Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast

One hell of a commute and a front-row seat to growing up.

This week, Scott and Jamie sit down with Ben DeBlock, a hockey dad who's clocked the hours, booked the hotels, and still wonders if he's getting it right. From navigating long drives and tryout stress to realizing when to pull back, Ben offers a grounded, honest look at what it really means to support your kid through the hockey grind.

In this episode:
- How Ben rethought the “more is more” mindset
- What structure gave their family and where it backfired
- Why listening to your kid and partner is part of the job

If you've ever asked, “Are we doing too much?”, Ben's been there. And he’s got the self-awareness (and mileage) to prove it.

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What is Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast?

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

Scott:

Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the crazy hockey dads podcast, the unfiltered podcast for hockey parents. No politics, no sugarcoating, just real talk for hockey parents in the trenches. Here we are, episode 35. Welcome back one.

Scott:

Welcome back all. What is up, James?

Jamie:

Not much, bud. How's it going?

Scott:

Great. Everything is great. Ordered tape and laces from Howie's Hockey.

Jamie:

Said this. Yes. Crazy ten. Nice.

Scott:

Crazy ten. I used it.

Jamie:

I love it. Hopefully a lot of our other, you should flex, right? Hopefully a lot of our listeners are doing the same.

Scott:

Yes.

Jamie:

Love it.

Scott:

They should.

Jamie:

And their candles smell lovely.

Scott:

Save 10%. Use Crazy ten. How is hockey? Let's go.

Jamie:

That's right. Crazy hockey, Crazy ten.

Scott:

That's what's up.

Jamie:

Support Crazy Hockey Dads, Crazy ten.

Scott:

Yep. That's where your dad got it yesterday. That was good.

Jamie:

Nice, man. Very cool.

Scott:

Yeah. Well,

Jamie:

you know,

Scott:

since we started with the partners, why don't we just, finish that off?

Jamie:

Yeah. Fire away. Got in front of you. Pro Shot, Angelo Serce, CHD 10 for 10% off Angelo's power skating clinics. Really good dude.

Jamie:

If the New Jersey Devils trust him, so should You're

Scott:

so clever and witty.

Jamie:

And then API, our friend Eric, he is, and you guys are using his stuff right now, right?

Scott:

We are, we are.

Jamie:

And it's going well?

Scott:

It's awesome. Yeah? Yeah. Parents love it. Yeah.

Scott:

They totally love it.

Jamie:

Yeah. Fill out the form, mention Crazy Hockey Dads for a 10% discount, which is a $100 value.

Ben:

Yes, sir.

Jamie:

And, obviously, Scott's team is using it, and apparently parents like it. Really good analytics for for each player.

Scott:

Really good. Yeah. They do, they tag the they tag, games. They break them down, and then you get analytics on the back end, both team and player specific. So it's awesome tool to help kids of all ages up to college, adults, young adults, whatever, learn the game, improve hockey IQ,

Jamie:

all the Athletic Performance Insight.

Scott:

That's what's up.

Jamie:

Eric's awesome. Really impressive software that he built. Really impressive.

Scott:

Yes. You know, and sometimes when I stop and think, like, he actually, like, developed this whole thing.

Jamie:

Know. It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah. He's a pretty smart dude.

Scott:

You think about some of those things and you're like, it's like big corporate stuff. Like,

Jamie:

nah, it's like

Scott:

passionate dad had a problem. That's it. Decided to solve it himself.

Jamie:

I wonder if he started doing that when his kid broke his wrist and was kind of like down and out for little

Scott:

He mentioned on the podcast.

Jamie:

I don't remember what it was. Yeah. Yeah. I almost need to go back or just text him or something like that. Yeah.

Jamie:

I wonder when he found time to do that, especially during hockey season.

Scott:

I forget. I think it was before that, though.

Jamie:

I think it was too. Yeah, I think you're right. You know? So what else is going on?

Scott:

What else? Yeah.

Ben:

Hockey. Hockey.

Jamie:

Gut. Fire right.

Scott:

Right now, it's 05:00

Jamie:

on It is. A

Scott:

So this is. NHL is starting now.

Jamie:

Now, right now.

Scott:

Right now, the puck is dropping.

Jamie:

Defending Stanley Cup champs, right?

Scott:

Who's gonna win?

Jamie:

This game? Yeah. It's the Panthers versus who? The Blackhawks? Chicago.

Jamie:

The Blackhawks do not have a chance.

Scott:

Is Bedard gonna put up a point? Probably. Probably gonna put up at least one point.

Jamie:

I would think so, yes. But But I don't think they're gonna win. Okay. Did they, I'm trying to of the improvements they made in the off season. I can't think of, I'm trying to think back to like free agency and what they did.

Jamie:

Did they add?

Ben:

I don't

Scott:

know. I don't remember.

Jamie:

I almost think they had to have added somebody because if you don't add, is Bedard not gonna walk out the door in a couple of years? Am I wrong about that?

Ben:

Mean You know

Jamie:

what I mean? I mean I

Scott:

don't know. McDavid resigned. Not that that has anything to do with the Dard, totally different circumstances. Right.

Ben:

That just

Scott:

made me think of walking out the door and a superstar that did not was

Jamie:

Well, yeah. No. That that that yes. That is true. He he definitely did not.

Jamie:

But he has a little bit of a supporting caster on him. Wouldn't you say

Scott:

more than a little bit?

Jamie:

Right. I mean, he right. You know, between like Bouchard and like, I mean, I'm just looking at the end of

Scott:

I'm a fan of Bouchard.

Jamie:

I agree with that. He's a little bit of a knucklehead, but he's but he's a he's a decent hockey player. I mean, he's a pretty decent defenseman.

Scott:

You know? I don't know. Is it on the defensive side of the puck, is he is he that good? I mean, I feel like the same thing with, like, Darnell too. He's he's like, they're offensively they've got offensive prowess, but, like, I don't know.

Scott:

They don't I don't know. Neither one of them do it for me.

Jamie:

Yeah. So I'm looking at I'm actually looking right now at the at the still the the the lines the early lines for the for the Blackhawks. And I I mean, listen. They have some young talent. Right?

Scott:

That dude, Nazar has been putting up a bunch of Frankie Nazar.

Jamie:

He is But again

Scott:

bunch of points.

Jamie:

Again, young talent. Right? Yeah. He was a big Michigan guy. Yeah.

Jamie:

A really good player in Michigan, Frank Nazar. They have Tyler Bettouzzi. You know, they have Nick Filinos here. They have Donato, obviously Bedard. You know, and on the back end, they have, they have that remember that kid, Levchinoff, the kid from Michigan State.

Jamie:

He was at our No. No. He's a really good defender. He's he's, you know, he he's gonna be in the starting, not starting. He's gonna be in the in the top six pairing, I think.

Jamie:

But like, I don't see a lot of, I'm not seeing they're young. Right? I don't see, like, like, they it's almost like they're not helping Bedard.

Scott:

I I mean, look, I I'm no GM and, know

Jamie:

Yeah.

Scott:

I I have to believe that they're trying to build around him. And I I I I don't know what their situation is. But yeah, man. Listen. I hope for if nothing else that he has, like, a a strong season.

Scott:

Like, last year was, a fall

Jamie:

from a little bit from his first year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott:

Yeah. It's like, you know, forget, like, even if he doesn't become like the generational talent, you know, like there's

Jamie:

dude, I

Scott:

don't know. He seems like a dedicated work you know what's a crazy video?

Jamie:

Talk to me.

Scott:

There was a video of, like, the Blackhawks getting bag skated. And Bedard, when I tell you

Jamie:

Was he hauling ass?

Scott:

Was, like, half a rank ahead.

Jamie:

Yeah, that doesn't shock The

Scott:

entire team.

Jamie:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For like, Not shocked. Yeah. It was wild to see. No, he The kids

Ben:

just like

Jamie:

Well, you remember the story about him and him and Biz, like waking up early to go hiking with Biz, like, early. Right? I mean, you know

Ben:

that story.

Jamie:

Yeah. Like like, think I think the kid's an animal. Like, I I think he has no problem working out and putting the work in. I just don't know if he has a lot of a supporting cast around him.

Scott:

Yeah. Well, I mean, like, that always poses challenges. Right? It's a team sport, but we'll see. Hopefully, hopefully he has a good one this year.

Jamie:

Well, I will say this, I just pulled up their projected cap for this year. So like, and it basically ranks it like the highest projected cap to the least projected cap. And the Blackhawks are dead last as far as like they have the most salary cap space.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Dead last.

Scott:

So you would think they probably should have tried to use some of that in the off season. Is that what you're trying to say? Or

Jamie:

One would think. Right? I mean I mean, you would think you would try to get him some even if they're, like, young up and coming guy. And maybe they did. Maybe they did some moves that I I'm not privy to.

Scott:

That's like the Ducks. The Ducks got a wealth of young talent. Like, oh, wow. And

Jamie:

they also have some veterans over there, right? They brought on every ex Ranger known to man. I mean, so like, you know?

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

So like, at least they have guys like Cryter and Truba, you know, I mean, you know, but like I'm looking and I don't see a lot on the listen, and we have a big we actually have a big listening presence out in Illinois. So, write us. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, because I don't know what the long term plan is for the Blackhawks. I mean, They're an original 16. I mean, so you would think they would wanna compete.

Jamie:

Right?

Scott:

I mean, look, all the teams want to compete. No doubt. It's just a matter of, you you know, you have, like, these GMs that are in place that have, like, you know, designs and plans. You got, like, know, like, Iserman and Shannon and Garen and, like Yeah. You know, and, like, I feel like their names are often in the news for various reasons about, you know, their rebuilding plans.

Scott:

I I don't know what's going on in Chicago, but nonetheless, let's let's let's carry on. What what else is going on? Hockey weekend, how was your your hockeying weekend?

Jamie:

My hockeying weekend was mixed. Mixed. Like yours last week, mine was mixed. Yeah, definitely mixed. We lost both games and we played the first team we played was a really good team in the league.

Jamie:

We lost four three. Okay. Yes, that was a tough one. Dominic did not play particularly well in that game. So, yeah.

Jamie:

And then on Sunday, I wasn't there because Nancy and I had to go to, so he went down with a teammate of his, but we were down six two. Yeah. And coach made a goalie change. And all of a sudden, I guess the kids started to skate. Right?

Jamie:

And and I guess Dominic decided to skate too. So they they came back to make it six six. Dominic scored a really, really pretty goal to tie it at six six. Like I really

Ben:

if the

Scott:

clip, was, that was

Jamie:

Yeah, it's on his Instagram if anybody wants to go look at it. DJT twenty twelve. And if anyone wants to take a peek at it, really nice, like where he slid the puck around the right side of the kid and went around him the other side, grabbed the puck and kind of walked in on the goalie. So that was for six-six and then in overtime. So tied six six going to overtime.

Jamie:

Dominic was out there with a defenseman and another forward and Dominic left his man and the kid was wide open on the side on the side of

Scott:

game. It was three on three.

Jamie:

It was three on three. Yeah. Three on three for three minutes. So it was a learning experience. I'm pretty sure he, I will give him credit when he realized that he left the guy.

Jamie:

He kind of made a beeline over and put his knee down to block the shot,

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Which he normally does not do. He normally doesn't like blocking shots. So he put his knee down to try to block it. So I think he realized that he left him and then tried to make up for it, but the puck got buried like right under the crossbar. So listen, you gotta learn.

Scott:

How much three on three does he really play, number one? None. Number two, doubt they even practice three on three.

Jamie:

They didn't, no. They haven't. You're 100% right. You know? So learning experience, you know?

Scott:

And, yeah, Especially if you have to play like man, like man defense, more or less, like

Jamie:

So I gotta tell you, I I've actually had like, I don't wanna say nightmares, but I always said to myself like, oh shit, like if he gets put in a three on three overtime situation, like he has no idea what the fuck to do.

Scott:

Yeah. He's not the only one.

Jamie:

Who knows? I don't know. I'm sure some kids I'm sure some kids have

Scott:

had to it. Dominik's been playing high level hockey and has been experienced have been exposed to much Stuff. Higher level coaching than probably most of the kids on his team. I'd imagine if he hasn't gone through with any of his experience so far, the other kids haven't either. Unless they're unless they're habitually watching, like, I don't know, overtime in the NHL and just really keying in on, like, the defensive strategy.

Ben:

He did it.

Scott:

How well how well are you gonna absorb that?

Jamie:

He did it last year a couple times, like, but Adam Adam was on the ice for a three on three a couple times last year. Okay. But but but they grabbed the puck and went the other direction. He was I don't think he ever really had to play defense, to be honest with you.

Scott:

Yeah, okay. So now he knows.

Jamie:

Yeah, listen.

Scott:

Now he knows.

Jamie:

Listen, it's a learning experience. That's how I look at it. So I have no problem. I have no problem with it. I have not said to him that he left the guy, but I think he probably knows, You know?

Jamie:

Yeah. He probably

Scott:

knows when he turned around in

Jamie:

his Yeah.

Scott:

Probably Exactly.

Jamie:

Think he I think he realized, oh, shit. Like, this dude's wide open, like, right next to the post. What am Yeah. I And he like I said, he made a beeline and put a knee down to take the shot, like in the chest or along the side. So I give him credit for that, man, because you know, he normally doesn't do that.

Jamie:

So, so we lost an OT. So I think we're like eight and three now. Our tie got fixed.

Scott:

Oh, it did?

Jamie:

Yeah, they fixed our tie.

Scott:

Job, Ron.

Jamie:

Yeah, seriously. So we're eight, three and oh, nice job, Ron is right. So yeah, so it was a mix. Scored two very nice goals in that comeback, and also had a really nice assist to our defense or one of our defensemen who put the puck. So he had a lot to do with the comeback, which was cool.

Scott:

That's awesome.

Jamie:

You know? Yeah. So it was good. Good. And then he went to his buddy's house after because, like I said, Nancy and I weren't there.

Jamie:

So he went down with a teammate, went to his buddy's house and they rode around, rode into town and started grabbing pizza. And I'm sure they forgot all about it.

Scott:

Yeah,

Jamie:

it's only us schmucks that remember this stuff.

Scott:

Yeah, totally. Right.

Jamie:

Right. So So yeah, that was my hockey weekend. What about you guys? What

Scott:

How'd just go? We racked up another, a win and a loss, let me tell you this. In town, not my town, but nearby, a neighboring town, have a rink that's like, kind of like half outdoors. And what do I mean by that? It's got like, of the four walls surrounding Right.

Scott:

That

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott:

Only one wall is like

Jamie:

I forgot you were playing

Scott:

There's proper wall. The other three are like, there's like a half wall coming down from the roof. Right. But then it's like netting and it's like open to the elements.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

So, well, but the netting, open to the elements meaning like, you know.

Jamie:

Open air. It's open air. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah. That's probably the best way to put it. And so it's like 80 degrees. And I'm like, what the hell are

Jamie:

we doing? Didn't think you guys were gonna I'm play that game, to be honest like I did not expect you guys

Ben:

to play.

Scott:

So I think it was the first day that they were open.

Jamie:

And didn't you guys have like an afternoon game too? When it was like the hottest part

Ben:

the day?

Jamie:

Yeah, I'm shocked you guys played.

Scott:

I went there midday because I was like, it's gonna be foggy. They're not gonna be able to see anything.

Jamie:

Would think so Yeah. Soft,

Scott:

all this shit.

Jamie:

And it wasn't.

Scott:

I went there midday and I was like, it's actually working.

Jamie:

How is that? I've never seen that before.

Scott:

Well, then what happened? Mean, so when we got there like a couple hours later, the ice had gotten much more wet And in the game before so basically they just did a dry cut with the Zamboni just to mop up, like, the the

Jamie:

Whatever was on the ice. Yeah.

Scott:

Yeah. And then, like, as the game went on, it got, like, more wet and more wet, but it never got to the point where the puck was, like, stopping in puddles. So

Jamie:

So it wasn't terrible.

Scott:

Yeah. It ended up working out. They ended up they won, like, 10 to four, I think.

Ben:

Right.

Scott:

I you know, Otto had some nice plays. He didn't he didn't convert any goals. You know, he had some, you know, had some nice moves, but I don't I don't know. It wasn't his best outing, I guess. But No.

Scott:

And then No, I don't know. Nah. No. I mean, like there were some nice passing and some nice like one v one moves Right. He had a bunch of shots on goal.

Scott:

Will say this though. I mean, even though I get, like, frustrated when he doesn't bury or whatever, the number of chances and the number of shots on goal he has this year compared to what he had last year or the year before, it's, like, really high. And, like Yeah. I know if he keeps it up with this kind of volume more

Jamie:

You would think that there'd be success there.

Scott:

There will be, you know, I just get impatient and you know, like-

Jamie:

We all do. You

Scott:

know, so that that's between my ears, not necessarily between his.

Jamie:

I get it. So the puck did not actually stop in puddles at all.

Scott:

No, no, it was actually really surprising. It looks like if you go to Live Barn,

Jamie:

it looks like- Yeah, doesn't look bad.

Scott:

It looks like super shiny, like

Jamie:

It looks glistening. Yeah, yeah. Glistening. Did I ever tell you our story before you go on to how he was on Sunday? We were mites, I wanna say full ice mites.

Jamie:

And we went down to Navisink Country Club. So for those of you who aren't from our area, Navisync is a country club in like, it's sort of like that's considered down the beach, New Jersey, right? It's like some of the early shore points, right? So Navisync Country Club in the wintertime, they put a rink out overlooking their golf course, right? You never played Navisink, Scott?

Scott:

No.

Jamie:

Okay. So the Red Bank kids play there. A lot of the Red Bank general kids play for Navisink also. Cause it's in the, it's right there by the Red Bank. So it's an outdoor rink, right?

Jamie:

A little more outdoor than the building you were in. This is totally outdoors.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Right?

Ben:

Yeah.

Jamie:

So, and they put it up in the wintertime. So I remember when we were with the Avalanche Full Ice Mites, so our kids were at eight. Yeah. They scheduled an outdoor game at Navisync against the Navisync kids. And it was like January 4.

Jamie:

So you would think it'd be freezing, right?

Scott:

But it wasn't.

Jamie:

And we had like an 8AM game or an 08:30 game. So we get there, it's like, I don't know, like 49 degrees and drizzling. Yeah. Right? Kids are all excited for like an outdoor game.

Jamie:

They get changed in the locker room. They walk out, you know, outside, I know, you know, over the carpet, into the rink and you're looking and you're like, not really sure how this puck's gonna slide.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Right. Like during warmups, it was stopping in puddles. The passes were stopping midway. Like you knew it was gonna be a situation. So they started the game.

Jamie:

And I would say like five minutes in.

Scott:

They just called it.

Jamie:

No, the ref picks up the puck, puts it down, picks up a street hockey ball, puts it down, and they finished the game with a street hockey ball.

Scott:

Are you serious?

Jamie:

I swear to God.

Scott:

That's funny.

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah.

Scott:

That was good improvisation I by the

Jamie:

think they're used to it if the weather conditions are not ideal, you know? So yeah, finished the game with a street hockey ball, like an orange street hockey ball.

Scott:

Never heard that.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. God. I just want, I thought that was appropriate with your story.

Scott:

Yeah, no, it was so to my surprise, it went off. But the the team that plays out of there where that's their home rink is a New York City team.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

And they actually canceled the following day's games because

Jamie:

Oh, they did.

Scott:

Because, like, they were concerned the the ice wasn't gonna hold up overnight, it was gonna be another one day and blah blah blah. So and anyway

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

Whatever. We got our game in, so that was good. Then Sunday Sunday, I didn't go. I stayed back with Noah. Early took them.

Scott:

They got they got smoked, like, ten to one. Yikes.

Jamie:

By who?

Scott:

It's actually the, I was like, choke.

Jamie:

Oh, went up to Stanford, right? That Wings They did. Somebody did, yeah.

Scott:

Excuse me.

Jamie:

That's a cool new rink, by the way, up in Stanford, Connecticut.

Scott:

Yeah, you said so.

Jamie:

Oh, you didn't see it? Yeah, no, it's nice. It's a nice ring. A nice.

Scott:

And this is the first time, literally the first time I've never watched one moment of one of his games. I have not gone back to watch the video. I have not not

Jamie:

You just don't wanna not interested in

Scott:

seeing really.

Jamie:

Ten-one's a tough score.

Scott:

Yeah. I mean, I can only imagine how thrilled the children were getting smoked. You know what I mean? I don't know. You know, I will say just in

Jamie:

like That's a hard score. Hard score line.

Scott:

Yeah. Yeah. Listen, it's an emotional roller coaster and honestly not having It would be maybe different if it was like a close game and they didn't win, but like, don't need to watch it.

Jamie:

No, I get it.

Scott:

It's like, It's part of it's also for my own like

Jamie:

All good.

Scott:

Sanity just to not observe things that are just gonna make me angry.

Jamie:

Yeah. I get that.

Scott:

Maybe there aren't any things that are gonna make me angry, but I think at a ten one loss, there are probably some things that would make me angry and I just don't need that in my life.

Jamie:

Smart man. Right now. Smart man.

Scott:

So I am avoiding. So maybe that's a, I don't know.

Jamie:

It's like a way to self regulate by just avoiding it.

Scott:

Something. Yeah, avoidance. Yeah, I guess.

Jamie:

Sometimes it works.

Scott:

Yeah, as long as it's not habitual, I'm I pretty

Jamie:

sure I walked out of the third period of Domics game, which was not very good parenting of me.

Scott:

Well, you know, sometimes you gotta take care of yourself. What do they do on airplanes? You gotta put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you should help

Jamie:

anyone Well said. Said.

Scott:

That's true.

Jamie:

Well said. Well said.

Scott:

I don't know. I mean, I didn't watch any practice yesterday. So I think I mentioned a little while ago, he wants me to watch some of his practice. Didn't watch And he goes, You didn't watch any, did you? I was like, no, I was outside showing the weather.

Scott:

I was, it was beautiful. It was gorgeous, but.

Jamie:

Yeah, was. Yeah. No, nevermind.

Scott:

I'm just, I need space. I need space from.

Jamie:

Nothing wrong with that, dude. I haven't watched practice in a long time.

Scott:

Yeah. Anyway, listen, we're getting like, as you say, long in the tooth.

Jamie:

Long in the tooth. Let's wrap

Scott:

this part up. Let's kick it over to today's guest, which we haven't even introduced yet. So why don't you do the honor since you know him for some time? And I will just say the qualification of this, that what a legend.

Jamie:

I told you. I told you he's a great dude, isn't he?

Scott:

Yeah. Give our listeners like a brief summary of like the relationship and then we'll kick it over to

Jamie:

the interview. So, yeah, so this is my buddy, Ben DeBlock. Ben, I've known Ben since since, like, Mike Brick series stuff. They live in Binghamton, New York, and, Braden, his son used to play for Scranton Wilkes Barre, and we knew them through Brick Series stuff coming down to Stanford. And we'd come up, they'd come down and we got we became friendly with them.

Jamie:

And I actually ran into Ben Playing in like a like a tournament up in his rink in Binghamton called The Ice House. How funny is that? We have an ice house here. It's actually called the Ice House. Really cool old rink.

Jamie:

Yeah, they have this thing called the, I have to double check, they have a drink at the bar overlooking the rink called, I think it's called the penalty box. This thing is phenomenal, by the way. If you're ever in Binghamton, New York at rink called the Ice House, they walk into the bar and ask for, I want to say it's called the penalty box and Jesus Christ, this thing will knock you on your ass. But phenomenal drink. But yeah, so Ben is from Binghamton and when me and those two other dads started our Rockets team, our Rockets twelve team, which is now doing pretty well.

Jamie:

Ben was one of our first phone calls because Ben is a good dude. Him and his wife are lovely. And their son, Braden, is super squared away, really polite kid, nice kid. As you'll hear in our interview, Braden is an awesome kid and Ben travels two and a half hours down to New Jersey for ice hockey every week.

Scott:

Multiple times.

Jamie:

Multiple times. So, you know, I think for him to be on is Crazy Hockey appropriate, right?

Scott:

Highly appropriate.

Jamie:

Highly appropriate. And he is a funny bastard, like I've been kind of previewing the last couple episodes. As a matter of fact, funny, I'm talking about previewing episodes, we obviously mentioned that he was coming on and he was up in Massachusetts after we recorded the interview with him and somebody walked up to him and said, don't disappoint on your interview in the podcast. How fucking funny is that shit?

Scott:

Oh, no way. I didn't hear that.

Jamie:

How funny is that shit?

Scott:

That's fucking funny.

Jamie:

You know, so somebody heard us preview it and ran into him in Massachusetts and said, Don't disappoint next week. Yeah. Not knowing that he literally just did the interview with us like hours before that.

Scott:

He definitely understood the assignment. So

Jamie:

Yes. Yes, he did. He crushed it. So I hope everybody enjoys, the interview with my buddy, Ben DeBlock.

Scott:

Let's go.

Jamie:

All right. Here we are with our next hockey dad. One of my favorite people, Binghamton's one and only Ben DeBlock. Ben, man, thank you for so much for being on with us.

Ben:

Pleasure to be here, Scott. Great to meet you. This is this is

Scott:

quite likewise. Likewise. Know, I just do

Ben:

a hug there.

Jamie:

That's right.

Scott:

Yeah. So one of the things that I, when I first learned about you was when Jamie put the, know, I was putting that team together and I was like, dude, we got a, we got a family coming down from Binghamton and we got a team coming from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and there's someone And I'm like, what are you, like, are you doing? Like paying these kids? Like how? That's such a, what a commitment.

Scott:

Holy shit. So like years ago, you already were like on like crazy hockey dad level. You were up there from the beginning.

Ben:

Like probably a four day story to unpack how it became to get there. And there's probably a lot of people that would get upset when I point the finger right at them, why we ended up where we're at. But in short, yeah, Jamie called and he's like, we got this thing. It was you and Chris, we got this thing. And I was like, I I'll I'll do anything.

Ben:

I'm the thing I'm in, I gotta get out of this thing. And it wasn't even like, oh, I gotta go play for this team. That's so touted as one of the best, blah, blah, blah. I didn't know anything about it. In fact, I didn't know anything about hockey period.

Ben:

Once my kids started started with hockey, like I had just started playing men's league at like 25 years old. Hockey for me, there was no youth hockey. For me, youth hockey was go find a pond and some skates. You know, my parents were we're not doing that stuff. No, it's like, you're going, you're going to church Sunday morning.

Ben:

You will not be going to an ice rink. You will only play baseball when we buy you a glove once every four years. And, when your brother outgrows his spikes, you can have those. So sports, hockey wasn't a thing as a kid. So fast forward to twenty five years later, my kid watched me play men's league and he's like, Oh, I want to do this.

Ben:

We kind of bounced around a little bit and his actually it's Jamie. Ran into Jamie at a pre BRIC tryouts. That's right. That's kind of how this all and Jamie and Chris were super cool. Like we were kind of like the outriggers of a MF naval ship that, Stay out of the way.

Ben:

We'll need you if we want you. You answer to us if we call you. So Chris and Jamie were awesome with making that experience a lot more palatable. You guys were super cool with my wife when she would take B and then that's, I can't, you guys were like, Hey, we're gonna do this thing. I'm like, no brainer.

Ben:

I'll do it. If there's only five kids on the team. Don't care. I like spending time in the

Jamie:

car. And then, and now what is that like four years later, three years, it's gotta be four years, right?

Ben:

Yeah. So this is year, this is year four. It's a, it gets, it gets there. The snowball gets bigger. It builds more momentum.

Ben:

And I don't mean anybody's like individual development. I just mean the pure craziness. It is absolutely, absolutely lunacy. I mean, get one guy on corner. You would think you would think.

Ben:

And then the guys that you were like, oh, you know what? Dude's super cool. I'm in the corner by himself. And then he erupts his volcano takes off. You're like, what the heck is happening here?

Ben:

You know, I was telling Scott, was telling Jamie the other day, was like, dude, this whole thing is, is totally like me, myself and Irene, where he's got the, delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage. That is every hussy dad, every like, okay, I'm cool, I'm Charlie, I'm hanging out here watching my kid play, and then all of a sudden you turn into Hank. Oh, you want to tame him? You want to starve you baby? Go ahead, open the choke, pull the cord baby, see what happens.

Ben:

Dude it goes people go off their rocker. They totally go crazy and

Jamie:

it's unreal. Yes exactly right and you just fly off the handle.

Ben:

Speaker And then like you really want to put gasoline on that fire bring in the hockey rankings. Holy cow. That's the best. Nothing better has happened for hockey than the my hockey

Jamie:

Well Speaker said

Ben:

it it brings out the golden in everybody. It's so great. I'm just exhausted from our Wednesday morning watch parties, you know, when he's like Jesus

Jamie:

what time they come out like five a. M. Six a. M. Or the is it even earlier now?

Jamie:

I don't even know.

Ben:

Oh, dude. It's 3AM. You're catching I

Jamie:

thought so.

Ben:

I thought it was

Jamie:

like 3AM. Yeah. People still refreshing their screen at like 02:59.

Ben:

What crazy. This is happening. You know, I like to do the check-in every once in a while, see like more to see like where our team back in Binghamton, like what they're doing, you know, it's only AA hockey that they have, which is awesome in most places around. But for us, like I found out in like Connecticut, New England, there's

Jamie:

actually a double hockey

Ben:

there. We just kind of, we moonlight it.

Scott:

What's that?

Jamie:

Did we lose Ben?

Ben:

I think he's. The second best Western connection is

Jamie:

that got to love the hotel wifi. Are we good?

Ben:

Give me one second.

Jamie:

The hotel wifi.

Ben:

Yeah, we're

Scott:

You on the Wi can just text. It's second best Like rejoin.

Jamie:

Yeah, I'll tell him. Yeah. Yes, Scott. He. Yeah, he.

Jamie:

Ben is a drop.

Ben:

I hear you.

Jamie:

Join. Let's see. See if we can get Ben back on here because, man, he is. Now he can he I guess he could probably hear us, but we can't hear him well.

Scott:

Oh, maybe

Ben:

I hear you.

Jamie:

There he goes. He got the text message. He'll jump back on you. Yeah. The hotel Wi Fi is never a never an easy thing.

Scott:

It sucks.

Jamie:

I know it's awful. Yeah. You know, although Chris's Wi Fi, when we did him in for from Toronto, the interview from Toronto was bad.

Scott:

Yeah. But I feel like he was probably doing it over cell service. Maybe. He was like on his phone outside, I thought.

Jamie:

Maybe. Maybe you're right. Maybe was.

Scott:

I remember I would try to upload video, like for a video review. Yeah. So I didn't have to do it all when I got back. And like, it was like impossible. I it would take like it's like seventeen days before, like, a full game would be uploaded.

Jamie:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, know what you mean. Yeah, he's a dude. He's he's I mean, he's such a funny bastard. I hope he joins again because he's he's a very funny dude.

Jamie:

I hope we don't have to redo this. Well, I guess we always can. Can we do it during that time? But if he rejoins, that'd be phenomenal. You know?

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Tell him, man, hotel Wi Fi is brutal. He said he's he's working on it.

Scott:

Oh, good.

Jamie:

But yeah, man, he's he's got some funny ass stories, like really funny stories.

Scott:

You know, I yeah, no, I could tell.

Ben:

He's a funny dude.

Scott:

Absolutely. He's

Jamie:

phenomenal, dude. I'm telling you, he's he's phenomenal. You know, he really is. He's a tremendous dude. Yeah, that's why I'm looking forward to this interview big time.

Jamie:

I have a feeling our audience is going to be as well because he's very much like Volmer.

Scott:

In what sense?

Jamie:

He's just a funny dude. Like, just he he's one of the guys that you like hanging out with.

Scott:

Right. You know, so even just before, like, when we were talking before, started recording the, like, the hanging out. And I might have told I think I mentioned this on like a pod, like, real early on. But, you know, when I was coaching, I certainly didn't participate in any, you know, like drinking or, you know, anything like that with the other parents. And I I don't I never got the sense that we had, like, some real partiers on our hands.

Ben:

Right.

Scott:

Like there was like, there was like one, one or two guys in particular that would definitely hit it pretty hard, but I never thought

Ben:

Oh, man. There

Jamie:

we go. We got your back. Hotel WiFi. Right? You gotta love it.

Ben:

And it's like frigging up and down. It goes one bar, three bars, one bar, three bars. It's like me and Hoboken.

Jamie:

I know. Yeah.

Scott:

Alright. So I think you were just talking about back up in Binghamton. There was a double a hockey, and that was that that was the reason why you, you guys, saw saw the team out outside of Binghamton?

Ben:

No. The actually, what happened was COVID shut all hockey down in New York and the team in Pennsylvania was like, Hey, you guys can come play here, all you want. And it was pretty wild. Right. They set up a gigantic tent in their parking lot and it was like a COVID safe free zone where everyone could congregate inside the tent and you were okay in there.

Ben:

Right.

Jamie:

How stupid, right?

Ben:

And so as long as they were in the tent, it was okay. And so we're like, all right, cool. We're going to go there and do the hockey there because they're COVID free in their tent. And that was the first year that we were there. And I thought, well, these people are pretty brilliant.

Ben:

They got a good model. We should give them another shot for the next season. And so squirt minor, we came back and that was, that was a really good season. And that was our first real, like triple a look at hockey. It was completely different from what there was in Binghamton.

Ben:

And it for us was like, like we would have stayed there. There was no reason to leave except for one just, oh man, real one sharp, sharp sword that I just couldn't, I couldn't fall on anymore. And it kind of the tipping point was we were playing the avalanche and Chris was like, Hey, you want to go grab some lunch with us after the game? I'm like, Yeah, sure. Because Chris and I had already met at the pre brick tryouts.

Ben:

I knew who he was. I all them and we'd spent an hour having lunch. Well, one parent was like, I can't believe he's going out and having lunch with guys from the other team, bam, bam, bam, you're a bitch, I'm out. The organization was awesome. I couldn't say anything bad about that organization.

Ben:

It's top notch facility is amazing. But once we got that taste of the Pure Columbian, we couldn't go back. That's AAA. It's such a drug. You're like, Oh man, there's this other like rush.

Ben:

There's something even more than what I was getting. Oh, okay. And Oh wait, I can get on an airplane and fly to Florida for hockey. Oh, tie me up another one. Here we go.

Ben:

Slap, slap, slap, slap. Yeah. It's a and then it just perpetuates. And so I looked at my wife, I'm like, when do we OD? It's got to be around the corner.

Jamie:

Right. Exactly. You know, it's coming. You just don't know when, right? It's like, how much more can I take in this?

Scott:

But let me let me ask

Ben:

you a

Scott:

quick question though. So, but in terms of like, oh,

Jamie:

yeah. Oh,

Scott:

I seems like there's a little delay. Sorry. I was just gonna ask like, so just just even the like, I'm not sure how far that drive is from Binghamton to the Scranton to Scranton or wherever you were going, but, like, just the the willingness to drive and, like, you know, just give up so much of, like, yourself is, you know, and whatever else, you know, you have going on. Like, sounds like you were like really committed from like early on, like, kinda like what drove that? Was it just like seeing how much your son loved to play the game and you were just like all in or like, was there do you feel like you were miss like, you missed out on things as a kid and you were just like, I'll I'll give this kid whatever, you know, like, kinda whatever he wants type of thing?

Ben:

Oh, well, that's two. He just went down two avenues there. Yeah, I got shafted as a kid. Always wanted to play hockey. We had the Binghamton Rangers in town and that was the AHL team and it was wild.

Ben:

It was awesome. And I begged and pleaded and my parents, you know, like I said before, like, no. No. No. We're not buying equipment.

Ben:

So this is quick funny side gig. I went I hustled. I made money. I saved up a bunch of cash. My grandparents lived down in Ringwood, Jersey, and they took me to the sports authority in Wayne, and I bought all my own equipment.

Ben:

So I come home from my grandparents house with this bag full of hockey And I said to my dad, I'm like, look, I covered all the expense of the equipment. Can I play now? No. I was so dejected. No.

Ben:

No. Dejected. And I was just like, what gives man? I don't get it. I just wanted to play so bad.

Ben:

And I had a buddy that played for the junior rangers and he had all the swag. I mean, he would come to school in like the track suit. I was like, I couldn't even afford Zubaz pants and this kid's all decked out. I'm like, dude, I was so envious and it never happened. Fast forward, my kid having a chance to play and then proved to be a really good example of somebody that can learn something and be proficient at it.

Ben:

And I was like, I said to my wife, look, if he stands out like this, why not give him an opportunity to go to wherever if he stayed in Binghamton, nothing good would have really happened. As a kid, Binghamton hockey was awesome from what I understood because that was the only place to go. There was no such thing as AAA hockey. There wasn't you know, you went to Syracuse, Watertown, Utica, and that was, like, all great hockey. You'd fast forward.

Ben:

There's triple a hockey. Now everybody that's got talent dissipates, goes somewhere else to a bigger market, etcetera. So for him, said, Listen, we gotta just put him where he's gonna get an opportunity to spread his wings and be the player that he can be. And that's kind of what landed us And in it's like, Sure, I don't have an issue with that. That drive was like an hour and fifteen minutes.

Ben:

I also half of what it takes us to get to Bridgewater. It was a stepping stone. It led us to really awesome friendships and relationships and he loves where he's at. The coach is great. So there's no more real chase, I guess, so to speak, where I'm trying to find something more.

Ben:

Now it's just kind of autopilot. He's gaining a lot of ground and it's cool, Jamie. Jamie remembers, Bea was like, fast wizard y, goal scoring kid. And, like, sounds like yeah. It like and I don't need that.

Ben:

K? This is what I need from you. I need you to play be the hockey player that doesn't have the puck. How are you generating offense? And there was like this crazy, tumultuous learning curve where, like, you go from being the player to a player where the and a are equally important in a team setting, but you have to figure out as a parent, okay, what am I watching now versus like, oh, that's sweet.

Ben:

Watch this kid. You know, what's happening? It's the game within the game that's happening now. And so it's working out really well that I've adjusted, you know, there was times where I lost my mind and I'm I like, asked

Jamie:

you that. Was it a tough adjustment?

Ben:

Yeah. You. Yeah. Was like, I, I said to my wife and the guy, I gotta figure out what's going on. I'm glad I never said anything because in recent weeks past, there was a statement made like, It's up to your kid to discuss his hockey.

Ben:

I do not wanna discuss with a parent, which I completely respect that. But two years ago or a year and a half ago, I was really kinda just in a weird place mentally with what was happening. Just, didn't understand the big picture of what the development was there, where you stay anywhere else, it's like, yeah, keep this kid in this role. He scores the goals. He does this.

Ben:

Well, Jason's like, There's more to him than that, and I'm going find it and I'm going to get it out of him. You look at it like, What is actually happening right now? I was one of those lose your mind kind of people that wouldn't say anything directly to anyone except for a ref once. This was humiliating. This was the most humiliating thing ever.

Ben:

So I used to do a lot of theater and like live acting theater, and you never broke that fourth wall. Like no matter what was going on, you didn't break the fourth wall. And this game was getting out of hand. Like, no calls for us, every call against us. And the ref finally makes some call.

Ben:

He says something, and I go, oh, so that's the one you're gonna call? And he stops dead, looks at me right over the glass, and you couldn't hear you could hear a pin drop in this ice rake. And he goes, why don't you just shut your mouth? And I go, oh, are you kidding me right now? Like, this guy just stopped what he was doing, made dead eye contact with me and singled me out of like a 100 people.

Ben:

I just kind of put my head down. Like I'm such an ass. And that's the last time I like yelled anything like a ref or anybody. And typically now I just find a spot in the corner. I really love being in the penalty box.

Ben:

The penalty box is the best because kids come to the box and you know, they're, they're like every inmate. What are you in for? I didn't do it. You know, like no one ever did it.

Jamie:

I didn't do it. It wasn't me. You're a 100% right.

Ben:

So like you sit there in the box, you can chirp the kids on the other team. You chirp the kids on your team. Refs come over. They have a good time with you and you don't sit there and yell stupid stuff. Know, it's like, It's a safe place.

Ben:

You know, I like it.

Jamie:

I get that. So you are. So that makes that actually makes a lot of sense to me.

Ben:

And you can actually get to appreciate more of what's going on in the whole theme of the game when you're running the score clock or doing the score sheet, because you're watching the game on a macro level now, not your own child on that micro level. It really opens up your ability to like, Oh, you know what? I really shouldn't be a douche about what that one kid always does. It's actually, you know what? Everybody's kind of a douche at some point.

Ben:

Just sit, enjoy and just let the game run its course. Yeah, man, I've had my ups and downs and I feel like it's challenged my marriage a few times. I learned a lot of things that you don't say to your wife. The number one, and I hope everybody listening writes this down and puts it in their pocket. If you're a family like ours, it's usually a divide and conquer.

Ben:

You have one child goes one direction and the other goes another, and you're not usually together as a family. When things get tight, don't ever say, and this is why you shouldn't come to these events. You always ruin it.

Jamie:

Oh gosh.

Ben:

That was Walpole, I think two years ago. And it got really, really hot. You know, my wife's like, I'm leaving. I'm driving home right now. I'm like, you can't drive home right now.

Ben:

I have the keys and the kids are My the daughter's crying. B is like, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let's just talk about this. Okay. Listen, mom, dad said Dude,

Jamie:

he's such an old soul, his kid. That's exactly He what I expected him to

Ben:

was totally taking the, like, I'm going to work you guys through this and no one's going anywhere. Okay. Why don't we just have fear and calm down?

Scott:

He's like 10 when this happened. Yeah.

Ben:

Years ago. So he, he kind of brokered the deal to keep the marriage together. Good, good for him.

Jamie:

Not only he's a good hockey player, but he's a good therapist too.

Ben:

He's gonna, he's gonna do well. Yes.

Scott:

So what what's it been like for him? Like, so obviously, you know, I I was we're talking about you as a parent, like sacrificing your time, effort, energy to, take him here, there and all the other places. Well, what's his relationship been to hockey? Like, since he started, like, over at the Rockets and making the longer commute? Like, has he could has it only further and, like, deepened his, like, love for the game playing at the like, such a on such a high level team?

Scott:

And do have you noticed does it, like does he is he ever like, dude, don't feel like getting in the car for practice for so long. I'd rather hang out with my friends. Like, is that something that comes up for you guys?

Ben:

That's a emphatic no. Never ever been a point where he's like, I don't feel like hockey dot dot dot. Yeah. It has never come out of his mouth. It's when the challenges get really challenging, he works really hard.

Ben:

He digs the off ice stuff, dude. Just his work ethic is. It's not, it's not like most, I, okay. Me at 13. Yeah.

Jamie:

Most of us at 13.

Ben:

Leo, who wants to go hang out at the roller rink? Who wants to try this rolled up stuff? I wasn't dedicated to the amount of work that goes into being you know, a top tier athlete in anything. It doesn't matter if you're a shot putter or F one driver. Like there's a ton of work that you have to put into it.

Ben:

His yeah, like that whole thing was like his role changing. I thought maybe this is going to change it. No, he embraced it and works harder at that stuff that he was told, Hey, you got to work harder here. You got to do this. His off ice training, like, Do you want to run?

Ben:

I hate running, but he's like, It's going to make me, you know, I can add ten seconds to a shift. I can do this. I can He sees the benefit and what the potential result can be or what the, yeah. So, and you know, the answer in short, Scott, no, like his, nothing has changed about him. Drive doesn't, doesn't bother him at all.

Ben:

He is in fact, it's probably made him much more mature as an individual because he does online school now and he like sets up his own little office and gets everything done on his own schedule. You know, this might segue into something else, but since my father-in-law passed, he goes up to my mother in law's house now and is like just a rock for her. You know, she needs that company to be around. And it's like, it just kind of like, there's a real ode to his maturity that he can be there and make this recent widowed woman feel like young again and happy and entertained. Oh, wow.

Ben:

And so he's not normal. He's not normal at all. It's, I'll send him to anybody's house and they're like, Hey, how do you get your kid to dot dot dot? I'm like, I don't know. They're like, Oh, we wish our kid would do that.

Ben:

I'm like, just I don't know. It's just a

Jamie:

he's very squared away. He gets Braden's so squared away. It's unbelievable.

Ben:

He appreciates, you know, how he's getting here. He appreciates what my wife and I do to make sure he can get there. It's never without a lack of gratitude. So that's cool. Nothing else matters, but when they actually say, Hey, thank you.

Ben:

And it's very sincere. A lot of times it can be disingenuous, especially me. I thank a lot of people, but I forget their name. Sorry. He's a sincere kid.

Jamie:

Always been very squared away. Yes. Yes, he is.

Scott:

That's remarkable.

Jamie:

So speaking of your speaking of your mother-in-law, who I love dearly, please send my regards. Absolutely. You know, so you're you're back up at the Flame Showcase, a place where you and I have been multiple times together. And you mentioned before we got on that you're not staying at the Marriott that's right across the street.

Ben:

We're not, you know, like you said, that's the gold mine of hockey hotels time for the kid to get to They the grab their bag, they walk across the street and they're at the rink. Get what you didn't have to tailgate. Just sit there outside and you get another fifty two minutes of beers and good times and

Jamie:

don't have sleep for drinks or yeah, anything, right? Matter of

Ben:

fact, that's still that's the place.

Jamie:

Yeah, I listen next time. That's the place where my older one where you actually came to Luca and you're like, Luca, check this guy out. And Scott, there's a dude that's at the waffle machine and he's pouring the batter into into into like a cup. And he's going and he's and then he drinks the batter. No, he doesn't.

Scott:

Right. You remember

Jamie:

that? Yeah. Ben Ben goes, to my older one. Ben goes, Luca, come look at this dude. Like the guy's just sitting there like pounding down raw waffle.

Jamie:

What? Oh,

Scott:

dude. I've never heard of anything like that.

Jamie:

I never heard of

Ben:

that story propelled my friendship and relationship with Luca from like, you know, the outskirts to every time he saw me, he goes, Hey, you're the Waffle guy. And it was like, that was it. So true. Like, I was I was on I was in Luca's inner circle from that point on and it was awesome. It was really cool.

Jamie:

A 100%. You still are. He still talks about that, by the way.

Ben:

Yeah, dude, that place is this holds a lot of great stories. You want to talk to talk about the the great manhunt?

Jamie:

I sure can. So so I feel like it's only appropriate to talk about him because so Ben's father-in-law just passed away like a week ago, two weeks

Ben:

ago, right? Yeah, two weeks, you know?

Jamie:

Yeah. And and again, my condolences. He's Scott. He was such a great guy, you know, so his in laws would come up and come to hockey games. They were there.

Jamie:

There's two great people. And Ken was suffering from was it Alzheimer's? Ben? Was it Alzheimer's? Was dementia?

Ben:

Dementia. It's yeah, I mean, you're six of one half dozen the other when it all comes down to it.

Jamie:

Right. All kind of under the same umbrella. Right. So we're at the new at the New England Sports Center playing in the exact same showcase that he is up there for now. Okay.

Jamie:

And and all of a sudden, I think our kids were on the way to a game or they had a game and all of a sudden, like we couldn't find his father-in-law, like nobody could find him. Right. And I remember seeing Ben and Kyla, his wife in the lobby, and they were talking to the front desk about like how they couldn't find Ken. Nobody could find Ken. And Ben, do you want to take it from here?

Jamie:

I mean, it was like the whole team started looking for him. The entire team.

Scott:

So like an APB.

Ben:

I'm like, it was unbelievable. Place has a lot of ice rinks and he could be watching, you know, the Adirondack versus- Any number of think it's his grandkid. Wouldn't know any different. And he'd cheer. So I'm like, He's gotta be in one of these rinks.

Ben:

So we kind of divide and conquer, go through all the different rinks. Nobody's seeing him. No one's seeing him. I'm like, all right. So when was the last time, ask my mother-in-law, when's the last time you saw him?

Ben:

She was like, like thirty minutes ago. He said he was gonna go for a walk. That's what he loved to do. He loved to go for walks back home. They would take him to the mall and you just go be like a mall walker.

Ben:

So I go, all right, thirty minutes. He can walk at a pretty brisk pace. Mental faculty, you know, was slipping, but physically it was strong as an ox. It wouldn't be, it wouldn't be unfounded for him to walk a mile down the road to the big mall. And I was like, all right, maybe he went there.

Ben:

You guys look around. Gollardi goes and wanders up through the cemetery. I go, why would you look in a cemetery? That's right.

Jamie:

It was up back behind the place. That's right. Forgot about that.

Ben:

He goes, well, I looked all over the cemetery. This is the guy that broke into a pro shop at an ice rink. So am I surprised? No, not really.

Jamie:

Episode six, episode six.

Scott:

Went to cemetery all clear.

Ben:

Over. Yeah. So we go down and we get fricking Paul Blart at the mall. This guy short of riding.

Jamie:

Do remember it was you and I you and I were at the mall walking around. Yeah.

Ben:

And he's like pulls out his notepad and he's like, could you give me a description?

Jamie:

Go listen, I forgot about that.

Ben:

He's like, he goes, what was he wearing today? I go, dude, I'm not married to him. I have no idea. Like he's like six foot tall glasses, brown hair. I have no idea what he's wearing.

Ben:

Is anybody just aimlessly walking around the mall? Like, let me know if you see him. Then he gets on the horn with the local PD. So now we got mall cops. We got local cops.

Scott:

Everybody

Ben:

is hunting all over this town for him. We come back to the, to the rink. I'm standing outside with Joel Gray and he goes, he's gotta be around here. And I go, dude, has anybody actually looked in the hotel? He goes, no.

Ben:

Let's go. Oh my god. So we start on the First Floor of the hotel going all the way down each hall and get to the staircase, go up the stairs, back down the hall. We get up to the Third Floor, which is the floor they were staying on. First door that's open is room services in there.

Ben:

Joel pushes the door open. There's Ken. He goes, Ken, what are you doing, pal? And he's just standing there. There's a room service lady's trying to make the bed.

Ben:

Another one's trying to clean the bathroom. He's just literally standing there at the counter. Just like he's waiting for the bus to come. Oh, he goes, you're in the wrong room. He goes, no, I'm not.

Ben:

I go, dad, I go, you're not in the right room. He goes, I'm in the right room. I don't know where mom went. She just left. And I go, dad, you're like, you're like four rooms away from your room.

Ben:

It

Jamie:

was close. I remember that. He was like down the hall, just not far.

Ben:

If he was literally four, four doors away from his room and we are like a mile away hunting for him. The police weren't going to give it up either. Like, you sure you found him? I'm like, yeah, yep. Pretty sure.

Scott:

Oh really? Yeah. So

Ben:

sure. They're trying to like, like do like an exit interview with my kid. Now, is this really your grandchild or your grandfather?

Jamie:

Outside of the outside. I remember that.

Ben:

They wouldn't just close the case. Needed like, I don't know, maybe because I was wandering around with like a nooner in my hand and I wasn't really like, you know, a good source of information. Who knows? But apparently the 11 year old was like, all right, case closed. We're good.

Scott:

Of course.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. The cops like, we're good.

Scott:

Yeah. Talk, talk to talk to the kid.

Ben:

Wow. That must

Scott:

have been such a relief.

Ben:

Jesus. Was one of those, like that whole weekend was great. Cause the night before that was the big tailgate I made. Like, I make these really good, like, slow cooked chicken wings. We're grilling those outside and everyone's having a good time.

Ben:

There's booze all over the table. And, you know, Ken was a big, like, he loved One glass of wine. If he had two glasses of wine, that was a lot, but always he would have one glass of wine. We're sitting there. He's looking around the table.

Ben:

There's a full bottle of red sitting there. He grabs a nice tall solo cup and he tops this thing right off. I mean,

Jamie:

it was impressive.

Ben:

Yeah. Three, three quarters of a bottle. We're probably in that.

Jamie:

It was unbelievable. Yeah. 16 ounces. Was unbelievable. The

Ben:

pong chug that ensued. He took this solo cup of red wine down the gullet in three gulps. I mean, didn't know.

Jamie:

Like it was water.

Ben:

Yeah. And just set the cup down, crossed his arms, leans back, chin goes into his chest and we're keeping an eye on him. I'm like, I said to my wife, I'm like, I think your dad's toast. She goes, why? I go, he just pounded a solo cup of red wine.

Ben:

I go, look at all these drunks around here. Not one of these dudes would do that. So His, his chin became one with his chest and my mother-in-law. And this is when she would start to get like embarrassed or like, mom, don't be embarrassed. These guys are eating this up right now.

Ben:

They're like, he just showed everybody

Jamie:

man who weighed eighty five pounds, right?

Ben:

Yeah. He was a little heavier than that. I mean, don't tell

Jamie:

him what one ten one fifteen, but he was nice and skinny and like, you know,

Ben:

man, put away. Well, it didn't take long for 16 ounces of red wine to hit the boom metabolism shut down. He went out and we literally carried him up the Third Floor to the right room and got like, so they, so Chris and Alexei carried him. One was under his arms, holding his torso and shoulders, one was like holding his legs and like, just trying to get him up the stairs. We get up there or no, they were doing like a fireman's carry.

Ben:

They had one arm under his arm, one arm under the other arm. And I was just kind of walking with him to make sure he stayed. Well, he's completely out like comatose until we get to the hotel door. We opened the door and he comes to, and his legs shoot straight out and he posts himself up to the doorframe. Like, I'm not going in there.

Ben:

I'm not going in there. So I took his legs and like squeeze his legs together. They turn them sideways. Like you tried to move a IKEA couch into your first apartment. Like we got to turn them this way.

Ben:

No, wait, no, that's his head. No, try this way. We get him through the door and then lay him on the bed and he's just immediate hits the bed and starts snoring. We look at my mother-in-law, are you good? She's like, I'm so sorry.

Ben:

I'm so sorry. Like, no,

Jamie:

don't be sorry.

Ben:

This is great.

Jamie:

Like he

Ben:

had a great time. He had a wonderful time.

Jamie:

Yes he did.

Ben:

Like you said, man, they were always there. They always supported the mission and they're always fun to have around. So, you know, now she's a solo mission, which, you know, might open the door for Chris a little bit.

Jamie:

For Volmer. That's right. Is his mother-in-law loves Volmer. Really? Yes.

Jamie:

Loves Volmer.

Ben:

It was

Jamie:

always a running joke.

Scott:

That's so funny.

Jamie:

She's a sweetheart. She, I, again, please send my regards. She's one of my favorite, one of my favorite hockey grandmothers by far.

Ben:

You know there is so she's been a favorite for a lot of the hockey dads. I think this was when we were still in Wilkes. She came off the elevator and my one buddy just stopped dead in his tracks. He's like, woah, look at those pants. I go, that's my mother-in-law.

Ben:

He goes, I know. She was wearing these leather pants and this dude was just like jaw on the floor and that's all she needed. That dropped her from like 62 to 42, man. She lost twenty years in that one ten second interaction. Was like, well, good to know you still got it.

Ben:

Do

Jamie:

you Ben Ben? Don't know if you know this. Do you know the first time I ever met your mother-in-law? Do you remember the story at all?

Ben:

First meeting you and so ice house in Binghamton.

Jamie:

Right, right. Yep. Yes, that's right. Oh my God. That's a whole nother story we can get to.

Jamie:

But the first time I met your mother-in-law was we were out at the super series in Pittsburgh. It was when CJR took two teams out there. Right. So we super series in Pittsburgh and you guys were staying in our hotel and I get in the elevator. And I'm taking the elevator down and I'm like, and I'm looking at your mother-in-law was in there with me, just the two of us, right?

Jamie:

And we're in the elevator going down and I look at her and I go. You have to be Kyla Dublock's mom. I go, you

Ben:

have to be.

Jamie:

Yeah, she's like, yep, I mean, I was like, I was like, it was unbelievable. I'm like, you have to be Kyla's mom. She's like, Yeah, I am. That's, that's how I met Cindy. That's the first time I ever met her.

Jamie:

It was unbelievable.

Ben:

If you met Kyla's sister, they are even more like just a clone of each other. It's crazy. But no, it's there's uncanny resemblance there. I guess you'll get that with genetics. Let

Scott:

me just ask you a question. Just, it pops in my head. Don't want to forget it. Just getting back to hockey. So Jamie and I, we know we've talked about how Dom is like, you know, obviously just started body checking this year.

Scott:

Likewise, your son as well. So, you know, what's what's that trans transition been like for him, you know, now now that body check is part of the game? And what's your take been on it now that, like, the team is, like, you know, a month in or so? Like, has it been, like, ferocious? Has it been tamer than you thought?

Scott:

Like, is it you know, what what's it been like?

Ben:

That I think there's an answer for every region you play in. There's places we play that, yeah, it's good hockey and you got the puck, you get checked. It's fine. There's other places you go and these kids like just figured out I have testosterone. I must use it.

Ben:

And it doesn't matter right or wrong. They're just out there to kill somebody. That's the one thing that I don't like. I'm all for a strong four check, know, hard hit into the boards, you know, you're playing the puck, that's fine. Like one specific instance was, you know, B came up the boards of the puck, head man's the puck, takes two strides.

Ben:

This kid came from the other face off that never had any intention of playing the puck, just saw the small kid on the team and dude, he lined him up from about five, six feet off the boards and just toasted them. Mean, he flew like a leaf in the wind. He hit the board so hard, like smacked the side of his head. I was like, oh no. And he got up, like he's not, he won't ever lay on the ice.

Ben:

It's not gonna lay there. He got himself to his feet and it was just spaghetti legs. I was like, oh, no, he's done. And so he sat out the rest of that, the rest of that game and didn't play for two games and waited a couple weeks till, I don't know if he had a concussion. Was probably a mild or likely to be, but from that perspective, yeah, you kinda worry about it a little bit.

Ben:

He doesn't. So my wife called and she's like, is he gonna play? I go, no. She goes, do you think he's afraid or is he just being cautious? So I said that to him and he got pissed.

Ben:

He goes, I'm not afraid. It's like, nothing about me is afraid. He goes, I don't. I do have a concussion, he's like, I understand what the protocol is because they've been telling us all about it. If you think you might have a concussion, then, you know, give it some time.

Ben:

She goes, I'm not afraid. I told her that I think he was pissed off that you. And then he was afraid.

Jamie:

I bet he was. Annoying Braden, that doesn't shock me at all. Again, Scott, his kid is very buttoned up.

Scott:

Yeah, it certainly sounds like

Jamie:

like wiser beyond his years. Like it's it's it's crazy.

Scott:

So has he been getting after it himself? Like, is that something that he's adopted as part of his game and like gotten into or like, you know, obviously, he recognized is playing with it and, like, he's a tough kid and it's not gonna phase him, but he's not necessarily being more aggressive than he would otherwise, or is this kind of, like, opened a new door for him?

Ben:

He's always played aggressive. He's not going to go out and just hit somebody just because I can do it now. You know, it's like

Scott:

the

Ben:

right time when the time is right. Yeah. He's always been good at angling, so maybe he doesn't even need to actually make contact. He's able to just take a good angle and separate man from puck without the contact. Being that he's like several millimeters short of five feet, it's tough to hit anybody without smacking your own self around, you know, he comes into most kids this age at like their shoulder levels where his head is.

Ben:

So what's the point of, what's the point of like making my head contact your shoulder when I don't even need to do that? He can hit, he can check, he knows how to. I just, I don't, I don't really watch it and say, oh, he's going to go smoke this kid right now. Cause that's not his, that's not his his style. If called to do so, Woody, yeah, he's he's not afraid to to get get gritty like that, but yeah,

Scott:

it's right.

Jamie:

Yeah. He's not.

Ben:

You just

Jamie:

you see a lot of that kid,

Ben:

all the kids that we've seen so far this year get hurt. Have either been just like an incidental. No one meant anything malicious or pure. Like, I just want to go kill you. Like there's so much boarding, you know, like you can read the kid's numbers.

Ben:

You can you can read his name crystal clear on his back. He's just trying to get a puck off the boards and you know, yeah. Don't get yourself so prone like that on the boards. That's one thing to learn. But as the defender or the oncoming traffic, like you gotta blow up.

Ben:

There's nothing good is gonna come from burying a kid head first into the boards. That's where you see the real, the real crazy come out of parents. You know, when, okay, mama bear gets real upset when one of her cubs gets, gets a little, little banged up and the moms, man, and you call this crazy hockey dads, well, dude, there's moms out there that I wouldn't tangle with. Yeah. Mama bears are.

Ben:

They're rough sometimes.

Jamie:

Yes. That is very true. What what areas do you see like like the really big hit income? You see it up in Canada. You see it up in mass.

Jamie:

Like where do you see the big, big hit income?

Ben:

The most, what I would call like egregious hits that like that late hit I described that was up here.

Jamie:

It was. Yeah. That's what I thought you were

Ben:

going say. And one of the other kids was like, the game, like this kid is notorious for these types of hits and it wasn't a dirty hit. It was the timing of the hit opens a player up to injury. I mean, it was a textbook check if you want to talk about it that way aside from like, he kind of finished high with an elbow. But it was like, you gotta time it, you gotta time it right.

Ben:

And the it's definitely been the checking has been more physical here up in Canada. The kids are just seemingly bigger. I don't, I don't know if it's their better It's better milk maybe than us. I don't know.

Jamie:

Yeah, no, they are. They were always more. They were. They were always more physical and bigger. That's what I remember.

Ben:

Interesting. Yeah, you know, it's fun, though, because it also brings an element into the game of kids aren't really going to hold on to the puck that extra second or two. It's actually forcing the right pass to be made a little bit sooner instead of, you know, getting your clock rung, you know, it's pretty, works. It's working out, I think for the better. And I was talking to somebody the other day that grew up playing hockey is about our age.

Ben:

I go, my one complaint is why do we start checking when there's the biggest size disparity between kids. I go a 100% rewind the clock two years. Everybody's pretty much the same size, right? A couple inches different. The skill level is a little less.

Ben:

Now you got kids that can have a foot and eighty pounds on the next kid.

Jamie:

And they're

Ben:

going a 100 miles an hour. And now it's like, you didn't learn to drive in a Ferrari, right? You learn how to drive in some little Pinto and bang it up a little bit and no one's getting hurt. Learn to drive in a Ferrari and you're gonna get hurt. Like, let them explore all the fundamentals and mechanics of it.

Ben:

All we could teach when I was coaching back in the earlier levels was how to angle, how to separate without making that contact. And there should have been more, I think physical checking at pewies, second year peewee. I mean, Agree. Yeah.

Scott:

When I was when I started playing, it was you could start you were body checking Pee Wee's.

Jamie:

Yeah, it's

Scott:

definitely too late. We talked about

Jamie:

that too on a couple episodes, Ben. Right. I mean, we've touched on that on a bunch, right?

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah.

Jamie:

We should we should do a whole episode on that. But yeah, we've touched on that.

Ben:

It's

Jamie:

it's not good when you have some kids that are either in puberty and some that haven't even gotten there yet.

Scott:

Totally

Jamie:

doesn't make sense.

Scott:

It's not fair.

Jamie:

No, no, it's silly.

Ben:

No. Nature is not fair.

Scott:

That's also true.

Jamie:

Very true.

Scott:

Nature is metal. True. All right. So I got, we're gonna have to start to wrap it up. But Ben, I got, I got two questions for you.

Scott:

My first question is what's the hardest conversation you've had to have with your kid as a parent in your hockey journey so far?

Ben:

Once, one time is I think the only time I was actually hard on my kid. And I said something to the effect of, if you don't wanna be here, then don't look like it when you're on the ice. He was he's always been shot out of a cannon, and there was just one of those games that didn't really it wasn't meshing, wasn't going well. And, but his, he looked, he looked, not saying he was, he looked, gave the impression that I just don't wanna be here. Kinda going back to that question you asked earlier.

Ben:

And I go, I'm not doing all this nonsense if you don't wanna be here. His response to me, it shut me right up. It closed the door and it's never ever has there been a conversation about performance. I would caution everybody.

Jamie:

It's impressive.

Ben:

Don't talk to them about performance. You're a parent, like they need something from you that is very non biased, is not going to break them down. Know they're gonna get that from the coach or maybe even their teammates. Like my go to is how was the game? What did you feel like you really did well at?

Ben:

And let them talk. Letting them talk to you rather than you talk to them. You're flipping the role. You're making it more about you because you're disappointed that your kid didn't look like a hotshot. And you know what?

Ben:

It's not about us. Right. Stop taking it from them. I read a really cool quote. I don't remember who said it, but he said, Don't ever tell your kid I'm really proud of you because that makes it all about you.

Ben:

Tell them you're proud of what they've done. And it's like this weird breakdown of, I don't know, he said, Not proud of what you've done. I'm happy for what you've done. I'm happy for you. You talk about pride, pride is you, pride is the individual.

Ben:

So what am I getting out of what you're doing? That's not what it's about. It's their journey. So try to keep, I mean, we've heard some crazy car stories. I mean, Doing the reach in the back, trying to slap the kid around because you weren't doing good enough.

Ben:

I mean, you name it. I've heard it. And stop the, again, let them pilot their craft because if you don't, everyone's They're going to be pissed off. You're disappointed even more.

Jamie:

Not a bad situation.

Ben:

Understand it's hard. As a dad, you're just vested in it. You want to see them excel, but listen, I screw up every single day. If somebody followed me around work every day, you know, dig deeper, I punch him in the face, you know, and it's only a matter of time before one of these kids gets, you know, fed up with it and just slaps a dad around, you know?

Jamie:

Let

Ben:

it run its course, you know? I understand it's hard to, I'm a shoot from the hip kind of guy. So yeah, answer your question that having a conversation about performance was the dumbest thing I ever did. Yeah. Don't do it.

Scott:

Okay. Well, that's easy to do. I kind of answered like my next question, which was, if you could name like something that you've gotten wrong as a hockey dad, that if you could, you do it over again. It sounds like this maybe was one of them or maybe the only thing so far. Is there anything else that comes to mind that our audience might benefit from?

Ben:

If you don't have a real solid hockey knowledge, upbringing, X's and O's, and you're a parent coach, when that coach that does the X's and O's is doing it, don't volunteer to show how the drill goes. You will look like a complete ass. I used to coach. Sure, I could skate pretty well and move the puck around and play beer league hockey, but when it comes down to they're drawing up a flow drill in hindsight now, like, I didn't understand it then. I get it all now after years and years and years of watching it.

Ben:

But I went from being, you know, The USA hockey coach with the five different stations set up on the ice. All right, coach Ben set up the obstacle course, go do the obstacle course. I like the edge work stuff. Two, now we got this board and there's lines drawn everywhere. Half the kids are looking at it cross eyed and I'm like, I don't have any idea what he just drew up either.

Ben:

How is this actually going to work? And he's like, coach Ben, you go over there, you be F2. I'm like,

Jamie:

you're like, shit. Unknown Yeah. Unknown right, skate. But I'm really

Ben:

not like, yeah, kind of like, of my way out. I'm like, he's like, no, like over there. I'm like,

Jamie:

do my parents wouldn't let me play hockey as a kid.

Ben:

The kids are like, yeah, we don't get it either. Like, Hey, like, what's going on? I was like a drill buster before the drill even was demoed.

Jamie:

That's amazing. That's phenomenal by the way. Oh my God.

Ben:

Will say I've grown in my knowledge of X's and O's, but like we're sitting in the boxes real quick. There's a diagram of a drill painted on the glass. You know how some coach does like permanent marker? I'm looking at this and I go, I guarantee you that team has no idea how to run a breakout. What are we even looking at here?

Scott:

It's like someone threw spaghetti and it just stayed there.

Ben:

Yes. SpaghettiOs.

Scott:

That's so funny.

Ben:

The kids that get that stuff, kudos to you because it takes like

Jamie:

Not many do.

Ben:

You gotta have been trained at MIT and have like a beautiful mind to understand some of the stuff that gets drawn on the glass. Like,

Jamie:

Like Goodwill hunting.

Ben:

Yeah. I the decoder.

Jamie:

So that's right. Figure it out.

Scott:

The decoder ring from a cereal box.

Ben:

Don't forget to drink your Ovaltine, a crummy commercial.

Scott:

So good. I don't think I've laughed this hard on a podcast before.

Jamie:

Told you Scott

Scott:

Ben, this was such a fucking treat, man. Honestly, this is not going to be the last time you're on this show. Can promise you that.

Jamie:

Yeah. We'll have to have part two like Vomer.

Ben:

Man. Dave, we've just probably scratched the surface of our nonsense. So yeah, anytime

Jamie:

we haven't even got into anything yet. That's awesome, Ben. I really appreciate it, man. Thank you so much. Listen, good luck.

Jamie:

Good luck to be this weekend. Good luck to the boys this weekend and tell everybody there. I said hi, and we'll definitely have you back on me. This was awesome.

Ben:

Yeah, man.

Scott:

Thank you so much.

Ben:

Next time is 30 grams of edibles Wells Fargo stuck to the glass. We'll get back to you on that next time. Shit. See you guys later, Ben. See you, dude.

Scott:

All right, everybody. Welcome back. Dude, what a great interview. New favorite crazy hockey dag.

Jamie:

He's fantastic. We had a lot of fun together.

Scott:

Dude, I could only imagine how much fun you guys had together. I mean, he's hysterical. Don't think I've laughed that hard in a podcast.

Jamie:

Dude, I'm telling you, he used to do stand up comedy when he was in, like, the when he was so he lived in

Scott:

He did say that. So he's legitimately like a comedian?

Jamie:

Dude, he used to stand up in comedy clubs in, the city, he used yeah. To He used to do, like, little skits and shit.

Ben:

Yeah. He's funny.

Jamie:

He's a very funny bastard.

Scott:

But you know, sad, like the dedication and the sacrifice that he does week in and week out is just like

Jamie:

know him and his wife they're are like, yeah, no, they're like saints, man. They come down from, I think it's two and a half hours each way, each way.

Scott:

Each way.

Jamie:

Each way.

Scott:

Dude, that's like

Jamie:

five It's a whole bro. Bro.

Ben:

That's

Scott:

wild. I can't imagine. And like, you know what part of it that part of the story that's like, maybe refreshing is the right is probably not the right word, like, given the fact that his son is so squared away and so dedicated and like gets his work done and like, and doesn't complain and always wants to go to

Jamie:

Hollywood. Never complains. Never.

Scott:

I mean, that obviously makes it all easier to do that kind of thing when your kid is like that. But still, I mean, he's always like an old soul or like wise beyond his years type of thing.

Jamie:

Bro, the only time I've ever even remotely seen the kid complain is we were in like Buffalo or like Boston somewhere. I don't remember where we were, but we were in Buffalo. We were in Buffalo. We were in fucking Buffalo. And it was when we got snowed in, when we had, there was something like that.

Jamie:

It was when the Steelers Buffalo Bills playoff game got moved from Sunday to Monday. And we're in Buffalo and my whole family was there. So Nancy, Nancy had like, kids Tylenol and like Benadryl. She always traps that shit, right?

Ben:

Just in case

Jamie:

like Dominic gets sick or something like that. So I remember that weekend, Nancy was doling out like children's Tylenol because our kids were going down like flies. Like Dominic just had a 103 fever. It was like debatable if we were going to go up or not. Right.

Jamie:

So, so we put them in the car with like a 102 fever brought them up there and it broke by the time we got up there. He played, but then I remember like Kellen had a fever, Braden had a fever. And I remember that was the only time I ever saw Braden even remotely complaining. Nancy went to his room because Ben's like, Nancy, like, I heard you have like children's Tylenol and like stuff like that. So Nancy was like the drug dealer.

Jamie:

Like the drug, the children's Benadryl pusher for like that weekend because everybody kept going down. And I remember seeing Braden in his room. He didn't look good. And that was the only time I even remotely saw him complain. And even then you wouldn't call it complaining.

Scott:

Right. Right. Unbelievable. Yeah.

Jamie:

Unbelievable. Now he's a pretty impressive kid, man.

Scott:

But you know what else was impressive about the story and not about their family specifically, but when he told that like a wild story about his father-in-law when he was lost. Dude. But like, just like, you know, like the families just coming together to like help out and The whole team, Scott. Yeah. That's like, you know, it just We

Jamie:

were going off in different directions. Was unbelievable. I remember Ben and I went to the mall. That was when he gave the Paul Blart comment, right? And then when we came back from that, we didn't find Ken at the mall.

Jamie:

Nancy and I jumped in the car and went the other direction on that road. And people were at the rink looking, people were in the hotel looking, people were everywhere. Glory walked up into the cemetery.

Ben:

Oh my

Scott:

God, the cemetery. That's unbelievable. Cemetery, all clear.

Jamie:

Yeah, exactly. Like probably not a lot going on there, hopefully at least, right?

Scott:

It is.

Jamie:

Yeah. So like our whole team like went looking for him.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

And he was just in somebody's room, like two, couple doors down. Was funny after we found him.

Scott:

After the fact.

Jamie:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Scott:

You know, it also demonstrates the closeness that the relationships that people foster, being a part of these teams and traveling and spending so much That's time one of the things that probably doesn't get talked about all that much, or maybe it does, but we haven't so much.

Jamie:

No, we haven't. You're right. We talked about it a little bit. Probably not enough.

Scott:

Yeah, no, it's really nice to see when you have good people that develop these strong bonds and you know, also have fun together. You know, it takes up a lot of time. It takes away from socializing. So, you know, I agree. Awesome.

Jamie:

Yeah. The

Scott:

one last thing I just want to call out about the interview was when we were talking about the body checking and how he also agrees that having it start later when there's like can be such a big gap and developmental in size. It's like that it's just, you know, even just hearing him say

Jamie:

it doesn't make sense.

Scott:

It just makes sense. Like, not? Why not teach these kids how to like inject it into their game and receive it? Yeah. To absorb

Jamie:

it, how to deliver it.

Scott:

It's like a 100 miles an hour. And before you have like a six foot monster against like a five'four, like

Jamie:

That's noodle, true. That's exactly what it is,

Ben:

by the way.

Jamie:

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Don't know. It does. I wonder if we were to look into this. I wonder if the body is so much less developed, you know, during your squirt and peewee years.

Jamie:

I don't know the answer to that. But like Ben said during the interview, it makes more sense for them to be bouncing off each other when they're like little marshmallows.

Scott:

Before, like

Jamie:

Compared to when they start putting muscle on and growing and, you know, yeah, we've talked about, I think they start hitting, you know, overseas pretty early, if I'm not mistaken.

Scott:

I don't, we can look into that. We'll follow-up that with the next Yeah, I'm we not a 100% sure.

Jamie:

Yeah,

Scott:

yeah. But speaking of disparities, what I didn't mention about like our game this past weekend, the the game in in Englewood. So I I think the other team gets on the ice and I'm not exaggerating if you've ever seen the movie Twins with Schwarzenegger and DeVito, like their goalie tandem was like that. And I am not joking because I ended up talking to the mom, the taller goalie. Now 10, 11 year olds, he's 11.

Scott:

He's five ten.

Jamie:

Yeah, man.

Scott:

Five'ten. The mom, the mom is six'four. Yeah, We're talking about. Good she was six foot when she was 10 years old.

Jamie:

Yeah. And the dad's probably not short either.

Scott:

Mean, His there's goalie was a monster.

Jamie:

Can't teach size, dude.

Scott:

No, I know. But all I'm saying is like, case in point, like, you know, even, even at a younger age, there can be some really big gaps, but they're not generally as big as what you're gonna find, you know, for auto, it's gonna be another like two seasons, you know?

Jamie:

Dude, you don't have to tell me. My kid just started hitting puberty. So, you know?

Ben:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah. No, it's wild, man.

Scott:

All right. So dude, what you want? Let's do a, so picks. What's our plan for picks? We wanna do them quick.

Scott:

We'll pick division winners Yeah. The the Stanley cup Cup finalists.

Jamie:

Yeah. Let's do division winners who we think is gonna win the division and then we'll do our Stanley Cup pick. How does

Scott:

that sound? Perfect. Yeah.

Jamie:

That makes sense?

Scott:

Perfect.

Jamie:

All right. All right. You are so you wanna start? All right.

Ben:

So let's

Scott:

do conference.

Jamie:

Yeah. The Metropolitan.

Scott:

Start with Metropolitan?

Jamie:

We might as well since the Devils are in there. Right?

Scott:

Yeah, yeah. Who's gonna win the Metropolitan?

Jamie:

Yeah, who do think is gonna win the Metropolitan?

Scott:

I don't think it's gonna be the Caps.

Jamie:

Nah.

Scott:

I am, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go Hurricane. Yeah,

Jamie:

I'm, I am too.

Scott:

I'm I'm gonna go hurricanes.

Jamie:

I am too. I don't see the devils or anybody else beating them. No. You know? Mean, Yeah, no.

Scott:

That's my pick for Metropolitan.

Jamie:

Okay, so

Scott:

we're aligned on that one.

Jamie:

Yep.

Scott:

All right, so who do got for Atlantic?

Jamie:

So I want to say the Montreal Canadians, I'm not going to. Woah. Yeah, I want to say that.

Ben:

Fair, fair.

Jamie:

Yeah, I do. I do. I really do. Because I'm like a closet Canadians fan because of all the young talent they have, right?

Scott:

I'm- Rudolph is narsity.

Jamie:

Dude, they're so young. I mean, oh my God, they're gonna be a force. All right, so I'm struggling between the Maple Leafs and the Panthers, and I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go with the, I'm gonna go with the Maple Leafs.

Scott:

Likewise.

Jamie:

Yeah, I wanna go with the Panthers, but I'm gonna say Maple Leafs, but the Panthers are just so filthy in the playoffs. Yeah. Okay. All right. So Western.

Jamie:

Western. Central. All right. Central. I'm going to say the Utah.

Jamie:

No, I'm just kidding. I'm gonna say the Dallas Stars.

Scott:

Oh, I'm going Avalanche.

Jamie:

I was thinking about that, I didn't have the balls to do it. All right. Our last one, Pacific.

Scott:

Pacific. Who you got?

Jamie:

Oh, man. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say, as much as I don't want to pick the Edmonton Oilers, I'm gonna pick the Edmonton Oilers. I want to pick the Los Angeles Kings, but I'm not going to.

Scott:

I am picking Vegas.

Jamie:

I was thinking about that too. And their and their league leading cap cap room number.

Scott:

Mitch Mitch Mitch Marner is going

Jamie:

Oh, that's to right, dude. I forgot about that. Yeah. That's a nice pick by you. That's nice.

Scott:

Alright. Don't think you're

Jamie:

gonna be wrong about that one either.

Scott:

All right. So coming out of the West Stanley Cup finals, who do you got?

Jamie:

Coming out of the West. I am gonna say

Scott:

You're choosing between the Stars and the Oilers.

Jamie:

Oh, do I have to, I have to choose, I have

Scott:

to choose.

Jamie:

Oh, Do I have to, I don't, I shouldn't have to. All right. All right. Good. Cause I wasn't going to.

Jamie:

Okay. Although I like the stars, I am gonna take the Vegas Golden Knights to come out of the West.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Yeah.

Scott:

Out of the West, I am taking the Colorado Avalanche.

Jamie:

Okay. That was my pick last year and I was wrong with that. Liked that. I was both of our picks last year, actually. All right.

Scott:

Eastern Conference.

Jamie:

Who's coming out of the East? I'm going Florida Panthers again, dude. Until somebody proves me wrong, I can't, I can't not.

Scott:

Yeah, that's hard.

Jamie:

Right?

Scott:

I'm just like looking down to listen, like I can only think it's

Jamie:

the Panthers or

Scott:

the Maple Leafs.

Jamie:

But like, I don't see

Scott:

All right. So just to, but you know, like, I don't know to go to the Stanley Cup finals for the fourth year in a row.

Jamie:

I know, but yet they have a very

Scott:

not gonna happen. I just like, I don't think Edmonton's gonna go to the finals again this year.

Jamie:

Listen, what you're saying makes sense to me, but until somebody beats the Panthers, I

Scott:

I'm going Maple Leafs. I have the Maple Leafs Avalanche final.

Jamie:

That's fair. Now I want to couch this by saying that my picks traditionally are horrible. So everything I'm saying, take with a grain of salt. Do not put any money on this with my picks people. Just telling me, right?

Jamie:

Historically, Scott has been much better at this than I have been.

Scott:

But that's only because of luck.

Jamie:

Fair, but

Scott:

perhaps, and a little bit of knowledge.

Jamie:

Whatever you want to call it. Whatever you want to call it.

Scott:

Okay. So I've got the Colorado Avalanche as your Stanley Cup champions.

Jamie:

Okay, I'm just gonna pick the Florida Panthers again, man, until somebody can beat them.

Scott:

Wow. Can you imagine if it was Edmonton, Florida again?

Jamie:

I hope Edmonton is not there. I really do. Although I will say the Conor McDavid, the Conor McDavid extension he signed makes a lot of sense to me. He's leaving cap space for them to, for them to kind of spread around elsewhere so they can try to compete with Florida's third and fourth line. I get that.

Jamie:

I think that either he does it or he doesn't do it regardless. And then he leaves no matter what after two years. That's my feeling.

Scott:

Well, you never know. Who you never know. Maybe they're gonna just bring in some, who knows? Maybe they're

Jamie:

gonna be

Scott:

the next dynasty.

Jamie:

But regardless, I don't think he stays in Edmonton.

Scott:

Okay. We'll see. Time will tell.

Jamie:

Yeah, it's true.

Scott:

But good on him for a Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah. That was, that was a, that was he clearly that shows you that he wants to win.

Scott:

He put his money, he put his

Jamie:

money over

Scott:

his mouth.

Jamie:

And he's taken a hometown discount, which I give him a lot of credit for. Yeah. So he'll take a hometown discount and then I'll sign for 20 after that with somebody.

Scott:

Yeah. All right, dude. Let's, let's wrap it up my man.

Jamie:

Yeah, man. That was fun.

Scott:

Awesome. Yes.

Jamie:

As always. Until next week. And next episode. Oh, and just kind of, I want to preview something. So not only do we have RJ Burns from Topline coming, not only do we have Angelo Searce, asterisk.

Scott:

Can you confirm that?

Jamie:

No, asterisk, asterisk, you know, but what we do have, what we do, we do, we that, that, that he has agreed to already. So if you guys have not read the book, Pee Wee's about the Ridgefield Bears from Connecticut, they're a single A hockey team called the Ridgefield Bears. If you've not picked up the book, you could get it on Audible and download it. You can go buy it on probably a soft cover, right? But the book Pee Wee's,

Scott:

if

Jamie:

guys like our podcast, Pee Wee's is our podcast on paper by Rich Cohen. All right. Rich Cohen is a very impressive author. Rich Cohen has agreed to be interviewed by us. So that is coming soon.

Jamie:

So I want you guys to read it before Rich comes on because he was probably the original Crazy Hockey Dads podcast on paper.

Scott:

There you go.

Jamie:

And he just happens to be an author. So he wrote about his kids experience during one season from the Ridgefield Bears. So coming soon.

Scott:

Awesome.

Jamie:

Rich Cohen interview. Sweet.

Scott:

All right. Well, thanks for sharing that dude. Awesome stuff. Idea to reach out to him. It's

Jamie:

all I'm looking forward to it.

Ben:

It's gonna Likewise. Be

Jamie:

Yeah. Go get the book everybody.

Scott:

That's it. Pee Wee's Rich Cohen. Read it.

Jamie:

Yep. See you.