Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan
Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan
Ep. 155 - Craig Geekie - "Raising NHL players & good people."
Craig Geeky shares his philosophy on raising three talented hockey players, including NHL stars Morgan and Connor, through a multi-sport approach in a small town of just 150 people.
• Creating a pathway to hockey success by having kids play multiple sports (badminton, curling, basketball, volleyball, track, baseball)
• Building a strong foundation through accountability, self-assessment, and objective feedback
• Delaying specialization until age 16-17 when his sons naturally chose their preferred sport
• Developing perseverance, leadership, and teamwork by playing with varied skill levels in a small community
• Emphasizing character development and life skills over NHL aspirations
• Supporting his sons in missing hockey events for provincial tournaments in other sports
• Understanding that each player's development path is unique - "no path is going to be the same"
• Working with coaches who provide accountability while showing genuine belief in player potential
• Participating in the UMH 68 Invitational to create opportunities for young players in Manitoba
• Valuing the educational and developmental aspects of hockey beyond just competition
Parents and players interested in the UMH 68 Invitational in Manitoba starting May 29th should visit upmyhockey.com and fill out the watch list form for consideration or see link blow.
MB 2011 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuAXXLsLb9N8X3tnP71FpwGjPj-4K1TaxlO4cicurGTeEi_w/viewform
BC 2012 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfipqujezcRNyFOiWO6PISEFCpxbf0nj6GYt4UcZs3j3J_Rag/viewform
BC 2011 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3hch0UvEu-1tBXzzXTFvbEKr3FCXxTAM5LMJT7RWIvm8iwA/viewform
SK 2012 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefCCa-eu5HPlu9cSSuHInMDorVkz5prkCKsIe4QGti_xsfDg/viewform
Again, no path is going to be the same Whether you're at the academy or on AAA. That AA kid can roll in and have a growth spurt and the light bulb kind of goes on. He's going to surpass both of you, right, and that's just the way it is, and I truly, truly thank you for saying that is that our path is unique, but it still can be done. You just have to kind of buck the system a little bit right, if you can. Again, it's tough, though, because for you to sit here and you know you played, you played in the NHL, I never did and there was people around us that you know told us we should be taking Morgan, noah and Connor elsewhere, and you know, we just kind of said, no, we're not. You know we're not ready to do that yet. So, um, it is a different path.
Speaker 2:That was Craig Geeky, father of Morgan Geeky of the Boston Bruins and Connor Geeky of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and you are listening to the Up my Hockey podcast with Jason Padolan. Welcome to Up my Hockey with Jason Padolan, where we deconstruct the NHL journey, discuss what it takes to make it and have a few laughs along the way. I'm your host, jason Padolan, a 31st overall draft pick who played 41 NHL games but thought he was destined for a thousand. Learn from my story and those of my guests. This is a hockey podcast about reaching your potential. Hey there, welcome back to the Up my Hockey podcast with Jason Padolan. I am your host, jason Padolan, and you are here for episode 155 with Craig Geeky.
Speaker 2:Craig Geeky happens to be a former teammate of mine in the late 90s with the Spokane Chiefs. He came over in his 20-year-old year in a trade from the Brandon Wheat Kings where he spent his 17, 18, 19-year-old seasons with the Wheat Kings and then came over to us as a 20-year-old and, as hockey world works, it's funny. I mean we only played one season together, but one season is actually quite a lifetime, especially in the formative years of your late teens, early 20s, and Craig and I not that we were hanging out all the time, it wasn't like we were the best of friends on that team, but you do spend plenty of time together in an environment like that. Bus trips in the WHL were long 72 games is an incredible amount of time. To be on the ice together, line brawls, having each other's back, practices, this, that and the other. You make some connections and those connections last a long time, whether you believe it or not. And that was the case with Craig and I. Like we went our separate ways and as far as hockey was concerned, when when Craig was done his uh, his WHO career, he went on to play some time in the CHL and then went and played some senior hockey in uh in Manitoba, but we never kept in touch or we never kept in contact.
Speaker 2:And then, roughly you know, 20, almost 30 years later, with what I was doing with Up my Hockey and with what you know Craig was doing as far as being a dad and raising hockey player sons, we reconnected and it's been fantastic being a part of his boys' journeys on that level and seeing the game through his eyes and what he's experiencing. And I actually had him in my Facebook group, my Albany Hockey Facebook group as an interview a few years ago, sharing some of his philosophies with that group there, and now we're going to share his philosophies here today. Hockey is a really, really fun place when it comes to that, and I'm grateful for it to keep some of these people in my life and and uh, and now I'm able to supply those people to you, the listener, and hopefully you're going to get an immense amount of value out of our conversation here today. Uh, craig is somebody that is helping me grow. The UMH 68 brand, uh, which is my invitational event here up in Western Canada. The UMH 68 brand, which is my invitational event here up in Western Canada, and yeah, we're getting her going here May 29th. We talk about the UMH 68, what it is at the end of the interview, why he got involved with me and what it offers to the players of Manitoba and Saskatchewan this year in the 2011 birth class. So if you do have somebody in that age group and you're from that neck of the woods, I suggest you you listen to the end, as this might be an event that you want to participate in and um, and yeah, so, but as far as Craig is concerned, like hockey dad extraordinaire, him and his wife, toby uh.
Speaker 2:Toby uh, not only his hockey dad, but like just small town, farmer philosophy, community philosophy, town of 150, which we talk about. All their boys grew up there, played all their minor sports there. They played everything there. Morgan was the oldest. He was a multi-sport athlete, noah was a multi-sport athlete and Connor was also a multi-sport athlete. All of them were great hockey players. Noah decided to take the route of being baseball and went to the collegiate route down in the States, which he is still pursuing. And for those of you who follow the NHL at all, morgan had an absolute breakout season this year with the Boston Bruins, where he scored over 30 goals I think 34. By the way, that's more goals than Nathan McKinnon. That's more goals than Mikko Rantanen. Like it's crazy how many goals he scored this year at the end of his contract year. So Morgan has established himself as a very valuable NHLer and a contributor. And Connor, his youngest, was a first rounder to Phoenix who got traded in the off season and is now with the Tampa Bay organization. And he played his first NHL games this year and is currently with Tampa Bay for the playoff run and was up and down in the minors.
Speaker 2:So talk about somebody that you want to hear from you know, as far as if you are a hockey parent and you know what, how did they do it and what was the route, and you know their, uh you know some of their thinking about what they held was important and and Craig and I really align on what is important and how to pursue some of these things, uh, in the hockey world. So I was really excited to have to have Craig on very, very well spoken, very down to earth and uh, and yeah, and you know, performance uh speaks for itself, right. Uh, I do believe that there's some proof in the pudding with some of these things and uh, and if you haven't listened to the connor, uh, geeky, interview him as, I believe, a 17 or an 18 year old. Uh, you should, because he's he was a super fun interview for me and uh, and as far as 17 year olds go, uh, I know for anyone who has a teenage boy in their house that sometimes they're not the most wordy people or the most eloquent people, but Connor was super colorful and was great with his story, so that's a good one to check out if you haven't listened to that one. But yeah, let's get right into it here Without further ado.
Speaker 2:I bring you my conversation with Craig Geeky, father of Morgan Noah and Connor Geeky. All right, my man. Welcome to the podcast, mr Craig Geeky. Thanks, pods, appreciate it. Yeah, well, it's kind of. We did this once before. So anyone who's in my Up my Hockey parent group on Facebook, there's a plug for the parent group. It's actually Grown Geeks. We have like 3,000 people from all across North America. Now it's pretty cool. But Greg came in like a couple of years ago and we talked some hockey and we posted the interview in there but never did put it on the podcast. So we're like I was talking to Geeky earlier and I was like we got to get you on the podcast for real now. So this is the official entrance into the UMH community. Happy to have you, man. How are things going out there in Manitoba?
Speaker 1:Pretty good. I feel honored to be on the podcast. That's all. It's good to finally get the nod, I guess.
Speaker 2:But no, it's good.
Speaker 1:We're full swing into kind of spring here. Hopefully over the next course of the next few days here we're supposed to get some warm weather. So, yeah, I mean, other than that, hockey playoffs are in the heart of it. So I got one in, I got one out and yeah, no, it's a pretty special time right, so it's fun to watch.
Speaker 2:I love it. My favorite time of year. You got the Jays on. Sometimes you can maybe put that on in the background. And then we got the playoff hockey.
Speaker 2:Definitely background and we've got the playoff hockey. It's a good time to be uh, to be a sports fan, and I want to talk about uh both your boys, of course, but I'm going to start with the chiefs, because I mean, as the fans, um, or the fans uh, you know the listeners of the show here uh would have heard in the intro that you and I played together for the chiefs uh back in the day, and here they are again. Are you following the whl playoffs at all? Like they're on a run right now?
Speaker 1:they are on a massive run and kind of it started with us kind of keeping track of uh, james patrick, who was a big influence on connor uh and his game and his approach to the game and how he plays the game, and, and, um, I I would say it was probably one of his most uh prolific changes was, um, you know, under his tutelage, so to speak. So, um, so we kept watching and obviously they were. I believe victoria was touted to be kind of cruise pass, not cruise, I guess, but get past spokane and spokane, absolutely, you know, because I think they went down the series to rip maybe, and then kind of battled back and really took them by storm and now they're rolling and again, that's the best part about playoffs, like, I mean, you ride the wave right and you know you don't have to be the best during the season, you just got to be the best for, you know, for the playoffs. So, yeah, they've been rolling Nice to watch.
Speaker 2:That trade obviously is paying huge dividends. With Cristal coming over, he just seems to be a bit of a magician out there and you put Katton and Van Holm on that line and I've never seen scores like that. I mean, like it's crazy, and I actually haven't watched them play like a game, like I see the highlights on social media. I just don't have the time to be looking right now. But nine goals, nine goals. They put up 10 the other night. Jeez, does anyone play defense anymore? Are they just that good? That's correct.
Speaker 1:Well, and that's the thing with James, he always preached a 200-foot game. So it just speaks to the quality of these players that are putting up those kind of numbers against to me, somebody who maybe doesn't take away the defense, like he's not preaching offense, but he's a 200-foot game guy and you know if you're not playing the right way then you're not playing. So obviously they're, you know, doing very well against a well-coached team. For sure. Yeah, that's wild, obviously they're, you know, uh, doing very well against a well coached team for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's wild. I'm going to give you um, just because it's my damn show and I'm allowed to talk about me every once in a while. Uh, it's kind of funny. I don't know if the chiefs are watching, because obviously for me I know more than I'm probably closer to it than anybody else, but Caton and crystal, right now, as we speak, are tied with me for the most points in a playoff season by a spokane chief.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so they have 33, so like, so, like that record's long gone, but like isn't that crazy. Like that was 29 years ago, buddy. Yeah, like, yeah tell me about.
Speaker 1:I mean, uh, my wife and I talk about it not all the time, but I mean a couple times a year. It's crazy that you and I have reconnected, or Huey and I have reconnected. It's literally 30 years ago Again, it just speaks volumes to what hockey is more about than the game itself. We all end up in beer league and I and I still say that. That is the you know, the prolific sentence that I always tell kids that we all end up in barely your path might be different, right, you might be in the nhl, you know, but you might be tier two, you might go straight from triple a to beer league. At the end of the day, uh, the people you meet and your teammates is literally why everybody you know plays the game, and that's the truth, right. So to reconnect with you has been phenomenal.
Speaker 1:Uh, huey, you know, and I, and again, I got marty murray on that's, you know, he came back home and and, uh, lots of other guys that you, just, you know, throw a text. I was just talking to chris low, you, you know, you know, throw a text. I was just talking to Chris Lowe, you, you know, you would have played against Losey. So it's, yeah, it's. It's crazy to think how many paths we cross throughout our career and you know no matter how long or how short it's. Um, yeah, it's. It's pretty amazing to have the you know the, the, the profile in your, in your phone of how many kids that you played with or against.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree, it is one of the best parts. I mean, that's the part that stays with you forever. I mean, we do we remember, we remember some of the big games I know I do. I mean some of the big goals, those definitely go. But like, it's, it is the people and it's the connections and that's the juice. Right and like, and not that we're trying to do this and architect some type of a you know, a how do I put this? Like we're not trying to be self-serving in our approach to that. Right, like, how does it benefit me, but it does benefit you? Right, like you making connections with people, earning trust, value, they respect you and your work ethic and your approach and all these things. Right, like they, they want to do things with you after or for you, for that matter, after. Right, like it just helps.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, and I think I think one of the cool things that I always um tried to tell my players you know, you, you don't have to love each other, you have to respect each other. You know being on the same team. But further than that, you might be going through a town and all of a sudden you've got a flat tire. Well, you've got so-and-so, I've got Podzi's name in Vernon BC. Well, I'm just outside of Vernon. Hey, podzi, is there any way that you can get in touch? It's so much deeper than what people actually, you know, look at when they're going through it, including myself, like 100%, including myself, like I was not good when it came to that stuff and the further.
Speaker 1:I got away from it, the more I cherished it. You know, back then, right, and I understood, okay, geez, you know I should have spent more time, but I will say this, like, um and this is kind of veering off a little bit, but you know, billets, um, I still stay in touch with John and Carrie, uh, in Spokane, who were truly just amazing people like, and still stay in touch. Um, you know, uh, special occasions. You know we share photos back and forth and stuff like that. And when Connor was in Wenatchee, we actually got him out to Wenatchee to watch Connor. And you know, obviously, when we went to Spokane, they were there too.
Speaker 1:So again, there's just so much more to the game than the game itself. And again, you're bang on. You don't really appreciate it when you're going through it, but if you can stop and kind of smell the roses a little bit, it'll make the other stuff look so small, right? And again, you and I both would argue that you know when we're in it, you know if you're 17, 18, 19 year old self, you would say, oh, come on, geeks, like seriously. But that's the truth, right?
Speaker 1:But I also never had anybody go through it, right? I don't know about yourself, but I was never close enough to anybody that had. You know and this is this is kind of, you know, ever expanding why we're on this podcast. But you know that that's part of the mental aspect. If you can just step away for a little bit and enjoy your billets and enjoy your friendships, that you know away from the game, the game actually becomes a lot easier because you're not thinking about a 24, seven, right and, and that's where you come in with your mindset stuff and, um, you know the ability to kind of have an escape and I, I believe that's kind of what you know, I think sets kids apart is the ability to do that on a on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I mean, I love that segue on a day-to-day basis. Yeah, no, I mean I love that segue. I mean that that I just got off a call with uh, I'm working with uh, with an AJHL guy right, right now on my guided mission, and, and what we were talking about uh is just the concept of gratitude, and and gratitude is nothing new, right, I mean, it's biblical right Do unto others, do unto you, almost right, it's, it's in, it's in the same framework, but the idea is there is a performance aspect to that. And so you're talking about your billets and we're talking about people around the game, whether it be your teammates or maybe the trainers or the coaches or whoever. If we have the ability or the skill, as I call it, like the mental fitness skill, to be able to invest in those people, right, like that, we are participating in those relationships.
Speaker 2:Our focus, then, is forced outside of our own head. Right, right, and and 90% of the athletes that have an issue with with performance get inside their own head. Right, it's about what I'm doing wrong, it's about what I need to do. It's the comparison game, it's this, it's that, it's the other. But if we focus outside and if we want to celebrate other people, and that's where the gratitude comes in. Right, like, how is this teammate being of value to me, to us as a group? Right, like, how can I celebrate their success?
Speaker 2:Like, now we start going outward, our energy goes outward instead of inward, and again, that's a high performance fricking tool, right, and what are you doing in the meantime? You're also developing relationships and networking and you're doing all these other good things. So it's kind of funny how I like. Like how they layer, you can layer on the benefits of some of this stuff. Right, and and I do believe well, I don't believe I know it is a choice Some people are more naturally, have a higher aptitude for it, let's say, than others. You know, like you said, you yourself said I wasn't good at it, but if you were presented with the right context at the right time, you could have made micro different decisions in the moment. Right To change.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and again, you played with me. I was an intense guy, right To a fault to a fault. I never learned how to let that go until after junior. And you know, we went to the Allen Cup. I played what? Seven games or 10 games down in what was it? The Central League, I think at the time. Well, I just went down there with just a kind of a carefree attitude. I'm going to enjoy this moment. Well, I played my best hockey and that's kind of when it kind of a carefree attitude. I'm gonna. I'm gonna enjoy this moment. Well, I played my best hockey and that's kind of when it kind of flipped a switch and then you know, obviously started having kids and whatnot and and ultimately kind of said, okay, this isn't, you know, hockey doesn't define you, whether you make it or not, it it doesn't define you and that's you know. That's where toby and I really just kind of started saying that you know, just like you said, pods is that enjoy other people's success, like enjoy your teammates success.
Speaker 2:Celebrate that goal like it's your goal because it is your goal.
Speaker 1:You know you're part of a group, so, um, you know it's different if you're playing. You know singles tennis or singles badminton or you know, but even baseball, even baseball, like you know, our kids played really high levels of baseball. Well, to me, that is a that's a very tough sport. That's a that's a sport of failure, right, if you, if you ask anybody, a teacher or somebody that you know, and if I could, if I could bat or do something at 333, you know that's a failure. You're gonna be in cooperstown like, if you do that for the rest of your life about 333, like who wants 33? Well, I take it a heartbeat in baseball.
Speaker 1:Well, those are things that, to me, you have to overcome and say, no, I'm okay with going one for four, right, because I just batted two runs in, you know, or something. And those are things to me. That those other sports, you know what you do when you're up my hockey and all that stuff you branch those kids out into, whether it be lacrosse, whether it be football, you're playing flag football, I see, and you know there's so many different aspects, you can go with it, but I just, I truly feel that you know the mental side of life, and the game has grown so much that we need to, we need to spread the word basically and that's what you're doing well, I mean I'm, I'm trying and the conversations matter and I think I think the, I think the awareness is just the first part.
Speaker 2:I didn't feel I was unintelligent while I played. It has nothing to do with intelligence, it just has everything to do with perspective. That was what the call was about today with the guy I was talking with. If we can develop your ability to see things differently, it's going to give you an opportunity to make a different choice and to show up in a way that's going to allow you to have the best success that you can. Right, because we all have these blinders. So, like, if we can, if we can take those blinders off and then have have some new pathways, some new decisions where we can participate in an empowered way in our own development, I mean that's a big difference. That's a huge difference.
Speaker 1:And that's just, that's again. I know it's cliche, that's not just hockey. No, I do the same thing here in my work, cause I mean, every, every challenge that is, you know, in front of me, has to have a different perspective, right, because it's a different customer, it's a different client, it's a different's a different scenario. He, you know, he or she, is buying something, you know, that is really important to them, whether it's a lawnmower, whether it's a million dollar combine, you know. So those things have to be thought um, you know, in a different process. And again, just like you said, it is it's perspective. And so for me, I'm like I said I that's why I love, kind of what you're about.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, thank you for that. I will shift gears, though, and I want to talk about. You mentioned Patrick already. James Patrick and I know that he had an influence and again, as we're having these conversations, I know we're going to end up talking about the UMH 68, but there's so many connections and bridges that get built to that of why we're both kind of passionate about what the UMH 68 is. One is the impact of coaches and the exposure to different coaches and what they maybe see in you and what they want you to do or could be. A couple of things here and there can be groundbreaking for a player. So let's talk about James Patrick. You said that that had quite a bit of influence on Connor. Let's talk about in what way and in how that impact was able to be received too, from Connor, from a player perspective.
Speaker 1:And again, I don't want to speak for Connor, and I think I'm I think I'm correct when I'm saying this, but just the accountability I mean. I could say the same thing. We could come after a game. And again, one of my questions we rarely talked hockey once it was done, but I would always ask the question how did it go? And I still text Morgan and and and Noah, my ballplayer, and Connor the same thing how to go? Well, again, touching on your perspective deal, if you can't be objective on your own game, I'm sorry you're gonna, you're probably not gonna be as successful as you hoped you were. So if you can say and pick pieces out and say you know what I, you know I struggled today. It felt like the game was going a thousand miles an hour and I was in quicksand, you know or you know, um, yeah, felt really great today but couldn't handle the puck, you know, or something.
Speaker 1:But just the accountability that James had on Connor, that it was earned, like all his ice was always earned. And to me, being a young kid, you know, in the Western League, as you were, I wasn't that good. At the end of the day, it's a 17- 17 year old rookie league is what it is. That's the league. It's not 16. You're, you're blessed to be able to play at 16. I know there's complete exceptions, excuse me, like bedard and some of these other kids. You know I forget the young guy and yes, you know, those are, those are outliers, those are not, you know. And being 16 to play in that league is crazy to me. You know, I was 17 and I I grinded it out.
Speaker 1:So my point is is that he had to earn everything and once he started understanding that, okay, he's not hard on me because he's hard on me. He's hard on me because he sees potential right. He's hard on me because, you know, he tells you maybe not all the time the good things, but he also tells you how to correct it and when you do a good job correcting it. So I think out of that. You know my kids to me have an above-average work ethic, so that helped them along the way.
Speaker 1:But I think the accountability was the biggest thing, pogs that. You know he just held them in check, like there was. You know, whether it be practice, connor was always a, you know, a hard practice player, like he practiced hard because you know that's the way I was and you know and James loved that. So you know that emotion and everything kind of carried over and they kind of had a bond that way. And then you know, the rest is kind of, I guess, history, so to speak. But they still come, they still talk to each other today, you know, probably once a month.
Speaker 2:That's awesome yeah, yeah, kennedy's, I mean, accountability is big and a lot of times, very often times, even as adults, like we, do need somebody to keep us accountable, you know, because we can, we, as diligent as we can be with that right, like we, again, we all do have our blinders and however great we believe our self-assessment abilities to be, uh, it's nice to have somebody there that we respect, uh, that we're going to listen to. And that's why I kind of framed that question as I did is because sometimes athletes don't want to hear it. Maybe they don't want to hear it from a personality perspective, like, maybe they're not mentally, you know, handle, have the mental skills required to accept it, or they haven't built the trust required to hear it properly, right, to know what the intentions are. Did James go about building that in your, in your like, like, do you remember in any way shape or form, um, or was it just more of a player coach and that sometimes that's enough, right, player coach relationship.
Speaker 1:And you know, I, I, I, that that's the standard yeah, and then the only yeah, the only thing that I can honestly think of is just, you know, even after practice, during practice, I would say it's still player coach. There was nothing, you know, extraordinary about it. I think it was just you know the belief system that you know. Toby and I tried to instill in Connor that you know what he is, your coach. He coached at the National Hockey League for years. He played right, and so he knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1:A lot of times and again, I'm not this is going to maybe come across as arrogant too, but you know the same principles he has. What I had, it was just a different voice, right, and so the instill factor I think really, you know, was better coming from him than it was from dad, but no, nothing out of the ordinary, for, for that matter. But to touch on one thing though I don't think anybody likes getting held accountable, right. I mean, I think it's in our human nature to say you know, and I'm good, and you get into a comfort zone, right, whether it's, I don't know, working out like, do you feel like working out every day? No, you don't, right, you need somebody to hold you accountable or something to hold you accountable. So, again, the more you can be objective and listen to that accountability come forward again on the flip side. The other thing, too, is to be able to filter that accountability, because sometimes there's some blinders too on the person giving you accountability too Well, you weren't doing this. Well, again, you know that as a coach, coaches get blinders too right. They see certain things and sometimes you just got to be objective and hold pat on what you believe and you know and change some other things along the way too.
Speaker 2:I love you bringing that up, and I think that there's a lot of parents in the same boat as you and I hear that all the time. Right, talk about with players or even some of the you know, the, the pillars of what my program is. This is not, this is not new age. You know, fresh out of the box, stuff that I've created like it's it's a lot of it's. It's tenants that families have within their families, right, like, like it's stuff that mom and dad have been trying to say or do say, and all of a sudden they're like but now they're doing it, or now they finally listened, or whatever the case may be. And and to me, like that's a celebration, because we're all mom and dad and mom and dad have a filter on what they're saying and the kids receive things differently. So if the message comes through clear, just because the messenger is somewhat different or they're saying it a little bit differently, who cares? Right, like that's, that's awesome, right, so. So that's great and I'm glad you you say that because I do get that.
Speaker 2:I'm like, well, high five to you, mom and dad, because you're saying the right thing and it's great that now we're now we're rocking it, you know exactly yeah, um, and I think the other thing I'm gonna add on there is just from the trust standpoint, and I'm not sure if this is right or wrong, but I think when players hear the idea that when I am hard on you or when I am holding you accountable, it's because of this reason Right, right Like. It's not because I don't like you or I don't like your game. It's actually because I do see potential in you that you don't see and I want you to be the best you can be Correct.
Speaker 2:And I think that's like that changes it Right, because I think that you, you don't feel it the same way. If you believe what?
Speaker 1:that that statement's true, right, right yeah, and and and one other person. I'll give him a plug. He doesn't get much recognition. Um, and connor will say this is mark what. Mark watton coached him and he was actually alongside me through, uh, connor's u15 and u18 excuse me years, and you know Waddy was what was he? 17-year pro and he was your absolutely perfect pro. He knew when to call you, he knew when to say good job, but he also knew when to break a stick and you know and say you can't, you know you can't, lollygag back here or you know again and you'll see this, but I can remember this to a T was Connor was just lazily getting back on a change.
Speaker 1:Right, he's just, he knows he's changing. Well, you know, meanwhile the puck gets turned over. Well, he still lollygags back to the bench, right, and Waddy was, you know, living. Well, again, it's such a small thing, it's a change, you know, and there was no goal on it. There was no, nothing right, it was just the fact that you know you have to change. If you don't have enough energy to change hard and come hard to the bench, then you're on the ice too long, right, or something of that nature. So, uh, and again, mark Watton was a was a big influence. And again, him and James had a lot of similar characteristics, right.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that's awesome. I'm going to take a short break from my conversation with Craig Geeky to talk about the UMH 68, because that's what this has been inspired. This interview is our event, our Western Canadian event here that is going to be launching May 29th in Brandon, manitoba, at the Keystone Center home of the Brandon Wheat Kings and close proximity to Craig Geeky. We are hoping cross our fingers to have a special guest appearance from Morgan, his oldest son. That's going to be in attendance, and we are hosting, for the first time in Manitoba, a UMH 68 Invitational that will be delivered to 2011 born players from Manitoba or Saskatchewan. There are some challenges, of course, right Launching a new event to new people in a new area that haven't heard of what it's all about, maybe aren't as familiar with Up my Hockey, maybe already had their spring program set, and so there's lots of hurdles, and one of the hurdles is getting the right players there, getting the word out and having the access to the parents so we can even give people the invitation. So the idea of the UMH 68, if you haven't heard of it is to deliver a best-on-best experience that goes well beyond hockey into the field of personal development and how you know all the areas of being a great hockey player, which is has some pillars in how to be a great human, so we talk about that there. We make connections with people from outside of your normal geographic region. You're placed on teams with new coaches experienced coaches that are going to provide you valuable insight on your game during your time there. There's lots of swag, there's lots of fun stuff like that. We treat them like professionals. The dressing rooms are set up as close to junior scenario as you'll ever have maybe even better than some junior facilities and it really is an event. In the case of the 2011s, it's also an event that does get attention from WHL scouts. There is a showcase aspect to it, as that is their first opportunity to see the upcoming draft class. Uh, cause, the WHL draft is over at that point and now they're focusing on the next year, so there is an exposure element to this as well. And um, and yeah, and if you want to be a part of the UMH 68, and if you are a 2011 born player, uh, that feels has the credentials required to attend, uh, remember, you should be playing competitive hockey, high competitive hockey, whatever your area is. Generally speaking, this is for AAA players. I know in Saskatchewan there's only the AA level, but if you're playing AA as a first year there, that is a great statement to say yes, I belong. If you were exceedingly doing well at the A level as a first year, that is also an indication to say hey, I think I belong to be there. So, by all means, if you are somebody that thinks they should be there, if you are a coach of somebody who thinks you have a player that should be there, if you are an aunt or an uncle or a manager or a hockey director it doesn't matter where it comes from by all means, please put the name forward.
Speaker 2:We are finalizing the rosters for the 2011 event and I would love to get to the 68 that we set out to do. So, yeah, to do that, you go to the Up my Hockey website, upmyhockeycom, and you also fill out the watch list for the according event. We are full in British Columbia for the U14, for the 2012s. We do have some space for the 2011s. So if you are in British Columbia, you are a 2011 player and you would like to come to Vernon, by all means get on the watch list, put in your credentials, put in your resume and we will do some homework on you, and you might receive an invitation to the event. Same holds true for Martinsville in Saskatchewan. We are hosting a U14 event there for 2011 born players from Saskatchewan or Alberta. We only need defensemen for that event. We are looking for a last few quality defensemen to round out the rosters there. So if you have a defenseman in either one of those provinces, by all means fill out the watchlist form at upmyhockeycom. We would love to have you.
Speaker 2:These events have been wildly successful in British Columbia, and this is the first time we're venturing outside of it and are looking for the support from the hockey community to make it what it has been in the past. So thanks so much for listening. Now let's get back to the podcast with Craig Geeky. Let's get back to like raising these, these, these three young men that you have. You already mentioned. Um, sorry, what's your? What's your oldest name?
Speaker 1:Noah oh right.
Speaker 2:So Noah, Noah's the goal player, but he was also a hell of a hockey player too. And just to share, like where they were drafted in the WHL and a little bit about their upbringing, because like small town you were at and like how the whole sports system worked there and what your philosophy was with your wife Toby- so, yeah, three boys Morgan's the oldest, noah's the middle boy and Connor's, obviously, the youngest and a town of 150 people.
Speaker 1:It's very tough to explain, like I mean, there's just, there's a school K to K to 12, it's one hallway right, and you know there's there's a grocery store and a hardware store, and the rest is literally. You know what. I would consider you, when those kids are growing up, they're all family, because you know it takes a community to raise a family, and that's what we had. So, with that said, you couldn't play sports without everybody playing sports, right, because there's just not enough people, and so we did everything. And, again, when I say this, like I said, a lot of things have changed, and I know your listeners are going to probably roll their eyes kind of when I say this, but it is something that I believe was very imperative for their growth, which was we played every sport, like I'm talking badminton, curling, basketball, volleyball, um, you know, they did all the track, um, baseball, hockey, um, you know everything, and part of that reason we could do that, though, was because we're in a small community, um, but I mean, I can remember paying. I believe I was president of minor ball and minor hockey at the time and we were paying like 50 for for all our kids to play, you know, 25 to play baseball. You know, we'd give five dollars for badminton, you know, and that's not, that's not that long ago, right? So, um, again, we couldn't have done this with uh in a larger center, you know, in different demographic demographics. We couldn't have done it and we could have done it without the help of Toby's mom and dad. Toby's mom and dad were impeccable grandparents, right, they just anything we needed, they would just pick them up and take them Right. Anything we needed, they would just pick them up and take them right. So when I tell people that I want them, you know playing other sports. That's why I just think it. I think it develops so many more skills. Um, unknowingly, but it's very tough in today's society though, with you know in the larger centers what you're in, but you're trying to do that on the on the umh side, um, and the compete side. But to me that is that is one of the biggest uh changes that I've seen, since they've kind of come out, because we have to really toe our own road.
Speaker 1:We we would say no to so many things. You know whether it be, you know, um, a baseball tournament, a hockey tournament or or or something, um, you know, because it was, it was more involved than we wanted to be right once they got to kind of that certain age. Then we said, okay, you know, let's start channeling a little bit. But we never gave it all up, like, uh, morgan missed, you know, he. He went for volleyball provincials in the middle of the season, for, you know, in triple a um, the rest of the kids did the same. Connor actually went to curling provincials, you know. Noah went to basketball provincials, you know. So there's all that sort of stuff that we just believed in yeah with all that said.
Speaker 1:Um, again, I also know, know that, without the three of them competing, at home, right when they were, when they weren't doing stuff, they were always outside. They were always either at the rink or on the ball diamond or at you know, we have a pretty big lot in our yard, so they were always doing something. So they were the, the three that held each other accountable, if you know what I mean. Like you know and again, your three boys are probably very similar, right, anything they do, it's a competition. There's a lot of chirping, and you know you monitor that and you go through all that and that's where life lessons come in, that's where you know parenting comes in and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But you know, at the end of the day, we're pretty, we're pretty thankful. I mean, you want to talk about gratitude, like we have so many people to thank throughout our small communities that you know help these kids. You know, I don't know, stay at the rink late to do the ice. You know so many different things, right? Like I mean, all our kids had the same baseball coach. I was always the assistant and the same baseball coach. He still stays in touch with them today, like he's a really good friend of mine. Well, derek took them to Nationals, they took them to Western Canadians, like all three of them. And so, just again, those experiences alone again, are to me just imperative when growing up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love that and I want to put a little color on that because I do know a little bit more of the backstory and just to shine a light for some of the people here. So you talked about at a certain age, then they had to commit. But let's talk about what was that age first of all, and before that you would say that yeah, like essentially the baseball team was the hockey team, right, like, and was the whatever team, right, and so you'd have sally and johnny and jimmy and like boys and girls, just to even produce a team.
Speaker 1:So you had like dramatically different skill sets on the same, on the same field or on the same ice right, yeah, and I and I again I'm so old school and again, I know your listeners are again probably going to roll their eyes, but there's nothing wrong with playing, you know, with kids that are less skilled because you have to learn how to, and again, I know we just touched on this, but you know, be excited for their, how good they do right.
Speaker 1:Be excited that you know they scored their first goal or made a great pass, or be excited for that because it takes away from you know the individualness of what's happening. You can't get frustrated because you know little Johnny or little Sally can't move, the move, the puck. Well, they could probably touch the puck back to you and use a give and go. So talk to them about that, right, and all my kids, like all my kids were pretty much, uh, growing up were almost 50, 50 girls. Connor had the worst one and not the worst one, god, that sounded bad, but the worst the wrong ratio of boys to girls.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was three boys to seven girls, all the way until Pee Wee, and they did so well, like those girls still, you know, still amaze me today. We still stay in touch. I mean, there's, you can challenge your kids and, yes, I was a coach but you can challenge those kids to, you know, learn how to play with those players, right, and because not everybody's going to have the same skill set, some are going to be better right Down the line, whether it's, you know, junior, you know whatever, but some are also going to be worse. So talk to them as a, as a teammate, and say, hey, can you go here? Or when you get here, you know, and all sorts of things, and I think that helped a ton too.
Speaker 1:And you know, again, these small towns we'd always have, excuse me, we always have players want to try hockey for the first time at, you know, u9 or U11. Well, again, there's a whole different dynamic, right, because this person can't even skate, right? So you're using that person to you know, try, and you know try and get better, whether it's during the game or on the ice, or at practices or whatever. So it's again, I'm old school in that regard. Is that you, yes, you want to play with the best players. It's. It's probably the fastest way to get there, but I think there's an opportunity that you know just because you're playing with a double A player versus a triple A player. I think there's opportunity there. I truly do. And that's not the mindset of today. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's not the mindset of today and and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's the norm. I'm just saying that's, that's what we had to do in our small community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I think there's opportunity there is. All I mean even if that's all anyone takes away from this is that it is possible and it can happen because there is room for growth in those environments. Yeah, and like what, what, what, uh, what pick was, was, uh, was Morgan in the draft at WHL?
Speaker 1:In the oh, he was fifth round.
Speaker 2:Fifth round. Okay, so fifth round, connor was what? Oh, connor was second overall, second overall.
Speaker 1:And then what was your middle guy? Noah was third Right Overall or third round. Noah, he was third round.
Speaker 2:Okay, so a fifth rounder, a third rounder and second overall, from an environment that had seven girls to three boy ratio for the majority of his sports career. Right, exactly, playing all these different sports, not in a high octane, a high performance environment. Not saying that this is like again, I'm not saying that this is the path that everyone should be seeking, but the thing is is like it is still a path, like there's a pathway that exists there, right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:And thank you for saying that, because, again I I'm a little bit jaded, like I. Again, the landscape's changed and I get it changes daily or annually or whatever, and you know, being on the ice all the time is still not. I think it's quite proven that it's still not the best for these kids. So you know, to see what you're doing in the, you know flag football and playing lacrosse and stuff like that well, that is still better than being on the ice, right and again, no path is going to be the same, like whether you're at the academy or on AAA, that AA kid can roll in and have a growth spurt and the light bulb kind of goes on. He's going to surpass both of you, right, and that's just the way it is, and I truly, truly thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1:Our path is unique, but it still can be done. You just have to kind of buck the system a little bit right, if you can. Again, it's tough, though, because for you to sit here and you know you you played, you played that in the nhl. I never did, and there was people around us that you know told us we should be taking morgan, noah and connor elsewhere, and you know, we just kind of said no, we're not. You know we're not ready to do that yet, so um, it is a different path.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when did they? When did you shift gears with them? Um, and again, Noah ended up going the baseball route and and uh, and yeah, again, by all accounts, a hell of a hockey player, and the other two stuck with hockey. Uh, but when, when was that shift from a family as being okay, like we gotta be a little bit, or not even? Maybe there was a conscious choice, Maybe the boys kind the boys kind of chose it. I don't know how that worked, but when did that happen?
Speaker 1:correct. Uh, great call, I would say. The boys really migrated to their own love of the game, right, they? They continued like connor would still be playing and morgan, for that matter, if it wasn't really based on their contract, they'd be playing ball still today in the offseason. They, they love the sport. They, um, actually, morgan and noah, or morgan and connor, actually bought brand new gloves. I'm not joking like last week, they bought brand new gloves, they worked them in together, and so morgan actually went to tampa to watch connor, uh, take their daughter and and to disney world, but they, you know, threw the ball together right outside. So when was that? I would say probably in that, probably 17 year old, you know, 16, 17 on the later side, right, wow, that was way later than I thought you were gonna say yep, 100, no, and because, like I said, we still, we still did everything, we, we still, and I and I still am a big believer in um.
Speaker 1:If you have the right coaches that are willing to do that and try and make it work, you're only going to miss, you know, maybe half dozen practices and maybe a game or two, you know, because of provincials. But again, if you get a chance to go to volleyball provincials or basketball provincials or curling provincials, you know, versus a regular season game, I'm going to tell you to go to the provincial because it's an experience. There's way more pressure there, right at a provincial format, than there is, you know, in a regular season game. So what you're gaining from that experience trumps, you know, playing a regular season game. Is that the norm? No, you have to buck the system and kind of say no, we're going to take them there.
Speaker 1:So it was probably in that, like I said, in that 17 range, morgan actually never, when he got drafted, and I know I've told you this story, but we had to call Tri-Cities and tell him he wasn't going. And you know he actually had a chance to go to baseball nationals, you know, as you know, for representing his team and we chose that, hands down, you know, to go to a, you know, a training camp that he probably wasn't going to make it, which he wasn't to go play a national event, you know, you know, and he ended up, you know, just tearing it up, like he ended up with the batting average and MVP and right, and then came home and said you know what I'm choosing? Hockey, you know, and that was at 16. So in a 17 year old year, he, he went for his first time in, in, in Tri-Cities, you know, and Bob was again.
Speaker 1:You kind of think that to me you don't know how people are going to react to that, right, because it's no different than you and me having kids say no to our expansion into Manitoba here. Well, no, we're not coming. Well, of course I want you to come, but when we talked to bob on the phone there, he was ecstatic and completely was 100 on board, with us choosing a national baseball championship. So, um, again, when you can kind of get those people and when, and that's why, you know, that's why Morgan had such good success in Tri-Cities, to me it was because of Bob, right, because because of the culture there, right, it's, it's, it's bigger than hockey, right so but yeah, I would say ultimately that it's, it's right around that 16, 17 is when we chose that's really cool.
Speaker 2:What did um sticking with morgan, so fifth runner to the whl? Uh, where did he get drafted to in the nhl draft?
Speaker 1:uh, the third round, 67 is that about right okay, yeah, so already kind of okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so already kind of peaking late bloomer, however you want to call it right, I love that because they, for anyone who hasn't done it, like, obviously I'm more involved than than probably the average listener here, but if you look at a whl draft and from the whl draft who plays in the nhl, from that draft, like it's, it's actually quite an interesting experiment to look. Yeah, uh, you know, like the first rounders, yes, higher percentage, and then it falls off fast, drastically. It's crazy. Um, you know like a second rounder that you were talking like in the whl scenario, right, like yourth, overall you're deemed the second best 14 year old in all of Western Canada, the hockey hotbed of fricking, you know the world, and very few play right, like and so for a fifth rounder from the WHL to just have scored 34 goals or whatever the heck Morgan just did at the WHL and be the 30th best goal scorer in the NHL is like, I love stories like that, like that's so cool.
Speaker 2:And I think it speaks to for me about the idea of if we just fall in love from a mindset side of, like the process of development and and I mean you're talking about a holistic athlete is essentially what you're talking about and it's and that wasn't like the goal wasn't to make you know, morgan, a 30 goal NHL score at the start. It was just that the philosophy of the more exposure, the better, as a human Right, like, go do stuff, do as much stuff as you can and then, once you find out what you're good at and what you want to do, that's going to help you in your long-term road to be successful and whatever Right. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:And thank you for saying that. You know it was it had. And again, this is where I've always been somewhat shy or neglected, to kind of really say this, but because nobody believes you, right, but we, we never talked about the drafts, we never talked about hockey being like we just it was when you said just be better in life, right, that's, that's honestly what it was about. Like, do as much as you can and whatever you decide to do, even if you decide to be a plumber, well, all that sports and all those you know disciplines that you needed to excel at, those sports is going to help you as a plumber, like it truly will. Like you know, I'm a sales manager now. Well, it helps me immensely deal with different problems. Well, that's all we kept talking about.
Speaker 1:And again, leading up to the draft, we never talked about the draft. You know we would talk about, yes, we knew the draft was coming, but we would talk about how to handle people coming up to you and how to speak about the draft. Right, they already knew that the draft was coming, right, so we didn't have to talk about it. But when you entered our house, you know, clean up your mess, do the dishes right, seriously clean the table, you know, clean the shoes away from the door, stuff like that. That's what we talked about. And I mean still to this day, you walk in our house, there's only one or two pictures, there's not big, but everything's still in the closet. You know all their jerseys, like those bats, and all his jerseys from college and, excuse me, all that stuff. Again, you're, you're still the, the. You know, you're still craig and toby's boy and and that's it. So again, I, I really appreciate the word that you use and you know holistic, athlete, holistic, you know, person just trying to better themselves.
Speaker 2:And I, again, it's just, I know it's different timing, though, like it's, it's the, the, again, I keep using the word, but the landscape is so changed, um, we've got so, you know, engulfed in the in the game that it's, sometimes it does get clouded yeah, well, but I do think that the conversation is relevant more now than ever, though, because I do think that there is there is a perception that you have to do it this certain way because that's the best way, and I and I and I'm still a firm believer that it's not the best way, I don't care if everyone else is doing it, and I think that there's a lot of science now about even, you know, like, the injuries and this and the things that are happening outside of the game or at the NHL level now and again.
Speaker 2:I wanted to say that about what the goal was too, because if the goal and I say that to my boys right now, because I know Hudson wants to be in any like that's all he wants to do and that's all he's wanted to do Right, but I'm like, if that goal in of itself, if that is the reason why you're playing like you honestly are in a tough spot, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and your bang is that there was really never a goal per se, we just wanted a work ethic, a time management. You know I don't know a teammate philosophy, you know, in everything. And again, not to downplay it, but Toby was such an integral factor there that you know she was always the really competitive one and I know this is, you know, everybody's gonna again roll their eyes here. I was always the one that you know would kind of sit back a little bit, you know, but toby was as intense as everybody. We just had to kind of, you know, kind of say to each other, okay, like let's tone it down a bit. Like, you know, this isn't, this isn't the end, all be all here. So and again, I'm not, I'm not downplaying it where we just kind of said, ok, here it is no, we're as competitive as anybody.
Speaker 1:But you know, just like you said, the ability to not do the norm is very tough, though Like I mean to me, the average person, to to buck the system. It's very hard, right, because you feel like you're being left out, right, you feel like you're missing something. And you know, we, we see that a lot to me in manitoba, because you know there's nowhere near as much opportunity as there is in BC, just for sheer demographics, sheer numbers, right. So when there is something good, right, or somebody believes in something, um, everybody kind of falls right Um, which is good and bad in a way. Um, but for people to make their own choices and say you know what we're not doing, that Um very, very tough to do for Um, very very tough to do for people.
Speaker 2:Another quick stop to the show to say elite prospects has wanted to get involved with up my hockey and they are with the UMH 68 invitational Uh. We have set up a uh Prospects sponsorship where every player attending the UMH 68 will receive a verified profile done by Elite Prospects. The verified profile can be well I don't want to say cumbersome, but there's some work involved in verifying your profile. If you come to the UMH 68, this will be done for you by the great people at Elite Prospects. That is one perk of coming to our event. The second perk is that everything you do there will be tracked, not only tracked properly by Elite, but it's tracked properly by us. I take goals, assists, primary assists and secondary assists very seriously. I take shots on goal for goaltenders very seriously. Their goals against average is important and everything is done with video and it is accurate at a UMH 68 invitational event. So if you deserve an assist, you will get it. We take pride in that and those points however many you get or however many you don't get will be on your Elite Prospects profile. Elite Prospects is covering every UMH 68 event and this is a pretty prestigious honor for the UMH 68 Invitational, as Elite Prospects only works with very high caliber, very high class tournaments. They cover tournaments like the John Reed Invitational, like the Brick Invitational and they are now covering the UMH 68 Invitational. So all of your stats will be on there and if you happen to be one of the best of the best at the event and you win a UMH 68 All-Star Award, that will also be on your hockey profile for the rest of your life that you won an All-Star at a UMH 68 event. Those All-Star Awards are powered by Elite Prospects. You will receive an Elite Prospects hat as well when it comes to that. So lots of good stuff happening. And for one special event, one of my U15 events, elite Prospects is going to bring a scout out there to write evaluation reports on the players and to share them on their social media and it will also be added to their profiles. So super exciting stuff with Elite Prospects. I couldn't be happier working with them. Cam Robinson is a former guest of the show. He does great work for Elite Prospects. The people behind the scenes at Elite Prospects have been great to deal with and really excited that they see the exact same opportunity with the UMH 68 Invitational as I do, and want to grow with the event. So if you are looking for any other reason or any more reasons to get involved with the UMH 68 Invitational, hopefully Elite Prospects is a big part of your decision-making process. Now let's get back to the conversation with Craig Geeky.
Speaker 2:I never really fully have communicated. I don't think like what my, what my philosophy is like when it comes to it all and and I think maybe this would be a good time I'm not going to get super deep, but like it's hard being doing what I do from a hockey perspective, like an on the ground hockey perspective, because, for instance, I don't do anything in July, right, do from a hockey perspective, like an on-the-ground hockey perspective, because, for instance, I don't do anything in July. I'm a hockey skills coach that does hockey programming for people and there's a lot of people that want to do stuff in July For the age group that I work with. I've stuck in my lane and stayed with the youth people. I don't think anybody should be on the ice in July, so because of that, I don't offer programs. Now, that's how I also pay my bills. You see what I mean. So it's really like for me to have some integrity in what I do. I feel, at least, that I need to offer what I believe in, and so when I do a program, it's not around the idea of, hey, how do I extract the most money from the community.
Speaker 2:The first thing is what is best for the athlete, right, yeah, like period, and so I I believe in like three sessions a week for the most part. I believe in a skill session, I believe in a compete day. I believe in having fun and having like a games day involved in that. I believe in understanding the physical dynamics of movement and having that being a part of your, of your training, as you've talked about. I believe that you should be doing other sports and a lot of times players aren't able to do that because of this day and age, just with how committed you need to be to something. So one of my facilities is the academy where we do sports throughout the year around hockey, where I bring in other coaches and they learn how to play other sports. So, like, all of those things on top of each other is my way of like supplying my philosophy to kids that aren't my kids, right, right, like. I think this is the way, whether you're a high performer or whether you're a house leaguer, if you want to get better at the sport of hockey, I think this is the best way that we can do that. And the other part of that, the extension, was UMH 68, which is what you're working with me on now in Manitoba. And yes, this is an extracurricular event. It is an event after the season is over. It is an event at the tail end of spring hockey.
Speaker 2:The good thing about when we're Well, how my thought about this was was okay, my spring program myself. I guess this is relevant. I go, I have a non-weekend model. That's important to me too. Okay, so I think that, unless we're going to a tournament, we're not going to be in hockey arenas. Right, I want, I want kids to be able to go throw the football around. I want them to go to the lake. I want them to be able to go throw the football around. I want them to go to the lake. I want them to play golf right, I want them to do these things. I want to go on family camping trips Like that's, like that's programmed in I we could be doing exhibition games.
Speaker 2:I'm talking triple A teams that I'd coach, right, but I'm like no, we're not doing that, we're going to be with you, okay. So through that, and I also think that, okay, then we should end. I believe that it should end around mid-May, end of June, like that's when I think the traditional spring season should end, and for my own kids they've always been off the ice essentially all of June and pretty much all of July. July, I think. Like six week minimum is kind of how I've done. Really, I'd like to have more, but at least for me I'm like okay, I feel comfortable with that six weeks. So at the end of that spring season I'm like I think this UMH 68 event is fantastic because we can bring people together to your point, the networking side of it.
Speaker 2:Not people that you're with all the time, right, not people that you're been accustomed to your whole life, but new people from new geographic regions, from different leagues, from different, from different family styles and everything else.
Speaker 2:Different coaches, right, different accomplished coaches that are going to believe in you and buy into you, and we're going to give you the skills required to be the best that you can be from an off ice perspective, when it comes to the mental aspect, or if it comes to the training aspect and the physical aspect. So, like me, it was like the umh68 was like, okay, this is like, this is kind of the culmination of everything that I believe in that hockey can be, you know, and it can be this development tool for athletes. So, um, I can't, that was definitely not planned, but I just went into my whole philosophy about how to, how to you know, how to supply an environment. But maybe you can talk to just your side of it, of like what drew you, because it sounds like we definitely have like similar ideologies. Um, and you wanted to be involved in the 68. Now you're running the event for me in manitoba, like is, is that what sort of brought you into the, into the ecosystem?
Speaker 1:totally pods. I think, again, when you end up kind of clicking with somebody you know, based on philosophies and ideas, you know, it's not only the start of it. I think it breeds more than that, right, because when you're thinking the same right, the challenges throughout our you know planning of this, you know, always seems to be on the same path, right, so it becomes a little bit easier. But why? I joined to me, I was never a big showcase guy. I still honestly believe that the right people will see the right things at some point, if you know, if you're good enough, they will find you and I truly believe that. But what I do enjoy about your philosophy is that you're bringing different people together. And, and again, you don't have to have, you know, even though we want, you don't have to have. You know that top end triple A guy there we're going to have some, you know, some really really good high end double A guys. Right, that maybe didn't make it because just sheer numbers, right, which is to me a junior situation or an angelic, you could be in the minors, right, and you know that firsthand. But coupled with that is our seminars, right, our seminars about. You know, we've got John Houghton coming, who is a Navy SE who teaches you, uh, you know, how to handle those really inept situations that are beyond your control. Well, how do you handle it? Um, you know, and he is an amazing person, just you know, we could have a whole podcast on him, but, you know, then we have a goaltending session.
Speaker 1:You to me, the education portion through a lot of these other showcases to me are missed, and I think that's what we're trying to get to is, you know, really establish the education, the development and then the competition right, and I just believe in that. I just think if you can get way more out of the game because everybody can go rent ice like you can you can put on a showcase, but doing it this way, in a very professional manner, is really what drew me. And you know, you talk about education, you talk about development, you talk about compete and you know, depending on the type of person you are, you can, you can probably move those three pieces of the puzzle around whatever way you want. You want the competition first, yeah, okay, well, but alongside of that, you need an education right of how to handle those intentions and then you need to develop right your workout habits, and that's what john's going to talk about, and you know you're, you might talk about the, you know the mental aspect, so it all kind of fits in there where you piece it together, we just offer it right and we just offer it and that's um. You know, that's truly to me why it looked appealing to me when you, you know, when you reached out, and and again, I just I'm like you, I love your philosophy. You're doing it.
Speaker 1:Going to Coeur d'Alene, like, let's be honest, like I mean, I don't know whether you want to get into it or not, but you know, we touched on it on our last phone call Like you're doing that. You're not doing the prototypical. You know big hockey academy, you know it's new, it's different. Well, you know and I'm sure there's some butterfly moments right throughout the day that you're kind of going oh, am I doing the right thing? Well, just believe in it. Right, if you believe in it, like I said, I believe in this, the umh, you know we've still got spots left.
Speaker 2:So anybody listening?
Speaker 1:like I believe in it and I think what we're putting on and what we're trying to, you know, incorporate are the three best things you can do, which is education, development, development and competition. And you know, hopefully, you know, and we've got a, we've got a great facility, like nobody knows, like that Keystone center is such an undervalued piece in to me, all four provinces. I'm sorry, but it is, you know, it's three hockey rinks, it's a hotel, it's, you know, yeah, it is, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, no, it's super exciting and I guess what we didn't also say, like the parents get involved. And again, like you know, you mentioned that you never played in the NHL. You played pro, but you never played in the NHL, so even for you.
Speaker 1:There was a little bit of oh do, am I doing?
Speaker 1:the right thing. Yeah, I mean I, I, oh, on the daily pods, like I'm, I'm serious, like it was. If you ever get a chance to talk to the boys, I mean they will tell you that I, I would go, I would stay quiet sometimes. You know, you know Morgan, in the NHL and even in the NHL I'll just say like it's so refreshing to see and hear coaches tell you what I believe in, which is, you know, doing this or doing it this way or whatever. And you know even Noah, for that matter, in the game of baseball. Like you know, we, we still talk, you know, on the daily, but we, you know, but once every couple months I I ask him some questions.
Speaker 2:He says, no, it's the same thing as what you know, what you taught us, right and so but again, I'm gonna cut in just for a second, because what I'm saying is so like, for the moms and dads out there that have even no hockey experience, right, and have a belief system, or maybe don't even know what the belief system is for hockey development or for high performance, right, like, I do believe that the parents need to be a part of discussion, especially at the ages that we're talking to kids about, right, we're talking U14, u15 age kids, right, that's who we're serving.
Speaker 2:They're trying to figure it out and the parents are trying to figure it out, right, and not that we have this golden rail roadmap, but here's a structure, right, here's what we should be thinking about. This should be in your bandwidth of consideration, right, and I think, if we can do that, and then this opportunity provides mom and dad to talk with their sons and daughters about what they just heard, how does this apply to us? Right, like, what, what can we do with this information? And um, and I guess the thing that that excites me about the 68, too, is like, and really like, the pretense for how the whole thing started with me was like this is the age where you're figuring out that you're not just playing hockey more anymore, but you want to be a hockey player, right?
Speaker 2:And I do think that there's a different approach, like I think that the game changes and there's a different approach to that and, uh, and that's exciting to me, right, so that whole thing is exciting to me and you know us expanding now into Manitoba it's a long way away and, and, yeah, we've. You know, with any new endeavor, there's always challenges, but the exciting thing is is that, however many guys we got right now 45 or 50 or something that are excited, ready to go, we do have spots available. So, for anyone listening out there, like, this is the 2011 birth year in Manitoba. It really has. I mean, I say this humbly and gratefully, but, like, the events that we've held in British Columbia have been gangbusters, absolute gangbusters. Like, how many spring tournaments has anyone ever been to where you've actually wrote a letter to the coordinator thanking you for that? You know, like, I've never written one and I think I'm a pretty grateful guy, right, like, but like, over half of the people took the time to say this was amazing last year. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2:Like we, we want to come back, like, so, like that's what we're executing, I guess, here, like, as we move east, right Like, we want to provide that same experience. We want this to be very different than anything you've ever done and it will be very different than anything you've ever done. So I know there's like hesitation sometimes and I know there's other things to do and I know that there's things on the plate, but this truly is an experience that is going to leave your athlete, you know, a better hockey player, a better human, a more connected person, and it's kind of Craig and I's way to show, kind of, what options are out there and what we should consider. So, again, I guess what am I saying here? Yes, there is spots available.
Speaker 2:The 2011 watch list is the best way to get your name on that. We're almost like five weeks away, so you are getting super close. By the time this episode releases, which is going to be tomorrow, which is the 29th, we essentially have five to seven days before we have to shut off registration. If you do hear this, or?
Speaker 1:if you know of somebody in Manitoba and you're not in.
Speaker 2:Manitoba or Saskatchewan, by the way, we open it up to Saskatchewan and that's a new audience for us because, as Craig's point, we were a little bit late in the game and getting the idea out and the concept out, and Manitoba isn't a huge province, to begin with, with trillions of hockey players of the level that we're speaking to. So we open that up to to the players of Saskatchewan as well in 2011. So if you are neither one of those provinces and want to compete, by all means let us know. We would be happy to have you and I'll be there in person there on on the 29th and we'll be making sure we're delivering a good product right yeah well, that's good pods.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I'm I'm it Really really excited and can't wait to meet everybody, Cause I mean there's so many you know names on spreadsheets and phone numbers and texts and stuff like that, so it's finally, I mean I'm really excited to kind of put names or put faces names, I guess, and that is a big part of it, and that's a big part of it for me.
Speaker 2:Like you established little micro relationships even on through the invitation process, which can be, you know, as you know, a bit exhausting, but it is about, like it's about connecting with people and like people need to trust me, they need to trust you. You know, like that, that their time is going to provide something. So I do think that that's just part of it too, right, especially as we're growing it. They need to believe in, in, in who's behind it. So that's one of the reasons why I wanted to bring you on too as well. I know your perspective is great there. I wanted to let people have an opportunity to get to get to know you and and yeah, I mean we're at that hour mark. I know we could talk forever and about your boys more, but, uh, for anyone who hasn't listened, connor came on as a young teenager just finished being drafted I believe is when we had him on and, uh, he did a fantastic job.
Speaker 2:Connor's interview I really enjoyed. Uh, I have not had a chance to talk to morgan yet, but craig said that we might be able to tee that up, so maybe we'll have them on and working to speak to himself, because he just had a absolute career year at a crazy time and uh and connor's just trying to break that bubble of getting into the uh nhl as a full-time regular after his first year of pro, so actually might be a good time to have connor back on again too. Um, let's see, see if he's interested. But yeah, I love what you're doing there, buddy, I, I, uh, it's so much fun following your kids and uh and seeing the success that they're having and your transparency with what you believe in and that whatever. I mean, there's good, bad and ugly with all of it, right?
Speaker 1:There is, there truly is. And again, your listeners can agree, disagree, roll their eyes or do whatever, but there is no one-step path and there is no right or wrong way. And all I'm saying is, as long as they're, you know, good people and and good hard workers and manage their time and and, honestly, don't get too high, all right, or low, for that matter, which is part of the mental, mental side of things and, again, tough to do in a, you know, in a a high end sport like hockey. So yeah, hockey, so yeah, no kidding.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks for checking in. I know you got a busy day there. I'll let you go. Um, we'll get this posted tomorrow and for everyone out there, thanks so much for listening and uh, and again, hopefully we'll, uh, we'll see you, uh, or, if not you, uh, maybe a relative or uh, or a nephew or or somebody like that. At the event, and, by all means, if you are in brandon, uh, or anywhere near there, may 29th to to June 1st. It's so cool when people just come out and support Like we're talking really good hockey, like high level hockey. The games are fantastic and the more people there to appreciate it the better. So come out and say hi and shake our hands. We'd love to meet you.
Speaker 1:You betcha.
Speaker 2:Thanks, pods, thanks Craig, all right, thank you for listening to the entire episode with Craig. Awesome to have him on. One of the things I do love about the UMH 68 is I get to talk to Hugh Hamilton and Craig Geeky, two of my former teammates, on a somewhat consistent basis as we forge ahead with these events. They are the guys on the ground that are making it happen in their respective provinces and it's a lot of fun to reconnect with uh, with old, with old teammates. So, uh, thank you, craig, for coming on. I hope you enjoyed the discussion today.
Speaker 2:Uh, just around the philosophy, around the down-to-earth, authentic approach to just participating go out there and participate in life. The more often you can do that, the more engaged you can be as an athlete, the more willing you are to say no to things, which means saying yes to new experiences and new opportunities the better. I do believe that that changes. You know, as kids mature and as they age and as they go through puberty, and as they they find what they want to do, then you know that we will tighten our sight lines on what it is, uh, that is important and what it is that is necessary. But do not underestimate the value of rest, and I don't mean rest in the sense of lying on the couch, I mean rest with your skates off. Being on the golf course instead of being on the ice, being on the tennis court instead of being on the ice, being on a mountain bike instead of being on the ice, like all these things are super helpful to your hockey. Being out, being involved, being engaged, being an athlete is something that all young people should be doing, and not only we didn't talk about it much in the episode, but it does give yourself a mental break, a brain break, and allows the brain to grow some of the myelinations and some of the connections that it can't otherwise. So we get an emotional letdown, we get to breathe, we get to look forward to something, we get to be more grateful about the opportunities, uh, to play hockey when they are presented to us again.
Speaker 2:So I'm not saying taking the whole summer off ever. I do understand that, hey, we have to get ready for camps. I mean that's why I offer my own camps, as I talked about. Uh, you know in the, in the program there, that you know I get back on the ice, starting in August, start skating, start back on the ice, starting in August. Start skating, start getting your reps in there. Uh, definitely, don't stay out of the gym, you know. Don't, don't stay off the field, don't stay off the track. These are all different things, but as far as ice is concerned, uh, you know, get back in in in August, take some time off in July. Hopefully most of June or some of June, you can take some time off too.
Speaker 2:And uh, and like I said, be a, be an athlete, be a kid, be engaged in life, be curious. And uh, the best we can do to support that as parents is, uh is beneficial as well. So that's my rant for the day. Uh, hockey's amazing, but it doesn't have to be hockey all the time. Uh, if we believe in the process of, of just development, the process of being curious about life and curious about just getting better in general, the hockey will take care of itself. I promise you so until next time. This is Jason Padolan. Play hard and keep your head up.