to come.

Scott:

Dude, that's awesome.

Jamie:

Yeah, was very cool. He's into it. And I I don't know if I told you told you this, but I was talking to the president of the league, while we were playing. He was somewhere. Somebody introduced me to him, and he was a really nice guy, so I started chatting him up.

Jamie:

Do you know he doesn't get paid? Don't volunteer.

Scott:

For what league? NJ. What is it?

Jamie:

It was the NJYHL.

Scott:

Oh yeah.

Jamie:

But then, but it was, but it was odd because he was also at districts. So we saw him in Flemington and I met him there first.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

And then, and then I met him again in Pennsylvania. Two weekends later, he, the NJ president he's the NJ president was at the districts. And I was, I was talking to him and he, and he, oh, by the way, the NJ no metals for first place when you win.

Scott:

You win You know

Jamie:

what you get?

Scott:

A water bottle.

Jamie:

No. Close though.

Scott:

A t shirt.

Jamie:

Nope. A

Scott:

koozie. Nope. Otto got a koozie the other day for something.

Jamie:

For winning a tournament?

Scott:

It went before. We got a koozie for something.

Jamie:

I mean, don't our like, don't portions of our USA hockey dues every year go toward this stuff?

Scott:

I have no idea how this is

Jamie:

And again, this guy does not get paid by the way. I asked him, he's like, no, because I said, I said, oh, I made a comment like, oh, that's why you make the big bucks. Just joking around. Like, cause he was working like, because you exactly, he was working weekends and he's like, oh no, we don't get paid. And I looked at him and I go, what?

Jamie:

I go, you're the president of of the entire league? I go, you know what? Like, there's no like stipend? He's like, no. He's like, it's all volunteer.

Jamie:

I go, really? I go, long have you been doing this for? He's like, I don't know, fifteen years, twenty years.

Scott:

I I may could be totally, I could be speaking

Jamie:

Nice guy too.

Scott:

I could way off the mark on this, but is that maybe why someone like Black Bear comes in and like because there's these opportunities and these like volunteer to make a better product? Like I'm being serious.

Jamie:

I don't You know? You know, I don't know the answer to that. I know they do not like Blackbear. Because don't forget, Blackbear is taking teams from

Scott:

the only time That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Like maybe there wouldn't be an opportunity to take a team if it was structured differently. And again, I don't know where the money's coming from. I don't know clearly Black Bear is a private equity situation, so there's a lot of funding behind You

Jamie:

know, I don't know the answer to that. All I can tell you this, when we won our league and when we won the districts two weeks later, we got a hat for winning the league, a hat, that said, like, I don't know, NJ champs. And the the runner the the team that lost to us got a hat that said, NJ finalist. Same color. Oh, maybe no.

Jamie:

I'm sorry. Maybe one was gray and one was, like, tan. But and then when we won the districts, we got the same hat, but this one just said, district champs. And you know what And and the backup hat said district finalist. No.

Jamie:

I'm not.

Scott:

No way. Tom has them both here. I'm like, they couldn't do That's hysterical. They couldn't do something

Jamie:

metal? Like, you couldn't do you couldn't give the winning team, like, first place medals and the runners up hats.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Or I mean

Scott:

But then

Jamie:

to, like the same hats. Dude, the same hat. I was joking around when I saw the MJ president in I said to him, I go, are we getting another hat? Totally joking around.

Scott:

And he said yes.

Jamie:

And he said yes. Yo. He goes, Nope, you're getting hats again. I looked at him, I go, really? Like you can't give these kids a metal?

Jamie:

Dude, I went online and looked at metals. Metals are like, you don't have to get fancy metals. Can get them for like No, it's

Scott:

definitely better than a hat.

Jamie:

You get them for like a dollar, like per. And if you buy in bulk, you get discounts, bulk discounts. Yeah. So it like, I was like, really taking these kids metals? Like, come on.

Jamie:

Like you go to tournaments, you get metals. I know you pay for the tournament, but there's gotta be money in the end. Come on. How many could they possibly be buying? You have all these birth years, but at the end of the day, really like you can't,

Scott:

I don't know.

Jamie:

I if you listen,

Scott:

they've maybe bought in massive bulk and it's been the same hat for the last fifteen years because they bought a gazillion of Right, so

Jamie:

they bought them fifteen years ago and they're still giving them out?

Scott:

They're still giving them out.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah,

Scott:

it was like they front loaded the Yes. And they didn't even put Does it have a year on it? Is it dated?

Jamie:

I don't think so.

Scott:

Right. So you could use

Jamie:

it any year. Pretty sure it's not dated.

Scott:

Yeah. You can use it any year.

Jamie:

Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's not dated. But, but yeah. So yeah. So yeah.

Jamie:

So no.

Scott:

Yeah. No. Alright. But listen, the kids were not playing for the hat. They're playing to win the game.

Jamie:

To win the game. How do we get off on this tangent by the way? What were we speaking about that I went off on the NJ districts and

Scott:

You were talking about my hockey rankings and the president looking.

Jamie:

Oh yeah. Which was really cool of him by the way. Really, it was really cool of him. Then what

Scott:

it He was like scouting. Is that kind of what you were saying?

Jamie:

When we were at tournaments, was scouting. Was telling his son, hey, listen, like, you know, this team is an X and this team's a Y, which was cool. He was into it.

Scott:

But Dom's coach wasn't doing that.

Jamie:

No, I'm not a %. Was.

Scott:

Oh, got it. But you're, you're just saying that you're.

Jamie:

Yeah. So in that respect, it's actually a good tool, I think. Right. And matchmaking, I think it's

Scott:

good tool. Yeah. It's a good tool.

Jamie:

Yeah. And then, but again, then people use it for recruiting and people use it for, you know,

Scott:

I mean, it's a double edged sword.

Jamie:

Yeah,

Scott:

sure. But that also makes sense that people would use

Jamie:

it for that purpose as Listen, we did when Don was in the Rockets, we did it also.

Scott:

No doubt.

Jamie:

You know, So listen. But, yeah. So that's that. But Otto had a good, a good, a good Was Saturday or Sunday?

Scott:

It was on Saturday. Right. Saturday, three thirty minute running clock games against Big o'Quick, Yeah, it went by Quick.

Jamie:

Like too Quick? Nah. No? Nah. They do it so they can just squeeze them all in.

Jamie:

Is that what they do?

Scott:

Yeah. I don't know how many games they actually have to play, but it's just really You know what's interesting? Not that I noticed, but I looked to see if there was anyone that seemed somewhat official, like taking notes or Did you see anybody? Or with a computer or a laptop kind of just

Jamie:

Did you see anybody?

Scott:

No. And so I just, then I was thinking like, why are we even because

Jamie:

what they're doing is they're looking to see who belongs in like what bracket, right? Like your top or bottom, like if you're an advanced team or not advanced team, is that why they're doing this? I guess. These parodies? Yeah.

Jamie:

To see who belongs where? Would That's the right I'm pretty sure that's what the story is, right? I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a top and a bottom, you know, league. And so if you don't do well, you slide into the bottom league and vice versa if you guys do well that

Scott:

weekend. Yep. And look, for all I know, there could only be a handful of games that they actually cared to look at. Maybe. And maybe they just knew that, like, a certain number of teams are you know, we don't need to watch every game.

Scott:

But nonetheless, it was a good opportunity for the kids to get out there with their teammates for the first time. We haven't started any spring practices.

Jamie:

I'm assuming it starts soon, right?

Scott:

It should, we haven't heard yet. But it was funny, we were getting ready last week for the showcase, the parody event. And I was like, what jerseys are they gonna wear? And then sure enough, we get a

Jamie:

I know this conversation.

Scott:

We get a text message or whatever from the

Jamie:

The manager? The app. No. You got it from SportsEngine?

Scott:

No. They're using something called Game changer. I never heard of it until this year, but it seems fine.

Jamie:

Me neither. Okay.

Scott:

It seems better than SportsEngine? Yeah. I'm having a Are

Jamie:

you having technical difficulties? Are you having tech you're having technical you need me to help you with that? Yeah. Hold on. Scott Scott is having technical difficulties with his with his microphone and his microphone stand.

Scott:

I'm good

Jamie:

like this now. Okay. That works. That actually works.

Scott:

I think.

Jamie:

It actually does work. We'll fix that for next time. That's actually pretty funny.

Scott:

It works though? Think so. Comfortable? Yeah. We'll see.

Scott:

I'll change it up if I need to. But then it was like, okay, well, what jerseys are wearing? That was a thing.

Jamie:

It was definitely a thing.

Scott:

A thing because I asked you if I could borrow jerseys, which thank you. Oh, they're in my car. Oh, I can give them back to you.

Jamie:

Do you wear all three?

Scott:

No, we just wore black and

Jamie:

not white.

Scott:

We wore the same color, which I thought was a little comical.

Jamie:

Turn it inside out or just leave it?

Scott:

No, turn it inside Yeah.

Jamie:

Have so many jerseys, dude. I have so many. When I looked, when you asked me for jerseys, I went and

Scott:

looked because you asked me

Jamie:

for blue, white and black. So obviously you saw what I gave you. I gave you three totally different logos.

Scott:

Yeah, I've got like one. I edited the jersey bin at the end of last season.

Jamie:

I do. With older practice I throw out, yeah, I've done that too.

Scott:

But I've held onto a set from each season, like a practice and the game jerseys.

Jamie:

You know, I've held onto a bunch as well. Like when I was going through the stuff looking for you, I came across some very, do you know what I came across? I came across everything was shockingly, it was buried in a CJR brick bag that Dom got when he I

Scott:

remember you posted that. You posted it on Instagram, didn't I

Jamie:

did.

Scott:

When you

Jamie:

In 2019. I remember that. I did. Wow. Listen.

Jamie:

It's a cool bag. It's got his name and his number on it. Like, it's actually it's actually a pretty cool bag.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

I'm not gonna lie. Like, CJR did a nice job with that.

Scott:

It was for brick, though.

Jamie:

It was for brick. Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah. And he got it was it was And I don't know why, but I guess I shoved a bunch of jerseys in it. Yeah. We never actually used that's not true. But like, I shoved like jerseys in it now.

Jamie:

Like old jerseys and like old shin guards and old like elbow pads.

Scott:

Like the suitcase?

Jamie:

Kinda, yeah. It's definitely storage, 100

Scott:

But

Jamie:

that's where I found all that stuff. I found like a bunch of Eastern Exposure jerseys.

Scott:

Sure.

Jamie:

The Eastern Exposure jersey, I remember we went up to like, I don't know, was like Exeter, New Hampshire.

Scott:

Yep.

Jamie:

And the jerseys were late coming in because of COVID. Remember when everything remember everything was back ordered and you couldn't get stuff because, like, some people weren't working overseas. So the guy ordered a

Scott:

bunch of It's a mess.

Jamie:

Exactly. So I remember our jerseys came, like, I'm pretty sure our jerseys came after the event.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Like they came to your house like two months later.

Scott:

They were supposed to come to the house?

Jamie:

They They were supposed to be at the facility and exit And

Scott:

then they emailed, I mean, emailed.

Jamie:

They're like, yeah, by the way, they're not coming, bring an orange Jersey. It was one of those things, you know? And then, and it got mailed to the house like months later.

Scott:

But that's different circumstances. Yeah. COVID was was yes. COVID was brutal. We were playing in a parody event.

Jamie:

You guys played a similar.

Scott:

COVID? You know, that was so Well,

Jamie:

just in general. Like

Scott:

you know? No. I'm just saying, well, COVID is, the year that Otto started playing hockey. Like, the end of twenty twenty is when he started, when he played for the

Jamie:

Mites. Where we're at

Scott:

now when it's 6U.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Scott:

No, that no. With hockey, we didn't experience any delays with anything. But yes, the world was a mess then. But unlike now, well, with you know, it's tryouts. I was just surprised we couldn't get one set of jerseys

Jamie:

Yeah. I know. I agree.

Scott:

For this showcase. I mean, all

Jamie:

We don't even them numbers on the back of them.

Scott:

And one of them

Jamie:

Just give jerseys with the logo on the front. Right.

Scott:

The the assignment was bring one blue, one white, and a black. And then people were posting, oh, I I I'm I'm picking up a black practice jersey from Dick's Sporting Goods.

Jamie:

Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah. I'm not going to buy a jersey for one like me a break.

Jamie:

No. No. That's silly. We have

Scott:

just yeah.

Jamie:

Was just asking. We have tons of stuff.

Scott:

Yeah. I know. So that worked out. But the weekend, it was so the three games, yes, it went by fast. It was they were they were good.

Scott:

And and I think my I'm pretty aware of how things are going to

Jamie:

To go this season?

Scott:

To go. If I had to guess, if I had a magic eight ball, think I would And?

Jamie:

Want to give a prediction? We'll hold you to it till the end of the year and we'll actually see how you do next year when we're done.

Scott:

Yeah, it's not like, yes or no, he's going to win or whatever. But what I think is going to happen is that some of the skills, stick handling, skating, those hard skills.

Jamie:

We'll see

Scott:

more of that because I think he'll have a bit more confidence in time and space. Agreed.

Jamie:

Which is the idea.

Scott:

So the area where I would love to see the most improvement would have to be with compete level and have that be higher more often. And what does that look like on the ice? First on puck, battling for those fifty-50s, sometimes the compete's there, sometimes it's not there. And my hope is that with those battling the first on POC, the compete level stuff, my hope is that I'm going to see it increase more than it has over the last couple years but I'm

Jamie:

I would think he would.

Scott:

I don't think it's going to be such a change out of the gate. No, it won't be. You're And I saw that this weekend. What I saw was a few more instances

Jamie:

Dominic did that too, by the way.

Scott:

Where it was like, oh, you're a little more aggressive there. Yes. Oh, you were a little more aggressive.

Jamie:

But Yeah, it'll take a couple

Scott:

Like the habits. Know what it is? Does. Was watching him and

Jamie:

I was Dom experienced that too.

Scott:

He needs to play more direct hockey. He tries to find soft ice, he tries to find And he does, but he doesn't Look, again, he's 10, but just some of the positional stuff is not there where I think it should be at this point. You have a job to do as a winger when the pucks in deep on the strong side and you're the strong side winger. If you're not F1, you got to be there. As F2 in support, some of the stuff is like, Oh, I'm going to try to find an open spot so I can hopefully get a pass over here and then I'll score.

Jamie:

You know, it's funny that you're So you think that he's going to play Oh, I have a question for you.

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

My question And I'm asking you this for a reason. Do you think it is better? And I'm talking development. Is it better to be, because I have an opinion on this. I'm curious to hear yours.

Jamie:

Is it better to be one of the better kids on say a not so elite hockey team where your kid gets more puck touches, where your kid gets to play special teams, right? He's playing PK, he's playing power play. He's on the ice and crunch time. He's playing three on three overtime. Right.

Jamie:

Cause we know what happens even with teams that are doing, whether the coach is looking to develop the whole team. But when, and we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, when it gets into crunch time, not everybody plays.

Scott:

I, but yes.

Jamie:

Right. Cause you're trying to win games. Right?

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

All right. So my question to you is, is it better to be on a weaker team where your kid gets tons of ice and tons of puck touches and tons of situational play that he wouldn't get if this is the other side of the coin, or is it better to be on an elite team, which is top 10 in the country, right, where you're the ninth or tenth forward?

Scott:

So I think it depends. But with respect to our kids and these younger ages, I think if I had if I was choosing between those two options, would choose to be a better kid on a lower comp team Right. Than on a higher comp But at some point, I do think that the benefit of playing with high level skilled people that are better than you and you're old enough and mature enough to look at that, take it in, use it as a motivation to up your game. There are kids that are gonna, you put them as

Jamie:

a pod of They'll thrive, yes.

Scott:

Will, they

Jamie:

will give everything

Scott:

that they got and that by the end of the season, they're going to earn a spot.

Jamie:

So it's funny. I used to be in the camp of, I would much rather have my kid be the ninth or tenth forward on a really good hockey team because the practices are really good. Yep. And he's competing against top kids. Right.

Jamie:

That was what, that was my, that was my, how I used to think. Yes. Now I'm the exact opposite. Now I'm the kids need puck touches. They need situation.

Jamie:

They need to play special teams.

Scott:

But there are kids that get that at the higher level teams.

Jamie:

Yes. Yes. But the tenth forward is not doing that.

Scott:

No. So, right.

Jamie:

So exactly. So, and we're talking about developing our kids, right. Which is kind of part of this podcast. So, and it's funny. I was talking to two parents this weekend at that, that skating thing that I went to for three hours.

Jamie:

It was three hours by the way. It's a lot is long. Like, and it's in this that's the skating coach that you and I were talking that you know who I'm talking about. Yeah. The guy's a rockstar by the way.

Jamie:

Like he's phenomenal. Like nobody does the things he does in this area, by the way. I've not seen one person that does what he does around here. And it's probably because he's not from here. No.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

I mean, no, he's not from around here. And yes, I agree with what you're saying.

Jamie:

He's But three hours was a lot because my kid's brain melt down after like

Scott:

an hour and fifteen minutes. So would a lot of kids. Three hours?

Jamie:

Adults melt down after like an hour and fifteen minutes. I'm pretty

Scott:

sure I don't wanna, well.

Jamie:

No, and it's hard too. Like it's the stuff they do is hard.

Scott:

So what just out of curiosity, why does he make it so long? Is it was there like a reason behind it? He The

Jamie:

parent that set it up is the one that that made it long, not the skating coach. I'll tell you about it later. Okay. Got it. It was set up by a parent that we know.

Jamie:

That We have told stories about this gentleman before, even on the last podcast, about taking their child to Toronto. So he said, and I give him credit for setting it up because this, this particular skating coach coaches not close to here. Right. So it's an hour and change from me and you. Right?

Jamie:

So this one father who I know very well, set it up with him so it's more local.

Scott:

What do you mean it's more local? Where was it?

Jamie:

It was in Montclair.

Scott:

Oh, that's more local. Home run. That's way better.

Jamie:

Home run. Yeah. Home run. And it's a it's truckloads of ice. It's three hours every Saturday.

Scott:

And you committed to the whole thing?

Jamie:

I did. Yeah. No. This if if I'm gonna do anything, then I'm gonna do this.

Scott:

Yeah. I would love I I mean,

Jamie:

I'm I'm pretty sure I know

Scott:

the answer

Jamie:

nominal.

Scott:

About Otto wanting to do that. Dude, it's it's hard. See, but here's the thing where you get a little crazy. Right? Like, ones you talk about, I know who you're talking.

Jamie:

Tom told me. He's a dad. All the kids hate it. But they hate it in a good way. But they don't, they

Scott:

still hate it.

Jamie:

Well, just so was funny, the skating coach came off the ice after and I was talking to him and he's like, Jamie, he's like, they all hate it. He's like, but you have to do it. He's like, if you want to get better, you have to do this. And he tells the kids that he's like, I know you hate this. He's like, but if you want to get better, you cannot shortcut this.

Jamie:

You have to do it. And he's not wrong.

Scott:

No, he's a % right. Three hours.

Jamie:

Well, listen, that's the parent. You don't

Scott:

have to do it for three hours.

Jamie:

No, no, no, pretty sure you could do

Scott:

less than three hours.

Jamie:

A %. That was the parent listen, but you needed to make it worth his while.

Scott:

Who's while

Jamie:

the skating coach and listen, it's a lot of ice, but it's very, very, it's very good ice. Like it's, it's tremendous. And I have to tell you this skating coach that we're talking about is one of the few coaches that I have spoken to about the game of youth hockey. And he has everything nailed to a tee. He says, Jamie, most of this game is a money grab.

Jamie:

He's like, he's like, instead of trying to develop your own players, he's like, because it's hard to develop your own players. They just go out and they find a replacement. And he's not wrong.

Scott:

One more time.

Jamie:

He was saying that

Scott:

Who's they in that sentence?

Jamie:

So he was saying that coaches of teams, because it's hard to develop your own players. Right. Instead of developing your own players, which they do overseas. Okay. Because hockey is such a business in this country.

Jamie:

It's hard to develop kids. A lot of coaches don't want to develop kids. Right? They want to, if the kids are weak, they just go and they find new kids to take their spots.

Scott:

Oh, I see. Yeah.

Jamie:

As opposed to holding onto the kid and developing him. Well,

Scott:

that's like, I mean, there's, that's the difference between, like you said, the business model and the community model. Absolutely. And when it becomes like all the for profit and you can Yes.

Jamie:

That's the problem with, not the problem with hockey in The United States, but it's a little bit of a problem, you know? So then parents are forced to go out and do the developmental stuff by themselves.

Scott:

Well, that's why, you know, best hockey players are often the best hockey players that can afford it, not necessarily the best athletes,

Jamie:

which is a shame, you know? Which brings me to another point. I was talking to our coach during, one of the tune ups this past week.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Okay. The two of us were just sitting there kind of watching and we he made a comment about the difference between tier one parents and tier two parents.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

And he may, he kind of said it in passing, but he mentioned something to the fact of the amount of money that parents have when their kids play tier one ice hockey compared to tier two ice hockey parents. Do you think that's true?

Scott:

That there's a difference in like the socioeconomics of things or just the straight economics?

Jamie:

Yep. I'm just curious to hear because I have an opinion on it, which I will share right after you.

Scott:

So I think that it definitely influences in different circumstances. Look, let's just start by saying this, AAA hockey is not all apples to apples. There's plenty of clubs that are AAA that have no business being AAA and that there are like those super elite triple A Agreed. %. And so I think first there's that scale of where are we talking on the triple A scale?

Scott:

Okay. And then I would say if you look at the upper, upper, upper teams, the elite teams, you're going to find probably a different makeup in terms of household income on the upper teams than you would on triple a teams that are not as good. Right. That's my guess. I could be way wrong.

Scott:

Part of it's geographics, right? You just happen to be in like a very wealthy zip code, then no matter

Jamie:

So I agree with you there. Depends on where you are in the country. Right?

Scott:

Yeah. So that's part of it.

Jamie:

So where we are in the Northeast, I don't think he was wrong by saying that there's more money in the triple a game than there is in the in the tier two game.

Scott:

Around here? Yeah. I I don't know that I follow that because if there's only a certain amount of kids that are playing triple a and there's whatever the population of hockey players or hockey families there are in the area, if they're all coming from the same medium income, right. Then you would think that it should be

Jamie:

on par. So I see what you're saying. My experience.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Okay. Is my experience. I'm not saying that that you can't have kids for some strange reason where we live, you know, most of the tier one parents are very well-to-do. Wouldn't you agree?

Scott:

And so you're, no, there's

Jamie:

a difference. Think there's a difference.

Scott:

Honestly, I don't know.

Jamie:

Listen, I'm not, I'm not counting anybody's money, but I see a difference in the tier one parent than I do in the tier two parent. Do you see what I'm saying?

Scott:

I know. I understand what you're saying. I have yet to experience that. I honestly don't know. I will say that

Jamie:

I'm not about being a good or bad person. I'm just talking what I notice with my eyes. And it seems like these tier one kids, the parents do more with them. Power skating, stick handling camps, classes, From a much earlier age and kind of continued on. And I wonder if there's a correlation between dollars and ability.

Jamie:

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Scott:

I well, no, I I I think for sure.

Jamie:

The best twenty twelve that I know is a very he comes from a very well off family. You know? The father just built an ice hockey rink.

Scott:

Okay. Right. So there's obviously those extremes. Right? And, I mean, the

Jamie:

I know. It's I I was just making a statement, and I'm not sure if it's true or not.

Scott:

Listen. Think if you find so I think you'll find there are players that have developed much faster than other kids the same age because they've had a lot more on ice reps, a lot more dry land, whatever that it is that the family was able to afford and the kid was either willing or did against his will.

Jamie:

Wouldn't you agree that it's kind of like, I don't want to say an unfair game that way.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

You know what I mean? Like, cause it's not like these kids can just go pick up a basketball and go put on a pair of sneakers and go down to the, you know, and just go start shooting hoops. That there's no cost to that. The cost that is a basketball and a pair of sneakers.

Scott:

I would, I would,

Jamie:

whereas all these, you have to pay for ice. You have to pay for gear. You have to pay for lessons.

Scott:

Listen, but I also think it's relative as well, even though that, let's say the cost of entry into basketball is much lower than it is for ice hockey. The wealthy families that are all in on basketball, have the strength and speed, agility, all the coaches. They

Jamie:

can do shooting coaches and whatever skills could

Scott:

So that exists no matter what.

Jamie:

It does, yes. But don't you think that hockey is different in that

Scott:

respect? Yes, because there's less ice rinks.

Jamie:

Right. The barrier, the barrier to entry to the game of ice hockey is different than the barrier to entry to baseball.

Scott:

Yes. Basketball, lacrosse. Yes.

Jamie:

You know, I mean, you know, you don't, don't need skating lessons to go play those games. You just run, which you learned when you started walking, right? Know, when you agree it's different.

Scott:

Yes. I definitely think it's different. I definitely think it's different and I think that that's part of the problem that's been pretty well documented and well talked about at least over the last year of me listening to podcasts is just how in a powerful Did

Jamie:

talk about that?

Scott:

They did.

Jamie:

Did Think Tank talk about that?

Scott:

For sure they do.

Jamie:

Yeah, I would think they did.

Scott:

Great podcasts for anyone, PowerTech Hockey, Hockey Think Tank.

Jamie:

Both of them, tremendous.

Scott:

Those were two separate podcasts.

Jamie:

Listen to ours and then theirs. But

Scott:

yeah, know, the landscape is not What makes it interesting, like what we're talking about, money part and the available resources to get kids extra ice time. Some families can afford it, some can't, some can a little bit, some can a lot, whatever the makeup is that you'll see at the younger ages, some kids will get there much faster, right? Because the ice is scarcer for

Jamie:

you and

Scott:

that's deceiving because just because kids get there first doesn't mean that they're necessarily better. Our kids are still at the age where maybe for Dom's group there's a kid that's developed a wicked shot, a wicked slap shot, can start to really snipe and place

Jamie:

the puck.

Scott:

Maybe that kid just has shot 250,000 more pucks than the kid next to him because he's got that much more. So therefore, makes sense. But give it five years, three years, whatever it is, that same kid who had a weaker shot, the time he catches up, maybe he's just better. Puberty hits. Yeah, so it's deceiving when they're younger and you look around, you're like, Oh my God, that kid is amazing.

Scott:

Yeah, he might be, but maybe he just figured it out first. And maybe he figured it out first because he has the ability to be on the ice way more. Even for a family that's got two working parents versus one working parent, I mean, some of the ice times that kids take are in the middle of the day. Really, I know families

Jamie:

When most kids are supposed to be in school.

Scott:

I shouldn't say, if I said most ice slots are during the middle of the day, that's not true.

Jamie:

Or most of the availability.

Scott:

There. Well, there's certainly availability, but there are definitely families that I know that have taken their kids out of school early just to get to an ice know some families that have

Jamie:

taken their kids out

Scott:

of public school and put them into academies and online schools.

Jamie:

You know somebody like that?

Scott:

I do. Who? I don't That's not for this podcast. What are you talking about? But I think to bring

Jamie:

this all full Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, guilty as charged. Yes. Guilty. Yes.

Jamie:

But public school, I'm not a fan of, so I had to do it.

Scott:

Oh, it depends really.

Jamie:

Yeah. That's true. Is true. That is very true.

Scott:

Anyhow, but yes, yes, money does play a factor in

Jamie:

It does, doesn't it? Yep. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I was just going to ask you something.

Jamie:

We were talking about something and my goodness, I was just going to go into it. For the life of me, I forgot what it was. It was actually a yeah. Yeah. I know.

Jamie:

It's not it was actually a really good point. And for the life of me, I totally I'm totally spacing on what it was. It was something a long if it pops in my head, we'll come back to it. But, but I had a good time this weekend.

Scott:

Yeah. I'm just trying to think of any other highlights. You know, he

Jamie:

was Oh my God. I remember what it was. I don't mean to interrupt you.

Scott:

What?

Jamie:

Can I tell you before I forget again? Sure. Okay. Sorry. Hold that thought.

Jamie:

So, Dom was at, Steel on Sunday. Yeah. Or opposite. Your sums on the opposite rink.

Scott:

It was the same time.

Jamie:

It was.

Scott:

Oh,

Jamie:

interesting. Yeah. Your sum was on the right rink. We were on the left rink. And can I just tell you, we're just talking about puberty?

Jamie:

Like you were mentioning the kid who shoots, you know, $25,000 versus the kid that catches up to him a couple years later. So speaking of catching up to somebody, so we were on the ice all 2012. Can I just tell you the size difference between the 2012 between like Dominic and some of the other kids on the ice with him on Sunday was clearly some kids are in the throes of puberty and some are not Dude, the difference? And I even said to a parent, I go, are there 20 eleven's on the ice? Like, and they're like, no, they're all twelve's.

Jamie:

I'm like, holy shit.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Like this Scott, the size difference clearly, I mean, this year is going to change a lot because some of those kids are enormous, like enormous. I'm telling you the size difference was shocking because clearly you could see who's hit puberty and who has not yet, or who is hitting puberty.

Scott:

That's gonna be interesting. But you all, you saw that must've been evident at the showcase of that high school show. I keep on calling

Jamie:

it at the middle school It was, but those were twenty eleven's. That's different. It was elevens and Dominic. So I expected kids that were much larger. These were his birth year who were much larger.

Scott:

Alright. Well

Jamie:

Right? So like the so

Scott:

So what how how did he respond to that? Did he say anything afterwards?

Jamie:

No. He didn't. But I noticed it. I mean, listen, Dominic's also gotten bigger. You know, listen.

Jamie:

I'm not six three like you, you know, but, you know, all five five of me, you know, my kid is not gonna be six seven. So clearly, listen, there were some kids out there that were big. Big. As a matter of fact, one of my

Scott:

Okay, so they were big but did they Big. Big. Okay.

Jamie:

And so it's funny you mentioned that because there was a father there who has a twenty twelve who Dominic played with at in Hackensack when they were mites. Okay. Really nice family. I love the father. I love the mother.

Jamie:

They're really nice people. They have a 2010 birth year. Okay. He has since grown into himself. This kid is massive.

Jamie:

Scott, he is, the kid is enormous. Listen, the dad's like six, two, and the mom's mom's five, eight, five, nine, you know, for a woman who just told you that she is. But I have to tell you their older son, their two thousand listen, the twelve is big too. Yeah. The 10 is just he is he must break people when he hits them.

Jamie:

He I'm telling you, he is But can

Scott:

he skate?

Jamie:

I think he's gotten a lot better.

Scott:

That's good.

Jamie:

I'm pretty sure he plays like, he's like a like a real I think he's a really good double a player, like a really good. Like That's great. Like really good. And I'm pretty sure he goes to St. Joe's up the hill.

Scott:

Oh, the 10 does.

Jamie:

Yes. I'm pretty sure he did.

Scott:

Think he finished his freshman.

Jamie:

I think I'm pretty sure he goes there. They're from one of the local towns, far from us Glenrock, but I'm pretty sure I may be lying about that, but I'm pretty sure he but he is Eden he's enormous. He walked by on, on Sunday, and I was like, I even turned to say, I go, I go, oh my god. I go, is is I go, that's Lou's older one? And he's yeah.

Jamie:

I go, oh my god. Scott, he's enormous.

Scott:

So you there's gonna be more of that this year for you.

Jamie:

Well, listen, again, the difference in twelves on the ice, again, was blatantly obvious. You could see the kids that are shooting up already and the kids that just haven't hit it yet.

Scott:

It's so interesting. Like that adversity piece for an undersized player or a late bloomer who's still having to compete with people that are just all of a sudden much bigger than they are, like wow, that's gotta be difficult.

Jamie:

It's got.

Scott:

Unless you really, you you're just

Jamie:

built a little He's enormous. He's enormous. Yeah. You know, and again, the 12s on the ice, some of them were enormous. Know, like I said, this year's gonna be eye opening.

Scott:

You know, I will tell you Very eye opening. When I started playing, was I don't

Jamie:

Well, first year of playing, you could hit. I could hit. Yeah. Think that's problem, the way. I think our children should have started hitting when they were mites.

Jamie:

Least more

Scott:

body contact.

Jamie:

I'm pretty sure that in Russia and Canada, they're hitting as mites.

Scott:

I don't think that's true. I can't speak for Russia.

Jamie:

I would think overseas they're hitting

Scott:

for me. Sure the Canadian model in terms of body contact is very similar to the American one. And I even think, and I could definitely be wrong, but I believe that they even

Jamie:

Maybe you're right.

Scott:

Maybe not Canada. Bantam Minor, it's a hitting. In Canada? I think so, and I could be wrong, but let me ask you a question. In The States, Bantam Minor, can they open eyes hit?

Scott:

Is it like full on body contact? There's no Okay. So Yeah. That's what Dominic's gonna be this year, Bantha Minor.

Jamie:

I'm pretty sure you can blow somebody up mid ice.

Scott:

Okay. So I don't know that you can do that in Canada. I could be wrong, but I think hitting might only be like allowed along the boards. And I don't think you can

Jamie:

just open So you can't open ice somebody in could be wrong, but

Scott:

I feel like Somebody drop that in the comment sections.

Jamie:

Yep, go for it. That we don't have yet. We will, but not just yet.

Scott:

Yeah. The body but we're always

Jamie:

like, oh. I bet you in Russia, I bet you overseas, they do it. Finland. I

Scott:

don't know. I would think. My guess is no. And I only say that because They have to start

Jamie:

hitting it in Russia. They have to.

Scott:

Okay. Maybe Russia. I don't know.

Jamie:

Mean, they're probably giving these kids steroids when they're International

Scott:

hockey rules, like they're they're much more restrictive on body contact. Yes. Maybe. Who knows?

Jamie:

Here, son. Here's your bottle with HGH in it. Could be. I'm sure.

Scott:

Smelling salts at a minimum.

Jamie:

Sorry, that was an inside joke, everybody. It was a good one, though. Well done. Well done. You so you don't think they're hitting.

Jamie:

You don't think they're hitting in they're probably not hitting. You may might be right now.

Scott:

The truth is I have no idea. We're just I'm just speculating. Mean, Otto went to a hockey tournament in Europe and there was body checking for 10 U.

Jamie:

So there you go. No, I know,

Scott:

but then like international hockey rules, like at least at the Olympic level, it's more restrictive on hitting or

Jamie:

I don't know. I mean, whenever we play the Canadian team as when we were younger, they were always much more physical than we were. Much.

Scott:

That's interesting.

Jamie:

Much. So that's why I assumed that they hit. And it could be. Or maybe they just let stuff, I don't know.

Scott:

Either way for us right now, Dom's starting checking this year and it's full on. I remember when I was You know what? I'm jumping around a little bit, but just talking about the body contact piece, even for Otto this weekend, I was talking about being aggressive and going into the corner when he might have shied away.

Jamie:

And now he's going into the corner because he feels more confident So

Scott:

that yes, but it's like a light switch flipped. He went in more than I would have guessed he would have previously.

Jamie:

Well, that's a good thing.

Scott:

I'm not complaining. It's awesome. But what I'm saying is that even just giving a kid an extra shot, going into the boards, even with his stick, just applying a little pressure, that was definitely absent before. Now, he's getting a little feistier.

Jamie:

Did he score?

Scott:

No. Was he disruptive offensively? He had a few nice assists.

Jamie:

Oh, okay. So he was productive.

Scott:

He was definitely productive.

Jamie:

Listen, can be productive without putting your points up, but you know what I mean.

Scott:

My favorite part was one of the games, he decided to give it all he had on his back check.

Jamie:

Nice, dude.

Scott:

Dude, caught him.

Jamie:

That's the best thing to see.

Scott:

Dude, but then caught him, stick lifted.

Jamie:

Did he? Was it a breakaway?

Scott:

Picked the kid's pocket.

Jamie:

Was it a breakaway?

Scott:

No, it didn't end up in a breakaway. I think he had manned punch.

Jamie:

But he stick lifted from behind and took

Scott:

it turned up the other side. But like Oh, that's cool. And it was it was all very, you know, just one

Jamie:

the

Scott:

My

Jamie:

favorite hockey play. Favorite hockey play.

Scott:

Was smooth.

Jamie:

He was

Scott:

good on his edges. Yep. Just got to turn the play around quickly, went the opposite direction.

Jamie:

My favorite hockey play is some kid busting his ass on a back check, stick lifting, and taking the puck and going the other direction. There's it's an when you see it, it's awesome to see.

Scott:

Yep. And you did it.

Jamie:

Good for him. That's great. That's a nice hockey play. Honestly, if that's the only thing he did the entire weekend, I would say the weekend was a success.

Scott:

And that's the way

Jamie:

because that's a great hockey play.

Scott:

Yes. And that's awesome. But he needs to have more of those moments and as they become more frequent, then he'll start building confidence. A %. So you praise the good.

Scott:

I don't think that there was anything that was really like, Ugh.

Jamie:

No

Scott:

good. There was some like one or two times where he would put the puck in the Like he would have the puck down low and he kind of reverse it to the other side.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

There was no one there. Not that I don't know. What else? Passing. He tried to force a few passes, which he was trying to make some plays, which was nice.

Scott:

He was super celebratory. One of his newfound buddies scored. On, he mopped on. That was another thing that I thought

Jamie:

was Did he do that last year?

Scott:

He would. Yeah, would celebrate with his team.

Jamie:

But he's clearly having fun with

Scott:

his But this time he was like, yeah.

Jamie:

Over the top?

Scott:

He was super happy for his buddy. That's cool.

Jamie:

That's very cool.

Scott:

Yeah, and then one of the things that stuck out for me was he said to me, he goes, I think the coach likes me.

Jamie:

Why was his thoughts?

Scott:

Why? I think

Jamie:

Did he talk to him on the bench?

Scott:

They did talk, but Otto just said, just from the coach's body language and I think it's just different from what he was experiencing last year. So I think for him, part of his feel goodness from the weekend was just like, maybe saw that it was going to be different or he found some, look, that could change.

Jamie:

But

Scott:

at least over this

Jamie:

weekend Yeah. Yeah. It was good.

Scott:

He felt like, okay. The coach likes me.

Jamie:

So that's funny you said that because last year I wanna say it was an issue with you and the coach last year with Otto, but maybe I can say that. Was it an issue? Maybe you don't wanna call it an issue, but you know what I mean. Otto did not feel supported by him maybe is the right way to say it? I don't wanna put words in your mouth.

Scott:

No. So I don't think he was unsupported either. Think

Jamie:

was just a rough around the edges.

Scott:

The master's coach was direct. He was not shy with the- Older gentlemen? Feedback. No, he's a little older than us, think.

Jamie:

Got it, okay.

Scott:

Not far.

Jamie:

But Otto's new coach is on the opposite

Scott:

He's much younger.

Jamie:

Opposite side of that spectrum. He's what? 20

Scott:

Look. So one of the things that's definitely gonna be different, I think Three. For sure is that so this younger coach is not first of all, not a parent, last year's coach was a parent Which

Jamie:

in my opinion is the right thing. But then also You should not have parent coaches, you know, when you're not a might. When you're might fine, but when you're a squirt, a PB or anything else, you should not have parent coaches.

Scott:

Our assistant coach is a parent coach this year.

Jamie:

Yeah. I don't even like that, to be honest with you. I don't, I don't, I don't.

Scott:

That's fine.

Jamie:

Dominic has not had a parent on the bench since

Scott:

squirt minor. That's great.

Jamie:

Yeah. Parents should not be on the bench. Sorry folks, you shouldn't be

Scott:

on the of

Jamie:

the things myself- Mites fine. After that, you need to get the hell off the bench.

Scott:

Yep. Well, you know, I was told once that AAA coaches don't grow on trees.

Jamie:

Yes, you were by somebody we both know well. Yeah. Yeah, listen, that's horseshit by the way. Come on.

Scott:

So just putting that aside, what I was going to say was having been on the bench myself and being a parent as well, it and I guess it all depends on the parent's personality. But like when Otto does something wrong, I have no problem letting him know and I've definitely raised my voice. And when you do that at home and you're with kids, I didn't treat kids exactly the same way but I also didn't, I could easily access like, okay, these kids are being out of line, I'm gonna raise my voice and try to wrangle this all in. Whereas I don't know but a younger kid who's not a parent who maybe hasn't been in a position where he's like yelling, okay, the kid plays hockey, so he's been on the receiving end of it.

Jamie:

Sure, he probably knows what he liked and didn't like.

Scott:

Right, but at the same time he's responsible for 10 year olds right now. Maybe that age gap that you're talking about and the fact that he doesn't have kids is going to like

Jamie:

I would think it would be a

Scott:

good thing. Some of the behaviors are just not in They're not there. There for him.

Jamie:

Because they haven't been learned yet.

Scott:

For him, right. So maybe that's a thing. This year that'll be helpful.

Jamie:

So that sounds like it's a positive

Scott:

thing for you, coach. Listen, the whole thing is gonna

Jamie:

be I don't clearly seems to like him.

Scott:

Yeah, but I'll tell you, so I was down there at the rink and

Jamie:

How is that rink by the way? Is that a nice rink? I've never played down there.

Scott:

The rink is fine.

Jamie:

I've never

Scott:

been to that. It's new.

Jamie:

Think I've been to about every rink in Jersey and that. I have not been to that.

Scott:

It's fine. Who plays there? Monroe High School. The 87s. That's who plays there.

Scott:

I never played the 87s. It was funny, so in between games, was just on the phone looking at the They had pictures of the different teams that play there. And I was looking at this one team and I said, Oh, that guy looks familiar. It was assistant coach from last year. That was his team's home rink.

Jamie:

Oh, is that funny?

Scott:

Yeah. I was like, Oh, look Otto, there's coach.

Jamie:

Go ahead, sorry.

Scott:

No, the rink was fine.

Jamie:

It was good?

Scott:

Yeah, yeah.

Jamie:

Nothing to write home about.

Scott:

Definitely not. But I was there, so there was one of the former teams was there also and there was a bunch of parents that I was familiar with. And I have to say having the season, last season ended only a couple of weeks ago and then having to be back at the rink and it's like, you just said goodbye to people and now you're saying hello to people. Then you're seeing I was not in the mood to talk to anybody. I want to say hi.

Scott:

Just wanted to be left alone. And for the most part, that was true. However, I had my moments of seeing a bunch of people and I was just like, Ugh, I don't feel like doing this right now.

Jamie:

Yeah, no, listen, I get it. I 100% get it. That's okay. Nothing wrong with that.

Scott:

I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all. All right, good.

Jamie:

So it went well for you guys. Good. Good. I'm glad. I'm glad that went well.

Scott:

Thanks buddy.

Jamie:

No worries. All right. So, so we were approaching, like an hour. So why don't we do what we talked about earlier? So one thing we like to teach our children is to do the things that you don't want to do.

Jamie:

Agreed?

Scott:

Yes. When it's in their best interest.

Jamie:

When it, And it was in your best interest.

Scott:

Yeah. I didn't feel like I was

Jamie:

here today. Yeah, you definitely didn't, which I don't know why you wouldn't want to come here. This place is great.

Scott:

No doubt. It's awesome. I love Thank you.

Jamie:

Appreciate it. It's my man cave or my office. Not exactly man cave, but you know.

Scott:

No, more of an office.

Jamie:

Yeah. Definitely more of an office. Yeah. But yeah. So Scott did not want to come here today and I basically berated him until he decided to come.

Scott:

Yes. I gave in. Which listen,

Jamie:

listen, we're all tired and don't want to do stuff, but listen, you know, you got to do things that you don't want to do in life. Right. And that's what we teach our kids. We tell, I tell Dominic all the time, I know you don't want to do it, but if you wanna get better at something and you wanna advance something, gotta, right, you gotta do things.

Scott:

Yeah, I had a similar conversation earlier today with my wife and it was about that exactly

Jamie:

It was really? That's funny.

Scott:

Oh, just look, as there's been plenty of defiance in the house and nothing that's not It's all age appropriate. Yes, right. Of But there are some firsts that are happening. And I was talking to Orly and I was like, Of course he's going to not want to do plenty, but for all of the have tos in life and for right now that includes homework and studying. We can't make them do it, right?

Scott:

Well. But but what I'm getting at

Jamie:

You don't tie your kids up and put them in the closet and into their home. I'm joking.

Scott:

No, not yet. Joking. Exactly. No, but the point is that, look, in life there are have tos and there are want tos. Yes.

Scott:

Of all of the have tos in life, you're not gonna like to do a lot of them.

Jamie:

Absolutely, as adults.

Scott:

So don't even look at it like, I don't like to do math or I don't This is in the bucket of you have to and you need to start gaining acceptance around the fact that you're gonna have to do the have to's if you wanna

Jamie:

Listen, there's a lot of have tos that adults don't wanna do

Scott:

that you have to do. A %.

Jamie:

Right? I mean, you know, I mean it's

Scott:

Like come record a podcast.

Jamie:

Exactly. Or go to work tomorrow morning or, I mean, there's a lot of things people just don't wanna do, but if you wanna excel and get better at something, you know, or you want to move forward with something, you have to do it. So I'm glad you decided to come today.

Scott:

Yes. Yes. No, so am I.

Jamie:

See, you know what's funny? Because now that you're here, you're having a good time. Like I tell my kid when he's like,

Scott:

don't want to go

Jamie:

to the skate.

Scott:

Just go, you'll have fun.

Jamie:

Yeah, I'm like, just go, you'll have fun. And then when he gets there, he's like, and we finished, and he looks at me and goes, know what, dad?

Scott:

That wasn't so bad.

Jamie:

It wasn't so bad, actually, I had a good time. And I look at him and I'm like, really dude?

Scott:

I just exercised

Jamie:

a bit You're busting my balls for like two hours leading up to this thing.

Scott:

Did say that bar down

Jamie:

ski? Exactly.

Scott:

Dude, that was sick.

Jamie:

100%, right? So no, but this is the thing that we like to teach our children. Mike Tyson said it perfectly. He said, and I'm going to butcher this, I really hope I don't. It was something to the effect of

Scott:

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in

Jamie:

the face. No, but that's another really good one from Mike Tyson. Know, but that is another very good one from Mike Tyson. Spinal. Yeah.

Jamie:

Oh my God. He was

Scott:

You broke your back.

Jamie:

He was such an animal when

Scott:

you Spinal.

Jamie:

I broke my back. My back is broken. Just go YouTube with everybody. You know what mean? Spinal.

Jamie:

Mike Tyson when he was in his twenties or maybe even younger. He may have been, like, 19.

Scott:

I watched him the word spinal on re I I just kept on rewinding it. Couldn't get enough of it.

Jamie:

Spinal. When he was younger, he was just it's a shame that

Scott:

from another clock.

Jamie:

Instagram wasn't around when he was younger because, oh, his stuff would be so viral. I mean, it's viral now and he's like 50.

Scott:

So good.

Jamie:

Right. But Mike Tyson said something to the effect of like, do things that you hate. But do it like you love it. So Mike, we were talking about his training and he's like, I hated training. He's like, so he's like, but you need to do the things that you hate and do it like you love it.

Scott:

Right. So with the ability to do that, part of it's maturity and part of it is living the experiences where you realize that you didn't give it your best and the test grade was bad or the outcome was bad, whatever. And then hopefully next time you're going to be like, Oh dude, that sucks. So why don't I just put in a little bit of work

Jamie:

now? Yeah, no, it's true.

Scott:

And it's also like the doing it once and right as opposed to twice and wrong. That's another thing that is just, I see with my kid also, you're going to take the time right now to do your homework. I'm going to walk away. When I come back, it should be legible because you're going to take the time to do it right now and you don't want to do it once. So I know you don't wanna do it twice.

Scott:

Right. I don't wanna get into an argument with you. I don't wanna erase the entire page.

Jamie:

Have you encountered that, by the way? Have you come and it's not legible?

Scott:

Not the whole thing.

Jamie:

That's a brutal thing, the There's

Scott:

plenty of it that's not legible.

Jamie:

That's brutal. And I don't get why kids do that because just do it right the first time so you don't have to redo it. It's like they're defiant, but like all you're doing is making more work for Then

Scott:

it's like the acceptance piece. And that's what I think maybe it boils down to for me is just like trying to teach them about acceptance and accept the fact that this is part of what you need to do. And once you accept, like really accept the fact that you have to do this, then you can start making some clear headed choices about whether or not you want to put an effort, you don't, like what does it mean to you? Is it worth it? All that stuff.

Scott:

But this, all this stuff where it's just like, I'm going to do this as fast as possible just so I can say it's done. Well, it's not done because you're doing it My child does that.

Jamie:

His ADHD brain makes him do that. He will cruise through something and I look at him like, no, sorry.

Scott:

Not okay.

Jamie:

That's not gonna work for us. You know, it's funny. I also think the parents have I think today's kids parents

Scott:

don't As opposed to when we were kids? Is that what you mean by today's kids?

Jamie:

Well, let me ask you a question. Yeah. And don't get me wrong. I'm sure there was a percentage of kids, but kids these days, in my opinion, do not respect adults, whether they're their parent or whether they are, their teacher or their coach. I mean, I could tell you stories.

Jamie:

So, all right. So my wife is a second grade teacher, right? She took eleven years off when we had kids. So she taught kindergarten for six years. Okay.

Jamie:

We had kids. She retired for eleven years. Right. Came back. And she's like, Jamie, the kids of today are totally different.

Jamie:

Nancy will ask them to do something. They will literally look at her and go, no. And Nancy's like, sorry, what? And she's like, my mom said I don't have to. That didn't happen when you and our kids, we would get the shit kicked out of us.

Jamie:

If that happened when we were kids. That's not, that was not a thing. I'm, I'm sure it was for a couple people, but now it's more mainstreamed.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

I mean, many, like how many seven year olds do you know that have a cell phone?

Scott:

Seven? That's my daughter's age. I don't know. Not many.

Jamie:

Know much of them.

Scott:

Know. Listen, but that I'm sure there's plenty that have it. They were kindergarteners. Yo, it's crazy.

Jamie:

My child is what's today? Today's the seventh. My kid will be 13 in six days. Yep. And he does not have a cell phone.

Scott:

That's great. Yeah. Auto, we got him a It's

Jamie:

the same. Dom has an

Scott:

Apple Where we can call?

Jamie:

You can call. And track. That's all you need people. Is always the only kid on his hockey team that does not have cell phone.

Scott:

That's amazing. That's great. Good. We think it's So speaking of this, I'm sorry if I cut you off.

Jamie:

No, no, no.

Scott:

But we took away the iPad. I think we're going on week two now. Amazing what happens when there's less screens involved.

Jamie:

Strange, they're so bad for

Scott:

me. When I say took it away, I mean like has not possessed it for two weeks.

Jamie:

That's impressive.

Scott:

And what's happening instead?

Jamie:

Yeah. No joke? He's probably productive doing other things.

Scott:

Well, for example, he's probably using his imagination.

Jamie:

Went home

Scott:

from school, he went upstairs and he was reading. Dude, that's a home run. And this isn't like a one time thing. He went outside and he was playing other sports. So he was throwing the lacrosse ball off the rebounder and he I don't know, we'll see what happens.

Scott:

I mean, the registration's already closed, but he came inside and was like, know what? I think I want to play lacrosse. That's great. Well, we'll see. We'll see.

Scott:

Last summer he did like two weeks of lacrosse camp because he was interested, decided he didn't want to do it this but now, I don't know, he's bored. Listen, good. Yeah, no, it's totally good.

Jamie:

Good, he'll use

Scott:

his brain. 100%. I'm just getting back to what you were saying as far as like, Dom doesn't have a phone and the kids of today are different. Were saying about

Jamie:

Nancy. Yes, they are different. Not in a good way.

Scott:

Yeah, well, I was talking to a woman who I work with who is a softball coach for years. She just got like a lifetime achievement award, just like a local thing to commemorate her for she brought softball to the And she prior to that was coaching little league for boys youth sports, whatever. In any event, so I was talking to her and she was saying there was a girl on one of her team, she was a pitcher and they were at some field where it was all brand new turf. Apparently on turf, you're not supposed to have seeds because they get stuck or they don't go away as easily. Like sunflower seeds.

Jamie:

Was just saying sunflower seeds, right?

Scott:

They just spit the seeds all the sudden.

Jamie:

I used to love chewing sunflower seeds when I

Scott:

was in baseball.

Jamie:

Love love she was saying

Scott:

that they got talked to by the ground. They'd gone, this was years ago now, but they went to this field, brand new turf, the facilities director came over and was like, Hey listen,

Jamie:

just You can't seeds?

Scott:

No seeds. And they were like, Yep, got it, no problem. And then the star pitcher, it wasn't long before she had seeds.

Jamie:

The Nobody gives a shit anymore.

Scott:

And people let them get away with it. And the coach said to her, said, I don't understand. You're not allowed to have seeds. We just had the conversation. And the girl said to the coach more or less, Yeah, but I want them.

Jamie:

See, if that was my kid-

Scott:

So then, so then you know what the mom did? So apparently the way the story goes is that the coach, she's like, look, we probably could have won the game even without She's like, I could have sent her home. She's like, but instead

Jamie:

She'd have sat her ass on the bench for

Scott:

the entire Well, so she for whatever, the coach told the girl's mom, Hey.

Jamie:

Oh, I know where this

Scott:

is And so the mom So now the coach is thinking, Okay, so the mom is going to take the seeds, but tell her, Don't eat seeds anymore. No.

Jamie:

No. The mother's going, Why can't she have No,

Scott:

no, no. Actually, Even worse? No, better.

Jamie:

Oh, okay.

Scott:

The mom took her cell phone.

Jamie:

Took the kid's cell phone.

Scott:

Took the kid's cell phone and the kid didn't get the cell phone back for some amount of time and then made the kid talk, address the entire team

Jamie:

and Oh,

Scott:

right. I

Jamie:

like that. No, fair. Yeah.

Scott:

I'm just saying that I just today heard an example of a kid just being like, because I want them, because I don't care what you say.

Jamie:

I'm telling you, man. It's I don't know if

Scott:

it's Has to be parents. Has to be.

Jamie:

Look, Right? It has to be how people are parenting,

Scott:

you It's easy to take a few small sample sizes and and generalize.

Jamie:

I don't think it's small though. I think it's a lot different than when we were kids. Think it's a lot different than even ten years ago.

Scott:

Listen, Nancy would know better that she's in front of kids all the time. I certainly know less. I will say whether or not it's just a getting older thing and people are saying, Oh, this generation, because surely our

Jamie:

parents didn't even No, this generation actually sucks. Okay. Not all of them, a lot

Scott:

of them. Either way, it seems to be They're all weak. Yeah, so there's some pretty typical storylines that go along with the younger ages nowadays about lazy work ethic, pride, ability to communicate.

Jamie:

Giving too much.

Scott:

Export. Those are things that come up often. Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah. I mean, listen, I try to teach my kids the exact opposite of that. I believe kids should have to do hard things at young ages because you would rather have your kid learn to do hard things now, you know, eight, nine, 10, 11, as opposed to when they're like 18, 19, 20, 20 one.

Scott:

Okay. But here's my question for you on that. What's hard to an eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 year old is different than what's hard to a 17, 18, 19 year So I'm just asking, like, can you give an example?

Jamie:

Listen, life is hard, right? We don't, well, listen, you know, even just having your kid, I don't know, go shovel the snow. Okay. Right. When they're like

Scott:

taking responsibility, helping out

Jamie:

the family, they're young, you know, showing that, you know, helping out around the house.

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

You know, stuff that chores. Yeah. Just stuff that, you know, we did as kids that I think a lot, I'm not saying all, but a lot of, there are a lot of kids today that don't do that stuff. I think it's wrong. I think you're not setting a good example for your kids, you know?

Jamie:

Yeah. I don't, I don't think you're I just think that the kids are growing up soft these days. And I'm pretty sure there's a lot of material out there that supports that. Yeah. That wouldn't shock me.

Jamie:

That wouldn't

Scott:

shock me.

Jamie:

Like kids don't like to work. They want things handed to them. That's not how life works.

Scott:

I was at a Verizon store not too long ago and I was there for goddamn ages. I was losing my I

Jamie:

know that feeling. That's terrible. Like can't

Scott:

tell me You

Jamie:

were buying a new cell phone?

Scott:

No.

Jamie:

It's like buying a

Scott:

car. No, it had to do with an Apple Watch and get whatever. It doesn't matter. The technology is difficult sometimes. Anyway, I was talking to this guy who had worked for Verizon for a long time now, an older guy, older than both of us.

Scott:

And he basically said, he's like, Yo, this generation, he said It's terrible. He's like, Let me give you an example of what happens here. I get to work on time. On time is at least ten minutes early.

Jamie:

Yep. On time is not the store opens at seven. I get here at seven.

Scott:

No. Whatever his in time is, he he was making the point like, on time for me is early.

Jamie:

On time for everybody's Correct.

Scott:

If you're early, you're on time.

Jamie:

Correct.

Scott:

And so he pointed that out. And then he said, But my colleagues, they'll get here

Jamie:

705

Scott:

Late. Yeah. And then they'll get here late and then they'll say they have to go get breakfast.

Jamie:

Is that a joke?

Scott:

No, that's what he says these kids are doing. And these are like teenagers.

Jamie:

Sure. Probably. Probably.

Scott:

And look, I'm not saying

Jamie:

You have to get breakfast. I mean, and this is why society is crumbling. Then, part

Scott:

of my thought then was like, okay, I don't know that this guy was a manager, but who's in charge of this place? Because that's not okay.

Jamie:

But I gotta tell you, you see it on the ice too. We were in Tampa. Here's my story.

Scott:

What do you mean you see it on the ice?

Jamie:

Were in Tampa.

Scott:

You're just not listening to the coaches?

Jamie:

This is my story for this episode. We were in Tampa.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

I don't remember what happened on the ice, but this one, we, we had just lost in the semifinals to, I want to say the cow bears. This was the exact same, the exact same game that two of our parents, two of our parents had a fist fight in the parking lot.

Scott:

That's

Jamie:

Yeah. Now I will get to that fist fight in another episode, but another incident that happened in the same game, this child was in the locker room after we just lost.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Okay. Was so obnoxious to our head coach. Basically blamed him to his face for losing the game. Right? Like, was clapping in his face, yeah.

Jamie:

Like, good job, coach. Like, you lost the game. It's clapping in his face.

Scott:

That's messed up.

Jamie:

You wanna hear something crazy?

Scott:

What?

Jamie:

This kid's parent was one of the parents that fought outside.

Scott:

So that that Isn't

Jamie:

that interesting? And I like this parent. So what's the problem? But my point is is that the kid

Scott:

No. Not not not what's the problem. Sorry. I I was curious if you knew, like, if there was a cat what's the character defect here? Like, you like him and you you like

Jamie:

I'm not sure.

Scott:

You like pretty, like rational people.

Jamie:

Nice guy hanging out with, we weren't like best friends, you know, but I knew him.

Scott:

So he had like a short fuse?

Jamie:

No, actually he didn't have a short, no, I don't think he had a short. I wouldn't say he had a short fuse, you know, but but no, I actually wouldn't say it a short fuse, but we're talking about being, you know, like obnoxious to adults. Right? This kid was obnoxious to the head coach in the locker room. Like, I mean, obnoxious.

Jamie:

So obnoxious that the coach, I think, pretty sure threw him out of the locker room.

Scott:

God. Kid had some balls, man. How old was he? Squirt major. To be that insubordinate at that age

Jamie:

Pretty bad. Right?

Scott:

Is like that's that's a red flag. Like a massive red flag.

Jamie:

Pretty bad. Yeah. That's not good. Squirt major, you're what? 10?

Scott:

Nine. I'm sorry. Oh, major, you're 10.

Jamie:

You're 10. Nine. Yeah. Like, again, like, like, well, again, we're talking about kids, you know, like not respecting coaches, parents, teachers. Right.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was pretty, I thought that was, that was, that was rough.

Scott:

That's like

Jamie:

the, like if my kid ever did that, oh my God. But that, that's

Scott:

a next level.

Jamie:

If my child, if I found out my kid did that, my kid wouldn't be on the hockey team, period. My kid would be home, you know, in his room reading every

Scott:

little your kid also would never

Jamie:

I would hope not.

Scott:

Yes. What am I trying to say?

Jamie:

I think I know where you're going with it.

Scott:

He would have to be so provoked, so provoked by somebody lash out like that.

Jamie:

Hope so. Right? Would hope that

Scott:

If he got that provoked, then you don't even know that he would do that.

Jamie:

Mean, I would imagine wouldn't think so. Wouldn't think so.

Scott:

Yeah. No. There's yeah.

Jamie:

But that's why we were in Tampa. We had just lost the Cal Bears in the semis, and that incident happened in the locker room where the the kid was pretty obnoxious to the I matter of fact, now that I'm thinking about it, I think he was obnoxious on the bench, and it, like, spilled over into the locker room.

Scott:

So it must be, like, at home

Jamie:

once And the coach to

Scott:

the What what's the dad saying about the coach to the kid? Because I'm sure there's, don't know for sure, but I would think that the conversation at home was like, it's not your fault kid, it's the coach's fault. So

Jamie:

hockey dads, pro tip, you should not bad mouth your kids' teachers, coaches, other parents in front of your children because they hear and take all that in like a sponge.

Scott:

Okay. So I'm cutting you off, sorry. That's all right. So my experience, I've had experiences where And tell me what you think about

Jamie:

I think it's wrong to do that.

Scott:

Okay. But let's just say your kid's getting the short end of a stick your kid's Hold on, hold on. And your kid's unhappy about it.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

And your kid's not wrong.

Jamie:

Yeah.

Scott:

If you then validate your kid's feelings, which are negative towards a coach or a teacher, is that the same thing? Listen, if you're validating your kid's feelings

Jamie:

in life, you're going to run into that in life. You're going to run into people you don't get along with people you don't agree with. You're going to have coaches that maybe don't like you as a player, trust you as a player, whatever it is. Right. You're going to have situations where you're not getting a fair shake.

Jamie:

No doubt. Right.

Scott:

And that was part of our learning process last year. Right. And teaching him to be resilient and to not give up and not quit. This sucks, but you

Jamie:

can do You see, you did this, we're talking about doing hard things. That's a hard thing.

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

Right? And the child will grow if done the right way from the parent, the child will grow from that experience. And as painful as it is while it's going on, yeah, you will take things away from it that will help you in life down

Scott:

the In

Jamie:

the future, yes.

Scott:

100%. Yes. But just my question, if you think that validating your kid's feelings that might be negative towards a coach, Do you feel like that is doing the same thing as bad mouthing a coach to your kid? Do you think there's a difference or do think it's the same?

Jamie:

No, I, no, I think there's a difference. You can say, Hey, listen, bud, you know, I agree with you. I don't think you're getting a fair shot. Yep. But listen, it's his team.

Jamie:

It is what it is. You know, you need to make the best of this. You need to, and you know what? Do not quit. Do not shut down.

Jamie:

Go try like your hair's on fire. Try to change his mind. Go, you can even go to him say, coach, what can I do? What can

Scott:

I've had, I've had him do that.

Jamie:

Right. Or, and listen, that may not work. It may not work. It may not matter that he goes to them and say, coach, what can be respectful? What can I do to earn more playing time?

Jamie:

What can I do to earn trust? Right. What can I do here? And again, it still may not work, but you carry your, you teach your kid to carry himself the right way and to be the bigger person and to do the right thing. You know, don't teach your kid to be disrespectful.

Jamie:

Don't bad mouth the coach so that your kid starts bad mouthing the coach. Like you need to carry yourself in the right way because life is hard. And unfortunately these kids are, you know, maybe learning this at a younger age,

Scott:

but unfortunately,

Jamie:

I was just saying, fortunately, because I don't think it's a bad thing, you know, but because again, that, and that's, and in my opinion, we're talking about doing hard things, right. As at a young age, that's hard. Definitely. That's very hard.

Scott:

Otto has twice over gone up to a coach and said, What can I do to earn your trust? Or what can I do to get more playing time?

Jamie:

It's easy to quit then. Yep. Right. It's easy to do or feel like, you know what? I'm not getting a fair shake.

Jamie:

This is not fair. I'm out of here.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

But that's not how life works. Life is unfair. Right. And the earlier these kids know that in my opinion, the better they will be down the road and more prepared. Yeah.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

You just hope the situation isn't. Is, is, is, is highly teachable one.

Jamie:

Yes. Listen, if it gets, there are certain, there are, I think you can, there is a point of no return if it gets like abusive. That's a whole other story. Right. But if it's just a kid not getting a fair shake,

Scott:

right.

Jamie:

Listen, you signed up for something. You gotta see it too. Try to find the positives in it. There are positives that come out of everything. You may not see them in the moment, but looking back at something after time, you'll be like, you know what?

Jamie:

I took this, this, this away from that. And I didn't have that before.

Scott:

Yeah. Right. And sometimes it just needs time before the lesson is obvious. Right. Or plays out or

Jamie:

comes to the surface. No doubt. You know,

Scott:

a %.

Jamie:

Yeah. So with that being said, I'm we'll shut it down now, but I'm going to give you your first piece of crazy hockey dad's merchandise. Let's It came today. We're going to put this up on our Patreon or on our website, which we're working on, but I'm curious to hear what you think of this. Me see this.

Jamie:

Talk to me. These are our stickers. They're three by threes. Should I have done them smaller? Should I have done them bigger?

Jamie:

What do you think?

Scott:

No, I think that's

Jamie:

This is the test run.

Scott:

No, the size is good.

Jamie:

You like it?

Scott:

Yeah, I love it. It looks just like the cover.

Jamie:

Does look like the cover on the podcast.

Scott:

Only thing that kind of strikes me is that it could have a little bit of a border. It's kind of a little close on the edges, like on the logo on the top.

Jamie:

Yeah. You know, I did it online. You're a %

Scott:

right. Maybe left a little bit more.

Jamie:

I could have rounded the edges too.

Scott:

Oh, that's interesting.

Jamie:

I gonna round the edges. I was going to, we can play

Scott:

with it. Can I have another one?

Jamie:

Yeah. You can have as many as you want. I I got a bunch from here.

Scott:

I just need two.

Jamie:

Why just two?

Scott:

I've got two children.

Jamie:

Got it. Yeah. So this is like a trial run.

Scott:

Just a side note, Noah scored her first goal

Jamie:

at Oh gosh, she's playing

Scott:

hard for learning to play.

Jamie:

That's exciting. That's exciting. You sure you don't want another one just for like

Scott:

Yeah, no.

Jamie:

Whatever? You don't think Orly wants one?

Scott:

Yeah. You know what? I'm sure when I get home Yeah. She's gonna be like, oh, this this is exactly what I'm hoping for.

Jamie:

Trial run for our merchandise starting with stickers and going things You know? So, yeah, man, this was good. This was very good.

Scott:

Good stuff, man.

Jamie:

So that's number four in the books.

Scott:

Glad glad I, did a hard thing today.

Jamie:

Did do a hard thing today. Yes.

Scott:

The hard the hard thing isn't bullshitting with you. The hard thing is getting at the end of the day being exhausted.

Jamie:

I hear you.

Scott:

That's why when I go to the gym, which hasn't been recently, but I'm always a morning person, by the end of the day, I'm just like cashed out.

Jamie:

Listen, I get it, dude. You think, trust me, I would've just liked to hang out with my wife tonight. So I get it, But I'm glad you came.

Scott:

Yeah. No. Likewise. You know? Good stuff.

Jamie:

So subscribe, write a review, and like Levesque and Toph say, share the show.

Scott:

Let's go. Later.