Olympian ‘Goose’ Gosselin Drops Truths on Youth Hockey + Grant Returns 👀

This one’s loaded.

We’re joined by Guy “Goose” Gosselin — 2x USA Men’s Olympic hockey player, former NHL player, coach, and current USA Hockey Director with the American Development Model.

Goose brings elite-level perspective on:
• Youth hockey development in today’s game
• What USA Hockey is getting right (and where it can improve)
• Lessons from the Olympic stage that apply to players, parents, and coaches

If an Olympian is telling you how to approach development… it’s probably worth listening.

And yes…
Producer Grant is BACK 🎙️👀

After a brief disappearance (we’re still investigating), Grant returns to the show — and the boys waste no time getting him back in the mix with NHL takes, chirps, and what’s ahead for the show.

🎯 Why You Should Watch/Listen

This episode blends high-level hockey insight with the real, relatable conversations you expect from 2 Many Men on the Mic. Whether you're a parent, coach, or player — there’s something in here for you.

🚨 Support the Show

If you enjoy the content:
👍 Like episode
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Help us hit our goal before puck drop next season 🚀

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:43

It is the April 23rd edition of Too Many Men on the Mike. And this is like coming home. Not only is it April 23rd, but we're also bringing back Grant, producer Extraordinaire, to Too Many Men on the Mike. He was gone for us for I don't know, about a month or so. Yeah, he left us. Yeah. And uh and so we we left us dangling. He did. He dangled us and uh and and then he disappeared.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

So he's calling an Irish goodbye. An Irish. But uh yeah, for those of you listening at home and the ones that are on here watching us on our YouTube channel, um, I didn't want to tell Grant this, but you know, I had a lot of people uh as I met them around the around town at different rings. Hey, the show's great, you guys. I love the new format. Where's Grant? Where's Grant?

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Oh man, pump those tires.

SPEAKER_05 1:38

But since we've already negotiated his contract, I can say it now. Grant, why don't you come on board and say hi to the fans out there? All the time. Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

I'm happy to be back.

SPEAKER_05 1:50

The resident St. Louis Cardinals slappy here, Grant Salzman. The pride, pride of the Sekman Jaguarks.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Yeah, and and now that you're back, uh, you know, we're just gonna continue the onslaught of uh uh one, who's your playoff hockey team down the stretch in the NHL playoffs now that they're underway? And when the hell are you gonna get to a too many men on a mic gig?

SPEAKER_05 2:13

You made you made Coach Drew swear.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

That must have been you made it's a late. The first one, it's not quite it's not quite a team I'm cheering for to win it. I'm cheering for the Oilers to make it to the Stanley Cup final and lose the Stanley Cup final.

SPEAKER_05 2:32

Bridesmaid once more.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

There you go. Yeah, so I'm holding I'm rooting for the funniest possible outcome, which would be the Oilers losing the Stanley Cup final again. So it's the Oilers until they meet whoever they meet in the Stanley Cup final, and I plead the fifth on your second question.

SPEAKER_04 2:53

Well, you know, there might be a tapuingo gig in the future, and then I'm sure we'll uh come with a request for golf on the front side.

SPEAKER_05 3:00

Typically, the nights we record, we also rehearse afterwards, so I think we just might duct tape you to a chair and listen to us rehearse. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

No, I know I don't get paid enough for that.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

Well, we or we can give you a tambourine. You can we could be too many men on the mic and a tambourine guy. We won't give you a mic. Um well, but in all seriousness, um, you know, this is for our listeners at home. This has been something we've been in the works for a few weeks now. Um, Grant's been really, really helpful helping us get the new studio set up. Um, we've got hopefully some really exciting things happening in the next months in terms of you know additional partnerships here both locally and and around the country. And uh and Grant's gonna be very instrumental in that. And he brings a level of uh, he's like, you know, dare I say it, you know, I do things in threes, you know, there's three periods, you know. You've got you know, you've got three goals as a hat-trick.

SPEAKER_04 3:57

Go ahead and say rush while you're at it.

SPEAKER_05 3:59

Yes, there's three players in the band Rush. Um, but no, Grant, I can't tell you how excited we are to have you back here. It brings a smile to our face. And if uh if what I heard over the past couple weeks from the folks around the rink is is true, then uh we should see our listenership and viewership go back up through the roof. So welcome back.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to get going. I think we're we're gonna have an exciting few months here. Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

All right. Well, we got an exciting show. Uh super exciting show. This is our USA Hockey Monthly segment. And uh uh we got some guy with some credit uh stepping in today who uh can lay some medals on the table and and say some important things.

SPEAKER_05 4:42

Well, well, I'll tell you what, it's uh it's not often that uh that we get, I mean, we talked to we talk to pro athletes all around the world, we talk to um you know coaches who have coached at high, high levels. It's not often that we get a person who was a two-time Olympian for the USA men's hockey team, played in the NHL, coached professional hockey, um, went to this school in Minnesota. But I I do have a couple things. I I looked at the rosters for the 1988 and 1992 men's Olympic team. I know I know why they didn't win goal. Oh they only had like one guy from Michigan on each team. That's that Massachusetts, Minnesota bias of the late 80s, early 90s that was holding USA hockey back. But I digress. Today we're bringing on uh guy Goose Gosling. Um he's been with USA hockey, he's a regional manager for the American development model. He represents uh the upper plains in Minnesota. Um, and let's just talk about this guy's uh this guy's like resume. Um he was an alternate captain on the 1992 Olympic team. Um he was on the 1988 Olympic team. Um, he has played on three international ice hockey federations men's world championships in 86, 90, and 91. Um he played in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets. Uh and he uh he he helped build the NCAA Division III program at Concordia University in Wisconsin. Fun fact, my college roommate transferred there from Concordia.

SPEAKER_04 6:17

How did I know you'd have a story?

SPEAKER_05 6:19

I'm just but he played football, he played football at Concordia, but he transferred to you know um, but uh if if if you're out there looking for you know some credibility when it comes to talking about youth hockey, USA hockey, and and and the topics that we're gonna talk about today, I don't think we could be better um prepared and have a better guest than Guy Goose Gosling. So Grant, why don't you let Guy in? And from here on out, we're just calling him Goose. Hey Goose, what's going on? Just hanging out. Thanks for having me. Now, if we were on spit and chicklets, we would start off with some, you know, some campfire stories because he's played, this guy has played with some guys. Mike Richter, Brian Leach, Big Walt, Keith Kachuk. Back before they were back when you had to be an amateur to play in the Olympics.

SPEAKER_04 7:02

And so the Rangers were my uh 90 NHL 93 Sega team. They had Leech, they had Messier, they had Adam Graves. Uh, what a loaded team. Brian Leach, that's outstanding. Yeah, congrats.

SPEAKER_05 7:18

So, I mean, before we get started on our topics, we got it here. I mean, you were in Calgary and France, right? Albouvel, Albouville, France. What was that experience like, especially now that we've got, you know, we're the best hockey country in the world right now? And that's that's not me talking, that's the gold medals that we've scored that we've won here over the past, you know. But what was that experience like? You know, it that's something that uh, you know, being a lifelong hockey player, fan, and coach, I can only dream about. So share a little bit of that.

SPEAKER_06 7:46

Well, I've spent 30 years trying to figure out that answer. Um, it was unreal, you know. It's you you put that USA jersey on, and it's a uh special feeling. So, you know, 88 Calgary. I was uh still pretty young yet, and it was all new to me. Um we didn't finish like we wanted to, um, but we had some players on that team, you know. You talked about Brian Leach, we're partners, and uh he was a heck of a hockey player. He just wanted me to give him the puck and he could go. And uh he did a good job.

SPEAKER_05 8:26

Absolutely. Can I get another assist?

SPEAKER_06 8:28

Yeah, exactly. Um, so count, you know, Albertville, France uh was something that you know, up in the mountains in a foreign country, um, something that you dream about when you're a kid, you know, and that was a great experience for me. Um, our team played very well. We had two chances to meddle. We didn't, we ended up in fourth place, but uh it was a great experience. Um, really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_05 8:55

I I just can't imagine just that experience and how you just take that leapfrog to success, you know, on the professional hockey level, and then you know, give them back to USA hockey. And we're so humble and grateful that you did you've you're able to join us tonight to talk about uh you know some topics that we think will hit home with the players and coaches and parents that we're we're trying to speak to. Um, but I mean yeah, that Rost and Craig Janney, former blues, you know, blue, yeah. You know, so like just some just some players, and um, you know, and they had Goose Gosling, who was just feeding apples to Brian Leach, which is all I'd be doing.

SPEAKER_06 9:33

Well, Goose, I love the energy, guys. You guys are bringing it.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

Goose, we're at the end of the uh youth hockey season. So uh I think this is a a great time to reflect and think about uh player development from looking back, looking at player development from looking forward. And so let's dive into when you look back on a youth hockey season, what would you say coaches and organizations should do to define success beyond just the wins and losses? And uh, and then how do you communicate that? You know, because I'm sure you probably run into uh uh and many coaches run into parents have a certain expectation and they're defining success in a way, but then you as a coach have an opportunity to provide a different perspective, like hockey perspective, a coach's perspective.

SPEAKER_06 10:34

So what's that look like? Well, I guess it it's different at various age groups. Um, you know, you really need to focus on um did we get better as players? Not just the wins and losses. Um, development happens in practice for the most part, and you need to look at if your players got better, um, did they learn from our practices? Um, did I run great practices with constraints, teaching our kids what we'd like to teach them to do? Um sometimes that's hard, but like I say, it looks different at various levels. Um, but you know, did I have my players moving, especially with the young kids? Are they actively skating and playing hockey or are they waiting in line? And we want to get our kids active out there. It turns a little, it changes a little bit uh later on. You know, you talk people talk about work to rest ratios and uh how intense the drill is, etc. But um reflection is really a good thing, and it looks differently at all age groups. Um, you know, did we build a positive culture? Everybody talks about culture today within our group. Um, did we teach our kids how to be good teammates, to be happy for successes of other teammates? Uh it's it kind of sounds corny, but the culture thing is really important. A lot of people talk about it, but you actually have to do it.

SPEAKER_05 12:13

You know, you you said something there that I kind of picked up on um when you talk about practices, and that's where I think as a coach, you have to really look at yourself critically. And almost what I've learned, and you know, some of this is from falling down and making mistakes, is you got to almost evaluate yourself first as a coach before you can offer that feedback um to the kids. But talking about that communication, and and let's you know, let's say we're talking to uh a Pee Wee major team that's gonna be going on to their first year in Bannham when hockey really takes that big step. You know, what is that effective um whether it's an effective format or an effective template of communication, what does that look like? Is it written? Is it verbal? I mean, is it a combination? What have you found is very successful, especially when you're looking at that, you know, 12, 13, 14-year-old age group.

SPEAKER_06 13:12

Well, I think that uh first off, you have to have some empathy for these kids. Um, you know, we as coaches can give the kids as much confidence as they need or take it away, you know. So you need to create this positive learning environment and interaction with the kids. Um, make it fun. That's that's the key. Give them a sense of belonging, and uh you know, utilize everybody. They sign up for hockey to play hockey, if that makes sense, and so they need to be a part of something. We need to have a common goal together, and we need to discuss that with the kids, and uh again make it fun. And I know that sounds corny to the tough guy out there, but uh that's the key, and then they're gonna be engaged and they're gonna be learning.

SPEAKER_04 14:06

Yeah, I mean, Bob Mancini has been uh the preacher of making hockey fun and uh uh starting there before you take additional steps. Uh, I'm just curious, you know, what's your perspective on being at the end of the season? Because you know, these families, these players who spent eight months together. Uh is there a right amount of games for players at youth hockey to be playing? And it's probably the different answer, I would imagine, for different ages.

SPEAKER_06 14:45

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 14:46

But there are three, there are teams that are out there that uh you know, uh, and I and I'll say um with my firstborn son, uh, we would play as many games as we possibly could. My perspectives changed on that. So, so uh how do you feel about that at the end of the season looking back on you know, knowing you're spending eight months together? What is the right amount of games to be playing at some different ages here?

SPEAKER_06 15:16

Well, just like you said, it looks different at each level. Um, but we really feel like development time happens in practice. Um, just talking about how many reps you get. Um, the activity time is where the kids figure it out, and that's when they're learning. Um, there is a balance to all of this stuff, and you know, the teams that practice once a week and go play five on the weekends. Uh, are the other kids will eventually catch up. I can promise you that. We need to work on physical literacy, the way kids move through you know, around on the ice, and um, we want to develop resilient, um confident hockey players, and that's the way you do that through practice. And and practice can be fun, we don't want to turn it into a job, and uh so there's a balance there for the games and and practice time.

SPEAKER_05 16:15

Yeah, it's interesting um when you talk about resiliency and physical competency. It it's um I almost think, at least here in Missouri hockey, you know, we play you know in our C through A levels, you know, they play a regular season where they're sometimes playing teams two or three times a year. Um, and ICE is is a commodity, I mean, ICE is a commodity that we all I think most organizations across the country, that's their um most precious commodity. But what if this is crazy, but what if we played instead of playing a team three times, you play them two times, and you practice an extra skate each week, but then the playoffs, instead of being one and done, you have two and done, you know, and maybe have maybe backload these seasons with the games and front load the seasons and with practices, and to your point, you know, evaluate our coaches at the end of the year and help them get better at practices.

SPEAKER_06 17:18

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I managed to rink for 14 years. Um, scheduling and curriculum have a big part in this with how we have the kids um practice to game ratio, etc. Um, it's super important. And again, you the puck touches you get are are the learning in the development that's going on. So um, you know, somebody did a study years ago on some of the best players in the in the world, um, and they only have the puck on their stick for approximately a little bit over a minute, right? So if you can get out there and get these kids active for 20 or 30 minutes, skating, touching the puck, getting those reps in, um, they're gonna be learning. That's a learning environment for our children.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

Yeah, so what do you think? Uh being at the off at the end of the season now, headed in the off-season, what are things that are important to reflect on as a player? And and then also as a coach, I would say, and and and carry into the next year. So as a player, you know, what how do you help the player understand where they are, where they where they perform well, where they can grow, uh, and continue to develop and and take that motivation into the next season?

SPEAKER_06 18:55

Well, it's got to be constructive, absolutely. Um, and it varies, you know. But you as a coach, you know, when you have that meeting, is your is your player gonna know what he did well? Is he gonna know what he needs to work on for next year? Um, does he believe he can improve? Um, you know, does he want to come back and play ice hockey? That's that motivates, right? You know, I mean that that's what you want him to do, and that's what you want him to feel. And uh that's a reflection.

SPEAKER_04 19:34

Yeah, so I I guess what I'm hearing you say is almost the first question is you know, did you have fun this year? And do you want to come back next year?

SPEAKER_06 19:45

Absolutely. And if they want to come back next year, and they had fun, you've done your job, right?

SPEAKER_04 19:52

And then you can offer that construction. Absolutely. Here's what I think. Here's where I think you can grow. Uh, but uh, I like that. I like how you pitch that of uh how did the season go for you? Did you have fun and do you want to come back?

SPEAKER_06 20:09

And you know, I mean it's in and we can slice it and dice it however, but it's not rocket science. If you have a motivated individual, um, they're gonna excel in the game.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Last minute of play in this period.

SPEAKER_05 20:25

Or getting down to the end of our first segment here with Guy Goose Gosselin of USA Hockey. Um, Goose, you got a you got a you know, a few more minutes left in you to tackle a few more topics because my mind's going to uh a lot of things after this first you know 10-15 minutes that we've had. And I really love to get your feedback on as a coach, how we can effectively um deliver that constructive communication, constructive criticism or constructive communication um and give that kid versus you know where they're not feeling like, oh my gosh, the weight's on my shoulders, I didn't do as well, but like, oh my gosh, the sky's the limit. And we'd love to hear your your thoughts on that among some other amongst some other things. But we got to take a quick break as we uh have a quick live read, and we'll be back uh in about two, two minutes.

SPEAKER_06 21:14

Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_04 21:20

Just singing the Top Gun song in my head.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

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SPEAKER_04 23:04

And we're back. Back with Goose from USA hockey, and we're talking end of season. I don't know, end of season um lessons learned, uh, good practices, things to talk to your players about, uh, things to reflect on as a coach. Can you say coach?

SPEAKER_05 23:24

Yeah, you know, it's um it's something that I personally have a as a coach have embraced the last uh probably three or four seasons where um I am actually soliciting the players and asking them if they want the feedback and not assuming you're not mandating it, um, which comes to mind, Goose, you know, from your vantage point, is that a good way to go about it? You know, is it is it to offer the opportunity for players to come in um and then allow them to kind of lead the narrative, so to speak? Um, what has been some of the most successful uh interactions and formats that you've seen uh at the youth hockey level, especially what we would consider the non-elite level, you know, non-ouble A, non-triple A um players. What has worked uh in your experience?

SPEAKER_06 24:10

Well, I love it that you said offer, you know. Um it shouldn't be mandatory, really. Um offering that most of the kids want feedback, some might not, but uh with that said, when you are giving feedback, you want to hit on the positives, what they do well, and then um maybe focus on some things that um they need to develop and work on throughout the summer, and uh kind of give them ownership of this. It's not the coach telling them, it's kind of this uh collaboration between the the coach, the the player, and the parents.

SPEAKER_04 24:58

You you brought the parents up and uh the third leg of the school, the third leg of the school, and so I'm I'm I'm I'm curious. Are are parents a part of your recommended evaluation at the end of the season? And what I mean is uh do you solicit feedback uh from the parents? What do you think went well this season? What didn't you what what would you have liked to see different, or how do you frame that for parents?

SPEAKER_06 25:29

I think that uh uh you know, I'm sorry brought that up, but um, yeah, that's what we're all ranked manager, and uh you know that's awesome. Um, you know, they're writing the checks, and uh they want to know and they want the best for their children, and you know, if we can bring them in and let them voice their opinion, be a good listener, and uh again, everything's on the you know, nice and even killed, have a nice uh casual conversation about where their child is at, and uh you know they're the support group, they're the ones that have to go or the kids have to go home to them after their game or their practice, and um you know, support from mom and dad is huge, and if they buy in and they have belief that you're doing the right thing in the way of long-term athlete development for their child, um life is pretty good.

SPEAKER_04 26:36

Yeah, I I I guess um I'm curious outside of the hockey developments, is it would you recommend going to the parents and saying, take development aside, what went well for you as a parent this year? Uh, and what do you think could improve? And it could be everything from um, I don't know, rink uh rink uh practice times to um uh off-ice activities, uh a whole host of things, but taking the taking the uh subject matter expertise, hockey coaching component out of it, is that important to you? And do you think that's important for for coaches to think about in the off-season?

SPEAKER_06 27:26

Oh, absolutely. Um, let me step back and say that you know you should be communicating throughout the season with the parents so they know what they're seeing on the ice, why we're doing what we're doing out there. Um, but yeah, like there's different commitments. Um, people have different commitments for their children, right? And sometimes it might be too much, sometimes it might be they're not getting enough. Um, so those things are super important if you want to retain those players and keep them coming back. So um pretty much anything is on the table.

SPEAKER_05 28:05

You know, it's interesting that you say communicating. Um, I found when I was coaching, you know, 12U, 10U, and even a little bit of 14U. Um, I was communicating uh through writing a lot in the various uh applications we used, whether it was like a Team Snap or a sports engine and sharing the practice plans. Um with the intent I I would address the players, but I would the narrative and what I would write out, okay, here's what we're working on, here's how our schedule is going to be, was also to give the parents a bird's eye view uh into what was going on. But I was very seldom um engaging in conversation for a variety of reasons, um, not the least of which is you know, every parent is like you said, they want what's best for their child, and they be they're always it's their job to advocate. Um, but then when you go from advocacy to agency, you know, and try, you know, and it that's that's I I made a decision several years ago to kind of try and you know put up a picket fence, so to speak, between that because you know that's a drill. That's a well picket fence is a great drill. Um, but what's your thoughts on that? Because uh it's a hard thing for a coach to do an effective job for the entire team that they're coaching. Um, and some parents are gonna be some parents are gonna take that inch and go a mile sometimes if you give them that. So give a little bit of feedback on that. I love how this conversation is just morphing into this too, by the way.

SPEAKER_06 29:42

So I I love it. Um you need to communicate throughout, you know. We used to do three touches, so prior to the season, here here's what you're gonna ex what to expect. This is what you're gonna get, you know, during the season. Here's where we're at. Um, this is where we want to go, and then after the season, uh information on what to expect for next year. Um, but again, that communication piece is huge. And I know that we have volunteers primarily that are coaches, and uh that's that's tough. Uh, another aspect that comes into this is what kind of board support do you get from your youth hockey board as a coach? And that's a that's huge. Um, you know, again, their volunteers are trying to do the best job that they can do um as coaches, and sometimes that person's trying to break through that picket fence and you need some support.

SPEAKER_05 30:48

Who's gonna be the bad? And and Drew and I had both been members of a hockey board. We've coached, and we've both we're also parents, so it's like you you wear all these different hats. Um, I love the idea, not just because you said it was threes, because I love threes, but I love the idea how you talk about preseason, mid-season, end of season. Um, you know, when you are delivering this these this feedback, whether it's mid-season to a player, end of season, you're asking for their input or asking them to engage, do you do you do it verbally alone? Do you do it with an assistant coach? Do you have a parent present? Are you putting together a template of like these are the three things you're great at? These are the two things you have opportunities on, this is the one thing that if you improve, then A, B, or C will happen. How do you what's that what's that medium look like for you? And and spoiler alert, we're just trying to steal great ideas from coaches because that's what we do.

SPEAKER_06 31:46

No, I yeah, that's awesome. Um, there's no exacts again. Um, but you know, just etiquette, parent etiquette during the season. Uh a lot of very successful youth hockey associations have parents read how they're gonna act and sign a paper on your behavior during the season and what's appropriate and what's not appropriate. Um, you know, that's one thing. Here's the avenue that you can take if you have some issues. Um, you know, a lot of people say, you know, 24-48-hour rule, don't talk to the coach after the game. Um, it's just the way you carry yourself. And believe me, I you know, I've seen as much tension in the lobby at the rank um with six you parents as I have with you know 18 parents, right? And it gets a little wild once in a while, and and the emotions are flying. So um it's a little bit of everything, really. And if they feel they're they're getting value, more value by this communication piece, um, they're gonna stick around.

SPEAKER_04 33:04

So what so what do you think is the most important thing? A parent. You just talked about six of you, and you talked about 18 of you. So is there is there one thing that a parent can do to support their kids still? If you had to narrow it down to one thing, what do you think it is?

SPEAKER_06 33:21

Well, support at home and and not discuss um that you're not on the power play, right? Um you know, we're we're trying our best here. The support is the support group. That's it. Mom and dad are there, and and they're here to ensure the kid is safe, you know, playing hockey in a safe environment. And uh, hey, my dad always said, and he was a pretty good hockey player, um, good game kid. That was it. And I knew whether I played a good game or not, right? And kids know, so trying to keep that even level with your children, um is hard sometimes because people are emotional about the game, but uh just supporting them uh as a human, not necessarily as a hockey player.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

I that's been a theme the past two months is we've had conversations with directors of hockey throughout the country, um, whether it was in Alaska, Oregon, or or Pensacola, Florida, they want to help out and help form and foster good humans first. Um one of the things that we've seen, and we've talked about this before, is um a lot of parents, their experience with hockey is watching the NHL. And then when they go to the rink and watch their six-year-old, especially if it's at seven o'clock in the morning, they had to get up at five, and then they had to help put up those stupid half-ball boards, so they're already in a bad mood. Um, but uh we had a situation years ago. I was coaching a uh uh a 12 U a peewee team, and dad was just always critical um through high expectations, right? For for his son. And I remember I made a comment, I'm like, God, we must have been a great hockey player, and he's like, I can't skate. But he, you know what, you know, and his his wife might have prodded him on this, but to his credit, and a couple other of the dads and moms, they went and did an adult learn to play, and they came back and they're like, Oh my god, my kids so good at hockey.

SPEAKER_06 35:41

Yeah, it's awesome. We used to do that actually at the rank here. Looking at it from a different perspective, um, doing something like that, hockey is hard. Hockey is hard. Um, with my experience, you know, as a rank manager, I've been in this, you know, for 30 years after I got done playing. Um, being critical to children about their performance really turns them off. And a lot of kids don't want to play. Okay, so again, that's keeping that even keel, um, and being supportive of your child, um, you know, holding them accountable when when they do something out there that's not ethical, but uh um that's where we need to take this. And and I've seen a lot of kids burn out because they've been pushed, and adults have been critical of their play.

SPEAKER_05 36:42

Yeah. Well, bringing this back to the year-end evaluation of the players, um you know, a scenario you've got a you've got a player in in Drew and I now are coaching high school, and we've got a wide array of talent. Um, kids are on different parts of their of their hockey journey. And you know, you have some kids who um here in Missouri, they play both club and high school hockey, and some are at a very high-level club, and that translates to you know their skill on the ice. And I've tried to tell the kids who are maybe not quite as far down the path, who want to get better, hey, take advantage of these practices. You're playing against some of the best players in this in the city and the state. But how do you um motivate the situation through feedback so that those kids at the end of the year who maybe are a freshman or a sophomore or even a junior who didn't um who want to play more, who want to um improve, you know, are you are you giving them advice on off-season drills or telling them to do things in terms of you know seeking out private lessons? I know every kid's different, but just in general, what are some of the what some of the feedback that you give in those type of scenarios, maybe to the older players who are who want to get closer to that elite level, um, and and and have hopefully the the development ramp still to do it?

SPEAKER_06 38:09

Well, again, just just like said, every player's an experiment in one. We always say that everybody has a different pathway. Um you know, for example, as a coach, you you can see some of the things these kids need. Um, for example, maybe a late bloomer, um, that's a little timid out there because he's getting pushed around. And and a lot of times, you know, the younger kids, 13, 14, going through puberty, um, you can do simple things like teaching them how to become stable out on the ice. And in once you're stable, um your confidence grows. Once your confidence grows, you're you're gonna perform better out on the ice. So just picking little things out, maybe having a discussion of where they're at and giving them a couple things to work on um for the upcoming season.

SPEAKER_05 39:10

Experiment of one, I'm still in that. That's a new isn't I'm taking.

SPEAKER_06 39:25

Ooh, well, we've been talking about it all night, and um, you know, people think there are execs out there, and there really aren't, you know, there's concepts and habits and stuff, but um I disagree with the people think that think that you have to do this to get to where you think you want to be, right? And there's a lot of people that get paid to tell people that, um, experts in the field. And if we do a good job of helping our players figure it out, they don't have to buy into all the white noise out there. I don't know if that makes sense to you guys or not, but you know, the way I train um might be a lot different than how you train. We need to figure it out as players. Um, I didn't figure it out until I was 27 years old how to be an efficient uh hockey player, body type, how to work out, how to train. So our younger players are just hitting the tip of the iceberg. You know, when we're talking high school kids, 15, 16, 17, they're just learning this stuff.

SPEAKER_05 40:44

You know, that reminds last week we had a young man on uh who's gone through kind of this up and down roller coaster journey, Blake Warren. And I think you hit the nail on the head is is you have to, as you mature, and it's not just physically, it's also you know, you're maturing mentally and emotionally. Um once he decided, he walked away from the game for a year, realized how much he missed it, and just I think his confidence, it's his skills followed his passion. It was amazing how I could tell in talking to him as he missed the game, wanted to get back and play the statistics and the goals and everything, and his skill increased because he loved the game and just wanted to play more. And I don't know if any other advice that you could give somebody is just like, hey, just just go out there and play um and let it kind of come to you.

SPEAKER_04 41:39

Uh and it's okay if you're not uh you know, yeah, and what I'm hearing you say use in so many words is that there's not a there's not one path, and somebody might be able to say uh you have to do this to get to this, but every player's journey is different, and so um it's not uh one path, it's not one formula that you have to follow. It's not do this and then you're going to get this result. There's body type, there's are you growing or not growing? There's all kinds of variables that are in there, and so you know what I think is uh you're debunking the myth of there's one path, that's why I'm here.

SPEAKER_06 42:24

Yes, sir. And uh, you know, again, we need to be patient in our development.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Last minute of play in this period.

SPEAKER_05 42:34

I I think patience is the key there, and I love that we ended this segment on that. Um, if you got great, it's a great Guns N' Roses song. It is a great Guns N' Roses song. I think there's some whistling in it too. So full disclosure, Drew and I are also musicians, and we play together in a band that we just happen to call too many men on the mic. So we bring that to the to the table every once in a while. Well, Goose, do you have a few more minutes left? We I wanted to see one of the things, one of the you know, the the traditions we've had with the USA hockey directors is we ask them to bring a drill on and we we virtually walk through it. Um, something that coaches like Drew and I can steal and then give to the masses.

SPEAKER_04 43:13

Um we'll probably run it in practice on Friday.

SPEAKER_05 43:16

And you get full credit with a and and we send you a nice no prize in the mail. But if you've got time to go through it, do you have some time? Uh maybe 10-15 minutes left.

SPEAKER_06 43:24

Absolutely. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 43:26

We're gonna take a quick break, and when we come back, we're gonna sit with uh with Guy Goose Gosling and draw up some great drills, and we'll put a bow on uh this episode of Too Many Men on the Mic. Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_04 43:39

Well, I know it's off season, but it's never too early to book your club's youth hockey tournament experience. And at BigBearTurnaments.com, they have an open registration available now for clubs. And this is super cool club level pricing. This has saved teams collectively over $50,000 during the past season. That is a big number. All it takes is six or more registrations to qualify. So if you are a registrar, if you are a team manager, if you are part of a youth hockey board, take advantage of this pricing. Get in there early. Bigbeartournaments.com is open for registration for your great youth hockey experience. That's BigBearTurnaments.com. And don't forget to sell it. Too many men on the mic sent you. Goose, it's drill draw with Coach Ballon at the column. He uh he's got some mad drill draw skills. So I'm just gonna sit here and support him. But uh he's a great he's great at coaching coaches through the drill draw. So we use an app uh called Drift for all you hockey coaches out there. Fantastic uh medium that's out there that allows you to not only draw drills, uh share them with your team, share videos, lots of other great things. But uh uh thanks to the Drift folks for letting us use uh their form and their medium for drill draw.

SPEAKER_05 45:16

Yeah, drift is kind of like if you were able to take IHS and uh Huddle and uh Sports Engine and Team Snap and put it in. If they all had a baby. If they all had that would be interesting. Okay, it's a kid's show here, kid show. Um but uh okay, let's this is the time of the show where if you're listening to us on Spotify, it would be great for you to go to YouTube, like and subscribe, and uh come see us on YouTube uh because then you get to see this great drill draw that we're gonna do here with Guy Goose Gosling. Um, but then also once the show is over and you're trying to find great ideas for your practice, uh head over to TooManymentonTh.com and you'll find multiple drills by some of the sharpest hockey minds in USA hockey, as well as some other coaches from around the country. So, Goose, tell us a little bit about what you're bringing to the table here before we uh put it up on screen.

SPEAKER_06 46:11

There is a lot of pressure here. I'm gonna feel it in front of me. It's all in my head, man. Um yeah. So I'm gonna get a uh I'll do a drill, uh a starter drill.

SPEAKER_05 46:29

All right, essentially. Can you see this screen here with the library of all these drills?

SPEAKER_06 46:35

Yes, I can.

SPEAKER_05 46:36

Great. Well, we're gonna you get to you you direct traffic, and I will uh I'll I'll set the scene on on our on our sheet of ice here, our sheet of virtual ice.

SPEAKER_06 46:46

Okay. So in one end, we're gonna take X's on one side from the hash mark down on the boards. All right, so if I use I'm gonna we'll have players here, different color players that work. Okay, yep. All right, so like I'm assuming like this. Uh nope, the hash mark down low on the circle. That sorry, like this. Yep, towards the corner.

SPEAKER_05 47:11

Yep. All right, let's move those bad boys first. Let's you know, move our friends here. Tell that kid to get you see. I'm like a kid that's doing attention to the drill. I'm over there in the corner. I'm a drill kill already, coach. Shooting pucks shooting pucks.

SPEAKER_06 47:27

We'll take uh two players on the outside hash mark, two on the outside, so we're of the circle, of the circle, and a line, yep, one behind the other, same color. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 47:40

All right, so let's you know, direct me here, outside hash mark.

SPEAKER_06 47:45

No there, no one on the outside right on the hash mark itself, yep, and then one on right behind him, which is perfect. We can leave it like that. Um, one on the far hash mark. Let's put a new one in here. We're gonna run out of players and perfect. All right, okay. And you can take that the the three on the top are gonna be part of this start of the drill, okay? Okay, you're gonna do the same thing on the far side with X's or whatever color you'd like. Alright. Do this. Okay, take that second one away that's on the circle. Right? There's two on the circle right now. I want the guy that's directly across. Okay, perfect. Yep, nope, that's good. Put him in the back of the line. Put him in the back of the line. Okay, good two uh that are on the boards here on the hash marks. Okay, put a puck there on both sides, yep. So right here, uh, and the front guy. No, oh, I'm sorry, right. On the inside of the circle, right there. Yep, right here, too.

SPEAKER_05 49:05

Yeah, gotcha.

SPEAKER_06 49:07

Okay, and then we're gonna move out to uh center ice and well, actually, take a couple arrows the direction that these guys in the corner are gonna go. Okay, just put it on the blue line pointing towards the red line. Blue line pointing towards the red line? Yep, so like this, yep, right there, good. Same thing on the other side. Okay, change that color. Then we're gonna have uh three players out at center ice, same color or different colors? Um, same color, red on the one side and then blue on the other. Gotcha. All right, so where where do we want them at center ice? Um, right above the arrow, because they're gonna be doing rhythmic passing right there. Okay, so three in a row across the red line or three in a row? No, they should be all over the place just on that side. Okay, okay, good, and then you can take some arrows on those players. Do the same thing on the other side, gotcha, and take some arrows on those players and just kind of show that they're skating uh inside and in between each other, and what they're gonna be doing is kind of a rhythmic skate and drop passing a puck. Okay, yep, there you go. Curls cut in between, perfect, then arrow down to the third end, 10. So like this, yeah, perfect, and then we do the right one down here. Perfect, okay, and then two goals right on this on the circles, like you're playing cross-ice hockey down there. Cross ice, do you want an inside right there?

SPEAKER_05 51:01

Yeah, love it.

SPEAKER_06 51:03

All right, okay, perfect. And then you're gonna have a coach on the blue line with pucks. All right, now we've got the coach. This blue line right here. Yep, pile of pucks. Right there. Goalies in the net. Goalers, uh, red and blue. We don't want to forget about the goaltenders.

SPEAKER_05 51:29

Oh, gotta keep them. Gotta keep them.

SPEAKER_06 51:31

All right, okay, yep.

SPEAKER_05 51:34

And goalie there.

SPEAKER_06 51:35

Yep, okay. And then uh take. We want to have three players in this zone as well. Okay, I'm assuming blue and red. Yep. All right. Anywhere? Anywhere.

SPEAKER_05 51:54

Good.

SPEAKER_06 51:54

That's that'd be yeah, yep, that's good. Boom, boom, boom. Gonna puck. Doesn't matter where. And then do your uh arrow from the corner and point all the way down to the other end. Both sides? Yep. So like they went into the corner, they curled and they skated down. Okay, so like you cut you're coming in here. Yep, yep, perfect.

SPEAKER_05 52:30

Look that look at that's feedback, coach. That's feedback right there. That's perfect, perfect feedback.

SPEAKER_06 52:38

Okay, so so how how this works is you know, we we talk about getting humans moving, right? And hopefully our kids are all ready to rock and roll when they hit the ice, but um, you know, with their dynamic stretches and stuff. But this is a good focus drill, and it gets humans moving, and there's 20 people that are involved in this. So on the whistle, three jump out on the far side, you know, at the bottom over here. Yep, and they're doing a passing progression, it's just continuous passing, and you can have them these three jump jump into this neutral zone and do this continuous passing. Are they passing down here in this end? They're passing down low. Okay, there's three new ones that are there. Okay, boom. You blow the whistle. The coach who's down at the far end with a 3v3 controls the whistle because you don't want to blow the whistle when a kid has a scoring opportunity.

SPEAKER_05 53:35

But right, right, right.

SPEAKER_06 53:36

So it goes from you can put numbers in there zone one to zone two to zone three. Gotcha. Okay, we'll do that.

SPEAKER_05 53:51

Zone one. Yep, perfect. Zone two. Shout out to Brian Dolan for having numbers in drift hockey. I know, I was just gonna say that. That's a Jedi. Yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_06 54:03

One, two, three. Okay, so if the kids don't understand it, you can start them all down in zone one in a line. Have three have three kids hop out, boom, passing progression. On the whistle, they take their puck, go out to center ice, and do rhythmic passing. Okay, right in here, gotcha. And then on the next whistle, they go down and play three v three, and after the three v three, they peel and skate back down into line. So it's a continuous um rotation through stations with again 18 skaters and two goalies. Um, you know, sometimes they need that focus when they start their practice. Um, and sometimes they're a little intense. This drill wasn't meant to go a hundred percent. Okay, so you got might have to reel them in and say nice and easy, and uh get focused for for today's practice.

SPEAKER_05 55:14

So you're literally you're doing kind of like this skating with the puck, passing, and then moving to the neutral zone, rhythmic passing, same group, next guy's in line are filling in in zone one, whistle blows, zone one to zone two, zone two to zone three, zone three, back to the end of the line in zone one. I think this is absolutely getting run Friday. Absolutely getting run Friday.

SPEAKER_04 55:38

Lots of movement, and uh everybody, everybody gets to play.

SPEAKER_06 55:42

Yeah, absolutely. And again, you know, you can put in there whatever you want to put in there, right? But so the linear passes on in zone one should be the kid passing directly across and then curling into that position to receive the pass again, right? Where he just passed the puck. So he's following. Um, he's not following the path of the puck, he's actually curling. Um, but you know, put in this just an example, but you can put anything in there that you want, right? We have lots of humans moving, that's one of the key points.

SPEAKER_05 56:20

I love it. What do you call this? Uh is this point? We gotta coin it. We gotta call it like is this like the goose walk? I mean, we got we have to give it something cool.

SPEAKER_04 56:28

Goose's goose's uh rhythm or goose's uh progression.

SPEAKER_05 56:33

Rhythm of the group, rhythm, rhythm of the group.

SPEAKER_06 56:37

That's really good. I've never had a drill named after me before.

SPEAKER_05 56:40

Now you've got now you have now you have one. Yes, and we'll we'll we'll the way this will work is we'll draw up the description here. Um, you know, let's talk about some tags that were. I mean, there's obviously you've got edge work, you've got uh one touch passing, you've got heads up. What are some other what are some other uh you know, compete, and what are some other things in this goose that we want to tag them with?

SPEAKER_06 57:05

Movement, awareness, drop pass, uh, you know, skill, skill stuff, skill work. We always tell our kids, do you like music? And you guys are rockers, so you know, to be a good athlete, you have to you have to have some good rhythm, right?

SPEAKER_05 57:23

Absolutely, absolutely. Gosh, I mean, I everything about and and they have to be they've they've gotta have, I mean, that awareness piece is so critical because you you can't just get lost in what you're doing, you've got to be aware of your surroundings. Like when you hear that whistle, you gotta get rid of it. Love it. Well, Goose, this is getting saved, and uh, we will put this uh along with some other fine drills. Um, as you can see here, we've got we're we're we've built quite a collection.

SPEAKER_06 57:53

Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Impressive, impressive, guys.

SPEAKER_05 57:56

Well, you know, we do this, it's a labor of love for sure. Um, Coach Goose, I can't thank you enough for joining us today. We hope you had uh as much fun as we did. Um I I feel like I gotta ask him. There's gotta be a story in there from 88 or 92. We've gotta ask. Like, like, you know, anything that we can you know share with our listening audience, PG 13.

SPEAKER_06 58:21

Um I was gonna say this is a G-rated show, right?

SPEAKER_05 58:25

Uh PG 13, PG 13.

SPEAKER_06 58:28

You know, I I don't have a story right off the top of my head, but I can tell you that uh there were some beauties on that team and uh on both of them, and uh they're just great hockey players. That's what I got, kids.

SPEAKER_05 58:44

Hey, you know what? Um guy Goose Gosling, U.S. Olympian, rink manager, coach, player, most importantly, um you know, just a guy out there teaching, teaching a couple guys here and teaching kids all around the country. Thanks for joining us, coach.

SPEAKER_06 59:03

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_05 59:04

Yep. Enjoy the rest of your uh enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, and uh we'll talk soon. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 59:10

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 59:14

I I mean the rhythm of the goose. Rhythm of the goose. It sounds like a Durand Duran song.

SPEAKER_05 59:20

Well, you know, I like Durand. You know, Simon LeBon was on uh the spectrum on the XM radio the other day, and I'm like, that's Simon LeBron.

SPEAKER_04 59:30

Simon LeBon absolutely so the best MTV videos ever.

SPEAKER_05 59:35

Absolutely. Well, we are uh, you know, what a weekend of hockey.

SPEAKER_04 59:42

Bring Grant in.

SPEAKER_05 59:43

Grant, come on in, Grant.

SPEAKER_04 59:45

Where is he? Yeah, what's he doing? Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_05 59:50

Grant, we've got the great why are you uh why are you echoing?

SPEAKER_02 59:54

Uh the Wi-Fi wasn't working in the other room, so I had to pivot.

SPEAKER_05 59:58

Okay. Pivot. See, you're thinking on your feet, man. So when are you coming out to practice and when are we gonna put you? Uh put you on skates. This is I think I gotta run that drill. You have to that's actually a drill. That's a drill that I think I want to. I want to see you in the rhythm of a goose. Rhythm of a goose. In fact, we'll get you a jersey and we'll just put goose out back.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

That's great. Like I'm on top of them.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:20

There you go. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:22

So so, Grant, I I gotta know. Uh first round playoffs. Um who do you like? Are you a uh uh uh are are you believing in the Sabres, for example? Do you think after being out for a while that they've got some mojo or are you a Philly fan? And are they pretenders? What what what what's your uh what's your outlook look like here in this first game?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

Yeah, I think I think both those teams kind of surprised Philly shutting out the penguins away. And uh it kind of felt like Buffalo would win that first game, a lot of expectations. I think the Bruins are the team, obviously, with the more experience, but I don't know. There's something about the Sabres. I think they're gonna uh find a way through that first round, and I think the Penguins will regroup and do the same against Philly.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:13

Well, it's second intermission right now, and and for those of you at home, we're recording on Tuesday. This will be out there on Thursday. Second intermission, the Bruins are up 3-0, so the Sabres have them right where they want them. I can't get out of my head the overtime game last night with Carolina and Ottawa, and I know the rule, but okay, you call the play off sides, and this is the crazy thing. The plays off sides, they missed the call. The penalty is after the alleged offsides. They pull the goalie, they score, and the delayed penalty, then they call the offsides, they wipe the goal off, but they still get the penalty. It's like, wait a minute, that didn't happen. It didn't happen. Yeah, I know that they don't want players crushing you know people and taking major penalties, but I don't know if I would have given that. There's gotta be a like a standard where if it's just like a hook or a trip, you know, the play should have never happened to begin with. Thankfully, Carolina won that game.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:16

But oh my gosh, what a well the the the the two for me last night were uh if you're a Philadelphia fan and you don't have a Porter Martin jersey, uh you better get one. They probably can't print those fast enough.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:30

Porter Martin.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:31

The other one that uh it's just it just happens every year, and then it starts slow and they were down, and then look what happens, the role guys show up. It wasn't even the dry sidle uh uh McJesus show, it was the role guys that were coming in and wound up getting the job done. So just kind of a sleepy Edmondson start. But if you let them hang around, they're gonna bite you last night.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:02

Porter Martin. Listen to this. So, since he was at Michigan State in college, the last he's only had one game since the middle of February where he hasn't had a point. Just one game where he hasn't had a point since the middle of February. I mean, that guy is amazing.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:25

I mean, he's 19. I don't know how many girlfriends he has, but he's gonna get up and more after these games.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:31

Well, Grant man, it is awesome having you back. Uh, I think this you you you complete, you complete us.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:40

And I can't wait to see uh uh the rhythm of the goose at practice. We're gonna have to film that baby.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:47

Once again, a huge thank you to uh to Guy Goose Gotham for joining us. Um, what an awesome conversation. Uh looking ahead to next week, we've got a special show. Um we're gonna pivot a little bit and go to the moms. And uh, if all things line up correctly, we're gonna have a mom panel to talk about uh the season and really focus in um as how as parents uh you can enjoy your kids' season, be great fans, and really develop a huge family away from home, a family at the rink. Um, but we're looking forward to that. There'll be more to come. But uh, Grant, as always, great to have you back. Folks, thanks for joining us. Remember, go ahead, uh be sure to like and subscribe on YouTube. Uh, head over to our website, too many menonthemic.com, uh, where you can follow us on Instagram, uh, X, and uh choose any platform where you're choosing to listen to our podcast, Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music. Coaches, feel free to download some great drills from some of the best hockey minds out there. But as always, thanks for all the support. We'll talk to you next week. He shoots, he scores. Grant, let's talk.