Airdrie Inside
Airdrie Inside, with host and long time Airdrie resident, Chris Glass | Bringing light to our homegrown and hardworking heroes.
Airdrie Inside
Chad Moore: Airdrie Thunder
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Welcome to Airdrie Inside. We’re the city’s narrative infrastructure—the platform for the builders, weavers, and warriors who form the fabric of Airdrie.
In this episode, host Chris Glass sits down with Chad Moore, the new president of the Airdrie Thunder Junior B Hockey Club and founder of Viper Sports Performance Group. Chad is an Airdrie homegrown hero who is returning to his roots to lead one of the city’s most foundational organizations into a new era of excellence.
Chad reveals his vision to move the Thunder from a siloed culture to a city-wide movement. With a goal to become the best Junior B club in Western Canada, Chad discusses the parallels between high-performance sports and corporate leadership, the importance of "connecting with all 95,000 residents," and why building a holistic culture is the only way to ensure long-term success.
Culture is not something that's easy to implement, maintain, or sustain, right? Especially as rapidly as things can grow. I think that's number one. That's one of my core values for sure, is culture. And if you have an opportunity to build that culture and maintain that culture with not only the players and the families, you're setting things up right now.
SPEAKER_01Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Airdry Inside. I am your host, Chris Glass, and I am back again here at Rival Axe. Rival has allowed us the use of their meeting room upstairs. If you're a corporate uh group or uh somebody looking to host space, they have this beautiful meeting room up here. It's fully licensed after your meeting. You can go downstairs, check out the bar, check out the axe throwing, check out darts. Uh it's a great piece of our community. So come on out and support Rival Axe. And I am with Chad Moore. Chad, welcome to the show. Thank you, Chris. So, Chad, new president of the Airdrie Thunder. How is that going for you?
SPEAKER_00Uh, it's going really good. So it's been about a month now that I've taken things over and uh there's a lot of excitement. I'm personally extremely excited and motivated to take this on. I'm excited. There's a big, uh, a big part of me that's been associated with the Airdrie Thunder ever since I was a little kid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh growing up in the Airdrie and then being a part of the organization, playing some hockey with them, um, and now taking things over and to kind of build off the foundation that's already in place right now is really exciting. There's a lot of excited people uh within the organization, the us in the city as well that are looking forward to this.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Okay, so let's take a step back. That's the new role, but talk about your roots here in Airdrie.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Um, pretty well born, well, raised in Airdrie, uh, born in Calgary, moved here in uh '91. Uh so spent most of my life here. Uh played minor hockey, played for the Airdrie Extreme, played for the Bisons, which was at the time based out of Strathmore. They're now out of Airdrie here as well. So some roots there. Uh played a few years in the Airdrie Thunder junior hockey career before I uh played a little bit of junior A hockey in Canmore and Camrose, and then uh went and played some university hockey and baseball down in Wisconsin. So did that a Badger. Uh well, Division III, but out of Wisconsin, yeah. But uh that would have been really cool to play with the Badgers.
SPEAKER_01Uh you had to uh respect the fact I at least knew a college team in Wisconsin. That was a pretty decent cut there. Yep. Excellent. Okay, and then uh now you're you're back in Airdrie, so you've had your hockey career and you got into coaching. Talk to me about that journey.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Um yeah, I've been coaching for about 12 years now. Um started coaching at the U18 AA level. Um, and then kind of and then coach with the Thunder. So I coached with the Airdrie Thunder about seven years ago as well, so became familiar with kind of that demographic and uh older age group. So the Airdrie Thunder is between the ages of 18 and 21. Um, spent a few years there, so very familiar with the organization and how they operate. Um, and then I started realizing kind of the age group between uh ages nine through 13 and 15. There's a lot of need and requirements to kind of help train and develop and mentor those kids. So when they are at the ages of 15, 16, onto their junior careers, they're kind of set up for success. So I gravitated more towards that demographic to help develop those kids and equally as important, young families that are kind of going through the hockey process as well. So I kind of focus my intention, uh my attention on that demographic of people and and athletes to help set them up for long-term success.
SPEAKER_01And that is uh the Viper Sports Group and uh Venom.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So the Rocky Mountain Venom is a privatized hockey academy. Yeah, uh, we have six teams um within the organization right now, age ranging ages eight to 14. Um, and that's growing quite rapidly. So the whole hockey landscape in general is is shifting and shaping year after year throughout all of Canada. There's always different leagues and different organizations and different platforms for families to consider, and and we're one of those, and uh, we're proud of that. So that's the Rocky Mountain Venom. The Viper Sports Performance Group is a privatized development platform. Yeah. Um, and that allows me to work with all kids, not just in the private hockey or the minor hockey associations, but everyone inclusively. So um, we've seen a lot of success with that over the last year. Um, and it's it's growing quite rapidly. So that helps me connect with the people in the city more so as well as the city and the players and the families and the athletes to connect with us on a different level as well.
SPEAKER_01So then you move from coaching uh in various forms to now governance. So stepping into that president's role, uh, what's that like?
SPEAKER_00Totally. Um, I'm excited for that. Yeah. I know the organization is excited for it as well. We've had some long, deep conversations over the last couple of weeks. Um, essentially just taking the foundation and the pillars that are in place, and it's a really good opportunity. It's a really good um infrastructure in place to grow that business, to grow that organization, uh, build off the culture. Um and really, my number one intent is not only culture and culture and culture, but to connect with the entire city of Airdrie.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, there's almost 100,000 people in this city.
SPEAKER_0195. 95,000 are you. We're waiting for the new census to come through. Yeah, yeah. Not that I'm holding up for that, passing the 100,000 marks.
SPEAKER_00It's a large city, and there's a lot of sports families, there's a lot of hockey families, and I think if we connect with every corner of this city, uh kind of broaden our horizons, um, and make sure everyone knows who the Airdrie Thunder is, what we stand for, who we are, why we go about the business we do, and really connect to the the city in its entirety is a really big initiative ours. And I really look forward to to being a part of that. And I know my teammates within the Thunder organization are are very excited for that opportunity as well.
SPEAKER_01So you talk about uh Airdrie being uh the size it is and kind of going to all corners. Uh talk to me a little bit about the state of hockey in Airdrie. Uh how healthy are we? Where are we?
SPEAKER_00That's a very good question, Chris. Um, I think the state is it it's phenomenal. Whichever angle you look at it, um, there's multiple areas of hockey, there's multiple divisions, there's multiple leagues at this point. Again, again, the hockey landscape is growing. It's in a very healthy state, I think. The the industry in general is growing rapidly. Uh, so too are the athletes and the families that are looking for the top-notch development and coaching and mentorship and guidance and overall programs that these families are interested in in being a part of, and uh, and rightfully so. Uh, within the city of Airdrie, there's a lot of good hockey programs through minor hockey, AMHA, the AEHC, the AAA boards, and then there you're subsets of your privatized leagues with like the Rocky Mountain Venom. It's uh there's a lot of opportunities, a lot of options for families to look into and to leverage whatever fits best for their lifestyle. And uh Airdrie is a rapidly going growing city, obviously, and so too is the coaching and development within the entire city. I think Airdrie as uh in its entirety should be very excited about the situation they're in.
SPEAKER_01What challenges is hockey going through, other than infrastructure? Because I hear about it in my other job all the time, uh, about the need for rinks and and whatnot. And I think we've got some answers coming down uh the pipeline for you. But uh, what are some of the challenges that hockey's going through at the moment?
SPEAKER_00I'm interested to hear about your pipeline conversation with me as well. Um, some challenges that I see and and things that I personally like to put in place and control is culture.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It is culture. And culture is not something that's easy to implement, maintain, or sustain, right? Especially as rapidly as things can grow. I think that's number one. That's one of my core values for sure, is culture. And if you have an opportunity to build that culture and maintain that culture with not only the players and the families, you're you're setting things up right. And if we can do that from the ground up, yeah, uh, with leadership and mentorship, it really sets your your organization in general for success. But I think that's one of the larger problems is is building culture, uh, you know, getting away from the silo cultures and building it more holistic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh especially in such rapidly growing cities and organizations. Uh, that's probably the biggest challenge I would see. The infrastructure is obviously that's that's obvious. I mean, we're dealing with with Genesis being down right now is uh is a damper on everyone's in the hockey world. Um, but what we can control is the the culture and and having those conversations with the families and the players consistently and effectively, I find to be the most important thing, which is also kind of in in in a sense one of the most challenging things to do.
SPEAKER_01Now, um as president, uh what steps are you taking uh to bring the Airdrie Thunder into the next uh next version of itself?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. Um I'm leveraging the way the world works today and uh taking advantage of some platforms to get the Airdrie Thunder organization out there in ways it hasn't been in social media and digital marketing and newspapers and radio. I mean, the Thunder do a really good job of that already, but I don't want to connect with the 10 or 20,000 people in this city. I want to connect to the 95,000 people that are in the city, and I want to connect to them consistently, and I want them to know our core values. I want them all to know what steps we're taking to, in my vision, to be the best junior B hockey club in Western Canada. That's our goal over the next five or six years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, if we can get to junior A status and start building that, depending on what the rink situation looks like in the next five, 10 years from the city of Airdrie. How do we get about that? How do we get consistently three, four, five hundred people coming into a Friday night evening game for the Airdrie Thunder? I want that entertainment value to be high. I want them to know who we are and what we're doing and why we're doing it, um, and to enjoy the, you know, the ability to watch some really high quality junior hockey and uh and be a part of that. I want the city to be a part of the thunder, and I want the thunder to be more a part of the city than it ever has been.
SPEAKER_01So for those people who haven't been to a Thunder game, what can they look to expect, right? Like, what are they coming to see?
SPEAKER_00Totally. Um, it's it's high quality hockey. I mean, there's these are kids that are just getting into the workforce, right? These are triple A kids that are coming from, whether they're from Airdrie, all over Western Canada, we have players from Texas, we have players from all over to still have a provide a platform of high-level hockey. And a lot of these kids are just starting in the the work world or the business world or the trades world. A lot of them are going to university. So that kind of um impedes where they can go play high quality hockey. Well, we're a perfect place for that. And there's a few around here, right? Okatokes and us and Drumheller and and Sylvan Lake has a wicked program. Same with Red Deer, right? We're drawing the attention to have a high quality hockey team while allowing these kids to move on with their life outside of sports at the same time. And we work hand in hand with them. And uh, so what I think fans can expect is that product on the ice is gonna be top tier. It's really good right now. It is a really good hockey program. It's a really good hockey league. What are we gonna do to improve that and how we're gonna do that? So that product on the ice is is elite for long term.
SPEAKER_01Now, talking about the product on the ice, uh, who should we be watching right now? Who's the exciting hockey players for the Thunder that we should be aware of?
SPEAKER_00Uh, there's a few. I think a lot of our top players are they're they're aging out right now. So we're going through a bit of a rebuild right now, and we just hired uh a new scout and four new scouts alongside him. Okay. So we're actively looking for turning over the rocks. Totally. And uh that's kind of the challenge, right? Is you kind of build and grow your organization. And once you get there, um, you know, they age out. That's the reality of it. Um, so we're gonna work hand in hand with the AAA buys-ins as best we can in the Avalanche and really develop these younger athletes that are becoming the age of 20, 21, heading into junior hockey along with our scouting department that's touching every corner of Alberta at this point in time to really help promote our organization, our team, draw in the type of players that we're really looking for that show up with a purpose. And we're gonna build a hockey team at a high caliber going forward.
SPEAKER_01That's excellent. Do you also play the GM role, or you have a GM as well?
SPEAKER_00I have a GM. I'm gonna go on the record and say he's one of the best in the business. Sean guests. Uh, he's extremely devoted to this. He's been doing it. I think this will be his fifth year in the GM position for the Air Brefender. Cool. He's phenomenal. He's a reason why I took this position on to work hand in hand with him. I've known him quite a long time, back to my playing days. Um, he's a phenomenal individual. He's really devoted and passionate to the general manager, which is not an easy job. No. I wouldn't be able to do my job that I'm planning on doing going forward at a high level without him uh being such a big part of it today. So I look forward to working with him.
SPEAKER_01So I uh I'm gonna take my complete interviewer hat and put it on and ignore my previous, my other jobs. Uh what do you need from uh the community in the city in order to be successful?
SPEAKER_00Engagement. We need fan engagement, not to say we don't have it. We get it, and again, I'm coming into this now, but I am familiar with Airdrie Thunder. We get the fan engagement and foot traffic from a fan base to very well come playoff time. Yeah, we want that consistently from home opener day one. That's what I want from this community. It's my job to make sure this community is connected with us to understand what they're coming to watch and why. Um so that kind of works hand in hand. I want passionate fan base, and I think we can really grow it. I've seen it there before with a lot of teams in Airdrie. Yeah, it's still there with a lot of teams in Airdrie, but it's gonna be back there with the Airdrie Thunder this year from day one up through the end of the season into the playoffs, more so than it ever has been. I'm excited about that. I and my team and Sean and Gord and everyone within the Thunder organization is gonna do what we need to do to get that out there, to draw that attention and create that excitement and create that buzz, and then we'll see those people coming through the door consistently.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm really looking forward to coming to at least a few games this year. Uh and uh my daughter really loves hockey, so I'm gonna try to take her out to a couple of games this year and and really get uh reconnected to the uh Airdre Thunder. It's gonna be exciting. Oh, yeah. Uh what do you have to say to uh other teams in your league? Uh is this going to be uh a dawn of a new day for them? Are they gonna have to compete with uh resurgent Airdre Thunder here?
SPEAKER_00We're gonna make some changes on our side. Again, I we're I'm gonna uh my vision and my goals are to be the standard of excellence when it comes to excellent uh operating uh a junior hockey club. Uh we have some steps to take, obviously. We're very collaborative. We look forward to it. Um I want to do what is necessary to get us on the map more so than we ever have been by doing it the right way, working uh hand in hand with a lot of people involved. And that includes the other presidents and vice presidents of all these organizations. It's a it's a collaborative environment for all of us to improve the league in general and in ways that we can. Um, control the controllables, adjust things that are necessary for the betterment of the league, but helping each other kind of guide ourselves as the league grows, as the hockey landscape shifts and changes directions, because there's going to be challenges and risks that we don't know about today. Right. We've become more familiar over the last couple of years to see the direction that hockey is going in general. But how do we work collectively to understand those challenges and risks and convert them into opportunities for not only us, but everyone involved?
SPEAKER_01Now, uh one of the previous guests we had on uh earlier on today, uh, I'm not sure when we're gonna air it, so it might be after or before. So uh we had Bob Wilkie on uh from uh the Swift Current Broncos and his story. And we talked a little bit about how the game is changing and and where hockey's going. And I'd like to get your perspective on uh where hockey was and where it is now and and what changes you've seen in the game.
SPEAKER_00There's been a lot. We could uh how much time do we have here? The skill. Um, I think just focusing on the talent and the skill. Again, when Bob was playing is a little before my time, but when I was playing, it was hard nose, no questions asked, do your job, break your nose to get the job done type of hockey. And that was everywhere. And now it's over time has shifted into you know, for the last 10 or 15 years, it's been skill-based, it's been fast, talent, stick handling, shooting. And a lot of these leagues are capitalizing on specifically that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then there's these other leagues that are still focused on, you know, the the the almost the mental and the cultural and being a really good teammate. Those are those are things that I really focus on on my hockey teams.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then the X's and O's and the skills come secondary. If we build that foundation with who we are as athletes, yeah, and generally good people and really good teammates. There's that aspect, and then there's all these skills, not to say we're not skilled because these boys are really skilled, but then there's the skills. And now we're coming to more of a peak where we're combining and and realigning what hockey might have looked like 25 years ago with the tough nose, get the job done, go to war with your brothers, coupled with those unique skill sets at the same time. Well, being a band of brothers and really good teammates, no matter what, we're seeing that come together again, which is really exciting to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, watching the world juniors, it was really apparent how skill has uh really changed. Like the the vision, the passing, the uh stick handling has been uh consistently growing. But I love getting back to that roots of the game of that camaraderie and that uh sticking up for each other and that kind of mindset. So it's neat to see. Uh who do you have for the Stanley Cup this year?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I obviously I talk a lot about this. I mean, the obvious best guess would be the Avalanche. Yeah, but I uh shout out to Riley if he sees this podcast. I'm jumping on the Sabres bandwagon.
SPEAKER_01Okay, that's a dark horse.
SPEAKER_00Uh and shout out to Dave if he sees this. I don't hate the Canadians and what they're doing as well. So I'm excited. It's a hockey, I'm a hockey fan. I'm a Flames guy. I I am. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm hoping we lose the rest of our games myself. Maybe. But I'm a diehard Flames fan. Can't tell the players to do that, right?
SPEAKER_00You can't do that. But it wouldn't break my heart. Totally. Me too. I'm on the same page. I'm a I'm a big Flames fan, but uh I'm rooting for the Sabres and the Canadians, I think, in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_01I think when you talk about camaraderie, that Sabres team right now uh is playing like they're having a lot of fun. Yep. And they're playing loose and the fans seem loose, and it just seems like a really dangerous combo for somebody to play in that first round.
SPEAKER_00They have a huge problem for somebody. Yep, I agree. It's exciting. And you know what? When you talk about a band of brothers, I mean they're almost the definition. Same with Montreal. Yeah. I mean, what they've had to persevere over the last, well, what was Buffalo? It's been how many years since they made the play?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, long suffering fan base.
SPEAKER_00Long suffering. And Montreal's been eight or nine years, probably since they went to the cup against Tampa COVID time there. So they've gone through their struggles, but to see what they've overcome, led by their coach and staff, St. Louis with Montreal. I mean, who doesn't love that guy and what he stands and believes in, right? So uh I gravitate towards that exactly and what they got going on. I'm gonna help bring that to the Airby Thunder.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, see, I'm a I'm more of a football guy, although I love my hockey and uh I'm a long-suffering uh New England Patriots fan, and we just returned to the Super Bowl this year after a long, what, four-year drought. So you know, I know what it's like for teams to suffer without winning championship year after year, yeah. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00I'm a Steelers guy, so I've I've had my ups and downs. It's been good.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm glad to see the energy uh that you bring to the table with the Thunder. It's gonna be interesting to watch this play out. I I can't wait to have you back on during a playoff run or a playoff push here coming up. Uh, where do people go to find more information?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we're uh we're kind of retrofitting all our social media um platforms right now. Okay. Um Allie Cooney Taylor is a huge help with me. She's awesome at what she does. She's so Ali's fantastic. If it wasn't for her, a lot of things in my life wouldn't be where they are right now. So she's wicked. She's helped me and us do the website and our social media platforms and her journal journalism wizardry, getting it out there and just providing an avenue of this community to hear and see who we are more so than it's ever been. So there'll be lots of opportunities, and we'll make sure everyone in Airdrie knows how to connect with the Airdrie Thunder.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Thank you so much for being on the show, Chad. This has been a lot of fun. That was awesome. I really appreciate it. And thank you for being here on Airdrie Inside. We're going to be back with more great episodes coming up shortly.
SPEAKER_00That was a lot of fun. That was really cool. Congratulations. That was so cool. My first ever podcast.