May 11, 2024

Inside the Flyers' Impact on Youth Hockey, Warrior Hockey, And The Community with Rob Baer

In this week's episode of "Our Kids Play Hockey," Lee Elias speaks with Rob Baer, the Director of Youth Hockey and Amateur Programs for the Philadelphia Flyers. Rob has dedicated over two decades to the sport, significantly impacting both youth and amateur hockey through various programs and initiatives. Notably, he's a key figure in the Flyers' Learn to Play program and an assistant coach for the Flyers Warriors.

Discussion Highlights:

Rob Baer's Hockey Journey:
- From playing at Archbishop Carroll High School to engaging with the Philadelphia Phantoms, Rob's deep-rooted connection with hockey shaped his career and passion for the game.
- His transition from playing to a pivotal role in fan development and youth engagement with the Flyers.
Learn to Play Program:
- An examination of the Flyers' successful Learn to Play initiative, which has significantly reduced barriers for new entrants into the sport by providing equipment and accessible opportunities.
Expanding the Game Beyond Playing:
- Rob discusses various ways individuals can engage with hockey outside traditional play, highlighting the administrative and developmental roles that contribute to the sport's ecosystem.
Veterans in Hockey – Flyers Warriors:
- A heartwarming look at the Flyers Warriors, a team that offers veterans a sense of community and purpose through hockey. Rob shares inspiring stories of transformation and camaraderie among the team members.
Youth Hockey Initiatives and Future Plans:
- Insights into upcoming initiatives aimed at further fostering the growth of hockey in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Rob expresses a strong desire to include more girls and diverse groups in the sport.
Personal Reflections and Hockey Philosophy:
- Rob reflects on the intrinsic values of hockey, such as teamwork, dedication, and the pure joy of the game. He emphasizes the importance of these values in nurturing a lifelong passion for hockey among young players.

Rob’s interview not only highlights his profound impact on hockey through his roles with the Philadelphia Flyers and community initiatives but also paints a broader picture of how sports can serve as powerful platforms for community building and personal development. His stories are a testament to the life-changing power of hockey and its ability to connect a

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00:52 - Passion for Hockey

07:01 - Expanding Youth Hockey Opportunities

18:31 - Athletes Giving Back to Community

25:45 - Philadelphia Warriors Hockey Program Journey

31:17 - Youth Hockey Love and Creativity

WEBVTT

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hello hockey friends and families around the world and welcome back to another edition of our kids play hockey, powered by nhl censorina.

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I'm lee elias, mike benelli and christy casciano on assignment tonight, so I'm going to be doing this one solo, and our guest today is the director of youth hockey and amateur programs for the ph Flyers and oversees all Flyers affiliated youth and amateur programs, including the immensely popular learn to play program.

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He is also a full-time assistant coach for the Flyers Warriors, a USA hockey affiliated team for veterans, where he handles much of the X and O, instruction and explanation of hockey system basics, especially for the less experienced players, in addition to his 20 plus year career with the Flyers.

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As you can guess, he also comes from a hockey family where he and his four brothers all played hockey, and his three children, jackson, mckenzie and Harper, are all athletes, with his youngest daughter finishing learn to play this past week.

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He is one of us people he understands.

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Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Rob Baer to the show, rob welcome to Our Kids Play Hockey my pleasure.

00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:06.364
Thank you so much for having me.

00:01:06.364 --> 00:01:12.552
Great intro and, yes, I live that hockey life, like so many of your listeners do, and I love it.

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Yeah, well, I think you got to live a hockey life, to work in hockey, at least you should, right?

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I've been in organizations before where there are employees.

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Let's just say that it's a job to them, that it's a job to them.

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That always freaked me out a little bit, right?

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Because there's this great saying I'm sure you've heard it.

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You know, hockey is not something you do, it's something you are, and I always love to surround people in the game with other hockey people.

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Not that I don't want outside perspectives, right, I think that that's important to get, but you know, when you're a hockey lifer, you're a hockey lifer.

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Right, and I'm a hockey lifer, yeah, I mean I played from whatever.

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It was age five or six.

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I grew up playing at Wissick and Skating Club, played at Archbishop Carroll in high school, went and played at Westchester University and I was fortunate enough that while I was in college I spent a lot of time working with the Philadelphia Phantoms when they played at the Spectrum.

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So I was there all the game nights, I helped them out in the summertime with their camps and I just I got to know people in the hockey world.

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I knew that a playing career wasn't necessarily going to happen for me after college, but I wanted to stay involved in the sport and by staying involved with the Phantoms I got to know a lot of people there.

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And it just so happened that sort of, as I was graduating from Westchester, a position was opening up in fan development with the Flyers and the Phantoms and I guess I had a leg up on the competition because they already knew me from the last four years that I had spent kind of working with them part-time.

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And 22 years later here I am still here.

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They can't get rid of me.

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No, I love it, man, I'll tell you this.

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You know we get we get a lot of emails from guests all the time and typically it's hockey parents asking for advice and they ask great questions.

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But one of the ones that trickles in kind of consistently is that postgraduate, 22, 23, 24 year old that says hey, I just, I want to get involved in the game.

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How do I get involved in the game?

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And I always tell them let the passion guide you.

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But you got to do the work right, you got to get involved, you got to be there and then I've seen so many careers evolved from that passion.

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It's also a good point.

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I usually save this for the end of the show, but since we're talking about it, there's so many ways to be involved in our game besides just playing.

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And I think that when you can open that kind of kaleidoscope into the hockey world, you start to see how amazing it is.

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And again we're going to talk about today some of the initiatives that Flyers have created, because the game in this area has grown so much.

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And again, I grew up here, we'll just say in the early to mid 90s was kind of when I was falling into the game.

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You know the Eric Lindros era and I remember the expanse of hockey.

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I mean, rinks were going up everywhere, hockey was going everywhere and the Flyers have been so committed as an organization to the area, right, you really can't go in a 50-mile radius without seeing some form of Flyers.

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Learn to play Flyers ball hockey, flyers-affiliated hockey.

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Talk to me a little bit again about being involved in the game.

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I had a question.

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I'm just going to read it too.

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You've been in 20-plus years with an international club.

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It's just not a joke.

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You told us how you got initially involved.

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How did that expand and how many people have you helped over that time?

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How many people have I helped?

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I couldn't tell you that, but probably millions.

00:04:12.908 --> 00:04:14.941
Yeah, I'm very humble, it's been multiple.

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I'll say it for you, buddy.

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That's it.

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Yeah, thank you, it's evolved over the years.

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When I first started I was primarily focused on Phantoms initiatives.

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Early in my career was when we had that canceled NHL season 0-4-0-5, the season that wasn't, and luckily we still had the Phantoms to kind of focus our energy on and they ended up winning the Calder Cup that year.

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So that was a really cool year.

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Without the Flyers, we still managed to have fun and pack the Wells Fargo Center for hockey games, even though it was at the American League level, and I've just sort of grown and adapted and adjusted as time has gone on and done whatever it was that needed to be done.

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There was a time when they needed me to sell tickets.

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So I got involved with selling tickets and booking all the lights on ice and the pre and post game ice slots and wasn't necessarily my passion or what I wanted to do, but it's what they needed me to do and so I did it and I think that that flexibility is super important as you stay involved in the game.

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You don't always control your own destiny.

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You're not always the one driving the bus.

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You have to do what's what's needed and I feel like I'm in a pretty good place now with just having the ability to share my passion for the sport and get sticks in hands and get kids involved, and we love the game and we just try and share it with as many people as we can.

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Yeah, being part of a hockey team at an executive level or however you want to say it, it's not much different being on an actual team.

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Right, you have to have a role, you have to do the job.

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You're not always going to love the role, but if you do the job, things tend to pay out.

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Um, I want to dump into some of these initiatives the Flyers are doing in a moment.

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But uh, you tapped on your hockey journey.

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I said it in the opening.

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You and your siblings Tell me a little bit about your youth hockey journey.

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You said you started around five years old.

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Was there a moment that it clicked?

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Was it the first time you stepped on the ice?

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Was it a little later?

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Where you went?

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Man, I love this.

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Tell the people at home a little bit about your journey in that game.

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Yeah, I don't think it was when I first stepped on the ice, because when I first started it was at you remember, the old, uh, old York road rink.

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It was partially outdoors and it was like a learn to play type of thing that I did, and it was five o'clock, six o'clock in the morning.

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It was like still dark when we got off the ice.

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Everybody loves that time so what are we doing?

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Um, but after a couple of weeks, I think my parents didn't have to like shake me awake anymore.

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It was like I was up and I was ready to go and just super excited about being involved with the sport.

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And so, yeah, I fell in love with it pretty, pretty early and pretty quickly and spent my might through midget years at Wissahickon, and I love Wissahickon.

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After I graduated college I went back there and coached the 18?

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U level and then, when my son was old enough to start playing, we went to Wissahickon and that was just.

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That was always home and I love that place and I always will.

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Yeah, for those of you listening, not in this area, wissahickon is this amazing skating club in Philadelphia.

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It's been here forever.

00:07:21.406 --> 00:07:25.411
It seems like Mike Richter is probably the most notable player that came out of there.

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Many of you will know him in New York.

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You love him in New York.

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Went through heavy renovations what 20 years ago maybe?

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Now it seems like it's an amazing, beautiful one-sheet rink.

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There's not many of those left.

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I'll put it that way it's an amazing place to play the game.

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Great old barn In 1956, it was built.

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So anyway, that rink and that club helped shape me as a kid and a hockey player I'd be remiss if.

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I didn't mention Wissahickon and all the great things that it's done.

00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:56.571
Yeah well, I always love saying the word Wissahickon to people who aren't from here, because it's a nice one to say.

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We just call it Wiss usually.

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Yeah, that's true.

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All right, let's dive into some of the stuff the Flyers are doing, because I'm excited about your initiatives.

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Look, learn to Play has become a real staple in the game as an entry point for new families and players.

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I love that program for so many different ways, not just the on-ice stuff, but the cost of entry is way down.

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You can really get to experience the game.

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My kids went through this and I know the Flyers also host a Learn to Play ball hockey or play ball hockey initiative, which is also awesome.

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What, what has made it so successful in this area and is it going to expand in the future?

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Do you have other plans to kind of grow the game in the area beyond that?

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Yeah, I think we would like to grow it.

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We're in 15 rinks now and I could I could easily see that number jumping up to 20 in the years ahead.

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But I think what makes it so appealing to parents is the fact that all the equipment is included.

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So this is a league-wide initiative through the NHL and the Players Association and USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, and it eliminates that upfront hurdle right.

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A lot of parents that maybe aren't hockey people.

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They're hesitant to put their kid in the game because they know of all those upfront costs that exist to buy $500 worth of gear and what happens after a couple of weeks if your kid doesn't like it and doesn't want to play.

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Well, you're out quite a bit of money.

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So this eliminates that risk and that upfront hurdle and I think that has allowed us to attract a lot of new families that maybe wouldn't have considered hockey.

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And look, we've put 4,000 new hockey players on the ice over the last half a dozen years and we like to think that a lot of these kids are staying involved in the game.

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I don't know the exact retention numbers coming out of Learn to Play, but I know that it's helped feed a lot of the next step programmings at all of these rinks that are hosting Learn to Play.

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So we're filling the funnel for these rinks, we're bringing new families to their doorstep and it's sort of on them to take the ball and run with it, and these folks are going to be in their rinks for the next 10 to 12 years, right in their, in their rinks for the next 10 to 12 years, right um and and we want to make sure they have a really good um first experience with the sport yeah, you know it's funny.

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When we talk to nhl teams, I always mention that.

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You know the lifetime value of a fan is is always a metric that the teams look at.

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But when teams look at that metric it's so much deeper than just tickets being sold.

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Right, it's you got to create a hockey person to become a hockey fan because, look, we can get everybody to go to a game one time, right.

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But falling in love with the sport is a deeper initiative and I always like to say that to our audience, because it can be very easy to get lost in the business or the money side of professional sports of others trying to get me to go business or the money side of professional sports of others trying to get me to go.

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The truth is this that the Flyers and really every NHL team I've spoken to, are completely committed to making you love this game.

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Right, because they understand there's a value to that.

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Right, and obviously playing is the ultimate entry point, right?

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I do want to ask you this you know it is an affordable entry point.

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This is not.

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No NHL team is to blame for this.

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Obviously, the costs go up as you go in the game.

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I know in our area we have.

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We have Snyder hockey and another organizations to help alleviate that.

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Do you have any thoughts on how we can alleviate costs in the game?

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I think this is more directed towards the youth organizations than any NHL team, but you know, costs can get ridiculous at some point.

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So from a hockey journey point, I just love your thoughts of a professional game on that.

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Yeah, I wish there was something that we could do to help alleviate some of that.

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I haven't figured it out yet.

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If there is, but it is a concern.

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It's an expensive sport and I mentioned you know we're finding a way to alleviate some of those upfront costs, but down the road you're still going to be facing those high registration fees to play hockey and all the traveling that they're doing.

00:11:49.633 --> 00:11:58.724
One of the things we've looked at and a few NHL teams have done is bringing back like rec league hockey, house league hockey.

00:11:58.724 --> 00:12:02.412
There isn't too much of it, um, at least in our market.

00:12:02.412 --> 00:12:14.913
Like a lot of the rinks, they're pushing the kids right into travel hockey and that's fine, but not everybody wants to be playing hockey four days a week for eight months.

00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:16.389
What are you talking about, rob?

00:12:16.389 --> 00:12:17.136
Of course they don't.

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I'm just kidding.

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I mean, we do.

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But like.

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not everybody does, we have to think about those people.

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So, right, is there a way to provide a, an opportunity for kids to continue playing the game?

00:12:29.469 --> 00:12:34.943
But maybe not with such a high price tag and a high commitment level, and that's that's the formula.

00:12:34.943 --> 00:12:44.225
We haven't found yet, but we want to see it get there, because you just you never want to see people priced out of us.

00:12:44.868 --> 00:12:45.068
Right.

00:12:45.068 --> 00:12:46.543
Well, you don't want to see people priced out.

00:12:46.543 --> 00:12:49.847
There's always the question of are we getting the best athletes we can get?

00:12:49.847 --> 00:12:59.467
You know, if Mike Benelli was here, my co-host, uh, he would be singing your praises right now because we agree with you 100% about rec hockey and house hockey.

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Um, I can say, as a coach right now, I've coached every level imaginable at the youth level.

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The questions I get about things like and I'm not kidding seven, eight years old, about division one hockey or playing alphabet soup, as Christy always says my other co-host of triple A, double A I used to joke I'm going to make the first triple B team.

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Right, we're going to sell t-shirts and everything you know.

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There needs to be a place where these kids can just be kids and enjoy the game.

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And I always tell parents all the time there's nothing wrong with the house league.

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If you want to play other sports, tell parents all the time.

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There's nothing wrong with the house league.

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If you want to play other sports, if you want to just try it out, you do not need to make a four night commitment weekly with ridiculous game schedules.

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If your kid loves that and you want to do that, I absolutely do it.

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But you're right, we push kids into that environment which, again, I'm not saying it's the worst environment ever.

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I'm just saying there's alternatives and we should grow in-house leagues where you don't have to travel, you know ridiculous places and ridiculous times of the day to expand the game.

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I think another way to expand the game, which again the Flyers are doing, is there's other forms of hockey aside from ice hockey.

00:14:03.991 --> 00:14:05.193
Right, there's ball hockey.

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Floor ball is a different sport, but it's another way of experiencing a stick sport is a different sport, but it's another way of experiencing a stick sport.

00:14:13.047 --> 00:14:19.687
But tell me about the ball hockey initiative that the Flyers are doing, because I think that that's another underrated and underutilized way of getting involved in the game.

00:14:20.669 --> 00:14:21.972
Yeah, yeah, it really is.

00:14:21.972 --> 00:14:35.866
And this started four years ago when a deck hockey league in South Jersey reached out to us and said our numbers are slipping and every year our numbers go down and we need to reverse this trend.

00:14:35.866 --> 00:14:36.648
Can you help?

00:14:36.648 --> 00:14:42.226
And it was myself and Brad Marsh, who's a Flyers alumni, that I work very closely with.

00:14:42.246 --> 00:14:44.072
Big time Flyers, alumni, yeah, yeah.

00:14:45.982 --> 00:14:54.615
Yeah, and we started thinking like what can we do to help help these leagues and help these associations to kind of reverse this, this trend?

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And we had just started doing the on ice learn to play, and I thought that's a pretty good model, like why don't we, why don't we take that and bring it to these outdoor deck and ball rinks?

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And so we did.

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We started the learn to play ball hockey program and it's six weeks of instruction.

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Every kid gets a Flyers branded stick ball and reversible penny.

00:15:15.972 --> 00:15:18.177
So we did, we started the learn to play ball hockey program and it's six weeks of instruction.

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Every kid gets a Flyers branded stick ball and reversible penny.

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They're only paying thirty five dollars, so it's even a lower, lower barrier to entry.

00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:54.030
And and almost immediately we started seeing those, those numbers reverse because again we're filling the funnel and we're we're providing the next wave of kids that are going to go into next step programming at all these, all these outdoor ball hockey associations, which it's I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country, but in South Jersey specifically, like ball hockey is huge there's, there's all these parks that have two, three, four outdoor rinks and they've got five or six or 700 kids playing in leagues.

00:15:54.030 --> 00:16:00.673
It's awesome and, as we say, many roads lead to fandom.

00:16:00.673 --> 00:16:09.134
There's many on-ramps to fandom, and a kid that's playing ball or street hockey is just as much a hockey player as a kid that's on the ice five days a week.

00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:17.105
Yeah, I completely agree with your sentiments on that and you know, I think the popularity of ball hockey in certain areas would surprise people.

00:16:17.105 --> 00:16:25.549
You know, like you said, South Jersey, I know, in Massachusetts, I mean, there are outdoor arenas that have stands where you can go play ball hockey.

00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:28.389
I mean it's a serious sport for a lot of people but it's hockey.

00:16:28.389 --> 00:16:29.782
Right, we always say hockey is hockey.

00:16:29.782 --> 00:16:32.626
I think that you're right $35.

00:16:32.626 --> 00:16:36.254
I didn't know that that's an amazing entry to the price point to the game.

00:16:36.254 --> 00:16:41.980
I love that.

00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.453
Another thing I wanted to talk about aside from that, is that obviously you get to work with a lot of players involved in these projects.

00:16:45.453 --> 00:16:48.703
Right, this is how I want to phrase this question, because we all love NHL players here.

00:16:48.703 --> 00:16:59.009
Tell me about the character aspects of these athletes that we don't see, Because, again, most people see these athletes, it's usually in a game or a press conference.

00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:09.592
They don't see these people outside of the rink and in my experience they are high-quality, high-character people that really are dedicated to the kids, to the families.

00:17:09.592 --> 00:17:20.291
I mean, I don't think I've had a negative interaction with a Flyers player or alumni or alumnus, I think is the right word there in any of the experiences I've had with my own children or just out in the open.

00:17:20.291 --> 00:17:27.729
So talk to me about the characters, the character, I'm sorry, the character of these players, and please feel free to name drop as much as you want.

00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:33.045
Sure, and you hit the nail on the head, lee.

00:17:33.045 --> 00:17:42.128
Like these are quality people and they're willing to do anything to grow the game and to give back to the community where they live and play, and that's just not here in Philadelphia, that's across the hockey world.

00:17:42.128 --> 00:17:45.028
Like these are high quality guys.

00:17:45.028 --> 00:17:54.431
We spend time during training camp every year with our community relations team meeting individually with each one of the players.

00:17:54.431 --> 00:17:58.240
We spend time during training camp every year with our community relations team meeting individually with each one of the players.

00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.709
And if it's a guy that's been on the team a few years, it's usually a shorter meeting because we already know sort of what their interests are.

00:18:01.709 --> 00:18:16.494
But if it's a new guy, we really want to talk to them about all the things that we do community-wise and find out what it is that they're passionate about and what their interests are, and we try and match guys with with things that are important to them.

00:18:16.494 --> 00:18:27.211
So if if cancer related causes are important to them, then we make them an ambassador for hockey fights cancer night and we'll take them to children's hospital to visit kids.

00:18:27.211 --> 00:18:51.892
If, if it's somebody that really wants to get be involved in growing the game of hockey, then we'll pair them up with like learn to play, or actually we had a new player initiative that just started this year with Noah Cates because he expressed an interest in getting involved somehow with youth hockey and so we do a postgame meet and greet with Noah 15 times during the course of the season.

00:18:52.313 --> 00:19:11.944
We call it Kate's, his mates, and he hosts a member of the youth hockey community that has overcome some sort of adversity, so it could be a kid that had cancer or a brain injury or suffer the death of a parent or lost their home to a fire, like these are all real examples of things that happened this year.

00:19:11.944 --> 00:19:23.671
There's so many folks in the hockey community that have overcome obstacles and so this is just one way for us to sort of recognize them host them for a night at a game.

00:19:23.671 --> 00:19:28.990
They get to go down in the locker room after the game meet Noah, and that's just one example.

00:19:28.990 --> 00:19:36.660
You know we have Garnett Hathaway who's really like a cause that's really important to him is first responders.

00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:43.074
So he hosts Hats Heroes, where he hosts first responders every game and goes down and spends time with them after the game.

00:19:43.074 --> 00:19:52.098
And these guys are just so generous with their time and I can't say enough good things about, about our players and their willingness to give back to the community.

00:19:53.060 --> 00:19:59.094
Yeah, you know, again, we say it a lot on the show about the talents of an NHL player is obvious.

00:19:59.094 --> 00:20:00.306
That's the obvious part.

00:20:00.306 --> 00:20:23.170
But while they're professional hockey players, they're also professional people, right, and it kind of goes to show that those athletes don't do anything at a less than professional level, right, it's an all the time thing for these athletes and I'm sure that when you talked about Cates and Hathaway and the other athletes, when they do these things, they do them.

00:20:23.170 --> 00:20:27.912
You know, I think there's sometimes a misconception of like, oh, they're just here because they got to be here.

00:20:27.912 --> 00:20:30.103
I've never found that to be the case.

00:20:30.103 --> 00:20:32.406
When they're there, they're there, right, they want to do it.

00:20:32.406 --> 00:20:34.191
So can you talk about that?

00:20:34.191 --> 00:20:37.042
Maybe in because you've worked with a lot of athletes over the years?

00:20:37.042 --> 00:20:39.228
Right, is that common across the board?

00:20:39.228 --> 00:20:42.020
Are there variances to that, or is it just?

00:20:42.020 --> 00:20:43.704
You agree that that's what you're seeing?

00:20:45.189 --> 00:20:47.119
I think it's pretty common across the board.

00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:52.366
I'll give you another example of something that happened this year that was really inspiring, lord, I'll give you another example of something that happened this year that was really inspiring.

00:20:52.366 --> 00:20:54.449
Cam Atkinson came to us during the offseason.

00:20:54.449 --> 00:21:00.359
He's really involved with his nonprofit with military-related causes, right.

00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:14.542
He had an idea to provide a service dog to a military member, preferably a member of the Flyers Warriors, and so he brought this idea to us and we're like, yeah, we can, we can help facilitate this and make it happen.

00:21:14.542 --> 00:21:22.355
John Tortorella heard about it and then Torts said I want to be involved, and so his family foundation said well, we'll help fund it as well.

00:21:22.355 --> 00:21:25.542
It's $30,000 for a service dog, so it's it's, it's a lot.

00:21:25.603 --> 00:21:26.765
I didn't know that, yeah.

00:21:27.286 --> 00:21:29.729
Yeah, that's, I didn't know that that's crazy.

00:21:29.729 --> 00:21:31.731
So and then so March, he heard about it.

00:21:31.731 --> 00:21:33.855
He goes, oh well, flyers alumni want to be involved.

00:21:33.855 --> 00:21:38.690
And then Stuttman, who oversees Flyers charity, said well, yeah, we're going to.

00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:40.374
We're going to fund it equally as well.

00:21:40.374 --> 00:21:50.775
So all of a sudden it's turned into this player, coach organization and alumni all working together to provide a service dog.

00:21:50.775 --> 00:22:02.694
And it all started because Cam had an idea and brought it to us and we actually just notified the recipient last week that he's going to be receiving a service dog.

00:22:02.694 --> 00:22:07.779
So he's going to go to like a meet the dogs session in a couple of weeks.

00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:10.070
And basically I didn't know how any of this works.

00:22:10.070 --> 00:22:16.523
It's really cool, but the, the, the dog and the service dog recipient, they just sort of they find each other.

00:22:16.523 --> 00:22:20.026
I believe that yeah, and it and it's an unbelievable thing.

00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:23.864
So everyone with dogs is nodding right now Like, yeah, I can we understand?

00:22:23.864 --> 00:22:24.163
Yeah, yeah.

00:22:24.443 --> 00:22:24.683
Yeah.

00:22:24.683 --> 00:22:31.471
Yeah so that's a player taking the initiative and saying this this is something that I think would be cool.

00:22:31.471 --> 00:22:32.073
Can you help me?

00:22:32.073 --> 00:22:34.028
And yeah, the answer is always yes.

00:22:34.028 --> 00:22:35.413
Like you want to do something, we'll.

00:22:35.413 --> 00:22:36.869
We'll find a way to make it happen.

00:22:37.384 --> 00:22:39.614
Yeah, you know I'm going to talk about the Warriors in one second too.

00:22:39.614 --> 00:22:44.356
You know, what's amazing to me is how much gratitude most NHL athletes have.

00:22:44.356 --> 00:22:55.873
They understand their position in life and I think as they grow it becomes even more obvious to them, you know, should they be fortunate to have a long career?

00:22:55.873 --> 00:23:00.548
But the anchor I always call it the anchor of understanding, you know, I don't want to say the less fortunate, but people are sacrificing themselves in the military.

00:23:00.548 --> 00:23:06.448
People are out there first responders, nurses, doctors, firemen, policemen I mean all of it.

00:23:06.448 --> 00:23:09.914
Right that I've always found athletes to be grounded in.

00:23:09.914 --> 00:23:11.499
They're doing this job.

00:23:11.499 --> 00:23:12.588
I can do my job.

00:23:12.588 --> 00:23:13.071
Right?

00:23:13.826 --> 00:23:17.316
When I speak to my players, I talk a lot about the military a lot.

00:23:17.316 --> 00:23:21.085
I believe the US military is the greatest team on the planet, right?

00:23:21.085 --> 00:23:33.651
So when I need to look for teamwork or ideas about team building, I go to them and it's always an amazing moment when you can work with a team, especially sometimes the older kids, I'll say that when you can say that.

00:23:33.651 --> 00:23:39.636
You know they use the same words that we do about being accountable and sacrifice.

00:23:39.636 --> 00:23:45.982
And then I explain sacrifice is something a little different in the military and I said if they can go out there and protect each other.

00:23:45.982 --> 00:23:52.375
To protect you, you can go out there on the ice and play this game and you got to have that anchor in the back of your mind With that.

00:23:52.695 --> 00:24:07.135
I want to segue into the Philadelphia Warriors because I've done a lot of work with military, especially veterans, and I do not believe people understand the drop off when someone separates from the military mentally.

00:24:07.135 --> 00:24:08.278
What happens to them?

00:24:08.278 --> 00:24:16.042
Right, their identity, identity, their community and their purpose is taken away in a snap of the fingers once they're out of the military.

00:24:16.042 --> 00:24:38.576
Right, they live this life, they, they secure our freedom, they do all these amazing things with amazing people, and the day that you separate it's over um, and a lot of times there's a deep, deep depression and there's a I don't want to get into it too dark, but that first year out of the military is a very dangerous time for a veteran and if they survive that time period it can be a long road.

00:24:39.226 --> 00:24:52.731
And what I love about the Philadelphia Warriors is that the mission is to provide those veterans with a community, with purpose, with identity, and the people that I know involved in that organization have found all three because they talk so highly about it.

00:24:52.731 --> 00:24:56.606
And again, this is one of many kind of veteran-led teams around the country.

00:24:56.606 --> 00:24:59.314
Right, not veteran-led, but veteran teams around the country.

00:24:59.314 --> 00:25:01.548
But I know it's a passion of yours, rob.

00:25:01.548 --> 00:25:03.173
Why don't you tell us about the Philadelphia Wars?

00:25:03.173 --> 00:25:04.905
Feel free to share some stories too, as well.

00:25:05.566 --> 00:25:10.308
Yeah for sure, it actually all started in the summer of 2018, yeah for sure, it actually all started in the summer of 2018.

00:25:10.308 --> 00:25:18.054
A Marine Corps veteran, rick Stabino, reached out to me and he said I saw this warrior hockey thing that exists.

00:25:18.054 --> 00:25:27.441
There's like programs in DC, there's there's programs out in the Midwest, and I couldn't find anything about a warrior hockey program in the Philadelphia area.

00:25:27.441 --> 00:25:30.001
You know, can you help me start one?

00:25:30.001 --> 00:25:36.105
And I said I don't.

00:25:36.105 --> 00:25:37.991
I don't really know anything about it either, but I'd be happy to have a conversation.

00:25:37.991 --> 00:25:42.352
So we brought USA hockey into the fold and they sort of met with us and walked through like what warrior hockey is all about?

00:25:42.352 --> 00:25:45.163
Basically, it's for injured and disabled veterans.

00:25:45.163 --> 00:25:50.156
They have to have a minimum 10% disability and okay.

00:25:50.156 --> 00:25:54.488
So what's the interest level in a warrior hockey program in Philadelphia?

00:25:54.488 --> 00:25:55.250
We don't know.

00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:58.698
So let's host an event and see what kind of turnout we get.

00:25:59.506 --> 00:26:12.548
So we did a try hockey for free event in December of 2018 for veterans and we had like 40 people show up and it was like, okay, we might be onto something here.

00:26:12.548 --> 00:26:20.696
And so a couple of weeks later we were able to get some ice at the Wells Fargo center and we invited everybody that was at that initial skate to come skate with us at Wells Fargo center.

00:26:20.696 --> 00:26:25.055
All right, there's like 35 of them still still hanging around here.

00:26:25.055 --> 00:26:34.380
This we might be onto something and it was just at the time in 2019 when the Flyers were hosting the stadium series against the Penguins.

00:26:35.145 --> 00:26:43.894
Yeah, and I'm not sure if folks know this, but every time there's an NHL outdoor game, there's a legacy grant that's that's associated with that game.

00:26:44.605 --> 00:27:26.817
So the NHL and the host club each put up twenty five thousand dollars000 for some legacy project that comes out of that hosting that outdoor game, and I was petitioning the league to use that grant money to start a warrior program in Philadelphia, and they agreed, and so all the guys that had been skating with us, we invited them down to the Wells Fargo Center and we brought them into the Flyers locker room and explained to them that they are now part of the Philadelphia Flyers family they will be known as the Philadelphia Flyers Warriors and and our goal right from the beginning was to go to the Warrior Classic in Las Vegas.

00:27:26.817 --> 00:27:38.951
It was about eight months out and and it was like we start preparing today and it's so important because it gives these guys purpose, it gives them structure, it gives them something to look forward to every week.

00:27:38.951 --> 00:27:45.994
We practice every Sunday year round and, by the way, we won that first warrior classic and we've won several others since then.

00:27:46.967 --> 00:27:52.986
Yeah, I have heard about that since then.

00:27:53.006 --> 00:27:55.856
Yeah, I have, I have heard about that, yeah, yeah, but we've grown the program from that initial 30, 35 players.

00:27:55.856 --> 00:27:56.799
It's over 115 players Now.

00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.924
We just brought four teams to to Wayne, new Jersey, at the ice vault for the first ever USA hockey warrior national championships.

00:28:03.924 --> 00:28:13.287
We had two teams lose in the finals but all four teams played their hearts out and it was a really, really inspiring weekend to see all these veterans from all over the country get together.

00:28:13.287 --> 00:28:20.369
You know that common theme of love of their country and love of the sport of hockey was pretty cool thing to be a part of.

00:28:20.865 --> 00:28:25.173
Yeah, I want to pull the thread on this a little bit too, because from a hockey aspect, it sounds awesome.

00:28:25.173 --> 00:28:44.144
Talk to me about maybe a story or something One of the veterans has told you about what this means to them, because, I'm going to say it again, that community aspect is so important for these guys to know that they're not alone, to know that we care about them, to know that they can be part of a team again, right, so tell me about that, because that stuff is amazing to me too.

00:28:44.984 --> 00:28:51.557
Yeah, I would love to direct folks to a documentary that the Flyers video team put together.

00:28:51.557 --> 00:28:53.330
Sure Won an Emmy Award recently.

00:28:53.330 --> 00:28:58.455
It's called New Heights and it profiles several members of the Flyers Warriors and it does just that.

00:28:58.455 --> 00:29:09.855
It tells their stories and what it was like and what it felt like coming back and not knowing what your purpose was in life, and it's on the Flyers YouTube channel right now.

00:29:09.855 --> 00:29:26.971
We're hoping that it'll be on the NHL network in the near future, but it's a really well done documentary, kind of profiling these guys from the Warriors and talking about their journey and how this program has helped them just kind of get their lives back on track.

00:29:27.513 --> 00:29:28.576
Yeah, it's called New Heights.

00:29:28.576 --> 00:29:30.652
You said it's on YouTube, on the Flyers channel.

00:29:30.652 --> 00:29:33.634
No issues with Jason and Travis Kelsey, obviously, on that name.

00:29:33.634 --> 00:29:36.171
That's the name of their podcast, right.

00:29:36.592 --> 00:29:37.054
No issues.

00:29:37.526 --> 00:29:39.653
Yeah, I don't think they would cause any issues as well.

00:29:39.653 --> 00:29:49.336
Well, look, I just want to, as a host, but also as a person in the hockey community, thank you and everybody involved with that Warriors team, because I think that that's an amazing initiative for our community.

00:29:49.336 --> 00:29:51.801
I think those veterans deserve everything.

00:29:51.801 --> 00:29:54.028
I think they deserve everything for what they've done for us.

00:29:54.028 --> 00:29:57.836
I want you on the conversation back now to youth hockey a little bit.

00:29:57.836 --> 00:30:19.647
You know, in your 20 plus years, you've been involved in a lot of, let's just say, organizational behaviors within hockey, right, and I know we have a lot of hockey directors, hockey officials, hockey managers that listen to the show and they're always looking for tricks or tactics or tips on how to run a better hockey program, right.

00:30:19.647 --> 00:30:22.855
So let's just start with hockey directors in general.

00:30:22.855 --> 00:30:29.429
What have you found to be successful in the initiatives that you've created and what would you like to see happen in youth hockey a little bit more?

00:30:29.449 --> 00:30:33.557
I think the successful programs are the initiatives that you've created and what would you like to see happen in youth hockey a little bit more.

00:30:33.557 --> 00:30:40.845
I think the successful programs are the ones that let kids be kids and let the kids have fun and enjoy the game for what it is instead of what it could be 10 years down the line.

00:30:40.845 --> 00:30:43.848
Enjoy the journey, like it.

00:30:43.848 --> 00:31:01.878
It goes fast and um, and before you know it it's over, and just the life skills that this, that this sport, teaches us are immeasurable, and so I'm sure I'm not telling them anything they don't already know, but just let let the kids enjoy the game.

00:31:02.746 --> 00:31:04.808
It's the best it really is.

00:31:04.808 --> 00:31:18.631
You know and I think you're making a good point of not looking 10 years down the road, right, and I hear that from parents a lot of times Well, if he's ever going to make tier one, if he's ever going to make this, if she's ever going to do that it's like guys, just let him be 10 years old this year, right, and love the game.

00:31:18.631 --> 00:31:21.709
I always say, and again look, I always admit this too.

00:31:21.709 --> 00:31:27.496
From that 12 to 15 age, which is an interesting age, things do turn right.

00:31:27.496 --> 00:31:37.753
You start to become a little more serious about potentially having a future in the game, and I do think there are conversations when you're 13, 14, 15 that do need to take place.

00:31:37.753 --> 00:31:40.105
If you want to have a future in the game beyond high school, all right, there's nothing wrong with that.

00:31:40.566 --> 00:31:48.970
But when you're 10, the goal for me with my kids, is to cultivate a love of the game, and I use the word cultivate because I said this on the show many times.

00:31:48.970 --> 00:31:50.712
I can't create that for them.

00:31:50.712 --> 00:31:53.198
They have to create their own love of the game.

00:31:53.198 --> 00:32:00.530
It's on us as parents and coaches to cultivate that love of the game.

00:32:00.530 --> 00:32:03.259
And when you're talking to a squirt team about, like nationals, and you know, in in October it's.

00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:05.405
I mean, what are we doing here?

00:32:05.405 --> 00:32:06.147
Right?

00:32:06.147 --> 00:32:09.855
And again, you want to know a recipe on how to burn a kid out?

00:32:09.855 --> 00:32:15.255
Start talking about high school when they're in fifth grade, right, it's not worth it.

00:32:15.255 --> 00:32:17.508
So I just think that that's, that's fantastic advice.

00:32:17.508 --> 00:32:20.836
Um, and I think I want to have a little back and forth here.

00:32:21.077 --> 00:32:40.690
When we talk about organizations with that, I think hockey directors, it's so important that they show up to these practices sometimes and reiterate that to the kids, right, right, I think hockey directors and I'm not calling anyone out on this but it can be easy to go to those double A teams or those triple A teams that are looking to go to nationals this year, because, look, that's exciting.

00:32:40.690 --> 00:32:42.271
I'm not taking away from that at all.

00:32:42.271 --> 00:32:59.009
But you also want to go to your A teams and your B teams and your beginner teams and say, hey, you're the future here, right, you're the future of this organization and the way you can be part of the future is loving this game right now and showing up at a practice and introducing yourselves, enabling the coach, right, I mean, do you have any other thoughts on that?

00:32:59.009 --> 00:33:03.786
Because I think that interpersonal connection within the organization is important.

00:33:03.786 --> 00:33:07.330
I would like to see coaches talk to other coaches more right.

00:33:07.330 --> 00:33:08.792
I think there's more that can be done on that front.

00:33:09.113 --> 00:33:17.250
Yeah, yeah, I agree with everything you said there and I think it's important to focus on skill development and player development too.

00:33:17.250 --> 00:33:23.095
We see so many times at younger ages where it's like, okay, we're going to work on the one, two, two, four check today in practice.

00:33:23.095 --> 00:33:29.718
Well, how about you work on your skating skills and developing a better shot and better passing ability?

00:33:29.718 --> 00:33:36.275
And just like skill work is is so important and sometimes it's it's almost overlooked at younger ages.

00:33:36.275 --> 00:33:48.032
Like let's teach these kids how to be, how to be athletes and how to be good players with with a strong skillset, and then worry about you know what your power play looks like and your forecheck.

00:33:48.032 --> 00:33:54.994
Like let's, let's build that base and make good hockey players right and take it to the next level from there.

00:33:54.994 --> 00:33:56.186
And that's what you're talking about.

00:33:56.186 --> 00:33:59.262
Those a and those b players like they're the ones that really need it.

00:33:59.262 --> 00:34:05.085
They really need to learn the game and skating is such an important part of the game I it's everything.

00:34:06.126 --> 00:34:10.594
The youth levels, it's everything, yeah, everything, yeah, we get.

00:34:10.594 --> 00:34:17.949
I get an email a week that is typically something like my kids nine, my kids 10, my kids 11 what do I have to do for their hands, to get their hands going?

00:34:17.949 --> 00:34:23.010
And I I make no assumptions, but I write in every one of those listen primarily at that age.

00:34:23.010 --> 00:34:28.010
Skating is the most important skill and make sure that that is your primary concern, because your kid can do a michigan.

00:34:28.010 --> 00:34:31.396
Can't skate, not going to work for you long term.

00:34:31.396 --> 00:34:32.679
Right, all right.

00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:42.891
The other thing, too, is I'm all about creativity, so I say I don't have a problem with a kid practicing a Michigan, but if you're practicing the Michigan 10 to 1 over a wrist shot, that's not great.

00:34:42.891 --> 00:34:45.931
Yeah, that's not a good percentage.

00:34:46.666 --> 00:34:51.916
I love creativity and I like coaches that allow kids to be creative.

00:34:51.916 --> 00:34:57.197
But, yes, you need to reel it in sometimes and work on the fundamentals as well.

00:34:57.197 --> 00:34:59.327
But, yeah, creativity is such an important part of the game.

00:34:59.768 --> 00:34:59.949
Right.

00:34:59.949 --> 00:35:04.567
I always say too, when you look at an NHL warmup, nba warmup doesn't matter, pick a sport.

00:35:04.567 --> 00:35:07.114
When the guys warm up, watch what they're doing.

00:35:07.114 --> 00:35:15.728
They're not doing Michigans, they're working on their gliding, they're working on their puck handling, they're looking on their edge work all these extreme fundamentals of the game.

00:35:15.728 --> 00:35:24.405
I saw a video, uh, of steph curry recently again basketball player in just fundamental stuff, over and over and over again and they asked him why are you working on that?

00:35:24.405 --> 00:35:24.826
You're a pro.

00:35:24.826 --> 00:35:28.355
And he said, like the fundamentals of the game, if you can't do these, you can't do anything.

00:35:28.394 --> 00:35:30.219
I had a great conversation with my son the other week.

00:35:30.219 --> 00:35:32.625
He's a goalie defenseman hybrid right now.

00:35:32.625 --> 00:35:33.467
It's an interesting thing.

00:35:33.467 --> 00:35:35.474
But but he wanted to work on a slap shot.

00:35:35.474 --> 00:35:38.907
And I told him you know, you, I love that you want to work on your slap shot.

00:35:38.907 --> 00:35:44.146
Once you get your wrist shot down and your snap shot down, we can evolve into a slap shot.

00:35:44.146 --> 00:35:50.766
Because I said, look, anybody can swing the stick, but if you have no accuracy, if you have no idea of the weight transfer, you have to build into this.

00:35:50.766 --> 00:35:55.867
And he mildly disappointed, but he understood and I said I also want you to break five sticks this week.

00:35:55.867 --> 00:35:57.766
So let's just make sure that we're getting that down.

00:36:05.860 --> 00:36:09.869
But again, when I look at drill development and you know, again, mike, my co-host, is really great about this he brought up this really wonderful thought the other week of why does every drill have to end in a shot?

00:36:09.869 --> 00:36:14.768
You know why can't a drill end with just getting the puck to the right area of the ice or being in the right area of the ice or a zone exit.

00:36:14.768 --> 00:36:17.384
You know there's a lot of different ways to teach this and to make it fun.

00:36:17.384 --> 00:36:27.512
And I always say to parents don't underestimate tricking kids into doing something to teach them, for example, in learn to play and or Adams and might hockey.

00:36:27.512 --> 00:36:36.221
When you want to teach a kid how to get down and get off the ice, throw 100 tennis balls on the ice and tell them to pick it up, because they don't know that they're learning that skill Right.

00:36:36.221 --> 00:36:40.126
But at the same time, if you tell the kid to drop down and get up over and over again, it gets repetitive.

00:36:40.126 --> 00:36:40.947
They don't want to do it.

00:36:40.947 --> 00:36:44.855
So you got to play that game a little bit too Right.

00:36:46.001 --> 00:36:48.708
And that's where creativity and coaching comes into play, absolutely.

00:36:49.030 --> 00:36:54.032
Right, and I think that's something that organizations can help teach their coaches as well.

00:36:54.032 --> 00:37:05.666
Because, look, let's be honest about it, rob, at the youth levels, majority of coaches are volunteer parents, especially at the younger ages, and God bless every mom and dad that has ever volunteered to coach a hockey team.

00:37:05.666 --> 00:37:06.429