Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast

How intentional reps, decision-making, and efficiency drive real improvement.

Scott and Jamie sit down with Ryan Murphy, Skills Coach for the New Jersey Devils, to break down how development actually works at the NHL level.

Ryan walks through his path from New Jersey youth hockey to prep school, the U.S. National Team, Boston College, pro hockey, and now working daily with NHL players. His message is simple and consistent: when time is limited, every rep has to matter.

In this episode:
  • Why NHL practices are short and highly intentional
  • What parents should look for in a skills coach or program
  • Why confidence and hockey IQ separate players long before speed
This episode pulls the curtain back on how the best players train and why doing less, better, is often the real edge.

Socials:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@crazy.hockey.dads

X: https://x.com/Crazyhockeydads

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crazyhockeydadspodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576627751551

What is Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast?

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

Jamie:

Welcome back to episode 49 of the Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast, The unfiltered podcast for hockey parents. No politics. No sugarcoating. Just real talk for hockey parents in the trenches.

Scott:

Yo. My guy. I

Jamie:

don't know why I couldn't do it for the last month and a half.

Scott:

That's all right. Figured it out.

Jamie:

Is that the first time we've done it right in like two months?

Scott:

Potentially.

Jamie:

It might be. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Scott:

Or again, you know, just 1% every day.

Jamie:

Every day?

Scott:

Every day. One I

Jamie:

wish my kid would do that nice hockey.

Scott:

You just made me think of you you ever see any UFC clips or pay attention to UFC at all?

Jamie:

Sure.

Scott:

You know that fighter Sean O'Malley? Yes. So he just got an endorsement.

Jamie:

Right. From?

Scott:

I forget. I should probably just look it up.

Jamie:

Yeah, look it up. But he got

Scott:

a tattoo across his forehead.

Jamie:

Stop it.

Scott:

I swear to God.

Jamie:

And he's got the company across his forehead? Come on. Really?

Scott:

Yeah, let's see.

Jamie:

He Is that almost as bad as putting your girlfriend on you somewhere?

Scott:

Here we go. I mean, so here, this is on Instagram. It says, Doing Well. Here, take a look.

Jamie:

That's the name of the company, Doing Well?

Scott:

I guess. But it's an 8 figure endorsement and he got that tattoo across his forehead.

Jamie:

Okay. I mean,

Scott:

I mean, there there's there's everyone's getting them removed, it's like kinda like if their permanent tattoos are now removable, I mean, it's not crazy.

Jamie:

So so I have a policy.

Scott:

Do you? I do. What's the policy?

Jamie:

Policy is to to get nah, it's just my policy. It doesn't mean it's but my policy is tattoos that are able to be covered Yeah. In like clothing. Yeah. So when you go to like, oh, don't know, business meeting, job interview.

Scott:

Yeah. Not visible. Correct.

Jamie:

Yeah. I mean, you know, it it it did you ever see there's an Instagram clip, or it's a clip on on social media somewhere. It's a girl sitting in her car. Yeah. Okay?

Jamie:

And she was applying for a position at, I don't know, a TJ Maxx or something.

Scott:

It was something like that. An hourly position?

Jamie:

Like an hourly position in a retail store.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Right? And she's sitting in her car, she's sitting in the front seat, the camera's facing her. Right? Her phone's facing her. And she's going, You know, I just don't know why I didn't get hired at TJ Maxx.

Jamie:

They said that they were going to go in a different direction. This girl Yeah. Has tattoos and piercings all over her face. And you're like, wonder why they didn't want I wonder why they passed on you.

Ryan:

But my first I don't know.

Jamie:

Maybe it's because you have ink all over your face. I'm just saying. It's Just a

Scott:

That's like a

Jamie:

Shot in the dark?

Scott:

That's like a low hanging fruit video that one could record and say about anything.

Jamie:

She's sitting there and and Do

Scott:

you think she's being sincere? Like, she really is

Jamie:

like I do. Yeah. Really? I it sure looked like she was. She's going, I really don't know why they passed on me.

Scott:

This a question that's, like, really important. Why do you turn into Kermit the Frog when you are imitating something It's not

Jamie:

really Kermit the Frog. It's just like, you know.

Scott:

No. It's Kermit. It's very good Kermit. I bet if we you know, we should put you side by side with Kermit. That would be amazing, actually.

Scott:

We're definitely gonna do that.

Jamie:

I mean, I think maybe we need like a Kermit like stuffed animal, like as like a mascot. Put him, like, right here.

Scott:

Or, like, maybe I'll superimpose Kermit's face on your face during the interview while you're talking like him.

Jamie:

I mean, listen.

Scott:

You can. That'd be funny.

Jamie:

You know? But, yeah. But but listen. This girl, like, straight up, like

Scott:

Maybe it was because she sounded like Kermit the Rock.

Jamie:

Well, she didn't sound like Kermit. That's just me being stupid. But, yeah, that's what that makes me think. Listen, he's obviously a UFC fighter. He's not going to, like, go apply for a job at, like, Merrill Lynch tomorrow.

Jamie:

I don't think it's Absolutely. Don't it's be an issue, but that's super aggressive. Like, it let me ask you a question. What's worse?

Scott:

Mhmm.

Jamie:

Getting your girlfriend's tattooed on you like that or, like, your sponsor?

Scott:

Wait, what? Like your girlfriend's

Jamie:

No, your girlfriend or wife tattooed Sorry, maybe didn't say that clearly. Your girlfriend or wife tattooed on you. Yeah. Right? Because let me ask you a question.

Scott:

Is your wife's what? Like her name or like a picture or like a portrait?

Jamie:

Yeah. They always say like you shouldn't get your girlfriend or wife tattooed on you because God forbid. I mean, the divorce rate's not Low. Low in this country. Right?

Jamie:

So, like, there's gonna be a time where doing well I don't even know what doing well is, but I'm assuming there's a time where doing well is maybe not gonna be sponsoring him.

Scott:

Yeah. When he's, like, on the ground unconscious, and he's clearly not doing so well. Listen. He you

Jamie:

said he's an eight it was an eight figure? Yeah. Okay. So listen. It's clearly a a decent amount of money.

Jamie:

So I get why he tattooed it on himself, but on the forehead?

Scott:

Well, yeah. So just to bring this full circle

Jamie:

Like, dude, that's across his fucking forehead.

Scott:

No. I know. It's a daily reminder whenever he looks in the mirror. So I was thinking, oh, this is this is to bring all full circle

Jamie:

I guess.

Scott:

The whole point was that you were saying you wish your kid had, you know, embraced the 1%, you know, improved Better? Per day.

Jamie:

Yeah. What does have to do with it?

Scott:

Well, you could just tattoo it on his forehead as a daily reminder.

Jamie:

Like that

Scott:

so that closes the loop on my

Jamie:

my Yeah. Yeah. So when when he goes for a job interview one day, they can see the thing tattooed across the top

Scott:

of And they'll know that he's a winner because clearly every day he reminds himself that he just needs to be 1% better.

Jamie:

I suppose you have

Scott:

And a and then in every meeting and everywhere he goes is a constant reminder to be 1% better. Everyone.

Jamie:

Listen, you have a point. I just don't know if tattooing on the face is the smart one.

Scott:

Listen, I'm not for that. I'm just joking.

Jamie:

Yeah. Obviously. Yeah, yeah. I don't mind tattoos just on the face.

Scott:

Yeah, well listen, they're

Jamie:

super aggressive.

Scott:

But at the same

Jamie:

time, so many

Scott:

people are getting tattoos anyway, whatever tattoos.

Jamie:

They are, by the way. Speaking of, I have actually thought about removing the one on my arm.

Scott:

Really?

Jamie:

I have, yeah. Why? You know, I got it when I was in college. I have one on my between my shoulder blades, which is my dad's initials, who's been gone for ten, twelve years. I'm not sure what it is, ten or twelve.

Jamie:

I think it's twelve. But, so I have that. That I won't get removed. But the one on my arm is unnecessary. Yeah.

Jamie:

I've kicked it around.

Scott:

Go for it.

Jamie:

Yeah. Listen, one day. Orly sisters. Maybe record it and put it on the Instagram.

Scott:

Oh, okay.

Jamie:

I'm kidding. But anyway, yeah. Orly's sister had it removed?

Scott:

Is, yeah, having one removed.

Jamie:

Oh, she is?

Scott:

She only has one, and it's on the top of her hand.

Jamie:

Is it multiple Appointments?

Scott:

Yeah. I think so, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, enough about tattoos.

Jamie:

Got it. Got it. So episode 49. Almost hit 50, by

Scott:

the way. Yeah, dude.

Jamie:

That's crazy.

Scott:

Yeah, we closed out last year strong. This year.

Jamie:

Year's

Scott:

This year's starting off strong. That's glad an understatement. Yeah. Glad to be back for another And dude, what an episode today, right?

Jamie:

Yeah. Ryan Murphy, skills coach from the New Jersey Devils. I mean, he's a beauty.

Scott:

Yeah. Without a doubt. So this is our second interview

Jamie:

with Our second New Jersey Devil?

Scott:

Yeah, thanks to the Devils organization.

Jamie:

Thank you to the Devils and Pete Albeats for Okay ing our interviews. He's been very good to us.

Scott:

Yeah. And so Ryan's been like, what, seven years with the Devils organization, a skill coordinator. And as we'll learn, he wears a lot of different hats.

Jamie:

He does.

Scott:

And he's kind of like an extension of the coaching staff. Obviously, just like Angelo

Jamie:

is Smart dude.

Scott:

Yeah, does a lot of individual work players, group work as well. Super smart. So it was really great to listen to him, obviously. And also learn more about what it's like in the professional game, which is clearly different, as you would expect. But to what extent?

Scott:

I guess I wasn't sure. But just for example, fact that for our kids and even older than our kids, have practice two to three days a week. And then they have their games on the weekends or whatever. That's obviously not the case when you get to that level, and they're playing weak games

Jamie:

Yeah, they don't practice as long as

Scott:

we thought they did.

Jamie:

That was crazy to hear. I was really surprised to hear that. But it makes sense when you break it down that their bodies, they're not all 18 year old kids. You need to take care of your body.

Scott:

Between the travel schedule.

Jamie:

What do you say? They're playing every other day, essentially? More or less. Especially for the most part.

Scott:

The shortened year because last year they have formations, and this year they have Yes,

Jamie:

the Olympics.

Scott:

So it's even more condensed.

Jamie:

No. Speaking of the Olympics, man, is that rink gonna be ready?

Scott:

I mean, there was a hole in it the other day.

Jamie:

What the fuck, dude?

Scott:

Such a yeah.

Jamie:

I mean, is the is is the NHL not, like, screaming at these people? Yeah. Hopefully, in Italian? Like, we just need a translator. Somebody somebody somebody translate our

Scott:

I I think most people understand the facial expressions when you're saying, what the fuck is going on here?

Jamie:

Think about it, though. I mean, that that's not all art. So not

Scott:

only stop a game. Right? They stopped the game because there was an Italian, like, semi like, league semi final something, and they had to stop the game because a hole developed in the ice.

Jamie:

I mean, so not only is it short. Right? I mean, if I'm not mistaken, is it three feet short? Is that the number?

Scott:

Yes. But I think generally speaking, most people don't care about

Jamie:

that. I don't think so either. Because everybody's still playing the same playing surface. It's not gonna be an advantage for one team or the other. So that is I mean, is it fine.

Jamie:

That's fine. Right. Ring The

Scott:

Is ring it a blunder?

Jamie:

It's bull bust, but yes. It is a 100% a blunder You're put

Scott:

that aside.

Jamie:

But it's, like, able to be dealt with. But, like, is it gonna be finished? Like, is

Scott:

it gonna be finished? When you say finished, are you talking about the ice surface?

Jamie:

Are you talking The about the whole thing. The whole building. Isn't it being renored as we speak?

Scott:

A 100%.

Jamie:

I mean, so they don't have a lot of time. I'm pretty sure that starts the February.

Scott:

The ice is there, and the seats are there. Right. But there's still construction happening in terms

Jamie:

of playing balls and

Scott:

Is it gonna be done? Apparently, only something like two of 14 locker rooms are completed.

Jamie:

Well, that's what I'm saying. I know the NHL sent over a team of people to help and to make sure that the playing surface was gonna be safe for the players. A hole

Scott:

in it doesn't sound like

Jamie:

it's That's gonna be what I mean. So I guess But you hear this all the time with these

Scott:

The Olympics?

Jamie:

The Olympics in those countries. Like the the construction never goes as planned.

Scott:

No. Yeah, man. I Crazy. The logistics behind getting a city ready for Olympics when you don't have infrastructure has got to be massive undertaking. 100%.

Scott:

Massive is probably an understatement, but still

Jamie:

Probably, yeah. Yeah. No, but I'm looking forward to it.

Scott:

Oh, so much. Especially after the world juniors. Dude, speaking of World Juniors. Yeah, womp womp. Yeah, no doubt.

Scott:

But listen, after two golds, it's not like it's another year of disappointment. Like, there's a disappointing outcome. However, the USA Junior National team has been doing well. And there was a lot of talent on that, I see.

Jamie:

There's no question about it. I think that the US Men's National Development Program and the World Juniors, as far as The US goes, is on the upswing.

Scott:

Well, you know, it's interesting when you say that because I was just listening to Chiclets, and they were just talking about how so many players on The US, the men's Olympic team, not the not the juniors

Jamie:

The Olympic team that's for Italy. Yeah.

Scott:

Many of them played for the national For

Jamie:

the world juniors?

Scott:

No, for the development.

Jamie:

Oh, for the new yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

Scott:

And probably juniors also, but apparently there was Yeah.

Jamie:

That doesn't surprise me actually.

Scott:

But they were speaking to kind of like the politicalness and like the that if you're on the Oh. For outside kind of looking in on that

Jamie:

the Olympic team. Well, if you Or for the New York No. So for the I forgot which

Scott:

player they were using as an example.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

They were using someone as example saying like, Oh, Robertson.

Jamie:

They were talking about how Robertson Yeah. He got snubbed.

Scott:

Right. And so they were just kind of talking that out. J Rob? And someone was mentioning how like he didn't play, you know, NTDB, NTDP. He didn't?

Scott:

No.

Jamie:

Oh, interesting.

Scott:

This is all secondhand. Like, I'd have to look it up. Honestly don't know

Jamie:

if

Scott:

that's I'm out just recalling what I was listening to. And someone made the point of, Oh, well, he didn't play. And maybe because he's never played with those guys at any point of his career

Jamie:

Oh, isn't that interesting?

Scott:

That might have been a contributing factor to him not being

Jamie:

That's so actually very interesting you say that. That's very interesting, actually. I didn't oh, interesting. I didn't realize he had to play US Mints.

Scott:

Like, I you know? Oh. Right.

Jamie:

Did did the Ka'Chuks play US Mints?

Scott:

I I again, I don't know all these stuff up, man. I'd have to take a look. Yeah. But, look, I'm sure not everyone on the team did, but if you were an outsider looking in and you're choosing between two players and you're like, oh, that guy played NTTB and the other one didn't, it sounds like they're making the point that perhaps that was a contributing factor.

Jamie:

Speaking of, what are your thoughts on roster that was picked?

Scott:

On The US roster?

Jamie:

Yeah, what are your thoughts? Do you like it?

Scott:

Yeah, absolutely.

Jamie:

You do?

Scott:

Yeah, 100%. I mean, look, and I've listened to a bunch of podcasts. I think the reoccurring theme is that you're choosing from such a wealth of riches. There's so many good players. Players are not great players are not going to make the team.

Scott:

The more you listen to people talk about it, you don't look at a player in a vacuum and be, he's tremendous. He should be on the team. No.

Jamie:

That's true.

Scott:

When you talk about like like constructing a team top to bottom where you need to have like four lines and you're playing best on best. Yeah. You know, you're not gonna have like four skill lines. You know, like, While these players are all super highly skilled, you're constructing a team to win games in different situations. So it's not like So the more I listen to different pods and people tease that apart.

Scott:

It's like, yeah. I mean, they're a super solid team. Sounds

Jamie:

Yeah, are. They definitely

Scott:

are. When you look at Canada and you just

Jamie:

Dude, that's frightening.

Scott:

Their offense is That's frightening. It's frightening,

Jamie:

Unreal. It's frightening. It's absolutely frightening.

Scott:

It's frightening. So, like, when you see that, but then also, you you you know But it was the same thing for Four Nations.

Jamie:

It was a space in the same roster, you know?

Scott:

People are saying that Minus the defense. The US defense is legit, man. The Canadian defense.

Jamie:

I think that's true.

Scott:

And the Canada 100%. Tilts towards their offense.

Jamie:

100%. And and that The US defense is actually, like, frightening. Yeah. You got Faber, McCoy, you got Hanafan Seth Jones was not on Four Nations. That was a nice little ad.

Scott:

Right. Well, yeah, that was a name that's come up.

Jamie:

Yes.

Scott:

That like, why him instead of someone else? Yeah. You know, just like

Jamie:

Listen, he played well last year.

Scott:

No. He's been tremendous since he left Chicago.

Jamie:

Since he left Chicago? Yeah. Jacob Slavin is an absolute fucking stud.

Scott:

Yeah. Like, a defensive stud. He's a name for The US that just they couldn't get they couldn't stop talking about against Conor McDavid. How he just did such a good job.

Jamie:

He is

Scott:

Four nations have said shutting

Jamie:

good. And then you have Worenski, obviously, you know, I mean and our goalies are tremendous.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

I'm curious.

Scott:

Quinn Hughes.

Jamie:

Quinn Hughes is is a total stuff. Did I not say Quinn Hughes? My bad. I I think I I missed Quinn Hughes if I did. Sorry.

Jamie:

Yeah. No. Quinn Hughes is yeah. Thank because he wasn't on the four nations.

Scott:

He was hurt. Yeah. People were saying, how come Fox didn't make the team? Like, you know

Jamie:

Are you gonna put him in over? No. Over Seth Jones? No. Because Fox made the Four Nations.

Scott:

Fox made the Four Nations and he got on this team.

Jamie:

So was that was that that it was Fox for for Seth Jones?

Scott:

No. I don't think that they were saying like it was this one for that one. But just, again, when you're constructing an entire team Well, listen. Like, you got Worenski. You have Hughes in terms of

Jamie:

So Hughes and Jones are your new additions on the defensive side. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I don't know, man.

Jamie:

It's it's listen. Like, Trochek? Like, what

Scott:

Yeah. So that that was that was

Jamie:

name that.

Scott:

Come up. I mean, look, I I I don't know.

Jamie:

This is And I hate the fucking Rangers.

Scott:

But JT Miller also.

Jamie:

Oh, also, don't get me started with that either, by the way. I question that one as well.

Scott:

Yeah, but again, it's speaking to having guys on the team that are gonna be like, that are super talented but also grinders, you know, and that are gonna go in and throw the body

Jamie:

Jason Robinson.

Scott:

And just brings No, but people I mean, again, I don't watch a lot of Dallas Stars hockey, but he's not the No, most physical but he's,

Jamie:

Okay, fair?

Scott:

But that's the point. How many guys are you going to take that have the same skill set? You need to have a diverse group that's going to be able to bring fear, bring intensity, bring all different aspects of the game.

Jamie:

I'm looking at our forwards, and I'm not seeing like a lot of like really physical Tage Thompson. Tage Thompson. He's huge. He's huge.

Scott:

He was just on Chickless, too.

Jamie:

Well, actually I take it back because the Chucks are very physical.

Scott:

Oh, yeah.

Jamie:

You know? Trochek, though, that is a head scratcher for me. Yeah. You know? I don't understand that one.

Jamie:

Know, because they left off a bunch listen, a lot of guys didn't make it, you know, that I think you can make an argument for.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

You know? Listen, it's gonna be awesome anyway.

Scott:

It will be awesome. As long as there's ice without holes skate on, I think we should

Jamie:

be in

Scott:

for a treat.

Jamie:

Well said. Well said, yes. Yeah. What do want to touch on? Know we want to talk, if you have a second.

Jamie:

I know we had a question about the transition between Pee Wee and Bantam. Oh. If you wanna chat about that for a couple minutes. Should we do our partners first?

Scott:

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah? Yeah, Howie's Hockey.

Jamie:

Howie's Hockey Crazy 10. Use your discount code. Use your discount code for 10% off your tape, laces, wax. Scott's favorite, the candles.

Scott:

Candle.

Jamie:

Again, their sweatshirts are awesome. Their logo is one of the coolest in all of Utah. It's my favorite. So use Crazy Temp for 10% off. We have Angelo Seris at Pro Stride Elite power skating.

Jamie:

He is great. CHD10 for 10% off the power skates. Angelo's great. He was on episode 40 oh, man.

Scott:

I don't know. Four? I don't know.

Jamie:

Maybe you look it up while I'm talking. Angelo is great. He is an awesome power skating coach. If the New Jersey Devils trust him, so should you.

Scott:

Oh, there you go. Thanks.

Jamie:

Listen, I know. Were looking something up. I gotcha. No, he's great. He's he's Otto and Dom went to him recently.

Jamie:

He's fantastic. He's a really, really insightful guy. If you guys have not heard his episode, I wanna say it's forty four. Scott's looking up as we speak, but I No. No?

Jamie:

No. Shit, what is it?

Scott:

Forty

Jamie:

three. 43.

Scott:

43.

Jamie:

I was close. I was close. Yeah, so Angelo is great. And then we have Eric from API.

Scott:

Yep, athletic performance insight. Anyone looking for analytics and video breakdown of your team, your youth team, your high school team, your college team? I know the season's well, well underway for all of us. If it's not for this year, start thinking about it for next year, check out athleticperformanceinsight.com. Use the contact form.

Scott:

Reach out to Eric. He'll happily give you a demo of the platform that he's built. Super We use it for Otto's team. I've used it for Otto's team in the past.

Jamie:

Yeah. You've used it for a while now.

Scott:

And yeah, I know it's just a fantastic tool, so encourage everyone to take a look and mention Crazy Hockey Dads for 10% off of the season subscription. And he'll also tag a game for free. So reach out to him, get familiar, and start thinking about it because it's a great tool.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. And and and thank you to everybody who's who's downloading and who's following us on Instagram. Our Instagram has been very active. Yeah, it's been great to see.

Jamie:

For the last couple weeks. That's kind of exploded and is driving people to the podcast. Our downloads tripled, which is This is unreal. Which is unreal. Yeah.

Jamie:

So thank you to all our new people. It's from all over the globe, US, Canada. It's from all over the globe. We added like seven new countries. It's actually hard to keep up with now, But it's awesome.

Scott:

Yeah, thank you everyone for listening, and really just want to make mention to where you're listening from to say thanks. Really appreciate the support. Please subscribe to the show. Follow us on Instagram. Whatever you can do to help support us would be appreciated.

Scott:

Share,

Jamie:

comment, whatever you can do. Write us if you have any questions.

Scott:

And please send we a few. No, we only got one.

Jamie:

Which one?

Scott:

No, the ODRs. The ODRs? Yeah, yeah.

Jamie:

Oh, yeah.

Scott:

Send pictures, guys. We want to see what everyone's getting up to in your neck of the woods. ODRs and any fun you guys are having out there. We want

Jamie:

to keep

Scott:

it We've to keep together.

Jamie:

And ODRs are fun.

Scott:

Yeah. I was out there twice with auto this year.

Jamie:

Yeah, were, that's right.

Scott:

Yeah. Yeah, It's was interesting, it's a year since I've been on and like when I stopped on, I was like, Oh yeah, I forgot when it gets all bumpy and like you end up with a twig underneath your skates and stuff.

Jamie:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott:

But no, it's great, man.

Jamie:

You know what's funny is that, so last night I couldn't sleep for some reason, so I was up and I never do this because we've had, like I said, our Instagram has kind of exploded and it's hard to keep track of people, of followers. So I just happened to start scrolling through some people on posts. And it's funny, I'm gonna start seeing people that I didn't know were following us that are following us. It's pretty funny, like some of the names that you see popping up.

Scott:

I've seen some people I know also.

Jamie:

Right? Yeah. It's pretty, and again, it's been hard to follow since since our Instagram's been doing very nicely, so we can't really follow it because it's not easy to follow when you're getting, you know, people like every three minutes, which is cool. Again, thank you everybody for doing that. It's wonderful.

Jamie:

Scott and I are think Scott and I are Appreciative. Humbled and appreciative, surprised, you know? But yeah, it's cool to see people that you know that you didn't even know were listening to the podcast that are now following us on Instagram. Yeah. It's crazy.

Scott:

It's awesome.

Jamie:

Yeah, that's cool. So thank you everybody. We really appreciate it. We have started off 2026 with a major bang. And there's going to be a lot of really cool stuff to come, so stay tuned.

Scott:

Yeah, absolutely, man. Yeah. You know what's interesting about today's episode is that we're recording before we have any weekend hockey in the bank.

Jamie:

I was thinking about that. It's funny you said that. We can't do it like Stacy and and Larry are not gonna be happy because they like hearing the recap. So we're gonna have to, like, we're gonna have to, like, go back and do it next week, but it's gonna be, like, delayed. Delayed.

Jamie:

Yeah. It's gonna be delayed a little bit.

Scott:

But Well, either way. Funny It's you mentioned that. We got two games. We got one later on today, one early tomorrow.

Jamie:

Same. Are you early tomorrow morning too?

Scott:

Yeah. Think our games are pretty much around the same time.

Jamie:

We have an 08:30 tomorrow morning. Are guys same? Are

Scott:

Are you guys Five today and eleven tomorrow, I think.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

We're looking to redeem ourselves this weekend after not the best opening to 2026. So hopefully Right. The boys will be have a chip on their shoulder and get after it because

Jamie:

Nice. Sheesh. Yes.

Scott:

It would be nice to get back to some winning ways over here.

Jamie:

Yes. Dom and his new stick have some work to do today.

Scott:

Oh, yeah. So what

Jamie:

Otto's new stick come yet?

Scott:

No. No. It didn't come.

Jamie:

That's right. He he

Scott:

keeps I just telling wanna make it clear. It was

Jamie:

like thirty days out or something. I just wanna

Scott:

make it clear that he purchased the stick himself. He did. I would not have bought him Yes. This stick because

Jamie:

did. And I want to make it clear that I purchased Dominic's stick. Yes.

Scott:

Yes. It's a bad, bad. No. No, it's funny though that

Jamie:

I should have made him buy it himself. Well But I told him There's always next time.

Scott:

I'm sure there's going be another stick.

Jamie:

I told him, I'll buy one and you buy the other.

Scott:

That's Why does he need two new ones?

Jamie:

He doesn't. But if he wants to spend his money on

Scott:

it Fine. It was like Otto wanted a new cage for his helmet. Was like, dude.

Jamie:

They were you?

Scott:

He already has one. No, I'm just like, no dude, you already have one. Know.

Jamie:

No. Speaking of, we should start doing gear reviews. We're actually being sent something. We're actually being sent a a piece of gear that we that we're

Scott:

Oh, yeah. The puck.

Jamie:

Yeah. The Zeno puck.

Scott:

That's right.

Jamie:

Yeah. We're we're it's coming in the mail, so we're gonna have the kids kind of start messing around with that. We'll let you guys know what the story is. Yeah. The claim is that it can slide on most surfaces.

Scott:

Well, we're gonna find out.

Jamie:

Similar to like the green biscuit ish, maybe it's supposed to be a little more durable. I'm not sure.

Scott:

Those green biscuits are pretty durable.

Jamie:

They are, yeah. Yeah. Have you ever you know, there's a shooting green biscuit and then there's a stick handling green biscuit. Yes. So have you ever shot with the stick handling green biscuit?

Scott:

I think we've got both of them out there.

Jamie:

Does auto shoot with it?

Scott:

Only sometimes.

Jamie:

Dominic has exploded. Yeah. The Stick Cannon Green Biscuit. It is not built for that. Yeah.

Jamie:

We found that really

Scott:

Quickly.

Jamie:

Early on.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah. Dom's first Green Biscuit. Yeah. We found out that you don't shoot that one.

Scott:

Alright.

Jamie:

Well Shoot shoot the darker green one.

Scott:

Yeah. Yeah. The lighter green one. And we have an orange one too.

Jamie:

We have a black one with, like, the devil's logo on it. We have, like, a bunch of stuff. He's got an Edmonton Oilers one. You know? Ryan Whitney would like that.

Scott:

Probably.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. So we should start doing reviews.

Scott:

Yeah. But just getting so hockey wise, so I guess back on this week Yeah. Yeah. What do you guys got going on? Moving forward?

Scott:

Well, let me back up. The teams we're playing, I think, are just like I don't know if they're both league, but we're playing like any AAA teams this week. We're not playing anything that's I think, is meant to be is going to be harder than usual.

Jamie:

We have two rivalry games with local close teams where all the kids kind of know each other. This week, today, and tomorrow's game are going to be interesting. Especially tomorrow.

Scott:

Is he playing D? Do you know?

Jamie:

I'm sure he's playing d.

Scott:

You're sure?

Jamie:

I'm pretty sure. Unless the only time he doesn't play d is if a forward is out sick or something like that or missing.

Scott:

Oh, god.

Jamie:

Then he moves him

Scott:

up. Right.

Jamie:

So I'm pretty sure he's gonna play defense. And then we have a tournament next weekend.

Scott:

Oh, right on.

Jamie:

Boston.

Scott:

Nice.

Jamie:

Yeah. So you and I need to figure that out.

Scott:

We might have a tournament also. Do you? I think so. Boston? No.

Scott:

DC.

Jamie:

Oh, nice. Oh, same weekend.

Scott:

I gotta talk oh, yeah. I gotta figure that one out.

Jamie:

Oh, cool. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. I actually so ours is ours is a 200 by 85 tournament.

Scott:

Oh, nice.

Jamie:

Yeah. So I I actually have to give a shout out to to Justin Lewandowski, who you know.

Scott:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. A 100%.

Jamie:

So Justin so we so our our initial schedule came out for for for Boston.

Scott:

And you're playing every team in your league. Bro. It's so ridiculous when that happens. Bro. We we How how does that why?

Jamie:

We we were scheduled to play two teams. One we've played twice, Ray, the other we played twice, we're playing the other one tomorrow, so we play them like back to back weekends. Unreal. So I don't have to drive, you know, four hours to Boston. Can just go twenty minutes play them tomorrow.

Jamie:

So so so our our coach reached out to to to and reached out to them, and Justin got back. I think somebody got back, then Justin got involved. And he actually moved us up to a to a a a much more competitive group.

Scott:

Is that good?

Jamie:

So apparently we were the highest rated group, the highest rated team in our group before that. So they said they were looking for a 12 team to go up. So we're playing like a Canadian team. So I think it was like East Coast Elite, I think is there. Some Mississauga Team.

Scott:

I'm Are you in a AAA division now?

Jamie:

So there are a couple the three teams we're playing are AA teams, but they're higher rated than us.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

So they'll be competitive games. And then there are some AAA teams within the group. Oh, wow. So I think it's a mixed group.

Scott:

That'll be a

Jamie:

It'll be interesting. Listen, I think it's great because it's it's gonna be more competitive probably than the other games. Yeah. And we've played those other teams.

Scott:

Right. No doubt. You'd play other teams regardless.

Jamie:

I mean, we literally would have played two teams that we played five times already.

Scott:

That's so annoying. Happens all the time. All the time.

Jamie:

All the time. Yeah. It's so, like I said, it's so annoying. Yeah. You're not wrong.

Jamie:

So, guys, did you get your schedule for DC yet?

Scott:

If we did, I haven't seen it. Got it. Gotcha. I don't know. Oh, no, we did.

Scott:

Actually Did you look at it? The team we played last weekend, a team from out in Long Island, they have two teams out of the same rink. And I guess we played their 11U.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

No, 12U.

Jamie:

Okay.

Scott:

And maybe we're playing their 11U in the tournament, something like that from the same organization.

Jamie:

Got it. Okay.

Scott:

So we'll see. Nice. I don't remember the other teams, but I don't think it's anyone else that we've played before.

Jamie:

It's not?

Scott:

I don't think so.

Jamie:

Okay, cool.

Scott:

So that'll be good.

Jamie:

Nice. All right, good. So, no, listen, I'm looking forward to that. I think it's our last tournament of the year before the playoffs.

Scott:

Oh, we've got one more after this. Well, you do? But this is, like, our first real tournament. Like, we've gone to showcases, which is don't we've had we've had AHF showcases.

Jamie:

Same. This is our first real tournament.

Scott:

But this is our first, like, you know, tournament playing non league games.

Jamie:

I I don't count the opening weekend AHF showcase slash tournament as a tournament. They they they had ours as a tournament style, but it was an AHF showcase, basically.

Scott:

Yeah. No. The only the only

Jamie:

So this is our first tournament too?

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Same. You guys have one after this. Good for you guys.

Scott:

Yeah, like this time last year, we already had been to Ohio, Pittsburgh, and I think Boston. Yeah. Like this time last year.

Jamie:

I remember yes. We we we we, we did more last year too. You're right about that. We went out we went up to Lake Placid. That was tremendous.

Jamie:

Yeah. That's such an awesome place to to go play hockey. It's awesome. If you guys haven't done it, try to to get involved in it. Yeah.

Jamie:

I'm pretty sure they only do double a up there for some strange reason. That's true. They don't have triple a tournaments. Yeah. And I think they cap out after 14 u.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Somebody said that the other day, and I'm not sure it's true. But, yeah. No. I think hockey parents like tournaments. It's nice to go away for a weekend.

Scott:

It could depend. I guess it depends how many

Jamie:

you have in the season. Like, if Well, was you're like just gonna say.

Scott:

If you're like regularly traveling long distances Yeah. For your games, where you might even be getting a hotel just for like a weekend, plus traveling for faraway tournaments, it does get to be super expensive and you get over it kind of quick.

Jamie:

So it's funny you mentioned that. I think somebody in our comments section over the last week or two, you know, was saying that like, oh, like, you know, we're with a club and they want to do like six tournaments. Now it's like six tournaments. Jesus Christ.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

That's no. For like young kids.

Scott:

Yeah. It's like a third of your season.

Jamie:

Right. Like you want to do like two and like an end of the year or something like that? Okay. Like six?

Scott:

Yeah. Right? No. It's a ton.

Jamie:

Yeah. It is done. So, yeah. So hopefully the end of the season goes well. I know silly season is starting to pop up.

Jamie:

Definitely. Right? I mean, people are starting to panic.

Scott:

Talk about what's the plan for next season.

Ryan:

What's the

Jamie:

plan for next season?

Scott:

What's the plan?

Jamie:

People are starting to panic and coaches are trying to, like, move and shake and kind of, like, put pieces together. Yeah, that's coming. We should do an episode on that. That's coming. Matter of fact, I think Larry actually text us to do an episode kind of about like tryouts and all that stuff because it's coming fast and furious.

Scott:

That's kind of where we started this podcast. We did, Right around that time last spring.

Jamie:

That's right, last March. That's right.

Scott:

Yeah, so we'll definitely do an episode and talk more about that and kind of just talk about what we're facing.

Jamie:

Yeah, I think we should. Yeah, I think that's a good idea. What are you going say?

Scott:

No, no, no. Was just thinking we should have a youth coach on to talk about That's that

Jamie:

definitely not a bad idea. That's actually really good. Do have anybody in mind?

Scott:

There's a That's few that I a

Jamie:

good idea, actually. I actually wouldn't mind hearing that. Because I bet you there's a lot that goes into it from the coaches' perspective.

Scott:

Well, mean, the coaches are in the thick of it now trying to recruit players.

Jamie:

That's what I mean. Yeah. You know? And it's funny. Guess it depends how hard they work depends on how many kids wind up walking in the door and how good the teams get next year.

Scott:

Right. Because more or less organizations try to lock down. I mean, I can only say from my own experience. I should broadly say organizations

Jamie:

No, I think they do.

Scott:

My experience was like, you want to lock down your coaching staff by the new year for the following year.

Jamie:

Normally, gets put out pretty early, like coaching staffs for the following year.

Scott:

But an organization wants to lock that down in December, then it'll get published at some point not too long after the new year. And coaches are talking, they're recruiting, they're wheeling and dealing and doing all I'm those sure ID skates. ID skates. That's right. ID skates.

Scott:

Secret, not secret ID skates. Exactly.

Jamie:

Top secret probation IT skates.

Scott:

Yep. That's it.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. No. But that's like barreling down on

Scott:

us.

Jamie:

Yep. So that we should do an episode about that.

Scott:

Yeah. Should.

Jamie:

Should we talk a little bit about before we kick it over to Murph? Should we talk a little bit about the transition? We had a question about the transition between Pee Wee's and Bantams.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

And your son is getting closer to that.

Scott:

Yeah. You're the I mean, like, you're the expert I

Jamie:

at this don't about expert, but my son is is living it right now. And? Because he's a first year Bantam.

Scott:

So the big I mean, obviously, that's all about checking. Yeah. Right? Like that's the biggest change. Yeah.

Scott:

That's when yes. So basically, you were to as of today, what's your takeaway so far on So body

Jamie:

even my wife said this. Definitely it makes the game more exciting. There's no question about it. It's a whole another element, you see it, the dads don't care, and some of the moms, when a kid gets hit, they're like, Oh, oh, oh, Johnny. And if there's grandparents in the stands, Christ, they're having like heart attacks.

Jamie:

My mother-in-law is like beside herself. Right. When Dominic Hitler hits, like beside herself.

Scott:

Has Dom gotten crushed?

Jamie:

No, actually.

Scott:

He has not.

Jamie:

He has not. He's crushed a couple people.

Scott:

But he has not gotten crushed?

Jamie:

Yeah. No. He has not actually gotten

Scott:

See, that probably happens when you're a pretty good skater.

Jamie:

You know, it's funny.

Scott:

It happens less often.

Jamie:

You know, it's funny. So as a as a, unfortunately, a long suffering New York Jet fan, you know, we had Curtis Martin for a long time as our running back. And Curtis Martin had an uncanny ability to, like, glance off of people and never take, like, a blow head on

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Which is probably why he lasted so long and was so good for such a long period of time. Normally, running backs, it's hard shelf life wise, but he actually was, like, a thousand yard rusher for a lot of seasons in a row. Right. The consistency was there, because he had the ability to glance off of big blows Yeah. And never take one, like, head on.

Jamie:

Right? So it obviously prolonged his career. Dominic seems I'm gonna say this, he's gonna get fucking destroyed today.

Scott:

Don't say so don't jinx

Ryan:

it. Don't jinx it.

Jamie:

But he has an ability to glance off of or evade. Yeah. Right? But he's he's blown up a couple people.

Scott:

Yeah. Yeah. Think And has he enjoyed it personally?

Jamie:

He enjoys the hitting part.

Scott:

Now He does.

Jamie:

You know, it's funny. So so you will see the 13 u season. Yeah. Okay. When you're

Scott:

You said this last pod.

Jamie:

Did I? Maybe. When you're a first year Bantam, everything the whole game changes. Yeah. You have kids.

Jamie:

Some are, like, big time, like, into puberty. Some are just starting. Some have not started. So the size difference is big. Right?

Jamie:

So so so, you know, so that is a factor. Right? And then you'll also see, and this is where I think the game changes. So you'll see some kids that just do there's some kids that embrace hitting and want to hit everything in sight. Okay?

Jamie:

Then there's some kids that you see that literally don't want to get touched and don't want to do any touching.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Okay? And you see everything in between. Okay? So I think it takes a couple months to it's really ugly and messy for the first four or five weeks. Like, it's ugly.

Jamie:

The amount of boarding calls you're gonna get is, like, astronomical.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Because the kids just don't they haven't figured it out yet. Don't get it yet. They hit when they see numbers. It's the first month is ugly. Yeah.

Jamie:

Right? It gets better after that, but then the funny part about it is, is like

Scott:

Like the novelty wears off and people just go back to not really checking so much.

Jamie:

I remember our coaches yelled multiple times from the bench. She's like, You know you guys are allowed to hit somebody. It's almost like they revert back to what they know.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

You know? So it's it's an it's a really interesting dynamic, you know, when you when your kid starts hitting. But I will say it it changes because there are some people who just do not wanna get touched. Right. And you can see it in their stride, you can see it in their how quickly the puck gets on and off their stick.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Right, when somebody's barreling down on them, like, the game changes at thirteen.

Scott:

Yeah, There's no question about it.

Jamie:

When you're a first year Bantam, everything changes. But I will say it makes the game much more exciting.

Scott:

Otto's excited for it, but I'm just like, also be careful for what you wish for.

Jamie:

Yeah. I think he'll be fine.

Scott:

I I also think so, but I also don't want him to think that, like, you know, like, think he's only thinking about blowing kids up and he's not thinking about

Jamie:

Getting blown

Scott:

getting blown up. And I'm like, you know, it's it it happens in both directions, dude. So

Jamie:

It does. Yes. You're you're gonna take So be prepared. You're gonna take hits. Yeah.

Jamie:

Again, it's messy the first couple years.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

You know what I mean? I also think it depends what level you're on.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

I think the I think the upper levels is more of like a skill game.

Scott:

Sure.

Jamie:

I don't think there's as much hitting on the upper levels. I I don't think. I could be wrong, but I don't I don't we haven't been to triple a in two years, so I could be wrong about that. But when I see, like, a higher end triple a game

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

It's a very skill based game. Right. There's some hitting, don't get me wrong. But I think and I can be totally wrong about this, you guys can crucify me in the comments. But the tier two, I think there's a lot more like, I wanna say physicality, But hitting, I think, is more prevalent.

Scott:

Okay.

Jamie:

Does that make sense?

Scott:

Yeah, know. Get what you're saying. Perhaps with the lesser skill, kids are trying to make an impact in I different

Jamie:

think.

Scott:

That's fair.

Jamie:

But the game gets better. And listen, there's a little bit of anxiety with parents because you you don't want your kid to be the kid who gets there and doesn't wanna hit and, like, shuts it down. Yeah. You know, because that's that's an anxious moment. I'm pretty sure it went through I know it went through my head.

Jamie:

Yeah. Know, god, it's Dominic. Not gonna like hitting, like, you

Scott:

know, whatever the fuck we're gonna next.

Jamie:

Listen, you'll find something to do next. I'm obviously being facetious, you know, but it's a fear in parents' heads. They go, shit. What am I Well, I'll ask you. You know, your kid is a first year Pee Wee.

Jamie:

So this season is basically almost done. And you're in the next season. I mean, do you ever think like, oh shit, like if he doesn't like hitting, like, what,

Scott:

you know? Not yet. No. Because the only thing that he's demonstrated is that he's into it and he's willing to do it. So And I say that because like he's also gotten called for body checking like in games.

Scott:

Fair. Now he's gotten like when we went to Europe, he was body checking and That's true. Crushing kids.

Jamie:

I forgot. I forgot. He you were hit he was hitting overseas.

Scott:

So I don't think My concern would be that he gets tagged really badly and it's going to create a tremendous amount of fear in him. I don't think that's necessarily gonna happen, but that's like my fear. Right? Like that something like that could happen. But as of going into it, I'm not concerned about it.

Scott:

I think he's going be psyched for it. And hopefully, you know, it goes well. But I got time. I got time.

Jamie:

You do have time. Yes. You do have time.

Scott:

I'm not really thinking about it now.

Jamie:

Yeah. I you know? Yeah. Listen. It it the game definitely changes.

Jamie:

You know? There's I don't think there's maybe you can do, like I guess our our coach are these after the Christmas New Year's break last year when we were second year peewees. Yeah. He started letting the kids hit in practice

Scott:

Which is

Jamie:

only on the boards.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

Right? So I'm assuming coaches are probably gonna start ramping that up a little bit. So I think that's a way to kind of get like try to get ready for it if the coach can let the kids start hitting after New Year's. So it's like from now on to the rest of the season. If there's like check-in clinics in your area, think that is probably also a smart move.

Jamie:

Other than that, I don't know if there's a way to prepare for it.

Scott:

And not to keep talking about it too much longer because we should kick it over to the But I think it was always Chiclets and they were talking about the Olympic team. The conversation went down a road where they were talking about Right. Physicality in youth hockey.

Jamie:

Right.

Scott:

And if I'm not mistaken, there are leagues or teams that are kinda like on the fringes or on the outside of like Hockey Canada that are like introducing body checking at young ages.

Jamie:

Oh, interesting. So they're not a part of Hockey Canada because Hockey Canada wouldn't I allow

Scott:

don't know 100% of like those details. So it's like private league? You've seen that like clever, those clever teams like the, with a K. Oh. Like the Clever Kings.

Jamie:

Yeah, is that what that is?

Scott:

So they mentioned Is it

Jamie:

like a private league?

Scott:

I don't know that it's a private league. I don't know the details.

Jamie:

But

Scott:

my takeaway was that those teams are introducing body checking at younger ages. I have to do some research. Don't know off the top of my head.

Jamie:

You know, it's funny you say that because we had somebody write in on our comments section, and he was a Canadian from Montreal. And he's actually the one who was I actually had a cool conversation with him. He actually built his own ODR. And the community wound up taking it over, like putting a chiller on it.

Scott:

Oh, right.

Jamie:

Were interested. Built this for the kids. And he was mentioning I think it was him. I'm pretty sure was him. He was mentioning, that, you know, Canadian hockey's changing with a lot of these, like, private leagues popping up.

Scott:

Oh, interesting.

Jamie:

I'm curious if that's

Scott:

what It might be part of that conversation.

Jamie:

Yeah. Definitely. Interesting. Alright. Alright, bud.

Jamie:

Good. You want to kick it over to Rye?

Scott:

Let's do it. Good. After you. What do you mean after me?

Jamie:

Good. You introduce Rye.

Scott:

Oh, want me to introduce him? You already You

Jamie:

have a better voice than I do

Scott:

for podcasting. Are you talking about?

Jamie:

Oh, you have a deeper voice than I do. So it sounds good,

Scott:

but it comes from here. Whatever. Anyway, so we have Ryan Murphy who spent the last seven years with New Jersey Devils. He's awesome. He's currently serves as the team's skills coordinator before coaching.

Scott:

Ryan played at multiple levels, including the US National Team Development Program. He represented The US for like two years.

Jamie:

Yeah. Jersey boy.

Scott:

Yep. Went on to play four years of college at Boston College was drafted by the LA Kings. Yep. After that, he spent time playing professionally in the AHL as before he started before he transitioned to coaching.

Jamie:

Nice.

Scott:

Yeah, know the guy's got yeah. Yeah. All the credentials.

Jamie:

Yeah, very smart guy. And he's a

Scott:

great listen.

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. Enjoy everybody. Alright. Here we go.

Jamie:

Alright. We are back with our next interview. Our second New Jersey Devil, coach, Ryan Murphy. Ryan, thank you so much for joining us, man. I really appreciate it.

Ryan:

It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me, guys.

Jamie:

Yeah. And I have to thank, Pete Albeats from the New Jersey Devils for making you and Angelo available to us. He's been more than gracious to us. So, thank you to the New Jersey Devils. So, Ryan, kinda do our audience a favor and kinda tell them about, like, what you're doing now, and then we'll get into some of your background.

Ryan:

Sure. I've been seven years now with the New Jersey Devils. I am the skills coordinator that wears a lot of hats. I'm extension of the coaching staff. My role has increased as is as time has gone on, but a a big part of it is to work with players individually in small groups.

Ryan:

During the course of the season, there's not a lot of practice time, so we really wanna be organized with how we're able to, build some confidence, get some reps in, and then be able to have the guys perform at a high level. Part of it is also getting guys that are hurt back quicker and ready to play, which is not always an easy task because there is not a lot of practice time to get back into it. So a lot of it is preparing them for the rigors of, you know, being able to take a check and process quickly so that they're not behind and that it doesn't take them multiple games to feel comfortable.

Scott:

Wow. So you you just brought up something that I don't even know that I've ever really pushed myself to think about. But, like, in terms of, like, professional practices, you said that there is not that much time. So in in so far as that there's not so much time to practice like individual skills, like what you you are leaning into mostly, or just broadly speaking, the team is just not practicing that much. Like what would like I know there's no I don't know if there's an average week.

Scott:

But, like, let's just say that the past fourteen days, like, many practices would the devils get in? And, like, how how is that kinda structured? If you could share, what that's like.

Ryan:

So the last two years have been a little bit difficult because they've tried to condense the schedule with the four nations tournament happening and now the Olympics happening. Right. And so our window from the start of the season to the end of the season is the same, but you're losing about two two weeks, two and a half weeks. So, really, you're playing every other night right now, if if not back to back nights. A lot of it has a lot of it when we don't play has to do with recovery, and we wanna be the guys to be able to rest and be ready to go for the next day.

Ryan:

So, we try to balance as many practices as we as we can, but in the last fourteen days, I'd say we probably had two good practices, which is really tough. We've had morning skates. But, again, you're you're talking about maybe one item that you can touch upon that's outside of your normal routine of drills that you want the guys to just feel confident with going into the game. So we don't have a lot of extra time. There's our there's very few times that we have two sheets of ice because there is so much going on in Newark.

Ryan:

We have a lot of concerts and and outside people coming in to be able to perform. So, really, we're working with a practice rank in a limited time window. So we have to be organized. We have to kinda communicate about what's the best way to do it. We're also under a time crunch with how long we can keep the players.

Ryan:

So we can't keep them there for ten hours a day. We we have to get them in at that certain point where they start eating breakfast while the clock starts running, and we need to be ready to go with meetings and and preparation for what's to come after that. So we probably did a lot more skills in the first two months where we had sessions where we would we we could tailor it however you wanted to. We could have the forwards one day. We could have a defense for another day.

Ryan:

It could be fifteen minutes before practice. Just some more get touches in and reps, which when we get into practice, it it could be a little bit more tedious to do where you you're, again, doing a couple flow drills, you're doing some battle drills, but and you're focusing on systems or special teams and all that. By the time that ends, the ice is so chewed up that, you know, guys will work a little bit afterwards, but are they really being productive, or are they just kinda checking a box to be able to do a little bit extra work?

Scott:

Right. I remember it's funny you talk about the ice being chewed up. When I

Jamie:

was a kid, we

Scott:

had a game down, where the Flyers were practicing. At the I was a huge Lynn Joss fan growing up. So I walked into the rink and the flyers were on the ice. Was like, oh, this couldn't be better. Only only for the for them to get off the ice and then the rink to say your game's canceled because we can't repair the ice.

Ryan:

Oh, man. Totally destroyed. Wow. I

Scott:

got to see, like, Leclerc and Renberg and Lindros all, like, you know, walk right by me. But, yeah, we drove two hours to a game that never happened. But

Ryan:

Yeah. The ruts that Lindros must have left were probably pretty significant.

Scott:

That guy's a real

Jamie:

He was a big man. Big, big man.

Scott:

But, anyway, that's that's super interesting about practice. So Alright. Just one last question about it. So, like, if if if there's a day where you have, like, a a quote, unquote proper practice, like, how long would that ice session be?

Ryan:

Well, that's the funny part is that I I'd say thirty five minutes is probably maxed.

Scott:

Thirty five minutes with the the whole team on the ice.

Ryan:

Yeah. And and so you really you wanna you wanna have the meeting represent what you're gonna be focusing on. The video will represent that, and and then we'll have a a theme so that, hopefully, the players walk out of the meeting knowing full well. Okay. This is what we're focusing on.

Ryan:

Here's why, and, we'll go from there. But, yeah, it's it's it's a limited time frame. We have all sorts of sports science people with us, that track the output that goes on, for each player. And we we really wanna be conscious of how hard we work them because, you know, they're gonna be playing four games in a

Jamie:

week Right.

Ryan:

Right now. And so that's that's a ton ton of, you know, hits taken, just extra ice time that they're gonna have to especially when we had injuries where guys are playing more minutes than they're usually tip typically have been in the past. So

Jamie:

Yeah.

Ryan:

There's a lot of elements that go into when we hit when we hit the ground running at, like, 07:30, it feels like a full sprint until twelve, and it that might not seem like a very long day. But if you were trying to be productive during that very short time period, you better have everything ironed out.

Scott:

Dialed in.

Jamie:

Yeah. So you guys are pretty dialed in. Right? Because you don't have a lot of time. That thirty five minutes is not a lot of time on the ice.

Scott:

Correct. That's unreal.

Jamie:

Yeah. I'm shocked. I thought it'd be much longer. I really did.

Ryan:

Yeah. And so we'll do ten, fifteen minute skills potentially before goalies will go down one end, and then I'll take a couple guys, and we'll try to walk work on wall play shooting something something that we we pull from the previous performances that maybe we weren't executing at a at a good clip on and just, be able to hit a little bit of something on from a skills perspective that leads us into that more structured practice.

Scott:

That's unreal. So so that I mean, thanks thanks for just, like, understanding.

Jamie:

That was awesome. Yeah.

Scott:

So if I had to guess, growing up, you your practices weren't quite like what you're running today. Had to guess.

Ryan:

Hour was hour was a short one for sure.

Scott:

Yeah.

Ryan:

Right. So Special special teams usually came after the hour. Yeah. And so by that time I don't even I don't understand why the ice gets chewed up so much more. May maybe the bodies are bigger, the skates are sharper.

Ryan:

Yeah. But I don't remember it being like it is. We'll do that thirty five minute practice, and it'll it'll look like we had a full on game that went on for sixty minutes.

Scott:

Right. So so what was so what was your journey, like, with the game of hockey? Kinda like, how did it all start for you and, like, being a Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast? Certainly wanna know if you come from a family of crazy hockey parents or crazy hockey relatives and and and what would that was like for you?

Ryan:

Crazy hockey mom. That's for sure.

Scott:

Crazy Hockey Mom. Okay.

Jamie:

There you go. Alright. Okay.

Ryan:

That's good. That's the the most loving, protective. But, yeah, there's a lot of stories that we had with her with how, she took in the game and how competitive she was. So but, my parents, belong to a a country club that had a outdoor rink. It had a house league, a little bit of travel where you played other outdoor teams, but it was nothing that was in the realm of the triple a competitive nature that you have.

Ryan:

It was more just for fun and, something to do during the wintertime when Sure. You know, your kids are running around and you're you're like, what am I I gotta get them out the house somehow. So, my parents never played hockey. My dad does not know how to skate. He showed up to a father son game wearing jeans, and I just pretended that we were not related.

Ryan:

I was just gonna say that he wasn't your dad. Yeah.

Scott:

Who who brought that guy?

Ryan:

So I I took a I had a real passion for it. I loved being out outside to be able to play. There was a rink that opened up Jersey Shore Arena. It's called now the American Eagles where the the new prominent travel team. And my parents had no idea what that meant.

Ryan:

We had a family friend that kind of switched gears from Navisink to there, told us how great it was. And that's really how the past started for me was parents that were kind of leading the way outside of mine that were kind of giving, you know, and for the most part, advice to my parents about what the next step should be. From the American Eagles, everybody was starting to move to triple a. That became a thing in New Jersey when I was growing up finally. I moved to the devils.

Ryan:

I moved to rockets, I played it in the colonials organizations. So I bounced around and, you know, like I was telling you guys, I'm not the poster boy for loyalty within an organization, so I know that's a big hot topic for everybody. But I just didn't know what the next step should be, and so I had a lot of people in my parents' years and my years about, hey. This is the best thing for your son. I got to 13 years old, and this is when the story gets a little bit crazier.

Ryan:

John Sabo was a player that was about two years older than me. He ended up playing at Boston University, had a little bit of a pro career after, but still good friends with him. But he had gone to Cardigan Mountain, and I had no idea where Cardigan was. It was a junior prep school for boys up in New Hampshire. It ran from sixth to ninth grade.

Ryan:

It was really to get you into prep school and customs the life that you'd if you were gonna go that route of being able to manage school and life away from home along with athletics. So, they told me if I ever really wanted to amount to anything in the in the hockey world that I needed to kinda get out of Jersey at that time. I don't know if that's the same thought process that I would have now. Interesting. But at that time, I think it was the best decision.

Ryan:

Massachusetts was prominent. New Hampshire was it was Sure. Fielding a lot of good players. Michigan was great, but those were, like, the heavyweights that I I felt like I needed to be a part of it and see what if I can actually be able to compete with them at their level. So I went to cardigan.

Ryan:

I had never seen cardigan before I were

Scott:

And how old were

Ryan:

went there. Sorry. I I was 13 at the time.

Scott:

So you

Jamie:

were like an eighth grader. Right?

Ryan:

Was an eighth grader. Unreal. So I played eighth and ninth grade there. We had some great teams. We had a lot of guys that went division one hockey, bunch of guys that played after, a couple pro NHL guys as well.

Ryan:

So we had we had a great run during those two years. That got me moving in the direction of prep school. I went one year to prep school. My mom felt that to keep the family together, we were all moving, and I have three younger brothers at the time.

Jamie:

Oh,

Ryan:

wow. They were all moving, up to New Hampshire to go be closer to me at Saint Paul's. And after one year, I was asked to go play for the US team. So my family uprooted themselves only for me to move To Michigan. Yeah.

Jamie:

Oh my goodness.

Ryan:

Yeah. So went to Michigan for two years and played for the US national team, which is the greatest accomplishment I I I think that I had in my hockey career Yeah. Where being able to wear the US sweater, was something that I'll never take for granted. And it was yeah. It was great.

Ryan:

It was a experience that I wish everybody can could be a part of. And then went to Boston College for four years after that, played all four years there. Was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings and played a couple years in their minor league system. Got, you know, a a bunch of games in the AHL and just there was a there was a point after a couple injuries that I just was like, I wanted to play this game to make it to the NHL. I did not wanna just be a pro for a long period of time, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Ryan:

I I know some of my closest friends played years and years and years, went to Europe, enjoyed the game.

Jamie:

Yeah. See, you didn't do

Ryan:

so many great life experiences.

Jamie:

Yeah.

Ryan:

I just was not that was not something I wanted to continue to do. And Right. The minor leagues can be tough. Like, everybody talks about how great it is to play in the NHL. Well, if you if you if you get up there and you have a cup of coffee, it's a big difference than being able to kind of, like, bounce around organization to organization and kind of Right.

Ryan:

Manage your way through a lot long bus rides, long road trips, and all that. So Yeah. I got out of hockey with the thought I will never be back into hockey. And

Jamie:

So much for that.

Ryan:

They got me back in. Yeah. I worked two years, in different different jobs in I lived in New York City for a while. I've loved every minute of it, but, I had a old coach that said to me, hey. If you ever wanna get into the the coaching game, I have an opportunity for you.

Ryan:

It's out in Bakersfield, California. It paid about it paid what my dad thought was a month's worth of annual salary, for one year. So, again, didn't know where Bakersfield was. Went out there. We started off o and twelve, and I thought I I've made the biggest mistake of my life.

Ryan:

Right. We turned it around, though, and and had a a a terrific year, which led us to go into the AHL, where I I worked for five years, including in the Hershey bears, which is a prominent organization.

Scott:

Oh, absolutely.

Ryan:

Ended up with Ottawa and then moved back to New Jersey because I just I was tired of bouncing around, wanted to raise a family, wanted to start a family, I should say. Like, I was doing all this on my own Mhmm. And it it becomes tough. I wanted to focus more on development, and summertime was going to be my kind of opportunity to be able to work with guys on an individual and small group basis, and that's kind of where where it led me to the devils.

Scott:

Unreal. So during this time, as far as coaching, were you always coaching from a skills perspective? Or were you like an x's and o's guy? Like, did you kind of like work in all different forms of coaching? Or

Jamie:

You were an assistant. Right? You were an guy Yeah. At the time. Yeah.

Ryan:

So that's a great question. And a lot of my Boston College roommates

Scott:

Mhmm.

Ryan:

Laughed at the fact that I had the title skills coach when my job was basically chip the puck in and get off the ice. They're like, what's what skills are you possibly giving Oh, save our news. When we were in Hershey, it became much more prominent where younger players needed to get more involved in the day to day of the NHL. It became a much younger league. The guys were all working on skills, but then all of a sudden, you go to the pro level, and you really weren't getting those same reps and opportunities that you were when you were younger.

Ryan:

We started small groups when we were in Hershey, and I would take three guys out, once or twice a week. And we just have a theme that we're gonna go through, and that started this whole thought process of, okay. We need to kinda learn more about what what am I teaching here, why am I teaching it, and it can't just be x's and o's. I think if I could go back in early on my coaching career, I think I hid behind a computer way too much. I focused in on the video.

Ryan:

I always thought, hey. You know what? The guys should know what they're supposed to be doing. You know, we're showing it. We're practicing it.

Ryan:

I don't understand why it's not being executed. And when I look back on it, I realized, like, the relationships and conversations that I that I have now with players go so much longer than the best drill that I could possibly come up with. And it's more so building trust and and showing that you care, and also listening about what what's important to them. How do they view the game? What what do they feel that they need to do better?

Ryan:

So I think the communication and interaction with the players themselves are what I pulled out of those skill sessions that I needed to be better at to be a better coach.

Jamie:

That's interesting to hear you say because it's funny. I I think everything has changed from, like, twenty, thirty years ago. Right? Even the way coaches deal with players. You know?

Jamie:

You still have guys that, you know, get chewed out, but it's it's even at the youth level. Right? I mean, I think it's because you see the old time guys that are screaming and hollering at kids, but I and you tell me if I'm I'm right or wrong here, but it feels like coaches, the newer coaching style is much different than the old coaching style. Right?

Ryan:

Yeah. It's a it's a partnership.

Jamie:

And Right.

Ryan:

And so, yes, you need to be you can't be demeaning, but you could be demanding. You can say and and but you better have a why as to why you're telling them this. That could be through clips on video. That could be just clips of another player of what you're trying to show them to help them, get a little bit more or or enhance their skill set a little bit more. And so, again, it goes back to you you need to be able to listen to them because not if I if I take the same approach with one player and and try that same approach with another player, yeah, it could work a couple times, but you're always gonna come across somebody that it doesn't work for.

Ryan:

And so Yeah. How are you going to adapt?

Jamie:

Because they learn differently than the other guy. Right?

Ryan:

For sure. And so if your style of coaching is cookie cutter, you're gonna hit some roadblocks for sure. So you try to be or what I've tried to do is be a little bit more adaptable and and just work with guys. And there there are some guys that I know I can push, and then there are some guys that I know that I can't push. And that it's gotta be more of a conversation and and let them tell me as to, like, what what do I need to get in order to get more out of you, I guess, is the best way to put it.

Scott:

So, like, the relationship pieces become ever more important.

Ryan:

For sure.

Scott:

Yeah. So Yeah. Let me ask a question. I so you when before we started recording, you were mentioning how that you also, you know, work with an organization where you're working with their, like, mites up through, like, their older, you know, teenagers and and beyond. Just bringing it away from the pros and just taking a look at the youth hockey landscape, you know, certainly, there's no shortage of skills coaches out there, or clinics that are offered.

Scott:

And, you know, there's plenty of parents certainly in the tier one space, tier two as well, but, like, they're always looking to, like, get extra ice time working with the skills coach, work with the skating coach. What what would you want to look for in a skills coach or program, you know, if there's a parent listening that's like, I wanna get my kids some extra some extra puck touches, extra ice time. Don't know where to start. Kinda like, are there are there any things that you would, like, advise people to, like, look for or look out for?

Ryan:

Yeah. I I try to tell parents parents will come up to me and say, can I do an individual lesson with you? I'll rent the ice. I'll get everything coordinated, blah blah blah. But I try to push them in the direction of, hey.

Ryan:

Get Johnny's two or three other buddies, and we'll all go out together and be able to work on some things that are customized for your son, but there's gonna be a competitive aspect to it. There's gonna be a problem solving aspect to it. And so I I want my sons are not old enough to be able to to start practicing yet or or doing any skill sessions, but, I just watch some, and and it's nothing against some of these coaches, but, like, I don't wanna see lines where kids are waiting in line for a long period of time, especially when you have a limited window.

Jamie:

It's everywhere now. The lines are everywhere, especially for mites. They're everywhere.

Ryan:

And so what do you do? Like, you you can you can just have them go use the whole ice and everybody kinda does their own thing. And, you know, you set up stick handling stations and all that type of stuff. But, like, really, the game is all about reading and reacting and being able to play off each other, the timing that you have, the routes that you take. And, yes, you need you need puck skills for sure, but you have to look you have to know how to use those puck skills in the appropriate setting under a lot of duress.

Ryan:

There's not a lot of time you know? Yeah. When you're young, you get a lot of open eyes to be able to make plays and you got time and and if you feel good about yourself, and then all of a sudden that window just starts closing faster and faster. Absolutely. And and now you've gotta make plays faster.

Ryan:

So stress. Yeah. And so I I I work with the Red Bank General's organization down down here, and I I started with a lot of isolated skills, meaning, you know, we'd set up, like, stick handling station here. We would do a shooting station here. The hard part was well, there's a lot of kids, and so I would say there's too much standing around.

Ryan:

So as much as I wanna be able to focus in on Johnny shot, like, Johnny needs to be able to get his shot off in this drill that I'm going to create for him. And so we did a lot more of very simple, small area type let's call it compete games, where we give them a situation that's a game situation. Let's just say we got two two two guys on the red team, three guys on the gold team. The two guys in the red, you're gonna go forecheck. Try to go get the puck back and then be able to score.

Ryan:

The guys on the on the other team, you're trying to break out. So you're working on breakout skills, and you're working on forecheck skills at the same time while creating a a competitive environment. And I think what I've taken away from drills like that is the ability to stop and talk to kids about, okay. With that, you did not execute that properly. Why, though?

Ryan:

And and so that's kind of, like, the bigger takeaway from all this. And and, yeah, it's easier at the pro level for them to be able to communicate like that, but I think it's just as important for an eight year old to be able to understand the why as to, you know, why is this important and why or what can I do to to be better at this in order to execute during a game?

Scott:

And we we so that I mean, that's a great piece of advice because I I I'm I'm sure a lot of people weren't expecting to hear that. So if we talk about, let's say, youth, junior, and then, you know, college pros. I mean, I don't know if you you go to the pros part of it. But, like, would you do you think between any one of those segments, and if you wanna segment it differently, that's fine. But do you do you think that the the type of skills work extra outside of, you know, the regular club practices?

Scott:

You know, with the different age groups, should they be looking for anything different?

Ryan:

I mean, you obviously need your foundation in order to be able to build off of that. And and so I do a a number of shooting lessons off the ice. A lot of parents, when they wanna do the individual stuff, it's always on the ice. But, you know, when they wanna work on their shot and you have ice time, everybody wants to to do more. Like, they wanna skate around.

Ryan:

They wanna get get moving. The parents wanna see them moving. They don't want them to see them isolated and standing there. And so, I do a lot of shooting lessons off the ice, and it's more technical with their hands and just the positioning where the puck is. And that translates over to stick handling.

Ryan:

That translates over to passing. That translates over to shooting. And what it does is it kind of limp it it it limits their ability to do other things or wanna do other things, and, really, we focus in on the reps. And how I've sold it in the past is, I can go to the golf range and hit a thousand balls. And if I don't know what I'm doing, then you're really not get having a productive session.

Ryan:

I'm just, you know, hoping that things are gonna work.

Jamie:

Motions. Yeah.

Scott:

Like

Ryan:

Yeah. And so kids can say, I I shot a thousand pucks today, but if it's a thousand pucks the wrong with the wrong technique Right. Is it really beneficial, or can you shoot 50 pucks and have everything down to the right doing things the right way, where the puck's placed, where your right hands are placed, and then really focusing on those 50, I think that's a bigger takeaway than just shooting pucks to shoot pucks.

Jamie:

Like a more a more purposeful kind of, you know, practice.

Scott:

For sure.

Ryan:

Yeah. Qualifying quality. Might be that might be a private lesson that they need to do first in order to do it. But, yeah, I I would say when you can go back and be able to to do those things and or when they do them after a lesson and they see, okay. I didn't execute here.

Ryan:

Here's I I know exactly why. I think that's even more important.

Jamie:

Mhmm. You know, it's funny that you brought up, kinda shooting off the ice because one of the questions that I wrote down that I wanted to ask you was, you know, do you think that the that a lot of the skills part that you teach can be done off the ice, stick handling, shooting, that type of stuff? Do do you believe that, or do you think you need ice to do a lot of that stuff?

Ryan:

No. I think that I think that's perfect. I the one thing that I'll I'll say is that you're on sneakers probably other than skates, and so just being conscious of how long the stick is that you use. I would always have a stick that's a little bit shorter when you're when you're on your sneakers just because it it kinda gives the same proportion that you would when you when you're on skates. But I think that's a a great way to start if you have the ability to do so is is to just have a shooting board or an up something that is synthetic where you're able to work on your hands and all that.

Ryan:

Yeah. It's highly, highly beneficial.

Jamie:

So I I have a question. What's your favorite piece of off ice equipment for, like, a youth player? Is it, like, the green biscuit? Is it, I don't know. You know?

Jamie:

I'm I'm curious. I'm curious to hear, like, your favorite piece of equipment, like, hockey equipment for kids. I like some of

Ryan:

the rebounders that I see out there, and part of it is because when you pass it off of there, it never comes back the same way, you have to adjust to it. And no no pickup is ever gonna be exactly the same if you're doing it properly. So I I I think those are all extremely valuable to have just because, you know, it's shooting from the proper spot all the time. When you think about it, if my legs are in the perfect position, if my weight is distributed properly, if I'm not under duress, the puck's in the perfect spot, it doesn't happen.

Jamie:

That is the same. Very rarely would that ever happen in a game situation. Right?

Ryan:

Yeah. And and so the more that you can make the variables change, I think it allows you, your body to kind of

Jamie:

To adapt.

Ryan:

Have to figure it out.

Scott:

Yeah. Mhmm. Interesting. You you just talked about shooting tiles. So, would would a step up from sneakers and regular tiles be glice and getting skates, you know, working on that.

Scott:

What are your is any any cons to working on on glice with skates?

Ryan:

I don't think so. I I mean, as a parent, then you gotta get them sharpened.

Jamie:

I was just gonna say that.

Ryan:

Fair enough. A lot of,

Scott:

you know, there are some, you know, just Glice only, like, you know, skills facilities, you know, and and yeah. No. Just just and, you know, there are some parents that have tiles at home, and a lot of people end up not using them with skates because they just leave a mess everywhere. But, you know, just for maybe people that aren't even familiar that there's, like, skatable tiles out there, that that's a that's a good option as well. Right?

Scott:

Because then you're not in sneakers. You're in your skates, and that that's gonna add a a it's gonna make it more, I guess, game like. Right?

Ryan:

Yeah. No. I mean I mean, it's it's a hardest sport to replicate away from the rank. And so anything that you can do is gonna be beneficial. You know, it's not like basketball or soccer where you just pick up and you kind of find an area to be able to to do so or a basket to do so.

Ryan:

It's just that much harder. So I I'm all for being able to get on glace or synthetic or whatever you can to be able to just kind of get the reps in. Because during the course of a practice, think about it. If you watch a practice, how many shots is a kid actually getting during the course of the time, especially when they start competing or doing some systems or or structure to it. So that's their time period to be able to get those reps in.

Scott:

So so just to follow-up also. Sorry, James. I think I might have cut

Jamie:

you off. No. No. That's okay.

Scott:

You know, when we were talking about shooting and, you know, shooting a thousand you know, taking a thousand shots the wrong way, you know, it's kind of that quality versus quantity conversation a little bit. But, like, what are your thoughts about video review to, you know, like, I don't know, even setting up something in the garage or having, like, a friend or a family member video a kid, like, you know, their shot and and and working with someone to critique it, like, at the young like, how early would you think introducing video review of, like, technique would be applicable?

Ryan:

So when I was doing the shooting lessons, I would have parents that had seven, eight year olds that would come to me, and they'd say, hey. He needs to work on a shot. And I started out, and I was like, well, here's how you take a snapshot. Here's how you use the FlexaStick, and they're just not ready for that. Like, they wanna

Jamie:

there. Yeah.

Ryan:

Yeah. They wanna put their whole body into it, and that's how they score goals. So I've kind of embraced that. Just like how do I put them in better positions to be able to succeed right now? And then as they progress and get stronger and they're able to use the flex of the stick a little bit more, that's kind of when I pull the reins back a little bit and and kind of go through a technical breakdown of of how they're gonna be able to execute better.

Ryan:

And and so there's no I I would say there's no, like, set time where you need to to be able to do so. I think everybody just matures physically a little bit different at different times. And so it's just when they become stronger that becomes easier for me to kind of go through what the proper technique is. But as far as video is concerned, I I love it. The video doesn't lie.

Ryan:

So and I'll I'll say that I think when it first clicked to me how important it was, I was working with a player in Hershey for probably three years. And in the fourth year, I took video for the first time of him shooting a puck. And I showed him, and he said to me, look. I I have to be honest with you. You have been talking to me about this little quality over and over again.

Ryan:

I know. But until you showed me that clip, I had no idea what you're talking about, and I didn't wanna look stupid.

Jamie:

I see.

Ryan:

So I just went with it. And so it kinda was a light bulb moment of, okay. You're you're gonna get guys that are playing a high level like that that just they're not appeasing you, but it's also like, okay. They're they're trying to figure it out themselves more so than asking all these questions. And the video allowed this guy in particular to kinda just take a step back and be like, okay.

Ryan:

I I I I've got that mental picture in my head of what he's looking for in order to execute, and I'm like, I I have to use this all the time.

Jamie:

Right. And and that and from then on, you've been using video constantly ever since. Right?

Ryan:

Yeah. Yeah. And, again, probably too much for for a while.

Jamie:

Right.

Ryan:

But you gotta balance it

Jamie:

Yeah. For sure. I'm curious. Since we're on the shooting topic, all of these knucklehead kids, including my kid, wanna shoot in the in the top corners constantly, and they wind up you know, a lot of them wind up air mailing the crossbar, and then the puck rims around, and all of sudden, you have a breaker a breakout the other way. Right?

Jamie:

You know, where do you think kids should shoot? And and it doesn't have to be kids. You know, it could be high school. It could be college. It could be pro.

Jamie:

Where would you teach somebody to shoot to be the most effective spot to score? I'm just curious to hear.

Ryan:

I think you have to be able to mix it up. I think the best goal scores do so. I I don't think if you showed who like, Connor McDavid or I I used to like, Kyle Connor a lot from, from Winnipeg.

Jamie:

Yeah. Sure.

Ryan:

He shoots almost everything over the pads. And so he's been the guy that I've used in the past with a lot of younger players just showing, and it's more the the reaction. So let me work backwards. I I almost like to have conversations with goalie coaches more so about this because I wanna know what they're teaching Yeah. Sure.

Ryan:

Goaltenders. And especially, you know, high school, that that type of age, the automatic reaction recently has been to get your hands up so that you don't get beat high. And so I I say to guys, okay. If that's the case, and they're automatically gonna just get their hands up as bit as big as and make themselves as big as possible, where are the holes? And it's more over the pad.

Jamie:

Under the arms.

Ryan:

The one the one thing that I would do if if it was my team or or just my my son, and I would have them go through all the goals that were scored on a nightly basis. So, like, on the nhl.com, they show here's tonight's all their goals that were scored tonight, and just go through and track. Okay. This one was five hole. This was over the pad.

Ryan:

And you're gonna see that it's not bar down 90% of the time like everybody feels like it is. You have to have the ability to mix it up. And so, I I think it's early it's important to learn that at an early age. I use this a lot with all ages, and I and I ask, what's what's the the point of of you doing these shooting sessions? Is it to shoot the puck harder to score more goals?

Ryan:

And I guess when I first started asking it, it seemed that it was really easy answer of scoring more goals. But the the the more I asked it, it was a hesitation, and there was a lot of, like, well, you know, can I do both? And I'm like, well, yeah, you can do both, but, really, at the end of the day, if you think about golf, like, is it to hit the ball the furthest, or is it to score the lowest? It's that's kind of the equivalent. And so how you score is is not always about how hard your shot is, And and and that's something that guys need to wrap their heads around at all levels.

Ryan:

There's there's plenty of pros that feel like, hey. I I can beat this guy if I just just power overpower him all the time, and the best goal scorers don't do that. They might have hard shots, but they know where to put the puck and can control it.

Scott:

Yeah. You you know what? I was just watching it's funny we're talking about the speed of the the puck. You know, was just watching a go. I don't know who got beat.

Scott:

It might have been Bennington. I forget. But it was basically just like kind of like a knuckle puck. You know what I mean? And and just how it just, you know, just thinking it made me think of like a chain like a a pitcher that's throwing a change up, you know, like, kind of that off speed and that yeah.

Scott:

You know, I've heard many times and tell me if I'm wrong that, like, it's more important to get the shot off quickly than it is to get it off, like, accurately or as hard as you can. But, like, to your point, it just sounds like, you know, having, like, an arsenal of, like, different different, you know, I guess, tools in terms of, like, shot speed, like, placement, like, all those things are just come into play, and it's yeah. No. That that that makes a lot that makes a lot of sense.

Ryan:

And even a desire to get to the right spots. Like, if goals are scored five feet from the net and you're not going to those places, you're kind of wasting your time shooting from 20 feet away all the time when you're practicing. Right? So, I think it's just as important to be in tight finishing is is just as crucial as being able to take a one timer.

Scott:

Yeah. You know, some just talking about like skills, generally speaking, you know, like, I I think the first thing that comes to mind is stick handling shooting and and skating. Right? But, like, when you were talking earlier about some of the practice, time that you spend with the devils, you know, just even working on wall play, you know, in that game sit the situational stuff. You know, I think that's a really important piece that, like, you know, when I was coaching, you know, I would try to make sure that, like, anything that we were doing for the most part, like, you know, is relatable to a game.

Scott:

And it wasn't just like these static, you know, just static standing and shooting at the goalie. So, like, what are some other, you know, maybe neglected areas of a game that you think maybe younger kids, you you know, if they have the opportunity, should pay more attention to? Is it just picking pucks up off the wall? Is it you you know, like, what comes to mind there?

Ryan:

That's a good one. I think we've cutbacks are a big one too. Everybody everybody likes to turn, and then they stop moving their feet. So they make this really good tight turn, and they elude the defender, and then it's almost like, okay. Now I need to just fire this thing somewhere versus trying to get away from their their defender.

Ryan:

I think that's a big one, that I see at the youth levels. I would say away from the puck is so important. Angling, stick detail. Like, those things get you the puck back. I watched Florida last night, and they scored two goals.

Ryan:

And and the guy's like, these are prototypical Florida goals. The announcer said that. And he's right. It's the one time that the structure breaks down so poorly that you have what some of the highest danger opportunities is when you can create a turnover. And so knowing how to do so, there's so many kids that I watch.

Ryan:

And and when they have the puck, they're going a million miles an hour. And they're flying around, and they're energized, and they're ready to go, and they're looking to score. If you can match that passion on the defensive side, I tell people, like, what's what's the goal of being able to have a good stick and turn turning pucks over? Like, it's not just to keep the puck out of your net. It's to get the puck back, and and let let's go play offense.

Ryan:

Like, that's the fun zone. Everybody wants to go play offense. So if that's the case and you don't if you only if your team only has the puck 50% of the time, you you need to to figure out how you're gonna get it back. You can't just run around. Right?

Ryan:

So when you have your moments to be able to strip a guy cleanly and then turn it or go stick on puck and then create a turnover and your teammate is able to pick up the puck, I mean, those are opportunities that you have to take advantage of. And so if you can learn those skills and those details of angling and stick detail and all that, I think it goes a long way. And it makes coaches a lot happier too because you're keeping the puck out of your own zone. Totally.

Jamie:

I'm curious. What what are some what are some stick details, you know, for for creating a turnover, whether it's like a a stick lift or, you know, a a poke check? What are some you know, anything you would teach to, like, the the the youth kids or not not youth, but I guess any anybody under, I guess, 18. What what would you teach?

Ryan:

You know? So I talk about the top hand nonstop. Like, guys make fun of me all the time because I'm just talking about how important the top hand is, and that runs from the devils all the way down to mites. I talk about it so much because when I was first growing up, I I started out as a lefty. I throw right handed.

Ryan:

And I started out as a lefty, and I was so bad that my mom switched me to a right handed shot immediately. And I come to find out that, you know, it it should be your dominant hand as your top hand. It's not for everybody. I'm not but it just that's kind of an a natural progression, and the rationale is because your top hand has to do a lot of work. And I think when you're talking about stick detail and and poke checking and and all that, like, how strong that top hand needs to be in order to be able to do those things, that's my left hand now.

Ryan:

That's, like, my weak hand. So I have to be Right. Extra conscious in order when I do those things. I think when you have a strong top hand, it allows you to to make yourself bigger defensively. So instead of me having alligator arms and giving you all this space, I utilize the fact that my top hand is strong and I'm able to extend my arm.

Ryan:

It makes the puck carrier uncomfortable, and that's when turnovers happen. That's when you're able to be able to take advantage of those types of plays and go back the other way. So I think that would be the number one priority is is just, like, focus needs to be of how strong you are with that top hand.

Jamie:

Is that why in Canada, they take righties and play them as a lefty and vice versa? Is that why they do that?

Ryan:

It could be. It could be.

Jamie:

For a strong top hand?

Ryan:

Yeah. My jean wearing dad did not know that. So but, no, he he they're I I do have to say, like, my parents were everything for my career because if they didn't have the passion to be able to put me in those positions that I didn't know what I was doing, nobody else knew what I was doing. So their craziness were what allowed my me and my brothers to have success. You know, I had another brother that played at Providence College, another brother that played at Colby College, and then the one in between, won a national championship with the, with Boston College as a manager of the hockey team.

Ryan:

So all of us have had different paths, but hockey has been such a huge instrument for life lessons for all of us, and our family. So Right. I thought I'd delay my boys playing longer and longer, but at three and five, they've already started. So

Scott:

Let's go.

Ryan:

I guess I'm part of the Crazy Hockey Dads.

Jamie:

Yes. You are. Jump on in.

Ryan:

The water's fine. The water's fine.

Scott:

You know? So something that also comes up, and and and and I would be curious to hear your take on how it relates to maybe, like, skills work that you do with players. But surely, you have a you know, you you're working with groups of kids, and you got different mindsets out there. You got kids that are more confident. You got kids that are less confident.

Scott:

You got, you know, you hear about guys that are just, you know, practice players, but when game time shows up, you know, they're nowhere to be found. Right? As a as a skills coach, what are some of the things that you do to work with people who potentially need to work on their confidence? I doubt you probably have to rein people in, but maybe that's a thing. If you could just talk a little bit about, like, the the mental piece and how that relates to what you do with the with your guys.

Ryan:

So I think it starts with video. You need to be able to show them the instances that you're talking about so that they see the spacing, the timing, what they need to do better. And then you need to put put them in positions where it's not patterned, where they have to kind of figure out their spacing for themselves, the problem solving aspect of it. So a lot of it is kind of competition. We tried a bunch of new things this summer.

Ryan:

My the guy that I've I I started proformance with is is Chris Gragnano. He's our Utica skills coach. Him and I have kind of thrown ideas at each other as to how to make guys better at this, and I I guess people would call it hockey IQ, hockey sense as well. I think it starts with watching a lot of games and just being able to watch games versus highlights because you see everything is on the puck. And and so what we've tried to do is start the drills without you having the puck, and, ultimately, hopefully, you're you end up as the guy that that gets to be the shooter.

Ryan:

But if you don't execute the things that we're talking about, a forecheck or being able to work a gave give and go, then you don't get rewarded with a shot. So we don't we don't do extra pops. Like, we'll do extra reps over and over again, but we'll always have kind of an outcome of this this side wins and this side loses. And when the side loses, it's not it's not to harp on them their inefficiencies. It's more to kind of use it as a teaching tool to be like, okay.

Ryan:

The their team won the point this time. How are we going to be able to execute execute better? Better? It creates conversation. And, yeah, it's easier with with the older guys, but you could do it at all levels and just see what they're feeling.

Ryan:

And, also, just being able to reemphasize that through video of them on the ice just so they can see themselves during the practice time. So I do video a lot of practices to be able to go back and just show them, yeah, this is what we're working on. Here's some good stuff, and here's some teaching materials that we need to keep working on because it's not an overnight thing. You don't just flip the switch, especially with HockeySense. Right?

Ryan:

You could just keep watching games. You can watch players and all that, but, you have to be the one that, you know, drives the car, and it's not always easy. Faster is not always better. That's one thing that I I always say all the time. There's so many guys, and I was one of them.

Ryan:

I was going a thousand miles per hour throughout my career all the time thinking that if if I was not, that I was not having a productive shift.

Jamie:

Right.

Ryan:

And it was kind of counter counterproductive because I was out of position at times. I was forcing things at times. I was running into whoever the defender was faster than I should have because I was just going so fast, almost like there was a shot clock, and I needed to get something to get something done within that small time frame. And that's not the case. So what I've tried to do is is have people learn from my mistakes of how I processed and and kind of take a step back and just be like, okay.

Ryan:

You don't have to make that play under duress if you do this. So slowing things down at times might seem like you're in trouble because, oh, somebody's gonna get me, but it also allows you more time and space.

Scott:

That's, and that's that's such a good point because I I know for sure. You know? And look. I I I don't wanna so when I watch my kid and Jamie watches this

Jamie:

I was just gonna say their describe my kid.

Scott:

Eyes, and they're like Yeah. I need more effort. I need more effort. Back check's not hard enough. Fore check's not hard enough.

Scott:

And look. Well, that that might totally be true. Right? But there there is this intersection where there are times where it's not appropriate, where, you know, by doing so, you might be taking yourself out of position. Right?

Scott:

Like, if there's already an f two down on the four check, that f three doesn't need to motor as fast as they can to below the goal line to help support. Right? You know, that's not something they necessarily need to do, for example. So I I guess part of, you know, for parents out there, right, that are, like, you know, or always wanting to see their kid moving their feet as fast as possible, it's like, well, wait a second. That might not always be the most appropriate thing.

Scott:

You know, whether or not the kid at that point in time actually knows that, you know, if they're really trying to get into the right position is another story. But just because the kid's not moving their feet as fast as possible every moment doesn't mean they're not giving effort. Is that, like, a a fair thing to say?

Ryan:

Yeah. And if you were to go and ask a a player, I want you to give me three bullet points as to what a productive shift looks like and self evaluate. Yeah. And a lot of them will say, well, I gotta move my feet. That's that's one of the top three.

Ryan:

And that's fine, but it's generic. And what does move your feet mean? Like, just run faster on the ice or or look like you're trying harder than you are, or does it mean take away time and space? Does that mean getting away from defenders? Does that mean being strong on the forecheck?

Ryan:

So I think you have to kind of be more you can't be as general, and you need to be more thoughtful of how can I be productive and help our team out, and self evaluate from a shift by shift basis? And that's going to allow you put you more at ease. A big help would be if the coach agrees with your three to five bullet points of of what makes you productive. Right. Makes it counterproductive if he doesn't agree.

Ryan:

Mhmm. But I I think that's so important is just just to have awareness. Like, it doesn't need to be goal oriented. And when I say goal oriented, like, I I need to score a goal here or I need to I need to get a scoring chance or I need to get a breakaway. Like, it needs to be if I do these three or five three to five things right, then I'm putting myself in a position where I am highly valuable to the rest of

Scott:

my team. Right.

Jamie:

You know, it's so funny that you say that. Well alright. So I have two parts. The first part is when people come to you and self evaluate, what are the other two things that you hear the most? Okay?

Jamie:

That's part one. I'm just curious. And part two is I've I've heard I don't know where I heard it, but I've heard, like, you know, when you go out on a shift or in a period, you wanna try to have two shots, two hits, two would be takeaways, one blocked shot. Is that something that you teach, you know, older kids too?

Ryan:

I mean, if block shots are one of your bullet points, I mean, they could be for, you know, somebody that plays a penalty kill a lot. That Right. That's a that's a role that is going to really help the team is is be able to to produce like that. I still think it would be more along the lines of, am I taking away time and space from from the opponent? Am I creating turnovers?

Ryan:

Some of the other bullet points that you asked that that we'll see, I I mean, shot on net. Right? Like Right. What does that mean? I come over the blue line, I just fire it at the goaltender.

Ryan:

He grabs it and swallows it up, and and get a whistle. Like, yes, it's a shot on net and does go in the stats. But It's

Scott:

not a

Jamie:

very high percentage thing. Right? No.

Ryan:

No. And and that was something that, in Hershey that opened my eyes a lot. Our goaltending coach did really a deep dive each year of and now he's a Washington Capital's, goalie coach. But he's just like, there's wasted shots. And really what that means is you're just allowing the goaltender to build confidence throughout the time that he has.

Ryan:

So why not fight to try to get into the house a little bit more? Why not hold on to pucks a little bit longer? It's a harder game for sure than just firing everywhere. And it is an older school mentality, and there's plenty of coaches that still feel that way. That shot volume is is is important.

Ryan:

I I just to me, it's more about scoring chances and so shots. Right? Like, quality scoring

Jamie:

chances as opposed to How do

Ryan:

you make life hard on the goalie? That's that's really what what it's about. And and so a lot of that is being connected with the rest of your team and having to move the puck fast and having to work harder to get into the good spots in order to score, which is not always easy versus just firing and hoping for the best. Right.

Scott:

You know, I I I will say, you know, as we talk about this, it makes me think of what I've seen, you know, when watching NHL games, especially on the power play. Like, it just seems sometimes that the puck is just overpassed, And I just I can't you know, and it's clear they're trying to get the goalie to move. Like, I get it. Like, that makes sense. Like but at the same time, I just feel like, oh my god.

Scott:

Will someone take a shot already? Like, Jesus. Like, the puck is just going. You know, they're trying to make so many passes. Could you, like, speak to that a little bit in terms of, like, is that the only reason why, like, you know, the puckets move so much is to get the goalie moving east to west, or is there, like, some other other stuff that I might not be, you know, privy to in terms of, like, you know, what I'm seeing.

Ryan:

So my first question for you are is are you a shoot it guy that's yelling shoot it from the stands?

Scott:

No. What no. So so at at some point,

Jamie:

I get That's fantastic. I I it's I am.

Scott:

I I get to that point sometimes. And and the only reason why I'm bringing it up is because, like, honestly, it's occurred to me on, like like, more than I think I've, you know, ever, and maybe it's because I'm just paying more attention to the game because my son's playing and, you know, whatever. But, like, it just seems like there there there's opportunities to get pucks on net. And, like, if you have net front presence, you know, you might get, like, you know, a greasy goal as opposed to trying to make that extra pass that maybe gets tipped and, like, you know, it's it ends up out of the zone. So don't I don't know.

Scott:

Just just an observation that I've had and and maybe, you know, I'm I'm off the mark on, you know, my my take on it. But just curious if there's, you know, some, you know, I I don't know, like, that are kind of, you know, saying, hey. Listen. Get move the puck more, and you're you're you're increasing your odds of scoring.

Ryan:

Yeah. So some of it is unselfishness. You're just trying to get people involved, but I I'd say the bigger reason is respect for the goaltenders and that they're so big, so athletic. You're it's funny. Like, you could be pretty close to the net even in the NHL.

Ryan:

And if that goalie knows that you are the shooter, it's still not a high, high percentage that you're gonna beat And so knowing that, you're trying to make him move and have deception and and just Yeah. Making sure that life is a little bit uneasy for them. And so that's part of the reason where you're moving the puck around a little bit more. Penalty kills are also much more aggressive than they were, and so you're really trying to break the pressure, but it's not always easy. Right?

Ryan:

You got one guy jumping you. I I would play against Carolina, and I watch, and it it's like they have five guys out there, but it's only four. And it's because there's they're so aggressive, so connected. And so it does seem like, hey. Stop passing the puck, but it's also well, I gotta make a decision at some point here, and it's they're they're putting a lot of duress on me.

Ryan:

So I but I would say probably the goaltending respect is is probably the biggest one is that Interesting. They know that they getting him moving is the most important thing.

Scott:

Yep. Yeah. That makes sense. Sure.

Jamie:

Yeah. It definitely does. Yeah. Yeah. Because I gotta tell you, Ryan, I am yelling at Jasper Bratt all the time to shoot the puck.

Ryan:

When we were in Hershey and our goalie coach our our goalie coach had done the presentations, I think there was it had to be dozens dozens of times that we'd have two goals and five shots on net after the period. And what it does is, basically, a goaltender goes back into the locker room after the period thinking about what his save percentage is at the time because there's no pucks. But he's also uneasy because we we it's not like we don't have the puck. It's more along the lines of, like, are they gonna shoot it? I hope they're gonna shoot it because I wanna feel the puck.

Ryan:

I wanna feel better about myself. And so it put them in uncomfortable positions. But in Hershey, I mean, it was nonstop. Shoot it. Shoot it.

Ryan:

Shoot it. And so we drove people mad. So I think it's it's a balancing act. I don't I don't think you have to be may maybe as extreme as that, but, it was something that worked for us and and the personnel that we had. And everybody kinda bought into it, and that was more of the reason.

Ryan:

It was more of a soccer focus. Right. That possession was just so important. And the more that we can grind teams down and just be a little bit more patient, that we were gonna have really, really quality opportunities finally because they were just gonna get upset. They were gonna get too aggressive, and they would make a mistake or they're, they get tired because Right.

Ryan:

Nobody likes playing defense. Right? You're chasing people around for an entire shift. You're like, I gotta make something happen. So you start cheating, and then all of a sudden, you

Jamie:

take it You're out of position. Yeah. So you it's almost like the Princeton motion offense where they just kind of keep screening and passing and screening away, passing and screening away, and all of a sudden, you pop out for, like, a backdoor layup, like, type of stuff.

Ryan:

Drives you nuts.

Scott:

But

Jamie:

Yeah. Yeah. Because it's boring. Right? It's boring, and it's monotonous, and it's right?

Jamie:

But all of a sudden, like you said, you you you all of a sudden, you have a mental lapse and boom. The puck goes in the net. Like, that that's kind of so you like that the quality as poe over quantity. That's you.

Ryan:

I think there's a balancing act that needs to be had with that. Okay. I I we were probably so over the top one way that we kind of needed a little bit more shot volume, a little bit more chaos around the net. There was times that we got way too perimeter because of that concept, and then we were just circling on the outside, and we really weren't doing anything. So I think that's kind of where we understood, okay.

Ryan:

There's times and places where we need to be on the attack a little bit more.

Jamie:

Interesting. Yeah. That's cool.

Scott:

So I wanted to, like, switch gears a little bit. But, you know, just thinking about how, you know, Jamie and I both have had kids that were playing tier one. Now they're playing tier two, and there's plenty of families out there that, you know, are maybe looking to make the jump, you know, up. I I I don't know how many actually, you know, like, take step down if given the opportunity. And I'm bringing this all up to kinda ask you, like, what's your perspective on, you know, a young player's development and whether or not they're faced with the choice between saying, like, maybe they have an opportunity to be, like, a bottom third player on a tier one team, or they could be, you know, like a, you know, a top third player on a a tier two team.

Scott:

Like, do you think, like, given the landscape of the sport currently that, you know, for anyone that's got dreams of playing, I don't know, let's say college, right, or playing high level high school or playing club in college or do you want whatever the case. Go to the pros. You know, like, do you do you think that it's more important, like, how much ice time and puck touches they're getting and, like, not until later on down the road does it really matter the level that they're playing? Like, do do you have, like, thoughts about, like, the landscape of the youth sports and kinda, like, how parents should kinda look at tier one versus tier two and how that relates to their kids' development?

Ryan:

About three years ago, someone told me that a lot kids were passing up The US program because they were not guaranteed to play in the top two lines. And I thought about it, and I was like, you have to be kidding me. I I was disgusted by it at first, to be honest with you. And and the rationale was more along the lines of, well, if I'm playing third and fourth line, I'm not getting the same opportunities. I'm not playing power play.

Ryan:

I'm not getting scoring I'm not gonna be one of the top scores on the on the team, and I'm not gonna be noticed. And so I think what I took from that was opportunity is so important, wherever it is. You know, the US team might be a little extreme for me just because I I don't think you get those type of opportunities throughout your career. No. But I do understand now that you need to be put in the best position that's going to keep you developing.

Ryan:

And if that means that you need to be put in places where you are playing the power play, that you're playing top six minutes, that it makes sense to me. That that is probably the primary thing. I would say nobody I I don't know why, but when I try to talk to parents about what the next step should be, I always ask, well, what are the other players on the team currently have to say about the coach? I don't think that gets asked enough where what is the culture like? Yes.

Ryan:

Johnny's gonna play the first line, but if he's miserable, if the practices aren't productive, is that is is that a great spot just because it's a highly touted team? So I think drawing from other people's experiences are really important. I'm that's what my parents did. Right? The they were they had somebody that was leading the path, and they weren't afraid to ask questions about whether this was the right spot for me.

Ryan:

And I think because they asked those questions, it it worked out. So I I think some people are play things very close to the vest because it's it's a very I don't know. It it's a very insecure kind of thing that's going on in hockey where Yeah. You you don't want the other kid or parent to have an upper hand on you, so you really become isolated with what you're doing.

Scott:

Sure.

Ryan:

And I I haven't experienced that firsthand yet. I've just seen it or I've heard conversations from other people about it, and and and I'm starting to open my eyes a little bit more to it. Yeah. But, you know, some some of these kids are at a early age have advisers, and and there's nothing wrong with that. But I just think you need to find somebody that one who cares about you and is in has your best interest.

Ryan:

But if you can talk to somebody that has been through the experiences, I think that's way more important than anybody that has an adviser title attached to them.

Jamie:

Agree. Sure. Yeah. So I I have an interesting question for you. And you tell me if I'm off base on this, but I I think don't think I am.

Jamie:

But is it just me or is the skill level of today's younger players? I mean, Celebrini, Bedard, I mean, Cutter Gauthier, I mean, the list, Zigress, Jack Hughes. Right? Is the skill level of the current young NHL player light years ahead of where it was twenty years ago? And why?

Ryan:

I think with I think with the Pac, yes, think they just they process the game at a speed that people either process they either were slower moving and were able to make decisions fast, or they move their feet a million miles an hour and just blew by people and the the decision making didn't matter. Now they've formed both together, and you've get this hybrid of an athlete that is coming a million miles an hour and processing at the same speed, which is just unheard of. Before, it was like, me, for example, I could skate fast, but I couldn't process the game. Or you saw guys that played slower, but they were able to process it really quickly. So I I think they're just they're mixing the two that is creating this monster, and it's fun to watch, to be honest.

Jamie:

Yes. Yes. It is. It's awesome to watch. Yeah.

Jamie:

Yeah.

Scott:

Listen. I think we're we're about at the hour mark. And listen, Ryan, I know you got two young kids, and it sounds like we we made it through without any major interruptions. But, you know, one of the things that just, you know, before we start to wrap this up or as we wrap this up, you know, I know that you got your hands in a few things, especially, I guess, like, out of the professional season. We'd love you to share, you know, where people can find you, like, you know, what skills, you know, opportunities people might have to get on the ice with you or work with you.

Scott:

If you could just share where to where to find you, that'd be amazing.

Ryan:

Yeah. I'm Jersey based in summer, mostly because I wanna be with family as much as possible in the off season, but, you can find us at app performance hockey, which is on Instagram. We're brand new. We started almost a year ago to the day, and it's more video based than anything. We do run some camps and clinics, but really what we wanna do is be a platform for coaches and players to kind of get these small clips or short clips that are very distinct where you could walk away and understand if if, you know, my parents asked me what I just watched that I could tell them what the two themes were that I was looking for and and how it can hopefully benefit my game, and I can put it into practice the following day.

Scott:

Awesome. Go ahead, Dave.

Jamie:

So I have one last question for you. You're you're gonna help solve dispute a between Scott and I. So so so he he knows where I'm going with this.

Scott:

So Actually, as just as a I'm going there on Saturday.

Jamie:

I am too, by the way. Oh. I'll be at the Armory on Saturday. Okay.

Ryan:

Likewise. Okay.

Jamie:

Alright. It's alright. So so alright. So, Ryan, so I in one of our earlier episodes, I had mentioned that in my opinion, the Red Bank Armory restaurant, cafe, whatever you wanna call it, had some of the best pizza in all of youth hockey. Okay?

Jamie:

Now then Scott went there, I would say about a month ago, Scott

Scott:

Sure.

Jamie:

And said that he was not a fan. Alright? So two questions. A, has the food there changed or has the ownership of the or whoever's behind the counter changed? Because in my opinion, the Red Bank Armory has some of the best breakfasts, like breakfast sandwiches, muffins, and pizza that I have ever had.

Jamie:

But then Scott tells me differently.

Ryan:

Interesting. So my five year old is in learn to skate there and on Monday nights, and we can't get him to eat anything. That snack bar is his paradise.

Jamie:

Yes. If

Ryan:

it didn't exist, I don't know what he would eat. So that said, I I think it's Kid approved. It's kid approved for sure.

Jamie:

I'll take I'll take the approval of a five year old any day. Five or three. Which one?

Ryan:

Well, I get to eat the leftovers, so I know that there's yeah. It's it's a solid, solid snack bar in terms of a hockey rink for sure.

Jamie:

Thank you, Ryan.

Scott:

Appreciate it. Well, listen. I'm going for round two this weekend.

Jamie:

So I too, by the Ryan.

Scott:

Pizza, I think, and we we will go from there. But, Ryan, again, listen. Thanks

Jamie:

so much. Awesome. Real

Scott:

treat learning about, you know, your history, your playing career, what you're up to, and just such a great opportunity to to talk with you. So thank you so much for

Jamie:

Yeah. We'll have to have you back on.

Scott:

On the show.

Ryan:

Yeah. Of course. Thanks so much, guys. And, yeah, well, I'll be you gotta do a pizza review or something.

Jamie:

Yeah. See? Exactly right. Well,

Ryan:

listen, man.

Scott:

We'll do it this weekend.

Jamie:

We absolutely will do it this weekend, especially for that at the same time.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Absolutely. Thank you very much, Ryan. Really appreciate it. It was awesome.

Scott:

Alright. Take it easy. Good. Alright, everybody. Welcome back from the interview with Ryan Murphy.

Jamie:

Rye guy. What do mean Rye guy? Rye guy.

Scott:

Is that his new nickname? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway.

Jamie:

Rye guy Murph?

Scott:

Dude, so it's so interesting how different the game is on the pro level than anything that I ever thought about. One of the first things that grabbed me was clearly how short practices are.

Jamie:

Shocking.

Scott:

Like thirty five minutes. Shocking. And that often morning skates can just be the practice time. Shocking. I expected so much.

Jamie:

I think I expected so much more. I'm sure you did too. Yeah. For on the professional level.

Scott:

But then when you hear about their schedule and all this other stuff and you're like

Jamie:

You get it.

Scott:

You get it. And then when he was like, Okay, when they're at rink, there's like, there's meetings, there's video, there's meals. So highly structured. It's like, can't keep them here for the whole day. I mean, some of these guys have families and whatever else.

Jamie:

And you mentioned they were play they they play regularly. Like back

Scott:

to back, they're traveling.

Jamie:

They they need to make sure they take care their bodies. I mean, it it's it's a lot. There's a lot going on behind

Scott:

the scenes there. But for him in particular, just the idea of some of the work that he does is tailored, specifically to build confidence, like quickly for anyone that might be out or struggling with something.

Jamie:

100%.

Scott:

Yeah. And then also, you know, getting injured guys back to like game speed

Jamie:

Oh, yeah. You know,

Scott:

game ready, which is like gotta be its own very specific, you know, group of like activities that he's doing with those players. It's just so Confidence is huge. Yeah. It's high so highly focused, you know?

Jamie:

Confidence is confidence is such a big part of athletics.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Like, I mean, you you you if you see it I'm sure people see it with their own kids.

Scott:

Right.

Jamie:

You know, you see I'll give you a perfect example. We had a kid on our team suffer a pretty nasty, like, skate laceration.

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Right? At a tournament, like, I'll call it, like, two months ago. Speak it up. We're gonna have Andres DeVillier, the CEO of Titan Battle Gear on shortly.

Scott:

Yeah. So that's and clearly, we're gonna talk about all

Jamie:

that stuff. We're gonna go over, like, skate cuts and stuff like that and protective gear. But so he got injured. Right? And this kid was like flying around blasting everybody in sight before he got hurt.

Jamie:

And I have to tell you, he came back from his injury, he wasn't fully comfortable yet, right? So his confidence was low. And you could tell he looked like a different kid for a couple weeks.

Scott:

Because he was right, he was still getting

Jamie:

his His confidence confidence was down. So it's funny, we've all, I'm sure, seen our kids when their confidence is high and when their confidence is low, it's pretty obvious. They're totally different players. Totally different player.

Scott:

Right, no doubt. 100%.

Jamie:

Yeah. So I like what Murph's talking about when it comes to that confidence point.

Scott:

Yeah, maybe he was, I'm forgetting that part, but like one of the things just like, let's just say someone's struggling taking pucks off the wall. Yeah. Right, like, you know, then they're just gonna go. And like this skill work could be just for like ten to fifteen minutes before this very short thirty five minute team practice is when they'll get on the ice just to do like fifteen minutes of like taking pucks off the wall.

Jamie:

Yeah, it's very like, well you remember Angelo when we had him on, he's like, we literally do something for like ten, fifteen minutes and we're like a short video clip and then we're good. We're done.

Scott:

And then they're done.

Jamie:

And they're like, yeah, we're good. Thanks. See you later. Well, Angel's like, Wait, what? What am I supposed to do for the next forty five minutes?

Scott:

Right. So like, was saying Ryan was like, Like over a fourteen day stretch. Yeah. Like they might only have two team practices. Crazy.

Scott:

It's crazy. Their schedules But are then also recovery takes priority over ice time Interesting. It's like these teams and these owners, they're so heavily invested in these athletes. I was talking to a father of one of Otto's teammates, the dad is a PT for an NFL team.

Jamie:

Oh, yeah. You mentioned that.

Scott:

And he was saying how it's like the, you know, over the twenty years that he's been a part of it, like the difference between the way these players are number one taking care of themselves, but number two, the way the staff and ownership want these players take care of themselves because these are not small investments. They probably never were, but like they're extremely expensive knees and arms Everything. Yes. All of it on

Jamie:

the It's all very expensive. Yes. They're assets that they cannot afford to

Scott:

Right. But at the same time, it puts downward pressure on any staff member that's responsible for rehabbing and getting players back to game ready because you don't want to put them back too prematurely. But you also need to get them back as soon as possible.

Jamie:

You it's funny. You mentioned that kid who was a PT for a local sports team. Is he a younger guy or is he an older guy?

Scott:

It's like our age.

Jamie:

So it's funny, I just happened to come across this on I think it was spitting chiclets. I happened to come across it. Somebody was being interviewed and they were talking about Brett Hull. And they were talking about how this young PT, I guess the organization wanted him to do a standing jump to measure his vertical. Yeah.

Jamie:

Right? Or put your arms up to see how it was something along those lines. And he's sitting there telling Brett Hockey after he just scored 86 goals. He's like, listen. I need you to put your arms up.

Jamie:

He's like, need you to jump, and we need take a measurement. And Brett Hull goes, what? He goes, I'm not fucking doing that. He goes he goes, you know how high you can put my arms? He goes, this high.

Jamie:

He's like, 80 he's like, he's something like eighty six inches or something like that. He's like, my 86 goals last year. He's like, I'm not fucking doing that shit to like a young PT. Right. And what are you gonna say?

Jamie:

You're argue with Brett Hall after you just scored 86 goals?

Scott:

I mean, depends how serious you are about your job.

Jamie:

Well, yeah. That's what I mean. You know? So you're mentioning the young PT that trains. It was an NFL team, right?

Scott:

Yeah.

Jamie:

Can you imagine

Scott:

No, he's like Irish, but he's been doing it for like twenty years.

Jamie:

Yeah, right. This was a young kid that was talking to Brett Hall in his like mid-20s, probably, late 20s. But can you imagine telling Brett Hall and he's like, no. It's like, not doing that.

Scott:

I mean, no doubt there are players with personalities like that. 100%. 100 Yeah. Was also, it got me thinking about, you know, we obviously talk about athletic performance insight and we talk about like video review and how in sync, like, the the meetings and the video review and the practice, they they all are overlapping and consistent, and they're focused so that, you know, at every angle, like, it is that they need to work on Yeah. You know, is that they're getting it in a very concentrated and, like, centered maybe centered's not the right word.

Scott:

I know. I I mean, like, all aligned. It's not like they're they're necessarily talking about, oh, I I don't know, like breakouts and video reviews then we're working on, you know, penalty kill on the ice. At least that's what I was taking away. Clearly, makes things efficient.

Jamie:

It does.

Scott:

And it provides a lot of clarity, I would think. Yeah. Yeah.

Jamie:

I liked what Murphy said about, I think when I asked the question, Who's your best piece of skills equipment? Oh,

Scott:

for Adolf. He told about the passer.

Jamie:

Passer. That was really he you have one?

Scott:

We have one.

Jamie:

I don't.

Scott:

We have one.

Jamie:

And I'm buying one now, though.

Scott:

Yeah, you are.

Jamie:

I'm definitely buying one. And what he said was, when he said it, was like, Oh, shit. It makes perfect sense because the puck never comes off the same way. And think about it. When you're playing, very rarely do you have the puck passed to you in the perfect spot.

Scott:

No doubt.

Jamie:

Right? Yeah. So it simulates game experiences, you know, where you're gonna have to make to an catch a puck, whether it's behind you, in front of you, on the side of you, on the other side of you. You you have to make adjustments. You're never gonna get the puck perfectly.

Jamie:

Maybe you do, but it doesn't happen a lot

Scott:

is my point. You saw that recent clip of McDavid where he cut where he took the pass off his skate? I did. Went forehand, backhand. Dude.

Scott:

Filthy.

Jamie:

Do you remember when Ryan Leonard did that in in World Juniors a couple years ago?

Scott:

Oh, yeah.

Jamie:

He kicked the puck up the puck was passed to him.

Scott:

Yeah. And it

Jamie:

was in his feet. Yeah. He kicked it up and then shot it. Yeah. All in one motion.

Scott:

No

Jamie:

doubt. He didn't even stickhandle just kicked it and shot

Scott:

it.

Jamie:

Right. That was retardive. Yeah. Like, that was was ridiculous. But yeah, my point is that the passer, a when he recommended it as his best skills piece for home, that makes sense to me.

Scott:

Those are lockers? Yeah, have one in the garage.

Jamie:

Do you? It's got like a rubber base to it, right?

Scott:

Yeah, on both sides. It's heavy as hell.

Jamie:

Right, it's very heavy.

Scott:

I would tell anyone It's

Jamie:

got those clamps on the bottom so it grips into the ice, because you can use it the ice, can

Scott:

buy it without. You can. I bought it without. So it's like forget the name of it. It's like the one that you see

Jamie:

on They're not cheap, they're like $200

Scott:

No, this is what I'll say.

Jamie:

Yeah, but they're good.

Scott:

If you're buying one for your home, the bigger one. And I'll tell you why because it's even heavier And when you're passing pucks on, it's gonna be less likely to move. I got the smaller one, and I got it Puts this round? If you're putting it on shooting tiles

Jamie:

It moves. It moves. Okay.

Scott:

The heavier one might also move. I also screwed studs into the bottom.

Jamie:

Oh, smart.

Scott:

So it moves less.

Jamie:

Oh, smart.

Scott:

But it's still not ideal.

Jamie:

And you have the one the smooth bottom, not the one with the grippy Correct.

Scott:

I don't know if the grippy If

Jamie:

you had the grippy bottom, would think it'd be better?

Scott:

I'm not sure. But at a minimum, I would say even if you only need the small one, get I'm the bigger gonna buy

Jamie:

the bigger one with grippy bottom and I'll let you

Scott:

Because heavier.

Jamie:

Yeah. I'm gonna buy that for Dominic for outside because he likes to practice like

Scott:

one Unless for sure it's going up against the wall, if it's going up against the wall it doesn't matter. Matters a lot less. If you don't plan on putting it up against the wall, then heavier is better.

Jamie:

Nice. Great hockey tip. Love it.

Scott:

Yeah, the only other thing that I wanted to call out about the interview was also, oh, how the ice deteriorates. Like that was the other thing which I remember and I shared it when we were talking with him but like when I went to, when I had a game as a kid and

Jamie:

it was

Scott:

after a Flyers practice,

Jamie:

we couldn't

Scott:

play our game because the

Jamie:

ice They was chewed that shit up man.

Scott:

Destroyed. They

Jamie:

chewed that shit up. So it's like,

Scott:

they're heavy. These professional teams are dealing with limited ice time when they're traveling, limited access to rings to a certain extent or a large extent.

Jamie:

It's

Scott:

true. The ice gets chewed up. In order to do individual skill work, it's wild how it's a lot less practiced than I probably would

Jamie:

have guessed.

Scott:

Or I definitely would have guessed.

Jamie:

Speaking of ICE getting chewed up, do you have confidence? I know we talked about it in the intro. Do you have confidence for the Winter Olympics that the ICE is going be in good shape?

Scott:

I mean,

Jamie:

no. I guess it depends how much the NHL is involved in it.

Scott:

I don't know. I mean, fact that it came out with it, there was a hole in it.

Jamie:

Yeah, that's what I mean.

Scott:

It's only a That's month I Let's put it this way. I don't know how easy it is to fix that problem.

Jamie:

I don't either.

Scott:

So it sounds like

Jamie:

We should have like a

Scott:

rain But think about this. What we should. We should. Like if you have an ice surface, right, I would think that to have to fix something under the ice surface, which is ultimately the chilling, the cooling I think is all under like concrete.

Jamie:

It is. Like if

Scott:

you're getting holes in a certain spot, it doesn't sound like it's an easy thing to fix, but what do I know?

Jamie:

Can you imagine if they had to like pull up the ground under it? Can you fucking imagine that? Had If to do that now?

Scott:

I don't think that

Jamie:

There's not enough time to do that. Do they have a backup plan? They have to have a backup plan.

Scott:

Yeah, what's not too far? When the last Winter Olympics were in Italy, where

Jamie:

were they? Wanna say Sochi?

Scott:

No. That was that's Russia.

Jamie:

Just kidding. What am I thinking?

Scott:

They're in Milan now. Court court

Jamie:

What am I thinking? Yeah. You're right. Sochi is definitely in in Russia.

Scott:

We're both typing.

Jamie:

I know. It's ridiculous. Where was it? And how long ago was that?

Scott:

I don't know. I forget.

Jamie:

Yeah. That's alright. Whatever. My point is is that do you think that it's gonna be Do think it's gonna be ready? And not only ready, but ready and good.

Jamie:

I mean, because if it's a shit playing service, that's gonna be awful.

Scott:

Well, listen, they'll probably If they have

Jamie:

to get this right. At the end

Scott:

of the day, like, I'm just guessing is like anyone else would guess just based on the information like you see and hear. And it sounds like it's not in a great spot. It's way less than ideal. And I think we'll only know once it's go time.

Jamie:

Yeah, it's going be interesting. I hope the NHL really gets involved and does whatever they need to do to fix it.

Scott:

Yeah, well, I don't know how

Jamie:

this Because I think looking really

Scott:

a lot of

Jamie:

people are looking forward to that. Especially here in North America between The US and Canada. No doubt. Like, that's going to be interesting.

Scott:

Giddy up. All right, man.

Jamie:

Here we go. Why don't

Scott:

we wrap this one up?

Jamie:

Definitely. Good episode.

Scott:

Yeah, likewise.

Jamie:

Should we just tell everybody thank you again for our new listeners who are jumping on board and downloading. That's great. Please share the show, subscribe, go to our Instagram, follow us on Instagram. It's Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast on Instagram. Comment there.

Jamie:

And if you guys could, go leave a review on whatever platform you listen to us on because it It's helps impossible to get reviews. So if you guys could go especially the new people, if you like what you're hearing, please go give us a review. Five stars are the appropriate stars.

Scott:

Just tell Thanks

Jamie:

again, everybody. We will see you soon.

Scott:

All right. Take care, everyone. Bye, buddy.