Training Days

Behind every elite athlete is a team working tirelessly to keep them healthy, strong, and performing at the highest level.

This week on The Mask & The Mic, Guy Hebert and Kent French sit down with Chris Phillips — a respected athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist who spent six seasons with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, working closely with Guy and helping guide the team during one of the most memorable eras in franchise history, including the 2003 Stanley Cup Final run.

With more than 30 years of experience in professional sports, Chris has worked across multiple leagues and disciplines — from the NHL and professional soccer to Olympic athletes — helping some of the world’s best competitors perform, recover, and extend their careers. His work has supported elite athletes including Alex Ovechkin, Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, JS Giguere, Joy Fawcett, Marta, Shannon Boxx, Nathan Chen and Mariah Bell.

Today, Chris is the Founder and Owner of Compete Sports Performance & Rehab, where he leads cutting-edge programs in performance training, rehabilitation, and injury prevention.

In this episode, Chris shares stories from inside professional locker rooms, the evolution of sports medicine and training, what it takes to keep elite athletes competing at their peak, and the relationships built behind the scenes in professional sports.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to keep the best athletes in the world performing at the highest level, this conversation gives you a rare look inside the world of elite sports performance.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, I'm DA Bear, former NHL goaltender, and I am the mask in the mask and the mic.

SPEAKER_03 0:08

And I'm Ken French, former broadcaster. And I am the Mike in the Mask and the Mike. And this is a brand new episode coming at you with a guy that Devo knows very, very well, former Moddy Duck trainer, Chris Phillips.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Yeah, he probably knows me way too well because of the injuries over the years, but uh it's gonna be a great podcast with a lot of insight to what the medical staff has to deal with. Some of us are divas, other guys aren't. But stay tuned because I think Fixie could be one or the other.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Uh, it could be both. Yes, uh, he is now owner of Compete Sports Performance and Rehab in your Valinda and Lake Forest. He talks about that, got some great stories about his Mighty Duck days and much more. That's all coming at you next on an episode we like to call the Mask and the Mike. We hope you enjoy the episode in Gibo.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Yeah, and good for us. I know, that's why I do have a hat. I guess you're glaring format mine from overhead.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

And with that, we welcome you to the Mask the Mike podcast. Uh Kent Fresh Giebe Bear and Chris Phillips joining us now. And it is uh, let me get this right, it's National Athletic Training Month for the month of March. And uh we didn't know that until Philly DM'd Gibo and said, Hey, this is uh all about trainers in March. Why don't you have me on your podcast? So, Philly, welcome to the program. Thanks for reaching out uh and good to see you, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Frenchie, thanks, man. It's been it's been a while, and uh it's nice to keep in touch with uh with old ducks guys, and you know, that was a part of the you know best time of my life, and it's always good catching up with everybody. And I think the big thing, like Xen National Athletic Trainers Month, is this month, and that's one thing as a professional, like we're trying to make sure people understand kind of like what we do on a daily basis and um you know just kind of get it out there a little bit more so that we uh we can help continue to grow the profession, which has changed a ton since I was with the ducks. So we got a ton to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

It's the dark ages when he was taking care of guys like me. All right, so that being said, dim and ice. That's all they said was dim and ice. I don't even know what that means.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

I'm jumping off here. I'm gonna go right into this. First impressions of Gui A Bear, Chris Phillips, when you first met him.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

I think Warrior will come to mind, but goalie. That might that be the best answer is like goalie, just leave them alone.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

You you leave them alone, you let them go. And and there's a there's a uncommented quote that I think will gee and I'll keep in our heads, but there was one day where I went, Gee, you know where I am. So if you need me, you come find me. If not, I'm staying, I'm hiding.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Well, I mean, uh listen, I always considered myself as one of the more normal goalies. Um but I I still had my own idiosyncrasies. We'll just call it like we'll leave it right there.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

We were pretty lucky with starting goalies being throughout my career. Like the starting goalies were pretty good. It was the backup stuff. Whoo, we're a little bit uh a little bit different. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

So well, there's there's a lot there's a lot of stories that maybe we can and can't share about, you know, especially if the goalie wasn't playing, whether it was me or somebody else, uh laying on training tables, watching different shows on TV, one superstar who preferred to watch Jerry Springer in the training room uh in between periods. And um all I'll say is his jerseys up in the rafters. So you there you got a one out of three chance of figuring that one out.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

And and the the backups who or not the backups, the guy that wasn't playing that night, all the food you had to make sure he had because he wanted to eat throughout the whole game.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

All right. So, Philly, when did this the uh experience with the then Motty Ducks happen? When did you come on with the organization?

SPEAKER_00 4:10

So Pierre hired me in '99. Um, Greg Smith was there, and Smitty and I had been friends and come up through the minors together, and um he had an opportunity to go back home with the Washington Capitals, and he basically told Pierre, like, this is your guy. Um and Pierre was had been the assistant GM with Ottawa, which is our one of our minor league affiliates at in previous years, and so I'd met him before, and you know, one phone call led to another, which led to uh hey, uh a whopping 24-hour flight from the East Coast to the West Coast, and eight hours of being grilled by Pierre and David McNabb and Craig Hartsberg. And that's no fun right there. I guarantee that. By the way, I've been agreeing with David like four times, like in like nine hours. It was pretty funny. But and grilled by two of those three guys, shockingly enough. Yes. So it was and then right back on a flight home, and and about two weeks later, I get a tech a call from Pierre in the morning and just said, Hey, we're gonna offer your contract, um, enjoy the weekend. I'll call you on Monday. And I think I signed on or agreed on Monday and was on a fight on Tuesday. So just like that. It was good. I mean, you you know, it's funny. I had a couple buddies that were in the NHL that had gone in with Nashville and uh a couple other teams that were still fairly young, and you're like, you know, you guys, you got to be on your A game. You're going to a team that has, you know, Guilla Bear and Paul Korea and Tamu Solani and Oleg Tebradowski. Like, you're not walking into a bunch of guys that just got picked up in the expansion draft.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah, there's some big shoes to fill, uh, with Smitty leaving, but of course, yeah, with you know, Paul and Tamu to keep those guys. One was high maintenance, the other one really wasn't high maintenance. And uh you're talking about you and Temu or Temu. Paul and Temu. I didn't know. I heard high maintenance. I wasn't sure who you're talking about. I I know they're not on here to defend themselves at the moment, but uh you know it's listen, I I'll leave it up to Philly to explain, you know, what guys needed to get ready to play games, uh, who was high maintenance, who was low maintenance, who was no maintenance at all. And it's okay. You you you can name it.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

To be honest, I'm pretty pretty straightforward. Gee, you're pretty low maintenance for the most part. Yeah. Like everything was great. Paul was pretty high maintenance, um, but his centerman was even higher maintenance. Oh, the doctor. Dr. Dr. Rich. Like, probably one of my favorite guys of of those that those years. And but man, we have the we had to come up with the Steve Rurchin role. If you have more than three injuries, you're not playing tonight. If I have to treat three, uh-uh, I'm only treating two. So, all right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Listen, I roomed with him for seven years on the road, so uh I got a first hand view of all the aches and pains and the the complaints. But yeah, I mean, Philly, I don't know if you think this is true as well, but uh I always was concerned and I I knew that uh uh Jack Ferrero when he was our general manager, like if Rooch wasn't complaining, then you're really worried about him. As long as he was complaining about something, you were like, okay, he's ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, yeah, no, 100%. And even when we like, you know, we still joke around about the Steve Rooch enroll, but it'd be like, Rooch, pick your top two. Like, I'll treat the top two, and the third one you're gonna have to figure it out on your own. You know, I there's there's 20, 21 other guys in this roster I gotta take care of tonight, and I can't spend the whole you know hour and a half, two hours that we have just with you. But yeah, yeah, you're right. I mean, he complained, but I mean the guy was a gamer. Like he played through just about anything.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Well, and that's the thing that I think a lot of, you know, it's kind of out there that like hockey players are are tough, right? I mean, it's it goes back to days of you know, no helmets and goalies getting cut in the face and getting stitched up and coming back out. And obviously the game has changed a lot. But you know, some of the things that you've seen, I mean some of the things I've witnessed, but I mean, some of the stories you have like some of the all-time great stories about and I know one because it happened at the the pond or slash Honda Center that really sticks out in your memory of like, okay, this is something that was extraordinary of a hockey player and then coming right back out and playing.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

I mean, the obvious the obviously career in the in game six. Um, you know, and it's funny, we still talk about that all the time, and it's like, you know, at the time with what we talked about and the education we had at the time, you know, I mean, that was everything was pretty much the same. I mean, you went through your testing, you know, and everything was good, and he went back out. And I don't think I've ever heard the the arena that loud, um, or any arena that loud, to be honest. When we walked back out when he came back from getting hit by Stevens, and you know, I'll I'll still defend it today that like, hey, we didn't have all the information everybody has now, we didn't have the research everybody has now. You know, that things have changed. I mean, obviously if it happens today, that wouldn't you know, he doesn't go back. You know, but I mean that was one that was that really kind of sticks out in my mind, especially with the ducks there. And um there was another one where I don't know if I think you would you were still there. Rooch Rooch took a puck to the face. Um ended up, I believe, breaking his orbital bone. And the first thing he said when I got out there was that so-and-so better get a so-and-so penalty. And I'm like, Okay, so like you had a concussion, your freaking face is in pieces, and the only thing you worry about is the other guy getting a two-minute penalty. You know, so I mean I those are some things that you look at. You look at some other guys that, you know, one of again unnamed player, I mean, he had a broken wrist and I mean he played through the playoffs. You know, and you see some of these guys that are just willing to do whatever it takes. And I I do remember too in that first year in 03 with the um when we played Detroit in the first round, and Stevie Eiserman comes walking down the hall for the game, and I mean the guy looked like he was eighty years old. Like he couldn't walk, like legitimately couldn't walk. And you're like, holy cow, like this guy's there's no way this guy's playing tonight. And he's one of the best players on the ice. You know, so like you'd see in things like that, you're you just look and like the guys just everybody cared about each other. I think that was what was special about that year too for us, is you know, we had a good group of veterans that led by like Steve Thomas and and Rooch and um Adam Oates. And it was one of those where like the guys really bought in and you know the coaching staff was great, and they all they were all very prepared, and everybody really cared. So we may not have been the best team around, but we made the best run, you know, because and obviously Jiggy gets hot, which doesn't help or hurt, but you know, those are some things that when you look back and you need even the thought of like going to a game seven Stanley Cup finals, I think there had only been like nine of those when we went. So like being a part of that was was something special.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

And Philly, I want to I want to keep running with that because I remember you guys were in the cup and you're waiting for the Devils to finish out their series, and there was you had to wait. Like, what was that like as a trainer? I mean, part of it probably is hey, we can get these guys healthy, but part of it is we want to stay competitive and have that edge and get back out onto the ice. What was that period of time like trying to keep that team ready to play whoever was gonna win that next series?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

That yeah, that wait sucked. I mean, it was awful because we were on a run. I think we swept we swept Detroit in the first round. We had that what five overtime game against Dallas in the second round, and then we swept Minnesota. I think they only scored like one or two goals that whole season. It was insane the run that you were on, yeah. Like we were on a roll, and then you had to take a stop. Um, and for me, for a little bit was okay, you could take a breath for a minute, because I mean we were well, especially like our staff was going literally probably 16, 18 hour days every day um for two months. So, like, okay, we got a breath in here, but at the same point in time, like everybody's got to stay sharp, and then you know, Babs just being Babs, and he did what he thought was best. And he went, you know what, we're gonna we're gonna have two or three scrimmages, and it's full scrimmage. You're expected to finish your checks and everything. And I scared the death daylights out of me because I'm like, dude, somebody gets hurt in this freaking scrimmage, like you know who's gonna get yelled at this guy. Like, you know, and I I remember walking in with Babs and going, Babs, you sure this is a good idea? And he's he's like, Oh, we need to do it. And I'm like, Okay, you're the head coach. I just I if somebody gets hurt in one of these things, we need to make sure that like you know, I'm just I'm saying my piece now, and you know, we did what we did, and we, you know, we came out kind of flat those first two games, you know, and it's just you could see we were a little rusty, they were had been played like three days earlier. So I mean, you definitely saw it, and it was nice to a point because we did have a bunch of guys that, you know, everybody else in the Sony Cup finals, half the team's injured, you know, nobody knows about it, but half the guys are hurt. And you know, it was nice that we could get a little bit of a break, get a couple guys a little more healthy, but I definitely think you lost your edge.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Well, that's always a blessing or a curse when you get that time off. Yes, you can rest, but you also kind of lose that edge. And, you know, and like you said, at that time of year, uh, everybody's playing hurt. I a lot of people will say to me, Hey, when you played, like, you know, how many years did you, you know, get injured? And I said, Well, every one of them. And they said, Well, what do you mean? Like, like you were constantly battling something, a tweak here, a slight pull there. If it was a little more major, then all of a sudden you might be out of the lineup for a little bit. But I I joke that the only time I was maybe healthy or any of us were healthy was when you rolled in at training camp. And and so it is for for you guys, um, you know, and again, I saw it firsthand to take, you know, 21 guys in a locker room and try to keep them together with you know, just the things like it's the it's the bruises or whatever. Sometimes it's not the main things that that keep guys out of the lineup, it's treating these little injuries that are nagging and they kind of nag throughout the course of the season. So um a lot of love goes out to you, you know, and the staff, and and your staff is is never big. You know, like when I played, it was you and then one other. And so like even if you wanted to get like a massage, and massage never was a good word for me. It's like, oh yeah, you need a massage, and it's like, I don't want a massage because it's gonna hurt. I mean, it wasn't like I'm going to the you know the spa to get a massage. It was like, okay, you have to go and get a massage now. And it was like, I I know I have to, but I really don't want to. But uh it's one of those things where it all the things that happen that take place to get those guys ready to play uh on a nightly basis, uh certainly unsung heroes.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Well, it's always appreciated, but I think you nailed it too of like I remember having a conversation with a certain player probably 60-something games into the year, and he's like, I don't feel 100%. I'm like, Well, you shouldn't. Like, if you feel 100% 60 games into the year, you're you're you're not trying that hard. You know, and I think that's the one thing I really like. It it it's kind of bugs me when you look at like the time management and uh you know, all the load management, especially especially in the NBA. But I I think you see it, you don't see it in any in hockey very much at all, but it's like your management is hey, don't play geese 70 games, give them a freaking night off, right? Get them one night off here, or hey, don't put Rooch on the power play, penalty kill, and uh, you know, five on five on five and let them play twenty-seven minutes tonight, let them play 17, take them off the PK for a little bit and and do the little things. And I think sometimes when we watch these guys with the load management, they don't know how to play through the things Gibo just talked about, so that when the playoffs come, then they they don't know how to play through those things. You know, and and again, I don't want to sound too old school of like, hey, too bad, play through injury, but at some point, like like you said, when you get into the playoffs, I don't care what sport you're playing, you nobody's a hundred percent. You know, and I think that's where you see some of the downfall with some of the especially in the NBA with all these guys, oh, we're only gonna play like sixty games, I'm not gonna play back to backs, but then when the playoffs start, you're playing back to backs. You know, and then all of a sudden they their bodies aren't ready for it. And I think that was part of like trying to keep everybody together and you know, it's it there's the certain days where you had to fight the coaches to give a guy a day off, you know, because especially if you know we weren't always that good when I was with the ducks, and there were times where you'd remember uh Brian Murray going, How do I give guys a day off? We haven't won a game in a month. Yeah. And you're like, I get it, but like guys are falling apart, so you'd have to kind of pick and choose, like, try to pull a guy from practice and just you know, almost to a point, say, like, uh, he's injured. And you're like, What's his injury? He's gonna be able to play, yeah, he'll be able to play, but he's injured. Well, if he could play, why can't he practice? Because if he practices, you might not be able to play. You know, and you have to try to kind of it's like a balancing act some days, and then it's it's also trying to understand each player. You know, there's some guys where you have to kind of hold them back from being stupid and getting themselves hurt, and other guys where you know you have to pat them on the back, tell them how great they look so they get out there and play. You know, it's and it's understanding each player. And I think that's the one thing that's kind of cool, is like you really develop good relationships with people and start to understand each other because you become a part of each other's lives every day.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Philly, you mentioned the word balance, and that's such a key thing, I think, especially in your world. But with load management you're talking about that happens in today's world to what you were dealing with back in the day, you have a player that wants to go play. He wants to play through injury, but some of the injuries probably not smart to play through or try to play through. How do you have that conversation with the player if they can play through an injury or if this is one where they need to sit it out?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Well, I you know, part of it, and this is that balancing act when you look at you know, an athletic trainer in the NHL per se, right? I work for management, but I really work for Ghee, right? And it's like so your job is twofold, and and sometimes let's just be honest like what management wants, what a player wants, not always the same. Not putting Gheebo that had never never with him, but like you know, there's times where you have to see you'd have to go to management and go, like, hey, look, this is what's going on. Do you want to take a chance? Do you not want to take a chance? You know, and there's times even today, and what I do now in the normal world of like, you know, you sit down with the parent and you go, look, this is these are the risks we're gonna take. Here's the reward. Is that risk worth you know worth that reward? And then sometimes you have to go to the player and go, like, hey, like, look, do you want to do this? Like, I'd rather keep you out for a week. And I remember it's my first first year in Anaheim, and Paul was coming off an injury that happened in the summer and kept him out that first game. And let me tell you, it was not easy to make that decision. But we went to Dallas, and and it was one of those where I'm like, look, we just need a few more days. We played Dallas, we didn't have another game. It was like we played game one, the game two was like five days later. Like it was kind of one of those weird ones. And you know, Partsy was like, no, let's just I'm like, Do you want to we can play him now? But then we get five days off and we can treat him right, or we play him in game one and maybe re-injures, and then he's out for two or three weeks. He's like, I don't want to take that chance. I'm like, okay, perfect. Like, I I think that's the right thing to do. And then the sweat starts pouring down the back of your neck because you're like, shit, I gotta go tell the best player in the country that like he playing game one, and and I will say Hartsey Hartsey stepped up that day, and Hartsey goes, I'll I'll go tell him, you don't have to. And he pulled him aside and told him. And Paul walked by me with the death stare, knowing that I made the decision. But it was nice enough. Like, we you know, again, Hartsey understood, and and I think that's part of it is you have to have the conversation. And and Paul and I did have the conversation later in the day of like, I know you want to play tonight, but like, are you a hundred percent? He's like, No, I'm not. Well, we're not in game 70, we're in game one. Like, we got a lot more games to go here, and I'd rather give up one now than give up five or ten later. You know, so a lot of it's just trying to reason with them and figure out what's gonna go, what's gonna make sense to the player, what's gonna make sense to the coach and management to try to make the best decision possible because again, it's it's that fine line. Like you're trying to take care of management, but you gotta take care of the player too. And there's times where they don't mix, and there's time that time worked out great. There's other times where they don't always mix, and that kind of puts you in the in the in-between some days. It's not always the easiest thing to deal with.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Yeah. Well, I mean, the thing is, is it's uh it's difficult for everybody, right? But at the end of the day, like the player wants to play, and we're willing to take risks that we probably shouldn't. So it it boils down to uh you being able to protect us from ourselves. And I've said that my entire career is like, hey, I'll just say yes, I can play regardless. And then at certain points, you know, there's got to be the meeting of the minds of uh doctors, medical staff, trainers, and then management to say, okay, well, he wants to play, but he should not play. And that's a great example to see. I I mean, I remember that vividly when Paul was not in game one to start the season. And you know, when you're missing that type of player, uh, you know, one, you're like, uh oh, that's gonna hurt us as uh a chance to win the game. But we also re recognize the fact that if he's not playing, he's really not ready to go. And and we we want him for the next 81 games as opposed to you know 70 games. So it is it's always a it's always a very tough call for everybody. You gotta, you know, a lot a lot of fingers are in there trying to stir it up and figure out if you know it's the best case scenario, and you know, where you are in the season is usually pretty critical.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Philly, what was it like with Paul in particular? What uh he was you mentioned um high maintenance earlier, but I mean Paul seems like a guy that just knew himself obviously better than anybody, so meticulous. What was what was treating or treating Paul Korea like uh in your career? It was interesting.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Um you know, he's you run into certain athletes that know their body. Like we know our bodies, right? There's certain athletes that are they're super, they have superpowers, right? And he had that. He felt every little thing, and you know, and it it wasn't a bad thing. It was just he knew every little bit of how he felt, and you had to just you had to deal with every little thing because he just had heightened awareness. Um, and I think that was the one thing. It's it's not a bad thing, but it's something you have to understand, you have to deal with, and you have to figure out with certain players. And like again, even with our clients here right now, and like we we have to deal with that sometimes too, because you have some kids that just and athletes that they just feel things a little bit more than everybody else, or they look into it a little bit more. And and with Paul, it was that way, and that was fine. Like, I'd I'm much more I'd always have a guy when he comes in and goes, Hey, this is just kind of nagging, just started yesterday. I'd rather have that than somebody comes in and goes, Hey, this has been nagging me for like three weeks. Well, why don't you say something? Because maybe we could have fixed it in those three weeks, and now it's starting to escalate. You know, so I think it's with Paul, he just knew everything. Like he felt everything a little bit more than everybody else, and you know, he was able to, you know, communicate pretty well. Um, but he also wanted results. And I remember that first year, I first got there, and you know, he he had high expectations and he tested me, and he tested me a lot. Um, you know, and I I remember calling like colleagues, calling other friends, and and going, hey, this is what I'm dealing with, this is what I'm dealing with. Would you do anything any more, any different? Like, so I started set, not second guessing myself, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. And I kept getting the same answer from everybody of like, no, stick with the plan. Everything you're doing is the right thing. I'm like, okay. And Paul kind of snapped at me one afternoon and and said something, and I remember going, and I'll kind of dummy it down a little bit, shut up and listen to me and just have some faith in me. Like, if you want to do it your own way, then go do your own way. I don't care. But if you want me to help you, you need to shut up and listen. And then I turned around, I walked away, and I was in a full sweat before I got in the training room. I'm like, I just told this guy, like the best player in the world, that like to shut up and listen to me, and we've only known each other for like a month. But he turned around and he listened. And he later he was like, Okay, like now I knew you, I pushed you, I pushed you, I got you to a point, and you were confident in your decisions. And if you're confident in your decisions, I'm gonna follow. And it worked. You know, but it was one. He was he was definitely one of my favorite guys to work with, but he was a lot of he made me think about my decisions a lot.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Yeah, he pushed you and you pushed him. I mean, it seemed like it was one of those relationships. He wants to know that the very best was gonna work on him, somebody that was on top of their game, and you you proved that you were.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

Yeah, it was it was it was great. I and and this is the one thing too. When people ask about Paul, it's always fun. Like I remember walking by and I'm kind of like in the I try to be in the locker room, kind of be a little upbeat and hang out and talk to everybody a little bit. And I remember our first home game, and I walked by him and I kind of patted him on the on the pant and said something. And he was already like half dressed and was like, Hey, Pauly, let's go. And he looked at me like I'm gonna kill you. And I remember everybody else said Rooch was sitting right by him, and Rooch just had to cover his face and start laughing. And everybody, like later on, they're like, guys are like, hey, you don't talk to him on game days, you don't do that. And I'm like, I don't care. It's okay. So like we kind of had it, and every once in a while, like we want to got we got to know each other a little better. I kind of, if you could see he was just a little like overfocused, or you could see him like just like totally locked in, and we still had like an hour before the game, I'd still walk by and just pat him on the pan and go, Hey Paul, let's have a game tonight, huh? And he'd kind of look at me and he'd kind of laugh a little bit, you know, just to kind of like, hey, loosen up because everybody else is loose, everybody's ready to go. And he'd but he was so focused. Like, and and you even have people that had met him, like when they would walk into a rink and you know, Gibel's out there signing autographs, and Paul would walk right in and ignore everybody and got the blinders on. Absolutely. Everybody'd be like, Well, that guy's a jerk. And I'm like, no, he's not, he's just that like he's literally that focused. Like, that's the way he is, that's what makes him so great. You know, and it's like he's he's a great guy. He's just like, I'm I don't know what time he starts focusing. I don't know if that focus stayed the same from August until April, or or if it maybe it was just when he got in the car to drive to the rink. But in all the times I dealt with him, that's that was just him. He was just focused, and that's you know, that's what made him great.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Well, I I don't know if this is a a good seguated transition because I want to know, and we, we all want to know, you know. So, you know, you go from dealing with us in the professional sports team, and then you go and now you're helping everybody. And I think the transition of helping younger athletes and bodies that are still developing, you know, not grown men, and uh, you know, being able to work with some of the the elite with Olympians. So it walk us through where you are today, what you've been doing the last bunch of years, transitioning into, you know, helping all athletes of all ages.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Yeah, you know what? During the lockout year, a bunch of us had kind of gotten together and said, you know, I can't do this forever. You know, like uh the travel, the the stress levels, the amount of hours you put in, you know, you know at some point it's gonna end. And I think that year we all had some time to sit back and talk. And I had a really good group that actually we still kind of a lot of us still talk today, going, what's gonna happen when this runs over? What am I gonna do? And a bunch of us decided that, like, hey, maybe we should open up places like like I have now. Um, and then I looked around, my kids were pretty young, but I looked at what there were so few strength and conditioning places around, not too too many at the time. There were a lot of physical therapy places around, and and these people were just getting treated, everybody was getting treated just like an average Joe. They weren't getting the same treatment, and and even for me, like I didn't think what I was doing with Paul or Ghee or Tama was anything special. It's what should happen to everybody. And I saw a void. Um, so when I got to my kind of breaking point where I was like, okay, I'm I'm kind of done. Like 17 years of pro hockey is enough. Um, you know, I ended up deciding to open up my own place where we can bring the the goal was to bring the same treatment, the same, you know, services that we provided in the NHL level to the public, whether or not that was a 12-year-old rec league hockey player, a 17-year-old kid getting off ready to play off, golf, playing juniors, and hope to get drafted, or like even today, like you know, we have a lot of pro and you know, pro and Olympic athletes that come through our doors at the same time. And you know, our big goal is really to help them get ready to prep or prepare them to get ready to play at their best, which is what our job was in the NHL. Like it's it's do all the little things, you know, understand each person, understand what they're gonna go through, you know, what Ghee might go through and what Jiggy went through or Dominic Roussel went through, like we're all totally different. Like, even though they were the same, same level, same position, same sport, they're all different, you know, and they had different things they had to deal with. And you know, to a point, if like even a groin injury in a goaltender versus a groin injury with Steve Roochin, who's a forward, still were a little bit different, you know, or how you treated Paul versus how you treated Tamu just because their their uh personalities were so different. Like I wanted to bring that to the public because I saw a big void. Um, and I think that's one of the things that you know we see here is you know, everybody here is an athletic trainer or a strength coach. So we deal with sports every day. So when a parent brings somebody in and goes, hey, like, do you understand like what my kid's gonna go up against next weekend? We're like, Yeah, we deal with this every day. You know, and I think that's one of the big things for us is that you know, we understand from both the strength and conditioning and the rehab side of like what an athlete goes through. And to me, I just I saw a void. And um I opened Compete Up in 2009, and I mean, we're looking at hitting what 16 years, 17 years coming up here in April, and uh it's it's worked, you know, it really has. I mean, we've had over 200 college commitments in that time, and you know, seen a lot of guys get, I think four or five guys get drafted in the NHL and 2022 Olympics. I think we had seven or eight um go to the Olympics, mostly in hot in figure skating, but we had one of our hot longtime hockey players go in 2022 as well. And you know, it's it's been a fun ride. It's it's definitely a transition. I missed I miss some of the NHL stuff, but I don't miss some of the NHL stuff.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

Compete sports performance and rehab is what is called the full title. We can see compete there on your on your shirt. And as you mentioned, opened up in 2009, uh Lake Forest, your Belinda, you have two locations. Um, but I want to know from what you experienced with 17 years in the National Hockey League, how are athletes now different in today's age? It seems like Philly, you know, especially with people like you in the mix, you're teaching these athletes at a very young age how to treat their body, what they can and can't do, what they should look out for, and how to be better prepared. Is that part of kind of the foundation you're laying with these these kids, so to speak?

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I it's the one of the biggest differences I see now versus then is you know, back then and even when we first opened, I could go, hey Gee, I want you to do X, Y, and Z. And he goes, Okay, boom, goes and does it. When we first opened here, hey, you know, client A, I want you to go X, Y, and Z. Sure, goes and does it. Today, the answer is why. Right? So you're getting questioned a lot more now. I I think some of it is just, you know, kids are different nowadays. Um, some of it they ask more questions, some of them they want to know why they're doing certain things. Sometimes they have a reason, sometimes they don't. And a lot of it's it's I don't mind it. I mean, it's just it makes their job a little bit harder, but it's the chance for us to turn and go and teach these guys like this is why you're gonna do this, this is why you're gonna do that. And yeah, actually, we're in, we had we're talking earlier that I have a college soccer player and a pro soccer player that were in here this morning. We were having the conversation because one of his kids showed up late to practice the other day. And I said, Yeah, we you know how we deal that here. And it it used to be I'd I'd kind of rip them, but now I just go, hey, and turn to the you know, the college soccer player and go, Hey, what happens when you show up five minutes late to practice? And they laugh. And they go, Um, well, we all have to run, but the person showed up late just sits there. Or somebody else goes, I don't know, because nobody has the guts to show up late. You know, I said, but you just walk in here like you don't care. No big deal. I'm seven minutes late today. Like, I need to prepare used to that. Like in here, you're right, you show up seven minutes late, is it gonna hurt anybody? No. But you do that next year in a division one college, it's gonna hurt you. You know, so a lot of it's just like not just preparing from the physical aspect, but uh getting them to understand like what it's gonna be like. Like a lot of these kids are hey, I was the best hockey player on my junior duck team. That's great. Well, so is everybody else when you get to Boston College, right? And those guys are four or five years older than you, especially now, four or five years older than you. It's it's a different game now, you know, and a lot of it's for us is just not only preparing them from the physical aspect or the rehab aspect, but also getting to the point of getting them to understand what real life is like, you know, and I think one of them that's another thing that just stands out to me. We had a guy got drafted uh four or five years ago, and you could see he had one of two of his meetings that day um with two NHL teams, and you could see he was a mess, and he lied, and he's like, No, I'm fine, no, I'm fine. I'm like, No, you're not. And one of our other guys had gotten drafted four or five years earlier, and I said, Hey, pulled the two of them aside of my office and went, Hey, you know, Jake's a little nervous about this inter these interviews. And he's like, I'm like, you went through it, you got drafted, like, can you talk him through it? He went, yeah, no problem. And I left him. I left him in my office, left the door closed. And afterward, like they missed half the workout, they just jumped in later, no big deal. But afterwards, he was like, Yeah, you're right, I was nervous. And I was um, you know, that conversation with with Lumber made a big difference to me and made me more confident going into my, you know, going into my interviews. And I think that's the one thing that really helps here is that no matter what you've gone through, there's somebody in the room that's probably gone through the same thing, whether it's an injury or being benched or getting drafted, that somebody else can kind of help you. Because yeah, I've been around, but I haven't been through everything. But there's already somebody else that can do that and and help them out. And I think it's it's one of the nice things for me as I get older and we've been doing this a long time that they get to see.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Gebo made a great point earlier about you having to protect athletes from themselves, right? And then we talk about this whole load management thing that we've we've seen come to prominence over the last several years. That being said, Philly, um, in today's athlete, it seems like they don't want to go on the ice unless they're 100%. They don't want to go in the court unless they're 100%. Um, how is that changing now as far as playing through injury, going out there when you're not 100%? Are you seeing a different swing now in today's athlete than of course when you were with the National Hockey League?

SPEAKER_00 36:28

You know, not as much. I I kind of almost feel like you have to protect them a little just as much. I don't think you see it. And maybe at the higher levels, you do a little bit, but even like our pro college and junior guys, like I still get phone calls from them all the time when something goes on. And we had a guy with an MCL sprain the other day, and like he calls me, and not that he doesn't trust the guys that he's with, but he's like, he trusts us here because he's been with us for 10 years. And I I don't really see that those guys that really don't want to play through things. You do hit the one here and there, but I mean you had that in the NHL too. You had the guy that didn't want it to be 100%. I mean, it's just not always going to be that way, and I think that's where you go back of like understanding each person of what makes them click. Um, you know, if you've got a guy that that wants to be 100%, sometimes you have to push them through some stuff here um that makes it harder for them, and then they go, Oh, wow, this is actually pretty, you know, pretty hard. I did pretty good. How do you feel? I'm fine. Well, what's harder, this or a practice? Well, probably we all hate practice. You know, and I I it's funny, Gebo. Remember Marty McInnes, right? Yes. So Marty had a uh little groin injury, and I remember it was the day before a game, and he'd been out for about a week or two, and I pushed him pretty hard that day. And I'm like, Marty, hey, what do you think about tomorrow? He's like, Do you ever look at the stat sheet? I play 10 minutes a game. It's way easier playing 10 minutes a game than doing the stuff you just had me doing. I'm in tomorrow. Perfect. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Well, it's so funny. You're talking about load management. I had the uh good fortune to go to a Lakers game recently and excited, gonna see the stars. And uh some guy named LeBron was not playing because of a load management uh issue. So not only did he not play, he didn't even dress. And I'm thinking about all the people who like went to the game. And I always I part of the thing about being a professional athlete, you think that when you're playing, uh I just always assume, like, hey, this is the first time some people in this building are getting to see an NHL hockey game. And how disappointed would they be to not be able to see, you know, Paul Korea, Tame Lessolani, myself, or or or any of the the players. And so that was always in the back of my mind, and I know a lot of the guys' minds of like, so part of it was is that you know, you're also entertainers in a strange way, and that you want to make sure that you play for for people who might be the only time they ever go see a game. So I was disappointed LeBron didn't play. But I will I will go back to uh the French's question about, you know, like the athletes of today. And from what I've seen, um, I first just say that they're smarter than we were, right? I think that in discussions with their agents, um, if they're not ready to come back and play, they will take their time to make sure that they're healthy. Uh, I think it's in the long term better for the team and the player to make sure that they are healthy to come back and play at the top level. You know, I think we played at 60% so many times that, you know, I I mean, I always said, hey, if my 60%, I still think I'm better than the next guy and I want to play. But I think now they're smarter. I mean, I know that there's guys who have gotten the flu and they won't play for seven to ten days because not only when they get healthy, they need the time and reps on the ice before they feel like they're ready to go. So I I I I've seen a difference myself in the current makeup of the players. I don't think it's anything to do with their like desire to play, but I think that maybe between the trainers, the coaches, the player, the agent, and management that they've decided that, you know, time kind of like Paul did when he missed that one game, that this is a real good insurance policy to not rush them back into action.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Well, and I I think metrics have played a bigger part recently too. I mean, you know, I look at like we have force plates here and do forceplate testings with with people every day. And, you know, back then I'm eyeballing it and I'm using my experience and my knowledge. Where now, if I put Paul on it and let's say he had a 15% deficit in in jump height on that one leg versus the other, now I could go, here's why you're not playing. You know? Yeah. But back then you gotta have to go like I'm using my experience of why you're not playing. But trust me, as opposed to look at the data. Exactly. You know, and and and sometimes data is data's really good. Sometimes data's not so good because a lot of times, too, and and like I'll talk to guys that are currently in the league still, and and they'll go, yeah, but sometimes they want this guy to be, you know, he wants to be where he was in training camp. And I'm like, well, he's never gonna be at that height he was at training camp. Those metrics are never gonna be the same over an 82-game schedule, you know, and and part of it is like you get in game shape by playing games. Like there's just I don't care how hard you work off the ice, you're not gonna be ready until you get some games in. And it's like so you can't expect them to be at 100% when they go back, and maybe they're at 90%. You know, and it's but it's again, it's using your experience and you know, and trying to understand. But I think the metrics definitely play a bigger part now than they played. They were basically we barely had metrics back then. Um now the metrics, the metrics are so so intricate, you know, that it it does make it hard. It makes your job harder, but sometimes it makes your job easier as well.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

Philly, you've been on the international stage now. We uh we were talking before we we pressed record, and Gebu told me to shut up because there's some really good things. It was really good stuff. Everybody missed it. Hopefully you can redo it. I'm gonna bring it back. Um you're in Beijing for the 2020 Olympics, and I mean you had six USA figure skating clients, you had the Chinese national ice hockey team, you had some uh Czech Republic figure skaters. I mean, my goodness, I mean, you've you've kind of done it all. Um, what's the international stage like? What's it like being at the Olympics and being a trainer trying to keep these athletes, you know, in their respective sports?

SPEAKER_00 42:41

That in Beijing in 2022, it was one of those where for me I was just with Czech. Um, even though our clients were with US, like US brought their own people. Um, there was one that said, uh, I don't care US. They told them ahead of time that I'm only working with Chris, which I'm gonna pat myself on the back for that one because it was we'd spent two years together, and she was like, I'm not dealing with anybody else. Like it took me hard to get here, a long time to get here, and I'm doing it that way. And and both Czech and US were okay with it. And uh, but I with Czech, I only had six figure skaters. So I mean, even though you're there for almost a month, um, it's easy. You got six. Like I was used to 20, 24. You know, six people weren't that hard. Um, and and everybody for the most part was fairly healthy when I think we had one ankle sprain coming in. Um, but be on that international stage of being Olympics, it it was pretty special. Um, it was when I got the offer to go, I went, yeah, sure, I'll go. And didn't really know what I was getting into, and it ended up being a 30 day trip, and um, it was great. And I I I never thought anything would ever come close to a game seven in the Stanley Cup final. And I I still will pick that game seven if I had to be there at the Olympics, but especially if we would have won, but um that Olympics. Walking into just the opening ceremonies and then spending you know all this time, and then like I said, we had eight, you know, eight different clients at the Olympics. So I got to see everybody compete. Um, Corey Kane played for China and he'd been a client with us for probably seven, eight years prior. I'd been to one of his games and he got scratched that night. Um so we didn't even so the first time I get to see him play, he scores a goal in the Olympics. So I was like, all right, that was that was pretty cool. Um, but the intensity was there too. I mean, we had a our um Paris figure skater, she ended up um in pre like basically what we consider pregame warmups in the or pregame skate in the morning, and they did a jump and she landed on her partner's foot and sprained her ankle literally eight hours, ten hours before competition, and that thing blew up, and we spent the whole day treating her, and you know, she was able to go back and compete that night. Unfortunately, you know, they didn't make the second round, but I mean, just the fact of like she could barely walk when it happened to being able to go through, and everybody thought they were gonna have to withdraw, and it it was one of those, hey, the pressure was on, and you know, everybody everybody pushed, and you know, that's the time. Like, yeah, you're not 100%, but I mean it's Olympics and maybe the only one you ever get. So, you know, she went and she competed, and I it was it was really fun. It was one of those things that you sit back now and go, Wow, that was pretty special, and that opportunity was great, and you know, I don't know if I'd want to do it again just because of the time commitment, but um, I probably would. Especially if it was hockey, right? Yeah, yeah. I it's actually one of my buddies actually, I don't know if Gebo, you remember him, but Chris Miser was our minor league trainer when we were in uh my first couple years in Anaheim, and then he went to Columbus and he was USA's trainer um at the at the Olympics that year, too. So I got to hang out with him a little bit, and that was it was pretty. But yeah, hockey I'd definitely go. I don't care if it's NHL guys or not, I would I would I would make the time.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

Philly, I know you talked about, you know, uh 17-year career and it was time to to go to a different profession, but for those out there that I mean, Gibbos been, you know, speaks so highly of you guys, and rightfully so. And I've been a chance, I've had a chance with my years with the Ducks to watch you guys and and how hard you work, but what's a day like for a trainer? I mean, it's it's a grind, and I don't think people understand how much work, how many hours that you put in to make sure these players can stay on the ice.

SPEAKER_00 46:30

Yeah, it that's definitely the public doesn't see that, and that's it's okay, it's fine, and but I mean like we always talk about okay, we're gonna walk into training camp in uh you know, beginning of September, and my first day off is probably gonna be Christmas Eve. Um you know, so you talk about like you know, it's there's days and days on end where you don't get days off. Um typically it's Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, maybe three days for all-star break if you're lucky, and maybe maybe two more days that just happen to work out um between September and April. Um, you know, and they don't look at like, hey, do you understand on a game day? You're in at seven, eight in the morning, you know, seven probably seven thirty in the morning, guys start rolling in around eight thirty-nine, you do your treatments, guys are on the ice at ten, they're off at eleven, you do your treatments again, you know, and then you're taking care of the guys that aren't playing that night because they had to stay on a little extra. Then you got to clean everything up, do your paperwork, go grab a little lunch, you know, get a bike ride in with A-Man and Marco and our equipment guys, and then, you know, Stu, you know, Stu shows up at what, like freaking four hours before a game and is like, hey, all right, I'm here. Um, and then same thing. You spend the next two, three hours basically getting everybody ready, and then it's game time, and then you finish up and you do your post-game treatments, which will probably run till 11:30 or so, and you know, clean up and you're out of there at midnight. So, I mean, you're you're going in at 7.30 and you're staying there till midnight, and you know, you get a few hours off in the middle of the day, but that's about it. And you know, sometimes it's uh we were pretty fortunate that we didn't play at home and then hop on an airplane on the road. But in Washington, we did that a lot. We play at home Friday and away Saturday. So you're trying to bust it, trying to get everybody taken care of, and then get your you know, get your stuff packed and go get on a bus to go to the airplane to fly into the next city and get in at 2, 3 in the morning, go back to the rink, unpack till four, and then you're back at the you know, you're back at the rink for treatments at nine o'clock the next day. You know, and then it's you know, rinse, wash, repeat.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Yeah, groundhog day. And and I think a lot of people don't realize and uh, you know, we would get into a city and we'd get on the the team bus and go to the hotel. I mean, you're getting in at whatever, one, two, three in the morning. Uh, what people don't know, and Philly just kind of alluded to it, is that okay, the equipment guys and the trainers all go right to the arena to set up for the next day, and they end up, you know, helping each other, right? You got crates and all this stuff, trunks, got to set up the gear and then got to get the training room set so that when we show up in the morning, you know, they're not in mad dash to all of a sudden like try to open up their trunks to get stuff ready to go. So, you know, they're getting into the hotel at like what, five o'clock in the morning and getting a couple quick hours of sleep if if you're lucky, because you know, I'm sure the adrenaline's still pumping and none of us would sleep anyways for the most part. But um, I think that relationship with the equipment guys and the medical staff, I mean, uh, really was a benefit to each of you because you guys helped each other out uh quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00 49:40

Well, I think that's that was one thing, and it staffs have changed a little bit over the years, but like Mark, who's our head of flight or equipment manager, and and Johnny, their assistant equipment manager, like the three of us still talk. We probably text at least every other week, if not once a week. And it's all just funny stuff. Some of it's remembering something, or like I'll text them later and say, Hey, we did a podcast with Gebo and Frenchie today, and they'll all laugh and you know, it'll bring up some story about something, and you know, but you spend all those days and those times with these guys, and you know, especially with our staff, you start to become pretty tight. And I think that's the one thing like I have as a medical guy, you gotta rely on the equipment guys to help you. And equipment guys, there's times where there's a lot going on with them, and they gotta rely on you to help. And remember one of our first trips when uh we were in Arizona and I was I was starving. It was like lunchtime, and Johnny's running around doing stuff, Mark's running around doing stuff. Mark's like, I gotta do XYZ, and I'm like, and Johnny's got to do his thing. And you left Johnny alone, he's doing the room, right? You let him go. And but I remember looking at Mark going, Well, you got these three pair of skates that you know, you got to change a rivet. Like, I could change a rivet, that's easy. And he's like, What? I'm like, I could change a rivet. You want me to change the rivet? He's like, Really? I change the rivet for him, show him. He's like, dude, that's perfect. I'm like, okay, you want me to do the other two? Well, you don't have to. I'm like, I know, but I'm waiting for you guys to go to lunch. So let me get the sun points and get out of here. You know, so you're able to kind of hang out. I think that's one thing too. Like, people don't see, like, you don't just do an athletic trainer's role. I mean, you're building splints, you're you're hanging, you're folding a lot. Like, I I laugh. I mean, I probably folded a hundred thousand towels in my career, right? Like, that's just what you do. You know, so there's all the little things that you you have to add in that people don't see either. Um, two more.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Um again, Philly, we uh so appreciate you joining us, man. This is uh I mean, we can with just going down memory lane and and just hearing all these stories has been awesome. But I I do want to a couple more before we let you go. One is the toughest player you've ever treated.

SPEAKER_01 51:43

And you don't have to say me. Not Gibo. I was gonna say outside of Gibo, outside of this podcast.

SPEAKER_02 51:51

Toughest guy. That might be a that might be a rough one.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

I made you think. I love putting them on the spot. I know. I mean, because a lot of guys assume the fighters, right? The fighters, you know, whether it's their knuckles or they get cut or whatever. Um sometimes there's high sticks to the face. That guy is like I I I remember and I don't I don't think you were our trainer yet. Uh Warren Reichel got high stick by Brennan Shanahan and cut him from his lip all the way in through his nose. And I remember him coming in to get stitched up, and he was just like, he's like, hey doc, just stitch me up. I gotta get back out there, or whatever. And so he got stitched up, no Nova Cain, no nothing. I could hear him screaming as he was getting stitched up, but sure as anything, he went right back out, sat on the bench, and went out for the next shift that he could get out there. So, I mean, there's a million stories I'm sure you've heard, just like that.

SPEAKER_00 52:50

I mean all the guys Rooch will probably come to mind. You know, he's I mean, let's be honest, the guy did a lot. He did a lot on that ice. Um Rouslan Soleil was another guy that he had a lot of issues that you know he was pretty tough and just couldn't work through anything. Um when I was in Washington, Chris Clark took a took a puck right to the middle, split his palate apart, knocked a couple teeth out, and like he thought he was gonna play the next day. And we're like, dude, no. Um you know, I think we I think we talked him out of like three games, and even that was like like the dentist did a um root canal literally in the locker room, and he was he was willing to go back out, and we're like, no, you're done. Um yeah, I mean it's I I nobody really stand totally stands out. I I would say all of them. Like they really are all of them.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

Yeah, because like you said, there's I mean, yes, and they're all in their own different ways, they have that toughness that you know epitomizes a hockey player. Um the one other thing, Philly, I wanted to ask you, and you mentioned it earlier, the the Korea story, which is one of the most iconic stories in Anaheim ducks history, you were a part of it, and that run. Can you describe what that moment was like just from I've never heard the building so loud when he went back out to skate to test it, you know, when he went off. I mean can you just capsulate for us what it was like to be on the ice when all that was going on and just to be part of that moment and knowing that that was gonna be such a huge moment in that series?

SPEAKER_00 54:29

Yeah, I I I think we all saw the hit coming, but you know when things happen so fast that you can't nobody can say anything. And it was one of those like I think the whole bench was like, oh shit, like uh uh like w what just happened, and then you know, I think I I felt like I was over the boards before he even hit the ice. And because you saw it. And you know, when I got out there it was right when he woke up. So like I didn't know he was I mean, he was lying there, but I mean the whole puff thing that you see on the video now, I didn't see that. Yeah, you know, you don't see those things and you didn't have instant replay like that, would just you know, like now the guys can go back and look at the stuff. You know, we didn't have that at the time. You were trying to look on ESPN trying to see if they showed something. Um you know, and then when we did our tests and he Paul's like, dude, I'm fine, this is game six, let's go. Okay. So, you know, you know, fortunately we had good old Dr. Milhouse with us too to help us out, and you know, he he always played a big part, and another great guy that we still talk to, and um you know, when Paul said, Let's go, and we walk back out and like that place just erupted. Like it was unbelievable. Um he took that quick little lap and you know, I'm like, You good? He's like, Yeah, I'm fine. And then next shift, you know, he comes down the wing and just freaking puts that laser over his shoulder, and you're like, Holy cow, like we're gonna win this game, we'll go to sync, go to game seven. Like, oh my god. I mean, especially after how burnt out, like after the first two, we got pretty much popped in those first two games. And it's like, so now you're like, oh, we're going to game seven, and we all know anything can happen in game seven. So, I mean, it was it was definitely one of those things, like you said, it it was an iconic moment, it's something you'll never forget. Um, I think my dad still has the the front page of the sports section and the picture on the ice and on the uh on his wall at home. And um, you know, it's it's definitely one of the things that are uh it it's pretty cool that you'll never forget.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

Uh the crazy thing, Frenchie, and I don't even know if you know this, is that I I was up helping Steve Carroll call the game on radio. And I remember kind of like Philly saying, I mean, I saw Paul without the puck releases the puck, and I I played with Scott Stevens way back in St. Louis, and so you knew that he was going to try to step up on anybody. And I mean, you could you could count the seconds before that hit. So it was a tremendously late hit. The best part of the whole thing, as Paul comes back on the ice, the camera goes right to the devil's bench and locks on to Scott Stevens, and the look on Scott Stevens' face is like, I can't believe that freaking guy is back. He's uh what do you mean he's not dead? Like I killed him. And I I think that if there wasn't enough respect for Paul universally in the hockey world, taking that hit and just coming back on the ice, regardless of it whether he made an impact or not, uh, certainly spoke volumes about his toughness. And then, of course, to get that goal. Uh, I mean, I think that was the thing that gave the ducks really, or the mighty ducks, I can say, uh, really a chance to to win the Stanley Cup in that game seven. I mean, just that was the the defining moment.

SPEAKER_03 57:44

Yeah, uh I couldn't agree more. And and Philly, thank you for for being here. But before we go, I want you to to kind of you know promote what you do again. We mentioned the name earlier about compete. Please tell everybody how they can find you, uh, your socials, the different locations, so everybody can come track you down that need to find you.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

And I'm a I'm a satisfied customer, so he hasn't fixed your golf swing yet, though.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

I I know he's treating some golfers, so you don't have to pick any police at this point.

SPEAKER_00 58:11

Yeah. Yeah, no, we're I appreciate it, fellas. Um, yeah, I'm the owner of Compete Sports Performance Rehab. We've got locations in Lake Forest and Yorbelinda. We treat sports-related injuries here as well as do a sports performance training with athletes of at every different sport. Um, our website's www.cut compete or competeperformance.com and on Instagram or Compete Sports Performance. Um, I'm gonna give you one last plug. I have a new book coming out, hopefully at another at the end of the month. So I'll shoot out to you guys later. And uh Gee's not in there on that one, but um it really is just a lot of things for yeah. A lot of it's just it's for the it's for athletes trying to get them to understand like what it takes to get to be where Ghee was. And and you know, the people don't the public doesn't understand the difference between, you know, or the fact of like that Ghee went from a Division III school to the NHL. Like those steps are huge. And every step and and the little things there is and Geebo, I don't know if you remember our ball squeeze series that we have I try to get everybody to do before games and practices. You still use that now. Like, and that's there for to help try to keep our athletes healthy. And you know, it's it's the little things that work, and it's not always the big things, it's the little things that that you do every day that make it successful. And I think that's one part for the book is to to teach people like, hey, the little things actually do really matter.

SPEAKER_01 59:39

I can't wait to read it. I want to sign up. Even if no we can read it quick. A lot of pictures.

SPEAKER_03 59:49

Uh Philly, thanks so much for being with us. Uh, and don't forget you can uh catch this podcast. It's called The Mask the Mic on Spotify, Apple Podcast, of course, on the Mask the Mic uh YouTube channel. Philly, thanks for being here again. It's called Compete Sports Performance and Rehab. It's your Belinda and uh Lake Forrest. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Good catching up with you, man. Uh and look forward to uh to having on you uh having you here again soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:14

Awesome, appreciate it, guys. Have a great day. Gibball trying to haunt you down on the Honest Dunner one night. Absolutely. You tried to find me.