Join Kris Versteeg, the ex-NHL forward, as he leads us on a mesmerizing expedition, diving into his modest upbringing in Lethbridge, Alberta, the repercussions of multiple trades, his triumphant moments of winning two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks, the significance of cognitive training, an unexpected foray into entrepreneurship, and a plethora of other captivating tales. Today, Kris is the Co-Founder and President at Klevr, an innovative sports technology app that made its debut in 2021.
Want to hear more? Check out previous episodes, subscribe & leave a review.
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Join Kris Versteeg, the ex-NHL forward, as he leads us on a mesmerizing expedition, diving into his modest upbringing in Lethbridge, Alberta, the repercussions of multiple trades, his triumphant moments of winning two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks, the significance of cognitive training, an unexpected foray into entrepreneurship, and a plethora of other captivating tales. Today, Kris is the Co-Founder and President at Klevr, an innovative sports technology app that made its debut in 2021.
Want to hear more? Check out previous episodes, subscribe & leave a review.
APPLE PODCASTS: https://apple.co/32M5E2T
SPOTIFY: https://spoti.fi/32AyXFq
Connect with Collin:
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/CollinKushner
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/collinkushner/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/CollnKushner
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/collin-ku...
PERSONAL WEBSITE: https://linktr.ee/collinkushner
EMAIL: ckushner1@gmail.com
When I got to Chicago, I was like, I'm gonna show Boston. Then when I got traded from Chicago because of cap issues, we win a Stanley Cup and then I get traded. It starts to dent your confidence, I think a little bit. It starts to be like, wow, I just did everything I could help them win a Stanley Cup. And now I get traded two weeks after winning a Stanley Cup. That's where I started to think back on my career. Like I started to dent how I felt about my game and myself. I was at a pretty place. I'll say that.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everybody, to another epic episode of the Hayward You Go podcast. I'm your host Colin Kushner, and we have two times Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent 11 seasons in the National Hockey League . He's turned tech entrepreneur. We'll get into that a little bit later on in the pod. It's Christopher Steig . What's going on, man?
Speaker 1:Uh , a lot, A lot is going on between , uh, like you said, trying to , uh, do the entrepreneurial journey and , uh, raising kids. It's been a lot. So I would be lying if I said a little
Speaker 2:<laugh>, you're busier now than you were when you were playing in the N H L , right?
Speaker 1:A hundred percent. No doubt. No doubt.
Speaker 2:You were born in Lethbridge, Alberta. Uh , what was your childhood like growing up in Lethbridge?
Speaker 1:It was a great upbringing. Um, didn't have much, but it was something where my mom did everything she could in order to give me that. And, you know, we grew up in a neighborhood that wasn't the nicest, but it gave you a lot of character and it kind of defined who you are and who you're gonna be. So , uh, I look back on my childhood fondly and, and the times I had in WestBridge , uh, you know, where, where I grew up with the friends I made and and such. So I think , uh, you know, I couldn't have been happier. You know, you always think at the time you're like, ah , this is, this is crap. I gotta get out and yada yada. But you look back and you definitely realize how blessed you were with the, the family that surrounds you and the character that it built into you. Can
Speaker 2:You kind of talk about your grandparents, Morris and Joanne, and the role they played in your upbringing in Lethbridge?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were, they were everything, you know , uh, at one point, you know, my father's business goes bankrupt and my mom's not working really at the time, and, you know, I'm trying to play hockey and do activities. And my grandparents came in and they, they gave us the ability to keep playing. I remember everyone kind of laughed . My grandma always said it was basically either let these kids leave the sport and go , uh, run the streets and probably go to jail or keep them involved in sports, keep them happy, and do whatever they can to keep us , uh, doing stuff we love . So , uh, they came along, they were always there for us since day one, but they came along at a very integral part of our lives that , you know , could have gone either way. And I just think back on how blessed I was to have them. And I actually still have them today . Both of them are still around and you know, we call them every night my grand , my, their grandkids. My children call them basically every day to say they love 'em . And , uh, again, they, they're very special people to me. I mean , they had hard upbringings too, like anyone in that type of era, you know, the , uh, that, that generation is pretty much the , uh, the golden generation , um, of this world. They're the, they're the , you're the true entrepreneurs, the people that laid the groundwork, the fabric for this entire world. So they have a lot of , uh, value to bring to discussion. And I still love talking to my grandparents today about everything they went through and, and again, thanking them for everything they did.
Speaker 2:That's a really beautiful story, man. You know, I remember reading about that leading up to our interview and, you know, it kind of brought like some chills and in a really positive way, you know, about how, you know, fa families are complicated, but it is really beautiful though when you , when you have extended family that will come in and, and help you out during difficult times and, you know, keep keeping you and your brothers, you know, on , on the ice and, and keeping you dialed in in that sport. That's really awesome, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You think, you think about kids today and you think about all the children that don't have access to sport and with how expensive everything is now, it's getting literally outta control. So it's uh, you know , uh, you know, you just try to always think about what kids are doing now and , um, how grateful I was that I had someone able to do it, but how many kids get left in the dust because they don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And were you able to kinda understand that like at , at a young age? Cause I think when we're, when we're younger and we're growing up and then we maybe like a parent loses a job and then someone comes in and help like that, I think the art of gratitude doesn't seem to come until later on down the road in life. Like were you able to kind of capture that early on?
Speaker 1:Um, I always thought I understood it. Let's just say that like, you always think as a kid you understand gratitude and what people are doing for you. I also remember, you know, being at home one night and , you know, my mom usually had to cook minute made stuff or Alpha Getty or things that were of low cost. And I remember sitting there complaining about the food, not understanding that she had no money to go buy real food. So it's funny when you, when you think about it, I'm like, I had no idea. You know, you literally have no idea and then you get older. And then myself, I was very blessed to play in the N H L and start to make an income that could change my life and my families . And then again, you start to look back on holy heck, how does a mother do it with three boys and, you know, a dad trying to get back in the workplace? So , um, yeah, it's , uh, I definitely took a lot for granted a lot.
Speaker 2:It is cool though. I think that's one of like the best parts about life is being able to look back and be like, yeah, I thought I was pretty gratuitous back <laugh> . And then you realize like , uh, and it's not a bad thing. I mean, again, we're kids like the expectation I think to have a , a gratitude level that we have now as adults I think is quite unrealistic. But it's, it's just interesting how that all works out when you look back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a hundred percent. And again, that's, that's part of life. You know, you always say you wish you could tell you're 10, 15, 20 year old self things, you know now, but again, maybe you don't want to because those are things you have to go through in order to understand. And if you don't go through 'em, you'll never understand
Speaker 2:The hockey portion. Man. Like growing up in Canada, was that like an instant, like you're instantly drawn to it, or was there like another sport that maybe superseded it in the beginning? Like how did the hockey piece all come to be?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you talk to my mom and, and my dad and they basically put a mini stick in my hands and I would just walk around the house, whacking a ball with it. So they kind of, you know, hockey were always slightly pushed in to play like knack . Every kid is slightly led just like my kids, I'd be lying if I didn't say, oh , you know, here's a hockey stick at two years old, why don't you try it out ? You know , and my daughter with a tennis racket. But , uh, yeah, I , I was just walking around playing hockey , uh, just again with the grandparents on the floor, and then naturally I got put on the ice and I really started to love that from what my parents told me. But again, I I , I had two loves kind of at the start, soccer and hockey. I loved playing hockey in the winter. I loved playing soccer in the summer, and I did that till I was about 10, 11, and then I turned soccer into roller hockey. But yeah, I , I , I think back that, you know, hockey was for sure my first love.
Speaker 2:As your hockey career started to develop and take off, you spent time in the Western Hockey League with the Lethbridge hurricanes, cam lubes blazers, and Red Deer rebels. Uh, you know, for those who are unfamiliar with junior hockey, like you, you play at a very high level at a very, very, very young age where you're not necessarily completely physically and or mentally developed. Like, what was that experience like from you and what did you learn?
Speaker 1:You learned how to be a man fast. <laugh> , I'll , I'll say that, you know, when you're, and it's different now. It is a lot different now. The games a lot different. Culture, society, a lot of things are a lot different than they were in those days. And , and, and that's good. There's, you know, some bad to today, but there's a lot of good as well that comes with it. And uh, for me, you know, I was a hundred and thirty eight, a hundred forty pounds when I started the summer. Finished the summer at about one, or sorry, 135 pounds, finished the summer at 145 pounds. I was five seven at 16 years old, playing against 20 year olds, fully developed, you know, Bogar , who's 6 9 2 80 and you're playing against these men and a lot of them drafted have played N H L games are playing in the N H L . Again, it's junior hockey, so it's age 16 to 20 and it's all the best players from Western Canada condensed into 20 teams, basically. So I just remember making it as a 16 year old. First off, it was my hometown team and back in the day we didn't have Instagram or computers to go on to watch 32nd highlights of the N H L and see what NHLs are doing. The n hhl was like a mythical creature, and the W h L to me was the N H L . So when I was a kid, I looked up to these w h l guys, like they were God. So I just still remember trying out for the team and making the team thinking, I've made the N H L , right? That was my thought. That's how I believed. Um, and or that's what I believed. And again, I put all my effort into it, but I still think back of how I felt some days before games going into Medicine Hat playing against some of these teams with some of these players being like, if I get hit, I might break in half today. Like, there are some, some big boys. And again, the game was way more physical that was pre the first lockout. So hooking two line pass was still in and a lot of things, it was basically just a rugby match down the ice. So again, game was very, very different. And I love where the game is at today. I would've loved to play at 16 years old with the way it is today. But , um, yeah, you , you definitely come into something where you're excited about it, you learn, you know how to adapt to it. I met a lot of great people in junior hockey, but yeah, you are 16 years old, you're playing with men and guys that , uh, have different interests. So it's , uh, it , it , again, like I told you at that time, it, it made you grow up fast.
Speaker 2:Were you prepared for that? Like when, when you, when you made it, were you prepared for the growing up fast or was there any, or was there like a little bit of like a , a learning period for you?
Speaker 1:I think, you know, where I grew up helped me a little bit, you know, in the understanding of you're not gonna get anything handed to you , you know, you're gonna have to pick up the pox, you're gonna have to, you know, do a lot of things to let the veterans know that you're there, you know, to work and you're not just gonna be there to get handed things. And that's things I look back into today's game. I wish they still had, not just the, the respect factor of, hey, let the vets , uh, you know, they've been here for a while, go pick up pucks. You know, just something simple. There should never be any hazing. There should never be any of that stuff ever, ever, ever. But the , uh, the simple things I think are always a sign of respect, which I've always really liked. And I know when I got to the N H L, it's like, okay, go pick up pucks, let the veterans eat first. Little things like that. And I was, you know, I felt a little bit of my upbringing did help me prepare for that type of stuff. Hey, these vets, they're not gonna hand it to you . You're gonna have to earn their respect, and that's what you did. And at the end of, end of the day, they would all come around and they all ended up being great guys and would take care of you . But that's just, that's just how it was. And you know, I I , I, I still, I saw value in it, you know, the respect for someone who's been there and done it. Chris,
Speaker 2:You were drafted by the Boston Bruins and the fifth round in the 2004 N H L draft. Why do you think the Bruins never gave you a chance?
Speaker 1:I ended up getting drafted by another , uh, like gm. Shell got brought in, I was actually top 10 in scoring as a 20 year old. So my rookie year in the A H l I was top 10 in scoring. And Shell's team, or Boston was about two or three points out of the playoffs. And they were trying to make a push and they didn't think I was ready to come to Boston yet. Don Sweeney was the assistant GM at this time. And , uh, I had been called about a little bit prior, like, Hey, you might be getting called up. You know, Sean Donovan's hurt, Glen Murray's hurt. Couple guys are now down and we're only, you know, two to four points out. Don't quote me on exactly, but it was roughly that and Shell had Bosky in Ottawa. And so that's how the trade happened. Shell ended up trading me for Bosky , and Bosky was leading the A H L in scoring. I believe he had like 33 goals in 36 games at the time, something crazy. And he was four or five years older than me, but they needed a veteran guy to come in with all these other guys out to help get him into the playoffs. So yeah, rightfully so. They moved me out. I went to Chicago and uh, the rest is kind of history, but that, that's what happened. I still remember when I was on the bus that day, you know, Don Sweeney called me. I was pretty emotional, you know, cuz I would , you know, I I didn't have , uh, the straightest path to that and I really worked hard to make Boston happy and, you know, you're , I mean, I'm , I have more points than David Krey as a rookie, you know, me and him are on line mates, but you know, we, we put in a lot of work to do what I needed to do for them. And then, you know, you think you're getting called up and boom, you're traded. So again, I still remember that call with Don Sweeney , uh, talking about, you know, basically thanking me for my time, but me also saying, Hey, I gotta prove you guys wrong now. And he kind of laughed. I still remember saying it to him. So I was happy I had that mindset. Um, at that time, you know, you look back and you think of little moment changing times for you and that would , that could have been one that lit a fire in me, and who knows if I didn't get traded, what would happen ? You never know.
Speaker 2:Chris, you were traded a lot throughout your career, like from an emotional perspective, like take the, the n h L business side out . Like how do you, how does one handle that? Like, especially again, like when you are lighting it up in the a H L and they're like, Hey, we're gonna trade you. Like starting with that moment, like how were you able to like emotionally process that and not take it personally like, there's something wrong with me or I'm not good enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's hard. It , it is very hard. So the first time it happened in the pros , uh, that's what you think. You're like, I'm not good enough. Why don't they like me? You know, I'm leading my team in scoring as a rookie. What, what can, what else can I do? And there was no glaring issue. So at that time, I know later in my career, you know, you always, you , you pipe up a little bit more here or there, but , uh, I've never been scared to do that. But , uh, the , uh, you know, early on it starts to kind of either put a chip on your shoulder or it can dent your confidence. And I think early on it, it put a chip on my shoulder. So when I got to Chicago, you know, I was like, I'm gonna show Boston. And it, and it played into my strengths. I thought then when I got traded from Chicago because of cap issues , um, you know, we win a Stanley Cup and then I get traded, it starts to dent your confidence, I think a little bit. It starts to be like, wow, I just did everything I could, helped them win a Stanley Cup. And now I get traded like two weeks after winning a Stanley Cup. That's where I started to think back on my career . I'm like, that started to dent how I felt about my game and myself. Went to Toronto, didn't start out very well, it started to kind of course correct itself and I started actually playing really well in Toronto. And again, Brian Burke comes to me, he goes, Hey, we've lost a bunch of first round draft picks. Uh , you know, well we gave up a few for Kessel . And he goes, we need to get first round draft picks back and there's only you and a couple guys we can get 'em for. And that's when they traded me and cab , uh, then and again, that's when it was like a double dent and I was like , oh my gosh. Like I think is my career, like, am I even gonna be able to play here soon then? Yeah, you go to Philadelphia, I don't play well in Philadelphia. I thought I played okay, had some good moments, but you know, I'm not on power play consistently and not getting great mo uh, minutes. And then at the end of the year, you know, you talk to Paul Holmgren, I remember he is like, what do you think you didn't score? I'm like, well, you gotta put me on the power play to score. Like, I don't know what else to tell you, Paul. I still remember the talk . And then , uh, they talked about keeping me and I had a good talk with Lavia lead at the end of the year. And then what happened is it was basically keep me or sign yer . So they had 3 million bucks left and uh, they ended up obviously trading me to Florida because Florida and Philly were bidding against themselves against Yer . And so they came to an agreement that they would trade me to Florida and they would retain and they would sign Yager for the equal money. That's, that's how that, and I got traded to Florida. I remember that summer I was like, I better go to work. I've just been, I've just won the Stanley Cup and I've been traded twice within a year. Like, this is crazy. And uh, yeah, I was at a pretty place, I'll say that. Um, at the end of that year,
Speaker 2:Can you kind of describe like what that place felt like for you and then kind of how you got out of that, how all of like the, the dents of the confidence, how you started to kind of course correct and, and get yourself, you know, back up?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean the next year I had the best year of my career and uh, it was, I went with my trainer every day again. We went to work on and off the ice and I remember we did a ton of mental training, like a ton of mental training of basically I I I started doing a lot of cognitive stuff when I was , uh, 2006 seven to kind of change my, my belief in myself and my confidence. And we kind of went back to the drawing board on that and, and really started to rework how I thought and , uh, you know, stuff I'd say to myself and that, you know, I go into Florida that year I was put in a great position, I was put on the top line with two great players and uh, it was great. I mean, I had over a point of game basically at the 40 game mark , uh, I was top 10 and then I tore my hip. So then the injuries started to kind of come up after that. But I just remember going into that season thinking, wow, I can be a really good player here. And , uh, had a great season, you know, I came back and didn't finish that strong in Florida, but had a good playoffs and then had to get, you know, I double growing surgery then hip surgery, then a c l all within a year. So it was like, you know, three major surgeries within 18 months and uh, that , uh, that, that piece I think was harder. But again, the , it was a lot of , a lot of back to the drawing board with my trainer on, you know, rewiring and rethinking how I thought. And without my trainer I would've never been able to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the cognitive training is so important. I think that's the coolest part I feel like about the game in sports in general today is I feel like there's more of a focus on it now than there was, you know, maybe years ago. And I, it's so interesting how that piece always seemed to get overlooked because if you kind of think about it logically, like your mind's, right? Like then everything else will kind of follow.
Speaker 1:It's the confidence, it's the what are you telling yourself? It's how, and whatever you tell yourself is basically how you sleep at night, you know? And when I'm always playing my best, I can go to bed when you're not playing good or you're missing chances, you don't fall asleep till three, four in the morning, it's crazy . Your brain will think about one thing over and over and over and over basically until you pass out. So it's , uh, it's uh, in order to be in the pros, you have to be a little bit crazy, a little bit obsessed, but you also have to be obsessed in finding a solution.
Speaker 2:Was there one thing that you learned in terms of the cognitive training where that was like the main tool you would , you would bring out to help yourself when the mind was kind of running in circles or running in a direction you didn't want it to go?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you always tried to breathe and , uh, you know, we worked with a , a mental strength coach in Chicago too, and it was a lot of let it go, you know, let it go. Think about , um, the positive, think about, you know, breathing in good energy and, and letting out the bad. So you'd always kind of go back to , uh, some of the breath work and, and what to think of, but let it go would be the biggest thing. It's if you're an athlete and you can, you know, it's always good to sit in a problem for a bit, okay, what did I do wrong? What can I do to fix it but not stay in the problem, you know? And that's where I think you can go a little bit nutty, is when your brain goes it's, it's like cyclical. It's crazy. Like you'll just like replay one play over and over and over and over and then it's hard to get outta that and then, you know, you finally get out of it and then the next game happens, right? So it's the ones who can generally let that go the fastest when
Speaker 2:Yeah, the, the rumination is, it's, it's real. Like I remember as a goalie, like my dad would always tell me like, when it goes in, take five to 10 seconds, maybe, like, think about like what happened and then let it go. It was always like, let it go, let it go, let it go. Because like in, in terms of like the context of the game, like if I'm still focused on that goal that happened at the 5 33 mark in the first period, I'm gonna be screwed the rest of the game cuz I'm so focused on that. So I , I love, I love the combo of breath work and then let it go because at the end of the day, the breath is like the main tool that we often oftentimes overlook that will bring us back to exactly where we are and where we need to be. When you were traded to the Blackhawks, like you, you get there, you're ready to go to work. Like what do you think the Blackhawks saw in you that a lot of the other coaches and teams maybe didn't see because you got there, you lit it up and as you said, the rest is history.
Speaker 1:Well, so apparently when I was about when they were trading for Brandon Bosky , this is the story I was told by someone who did the trading. Um, they were there to watch Peter Callus from Boston. So the two GMs showed up to us and we're playing in Hartford that game. And apparently I had a couple goals and an assist. So the whole Chicago brass showed up because again, they thought they were getting Peter Palace who was a , I think a first rounder. And during the game, the GM and uh, the assistant gm, Rick Dudley and Dale Tall at the time, they said, who's number 10? This is what I was told. And uh, so they started to watch me closer and by the end of the game they all said, they all said, for sure , uh, we want 10, we don't want callus. And I think Boston kind of laughed because Callus again was a year younger and he was a higher pick. So they're like, yeah, basically I think Boston was like, yeah, take him. You know, like, but they're like, this guy's leading the team in scoring as a rookie. They're like, no, no, you can have him . Peter was a bigger guy than me, stronger, faster. He didn't have the same ability to think the game or pass or anything like that like I did. But he was just, he was just one of those young guys that looked like he was gonna be amazing. So maybe that fooled the Bruins a little bit and yeah, that's, that's kind of how it happened. So I think Dale and Dudley equally saw something in me that day that they wanted to instill into their team. And I , I, I think I got, I might have got in a bit of a tussle that game, but they saw like a few different qualities that they were looking for in the trade and, and that's kind of what happened. So that's, that's the story I was told by a couple of people that did the trading and, and that's uh, maybe what they saw in what they needed in order to build a championship team one day. Again, I'm not sure they really looked at me and said, this guy's gonna be at peace , but maybe, you know,
Speaker 2:I love that story though, man, cuz Boston, you know, they're, they're like, all right man, you here , just take him. The best part about all this Chris, is in your first full season with Chicago , uh, during the 2008, 2009 season, you had 53 points in, in 78 games in that first full season, was there any like, screw you Boston, not in like a malicious way, but like, or was it just like, hey, like I'm just doing my thing, forget them, let's move on.
Speaker 1:No , no . I definitely took , uh, it personal and I felt that, you know, I wanna show them wrong. I want to show, you know, I remember there was a guy at the bar when I was 19, he told me I'll never make it. And I said, the day, you know, I said, when I win the Stanley Cup, I'm gonna bring it back here and I'm gonna put the cup right on the ledge of this bar. And I was like saying that kind of, you know, as a joke bit , but I still remember like he was in my brain, you know, like anyone who ever doubted me was in my brain. And that's kind of how I felt. Wa that's what I felt was motivating me a lot through those times.
Speaker 2:Do you think that the motivation, and there's no right or wrong answer to the , to this, the motivation from external, do you think that that also could be negative in some ways?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it can. I think you focus maybe sometimes too much on the wrong. So again, I think when you're working with athletes, it's making them understand what fuels them. Challenges fuel me. I know that, you know, sometimes , uh, you know, a challenge fuel me and a challenge feels a lot of other athletes, that's generally why they become athletes cuz they, they're challenged by something. So I I think it can have a negative consequence too , a hundred percent , uh, ying yang, right? Anything that has positive obviously has some sort of negative I believe. And , um, yeah, I think sometimes it will let you focus a little too much on the wrong.
Speaker 2:The only reason why I ask is because I feel like I, I've had some of that, like with my career, you know, the goalies like growing up, all of a sudden they went from like the little, the littlest dude to then being like six five. I'm about like 5 10, 5 11, depending on which seven 11 I walk to, you know, when I'm walking out
Speaker 1:I'm five 11 .
Speaker 2:So we , we get each other dude, like, I I just remember them like, oh, like Kra , you're too short, you're too small or you're too this, you're too that. And I would definitely channel that and use it. And then I think as I got older, I started, you know , working with like a kind of like a , like a mental like cognitive coach and I , and she was like, it's, it's not necessarily always a good thing to kind of take that external and use it as motivation. She's like, you kind of have to kind of tightrope that like fine line, I guess.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think if you're searching for motivation , um, I think the biggest thing for motivation is the discipline after though is like, are you gonna be disciplined in order to fulfill whatever motivated you? So , um, sometimes yeah, if if that motivation creates discipline, then, then maybe it's a good thing. But if you're always constantly looking for it , yeah, that could be a whole other conversation. I don't know.
Speaker 2:You ended up winning the Stanley Cup with Chicago in your second full season, the first cup since 1961. Like what did that feel like, Chris ? Just everything you had gone through from childhood to juniors to that moment?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was , uh, it's very, it was very emotional. You know, you, I still remember the cup coming on the ice, not thinking it was real. Seeing my girlfriend, wife now in the stands with my dad and brothers , um, you know, seeing my brothers crying in the stands like little babies and , um, you know, calling my mom at home and grandparents, it's like a , it , it's something that I wish everyone could kind of experience the feeling. It's like you got injected with, I don't know, ephedrine or something and like, it's crazy. I don't know , it's like pure, pure ecstasy. I really don't know how else to, to put it. So, and it , it only lasts for maybe a couple days, but it's a , it's a , uh, it's the most natural high you'll ever get is winning at that, that , that for , for me anyways.
Speaker 2:When you won the cup again in 2015 with Chicago, your second stint with the Blackhawks, did it kind of have like that same euphoric feeling or was it any different just because it was second time charm?
Speaker 1:Um, it was different. It was also, it's, I think the second time was more a sense of relief. Like, oh , you know, everything you went through and you, you battled again and you got it done. I think it was a sense of relief and also happiness because, you know, people all around Chicago were feeling the same way as you. It's, it's really a collective happiness. Um, and Chicago's to me, it's the best city in the world, you know, great people, great place to play hockey, incredible sports town. So I mean, if you, if people ever look at the 2010 Stanley Cup parade, and I know 13 and 15 were big, but nothing was like 10. There was millions of people on the street in the buildings throwing confetti, celebrating. It was just a day that , uh, I don't know if it'll ever be replicated again, you know, unless the leafs went . But , uh, it was a , it was a crazy moment to take in and you almost didn't even realize it was real. And then you look at some of the video, if you ever check it out on YouTube, just see how many people are running behind buses and in between subways and it's, it's mind altering. You'll, you won't even believe it unless you see it, which it , you can see it.
Speaker 2:You played with some fantastic players over the course of your N H L career, especially in Chicago. What did you learn from playing alongside guys like Patrick Kane and , and, and Jonathan Taes
Speaker 1:Learned a lot even though they were younger. So I would like to think, it's funny when I think back and I'm looking at them in the room and, you know, they're younger than me and I'm kind of like, yeah , look , what's this young punk? No , and why is he my captain? You know, I should be his Captain <laugh>. Um, it's funny your mindset in those days in those times, but , uh, you know, I just see two guys that love the game that gave everything they had to the city. They put their health in every single part of their body on the line to win a Stanley Cup for their family city, everything, whatever it may be. And how they acted in the moments that mattered the most. So, pressure moments, like, you know, you go into a Stanley Cup game five , six, and you can win. You can feel like you're gonna win, but every moment against you, you can also feel like you're gonna lose. It's a , it's the biggest rollercoaster of emotions ever and it's really hard to play and it's really hard to focus. And those guys just seem to find ways every time to just keep playing their game, keep focusing and keep executing what they need to do with without being able to block out all the other crap. So their , uh, their ability to play at those moments to me is still the most impressive thing. I mean, Patrick came to me, game gets closer, guy starts squeezing their sticks more, you're in the third overtime and he's still out making plays backdoor, setting up OT winners and doing whatever it takes to do to win a series or a game or whatever it may be.
Speaker 2:Chris, after 15 seasons, 11 in the N H L and two Stanley Cups , um, you retired in a statement released by the N H L Players Association. You said quote , I took a lot for granted in my time in the N H L , but the one thing I never took for granted were the relationships made with my teammates and staff of the hockey clubs I played for end quote . Can you kind of talk about those relationships and how important they were to you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's what it's all about. So you , you , you know, you get on a plane, you're eating filet mignon , you're complaining about that, you're complaining about the shrimp not being cooked enough. And I think that was my favorite part of the N H L was being able to just complain and about anything. And that's still who I'm , hey kinda , I like to do those things, just always get a reaction outta people and to joke around and have fun with it. But , uh, you know, you meet so many people from different cultures, from different backgrounds who have different beliefs and have , uh, you know, they've had a different upbringings and those are the people that you band with in order to have one common goal. And I just always, you know, thought of all the , the friendships I've made a lot of guys who I still talk to and hang out with today and we still communicate and, you know, some of these guys you'll con , you know, you'll be friends with till the day you die. So nor whether it's you die tomorrow or in 60 years from now, you're hoping you'll always have that with them. And I believe I will, especially the ones we won with. So, you know, and even the staff, you think back on all the staff and everything they did for you, you know, when I came in the league from when I finished. And those are people that, you know, you make incredible memories with as well because you're with every single day in the room. And , um, they do a lot for you a lot. So , uh, that's why you always look back and think it's, it's the memories and the people of all different backgrounds that you meet and have a common goal with.
Speaker 2:So this is the part that I'm stoked about, man. And when I saw it on LinkedIn, I was like , all right , I'm really, we gotta try and get Chris on the podcast. You're an entrepreneur now. You and your brothers founded Clever , uh, a sports technology app that launched in 2021. How did this all come to be, man?
Speaker 1:Well, I , I basically there was a problem and I was just trying to solve it. Uh, at the end of my career, parents are trying to get me to teach video of their children and there was just not an efficient way for them to send me video for me to teach it. Meaning to draw on the, to voice it over whatever I need to do and share it back. And that process, you know, for one kid to send me a video, I could be on two, three different platforms. I could be about an hour. And I was like, why can't someone just send me a clip? I can teach it, draw it, voice it over and send it back so we don't always have to be together. And that's what clever is. We, we've streamlined the clip, edit and share process all on one platform. And , uh, so yeah, that's what we're great at, better than anyone would be video sharing that's taught and edited. Um, and then kind of from there we started to build features of digital whiteboards. So hockey coaches, baseball, basketball, football, whatever it may be. You can go on Clever, you can pull up a whiteboard, you can hit the record button, do all your lesson plans and send it as a video file to your coaches or players. So now they actually hear you talking over a whiteboard and listening for practice, whatever it may be . So they under understand it a lot better rather than getting there. And there's like a , a white sheet on the wall and X's and o's everywhere and everyone's like <inaudible> . So again, we are just trying to think of better ways to interact with parents, coaches, and athletes and, and that's what Clever is. And you know, now we have some AI features, pretty cool skeleton technology coming out soon and, and other things as well. And you know, again, it's a startup , anything can happen any day. You know, you're, you're always just , uh, you know, you're just getting by trying to make sure the product's good and making sure everyone's happy and trying to see what the problem is. And if we're still solving a problem and we believe we're still doing that, and now it's just exciting to go out there and try to make this company bigger and get in the hands of more young athletes, parents and coaches.
Speaker 2:That's really cool , man. I mean that is like, you are solving a massive problem because yeah, trying to like shoot video and then you pull it back in, then you like edit your voice and you're drawn it and then you send it back. I mean, yeah, like as, as a guy in media, that is a long, long process. And the fact that , uh, you're working to solve that and streamline that is so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's exactly it, it's streamlined now and I mean, I just did it for a kid today. I have about 40 players in my academy and I can, you know, if they all send me them shooting in the driveway and I want to tinker one or two things with their shot, I could teach 40 kids in under an hour, where before it was just like, you know, very arguous and, and painful. So it is exciting , um, where we go with it. Uh, we have a couple cool things that we may do rather soon with Clever and um, hopefully that can come to fruition in, in the near time . But again, that the video coaching, the digital whiteboards , uh, the sharing of video, sharing of highlights, we have groups in there as well, parents, coaches, athletes teams, everyone could have , uh, video sharing groups with chat as well. So that's all in Clever currently. And , uh, yeah, it's a free download. Uh, the only part of the app that costs anything is if you reach out to any of the professionals in the marketplace and need them for professional , um, coaching. But besides that, all the tools are free.
Speaker 2:That's really cool, Chris. So essentially like, let's say like I, I , I want you to, to see how my shot is. I would video record that and then I would send it over to you. Then you can go in through the Clever app , uh, you know, like kind of like draw on the sh on on the video a little bit, kind of show like, hey, like maybe we tweak it and then send it right back.
Speaker 1:Well, that, that's basically it. You could just get on Clover app , you'll pull up Christopher s Steve's profile, you'll see right there shot analyze . So you just tap shot, analyze , there'll be a pa paper, paperclip tap that you can upload a video in there if you shooting that and then you pay for it, just like skip the dishes, boom, that video gets sent to me, I get notified, pull it up, voice it, overdrawn it, send it back to you. So that's, that's the marketplace. You can also do all that free as well in the app, but that's how a lot of the, the current coaches now are starting to monetize in eight different sports on Clever Mind you , but mainly hockey. But that's how they're starting to monetize their digital brand .
Speaker 2:When you think about your time in the N H l 11 years playing at the highest level and then venturing into entrepreneurship, what have you been able to take from all of those years as a professional hockey player into this space?
Speaker 1:You definitely have people skills, you know, how to deal with people, how to talk to people, how to problem solve. I think that's always something, whether it becomes something or not, I mean, that's every entrepreneur's dream it sounds like. Again, I didn't know what an entrepreneur was three years ago, and I , um, I thought scaling was something you stood on. I did not know what scaling was, <laugh> . So , uh, again, it's been a lot of crash course for me , uh, on what to do. But I've also tried to surround myself with my brother who's in business and other people as well , who've done this before to help me navigate this new world. But you definitely see that the people skills and the , uh, you know, a little bit of the determination in order to keep going forward , uh, from sport has definitely helped. Um, other things, it's, it's different. Uh, you know, you, there's just so much that goes into it you don't even really realize, especially when you're building an app. I always kind of explain it like, you know, you have a house that's built, you know, it's not like, or when you're building a house, it's not like you're just putting up, you know, cement and you're putting up walls. You gotta, you gotta create the cement. You gotta even create the walls and you gotta create the cups and the cupboards and the, everything has to be thought about. Um, so it's even more complex I find, than even building a house, I would say would be building a , a really good app, but, and , and also creating a , a solution to a problem that's out there. So it's a , uh, interesting. Uh, it's interesting, but it's been fun.
Speaker 2:I love hearing about, you know, all the stories from the playing days and the lessons learned, but it's, it's even cooler when, when you hear that like, I think people forget, like life doesn't end once your sport ends. In some cases it , it's just beginning. I mean, you retired at 33, I'm 32 right now. Like , I couldn't imagine like you dedicate yourself to one thing for your whole life, then you're 32, 33, then you're like, then what? Then you have all this life in front of you. And so I think that's really cool and unique how this accident happened and, and now look what you're doing, man.
Speaker 1:Well, that said , I, you know, I, I would always think like, I want to go back into coaching or management and, you know, I have kids now, so I want to take care of them for as long as I can and be a part of their hockey journeys or soccer, baseball, whatever. And then, you know, maybe one day get back into coaching pro or managing, going back into that kind of line of work. But , um, you definitely see, you know, at the end of your career, you have all this ample amount of time now and what is your purpose or what are you gonna do with that time? And that's where I think you get stuck and, you know, I'm still navigating not even close to perfect, still try to figure out what I need to do and how to make this second life work, but it's , uh, it's been, again, it's just another challenge. And it's been, it's been great. And again, for myself, hopefully one day I get back in the N H l
Speaker 2:Christopher Steig . Really appreciate the time, man, from , uh, the N H L to tech entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Accidental tech, entrepreneur.