Intro: This is for the sled dogs in the trenches. Real hockey parents, real stories. The Good and the Gong Show. No filters, no sugarcoating, no politics, just straight hockey talk, and the best guests around the barn. Welcome to the Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast.
Alright, boys. Grind them corners, chirp responsibly, and bring that savage fire.
Jamie: Alright, everybody. Welcome back to episode 76 of the Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast powered by Pacific Rink, the unfiltered podcast for hockey parents. No politics, no sugarcoating, just real talk for hockey parents in the trenches. Buddy. Yo.
Welcome to another one. Welcome to another one, and thank you to Big John Dangles for our awesome intro. You could check him out at Big John Dangles on Instagram. He's got some really, really cool stuff, so go check out BJD. BJD.
But I feel like yesterday was a little bit of a insane day.
Scott: Yesterday yesterday was a few moving pieces. A few music pieces. So just to set the stage, we are officially on, like, summer hockey camp Mode. Tours, mode, whatever. Right?
Last week, you were at Penn State. Otto was skating locally up here for the week, and then Yeah. Both kids are now down in Princeton where you still are. Nice nice sweatshirt, by the way. Go Tigers.
Jamie: Gotta rep gotta rep the Jersey Jersey division one ice hockey. Right?
Scott: New Jersey, that's what's up. Go Tigers. Yeah. So so anyway, so yeah, full on with with our summer hockey stuff. How was how was Penn State?
Jamie: Penn State was a lot of fun. Not gonna lie. It was really cool. I guess if people were paying attention to some of our Instagram, you know, story stuff over the last couple days, Penn State was fun. We came up on when did we we went up Thursday.
Scott: Yeah. Right after the the event. After Moe's Moe's Smile.
Jamie: Yes. Yeah. Which which again was a tremendous event, by the way.
Scott: For real. Yeah. Again, shout out Larry Longwood, all the people The Cambro Sloan Kettering.
Jamie: Sloan, Megan The Cambro family. I mean
Scott: All of it.
Jamie: Everybody that came on with us, everybody that came out to support it, Dan Muse, Evan Rodriguez, you know, we're not we're not mentioning a gazillion people that also had a hand in it to come out and support it. What an event. This is our first pod since that event, isn't it?
Scott: It is. Yeah. And there was a bit more video footage than we normally take for any one pod. So it's it's taking just a little bit longer to to clean that up and and get it ready to go. And so we'll release that one next week, a recap of the the event and
Jamie: Right.
Scott: Everything that went on there. But, yeah, I got some great interviews. And, again, what an unbelievable event.
Jamie: Yeah. We should tell let's talk about that for a couple minutes. Yeah. Sure. Yeah.
That was pretty sick. I'm not gonna lie. That was
Scott: Yeah. And so for for anyone that hasn't heard us talk about it, and I just wanna shout out also or call out that the fundraising efforts are still going on. Right? So Yes. For anyone that's listening to or learning about the event for the first time now or, you know, was on the fence maybe about donating, you're still able to and and, you know, we we participated last week in an event called Moe's Smile, which is a fundraiser for, you know, in joint in joint joint?
Is that the right way of saying it? I don't know. It's a little confusing, but, like, memorial in Kettering is is part of it, and we were raising money for for Like, pediatric cancer. Pediatric cancer research. So if any you know, we can check out our there's a link in our bio on on our Instagram feed so anyone can check it out.
If you wanna donate, by all means, we'd be more than happy to have people to continue to participate. But, yeah, unreal event over at Longwood.
Jamie: Yeah. It was really I mean, the the the effort that went into putting that together, and it's it was the third annual, which, again, we were thrilled and honored to be at. It was fantastic. I love what they're doing and what they're raising money for. We say this all the time, parent should ever have to bury their child.
Right? So any monies that go toward helping save any kid from cancer down the road, we've all been touched by cancer probably in one form or fashion. Right? Yeah. When it's a child, it's like a whole another level.
It's awful no matter who it is. Right? Whether it's a 90 year old grandmother, grandfather, whether it's a parent, aunt and uncle, it doesn't matter. But when it's a child, that's like a whole another level because that's not supposed to happen. You know?
So and listen, everybody's genetics are different, things happen. But if there's ways in the future where we can raise money, you know, to save even one child's life down the road, then you know what? It's all worth wonderful. Yeah. You know, so like Scott said, please go check out the link in our bio.
The event was was unbelievable. The third annual, I hope we raised more money than the previous two. I think they're probably going to. Like you said, still ongoing. So I hope this event gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger every year.
I hope in ten years they're they're raking in several million dollars, you know, for the event.
Scott: That would be tremendous. Just to kinda go cheap. No. No. It's definitely not.
Jamie: Solve, I'm saying. Right? It's not it takes money to solve all these diseases.
Scott: Without a doubt. Without a doubt. And and just to kinda like recap for the audience, like, this whole event was. So basically, the day was full of, you know, of hockey games, and it was basically four on four, the rink at Longwood, which is, you know, on on a private property. Jeez.
I don't know the dimensions, but I would say it's probably let's say it was, like, half half half an NHL rink.
Jamie: I think that sounds right.
Scott: Fair. Like, around that. So in any event, it was four on four starting with mites, squirts, peewies, bantams, and then we got up to junior and no. Junior played with pros. Right?
Jamie: I think there was After bantams? There a bantam, then there was like a midget game. There was a game after jogging, and then the pro game was after that.
Scott: The pro game at the end. Right? So the the teams that part like, the the kids that participated were local kids as well as Oh,
Jamie: sometimes not local. So we're like
Scott: Florida kids. No. No. There were local kids. Right?
Jamie: There were a lot of local kids.
Scott: There were kids from Florida, from Pennsylvania, you know, from from the Tri State Plus Yes. Including, right, like Florida because Longwood's affiliation with the Florida Surf and the Florida Breakers. And so there was the property was full of kids and families all day. The property was was had all these different, you know, events or events or activities on the property. Right?
There were shooting lanes that were set up for the shooting for a cure. Yeah. There were bouncy castles set up for the younger kids. There was that one inflatable that knocks kids over when they try to jump or duck under the spinning arm at, like, Mach seven, which was hysterical.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. It was like a wipeout type of of if you went on the show, wipeout. It was like a wipeout type of apparatus.
Scott: Yeah. Was unreal. They had mini golf on the tennis courts. The kids, you know, swing set was open, trampoline, pool. Yeah.
Pool house was full of food. There was a silent auction. There was a live auction. There was just like there was us crazy hockey dads there taking interviews, and, you know, it was just an unbelievable event of people all over the place, you know, all different, you know, skill levels. And, you know, like we said, they had you know, we had an interview with Dan Muse, head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Evan Rodriguez, the newest New Jersey Devil, or one of the newest, if not the newest.
So just really getting a chance to talk to professionals, it was just an unreal.
Jamie: It was unreal. It was it was it's funny. I didn't even get over to see the mini golf and, like, the I didn't even get over the
Scott: peek over that way?
Jamie: Scott, we're so busy. Like, I I I didn't even get a chance to go over there. It was Okay. I I got as far as the pool house when I went to get some food. Like, we we were all some nuts that day.
You and I got there at seven, and we didn't leave until like 08:30
Scott: Right? At
Jamie: It was a long day. Oh, speaking of the auctions, hope they raised a truckload of money at the auctions.
Scott: Oh, somebody won some stuff there, guy. I did. What did you win?
Jamie: I did. I I bid on two things. I bid on a a USA hockey signed Brady Kochuck.
Scott: Sweet. And
Jamie: I and I also bid right next to it was a USA hockey signed Matthew Kochuck. Won them both. So we're in the process of as soon as we get back from Princeton, I will I will go have them framed in like shadow boxes, and they will then be adorned behind you and I in our studio. So right behind you is going to be a Matthew or Brady signed the Hockey jersey. So that's the plan.
You
Scott: know? Right. And then you and then you need to refinance your mortgage to pay your bills.
Jamie: My my card was not smoking when I gave but listen. It's you know, listen. It's all it's all a great cause. So, like, I'm I'm I'm all for it. And you know what?
It it it's for a great cause. Right? Yeah. You know? So
Scott: You know what I forgot to mention? And I I don't know if you noticed, but, like, not so additionally, on the property next to the pool house, they also had, like, of, like, carnival game setup where, like, you could throw, like, you know, a baseball to knock over cans. There was, like, basketball hoops and, like, a football, like, quarterback.
Jamie: It's almost like skee ball ish type There game
Scott: was yeah. It was there there was no stone left. And and not only were all these event like, all these activities there, but there was so much, like, you know, branding for Moe. Right? Like, his jersey number, they had cookies with, you know Everywhere.
Everything.
Jamie: Ribbon. Ribbon of the color of the war. It was for that that putting it mildly. First class, it was the team that put that together. You have to hats off to everybody who had a hand in that because it was ridiculous.
Scott: And you know what I you know what I loved earlier in the day, and I don't think either one of us knew that this was gonna be part of it, but I don't know. Let's just say after the Bantam game, maybe, which was probably capped off the first half to, like, you know, two thirds of the day. Yeah. Then so so the property is at the top of a pretty long and steep hill.
Jamie: Oh,
Scott: yeah. And they had a hill run where kids and parents At two pip. Walked all the way down to the bottom of the hill, and they all ran up. So it wasn't just you know, it was about putting in the work. It was a, you know, part of it was doing hard things.
Part of it was reinforcing some of these life lessons that, like, you know, we try to re re you know, enforce with our kids. And so just so many awesome things throughout the day and, you know, give gave kids a lot of oh, man, dude. I hate your your phone. It's the worst. But, no, I I I think it it also, you know, started conversations with parents and their kids just about like, well, why are we here?
What are we doing? We're raising money. We're giving back. Like, this is part of what, like, you know, communities do to help one another. Yeah.
And I think it was just like an introduction for some, you know, just into philanthropy and charitable events and and how, you know, just little things, you know, that might not might seem little to me or you can go a long way, you know, for for others. So.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. No. That that would and this when you say hill, like, this is this is some hill.
Scott: Yeah. It is not a short hill. No. This is not I'd actually be curious to see how long it is.
Jamie: It's not short. Like, walking down. So we I think Google
Scott: Map this.
Jamie: Who who did we interview? Do we interview Rob LaFerrier? Who Rob LaFerrier, who's the President. President of Longwood, and he has his old oh, think so. Alex is playing for the LA Kings, and his and his his his other son is just got kind of hooked up with the Providence Friars to play for the Providence Friars.
Was it was it him that was saying like, the first time he did it, like, he walked down it and he's like, holy crap. He's like, there's so much more hill. He's like, are we down the hill yet? He was like halfway down it.
Scott: I know. Was that it
Jamie: said that? Who said that?
Scott: I think so. I think so. Think so because it wasn't Evan. It wasn't unless it was Dan. Dan's been there before.
Jamie: I don't think so. Maybe. Whoever it was, it was they they were, like, shocked that there was more hill to walk down
Scott: to get the mud up. So the hill is 1.1 miles from the bottom up to the rink.
Jamie: It's a hole, man. It's a hole. It's a it's a hole.
Scott: It's a hole.
Jamie: Yeah. That it's a serious hill. That's not like a yeah. That's a hill.
Scott: Yeah. I think I think you got that one, dude.
Jamie: Big fucking hill.
Scott: Nothing gets past you.
Jamie: No. No. But but it was it was it was super first class. I mean, what an event. Like I said, we're we couldn't be couldn't be happier to to to participate and help out in any way we possibly can.
I'm just sorry that our social media following is not quadruple what it is, just to bring more eyes to it. But as we kind of grow here and as they kind of grow, hopefully we can help bring as many eyes to it as possible.
Scott: Yeah. No. A 100%.
Jamie: Yeah. So kinda like you said, so kinda finished at 08:30, and then I drove home. Were you at home? I went home. I had to I didn't realize you were going home.
I had to bring car home. Had to bring my Jeep home, because Nancy met me there during the day, and then she left. But swapping. She went back to pack the car. Right?
Scott: Oh, right. Right. Okay. You needed two cars there.
Jamie: So she left around six to go pack the car. So she went home, packed the car. I got home around nine, and we I jumped in we jumped in the truck, and we drove out to Penn State because Dominic needed to be at check-in next morning at, like, 08:45 at Penn State. So so we didn't get out to Penn State till about 01:40 in the morning. You know?
That's late. Yeah. We got to the Nittany Lion Inn like 01:40, 01:45 in the morning.
Scott: That's downtown.
Jamie: Right? It is. Yeah. It's basically downtown. It's right it's right next to the blue and white golf course, if anybody knows Penn State.
Yeah. It's it's on the campus of Penn State. You can walk down you can walk to the shops. You can walk kind of to the middle of of town with, like, College Ave and all that. Shockingly, when we walked into the Nittany Lion Inn, there were two people at the front desk, like, bushy eyed.
Like, I thought they'd be like thought dude, you walk into, a Marriott Courtyard, like, two in the morning, and there was, like, nobody there.
Scott: Or is
Jamie: there Like, they're in
Scott: the back. On their phone or nodding off because they're tired.
Jamie: Like, I walked into the Nittany line, and there were, like, two desks, and two ladies were sitting there like like it was nothing.
Scott: They were ready to go.
Jamie: Assumed there'd be place would be empty. I was even shocked the front door was open.
Scott: Oh, come on.
Jamie: Listen. I I was wasn't sure. And we knew it. You know? So we got in and we fell asleep around like, I'll call it 02:30 because we were all wired from the drive.
So we got in we fell asleep about 02:30. We're up early next morning, checked in at Penn State, and Dom was there for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It was good.
Scott: That's awesome. Yeah. It was cool. And just so those there was he wasn't staying over. Right?
There was, like, kind of, a day camper situation, so he was staying back in the hotel with you guys. Right?
Jamie: Yeah. They didn't for whatever reason, they did not have an overnight
Scott: option. Yeah.
Jamie: You know, obviously so now so our buddy, Alec Marsh, friend of the show, Alec Marsh, episode 27. Not sure.
Scott: So
Jamie: Alec Marsh, was the assistant coach at Hobart, who knows who my my family knows well now, because Dominic was with him down at the Rockets. So he was the assistant coach at Hobart for this past season and played four years at Penn State when he was in college. They hired him back now. So now Alec is on the coaching staff at Penn State. He's like the director of player personnel and video.
You know? So we ran into him. He gave us oh, so but he was saying he wants to make he wants to redo the camp next year to make it more like, kinda like an overnight option.
Scott: Right? Okay.
Jamie: When was younger, he had an overnight option at Penn State. So he's like, you know what? That needs to come back. So he's gonna try to make an overnight option for next year. So that's kind of the plan.
Yeah. So but yeah. But he Dom came back to the hotel with us. We dropped him off every day at like don't know, between between like 08:45 and call it 09:45, know, depending on their schedule.
Scott: Right. Then
Jamie: by, like, 04:30, 05:30 ish.
Scott: Right. You know, I was think I was thinking about, you know, the like, when we were there so let you know what? Let's let's keep going on your end. So then you finish up you finish up over at Penn State on Sunday, Sunday morning, afternoon.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. Finished up Penn family.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah. Four
Jamie: four of us were there. Don was done at, I guess, he had the late game, of course. Of course, he had the late game.
Scott: Of course, had a lot of like, my mind.
Jamie: Yeah. So I think he was done at, 02:30, 02:45, something like that. And then we went and got gas, and then we had to stop at, like, a Sheetz. Those of you who know Pennsylvania, Sheetz is big in Pennsylvania. We had to stop at a pencil you know, at Sheetz in Pennsylvania.
So like, we didn't really get on the road until like, I don't three know, thirty, 03:15 ish.
Scott: And you missed the whole World Cup, dude.
Jamie: Missed, dude. Then we drove directly to Princeton. So because because so our Princeton check-in was was Monday morning early. Right? Mhmm.
So we drove right to Princeton, to Nassau Inn in Princeton. You guys were here a little before we were. Yep. You know? So you guys were kinda camped out in the Graduate Hotel in Princeton watching the World Cup game.
We drove right through the World Cup game. We didn't get into Princeton to what time? Like, seven. Right? Seven, 07:30?
Something like that?
Scott: Yeah. Something like that. Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. So yeah. So we we kinda missed the entire World Cup game. Unfortunately, we're kinda trying to follow it on our phones while we're driving. But Listen.
What are gonna do?
Scott: Yeah. Well, the so you're you so Crazy Hockey family, you all of you, your whole family, including your oldest, you were at an all day thirteen hour event. You drive, arrive at, like, two in the morning in in Penn State. Yeah. Your whole family is there for for hockey.
Then you hop in the car, you drive to Princeton. Your whole family is in Princeton for hockey. Yeah. Yep. So that's, you know, that's legit.
That's legit commitment, dude.
Jamie: You know, I I have to tell you. I don't mean to cut you off, but I wanna get this in. Yep. You know, it's it's funny because, you know, hockey, what hockey's given to my family so Nancy and I like, you know, what Dom's doing. Right?
And we're supporting him. If he wants to play hockey, we're gonna support him. Right? My older one loves to travel and loves to see new places. Right?
So what hockey has done for us as a family, I can just speak for our family, but what hockey has done for us is it has forced us, not like we were, you know, didn't want to do it, but it's forced us to spend time together. We're always in the car. We always make trips out of a hockey thing. Right? We've been doing it forever.
We've been coming down to Princeton forever. Right? Dom and I would I was taking Dom to hockey games in Princeton when he was like six. You know, but we would come down as a family, go to the hockey game, and spend the night at the Nassau Inn, which is where I am now. Right?
Around the Princeton campus. You know, so hockey for my family has has and again, we like to travel too. So like it works for all of us. But I have to tell you, like, we're gonna look back at this some year, and my kids are gonna look back at this, and we spent so much time together, and hockey has done that for us. Have to tell you.
The fact that Dominic plays ice hockey, that's that's the only reason why we are what we are now.
Scott: You think so? I I I have a feeling you guys would probably be doing travel, but maybe not to, like, some of the destinations that you're going to.
Jamie: And maybe not as much. Right?
Scott: Maybe not as maybe not as much. Sure. Maybe not as
Jamie: much. Fair. Right? Like, I I mean, I've been to we've been to I mean, just kinda off the top of my head, like, think about, like, hockey camps. I mean, Princeton, Penn State.
You know, we've done them up in, like, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania. I mean, like I mean, we've done we've made trips to Vegas. We've made trips to Chicago. I mean, like, we just make trips out of it. Luckily, my older one doesn't play like a rigorous sport.
He's more of a brainiac. So it's easier logistically. He can just come with us. He loves traveling and he loves seeing things. Right?
So so it works for us as a family. But like, we're gonna look back at this one day and the amount of time that we spent together as the four of us as a family is like, how do you you know, like, it's it's it's unbelievable the amount of time that we've spent together. And it works. We enjoy spending time. We of course, we all get into each other's nerves like any family.
But, like, we it's hockey's, like, forced us to spend time together, and we all really enjoy it.
Scott: So Yeah.
Jamie: I can just speak for my family, but it works for us.
Scott: Well, you know, like, as you're saying that, and it was something I thought about also when we were going into recording this pod and, you know, I knew we were gonna talk about some of the summer camp stuff. But just even going back to I guess it was not last summer, the summer before. I don't know. Is it a couple years ago, we went auto played over in Europe with one of, like, the you know, we went to Slovenia. And then as a family, we ended up staying after the tournament.
First of all, Bled, Slovenia is gorgeous. So I I I can't recommend that destination enough. Right. Supers. And it's like an interesting part of Europe where it's like really close to it's close to Switzerland.
It's close to Croatia. It's close to Italy. Like, you know, you can go it can be a good jumping off point to go in a bunch of different directions. But, like, we went there because of hockey. We would have never gone to Bled Slovenia if it wasn't for hockey.
Jamie: Right. Exactly.
Scott: And and so that's a that's a trip my my family's never gonna forget. Now, you know, when now that Otto's, you know, getting a bit older, and I know that you've been going to college campuses for some time, but I I do think, like, spring, summer hockey, if, like, a family is gonna do that, you know, for me, I certainly enjoyed going down to Princeton, you know, spending time down there. I brought my daughter there. Like, our whole family was there. We got to hang out, you know, see different things.
Jamie: It's just city.
Scott: Right. So using hockey as a vehicle to go explore different places. Like, I I I think for sure, like, when I think about future summers and, like, you know, hockey camps or, you know, whatever the case might be, say, for, like, local local situations Yep. Going to a destination not because it's gonna be the most elite hockey experience for my son.
Jamie: Doesn't need
Scott: to be. It's like, know, you it doesn't need to be. It's just like Yeah. Can we go somewhere where our family's gonna have great memories? Is it can can he go to a place with a buddy where he's gonna remember, like, you know, dorming with Dom at Princeton, you know Right.
Years down the road. Yeah. So as we, you know, started talking about this, know, for me, and I think it's only getting stronger and stronger, my feelings for the for using hockey as a vehicle to go explore explore the world's potential, know, like, go overseas. Go go domestically, but don't just go someplace because you think it's gonna get your advance your kid's career.
Jamie: That's not what I mean.
Scott: Like We're we're not we're not there because we think Princeton's gonna be the difference maker. Oh, correct. Could it could it end up being maybe he's gonna need a coach that's gonna give him an opportunity one day. Who knows? But that's not that's not why we're there.
Jamie: No. No.
Scott: No. You know what
Jamie: comes out of it, that's like I'd actually added cherry on top. A 100%.
Scott: But I also say that more the more the more people you get in front of us, like any other networking situation, man, like, the more connections you have, the more relationships you have, the, you know, the more you get informed about things, the more opportunities that might present themselves as long as, like, you're conducting yourself, like, you know, the family, the player in ways that are, like, respectable and, like, you get invited back and all that other stuff. You know?
Jamie: Right. And and, you know, it's funny. It's a it's a little bit of a different situation now now that you and I have, like, a hockey podcast on your show. You know, it it it's it's smart for us to come. And, obviously, we've kinda hooked up with Princeton a little bit because we're a New Jersey based podcast.
They're the number one, you know, they're the only D1 program in in the state of Jersey. Right? So Mhmm. We kind of hooked up with them a little bit to do a bunch of media for them because we want to spread, you know, Princeton Ice Hockey around because it's an awesome product at an awesome place. You know?
And their location is unbelievable. Right? It's not far from Philly. It's not far from New York City, everybody in Jersey or Philly. I'm sure people can come up from like Delaware.
It's not far from really anything. Right? But the funny part about it is is that, you know, so so it's easy for you and I to come here because we can do kind of our thing and we and obviously we're gonna we're gonna do some recording tomorrow from Princeton. You're gonna come back down and we're gonna do some recording from Princeton tomorrow, is gonna be awesome. We're gonna grab the coaches, whoever's available and kind of do some interviews, which I'm sure you guys will see shortly.
You know? But my family's been doing this even before we had a podcast. Right? Right. You make an experience out of it.
Listen, it's not cheap, you know? But if you can figure out a way to do it and you figure out a way to sign yourself up for a camp, he has fun, you see a new place, like you said, there's a bunch of networking involved in it. Right? I think Danielle matter of fact, we had Danielle Ward on very shortly, you guys are gonna hear her. And she said, I think the same thing if I'm not mistaken.
Correct me, Scott. She said, if you're going to network and meet people, that makes a lot of sense. Right. Right? You guys gonna hear her say that in the next half hour.
Right? And that's really the thing. You come, you network, you meet people. Like you said, you don't know who you're gonna run into. You don't know what coach is gonna rub off on you, and it's gonna stick with your kid.
Right? You never know.
Scott: And listen. And and and one of the things that although the interview will come out next week, but when we spoke with Evan Rodriguez, he he talked about a single and I'm not gonna go into the the we'll save the story for next for next week and let let him share it. Know. Yeah.
Jamie: It's it's a good story.
Scott: He he had one conversation with one coach that he, you know, changed trajectory of his career. Yeah. His entire life. So, you know, the circumstances weren't like he went to a summer camp and that coach called him, like, ten years later. No.
That wasn't it. But the point is that, like, you never know what, like, event on paper that seems somewhat like a nothing burger life. Could could really stick with you, and and you never know when you're gonna meet those people. You never know when you're gonna have those conversations. So the more you put yourself out there like anything else in life, you know, the the more opportunities you you you put yourself in a position to get something back, you know.
That's right. So, in any event, it's the way I'm thinking about spring and summer hockey is much more about, like, family togetherness, exploring, getting, you know, having, you know, different experiences with different coaches, but but not because it's gonna make a difference, like, where he goes to school or whatever. So, like, those are not the intentions. Right? And, yeah, that's yeah.
That's become very clear to me this week.
Jamie: Yeah, I agree. It creates memories, right? I mean, we say it all the time, the kids don't remember whether they I think Evan Rodriguez says it in the interview with him, says, You'll hear it next week. I think he said, like, you know, you don't remember whether you won or lost XYZ tournament. You don't remember the score.
You don't remember any that boat you you remember is hanging out with your buddies Yep. In hotels. Right? You remember the experience. You don't remember the games.
Right? And listen, there are certain games, obviously, you remember, you know, if you went and win brick or peewee Quebec, but like other things, it's about the experience. And that's and that and that shapes your kid in different ways, and they turn out to be, you know, a certain type of adult because of those things.
Scott: No doubt.
Jamie: You know? Yeah. For sure. So that's how you need to look at this stuff. You're a 100% right.
Scott: Yeah. Now, so now Otto's down there, and Dom's down there. After so that'll finish up on Thursday. After that, Otto's coming back. Yeah.
My dad my dad got hacked. Did he? So, yeah. So, my family's kinda dealing with hacking.
Jamie: Oh, always fun.
Scott: Annoying. Yeah. But yeah. After
Jamie: this Rough rough go the last couple days. Lost helmet. Oh, I can tell that story.
Scott: Even though I shared it with the interview with Danielle. Yeah. I was just checking like
Jamie: a rough an experience yesterday.
Scott: Yeah. No. Yeah. Check-in was check-in was was definitely an experience. So, I don't wanna say needless to say because but, like, you know, not everything is as organized as No.
Things potentially could be, and yesterday was an example.
Jamie: Get chaotic.
Scott: Yeah. And so, any event, one one of the things that happened yesterday no. Was it yesterday?
Jamie: Oh, yeah. It was yesterday.
Scott: It was yesterday. Okay. So, we have to rewind the tape, go back to Sunday morning because we drove down on Sunday.
Jamie: Yes, you did.
Scott: So, Sunday morning, Otto I I brought Otto to play some pickup hockey at, 06:00 in the morning. And, you know, my wife wanted to get a picture of us on the ice together. It doesn't happen that much. And last time I'd taken him, we didn't get a picture. She's like, just go get a picture on the ice with him.
He's got like, whatever. Now his hair is like bleached blonde and whatever. He looks like Eminem. He looks like Eminem. Ish.
A big fan. So then we took her I said, dude, take off your helmet. And so we both take off our helmets and put them on the ice. And as we're getting off the ice, like, the Zamboni's coming out, there's like two other guys that were in the middle of, like, you know, having a conversation with. I pick up a helmet, he picks up a helmet, we get undressed on benches that are, like, not in the locker room because he's younger.
He doesn't wanna, you know, we're not in there with like all the older dudes. We're just getting changed separately. Got it. His helmet ends up in my bag, and my helmet ends up in his bag. Yes.
Neither one of us realized that we had each other's helmet until a day later when Otto goes to get dressed at Princeton because we drove right down. He didn't unpack his bag after that skate. Yeah. And then it sat in the car overnight. And
Jamie: then Yeah. He
Scott: then he unpacked it and he realized he had my helmet. Oops. And this was after And when
Jamie: did he realize that he he had your helmet?
Scott: Right before he had to get on the ice.
Jamie: Yeah. So we had we we had checked in.
Scott: But hold on. I just wanna say one thing. Good. On the whole ride down there, meanwhile, we still needed to pick up Otto as an another pair of, like, base layer pants You said that. He only had one because one ripped.
So we need to pick up another pair. We need to get a skate sharpened. Going down there
Jamie: any of that stuff, by the way?
Scott: Yeah. We got a skate sharpened, and we got him a new base layer.
Jamie: Oh, you found it all? Okay.
Scott: Both. But those were two separate stops.
Jamie: Yeah. I know they were. That's what
Scott: I'm saying. And we're, like, hustling to get down there to watch the World Cup. We had made a stop before. So in in any event, the the hockey equipment, the amount of effort that went into, like, just making sure we could have, like, these, like, final pieces together and then only to find out that we need to go to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy him a new helmet, which was the closest place that had hockey helmets that I knew of or could find easily.
Jamie: And you're lucky that you had one.
Scott: And there was only one. There was only one, and that was it.
Jamie: So it worked. It it did work. It was it was pretty funny how Like
Scott: he missed the first session, the first online session.
Jamie: Yeah. It was kinda funny how everything kinda played itself out. So we get there, and there's there were a lot of people checking in. Right? So the line was long to kinda and it went through was it went very quickly to check-in when we got here yesterday morning.
But so then we check-in, and we go to the to the dorms. Right? And there was a little mix up of the rooms that then got got, you know, figured out. So Dom and Otto get to their room. And and I guess I guess oh, no.
Dom and Otto did not get to the room. I take that back. There was a mix up in the room, so the original rooms were off. So they went back to the rink because they had a 10:15 talk. Coach Sire was talking at 10:15.
So they went back and then us four, me, you, Nancy, and Orly, kind of talked to the young lady that was in control of the rooms. Right? And then we went and kind of moved their stuff into the new room. Right. Right?
So the kids weren't even with us. So we get to the room and really cool room. The buildings are ridiculous here on the campus of Princeton, like, just ridiculous. Absurdly ridiculous. They're they're like from the eighteen hundreds.
They're they're unbelievable. So their room has a fireplace in it. Super cool. Own bathroom, own shower. Again, super cool.
Old windows like right up my alley. Like, can't even tell you. So cool. And then I was kinda joking about this during during our our interview with Danielle Ward. Nancy and Orly start setting up their room.
Scott: Oh, yeah.
Jamie: Nancy and Orly are putting their their clothes in the in the drawers, and they're and they're making their beds. Right? Like, they're doing all this stuff for them. So, you know, so then then was it was we were on there on our way to the the the room? I think it was we're on our way to the room.
We were just about to the room to kind of move their stuff into the new room. And Dominic texts me, dad, Scott's helmet is in Otto's bag. And I'm like, oh, fuck. And you were standing right next to me. I look over at you and I'm like, yo, dude.
Like, your helmet's in Otto's bag. Hilarious. Fuck.
Scott: Yeah. I was so confused as to how that even happened because I didn't realize that we had and like, part of this is like, and then I feel bad. Right? Because then, like, Otto I get on the phone with Otto.
Jamie: Yeah. And they were just about they were starting to get on the ice
Scott: for an eval. They're just yeah.
Jamie: They're about to get on the First session after coach Sire talked was an escape.
Scott: And I said to Otto, I was like, I was making I I feel bad because I was definitely making him feel badly that he had fucked up. I was like, dude, dude, this is why we empty This bags is why we double check everything to make sure you have all of your own shit. Period. End of story. Period.
End of story. And and and, like, you know, ultimately, was it his fault? It was both of our faults, you know It's what happened. In the grand scheme of things. It was a it was a genuine mix up.
It wasn't out of, like, complete stupidity. Yeah. But yeah, man. And then So, he finally got his helmet. He got back he got on the ice for
Jamie: the rest you guys ran to dicks. You guys Yes. Missed they wouldn't let him go on the ice with Scott's helmet, obviously, because he just didn't fit right. Right? Of course.
That's liability wise. You knew that was gonna happen.
Scott: And for what it's worth, I'm looking at our helmets right now. They look basically identical.
Jamie: Do they? One's not like three times the size? I mean, you have a pretty serious dome.
Scott: No. But listen, I I could what? I'm not gonna put the helmets.
Jamie: But I'm serious. They don't look
Scott: like they don't look like totally different size wise? If you were really look when I look down and I see a helmet that's like navy blue with a black Oreo cage and, you know, whatever, they look exactly the same.
Jamie: So let me ask you a question. Do you have these the team stickers on your helmet?
Scott: No. But I I well, however I picked it up, I didn't notice the 14 on the back. I'm obviously
Jamie: just missing your
Scott: child. In any event.
Jamie: Listen. It it happens to every single person that's listening to this has has forgot something, whether they're skates or a helmet or elbow pads or shin guards or a cup, neck guard, you name it. We've all sticks. We've all done it. You know what I mean?
I I remember I was where was I? I was somewhere with Dominic, and we forgot his fucking sticks. I mean, it happens, dude. It just happens. It happens all I the
Scott: just sent you a picture of her two helmet of the two helmets side by side. Not that they're really close-up.
Jamie: Yeah. Okay. I mean, fair. I I see it. Oh, they're both CCM.
Okay. No. They're you're right. Matter of fact, now that I'm looking at it, I actually I actually can't tell which one's which. So fair.
You know? Fair.
Scott: It's fair.
Jamie: No. No. They both look the same. But one's got CCM on the chin strap and one doesn't. Other than that, they're the same helmet.
Scott: Right. So in any event. So but we got that cleaned up. They finally got checked into the room. Otto got on the ice.
All all good.
Jamie: But You guys ran to dicks, got him a helmet.
Scott: Mhmm. Ran
Jamie: so lucky, by the way. He was a helmet player. Because Dick has so little hockey stuff. As everybody that's been to Dick's knows as a hockey player.
Scott: The hockey season sucks. We would have had a further drive to get to a pure hockey.
Jamie: Yes. Which is like in
Scott: Cherry Hill, which is like forty minutes away.
Jamie: Yeah. Sorry. So talking about like forgetting shit or like not or needing stuff. So we're out at Penn State. And so we ordered a bunch of Titan Titan Battle Gear stuff.
Speaking of, we should do our partner shortly. Oh, yeah. And
Scott: then we Yeah. Go ahead.
Jamie: Yeah. We ordered a bunch of Titan Battle Gear stuff for for Dominic's two hockey camps, Penn State and Princeton. Yep. And he was running short on socks, on like Bauer socks. Like socks.
Or like hockey socks.
Scott: Like socks that go in like on his the skates or shin guards?
Jamie: No. No. On his feet. And then this foot goes in the skate. Like socks, regular socks, not not hockey socks.
Right? Like socks that you put on your feet. So so when we were in Penn State, we were looking for hockey socks. Can I just tell you, there's like no pro shop anywhere around Penn State? And I mean no pro shop.
There was a place that I found. I'm like, oh my god. I'm like, it was like Smitty's bicycles Bro, and you think I'm joking. You think I'm joking. It was Smitty's, bicycles, and hockey equipment.
Shit you not. No bullshit. It wasn't called Smitty's, but it's something like that.
Scott: Right. Right.
Jamie: Stewards, bicycles, and hockey equipment. Right? That was somewhere in downtown State College. Right? Yeah.
So then when we went to find that place, permanently closed. Okay. Not gonna lie. When I
Scott: looked Wait. Did up we you went there?
Jamie: Fuck. Yeah. Walked
Scott: over pulled up. It didn't say permanently closed on Google Maps?
Jamie: Yeah. It it did, and then we kinda like we're we were near it anyway, so we just walked over to see
Scott: You got to Wally World and the parking lot
Jamie: was closed. Empty. Exactly. So, like and I'm not gonna lie. When we looked it up and I looked at Nancy and I go I go I go, first of I go, does a bicycle shop and hockey equipment, like, those two things don't go together.
Scott: Like Not a lot of synergy there.
Jamie: I was like, Nancy, this can't
Scott: biking is good for for like, a good exercise for hockey players.
Jamie: Sure it is. But, like, you know, like, I've those are two things that I would not think would be one the same store. Right?
Scott: No. I totally agree.
Jamie: Right. So, like so again, so couldn't find any fucking socks, Bauer socks anywhere. I would take any hockey sock or or close to it at the time. So then we we ran to like a place called Durhams. Out in out in out in State College is a place called Durhams, which is a sporting goods store.
It reminds you of a Dick's. Okay?
Scott: It's a fucking mom and pop Dick's.
Jamie: But it's massive.
Scott: Like, Scott,
Jamie: they're the same size as Dick's. Like, you would almost think that Dick's owns Durham's. Okay? Okay. Place is fucking massive.
So we go to Durham's. No hockey socks. Very little hockey stuff similar to Dick's. Right? So they're like, okay.
Let's go to Dick's. Now, again, like I said before, for those of you who know Dick's and you have a hockey player, you've walked through the Dick's hockey section. Like, don't blink because you'll miss it. Right? Super tiny.
Most of the stuff is like street hockey sticks. Sometimes they have a helmet. So we walked in we then we drove to Dick's because we can't find hockey socks. Dick's, no hockey socks. When they did have Dick's at out of state college, they had two hockey helmets.
Those I did notice. So when you when you found out yesterday that you guys were down a helmet, I was pretty confident that there would be a helmet there.
Scott: That's what there was. Ah, Ah, junior helmet. Ah. Ah. I was like I was kinda hoping it was like in pink.
Jamie: So, just embarrassed him?
Scott: So, he'd have to wear it. Yeah. You know, I said to Dom, Otto ran back to the locker room because I said because I didn't want it. I wanted to bring my helmet back in case I was gonna get on the ice before he got back. Right.
And so Otto went to run and get my my helmet, and I was standing there with Dom. And I say, Dom, listen. If your dad came back with a pink helmet and that was your only option, are you gonna wear it? He goes, I have no choice.
Jamie: Is that what he said? Dave, I
Scott: I have no choice.
Jamie: Listen. Yeah. Good for him. I would it's good.
Scott: No. That was a good answer. I feel like I feel like Otto Otto actually kinda doesn't mind some of that like
Jamie: The pink stuff?
Scott: Flare, if you will.
Jamie: Well, he he likes he likes a little sty.
Scott: I mean, his hair is unnaturally blonde.
Jamie: The real Slim Shady.
Scott: He was gonna dye it. He was gonna tint it pink too.
Jamie: Right. Was he?
Scott: So, I guess he would have been okay with a pink helmet.
Jamie: Yeah. I think so. Sounds like it.
Scott: Yeah. Anyway, there was a guy in the World Cup, maybe for Norway, who had like a pink tinted hair. I was like, oh He liked tomorrow at twelve. Yeah.
Jamie: Don't like that. He liked that.
Scott: Yeah. Anyway.
Jamie: Okay. Alright. So talk so speaking about like gear and socks and base layers, so why don't we do a little partner stuff? Get some take some
Scott: Yeah.
Jamie: Business, get that out of the way. So you guys should go check out Howie's Hockey. Use our code crazy 10 for 10% off your Howie's Hockey gear. They have awesome tape, laces, Scott's favorite, the candle, my favorite, the yellow handled scissors. We use them everywhere, literally everywhere, not joking.
They have one of the of the best logos in youth hockey right next to ours. Yeah. They have awesome stuff. Their their clothes are are great. Their hats are great.
You see them all around rinks. You see the the little tape squiggle on people's gear. So go check out Howie's hockey. Use our discount code crazy 10 for 10% off your Howie's hockey gear.
Scott: Yep. And it was it was great. Howie's they got Howie's jerseys at Princeton. They had the the Yeah. The tape the tape h front and center.
Jamie: Yeah. Right on right above the Yeah. The h squiggle. Yeah. That's right.
Princeton all the Princeton the jerseys they hand out yesterday, all the kids, all were Howie's jerseys.
Scott: Yeah. It was cool
Jamie: to see. Good call. Yeah.
Scott: Yeah. And so now that off season is in full swing, everyone should be going to hockeytraining.com to check out coach Kevin's library of off ice speed strength agility stick handling video courses. It's a great way to improve your off ice or improve your hockey your on ice hockey skills off ice in this during the off season at home. If, you know, you go to your local high school to do any, like, running or any type of, like you know, wherever you might get some off ice conditioning, you know, you can do it with hockeytraining.com. Go to Instagram.
You can check out coach Kevin's IG page. It's Hockey Training HQ. He's got a lot of great information there, but please check him out. He's got a a massive library of videos that are gonna help you, you know, improve your on ice skills off ice during this spring and summer.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. And then go check out Titan battle gear. So Scott and I trust our kids with Titan battle gear. As far as base layer protections, the cart resistant stuff is unbelievable.
The a nine, it's the safest stuff on the market. And it looks great too. So we all we all know that kids love style. So go check out titanbattlegear.com. You can catch it in our show notes.
The the link is titanbattlegear.com backslash Crazy Hockey Dads. Use our discount code for 10% off. It's Crazy Dads 10 for 10% off your Titan Battle Gear. They have some really cool stuff. They just partnered with USA Hockey.
Dominic just got the USA Hockey base layer. They have camo. They have all these different colors. They have the Miami Vice one. They have a new they have an a new limited edition that just dropped called the Frozen Rocket.
So for you for you for you moms and dads, it looks like a Bomb Pop. Right? The old Bomb Pops that we used to get at the at the ice cream trucks.
Scott: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jamie: They have a whole line called the Frozen Rocket that just came out. They have shorts. They have the base layer. They have hoodies. They have T shirts.
So go check out titanbattlegear.com. Use our discount code crazy dads 10 for 10% off your Titan battle gear.
Scott: That's it. And for any of you coaches or managers listening that are considering or looking into video review and team analytics for your upcoming winter season, go to athleticperformanceinsight.com. It's a super robust platform. If you fill out the contact form, reach out to Eric who's developed and owns the company. He'd be more than happy to do a demo for you as well as break down a game for free just so you can see what's going on with the platform when all is said and done.
But, yeah, it's a it's a great platform to use with your in your video sessions, to talk to players about their On Ice performance. You can filter. You can look at all different types of gameplay scenarios. Look at stats. You can look at your competition before you, you know, have your next game against them.
So go check out athleticperformanceinsight.com, you know, for any of your video analytics needs. Mention Crazy Hockey Ted Hockey Dads for 10% off your season subscription.
Jamie: Yeah. Right? Yeah. $100 value.
Scott: There you go.
Jamie: You can buy a third of a stick with that. So Yeah. Unless you get your stick at Swift.
Scott: Oh, I told you, we saw one of the goalies
Jamie: sticks. Right?
Scott: One of the one of the goalies at the Longwood Moe's Smile event was using a Swift hockey stick. And I was like, oh, dude, you should check out our our episode when we interviewed Zacharias Thomas. Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. It was good.
Scott: Yeah. And
Jamie: who do we have today, Scott?
Scott: Oh, my God. Do we have one of the the most notable youth hockey coaches probably in the country. I
Jamie: was gonna say Or or even further afar. For that for those birth years, yes.
Scott: Well, listen. I mean, so Danielle Ward, head coach of now she's the head coach of the sixteens, fourteens, and twelves?
Jamie: A lot. She's got
Scott: a 16, full fourteens, twelves?
Jamie: Full slate of teams. You'll hear about it shortly. Yeah.
Scott: And she's you know, she coaches at Mid Fairfield, and we brought it up when we spoke with her, but I I many of you might have seen an Instagram post where her 2012 team won Pee Wee Quebec. This was They
Jamie: won brick too.
Scott: They won brick too, but then they won Pee Wee Quebec, and there's a like, kind of like an aerial picture of, like, the benches, and it's just Danielle on the bench with her group. And then there's the other picture, and I think it was like the a Canadian team. I feel like they were in Montreal colors.
Jamie: Maybe not the more yeah. It was a team team Toronto or so it was somebody like that. I forgot who it was too.
Scott: Yeah. And their coach is like looks more like, you know, it's full of, like, assistant coaches and
Jamie: There were like seven guys on the bench.
Scott: It's like one woman, you know, one group versus like seven men and like whatever. And it was just unreal to see how, like, dominant that team has been over the years, and it's crazy. Like, any of their losses are are pretty much just to birth years above them. Right? So, like, old
Jamie: like, older groups. Elite elevens. Elite right.
Scott: Yeah. They're 12. They're Yeah. So it's just an unreal unreal group, unreal team, unreal, you know, coaching. Just so much goes into making such a dominant team.
Right? And yeah. Go ahead. You you I mean, you know Danielle for years. Dominic skated with her.
So, I mean, you could probably shed more light on on your experience working with her and, like, about her teams. But, yeah, just just meeting her on, you know, the call for the interview was just it was awesome just to hear from her and learn more about what goes on over there.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. No. We've known Danielle for a while now. You know, Dominic tried out for for the CJR Pre Brick stuff.
So he made CJR Pre Brick, I guess, when he was, like, Nine? Seven, seven, or eight.
Scott: Seven, eight.
Jamie: I think I think was was it was it after full ice mites or before full ice mites? It I forgot when It would have been after, dude. When we did pre well, it would have been okay. So, yeah, is that what I'm
Scott: your second year is your second is your second squirt year.
Jamie: Is that when they that's when they that's when they have the game?
Scott: No. So I'm saying pre brick.
Jamie: Right.
Scott: So pre brick. Sorry. Pre brick would have been at the end of your first squirt year.
Jamie: Okay. That that alright. So alright. So whatever it was. So we we met Danielle when Dominic was probably eight, call it ish.
Yeah. Right? So Dominic went up to to Stanford and he tried out for the pre BRIC CJR. So he made it. So we played with him for for for two years, you know, in the pre BRIC stuff.
It it was cool. It was a lot of fun. Dom was doing lessons with her too. You know, you could tell from from the from very, very, very early on that she was just cut from another mold. Like, you know, like, just actually, I I think I just I think I just put two things together.
I meant cut from another cloth. Cloth. And yeah. And but they broke the mold when they made her as a as a as a coach, I think. She's just a different animal.
You know? And you get and you you figure it out very, very early on. If you've ever been around her, she's she's, you know, she's don't get me, she's a lot of fun, but she's super not super serious on the ice. I take that back. She actually jokes around with kids a lot.
But she's just a different type of youth coach.
Scott: Well, the Right? Accountability is super important. Accountability and effort. If you fall short on either one of those, you're gonna know.
Jamie: Yes. Yes. You know? You know, so she she's just been she's a different animal when it comes to to youth hockey coaching. And listen, she's had I I I don't know any other coach that's had the the level of success that she has.
I I can't even think of one.
Scott: I personally don't even think I would know if there were there was another one with as much success. But, like, based on since since my son's been playing Yeah. That team has been the unicorn of unicorns, the twenty twelve State Fairfield team.
Jamie: Yeah. And my kid's twenty twelve, so I know a lot of those parents and a lot of those kids very well. Like I said, we did pre break with a lot of them. When Dom was on our Rockets team, we played against them a truckload. You know?
So Dom's we've known Danielle for a very long time. She's a great skills coach. She's she runs a great skills practice. You know? And to be totally honest with you, I remember when when Dominic made when he made that CJR pre BRIC team at first, I think they took like 30 kid there was 30 kids?
Whatever they took. I forgot how many kids they took, whatever it was. But I remember it was during COVID and going up there, and I remember the workouts were so ridiculous. I'd never seen anything like it up to that point. Right?
Wow. And I remember like saying to somebody like, I would I would pay for this just for the workouts. Sure. Like the tournaments or something like that that you went to were just kinda like an extra added bonus. You know?
And you went to some pretty cool places like Chicago, Vegas. Vancouver got canceled because of COVID. But like the Boston showdown up in Boston. But yeah, it was it was it was it was her workouts were just different, man. They were just different.
You know? And and they and there was also a different the different level of kid there, you know, at at at that time.
Scott: Well, and Mid Fairfield is consistently one of the top teams. Right. Yeah. Listen. According to you know, in their leagues, you know, across the nation, but also, like, the my hockey rankings always has them in, the top five best organizations, youth hockey organizations in the country among some of other real notables like Penn's Elite and, like, Bell Caesars and
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Know, they've they've cemented themselves as as, you know, they're the real deal.
They have a lot of they have a lot of talent.
Scott: She even said they have people that are, like, moving across the country so their kids can play. Who do
Jamie: we got here? Nancy and Luca. Nancy, they brought they brought me Starbucks.
Scott: Oh, nice. I I wish I had Starbucks need right now. Coffee.
Jamie: Yeah. What comes hi to everybody, Nancy? Come say hi. Come on. Just poke your head.
Say hi to Scott. We're we're recording. Say hi.
Scott: Hey, Nancy. Hi. What's going
Jamie: on? Luca, wanna say hi?
Scott: Crazy hockey mom, crazy hockey brother. That's right. What's going on, Luca?
Jamie: Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. They brought me they brought me a green tea from Starbucks.
Thank you, guys.
Scott: Oh, yeah.
Jamie: They just came back from PJ's Pancakes. Those for those of you who know Downtown Princeton, there is a place on Nassau Street, which is right down the street from the Nassau Inn where we're staying called PJ's Pancakes. Great for breakfast. I think when we had Connor Jones on both times, I think I I actually mentioned PJ's to him. We talked about that.
Scott: Mhmm. Yeah. Well, you know, you know downtowns.
Jamie: Not only are we a youth hockey podcast, but we also like to give travel information. Yes. Especially if they're around rinks and camps. Yes.
Scott: I know downtowns. Anyway And have downtowns. Yes. But, yeah, listen. Why don't why don't we send it over to Danielle?
Let's get that interview underway, and then we can pick it up on the flip side.
Jamie: Yeah. Here it is. Danielle Ward, winner of February Bricks, February Peewee, Quebec. I don't know another better youth hockey coach than her to date, so I hope everybody enjoys this interview with Danielle Ward from Mid Fairfield. Alright, everybody.
We have a special guest tonight. We have Danielle Ward. I've been trying to get Danielle on the podcast for jeez, Danielle. I mean, like, a year, something like that. Yeah.
Finally finally got you to come on. I I appreciate you taking the time tonight. Thanks so much for hanging out with us.
Danielle: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Jamie: So, we always like to start, Danielle, with, like, you know, your your path. Like, you know, how did you fall in love with the game? Like, so take us from, like, back to when you were little, whatever age you started skating, and and and kinda go through your entire, like, youth, college, and pro career, and then kinda get into what you're doing now. Actually, you know what? Let's do that.
Why don't you talk about what you're doing now, and then we'll get into your youth stuff. How's that sound?
Danielle: Okay. So right now, I'm basically full time coaching at the youth level. I have bantam major, PB major, squirt major. And then I coach at our hockey academy, which is Breakaway Academy. That's sort of run through Mid Fairfield.
And then I also do private lessons, like group lessons. That's a full time thing.
Jamie: Right. Right. So you've been and you've been doing this for some time now. Okay. And just in case the for the people that don't know, I can't imagine why they wouldn't know if you're in the youth hockey space.
But, you know, Danielle's 12 team has won Brick. They won Pee Wee Quebec. I mean, they're an absolute wagon. Everybody kind of around the 12 birth year kind of knows the story. Everybody has seen the Instagram clip of Danielle winning when she's literally the solo coach on the bench and the other I forgot who you guys were playing, Danielle, but it's the funniest Instagram clip when you're on the bench by yourself running an entire team, and the other team's got like seven dudes behind the bench.
I mean, you're Scott? It's one of the best Instagram
Scott: videos. Like, all time.
Jamie: Yeah. It is
Scott: all time. It's unreal.
Jamie: So good. Alright? So Danielle obviously has a is a very imp See, Danielle, as I mute my mic. So Danielle is a very impressive youth coach. So take us back, Danielle.
Take us back to when you were younger and how you started playing this game up until you finished your pro career.
Danielle: So I have an older brother. He's ten years older than me. So he was playing hockey. And then my parents wouldn't let me start playing hockey until he graduated high school. Oh, wow.
So I kinda started a little bit late, like eight years old. I had been begging to play, but they wouldn't let me play. So I basically started out at the house level at eight and played house league or B level in Flint, Michigan through 12 years old. And my dad was my coach and I love my dad. He's a great coach, but he can't skate.
And so, we had a lot of fun. He always taught us to be like, score and pass and just be a good teammate. He made it a lot of fun for us since we didn't really get the skill development side of things. And then I started moved to like a single A level at 13, and then moved over to girls triple A at age 14. And so then I finally started playing like triple a level from, you know, 14 to 19.
I did like a PG year at Honey Baked before I went to college. Then I did two years at Southern Maine, which was division three. And then I did two years at University of Maine, which was d one.
Jamie: Right. I'm curious. How did you how did you make the jump from like from D3 to D1? Did you just light it up and then they kind of brought brought you on? How'd that happen?
Danielle: I probably was always on the level of D1, but didn't necessarily choose that route for myself and maybe didn't have priorities totally straight and, you know, wanted to have a little fun. And then I was actually gonna kinda just hang it up and move back home. And then two weeks before the season started, the new assistant coach at Maine had just gotten hired. And he was like, oh, we just had a spot open. Like, will you bring be the first person we bring in?
And so made it work out. I was literally driving to school, and he called me on the phone and was like, oh, by the way, you got admitted into school. I was like, great. Because I'm only a few hours away.
Jamie: Unbelievable. So you finished up at Maine, and then what happened after that?
Danielle: After Maine, I went and played in Germany for one season. I played in Munich. That was an amazing experience. A the hockey was pretty good. Most of my team was on the national team.
And we Jeez. We won the German league that year, and I believe we won the European league also that year.
Jamie: Jeez. Okay. So is that
Danielle: then I was looking to move back to The US after that, and I had a couple job offers. And one of them ended up being through a connection of old coaches back in Michigan and then also through Maine, got me the job in Stanford, Connecticut.
Jamie: Okay. Wow. Gotcha.
Danielle: I, yeah, I actually moved back to Connecticut or to Connecticut. And then I believe it was two years later is when the women's pro league started.
Scott: Oh, wow.
Jamie: So Oh, you coached and then you went into the women's pro league. Didn't realize there was a gap there.
Danielle: Just kinda got lucky that they had ended up putting a team in Stanford where I had just kinda taken a job two years prior.
Scott: Amazing. Okay.
Jamie: Yeah. And what was that experience like? So you played one year in Connecticut for the women's pro league. What was that like?
Danielle: It was was pretty amazing to be a part of that foundation and just trying to get it going. There was a lot of excitement around the team. We had way more fans than I ever had in college, which isn't saying much, but for the first year, it was great. And, you know, the level was really great that first year because we had a ton of Olympians in the league. And so it it was a good experience.
It was nice to be back on a team and back in the locker room and and playing at that level again. Right.
Scott: Wow. So just just hearing just going rewinding the tape a little bit. So when you made that transition because, you know, we haven't had too many guests on to talk about the women's game. And, obviously, you know, what, you know, the game has changed so much certainly from when I was a kid and when you were playing at the youth levels. But in terms of, like, you know, families that have young girls that are playing and you your transition from playing, you know, coed or, like, you know, boys, you know, whatever you wanna call it, and then going to girls only.
If was there were there options for you to keep on going and playing, you know, with the boys, or did you have to make the switch then? I I forget if you said it was, like, when checking or if it was earlier. But, you know, if you could just talk a little bit about that transition for yourself and like any advice for families out there with girls in So the
Danielle: I did three years of checking. When it got to about age 14 is when the size difference like really, really set And again, my dad was my coach still at the time, and he even says, I don't remember this, but he's like, There's times I just couldn't put you on the ice anymore. I was nervous for was just small. I was really tiny. And I don't know, 14 year old boys are pretty big now.
Sure.
Jamie: Yes. Yes, they are. Some of them are enormous.
Danielle: Yeah. So as you said, the game has evolved so much on the girls' side. Back then, there wasn't a ton of opportunity under Pee wee age. They're under 12. I think now the level's gotten so high on the girls' side and you see so many females coaching now that played division one and played pro hockey that there's this thought that, oh, girls should stay with the boys for as long as they can.
I don't necessarily believe that's true. If you asked me fifteen, twenty years ago, would've said, Yes, stay with the boys for as long as you can. I sort of disagree a little bit now Just because on the girls side, are probably sometimes getting better coaches than what you could get playing at the level of boys you could play. Got So not every girl's gonna make a tier one top elite boys team. Right?
It's just genetics. Like, you can't do it. But so sometimes you're playing at that tier two level or the double A level, and then you're still getting like a lot of parent coaches or it's more recreation.
Scott: Mhmm.
Danielle: But if you were to play on the girls side, you might have someone that played division one hockey and knows the skill development and knows the techniques. And you actually might be getting better development on the girls' side at a younger age now than if you stuck with the boys' side. And so I think like, one, the skill development, because you do have really good coaches. Two, is like a confidence thing. You see the girls, like, I watch some girls that stay with boys a little bit too long and they barely touch the puck.
Right. So, like, they may they might have, like, good IQ or, like, keeping up with pace. But if you don't have the puck on your stick, like, it's it's hard to get confidence when that time does come.
Jamie: Right. Right. Are you impressed with the with kinda what's happening with the girls game now? It's funny, Danielle. You know, it's funny when Scott asked that question too.
I feel like girls, I don't wanna say almost had to play with boys, you know, for a long time, you know, when you came up in the game because there weren't a whole lot of all girl teams at that point. Right?
Danielle: Mhmm.
Jamie: You know, now you see them like, because obviously it's evolving, you know, so the game's changing. And you see a lot of girls programs with full teams. I mean, we we talked to Sadie Lundquist on here from Minnesota, and listen, Minnesota's little bit of a different animal. Right? I mean, I mean, you know, I mean, they they could field girls teams all day long.
You know? But even around here, you know, I mean, you know, the girls teams are, and they're full teams. I mean, so the game's definitely changed. Are you impressed with how, like, the game has changed, you know, on the girls side? Obviously, the PWHL is is huge for that, but it seems like the game has really taken off on the women's side.
Danielle: Yeah. Absolutely. It it feels like it's one of, like, the biggest growing sports right now, honestly. The numbers are big. You know, I started the girls program at CJR probably eight years ago now.
And at one point, I think we had, like, five age levels going through and I think we had multiple teams. We were even ranked number one at one point. But for a state as small as Connecticut, like to see that growing and you get a number one team in a small state like that, like I'm really impressed with where the girls game's going. And, you know, we've got, like, the prep schools in the area too. And I think that helps, and it gives a little pathway for the girls.
Jamie: Right. Do you find that since you started that girls program at CJR, do you find that maybe you guys didn't have a lot of teams to play early on, and that's kind of changing now a couple years later? Do you notice that?
Danielle: Yeah. Definitely. I mean, I guess it goes against what I said a little bit earlier, but we played a lot of boys teams
Jamie: Okay.
Danielle: Early on.
Jamie: Sure. Because of But we're normal taking all
Danielle: girls team and play boys teams. Gotcha. And it mostly went over pretty well, and people were accepting of it. And again, like I said, it pushed the pace of the girls, but at the same time, like, there's nothing like that locker room and having, like, an all girls locker room. Like, I feel the difference when I walk in my boys' locker room and I walk in my girls' locker room.
It's just so much fun. And we have a really great time, and I guess, like, girls kinda miss that when they're on a boys' team.
Scott: Mhmm. You know,
Jamie: it's so funny. Now that I'm actually thinking about this, now this I don't know why this slipped my mind, but when when we were the when Dom was on that 2012 Rockets team, I wanna say we played your tell me if I'm wrong here. We played your 11 or 2010 My
Danielle: 2011.
Jamie: 2011. That's Sacred Heart. Right?
Danielle: Probably.
Jamie: Right. Right. Right. That's right. I that's totally popped into my head when you said that.
I forgot about that.
Danielle: Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of those girls have now moved on, and they're playing at Shattuck and BK and Right. A lot of prep schools too. So Right.
That that was a pretty high end team.
Jamie: Yeah.
Danielle: Yeah. You seem
Jamie: to have a lot of high end teams, Danielle.
Scott: I I actually wanted to I wanted to dive into that a little bit because, obviously, folks that are around this, you know, where we live, New York, New New Jersey, Connecticut, and certainly beyond, like, are from oh, I let me back up. I'm sure the whole country is aware of how, you know, talented, you know, Mid Fairfield is. And, you know, obviously, they're always in, like, my hockey rankings, one of the top ranked organizations in the country. You know? So could you just if you could talk a little bit about to the about the organization, you know, kind of, like, what what are some of, like, the philosophical things or even, like, cultural things within that organization that just help it continue to be, like, best on you know, like, the best year over Yeah.
Exactly. Like like, if you could just give us a little insight to, like, you know, what it's like working at that program.
Danielle: I love it. I absolutely love working for Mid Fairfield. They kind of have the same philosophy of me, and I believe in just building everything from bottom up. So we have a pretty big might program. And starting with our five year olds, we have our top coaches on the ice with our five year olds.
And whether that's dads that played in the NHL, multiple paid coaches, we take that youngest age pretty seriously, and we keep a coach with each birth year, and they kinda move up with that team. But we've always put a lot of effort into building at that youngest age and just trying to keep it together as long as we can. I think until last year, I still had six kids from when we were five on our on our 13 turning 14 year old team. So that's not bad.
Scott: No. That was shocker. Because that that's like something also and I'm jumping around a little bit and, you know, I'd love to hear more about, like, any of the organizational stuff you wanna, you know, talk about. But I know on some of, like, the sort of the higher end organizations, and I and I I don't know Mid Fairfield, but there are some out there where it's like you could spend, like, you know, your mite your mite years through your pee wee, you know, years. And then once you get up to, like, whatever pee wee bantam and then but when you're getting to that, like, 15, 16 year old birth, you know, birth year or age group, not birth year, age group.
Like, there there ends up being a lot of building, people coming in from all different parts of the country. So in terms of, like, you you know, keeping that team together, is that something that Mid Fairfield experiences also when you get to certain age groups, you're attracting talent from further further away?
Danielle: I think it's really new for us as an organization. I have three kids building next season. But even down to my squirt team, we have kids that have just moved in from across the country. We just picked up a kid from California, two kids from Florida. All have roots in Connecticut, so it's not totally like
Jamie: Right, insane.
Danielle: Out there. I think it's a pretty new thing. And I think the biggest reason is because we have to now compete with the academies.
Scott: Right.
Danielle: And, you know, we've always had a rule that we have to have one more player from Connecticut than every other any other state. So that still keeps us pretty heavy Connecticut loaded. But you do need to do what you can to compete with these academies. I feel like we need to keep pushing it just because you owe it to your top players to continue to have the best team on the ice for those guys, especially the local guys. Like, if they're gonna stay stay with you, you owe them the best team that you can put on the ice.
So we have started, you know, reaching out a little bit farther, getting billet players. You hate to, like, let go of a local guy, but it's kind of the the new beast that we're working with.
Jamie: Yeah. Interesting. I'm curious. What do you what do you think about what's what's kinda happening in in Uthaki these days? I'm so curious.
You've obviously been doing this for a long time now, so you've kinda seen the evolution of it. What do you think about kind of the state of of youth hockey today compared to when you started this?
Danielle: It it's gone totally crazy.
Jamie: Yep. Which is why we have a podcast.
Danielle: Yeah. It's gone totally crazy. At the same time, it's been really fun for me. This past season again, year, for example, we only have six kids that are going to traditional school on my oldest team. Wow.
And we'll have like seven or eight going to our academy. But that's super fun for me because now I'm skating with our guys in the morning, in the middle of the day. It's a little bit more of a nontraditional thing. Like, we now have a 4PM team practice instead of your typical band team practice is at 09:00.
Jamie: Right.
Danielle: We're able to now practice at 4PM next year, which Shoot. Maybe gets these guys to bed a little bit earlier, which is that's exciting for me. Just what what can we create now that the game is changing? Like, what can we do with it? And so I I'm enjoying that piece of it even though it is totally nuts.
Jamie: Yes. It is.
Scott: Well, in terms of things being totally nuts, I mean, is there like, what and and I'm not I'm not saying nuts necessarily to put it like, know, patient hold is something like bad or that's just but something that's just, you know, maybe kinda taken on a life of its own that it didn't have previously. Are there certain things in particular that kind of fall into that bucket for you? I mean, like, the academies is one. Right? So there's that's that's a thing.
But is there anything else that kind of touches on that?
Danielle: Well, I almost like the academy style seems like the biggest thing to me because, like, in the past, how many kids were going to school online or going to academies? Like, you'd like to think that it's all gonna be, you know, we all come out of this normal. I hope so. But I guess we're kind of the guinea pigs for all of that, it seems.
Jamie: Right. Yeah.
Danielle: But it seems like we're surrounding these kids with good environment, good people. So I think it'll be okay. But that to me seems like the biggest change.
Jamie: I'm curious. Did they when so did you have a hand in kinda building the academy, or did somebody else kind of have the architecture of it and then kind of bring you in and kind of like have you work it? Like, what what was that looking like?
Danielle: So the original Breakaway Academy is in Minnesota. And so Gary Zegres, who runs Mid Fairfield, he brought the breakaway to Connecticut. And so they built that two years ago. I've had like a decent hand in it as far as like bringing kids in, running practices. And now we're building like a video room, a shooting room.
They've got the gym. And now I'm kind of, we have meetings this week coming up about just how we're gonna adapt the day to day based on like our ages, our skill levels. So I I'm enjoying being involved with that kind of stuff. Mhmm. Because, again, it it's all pretty new.
Right. And just seeing how creative we can get with it to get the best out of it.
Jamie: I'm curious. What what is what have you noticed as, like, the hardest thing kind of kind of seeing it being put together? Is there something that you noticed that you were like, wow, that was really difficult or is really difficult, still is really difficult?
Danielle: I'd say the most difficult thing is costs. These academies aren't cheap. And so to get kids into these, it's not totally easy. And so I'd say that's like the biggest hurdle right now. Hockey's just become so expensive.
I guess, like, when you're playing tier one, like, truthfully, cost has gotta be at least $20 or more anyways without going to an academy. So I think now just families trying to decide, like, how to balance those costs and what's worth it is probably the biggest hurdle.
Scott: Yeah. Right. So and you were you were talking earlier just about, like, how serious that mid fear field takes, like, the younger age groups that, like, for as young as five. Mhmm. You know, just kind of, like, build from the ground up.
In terms of, like, a a player's path that's, like, you know, getting into, like, the mid fear field ecosystem, You you know, like, what the hopes from, like, an organizational standpoint for, like, you know, a player that's gonna have longevity within the organization, does that include the academy at this point, or is the academy kind of, like, treated separately, or, like, do they feed each other? Like, kinda how does that work?
Danielle: The academy's separate, but it certainly helped me build my teams. So I have even as young as 20 that go to the academy. So they were squirt minors this year. And that certainly helped, I guess, feed both sides of things. You don't have to go to the academy.
It's there if you want to. You know, I had people that didn't come to Bantam tryouts this year because they thought that they had to quit school. And I was like, No, no, no. You don't have to quit school to play on Mid Fairfield. You can still go to school.
So, they feed off each other. They help each other out. And I think it's good. I think it's really good for the organization.
Scott: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. So I'm curious. What were your parents like, Danielle? Did you have crazy hockey parents, crazy hockey dad, crazy hockey mom?
I mean, it sounds like your dad maybe couldn't skate like you could, but what were your what were your parents like when you started?
Danielle: I don't think they were crazy. My dad was always pretty level headed, even keeled. Pretty positive coach, made sure that things were fun. Like, I don't really remember a negative experience with him on the bench. You know, I think he always just wanted to get the best out of all of the kids.
My mom was always pretty positive. You know, she wasn't like one of those loud parents in the rink. She just kinda let me do my thing. Same with my dad. I kinda steered the ship and they supported it along the way.
Jamie: Right. Yeah. That's awesome. Did did did did your dad play hockey at all?
Danielle: No. He didn't? He was a baseball player and a wrestler.
Jamie: Okay. Gotcha. So he just kinda got into coaching it because he saw that you loved it and he just kinda wanted to help out?
Danielle: I think so. I mean, my brother was playing and yeah.
Jamie: Did he coach him too?
Danielle: I'm not sure.
Jamie: Oh, okay. Gotcha. Alright. Listen, Dads. Listen.
Alright. Good for him. Like that
Danielle: There's he big got age gap.
Jamie: Oh, there is. Gotcha. Okay. Listen. That's awesome that he got into it for you.
Listen. Yeah. Maybe it's a reason to spend more time with you. Right? Can't fault him for that.
Scott: Know? Was was your decision to go into coaching at some point? Was that did that have anything to do with, you know, like, the fact that your father had coached at some point?
Danielle: I I think he definitely left a positive experience Yeah. On me with it. And just like the the things that he taught me that are important, you know, I think I carried that through my game for a long time. And that was just like like I said, being a good teammate, like, you have to have the same amount of goals and assists. So like, I'm like a big believer in passing the puck.
And just like really hard work ethic. My dad was a super hard worker, expected me to work hard. And so that's something that I really value. And so I think, like, him building those things in me has definitely, like, made me enjoy wanting to pass that on.
Scott: That makes sense because I know And, you know, maybe if even just like if, you know, we have coaches that listen also, and I and I feel like we're jumping around a little bit. But, know, Jim, you know, if you wanna go back another direction. But I was just curious
Jamie: That's good.
Scott: In terms of your approach, I mean, you've had so much success, and then certainly with the 2012, you know, birth year that's, like, you know, unreal, and so many people know about the team and the talent. But, you know, like, any any advice that in terms of or maybe you could speak to some of the things that you do that that you believe you can, you know, attribute some of the you know, some of your success to from a coaching perspective.
Danielle: Well, I I've always tried I'm pretty hard to play for, to be honest. Not the craziest coach play for. I've always been known to be tough on kids, but at the same time, I try to be fair. There's an accountability and top to bottom, there has to be that accountability. So you can be hard, but as long as you're fair and you're the same way for everybody.
So like, I think that gets some respect along the way. Sure. And that's kinda why like kids trust you and are willing to put it all on the line because they do believe that there's like, oh, if I put in this, I'm gonna get that. It's not just like a reward because of a name type of thing.
Jamie: Right. Yeah. So I'm curious. What made you wanna get into coaching? I know you said kind of like when you were finished playing, a bunch of people asked you, did you just kinda fall into it?
Is it something you always wanted to do? Just kinda like they offered you a job and you're like, yeah, sure. I can do that.
Danielle: No. I've always loved the system side of things. And I had a coach starting in u fifteen who really started to introduce me to that stuff. And that's when I really, really started loving the game is when I started understanding the the thought process of the game more. And so then in college, I had a really good coach that started bringing me in to teach me how to do video.
And I would sit in the office in college and clip video and watch future recruits. Like, what'd you see that was good here? And they kinda taught me how to do it. I just fell in love with it even more and kinda knew that's exactly what I wanted to do. So probably starting junior year of college, they started training me then because it just seemed like something I was really into.
Jamie: Right. No. No. So it's funny because you were looking you were looking at video of like high school kids for like a college recruiting for college. Right?
Danielle: Yeah. They would just show me the tapes of the kids that were sending in and be like, what do you think of this? They'd make me break it down and tell me what I thought about each little play.
Jamie: And
Danielle: then they'd make me clip our team games. I just And you learn a lot. Like, you're constantly learning from watching. I watch probably eight hours, ten hours of video every week now
Scott: as Right. A Right.
Danielle: So you're just, like, constantly learning, and that's really exciting to me.
Jamie: Did you ever think you would be doing that for the youth level, or did you think you'd be doing it for the college level when you first started doing Yeah.
Danielle: I did one year as an assistant at Connecticut College.
Jamie: Okay.
Danielle: I didn't love it as much.
Jamie: Interesting.
Danielle: That's probably not the right school atmosphere for me. I don't know if I'm NSCAK material. So maybe I'd give it a shot somewhere else. But I I do love the youth level because I like the social aspect of it. Mhmm.
There's just, you know, being with the parents, being with the kids, you're just always around a group of people. You're traveling on the road. It's like it's like a traveling circus constantly.
Jamie: Yes. Is.
Danielle: But I I love that. I love being on the road. I love being with the parents. I love being with the kids. And I just found that that's more fun than being on the older side of things.
Right.
Scott: Well, let let me ask this now that we're talking about parents. So in terms of in terms of Crazy Hockey parents, from from and I'm sure you've seen it all, But, like, any, like, red flags that, you know, for, you know, let's say parents that are either getting into the game, trying to get to the higher levels, maybe got tier two parents that, you know, think would love to get their kids to tier one or whatever the might the deal might be. What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see, you know, parents making? And I'm sure it varies from, like, the different age groups. Right?
But, like, you know, just anything that comes to top of mind for you, whether it's at the younger As
Danielle: far as, like, how they're, like, pushing their kids on the coaches or, like It
Scott: it could be yeah. That you know, thanks for clarifying Yeah. So on one hand, I'm curious about, like, you know, because one of it one of one of the things is the parents' interactions with the coaches. Right? I'm sure there's plenty that, like, you know, would if they if they didn't have to, they would never leave you alone.
And and on the other and the other side of things, just like maybe parents that you see the way they're, you know, interacting with their kids that might not be setting them up for success long term.
Danielle: Yeah. I mean, there's definitely parents that like promote their kids in a way that's not reality. And you can kinda spot it pretty quick. I've had some very overconfident parents try to push their kids out on me very recently, and it's like an instant turnoff where you're just like, I just watched your kid play. I can see, let let your kid's performance, like, do the speaking.
Like, I've definitely made parent cuts over the years, and I don't regret them. Right. It it overall makes for a better season. And you do see parents make those mistakes where you just like, your kid could be phenomenal. They could be a great teammate, a great hockey player, but you're really you see parents ruin it for their kids.
And you would hope like as they go down the road, as things get older, the scouts are just paying attention to what the kid can do on the ice and who the kid is off the ice. But at the same time, you know, the parents should be careful because I think even up until the NHL level, like, they're you're still dealing with some type of culture with the parents, and there's some that can be far more difficult than others.
Scott: It's Right. So is it oh, go.
Jamie: Go. No. No. Go, Scott. I I followed after you.
Go ahead.
Scott: No. I guess I guess, you know, on one hand, it's you know, just in terms of, let's say, parents that what am I trying to ask? So not all parents are necessarily, like, interacting with coaches for the wrong reasons. So maybe if you could just share some of, like, you you know, what are the right reasons parents would interact with a coach?
Danielle: So I actually love when parents do like check ins, just like mid season check ins, ask how their kid's doing, that kind of stuff. Because then you can have pretty honest conversations, especially when the parent engages at first, just like in a normal type of way, just asking like, hey, just checking in. How are things going? Sometimes if you have to check-in first, just the coach, like the parents don't always take it the right way. Like, oh, you're picking on my kid type of thing.
So I actually enjoy when the parents reach out and just, you know, a few times a season, And it does open the door a little bit. I always tell people, if there's an issue and I don't know about it, I can't fix it for you. And so hearing about an issue secondhand in the bleachers is a lot more difficult to fix. And it becomes a little more hostile than if a parent just comes to you directly. Because usually like, oh, you know, my kid feels like you're, you know, you're just like not really giving them a chance or what's this, what's that?
Like, then you kinda check yourself too a little bit. And you can be like, oh, you know, maybe you're right. Like, I can I can take a look at that? And usually you have a positive outcome from it. But if it comes secondhand or the coach has to reach out first, it tends to be just more hostile.
Scott: Interesting.
Jamie: Yeah. That is actually. So it's funny, Danielle, you mentioned before kind of as they get older and kind of like up to even like the NHL level with parents. So I assumed, which was probably a mistake, right? I assumed that when you get to like the d one college level that like there's no there's no more crazy hockey parents.
Because like you've kind of hit like listen, most people don't go to the NHL, right, for the most part. You know, it's a very small percentage overall. So like playing d one hockey is pretty legit. Right? You know?
Right. So I remember, so Scott and I were in a hotel, and we happened to be talking to a division one parent, a division one dad. And he kind of found out like what we did. Right? So started we talking to him in in in the in the restaurant in this hotel, and we're just kind of picking his brain.
And I said, yeah. I'm like, but you know, I'm like, but you don't see crazy hockey parents. I'm like, because what do you to be crazy about? Like, you know, you're the all these kids are playing d one. You know?
Like, what's there to be crazy about? You know? And he and he remember Scott? He looked at us and he's like, no fucking way, dude. He's like, they're almost worse.
And I I was like, what? So I assumed, again, maybe my bad, I assumed that like when you get to those upper levels, your kid's playing Division I hockey, like, what do you need to complain about? Your kid's playing for free for the most part, right, or whatever it is, And he's playing at probably what you know, the top level. Right? Because, again, the number of kids that play at the NHL is small.
So I assumed that it wouldn't be insane, but apparently, Danielle, it doesn't go away at the d one level, which I was shocked to hear.
Danielle: Yeah, I mean, you'd like to hope that the parents' complaints at that level have far less influence.
Jamie: Sure. Right.
Danielle: And that hopefully they're just complaints on the sideline. Whereas, when the kids are younger and everyone's paying a lot of money to do this, you have to listen to a certain extent. But you would think it has less influence at that age, and they're more just complaining about stats and assists and what line their kid's playing on. And I'm sure everyone, even up to the NHL level, is still upset about that stuff. But you'd think it doesn't have any merit, at least, coming from the parrot.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. Matter of fact, now that we're talking about this, Scott, I think I think Scott Bartlett, when we had him on, the NHL agent, I think he even said that that some of the parents would, like, complain to him about, like because about their their kids' playing time. Your kid's like a man now. Right?
You know, he's not a kid anymore. But, you know, but even because when you get to that level, everybody's legit. Right? So even Yeah.
Scott: Yeah. You know? But
Danielle: The the amount of spring well, we don't go to a lot of spring tournaments anymore, but the amount of parents I see dragging coaches and agents into the stats office after games to change the iPad points is like absurd. So agents will go in and change the points for their players to just boost it. Oh, shit. You're seeing a lot of that right now in the spring tournaments.
Jamie: You know, it's so funny that you say that because can I just I tell have seen, I I okay? So at least
Danielle: Not that anyone's looking back at how your bantam stats were.
Jamie: Exactly. So that's funny you say that because I have seen I have seen a fair amount of parents go to the scorer's box or go to the manager and say, hey, listen, like, my kid, you know, missed the assist got missed or my kid didn't score the goal. I mean, I I that's like it's so funny bringing that up because that to me is so insane. That to me is so fucking insane because no d one coach, you know, you know, gives a shit. You know?
For the most part, I can maybe the top kid's fine, you know, but like most people don't give a shit, you know, how many points your kid had a Bantam minor or I Bantam
Danielle: agree. I could see it like when you're making a run for like the top three scores in the tournament. Right. Like, there's some clout to that. Right?
Jamie: Right. If
Danielle: you've got four points in six games and you're pushing to change your fifth point, like, what are we doing?
Scott: Totally. Well, you know, and and now now that we're talking about, like, spring hockey, and you were saying that you don't do and, like, correct me if I but not many spring tournaments potentially. But, like, what I wanted to just ask about is, like, where like, what's your philosophy or, like, kind of, like, what would be your approach in in terms of, like, the, you know, the off season. Right? So, like, at the younger ages, clearly, there's things like brick, then there's things like Pee Wee Quebec.
So there, you know, certain years that there's gonna be, like, heavy duty hockey in in in the off season. But, like, from a general development perspective, like, what what's your philosophy? What's your take on, like, you know, you know, secondary you know, having a second sport and then also, like, the spring summer hockey. Do it, don't do it situationally. It's very important.
Kinda like what's what's how how do you view So, that
Danielle: like, back when the kids were mites, we basically mandated that, like, you have to play a second sport. Mhmm. That could be like a rec league. I mean, we had a mom sign the kids up for soccer, basketball, just totally, like, not even real teams, but just to be in sneakers. Right.
Scott: Right. Not skates.
Danielle: Yeah. I personally only do, like, two or three spring tournaments, and we do them as, like, 90% of our winter team.
Scott: Got it.
Danielle: We'll bring in, like, four or five extra guys just to give it a little more of a boost, but we try to keep it a pretty heavy majority of our winter team. That's how we've always done it. So that, you know, really it benefits just the continued growth of our group because that's really what you're gonna do there. But when people ask, oh, should I go to this spring event, that spring event? To me, I tell people, if you're going, you're really just going to network, which is fine.
If you wanna go and meet other people and network and get your kid here and meet these people, I see no problem with that. As long as you know that that's why you're going and not just like, I don't know, you're probably not going to get better.
Jamie: Interesting.
Danielle: There's a handful, not even a handful, like probably like two or three, like week long elite invite only camps that I've seen that are like actually truly put on really well and worth it. And there's some I've seen that are just a total waste of time.
Jamie: Right. Right. But
Scott: So And If and so, like oh, go ahead.
Jamie: Yeah. No. Go ahead, Scott. I was
Scott: just asking Scott
Jamie: about, like, development. Go ahead.
Scott: Oh, no. But, so if if a player, let's say in, like, a non on a brick, non p week Quebec, non, like, other tournament that's, like, you know, a big deal year. Like, if a if a player came up to you said, like, you know, spring summer, hanging up the skates, you know, I'll get on the ice maybe once a week just to keep off, like, some rust. But otherwise, I'm just gonna play other sports and do other things. Is that something that you think is, like, in a player's best interest, or do you think, like, you know, continuing some some regular, you know, on ice training is important?
Danielle: I think it's okay to take a period off. In between season and spring hockey, I always try to tell our guys, hey, take two or three weeks off. Just don't touch the ice. No one ever listens. Right.
You'd like them to hang it up for a certain period of time just to get a little bit of that hunger back.
Scott: But
Danielle: I've seen to a certain extent athleticism with the way the game has changed and how high the skill is, will only take you so far if that's what you're gonna fully rely on. So I do think there's definitely gotta be training, whether that's off ice. I think the on ice should be like, you gotta pick out something really specific that you wanna continue to develop and make sure that you're not just BS ing your way through the skates. Like like, pick something you wanna work on, get better at it over the spring and summer. And I think off ice is really big too.
But I think the kids that do nothing have a really hard time that first two months of the season, and it's it is hard to catch up. But I know you also hear these stories of, like, late bloomers too. Sure. But I don't know.
Jamie: It's just funny you mentioned the late bloomer. You know? Because we talk about the late late bloomer a lot. Do you think that the alright. So you alright.
So you like which is Scott, you asked the perfect question because it was exactly what I was gonna ask.
Scott: Oh, good.
Jamie: Yeah. No. That worked out perfectly. Nice. You know?
So so so so you think that taking a couple weeks off here and there is good, but then get back at it. Right? Get on the ice. Yeah. Start power skating.
Or or, like you said, work on whatever your
Danielle: depth week off in the middle of the season. So last year, we took six weeks off from basically, like, Thanksgiving to mid January.
Scott: Wow.
Jamie: Oh, that's interesting. I didn't know you guys did that. You just practiced for three
Danielle: times We practiced a a little bit, but we had a huge gap of time off last year.
Scott: Wow.
Danielle: And I think it helped the kids ride out that long season. It made some of the parents a little nutty because they forgot everything that happened before Thanksgiving.
Jamie: Right. Right. Yeah.
Danielle: All I can remember was the six week break and the new season basically. But to me, it felt like a fresh start and grinded a lot less on the kids.
Scott: And and just so I'm clear, sorry, James. But No. No. Danielle, was that is that that's not organizationally up and down the birth years. That is that with the 2012 specifically?
Danielle: It was them specifically. Yeah. I'm the scheduler for twelves, fourteens, and sixteens.
Jamie: Okay.
Danielle: Okay. So with the exception of our any pack league in the EHF, I schedule everything else. I do try to build in, okay, if we're gonna have a weekend off or two weeks off, we're all gonna take that weekend off. Right.
Scott: Okay. Right.
Danielle: And so I try to build my teams in together at least so that we're all kind of working on the same path.
Scott: Got it.
Jamie: Right. Did you do that because you knew you guys were were going to go to nationals, so you knew that it was gonna be a prolonged season? Is that why you did that between the six weeks, like, kinda leading up to Thanksgiving and through New Year's?
Danielle: Yeah. I mean, the hope was that we were going to make nationals. Well, I mean no auto bids
Jamie: last Right. Of course.
Danielle: But you
Jamie: yeah. Okay. But that was by design because of that. Right?
Danielle: Totally. And we we actually started late too. Like, I mean, there's so much pressure now to start, like, mid August with tournaments. And now the last two years, I've just, like, said I I I feel like a jerk sometimes telling people no. But I'm just like, no.
We're not starting. So, like, we won't start till, like, the second or third week of September. Right.
Jamie: Right. Yeah.
Danielle: So there there's definitely FOMO because you're missing a few things early on. But, like, it's crazy. We're still playing I mean, they're not allowed on the My Hockey, but we're still playing 80 games and 75 games. So, like, it's a grind. And so it's it's okay to say no and start a little bit later and take some breaks.
Jamie: Yeah. 80 games. That's a that's a that's a hefty schedule.
Danielle: Yeah.
Jamie: How do you feel about that? Would you if you had could do it like let's just say, would you love to play just 45 and then call it a day and go to nationals? Or do you guys like the heavy schedule?
Danielle: I I think if you looked at our, like, practice hour ratio to game, we're still, like, significantly higher on the practice side of things. So I think it's okay. Right. Yeah. Would I like to keep it under 60 for sure?
Right. But then, you know, you run into your state tournament, your regionals, your nationals.
Jamie: Yeah. And it just
Danielle: It adds adds up. And like, you don't wanna miss out on like a couple big tournaments here and there. And so it it just adds up. But Yeah. No.
I we're still hot heavier on the practice side for sure.
Scott: So the I mean, that that's a massive number of games. And I know that it's so like, you know, tier one teams are all pushing, like, you know, whatever. Maybe, like, 60 to 80 is a big range. Don't get me wrong. But, like, there it's a lot of games for some kids.
In terms of managing, like, burnout and obviously, you know, taking that time off from the holiday season, like Is huge. Totally makes sense. Yeah. But if if we just even take, like, more of, like, a macro, you know, view and, like, just step back and take a look at, like, you know, multiple years playing that number of games at the younger ages, is there is is there yeah. How how do you talk about internally or even, like, how do you think about, like, the idea of burnout and, like, when when it becomes either too much or kinda how to make sure to build in some of that recovery downtime to build get that hunger back that you were talking about.
Danielle: Yeah. I mean, my philosophy has always kinda been if the kid is asking to go, then continue to fuel that fire. And then if the kid's just like, oh, I don't wanna do it, don't force it. Take that day off. I mean, obviously, you can't let your kids just totally phone in on everything.
But I think as long as they wanna do it, fuel it.
Jamie: Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's easy for these kids to sit home and, like, just sit on the couch and play video games. Like, it's gotta we all push our kids a little bit.
Right? You have to as a parent. You know? You can't just let them make
Danielle: their stuff. Eat your vegetables either. Right? But like
Jamie: Right. But they're good for you. Right? That's exactly right, Danielle. They're good for you.
So you have to as a parent, you have to show them, you know, kind of I think pushing is healthy in my opinion. I do.
Scott: Well, you know, one of the things about the and one of the well, when we talk about the younger age groups and whether or not to push or pull your kid, One of the one of the dads had once said to me, he he said he's like, yeah. But, like, if your kid wanted to eat Reese's you know, talking about a child who's, you know, wants to be at the rink constantly, like, always there, like, no days off type of thing. And he was like, yeah. But if your kid wanted to eat Reese's peanut butter cups for breakfast, would you let them? And it's like, just because they want it doesn't mean it's necessarily in their best interest.
Right? So Yeah. I I
Danielle: wonder like You can see when can see when kids need a break. Yeah. And you try to tell parents that. Like, even I take a break sometimes. Like, I'll cancel a lesson every once in a while.
Someone's like, oh, man, that's a grind. Like, if I'm tired, the kids must be gassed. Like, we're not skating tomorrow morning. So you try to just gauge the kid. And I know at this tier one level, we're starting earlier and earlier, and it does seem like a grind.
I was just talking to someone who's in 'eight, and they were a late 'eight, and they're like, oh, I still have three years of juniors, and they're already committed to college. And they still have to grind out three more years of juniors. And it's like, oh my gosh, that's a really long time. So when you look at it that way, you're like, wow, this is long, so maybe you should pull back. But again, if your kid wants to shoot pucks and work on the skill development stuff, fuel it.
Jamie: Listen, Jimmy Dads says the same thing. He said right? And this guy said the same thing a couple times when he's been on with us. He's like, listen, he's saying, if your kid loves it, let him do it. Yeah.
You know? And it's it's hard to argue with that. Right? I mean, you know, I can almost guarantee you, I can't imagine Wayne Bretzky's dad was pulling him back much. You know?
Because I'm not saying every kid's gonna be Wayne Gretzky, but you see what I'm saying. Right? You know?
Danielle: No. And I and I it's funny you say that because, like, I see so many things like, oh, like, on Instagram, oh, the Minnesota model, these guys aren't skating. They're just doing their town teams. That's not true. That's not true.
These guys are skating every day. They're playing on travel teams. They're doing all kinds of crazy stuff. No one playing at that tier one level is really just
Jamie: Right.
Scott: Taking
Danielle: Right. All this time off and not skating.
Jamie: Yeah. I just tell you, Danielle, even people at the tier two level are not are not taking off. You know, like, it's they they we we all say that we're gonna take off, but do we really I mean, you know, I'm I'm sitting in a Princeton hotel because Scott minus Scott's kid is at a Princeton ice hockey camp. And, you know, so like we like but like Scott, like you said, like, you know, Otto wants it. Right?
I mean, Dominik wants to do this stuff. And it's better than them sitting home on the couch, that's for sure. Right? Absolutely. As a parent, it's hard to and, you know, Dominik does other things, Otto does other things, which is great.
You know? But, you know, when your kids have a love for the game, it's really hard, you know, to say no because I'd rather them be active than not active. My kid could sit on the couch like nobody's business if I let him. You know what I mean? So listen.
So if he he says to his dad, let's go to a hockey camp, like, have a hard time saying no to that because I don't want him sitting on the couch playing video games.
Danielle: Yeah. No. I I'm with you on that. I Right? I started hockey so late too, so I, like, didn't really barely get to go to hockey camp.
So once that finally got put in front of me at age 14, my parents would drop me off at the rink at 4PM, and I would stand at the door of every practice that went on after my team, just like asking the coaches, like, can I get back on? Can I get back on? Can I
Scott: Good for
Danielle: And they would let me, which is amazing? Yeah. Again, that's just like you're you're allowing it, you're hungry for it, and then provide it. So Right.
Scott: Well, I wanna maybe switch gears like a touch, but still stay on that, like, crazy hockey parent theme because one time of year when people are nuts is tryout tryout season. So so one the one of the questions I wanted to ask in terms of, you know, tryouts well, look, I I mean, we know a lot of it is sorted out before tryouts. I mean, that's no secret, you know. But, like, in terms of, like, you know, the build up to tryouts and, you know, for you specifically, what separates two players that have similar skill?
Danielle: I guess Good question.
Jamie: Good question.
Danielle: I I guess you can look at it at different age groups.
Scott: Okay.
Danielle: I'd say at the youngest age group, hard work probably stands out more, like effort and like grittiness type stuff that you look for that could make a kid stand out more. And then I probably noticed it the most at the band of minor year that started to stand out the most from one kid to the next based on skill level was the IQ. No one's aware same of skill set, but like the IQ difference is extremely noticeable. And that can really make you stand out.
Scott: Yeah. So okay. So, I mean and that that makes sense. Those are some of those, like, intangibles. But, like okay.
So let's just say you have to cut a play or you I mean, you always have to cut players. Right? But, like Yeah. What in terms of advice, like, to a player or parents to, like, kids that get cut. Right?
Like, that can be, like, such a, like, a devastating thing. Like, what, like, what kind of advice do you give those families or those players who, like, you know, maybe they're a bubble, maybe they're a fringe player. Right? Like, and and and how to keep it, like, them positive and motivated, but also at the same time, like, you know, doing what's best for the team, etcetera.
Danielle: I mean, as far as, like, what their next, like,
Scott: you know, what kind of guidance?
Danielle: Like, next place to go.
Scott: Well, not necessarily go go to this place, but just kinda like, you know Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Go ahead.
Danielle: So the biggest thing I've noticed, like, if if it's a kid that just couldn't quite keep up that you had to cut, I often see parents then chase the next hardest thing. Whether that's like, oh, I'll go play on this next team, but it'll be a birth year up. Or I'll go, I just got caught from the number one team in the country. Now I'm gonna go try the number two team in the country. But I don't necessarily think that's always the right decision for the kid.
Like if your kid got cut, that means they were struggling with something. And maybe moving them down even lower level might kinda help them rebuild that confidence in some of those areas. That's kinda how I feel about it. But to convince a parent that that's the right decision is, you know, it's a lot of a status thing and you don't wanna drop levels. And so I see time and time again, like someone gets cut from a team, and then they go play a year up somewhere else.
And you're like, oh, that's not That's not That's not what your kid was missing. Like, your kid needs to touch the puck more and get some confidence and polish up this skill, and they're not gonna get that if you're putting them over their skis again.
Jamie: Right. Right. Right. So alright. So so it's so funny you say that too.
You know, because you mentioned about it being a status thing. Do you think that some parents kind of get in their kid's way? You know? And like you said, not drop him down a level or go play or go be the man on another triple a team, like maybe like a, you know, a mid leveled or a lower level triple a team so he can get those puck touches like you mentioned. Because I think we notice a lot that the parent kind of of gets in and impedes the kid, maybe not knowing that he's doing it either.
Danielle: Yeah. I I see it a lot. There's a lot of, like, chasing and grass is greener, and it's just like, what are you chasing, really? Like, you could just keep your kid in the car for ten minutes and, you know, help them develop versus chasing something that's a two hour car ride and making your year miserable. Like, I see that a lot.
Jamie: Yeah. I'm curious. What are some of the other mistakes you see parents making, Danielle, like out there? If you had to pick one, you're like, wow. Like, that's a that's like, it happens all the time and you see it constantly.
What's, like, the one major mistake that a parent makes, you know, in their kid's development?
Danielle: Probably the car coaching.
Scott: No. In
Danielle: some ways I can see it being positive because a coach can't give every kid individual attention all the time. So like, there are little things that of course, like a parent can help with. But if for example, as we were getting ready for Pee Wee Quebec, I had the team make a journal and we had journal pages and videos for thirty days. And it maybe ended up being more than thirty. But I didn't allow the kids to share them with their families.
I'm sure their parents still snuck into them. I told the kids, we're gonna do this. Once the tournament is over, give the notebook to your parents. Let them have the videos. Share as much as you want with them.
Like, share it all with them. But I didn't want them to share it with the parents leading up to it because if one parent disagreed with, like, the message that we were trying to send as a team
Jamie: Right.
Danielle: That could blow up the whole thing. Like, if we were saying, oh, you know, pass the puck, be selfless, but your parents like, no, it's all about you, you, you, and points. Like, you're not gonna get the buy in that you need. And then ultimately, like, that probably ends up bringing the individual down anyways. Uh-huh.
So, like, yeah, the the parents not totally understanding the system or, like, you know, even, like, when you're making lines, like, you might have, like, a power forward with a high IQ guy and then someone that's also, a good back check or something. And you have a little bit of each with the line, but the parents don't really, they just think, oh, you put my kid on third line. No, it's not third line. It's I see this great quality in your kid and this great quality in your kid. I think it, you know, goes really well with this kid's qualities, and that's why I'm matching them together.
And so I think parents get in the way of that a little bit.
Scott: So some of that was, you know, like a little bit of culture and even, like, you know, regarding, like, leadership. From your perspective, like, what what makes a great teammate? And and on the other end of that, like, as far as, like, the leadership piece, like, the in your opinion, can can leadership be taught or, like, the folks that or the folks, the kids that are leading, like, the teams within, you know, Mid Fairfield, they're they're just they have they have certain attributes that, you know, they were just they're gifted, you know, as far as leaders.
Danielle: I think some of it definitely comes from within. Some of that could be like a cultural thing from home too. Like, they just you know, that's how they were raised, and that's the confidence they come in with. It's definitely something we're trying to teach as well. You know, we have a lot of alphas on our team, for example, but it's not always an alpha in the most positive direction, and you have to kinda guide them to what, you know, we want you to lead, and everyone looks up to you, but make sure you're doing the right thing and people aren't looking up to you as you're being a goofball and doing the wrong thing.
So like, I think, you know, kind of guiding the alphas in a way that can be a positive thing because you know people do look up to them. So like, you do try to teach those kids like, hey, like, people are watching you. They're looking up to you. How can you do this in a positive way? Mhmm.
There's some teaching to it for sure.
Jamie: Right. Right. So I'm curious. We we've had you on for an hour, which went by like nothing. We we have we have a couple more for you.
But I we have I don't know why we haven't gotten into this yet. What would you say is your proudest moment on the bench to date if you had to pick one? I know you've had a bunch of them, so this is gonna be difficult for you to kinda pick one.
Danielle: I'd probably have to say one in Quebec. Just because of the preparation we put into that one. There was deliberate, like I said, we had that notebook. It was very deliberate preparation. There was a lot of preparation on the mental side, just mental toughness training that we went through.
And just to see the kids win that one, I feel like they really, like, made a mindset and set the goal as a team. Like, nationals was great, but I honestly, we didn't put the same, like, specific effort into that one as we did Quebec. And for the kids to win Quebec after all the buildup, I was really proud of them for that one. And they grinded. I have this great clip of one of my centers.
I think we had a penalty, and we were killing off, like, a six on four with, like, two minutes left in the game, and he blocked three shots in a row.
Jamie: Oh, that's sick.
Danielle: And, like, that was something we talked about, and he owned it. And, like, you know, he got sniped three times, and it was like a highlight of the tournament for me.
Scott: Oh, that's awesome. And he
Danielle: did that. Yeah.
Jamie: It's fantastic. I love it. It's great. Yeah. Alright.
So I have another one kinda goes, I wanna say, kinda hand in hand with it. Is one principle that you just refuse to compromise on as a coach? And you'll never and you'll never change that.
Danielle: Effort. Like I said, I I've always had two rules on my teams no matter how old you are, like five year old, 15 year old, and it's back check and pass the puck. And those have always been, like, the two biggest foundations. And so just, like, effort effort with the puck, effort without the puck, second efforts, third efforts, fourth efforts. You could be the worst player on the ice as long as you're busting your butt.
Like, you have respect for me.
Jamie: And and you and impact the game too.
Scott: Yeah. So I love how you just brought up not only first, but second, third, fourth efforts. You you know, for those that might not be familiar with those terms, can you just kinda, like, break that down a little bit? Like, what what you're seeing? Like, what's a first effort versus a second, third, fourth?
Danielle: Just like tracking pucks. Like, one one of the quotes I use with the kids, excuse my language, but it's if you fuck up, fix it. So like and and I'm guilty. Like, a lot of my players are afraid to make mistakes with me, I think it's because I'm so hard on them. But I'm trying to change in that way a little bit to help them because that's definitely my fault.
But I always say, if you fuck up, fix it. You can turn the puck over a 100 times as long as if you turn it over, you are the first guy back on it to get it back. If you're gonna try to toe drag three guys, you better get that puck back after you turn it over. And you better stay on the hunt. And, you know, you're you're gonna do a high turnover, but you better back check all the way back down the ice if you're gonna make the mistake.
Like, you can make the mistake, just, you know, be sure you're the you're the most standout guy that's gonna fix it.
Scott: Right. Right. Yeah. Totally. No.
That's awesome. And and I think that that's something that and and, you know, let me and let's let's just actually go with that, like, because something popped into my head. But okay. So kid fucked up, you know, turn over, like, you know, try to toe drag someone entering the zone, got his pocket picked, you know. So now he has to fix it, and he wasn't the hardest worker on the way back.
What's it like trying to or not what's it like, but, like, kinda like what's the process of trying to work with a kid who fucked up but is having a hard time fixing whatever it is that needs to be fixed? I That's
Jamie: a good question.
Danielle: Yeah. I mean, it and honestly, I I would say that it's it's changed a little bit.
Scott: But Sure.
Danielle: In general, like my philosophy is like, okay, if it's happening over and over again, and it's not getting fixed, like as far as an effort thing, then you sit a shift. Yeah. And then go back and do it again. Like, go back and try again. Like, it I try not to ever sit a kid more than, one shift.
And that's not sitting because they made a mistake. It's sitting because they didn't have the effort after the mistake.
Scott: Right.
Danielle: Right. That's like the message of trying to send that message. You're being sad at shift because of your effort. And now show me that you can retry to give that effort on the next shift. Right.
It definitely worked with the older kids. I'd say the post COVID years, it's not translating as much as it did pre COVID. I don't know why that is. So I'm trying to adjust a little bit, but I'm I'm still trying to figure that out and learn from it a little bit because the the same messages and models that I was using maybe, like, six years ago aren't necessarily working now.
Scott: That's always the same way.
Jamie: That you're you're you're
Scott: pointing out COVID specifically as kind of like a like a
Danielle: It felt like that was like the wall and, like, pre and post. Like, there was like a different mentality in kids and, like, now you have to treat them differently almost, and what worked before isn't necessarily working now.
Scott: Wow. Never a dull moment.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. We probably could delve into an entire societal Thinking
Scott: about that. Yeah. Yeah.
Jamie: About that. Because I I think that's probably very true, by the way. There's definitely some
Danielle: Accountability is much more difficult now than it was previously.
Jamie: Right. Interesting. Isn't that funny? I'm just I'm curious. Do you notice do you notice that with parents too by any chance?
Do notice any difference in parents or just kind of on on the the kids side of that?
Danielle: I think it's stemming from the parents probably.
Jamie: Yeah.
Danielle: They're not really allowing the kids to fail anymore. Right. Some are. Some are great. Right.
But a lot of people don't want their kid to feel pain and suffering and not in such a terrible kind of way, but like No. Adversity. They try to fix everything, but it's hard to learn if you don't make a mistake. Right? That is the only way to learn.
And if you aren't allowing your kid to make a mistake or you're fixing a mistake for them, the adjustment gets a lot more difficult, and it feels like now the parents are trying to keep everything really comfortable and safe and mistake free. Yeah. So it's harder to grow.
Jamie: Yes, exactly. Because growth comes from failure. Right? If kids are always being kind of like let down gently, you know, I think in my opinion, you know, kids should again, just my opinion, but I think kids should experience failure and what it feels like at a young age because, you know, you don't want your kid's first time to experience failure when they're like 19, and then they don't know how to handle it. Right?
Right. I mean, in my opinion, you need to figure that at a younger age because that's just how you grow and get better in anything. Right? I mean, how do you become a good member of society without that?
Danielle: Later and later now.
Jamie: Right.
Danielle: And more and more difficult. So it's a it's a it's a learning process for me too, and how to get through to kids in a different way now, and how to communicate with parents a little bit differently just because you can't necessarily do things the same way you did five years ago.
Jamie: Right. And I'm curious, Bob, Scott, before I let you jump in here, I just have one more on Yeah.
Scott: No. You're good, dude.
Jamie: Are you noticing the same skill level with the pre and post COVID kids. So it's not a skill level thing. It's just kind of like a behavioral thing. Is are you noticing the same skill
Danielle: level person? Emotional thing. Right. There's a lot more, like, lack of mental toughness, I would say.
Jamie: A babying almost kind of of the kids.
Danielle: Right? Interesting.
Scott: Yeah. No. It's definitely a problem. I think, you know, like, it's funny. My wife and I, we we talk about, know, and and everyone's got their thing that's more important to them or less important to them.
But, like, you know, like, my wife and I, we're talking about, like, technology. My my son doesn't have a phone. He's going into seventh grade next year even though he's supposed to he's supposed to be in sixth grade. But he's going to seventh grade. And he's, like, one of the only kids in his class that doesn't have a phone.
Right? And he's, like, devastated by it, but, like, we're we're we're looking around. My wife and I are like, the the bar is set so low. Like, how can he be the only kid that doesn't have a cell phone and he feels so left out? And, like, it makes it hard.
But, like, with between food, technology, going outside, and, like, playing and doing whatever, I feel like the bar is so low. And, you know, it it does it. I'm all for, you know, like, pushing kids to, like, go be bored, go be uncomfortable, go outside, do the things that you don't wanna do now because it's not gonna get any easier as you get older.
Danielle: Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean, we just had a hockey like, our hockey camp that we just run, we have 35 kids and we keep them at lake houses. And basically from 4PM to 09:30PM is free time.
And it's supervised, but not structured. So it's not like, hey, at five we're doing this, six we're doing that. It's like, here's a boat, here's some jet skis, here's some paddle boards, a soccer ball, grab some friends, go figure out what you're gonna do. And honestly, I think when you ask the kids, like, they have more enjoyment and memories out of that unstructured time than, like, know, being glued to a screen or being told you need to do this. Or and I think the more they can experience that, the more joy they're gonna find they can get.
Jamie: Sure. Yeah. It you know, it's it's funny. You know, we're talking about this because, like, you know, like, around, like, 11:00 this morning, Dominado checked into Penn State. State.
That was last week. Princeton. Sorry. Penn State was last week. You can tell I'm a crazy hockey parent.
So so they checked into Princeton this morning, and and we we walked them to well, we walked the the gear to to their dorm room that Otto and Dom are are sharing. And I was kinda making a joke, Danielle, because Nancy and and Orly, Scott's wife, started, like, setting up the room for the kids, putting their fan on, putting their clothes in the drawers, making the bed. And I remember saying, I said, I said, are you guys gonna set their dorm room up when they're, like, freshmen in college? I was making a joke about it because we talk about, like, the I don't wanna say the babying of kids, but, like, you need to let these kids do the shit for themselves. Right?
When I see when I see a parent humping his kid's hockey bag, even at a young age, can I just tell you how many times Dominic tipped over carrying his huge hockey bag when he was like a last year mite or like a first year squirt? Like, I'm not carrying that shit. You know? Like and again
Danielle: There's still bantams. Their parents are packing their bags for them. Right.
Jamie: Listen. Fun funny you say that. Otto forgot his helmet today at Princeton.
Scott: Well, listen. Danielle. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
Just just so I because I don't wanna throw my son under the bus unnecessarily. The truth of the matter is that we played in a pickup game, like a men's pickup game early that morning at, like, 06:00. And afterwards, my wife wanted a photo of the two of us on the ice, so we took our helmets off. And so he picked up his like, whenever the helmets got confused. Right?
We no one neither one of us paid much attention. He just threw my helmet in his bag, and and I put his helmet in my bag, and then he didn't unpack his bag, we drove straight down to this to Princeton. So, he ended up with my helmet. So, in any event. Right.
That wasn't exactly his fault.
Jamie: And I'm not breaking out of his chops. What I'm saying is it normally auto packs his own bag is my point. Right?
Scott: Yeah. No. He normally does. Yeah.
Jamie: That's what I mean. Right? It's good for these kids to carry their own bag and pack their own shit. And if they forget it, it's a learning lesson. Right?
Like, next time, you won't forget it, hopefully. Yeah. Right?
Danielle: Make a mistake. Learn from it. That's right. It's not the end of the world. Right?
You you show up to a game, you forgot your skates. Right? Like, it sucks, but you're probably not gonna forget your skates ever again.
Jamie: That's right. Right. Exactly. It's like touching the stove. Right?
You need to do it once, hopefully not twice, and you learn a lesson. Hopefully, you don't do it again.
Scott: What's the saying?
Danielle: And it's and it's not the end of the world either. Right? Right.
Scott: Yeah. If you do fuck up, you need to fix it.
Danielle: Yeah. That's I feel
Jamie: like I feel like we may need to make like t shirts.
Scott: We need t
Jamie: shirts You know, fuck up and and and fix it, like Danielle Ward under that. I think it's pretty appropriate.
Scott: Alright. Alright. So listen, we're we're gonna let's let's start to wrap this one up. Danielle, we're gonna go through some few rapid fire questions, if you don't mind. Alright?
Danielle: Okay.
Scott: Alright. So let's finish this up. We're gonna go through a few different tops. Let's start with hockey. Okay.
Keep it easy to start. Favorite hockey player growing up?
Danielle: Darren McCarty.
Scott: Oh, nice one. Alright. Best rink in North America.
Danielle: I love the Mount Prospect Rink in Chicago. Have the best wood fired pizza bar
Scott: of Oh, boy. Yeah. I'm sure it's better than the Armory in New Jersey.
Jamie: He's busting my balls, Danielle. That's Yeah. I knew when soon as you said that, I'm like, oh my god. This is totally coming to my direction Okay.
Scott: Here we go. Hardest age to coach? 13. 13. Wow.
Okay. Hardest age to parent too. Most most underrated hockey skill?
Danielle: Oh. Passing.
Scott: Most overrated hockey skill?
Danielle: I don't know.
Jamie: That's a
Scott: hard one. Okay. You can take a All good. Yeah. Alright.
Coaching. Here we go. Loud coach or quiet coach?
Danielle: Trying trying to be quiet.
Scott: Trying to okay. Got it. Well, this wasn't exactly didn't have to be about you necessarily, but Trying to be on Okay. The quiet Got it. Tough love or confidence builder?
Danielle: Tough love.
Scott: Okay. Knew that was coming. Yeah. First thing you noticed about a player?
Danielle: Skating.
Scott: Hardest conversation to have with a player?
Danielle: Probably when they think that they're doing something, but they're not, and there's like they get defensive in trying to explain to them that you're not attacking them, but you're actually trying to help them.
Scott: Yeah. Makes sense.
Jamie: Welcome to parenting.
Scott: Okay. Recruiter so from recruiting perspective, character or talent?
Danielle: Both.
Scott: Good answer. Leadership or stats?
Danielle: Both.
Scott: Alright. Good answer. Alright. And here, best best advice for a player chasing college hockey?
Danielle: I would say outside of putting in the effort is just being a good person and being a good teammate. People do notice how you carry yourself around the building. And Yeah. I personally, as a player, made some of those mistakes myself, and I just think that those things do go a long way.
Scott: Okay. Alright. We're gonna finish it up here. Two more. Favorite music before a game?
Danielle: I hit hit everything. Probably, right now, house music.
Scott: Alright. Let's go. Nice. Alright. And now to to finish the sentence, the best hockey parents are those who?
Danielle: Stay positive.
Scott: Alright. That's a good one. Love it.
Jamie: Danielle Ward, everybody. Danielle, thank you
Scott: so much for coming out of this Yeah. A 100%.
Danielle: Thank you, guys. Really appreciate it.
Jamie: Have a good night, Danielle.
Scott: Alright. Alright, everybody. Welcome back from a tremendous interview with Danielle Ward of Mid Fairfield. James, dude, you know, very, very interesting to hear what it's like to be a part of, like, such a tremendous organization and to coach one of the best 20 well, best twenty twelve teams in the world Maybe ever. Probably.
Yeah. Maybe Yeah. I don't know. You'd have figure that out.
Jamie: Ever's a long time, but it's a very it's a powerhouse right now at the moment.
Scott: Yeah. And and the thing that I don't know that it struck me as like I was surprised, but, you know, a lot of times we have conversations on the podcast about, like, at the younger ages not to take it so seriously, like, let the kids be kids, like, multiple sports. And, like, Danielle talked about playing multiple sports also, but she also at the same time, she said, you know, like, we take it seriously starting from, like, the age of five. You know? And that and they they set the tone early over there.
And look, I understand the intentions of trying to cultivate a base, a core group of players from the younger ages because, you know, like, even when we're talking Evan Rodriguez, he was saying how he played with the same, I think, Toronto, maybe Marley's team for, like, seven years. Yeah. And, like, there's definitely, like, look, you when you're playing with players that you're comfortable with, like, you develop rapport, you develop like, on ice cream in air. Yeah. Yeah.
And so I I think that definitely helps in terms of development when you're always playing with the same kids. But, I mean, wow. I mean, I'm for sure, that is a massive commitment playing at Mid Fairfield from the youngest of ages. 80 something games is like, wow.
Jamie: It's lot. It's nonstop. Yeah. Well, listen. They they they do a lot of, like, high end tournaments.
And it's funny. I actually forgot to yeah. I forgot to ask her this is because we only had so much time with her, but we don't wanna keep her all night, which we probably could have. But, you know, the interesting part about it is is that when people call her for for for tournaments. Right?
You know, Mid Fairfield, especially on the twelfth birth here, and I'm sure others as well, is a selling point. Right? If you're if you're a tournament company and you're trying to put a high end tournament together, you know, and you can then get Mid Fairfield on the books saying that they're coming, it's a whole lot easier to recruit everybody else to come. Right.
Scott: Right? Right? Yep. It's like having like an anchor account and like a strip mall.
Jamie: Listen. They have
Scott: You know what I mean? It's like Leverage. Build around. You build around. Yeah.
Jamie: Lots of leverage. In in in in in the 12 birth year for tournament wise, they have a lot of leverage. I mean, if you if you can sell to the rest of the of of the country and Canada, you know, hey, listen, you know, we're putting this high end tournament together, oh, the way, Mid Fairfield's coming. Right? That's a selling feature.
Right? I mean, that's the other and then other I'm sure other teams sign on because of that. Know, no question about it. No. Listen, they're a wagon.
They've been a wagon ever since mites, you know? Listen, and what's cool, I think she said they still have five kids that were there from when they were mites.
Scott: Six. I think it was six.
Jamie: With the six? Pretty sure I know who she's talking about too. Because again, we're kind of close to the program, not being far from them and playing against them for years. But listen, she she's like I said, when I first met her, you knew that she was just cut from a different cloth. You know?
She's she she she takes no shit. You know? And listen. It's it's worked for her. There's no question about it.
It's hard to argue with because she's had a lot of success.
Scott: Yep. You know? And she's also you know, it was interesting to hear also talk about how post COVID, like, those players are harder or Wasn't that interesting? The same the same tactic in terms of the the tough love, the, like, accountability piece, and I I for sure part interesting? For sure, she's still deploying that.
But For sure. Yeah. It's it's not having necessarily the same effect Yeah. As it did with the pre COVID players. Yeah.
I thought that was an interesting point of distinction. And and look, she's she's recognizing it. She's she's said, like, this is an opportunity for me to learn, and she's working on evolving and, you know, to continue the level of success. But one of the things that I've loved, and I thought it was funny because she's like, you know, and we talked about this earlier. Right?
When she said something along those lines, like, this is one of the lines I use with kids on the bench. And I was like, oh, okay. What did she say with the kids? And it was like, if you fuck up, fix it. And I was like, oh, well Yeah.
Jamie: Was going
Scott: back to the point. Telling you, t shirts. Make t shirts. T shirts. Even even just the imagery.
Right? Like, you how many how many dude, can only imagine the number of, like, parents that are listening to this and being like, you know, when when my son gets his pocket picks potentially, and he doesn't hit the brakes, and then And go out
Jamie: to scan.
Scott: Explode explode back on a back check, just kinda like looks My kid doesn't do it. Just as a helicopter turn.
Jamie: Yeah. Dude,
Scott: like, that would so not fly on that bench at the age of five. You know what I mean? And I think it's interesting that part of part of what she's holding the kids accountable to is just like I'm sure just like the fundamentals. Right? Yes.
Gotta do the little things right. Like, you get your pocket picked, you better get your ass back there.
Jamie: An awesome start. Yeah. Don't don't sit there and sulk about the fact that you just got till some kid just took the puck from you. Go after the kid and go after him like your hair's on fire. Right.
I say to my kid all the time, my kid does not do that. My kid just gets all bent out of shape with himself because my kid's in his own head.
Scott: Yeah. You know, as I'm sure a lot of kids can think sometimes.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. It's funny, Danielle. It's funny, Danielle was saying, you know, I think you asked what's the hardest hardest age to coach, and she said 13.
Scott: 13. Yeah.
Jamie: And I think I made a comment something like, yeah. And the parenting is is just as hard at that age too. My kid's 13. Alright. 13 just turned 14, but he's still a pain in the ass, and and he doesn't get it yet.
Hopefully, he will at some age because if because he'll never play for Danielle if he doesn't start to get it soon.
Scott: Well, I started I I was thinking about that. Or a coach like Danielle. Right. Right. And I was wondering I was wondering when when we were talking about that, and, I just lost my train of thought.
Shoot. Come back.
Jamie: Come back. Dominic. Not going back to not going after somebody who hits his pocket pick.
Scott: You know? Yeah. I definitely forgot my I lost my train of thought.
Jamie: That's alright. Yeah. No. She's listen. She she listen.
We've I've been trying to have her on for a while, you know, so we've been going back and forth for a long time. During the season, it wasn't right, you know, because she's been super busy. So the summertime was the right time to do it, so it was perfect. Right. But yeah, no, she's fantastic.
Like I said, Dom's done, you know, skills work with her for years. We used to do it early in the morning, you know, before school sometimes, you know. No. She's great. She's a she's a really, really good skills coach.
She I remember she taught like angling and like, I don't want say checking, but like body bumping Body contact. If you Yeah. Yeah. You know, from a very young age where most kids were not using that, you know. Listen, she's she's a really good hockey coach, is exactly why we had her on.
I mean, you you can't win BRIC and then win Pee Wee Quebec and not. And nationals too. They won nationals though. Sorry. And nationals too.
Yeah. They just won nationals last year. Yeah. It was funny how she mentioned that they put more kinda like not wanna say resource, but like effort into Peewee Peewee Quebec rather than nationals. I thought that was pretty interesting.
Scott: Well, you know, like, But I also wonder if they had done nationals before Pee wee Quebec, it would have been the other way around.
Jamie: Maybe. You know? Maybe. Yep.
Scott: They probably there's probably residual left over from that Pee Wee Quebec. But that was, like, years apart at the same time. Those are two years ago. No?
Jamie: Yeah. And I guess Pee Wee Quebec is also more like a of an all star situation. Right?
Scott: That's fair.
Jamie: Crazy part about it is is that the teams that she normally takes to BRIC and to Peewee Quebec are for the most part, like, majority mid Fairfield with, like, a handful of kids. Like, she mentioned, like, her spring teams. They take, a 90%, you know, mid Fairfield and then, you know, a handful of kids. You know, they did the same thing for Brick, you know, and they did the same thing for Pee Wee Quebec, if I'm not mistaken. You know, it was the majority Mid Fairfield kids and, like, just like a handful of other kids.
Scott: Yeah. It's almost like they take the, like, the top 10. And then
Jamie: And then kinda like bring some other kids in
Scott: Bring some other kids in who are, like, may maybe better than their bottom Yeah. Bottom third or whatever.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. It's you know, it it what was also kinda interesting that she was mentioning, you know, the the academy that they're the kind of the academy that that they're starting over there.
Scott: Oh, Breakaway or Bolts? Breakaway. Breakaway.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. So that they Bolts is their, like, spring team.
Scott: The spring but it is it was called Bolt Hockey Academy.
Jamie: Oh, interesting.
Scott: It now.
Jamie: Oh, okay. Alright. So the Bolts were their were their was their spring team.
Scott: And maybe it's just like, you know, they call it an academy, and they just have things during the spring, summer.
Jamie: Right.
Scott: Whatever. But, yeah, the original breakaways from but from Minnesota. Yeah. Breakaway Academy, and this is the second location. And Right.
Trevor Ziegres' father his dad. Yeah. Right. He runs he runs that as well as the Mid Fairfield organization, if I'm not mistaken.
Jamie: Yeah. Think he's the president of Mid Fairfield on the Right.
Scott: And, like yeah. And Trevor played when he was a kid from Mid Fairfield.
Jamie: He did. Yeah. Yeah. Matter of fact, I think I'm pretty sure our kids saw him on the ice years ago there. Oh, yeah?
He was doing yeah. He was doing a workout, and he was on the ice with somebody before for a skate up at Stanford. Yeah. Yeah. No.
Listen. It's listen, these academies are popping up everywhere. You and I were just talking about it off air, you know, the academy stuff. I mean, they're they're and it's not just hockey, by the way.
Scott: No. I mean,
Jamie: they're popping up for baseball, for wrestling, for basketball, for
Scott: For all the things.
Jamie: It's everything. They're everywhere. It's your nontraditional schooling that's popping up everywhere. You know, parents listen. Parents, you know, parents spend money on their children.
Right? Which is why our kids are playing ice hockey. Right? I mean, like, you know, my parents were not spending money on on this their parents always spend money on their kids. Right?
When when you talk about same level. Not to the same level. Correct. Education and sports are two totally different things.
Scott: But now they're not.
Jamie: Well, that's what I'm saying. You know, they're they're you know, people are are are looking to better their kids, whether it's academically or athletically or maybe a combination of both these days. Yeah. You know, I don't want to say it's right or wrong. Listen, I do it.
I pulled my kid out of of public at in fourth grade, and the town we're in is a is a great school district, so it's not like my kid wasn't getting good education. You know? And then it kinda it's funny part. We also kinda did it because during COVID, like, you know and this kind of pushed me into it. You know?
And I don't know if I've already even said this on the podcast, but during COVID, Dominic was only going to school for like three hours a day. Right? And I thought that was unacceptable. I did not like that. I didn't like that, like and so and it was and that was okay with the state at the time.
Like, that was enough to fulfill whatever they needed to fulfill. Right? So I was not okay with that. So I pulled Dominic out of school in fourth grade during COVID when I saw that he was only needed like three half a half hours a day or whatever it was. And I was like, this is ridiculous.
It made me feel like public school is more like babysitting. Right? Because if you really only need like this like certain things to check off all the boxes to meet state requirements, then what the fuck are we doing? Right? Like, is the rest of it babysitting like music and art and gym and recess and lunch?
So like, is it just you know, was was public school kind of like, you know, kind of put together just to, like so parents could go to work so they could have their kids? But look. It introduces kids like.
Scott: Fair. But, like okay. So clearly, ice hockey isn't part of the curriculum in public school. Course. But the things that they do introduce kids to, the arts, the, you know, the other more traditional non core subjects.
Sure. Right? Like, yeah, are they throwaways for kids that don't give a shit about painting or singing or like 100% there. Yeah. No doubt.
I and I and I don't
Jamie: disagree class for somebody that's into music and art. Same idea. 100%. And recess or whatever. Right.
Scott: But I'll tell you this much. Like, in terms of being exposed to that stuff Yep. Now look, is Otto gonna have a career on Broadway? Probably not. But did he But if he did, that'd be fine too.
No. Right. But what I'm saying is that, like, it'd be in in the school, they had, like he he was in the choir, I think, for one year. He did at least two school plays that were, like, not part of the curriculum.
Jamie: So Yeah.
Scott: It gave him an opportunity to do to be in different situations
Jamie: Of course. Learn
Scott: a little bit more from different teachers Try and something out, and that's cool. So look, is it is it something that I feel is the most important for his overall development as a, like, a student? No. But, like, am I glad that he got some of that experience? Totally.
Of course. You know? Course. But, yeah. Yeah.
Like, at a certain point, when, you know, we talk about specialization on things, like, it's not uncommon. You know, I'm sure there's plenty of kids that well, before hockey players were going to academies that would leave to go to oh, I don't know. For academics specifically, kids would leave to go for, like, better educations in, you know, science, math, whatever. Yep. Stemmed Yeah.
To go to, like, art. You know? I'm sure. You know, the arts. Like, whether it's, like, singing, dancing, acting Juilliard.
Whatever it is. Well, yeah. Right. So, the idea of specializing in something in a different educational environment is so not new. Yeah.
Right. Right. The amount of it that's available for sports now is, you know, it's Listen. It's it's happening fast.
Jamie: It's different. Right? I mean, listen. I mean, you know, so listen. It's no different than than sending your kid, you know, to a private school for academics.
Right? I don't think. Right? I mean, it's you're just going to a different type of school. Right?
You people know, that you send their kids to private school were hopefully looking for maybe a different type of education than they were getting in public. Right? Is that fair? Yeah. You know?
Scott: I think so. And I and I also think like with the with technology and the way things have changed and like certainly COVID helped push like a a remote learning, online learning culture, which I'm not saying is a good substitute for, like, in person learning Agree. Or maybe it is. I've never done it. But I I I think that it's opened up a lot of doors and created some new options that are very good for a lot of kids.
Jamie: Yes. You know, it's funny. You know, being you know, as as a child myself, you know, having ADHD, and now my kid has it unfortunately, You know, I could I had a very hard time sitting still in a classroom setting. Right? So so one of the reasons and Dominic has that as well.
I remember we went to see Dominic in kindergarten. He was like upside down in his chair. And my mother tells me a story of of when they went to see me at at MKA when I was in kindergarten or first grade, I was like upside down in my chair at Montclair Kimberly. My dad's like, Sue, what the fuck is going on? You know?
Like, so it's very similar. So the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that respect. Right? You know? So I can just speak for my child.
My child was I don't wanna say struggling in the early grades, but like he had a hard time paying attention. Right? So when COVID hit and every kid is different. Right? You need to do what's right for your child and your family.
So when COVID hit and I saw that he only needed three hours a day of academics, I was like, what the fuck? Right? So Nancy and I decided to go. And I and I and I I wanted socialization too. Right?
Like, didn't want my kid to just be like sitting home for half the day, like doing like doing online. Right? Like, that that bothered me. So we moved him to an ice hockey. So we moved him to X Hockey Academy in Bridgewater where the Rockets play, and Dominic went to school there.
And, you know, they were with their peers, you know, and part of what I liked was it was online schooling. We did Laurel Springs, you know, and Laurel Springs is an accredited school. If you guys look up, the academics are really good, and you can make them as rigorous as you want, which is awesome. So I really liked their the academics for Laurel Springs, but the kids got on the ice in the morning. They got off the ice, they did off ice, and then they went to the classroom.
Okay? And there was a classroom with a teacher, like a real teacher. Right? So I liked that. I liked the socialization.
I liked that he was still in a classroom. I would not have been okay with Dominic, and some kids did this. Some kids went to the ice in the morning, then they went to the off ice, and then they went home and did their online schooling by themselves. That I was not okay with. Right.
Right? I wanted socialization. I wanted academics, and we did that from fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, and then brought Dominic back to to now he's going to that pre c academy where again, the academics are a big thing. And instead of doing hockey, they work out. They work on speed, agility, strength.
Right? So I'm, again, my kid, for him to get his energy out in the morning and actually be able to sit down and do academics in the afternoon, it worked for my child.
Scott: Sure.
Jamie: Right? Whereas my kid in a traditional public school or even a traditional private school where he would just have to sit at a desk all day long was not good for my kid at early ages. He's gotten better as he's gotten older, but still, he still has a tough time, even a pre seat. Not tough, but it's not as easy. He really has to focus on focusing.
Scott: But he's capable of self regulating Now doing the
Jamie: he and right. As a 13 year old, just turning Yes. Know? Right. So we're talking about non traditional schooling, talking about the Breakaway Academy.
I understand why some parents are gravitating away from public schools and they're gravitating towards some of these academies.
Scott: Yeah. One of the things that keeps on going through my mind with that and, like, those are such interesting years for kids because they start getting exposed to a lot of different things. And I'll never forget there was a a family, a mom on one of Otto's teams when they were much younger. I don't know. Eight, nine, and much younger.
They're not even that old to begin with, but a few years ago.
Jamie: I understand.
Danielle: You know
Jamie: what you mean?
Scott: And she was just talking about, you know, all we were talking about the craziness of hockey and,
Jamie: like Mhmm.
Scott: You know, all the travel and the this and the that and, you know, the extra practice you know, the extra clinics and lessons and whatever. And she was just saying, listen. If there's one thing I want to get out of my kids playing sports, that that keeps them away from, like, you know, certain crowds of people, like stupid street stuff, like, it keeps them out of trouble. Absolutely. And when I think about that and my own personal experience of playing ice hockey and not having many hockey players around that were taking it seriously or, you know, I I felt like I was a little isolated.
And now that there's an opportunity where kids can you know, and look. When I went to high school and then when I went to college, like, I sports became a thing of the past, and then, like, I was catching up on, like, you know, the social things that I missed out on early in high school because I was, you know, playing hockey. So I think that if there's opportunities also for kids to be in environments that are very positive from, like, a physical fitness perspective, from, like, you know, the old expression, you know, show show me your five closest friends, and I'll show you your future.
Jamie: Your future.
Scott: Yeah. You know? And, like, it it it there's a built in governor from, you know, to an extent Right. Because you never know who you know, but there's Of course. There there's not these, like, group of, like, kind of you know, it's it's harder to fall into, like, the wrong Yes.
Crowd when when you're surrounded by kids who are taking athletics long
Jamie: minded. Mhmm. A 100%.
Scott: Yes. 100%. So that part of it is, like, really appealing to me. It's certainly during these younger ages, you know, because things are happening younger and younger and just what they're getting exposed to. Mhmm.
You know, look, it doesn't
Jamie: social media, Scott. I mean, it's and I'm not and I'm not saying social media is bad. Do not get me wrong. I know that, like, it's been it's kind of a hot topic in the media these days where it's being banned in a bunch of places. You know?
You know, I I think don't get me wrong. Otto does not have a phone yet. Dominic just got one this last year. He needed it for the Train Heroic app at Breezy, so we were kinda like forced to get him a phone, or he probably still would not have one yet. Right?
But I think that there's as a parent, you have to monitor your kid's phone. You guys just have to. Yeah. Like, you know, so so I send Dominic a lot of good stuff on social media because there's a lot of positive that comes out of it. Right?
You know? But like you said, you know, as a parent, you know, you need to pay attention to your kid. Right? You know? And it keeps them off of that shit if humanly possible.
Off the video games, off social media, or off not falling with, like, a not to say a bad group because I don't wanna call any kids bad, but the wrong crowd if possible. Right?
Scott: Yeah. Well, I mean, the social media aspect, we haven't really crossed that bridge yet, but I do know that, like, know, there's plenty of kids that Otto hangs out with that whether or not they have social media, I'm not sure. But in terms of, like, you know, unlimited access to the Internet, like, on their phones whenever I mean, when Otto hangs out with kids that have phones that are you know, they can use them for whatever, I I know they're sitting there scrolling through YouTube and scrolling through other things. And
Jamie: Of course, they are.
Scott: Yeah. Look. I have a hard time stopping it myself often, you know, and a lot of times I say, I wish I didn't even have a smartphone. I'd rather go back to a dumb phone because it's so easy to get distracted. And that's part of my beef with, like, the
Jamie: least in how we're school district. Anything.
Scott: Yeah. But, like, the the kids now, like, look, they have their own Chromebooks, at least in my it's also I just know Otto's experience so far. Like, they they keep them over the summer. They don't have to return them if they're coming back to the school. The there's no parental controls on their school issued computers.
Like, do they monitor for, like, porn and, like, you know, violent criminal websites? There has
Jamie: to be blockers for that, buddy. For sure. But, like, my kid any corporation, there's blockers on all that stuff. Okay. They in a school.
Scott: Yes. But, like, they go to YouTube, and they can just scroll through, like you can watch mountain biking all class while he's sitting in class because the kids are allowed to use their computers during And it's it's just it's crazy that for adults that the adults have a hard time going on to technology and not getting distracted. Now you want, like, a developing mind who would probably not rather be in the for some of them, don't wanna even be in the classroom to begin with, and you give them the opportunity to, like, look on the Internet all class. So Like like They're already using ChatGPT in sixth grade, seventh grade. And it's
Jamie: like, woah. Yeah. Like any technology.
Scott: Like, what about the fundamentals? Like, you should learn how to read and write percent. And, like, you know, legibly Given.
Jamie: That that that's a given. There's no there's no question about that. That shit's a given. My thoughts are on listen, like any technology, you're going have your goods and your bads. Right?
So as a parent, you have to monitor, because you're the parent, you have to monitor this stuff. Right? And as you know, staff in a school, they have to monitor this stuff. Like, you can't just give a kid a Chromebook and say, like, have at it. Like, there has to be some has happens.
Well, that can't happen. There has to be curbs. Right? There has to be. Because there's a lot of really good things that come out of social media as well.
There's lot of really good things that come out of technology. I mean, ChatGPT. I mean, now you mean, do you remember when you had to, like, research up, you know, anything for like a project back in the day? You had to go to the library, you had to look for an encyclopedia or whatever it was. Right?
You know, nowadays, it's at your fingertips.
Scott: That's part of the problem though, at least in my opinion. And I understand the world is changing. Like, our kids do not need to go to, like, an Encyclopedia Britannica and go to, like, volume 17 to figure out
Jamie: To look up secrets.
Scott: In the world is, like Carmen San and do. Right? Like yeah. Or Carmen San diego. I I just there there's part of me that just like the kids, they're cheated in some ways on, like, how to negotiate learning.
Right? Like, if it's just all kind of done for you and presented on a platter where you have to consume the information. Seth has done for you.
Jamie: It's just more accessible. Like, if you're if you do you know how I have to tell you. You know, Dominic somebody said something the other day, and Dominic just looked it up. I'll give you a perfect for instance. Nancy and I were just walking the Princeton campus this morning before you and I got on here.
Okay? And we came across this building. Okay? And it said like and and this is this fucking huge building toward the back of Princeton's campus. Actually, to the back, it's kind of in the middle.
And I was like it just looks like it looked like a huge home. Right? It was really cool. And I was like, what the fuck is this? Mhmm.
Back in the day, I would have had to find somebody and ask them what it is. And there's a ton of history on Princeton's campus. Right? So what I did was is I walked up to it and there was a plaque on it that said Prospect was it Prospect Hall? Prospect House?
Prospect Hall? I'm not sure what it was, but I think it was Prospect House. So I was like and I said to Nancy, I'm like, this had to have been like the dean the President's House at one point in time. Right? Something like So I go to I open up I open up ChatGPT or Claude, you know, and pick I mean, just pick your pick your AI browser.
Right? And I was like, what is Prospect House? Right? And it came back on Princeton's campus. And it came back with this entire history of the Prospect House.
It was where the president used to stay Woodrow Wilson, when he was the president of Princeton, you know, stayed there. And so my point is that that the access people have to information is so vast these days, and it's so easy to get, which is great for learning, right, for kids to learn. I learned what the Prospect House was in a second, Scott. It was phenomenal. So that part, our children are beyond lucky.
Because back in the day, when you and I were like eight, if I was walking with my parents on the Princeton campus and I wasn't sure what that was, I would have had to find somebody to ask them.
Scott: Or Right.
Jamie: Actually, don't even know how if I didn't find anybody to ask them, I would have had to go I don't even know if the Prospect House would have been in an Encyclopedia Britannica back in the day. Right? You know, so the access is wonderful, but it's the parents that have to limit because there's a lot of good that comes out of this. As a parent, you have to limit what your kids can and can't access. You're never going to be able to stop it all.
Right? But that's your job as a parent to then make your children understand that there's a lot of shit that you're gonna come across too, and you need to kind of not pay attention to it. And as a parent, you need to stay on your kids because it's really hard for a nine, 10, 11, 12, 14 year old to be disciplined.
Scott: So
Jamie: that it's your job as a parent to kind of monitor that.
Scott: Right. So but And teach them right from wrong. So part okay. And I don't disagree with anything that you just said. One thing that came to mind though is that like the one one of the downsides is the lack of socializing that happens because you don't need to talk to anyone to communicate pretty much anything nowadays.
Jamie: That's the parents' job.
Scott: That okay. So that you're not with your kids all the time, especially once they have phones. Anyway, we you and I were even talking about, like, how, like or maybe it was my wife just, like, how rare it is that people pick up the phone and call people anymore. Right? Like, that's the thing.
But what I was gonna say was, I listen. You're good about picking up the phone and calling people, but I do think it's a massive problem that, like, kids don't they don't talk to one another. They don't have conversations and look people in the eyes. Like, you hear a lot of people that are, like, our age, you know, talking about younger generations and how the way like, some of them are much more introverted, and they don't have to, like, practice not being you you know what I'm saying.
Jamie: Yes. Yes. If you want to, you could just stay in a shell and and and and be fine.
Scott: You know? But the last hold on. The last thing I want you to say about this was that, yeah, it's the parents' responsibility, you know, you know, to police what their kids are doing, but we we have safeguards
Jamie: your child.
Scott: But listen, we have safeguards on our on our children's devices. Their school issued devices don't have certain safeguards.
Jamie: That should be
Scott: so, like, we don't let the kids so when my son is sitting on his computer doing homework on the couch when I can't see his screen, but I see his fingers moving quickly toggling between the game he's playing on one browser and like his works that's on another browser, it like creates a whole another level of like annoyance that's like, okay, now I have to you have to sit where I can see what's on your screen. You know? And it's just I don't know. I I I've got a lot of problems with these school issued electronic devices and the lack of or the freedom with which the kids have to use them whenever they want in school or out of school. It's just yeah.
I'm not a not a fan right now.
Jamie: Well, listen. So, you know, it's not I can't speak to that because Dominic doesn't have a school issued. You know? All the kids have their own MacBooks or iPads or whatever they use for school. So we obviously can put curbs on that.
But we we have lots of conversations with Dominic about, you know, right, wrong, you know, morals, you know, what you should be doing, what you shouldn't be doing. You know? So, you know, as a parent, you have to hope that in this, you know, highly driven age of technology and and it's changing ever so rapidly that that you have taught your kid the right way, and hopefully that they know just kinda stay away from the things that they need to stay away from. Right. Hard to do.
Right? Very hard to do. Hard easy to say. Hard hard to do. But that's why as a parent, it's your job to parent.
Scott: Yeah. But you also have to keep up with all this shit too as a parent. How many how many adults do you know that don't know how to fucking use JATGPT?
Jamie: 100%. Listen. It's daunting. It it's it's it's it is not the path of least resistance for parenting. It's made parenting so much more I don't say intense or more difficult, right, than it probably was when our kids when our kids when we were kids our parents were parenting us.
Because at that time, you just went out in the in the in the front yard and you hung out with your buddies on the street and you came in when it got dark. Right? Right. So again, it's a little different these days, but it's as a parent, it's your job to monitor your your your kids and what they're seeing because again, you're the parent. Right?
And you need to be on top of your kids. I know it's difficult. I know it's not easy. I know it's an extra five, six, seven steps. But as a parent, it's your job to raise good human beings, and that's part of your job description right now.
Whether you like it or not. You know? And it's your job as a parent to socialize your kids, which is why listen, our kids are playing ice hockey. They're out there socializing. They're at camps.
Like, I would not be okay by letting my kids sit inside on a computer all day long. Right. I wouldn't be okay with it. My kid has a limit on video games. Right?
I don't like video games at all. But my kid I also realized that my kid and kids in general need downtime.
Scott: Without a doubt.
Jamie: That's important stuff for them to unwind. So when Dominic's done with homework and working out and doing whatever he needs to do for the day, he has an hour, hour and a half to unwind and do whatever he wants to do at that time. Right? You know? So, again, you have to monitor.
You have to watch your kids. You know? Because if you're not doing it, nobody's doing it. Right. Alright.
Well, listen.
Scott: I I I agree with you, and I think we're getting a little long long here. So I was thinking about wrapping this one up. Also have to go to the doctor. Yeah. That's right.
And head out shortly. But anyhow Yeah. Good stuff, dude. Likewise. Combo.
Great meeting Danielle, learning more about Mid Fairfield. She's great. Great being around the Princeton campus. Moe smile. If you haven't, like, donated and you still want to, there's still an opportunity.
Go to our Instagram. You can find the link in the bio. Click it. You can see how to donate. Get your children involved in Shooting for a Cure.
That's still going on. Again, big thank you to all the listeners for checking us out, listening, sharing the show, all the above. I think we're in a 101 countries now, buddy. One zero one.
Jamie: Thank you to all of you because you guys all made that possible. So thank you. We will keep delivering, hopefully, you know, awesome, awesome content to you guys. Thank you, like Scott said, for subscribing, sharing, checking us on social media. Go check out, like Scott said, the memorial song Kettering link in our bio.
Please donate if you can. Even a dollar is helpful. Yeah. It's been a ride, bud, and it's just getting started.
Scott: That's it, buddy. Well, listen. Until the next episode, may you have a wonderful day. May your children may your Dominic play an excellent ice hockey. Otto as well.
Yeah. You can give me the four one one on that when I see him later.
Jamie: Well, you'll be down here tomorrow for us to do a little recording from Princeton.
Scott: Let's go. That'd be fun. Alright, dude. Have a good afternoon. I'll talk to
Jamie: you later, dude. Alright. See you, pal. Laters.