Mastering the Student-Athlete Life: Balancing School and Hockey

Lee MJ Elias [0:00 - 1:20]: friends and families around the world. And welcome back to another edition of our Kids Play Hockey. It's Lee and Mike with you today. If you're wondering where Christy is legit overseas, her son is getting married in Scotland. God bless him, God bless the family. She's taken off for a few weeks literally on assignment. But you got Mike and I with us today and the topic we're going to go over is, is one that if you're in youth hockey, I will guarantee this is something that you have to deal with no matter what level you're at, which is how the heck do you juggle school and hockey? Now, just to be specific, we're talking school and hockey, not school hockey. Your job, your life, your parents, your in laws, your families, the holidays and all of that jazz, just school and hockey. Let's kind of focus on your kids today and how they do school because we all know especially if you're in club hockey, you're missing school days. For tournaments, you gotta get letters. Some schools allow you to do it, some schools don't. We'll go over some of the rights and wrongs with that we've done. But the first question Mike and I'm going to bring you in on this is just how can I balance school and sports? From your experience, what is the first step towards managing both without losing your fricking mind? 

Mike Bonelli [1:22 - 1:28]: Right. And I think this step probably contains the fact you can't quit hockey or school. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:28 - 1:29]: Right. Right. 

Mike Bonelli [1:29 - 1:49]: So it's, yeah, it's, it's a question. You know, it's not even a question. I think I get like personally from people. It's just a question we all ask when we're sitting around tournaments and rinks and locker rooms and, and people. And I think the question really comes more to me in situations where you're talking to non hockey people. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:49 - 1:49]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [1:50 - 1:51]: Because they just think it's nuts. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:51 - 1:51]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [1:52 - 2:02]: How are you? Like how are you doing that? Or you know, what are you missing? Like you're missing all this other time. So, you know, there's really, I mean, the nice thing about the episode, right, is that there is no real answer to. 

Lee MJ Elias [2:03 - 2:03]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [2:03 - 2:53]: You know, how, you know, how can you eliminate the conflicts? It's how do you manage those conflicts? And then how do you, I guess, like me as a parent struggling that I've got to make my own decisions for my own kid. I can't worry about how it affects the team all of the time. There are certain situations when you're, you know, being a part of a team is that's the balance, right, of saying, listen, my child, I have to understand my child's needs first over the team's needs. When it comes to health and school and real life, it's different than if you're choosing, you know, to miss something because you want to go to an extra birthday party or something. We all sacrifice, right? But you have to look at your own child, figure out, you know, that's really, to me, that's where the real discussion comes in. 

Lee MJ Elias [2:54 - 5:27]: Yeah, I, I agree with that. 100. And like, we've talked before about, you know, work life balance and things like that. To me, it's always about priority balance. And I, I work life balance is such a myth. So people, you'll never achieve it. Priority balance can be achieved and it can be changed. Right. Again, quick example. Like, priority for me is my family as to how I prioritize. Now, again, for different people, that can mean different things. Sometimes working and making a living is prioritizing your family. It's different for every single family. Right? But I think that the first step, Mike, before you can even do anything, is you gotta somehow have a calendar set up. And again, it's funny because the older the hockey parent, the more in tune with this I find them to be, especially the earlier hockey families. They go, yeah, you know, we got this app. Get a calendar, get a digital calendar, get a written calendar. I think I've said it before. In my house, we actually have a hockey calendar written out on a wall where the kids can see it. And it's got everything on there from. From hockey to school, basically their schedule so that we can all confer. So I think the first step is you got to get everything down. Don't rely just on Team Snap, Sports Ninja, whatever you use, right? You got to make a schedule for your family, number one. Number two is that, you know, barring one or two things a year, most hockey schedules are done before the season starts. For the most part, you know when your conflicts are going to be. I think that at the start of the school year, Mike, the smart thing to do is. And it's. We joke about this, but it's, hey, email the teacher, my kid plays hockey. These are the events coming up. And then also make good suggestions. Don't just say, I'm pulling my kid from school to go to this city to play hockey. Be smart about it, right? What I do. And, and this is, I'm gonna say this, it's genuine. I'm not trying to pull one over the teacher's eye. But like, for example, this year, my daughter's team is going to Syracuse, Washington, D.C. and I believe Hershey, which is, you know, typical east coast kind of areas. So when we approach the teacher, we'll say, these are the dates. This is when we're going to be gone. Here's some of the educational opportunities we do plan to pursue, or would it be appropriate for my daughter to write a report or something about why we're doing this, what we're doing there, etc. When I do that, I don't find I get any pushback from teachers because it's genuine. I really mean that. Right. And I'll tell you what, Mike. Eight out of ten times, I get a don't worry about it. Just have a good time. You know, if you wouldn't mind reminding me close to the event, that'd be fine. You know, it's. It. You got to be tactic tactful I'll say about these kind of things. 

Mike Bonelli [5:27 - 5:42]: And I think how you frame it, it can't be, hey, yo, I'm leaving. I'm doing this. We're doing this. Like, I don't care what your schedule is. I don't care that you've planned a syllabus and you have a classroom of kids and you have a plan in place for mine. 

Lee MJ Elias [5:42 - 5:43]: It's your job, your livelihood. 

Mike Bonelli [5:45 - 7:09]: So I think just the way you approach it, that, hey, you know, Mrs. So and so we plan. We, you know, we're a competitive sports family. Our child's in hockey. The hockey schedule is the demanding schedule that, that demands us to be in certain places on a lot of Fridays and Mondays or whatever. How can we work with you to ensure the success of our child's education? That's, to me, like, the starting point, not the, not the, hey, here's my calendar. Good luck, work around. Like, you know what I mean? Like, because we wouldn't expect that out of coaches. Like, like, if you're a coach, you wouldn't get, like, I, I can't tell you how many times, like, people tell. Like, they just say, hey, Mike, here's the days we're not coming, and here's the days we are coming. I'm like, okay, well, that's great, but that doesn't align with my values and my needs. Right? So you could go do whoever you want, but there will be consequences. Same thing as a teacher. You can go do whatever you want, right? As a student athlete, but there are consequences. Like you do. We expect all teachers, because you're a hockey player, to postpone Tests Friday because of you? Or, like, do we expect, you know, people to do things outside their normal job description and they're. And what they're giving the rest of the student body, I would hope we don't just expect that. So I think just the way you frame it and approach the teacher or the teachers. Right. It's not, you know, if you're in elementary school, it's a teacher. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:09 - 7:09]: Teacher. 

Mike Bonelli [7:09 - 7:21]: Yeah. But if you're in middle school and high school, it's teachers. Yeah. Now it's a matter of saying. Because all you need is one of those out of six to be somebody that's like, oh, I don't like athletes. I don't like hockey. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:21 - 7:23]: It happens. I've had that happen to you. 

Mike Bonelli [7:23 - 7:49]: So I think. Well, you know, so I think that's one of the, you know, to me, just in my history and. And being a teacher, like, being somebody who would get those letters and somebody who would give those letters, I would. I would appreciate, like. Like, this is who we are. This is what our. This is what we're. It's. You don't even say prioritizing. We prioritize education because of that. We're asking you exactly what could we do to work with you to make this work. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:49 - 10:33]: Well, and I'm going to add on to that a few things, Mike. One is, I guess I'll say this is my opinion. I hope it's a shared opinion for all the. All the families out there. The education does have to come first. Okay? It has to. I mean, if we're not prioritizing education, especially in the younger half here, I think we're making a major mistake. Now, with that said, it can be prioritized and you can juggle hockey at the same time. Mike, to your point, it's about how you say it. Look, for all intents and purposes, school is the equivalent of work for a child. Okay? That's the job you go to every day. Right. You would never be excused from a job by you just saying, hey, I'm doing this tournament. Hockey is important. I'll see you when I see you. That would never work. Right. So how you approach these teachers. And again, Mike, I want to reiterate what you said with respect. Right. My kid has this schedule. I'd like to work with you and say it. I'm prioritizing education. Here's a tip for parents right now, especially in the older half that you alluded to. If the kids are not pulling the grades in school, they're not going on that hockey trip. That's me. I mean, I'm telling you that right now. When my kids get to that age, if they're not getting good grades in school, you are not being rewarded with a hockey trip. I don't care. That's just not how the world works. So, you know, you might want to work with your teachers on some academic requirements. Check in with them. Is. Is my kid doing their work? Another big one, Mike. Big one is, like you said, we don't expect everybody to have tests on different days. Get ahead of that. Like, when are the tests. Can my kid prepare to take the test early? Not late, early. Is there. Is there homework we can get ahead on? I want to put that responsibility on my child to understand that those go over very well with teachers. And one more thing Mike says is so true. You are guaranteed to get a teacher at some point that hates this and does not want you to go and will fight you. And you have to navigate those waters very carefully. And I'm going to say this, Mike, this is a tough one. Sometimes you just don't get to go. Sometimes the. The academics take. Take control. They prioritize. And that's a life lesson as well. All right. You know, or as. As my wife likes to say, you know, we don't always have to choose hockey. Now, I'm still trying to figure that one out myself, but I do understand what she's saying. You know, especially in the summertime, it's like, we don't have to do the hockey game all the time. I'll just say, like this. She's not wrong. Okay? It doesn't mean I miss tournaments or anything like that, for those of you listening at home. But it's like, it has such a grip on us. That's why I joke. It's a cult that, you know, you can miss it again if your kid has finals. If you can't get them done early. I mean, you gotta. You're gonna have to live with that. So that's kind of the unfortunate truth, right, Mike? 

Mike Bonelli [10:33 - 11:28]: Yeah. When you see your kids are older and they have midterms and, and SATs, and. And state testing, nobody cares about that. Like, there's a state test on a Saturday or you're, you know, you have your. Your sats, they're not moving your sats around for you. I mean, they don't care that you're a hockey player. So I think. So it's really just a matter of how do you manage that? How do you communicate that to your teachers? How do you communicate to the School. If you're a high school player, I would tend to lean towards the same thing we say to a player, to a coach. You know, the student should be the one making that request and doing that communication with the parent. But really, like, you know, oh, Mrs. So and so I'd like to come see you about my schedule. Here's. Here's next month. I'm really, you know, you know, because. Because really the front load of, especially our hockey seasons. Right. It's front loaded. September, October, November, a lot of tournaments, a lot of showcase. Yeah. A lot of things going on. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:28 - 11:29]: Perfect timing. 

Mike Bonelli [11:29 - 11:31]: Perfect timing students. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:31 - 11:31]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [11:31 - 12:09]: New. New. New teachers, you know, So I think it's just. I think just be. Be proactive in doing it. I think, to Lee's point, you know, having that, you know, your children understand. Understand how to use a calendar, whether it's, you know, on the fridge or on their phone. I think it's just a matter of using that and really looking at, like, the snapshot of your week and your day and then seeing, okay, how am I fitting all this in? I personally, you know, not that I ever thrived in school by any means, but I thrived better in educational settings when I had the hockey and the tighter schedule, like, you know, when I had no time. I often do better than having too much time. 

Lee MJ Elias [12:09 - 12:09]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [12:09 - 12:10]: I think that's like. 

Lee MJ Elias [12:10 - 12:11]: Right. I get that. 

Mike Bonelli [12:11 - 12:52]: You know, there's a lot of tight time. So, like, even parents used to say to me, like, oh, my kid can't come to practice Tuesday night because they got a big test coming up and they gotta study for him. Like, well, you know, honestly, are they studying for seven hours? I'm like, it's probably better for them to take the break, to take a time where, you know, so you can. But you can weigh that when you have a schedule and you can have a conversation about laying out the big season. And as you get older, you're going to have those conversations with coaches, too, and say, listen, coach, I can't be beaten up on this. I'm a. I'm a great student. I want to be in this kind of, you know, I want to go in this kind of a field. This is a huge test for me. I struggle with this teacher. I got him as Friday's tournament games, Friday night. 

Lee MJ Elias [12:52 - 13:36]: Look, I'll give you a real world example right now that I deal with. You know, I coach a national team. Again, not Team usa, obviously, but it's a national program. We have a lot of tournaments in late August, which is the start of College. Sometimes we have tournaments at the end of March, which is the end of the school year. And I have players come to me, Mike, and say, listen, I'm taking SATs or I'm taking a placement exam. And I tell them pretty quickly, look, if it's the same day as the game, you need to take your exam. I tell them that as their coach. Right. I said, there's, you know, look, if we're not in the Olympics, you know, it's like, look, it's a long Runway for this team. You can miss a game, you can miss a weekend, you can miss a week to get yourself academically set. Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [13:38 - 13:43]: I think the rules. If you're not getting paid to play, Right. School probably comes. Yes. Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [13:43 - 14:56]: Well, the parents go, well, we're paying for you to play, but that's not the same thing. Don't let that blur your vision. All right? We've done a good job of explaining here that, you know, there's going to be conflicts. All right? I think another thing we should talk about, Mike, is how kids and parents can structure their schedule when you're juggling school practices, games, tournaments and weekends. Right? So again, this is probably more frustrating at the younger ages, parents, than when you get older, because when you get older, you do find some routine. It's not everyone, but the idea is that if you just run in the school schedule, the hockey schedule, and just run into it, you're gonna be out of your mind with the chaos. Right? There needs to be time for homework. There needs to be time for prep, to get ready for practice. To get to practice. Routine, routine, routine, routine. I will say this till I'm blue in the face. Create a routine with your kids. Or if you are a kid, create a routine for yourself that you can follow because it makes your life easier. Right? You get your bag out of the car, you get your gear out of the bag, you go to the shower, you do your home. Find the things that work and go with them. But, Mike, what else do you have? I mean, should kids make a planner? Should you write it out? What are your thoughts on this? 

Mike Bonelli [14:57 - 17:03]: Yeah, listen, routine is. I mean, I like, here's two things I never lose. I never lose my wallet. I never lose my keys, because I have a routine. I know where they go. I know where I leave them every night, every day. I just. Now, do I do other things that I'm not supposed to be doing? Yes, but routine is key, especially if you're, you know. You know, I think it's, you know. Yeah, it helps Kids, it helps parents, but it's a great learning lesson on just, you know, how do you, you know, because all, all our kids. And I think it's more and more, it's funny how this term gets used, right? This executive functioning skills, like the ability for children to do things and put things places and clean up after themselves. And, and then you say, well, that's because his dad is great, you know, doesn't have any executive functioning skills. So. But I think it's, But I think for kids and for families, when you're in like, let's call it in season. This is not summertime, right? When you're in season, having a routine makes I think life so much easier because there is then some cadence and some structure and some rhythm to the week. And, but you, but often you can't do that by having your head in a silo. Like the routine has to happen when you look at the whole week in a review and say, where are the places here that can build that cadence? Like, where is the best time for me to add in study every day? Where's the best time for me to do my workout every day? Like, that's why, like you look at professional athletes, that's why they get like so whacked out. Especially like baseball players and stuff, right? When, when the routine changes, like when they're, when they, when they usually do this, this, this and this. And then you say, oh, now we have a rain delay for three hours and that routine changes and that throws them off because that, now it's hard to recover your cadence and your rhythm. Yeah, I think that's for all of us with kids. Like, that's really a great learning piece for kids to know. Like, I could put it off, but it's on my schedule to do it now. And why? Because the structure is telling me if I don't get it done and I'm going to get home tonight at 8:45 from practice, I ain't getting it done. 

Lee MJ Elias [17:03 - 19:17]: Well, and I'll, I'll say this too. The discipline that must be demonstrated is a massive life skill as well. I always like to tie in the life skills because I'll tell you right now, Mike, I don't think outside having a newborn that the, the sketch. I don't know of any schedule that's busier than school and hockey. I mean, I mean that like, and, and you want to talk about newborn, you know, we try and create routines with newborns. All of you listening to this know that. But I mean, it's a crazy Schedule. And, and like you said, Derek Jeter talks about this all the time, that people say he's superstitious. He goes, I'm not superstitious. I am. I am very. I'm the best at my routine. He goes, I do not like to mix up my routine. Now, that. That's a guy you can listen to about routine. But Sydney Crosby, all the great athletes do this. All right? The other thing, too, that I want to bring up is that, you know, especially for the kids listening at home, don't procrastinate parents. You, too, for that matter, don't procrastinate. You're going to put yourself at a disadvantage. It's going to become a nightmare. All right? Find what works for you and stick to it. When you prep for the year, this is another thing, too. Mike said it really, from September through March is the season that's. Most people are playing during that window. I'm not going to sit here and tell you, hey, you should be practicing your routine the last two weeks of August. Like, that's. That's. That's not going to happen. Right. What I would do is right before that first day of school, which is usually, you know, late August, right after Labor Day, have your routine set, sit down with your kids and go over it. The practices are here. This is school. This is how this is going to work. Mom's going to drive you here. Dad's going to drive you here, and then do it over and over and over again so they understand. I also tell my kids, hey, you need to help us. You play a role in this. You know, I. I've. I think of my kids around, you know, I tell them, I'm not your chauffeur. You know, I am not your butler. We're a family. We work together. 100 years ago, you'd be outside working on the farm for us. Things have changed. We can do this, but try and make it a team thing. It's not. Look, I'll. Mike, I'll be the first to admit, not always perfect. We have fights, you know, we have breakdowns. Kids get sick. Things happen. All right, you talked about a breakdown and routine, but it's a lot easier to recover from that when you do have a return, a routine. 

Mike Bonelli [19:18 - 20:22]: And, well, and. And it's. It's. It's better for everybody, the family. You know, external families support people. Like when you don't know, like when you wake up. Like, I have no idea what's going on today, which happens to me a lot. But I just. But you but you have the routine in place to help you. That's what structures the daily schedule of a kid. And again, I know we always say hockey, but hockey is a demanding. It's incredibly demanding because you're not, like, going in your backyard and playing. Usually you're traveling. You're competing against, like, you know, think about when. When somebody makes, like, athletic schedules and hockey schedules. When you're, like, coaching a soccer team in town, everyone's schedule is the same because everybody in town's the same. The school districts are the same. Everything's the same. But when you. In hockey, in our world, there's 17 different communities being represented, so everybody's schedule is different. Like, so it's all. It's. It's so intertwined that it's so much more important that that routine is in place because then you can structure everything around you. 

Lee MJ Elias [20:22 - 21:00]: And, Mike, I want to say this, too. Just real quick. You tell me if you disagree, because you're involved in a lot of sports, but it is my opinion that there is really no sport as high octane as hockey, as high, you know, stressful as hockey. I mean, we're talking about sport in itself that is chaotic. Right? So, like, I do think that separates. I'm not. I'm not saying the other sports don't have their version of that, but you're never going to convince me that playing travel baseball has the same intensity as. As travel hockey. The travel part maybe, okay. But the game itself, it's not even close. So you got to deal with that, too. Like, this is. This is intense all the time. 

Mike Bonelli [21:00 - 22:05]: Yeah, it. Well, yeah, I mean, that's. That's. And that's the whole point of this, right, Is that. That we're in a. We're in this. The world we're all living in is different. In the hockey side, it just is. And I think that's where. When people look and they're like, oh, Jesus, like, how do you plan this? Like, how. How are your kids doing it? Well, the ones that aren't doing it, you know, they're not doing it because they're. They're not doing well in school. They're. They're always having issues with their teachers. Yeah, they're having issues at home, and they're late for practice and they can't get there, and they don't have their equipment and they. You know, all that stuff. So is it easy to do? No, it's extremely hard. But that's why having the structure in place can. Can help you, your child, your coach, Your teammates, everybody around. Because on, on the click of a finger you should be able to say, oh yeah, here's where we are next week and this is what's covered. Here's who's driving who, and here's when I got to get there. I built in my travel time. You know, practice at 5 and then start at 5. It probably starts for most families at 3. Like the whole process of getting it does. 

Lee MJ Elias [22:05 - 22:08]: Yeah, you gotta leave work to get them, especially if you're younger. 

Mike Bonelli [22:08 - 22:21]: So like, like, you know, like that's one of my favorite features on, on a calendar app, right? Is like travel time. Like, okay, you should leave now. It's great to have the practice at seven, but like, you know, it's five, it's saying you're late, you've left. 

Lee MJ Elias [22:21 - 23:58]: Yeah, I love it when my phone's like that. You should probably, you know, rush hour's coming, probably leave it out. You know, quick tip just in case you don't know this, I, I think most of you do, but Google has a really great thing on Google Maps where you can say when you want to arrive to wherever you're going and it will tell you when to leave with great accuracy, even if you're days ahead of time. I use that all the time. Now the other half of this tip is that if you're supposed to be there at 9:30 in the morning, don't put 9:30 in the morning as your arrival time. Put 9:20. Give yourself the extra 10 minutes. You don't want to be arriving spot on. But that's, that's for all of you to figure out. Mike, the next thing I want to talk about too is, and we're going to direct this more towards the parents, maybe we'll talk to the kids in the ride to the rink about this, but you know, there's just a lot of pressure that comes along with school. You know, student athletes feel overwhelmed at times. I hear it right. What do you think parents can do to help their kids reduce stress and really avoid burnout? Right. Because I'll tell you what, Mike, there are times I think we as parents see the hockey, we might not see the pressures that they're dealing with in school. And remember, for everybody listening, the pressures could come from the academia side of things. There's also pressure with just being a kid in school, with peer pressure and life pressure and growing up pressure. You know, your kids are dealing with a lot during the day that we don't typically see. Right. I mean, I mean, if we, if we had to Deal with that level of stress, I think as adults, which, which we do in some ways, but we're, we're more mature with it. Well, maybe not, but you know what I'm saying, right? How, how do we keep those kids from burning out? What's the, what's the thought for parents there? 

Mike Bonelli [23:59 - 26:18]: Well, personally, I think it's one, one of the things you can do is build. In times where you give a kid a choice, I think you build those in. I think you could build in, you know, pre. Build them in. Like you can know when, hey, listen, you have, you have an opportunity. You can do this extra studying and catch up on some works. I know your, your course load is heavy or you can go to practice tonight. But I've already talked to coach. Not a big deal. They know you can miss it. Like, what would you want to do? What do you want to do in this situation? And sometimes having the choice and then say, okay, well, I'd like to go to practice, Mom. Okay, then what are we doing to fill the. With the need for this though? Like, have you thought that through? And sometimes if you give them the choice all sudden that time they know their time frame is tighter and they don't procrastinated out. Like, it just helps. I found it. It helps a little. Even as a advisor to kids, I'm like, well, build in choices. Build in like, like everything's a choice. Like, you know, so. And your, and your coaches and your teachers both have to understand those choices. But it can't. Oh, the choice always can't be, I'm choosing hockey and for going school, like, if that's the choice all the time, understand the bigger picture of why you're, what you're doing each day, right? So my, my suggestion really is the, is the, almost especially with the younger kids, you can build that in. You could, you could, you could like make that happen without them really even knowing about it, right? Because they all said they get the empowerment to make that choice. Say, oh, well, I made the choice not to go to practice today. Dad wasn't ripping me apart because I'm not skating today. Like, I made the choice to not do it, but I'm not getting punished for it. Like, so it's almost like, hey, you can't lie to me. And if you ever, you know, don't ever lie to me. You need to be telling me the truth. And then when they tell you the truth, you beat them up. You know, your. Like I said, well, then why am I going to tell you the truth? Like, it kind of makes it. It kind of makes it hard. So if the first. If the kid wants, if they need that little time, give them the opportunity to make that decision. And if they make it, you listen. That's when you have to be like, okay, that. It's not like we talk about this all the time, right? One, one day of practice doesn't make a season. One time you miss a game on a Saturday doesn't make your life so. But not any choices. Every day does. 

Lee MJ Elias [26:18 - 26:35]: Yeah, you gotta keep in mind too, your kid might miss a game because they're sick too. Like that. You know, we don't hesitate if they're really sick. I mean, some parents do, but like I'm saying, like, you know, if your kids got really sick, you know, take them there either. Right, Right. I've seen that happen too. I can't stand it when parents bring their kids like. What do you mean? 

Mike Bonelli [26:35 - 26:37]: Like looking at this kid, like, he's not good. Look at this kid. 

Lee MJ Elias [26:37 - 27:58]: Yeah, this kid's dying. Why is he here? Well, he's our number one goal scorer. Yeah, not today. He's not gonna be today. You know, one of the things you brought up, Mike, I'm always interested in the relationship between accountability and choice because they are intertwined in a lot of ways. And I think something I wish more parents would do is to teach accountability through choice. Kind of what you're saying. Now, a great method to do this is, you know, when you're planning when to leave the next day, get them involved in that conversation. The way you should do this is now, as an adult, you figure it out ahead of time. Right. You need to know the answer. But then you sit down with your kid and you say, okay, the game's at this time. It's about a 45 minute drive. What time do you want to be there? Well, coach said I need to be there an hour ahead of time. Okay. Do you want to be there exactly an hour ahead of time? No, we should probably be there 10 minutes before. Okay, great. So it's a 45 minute drive. What time do we leave this time? What time do you need to be ready to leave this time? What do you need to do before leaving? I need to pack my bag. I need to get these clothes. Good, let's go all do that. When do you want to do that? You'll be surprised. You know, when you get them involved, not only do they have some ownership over it now, but they end up doing it because they said it out loud. They'll remember it I think most of the time it's, we're leaving it this time. Don't forget this. Get in the car. And then you get there, your stick's not in the car. I've had that happen. 

Mike Bonelli [27:58 - 28:10]: It just helps them understand the whole process, too, right? Like, yeah, it's great to want all that. Like, I want to be at the rank at 4:45 for a 5:45 game. Great. How are we doing that? Is it me packing your bag? 

Lee MJ Elias [28:10 - 28:11]: Right? 

Mike Bonelli [28:11 - 28:21]: Is it you back your bag? Is it you just being in the car waiting, like, okay, I'm ready to go? Like, well, who's taking the sticks and who's taking those cakes? Who's packing your lunch and who's taking your jerseys? 

Lee MJ Elias [28:21 - 28:22]: And who's another one for you? 

Mike Bonelli [28:22 - 28:34]: Who's feeding the dog? Like, all this kind of stuff is happening, and it's just like, you know, just. I think I love that idea. Right? Because you're. You're. You're just putting it out there, saying, this stuff doesn't just happen. 

Lee MJ Elias [28:34 - 29:22]: No, no. You got to figure this out at some point. And again, you're also creating really good life skills. Like, you got to plan all these things before we leave. And I. I also do things too. Like, when we leave the house, we're not just leaving. I gotta shut the doors. I gotta make. The windows are closed. I gotta make sure the range is off. I gotta make sure that the. You said at the cat. Yeah. Like, there's a lot of things you got to do before you leave. At least that's in my house. Some people think I'm overboard with that, but I don't want my house to burn down. You know, These are really good skills to teach your kids. Okay. Another thing, too. This is a funny one. You know, parents, if your kids are under 16, they don't know what rush hour is, and they've never experienced. I remember, I love my kids. I say, well, that's going to be rush hour. What's rush hour? Yeah. And I go, yeah. Why would you know what that is? You have no idea what that is. 

Mike Bonelli [29:22 - 29:24]: Down the whole time. You know, there's traffic. 

Lee MJ Elias [29:24 - 29:39]: Yeah. Or I go, oh, we gotta drive through the city. What does that mean? Like, they don't. They don't know these things. They've never experienced that. You know, and it's good to teach them that early. Right. Here's another thing you might. There might be an accident on the drive. You got to prepare for these things again. We'll get a little outside school here. 

Mike Bonelli [29:39 - 29:45]: But I'm still saying, my wife was listening to this. She, she'd appreciate the fact that I get major travel anxiety. 

Lee MJ Elias [29:45 - 29:47]: Like I, I need, that's a northeast thing. 

Mike Bonelli [29:47 - 30:11]: Like I just start. I need to know. Like I said, I know, I know it's. I know ways says if we leave at 4, we're gonna get there at 5. What if, like, what if on the way there's a car accident? Well, you can't do anything. Yeah. But we can plan for that. I could kind of have an idea. So I give myself like 15 or 20 minutes. So I'm never late. I can tell you that I'm very rarely late, but I'm often way too early. 

Lee MJ Elias [30:11 - 30:33]: And I, I just need to say this for the listeners. You know, Mike, Mike lives in Connecticut, I live in Philadelphia. From basically, we'll say south of Washington D.C. to right above Boston. It's horrendous all the time. It's just, it's not a, it's, it's an aggressive experience. All right. I've gone to other places around the country. I'm like, this is amazing. There's no one on the road person. 

Mike Bonelli [30:33 - 30:37]: And the weather person are both in the same school. I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. 

Lee MJ Elias [30:37 - 30:37]: Right, right. 

Mike Bonelli [30:37 - 30:38]: So. 

Lee MJ Elias [30:38 - 30:39]: So like, you know it gonna rain. 

Mike Bonelli [30:40 - 30:45]: So you can't, you can't. So I think, I think it's just the same thing. Like, it's like travel, making the plan. 

Lee MJ Elias [30:45 - 30:46]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [30:46 - 31:36]: Setting it up and then having the kid. And I think it's more for me, like from a coaching perspective, I have all these different contingencies because like I would have to plan these big trips. Right. So you're getting on. Get to the locker room, pack your bags, stick bag, equipment bag, medical kit. Bus is going to be here. Get on the bus. How long does it take? How long does the bus take to get to the destination? Oh, the bus can't go on a parkway, so now you got to go on a throughway different than the parkway. So that now everybody's like, oh, that's an hour and a half drive. Well, it's actually a two, an hour, 15 minute drive because we can't go this way. Right. So it's all these different logistical pieces that go into play. And now I think, you know, doing that maybe with one kid. Imagine if you have three kids playing hockey on three different teams in three different places. And which I see a lot of now, it's like, really, now you have to have a plan. Now you have to have a calendar. 

Lee MJ Elias [31:36 - 31:42]: Now yeah, well, and I'll say this too. We got to bring this back to school as well. 

Mike Bonelli [31:42 - 31:42]: The. 

Lee MJ Elias [31:42 - 32:07]: The point is this. You got to do all this to even think about balancing school with it. I really mean that. Right. And these skills that we're talking about are not just for hockey. If you teach your kids how to do this, because the question was about burnout, you'll teach them how to be prepared. But seriously, Mike, like, like not having this, you're gonna get burned out. Everything's gonna be a fight, everything's gonna be a struggle. It's chaotic when you have it planned. 

Mike Bonelli [32:08 - 32:23]: Yeah. But I guess that's why I was where I was going a little bit too. Like, knowing that the school piece, like, I gotta know, like, when I get in the road trip. So if. Is the hour part of my son or daughter's study time, are they using that to just listen to music or are they doing work in the car? 

Lee MJ Elias [32:23 - 32:24]: Right, Right. 

Mike Bonelli [32:24 - 32:39]: Can they do work in the car? Some kids can't look at their, like, their laptop for more than 10 minutes without getting car sick. So now you have, like, am I, am I, am I in the car? Is that, is that part of my preparation for practice and games or part of my prep for school? 

Lee MJ Elias [32:39 - 32:39]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [32:39 - 33:24]: And I think this is the balance we all have, like, saying, okay, well, if I'm, if I made the AAA team and it's an hour away on Thursday, you know, Tuesday and Thursday night, how are you building that into your academic schedule? Is. And is it better to say, well, maybe I don't know how to play on the triple A team because the A team, the double A team is five minutes from my house, and I have two more hours a day for my son or daughter to do, you know, something in school. Right. So I think making those decisions less on ego and more on the reality of who your child is academically, you know, that's where you have to have these conversations and discussions. Right? Because yes, playing on the higher level team may be great, but you could be a higher level player that can't get into the school you want to get into. 

Lee MJ Elias [33:25 - 33:25]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [33:26 - 33:31]: Or you can't you get your gpa. Looks like, looks like you're playing on a higher level team that you never go to school. 

Lee MJ Elias [33:32 - 34:49]: Well, before we get to our, like, final topic, know one more question I want to dive into is this. Or one more thought is that we can't underestimate the need for breaks as well in all of this. There are kids I know that play three sports while going to school. And they do not stop. And the parents will say they're having a great time. They're having a great time. And I'm like, you know, I'm looking at the kid and yeah, when they're healthy, they're, they're doing all right, but they're, they're not healthy that often. And their defense is down and there's times they look really tired and, and, or, or. The one I see a lot is they're playing two sports. And, and how much, how often have you heard this, Michael? Well, when the football season ends, their game gets way better. Their game gets way better because they're not juggling two teams at once. And now they're playing hockey full. It's like, to me, guys, that's a bit of a sign of like, maybe, maybe it's a bit much. Right? Like it shouldn't, it shouldn't be. Well, when they stop playing this one sport, they'll be better for us. That, that to me is. You're not balancing it correctly. Right. So I do think that that's a conversation you have to have within your family, but also, you know, and I. Look, I'm guilty of this too. Sometimes it's okay just to take a break every once, Right. You know, maybe there's a night where nothing's scheduled. Just hang out and take a break. Right. Maybe don't be like, well, we can get some extra training in tonight. 

Mike Bonelli [34:49 - 34:50]: That's it. 

Lee MJ Elias [34:50 - 34:50]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [34:50 - 34:53]: You see a break in your schedule, like, oh, this is a really good time to go out and work on my shot. 

Lee MJ Elias [34:54 - 35:17]: Right, Right. And now here's the. I will say this too. If the kid does that on their own volition, that's great. I would not stop that from happening. I would not go tell that kid, you need a break. All right? But if it's you, the parents, saying, hey, listen, why don't we go to the basement? We can work on your toe drag release. And the schedule's crazy. Let them have a night off. It does wonders for them. And for you too, by the way. Right? Like we get in our own routine. 

Mike Bonelli [35:18 - 37:15]: Yeah. And even these high performing athletes, you know, the people that could, like, like, I, I'll give my son a lot of credit. I mean, between, you know, captain lacrosse and hockey and travel hockey and high school hockey, Eagle Scout, you know, being, you know, he gets to be an honor roll and all this kind of stuff like that takes so much work. Insane. So much energy. And I think people just assume, like, oh, these kids are just all super smart kids and they could do all that, but there's so much stuff that goes into that. You have to give them the breathing room that when they need the break, you can't just say, well, no, no, you have to be on 100% all the time because it's so hard. That's like, one of the hardest things is to say, well, because now you've elevated yourself to this other stature, you always have to be there. And I get the fact that there are. I get it. I mean, there are adults that just go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And they're very successful. And. But at some point with a child, they're gonna. They could. Not that they will break. They could break. And. And a lot of it's just unneeded. Like, it's unnecessary. It's all. It's all unforced errors. Right. It's just. Yeah. We could have foreseen this by having the balance thing. We know when the highs and lows of school are, they're built into our lives. We know that. And as you and you know, again and again, you know, kind of going back to at the beginning here, when we're talking about, like, even road trips and stuff, like, I would always sell. Like, we had. My youngest son, always had to come with us with my older son's crazy hockey schedule. So he was missing as much school as my older son, and he wasn't even playing, like, so. But there's that, too piece like. Like, hey, we're going to Philly, or we're going to Washington, or we're going to, you know, Boston, and we're bringing in this. All these other stuff that's gonna help him, you know, learn and develop and grow. There's. There's a lot to be said for that. I'm a big believer in that. I think, you know, he would never get that field trip. 

Lee MJ Elias [37:15 - 37:36]: Oh, I. I can tell you right now, I'm a younger brother, and I learned so much from just watching my older. My older brother's five years older than me. We're not. We're not very close in age. Right. I mean, we're very close now, but growing up, that is not a good age gap. And it's funny because, you know, I think if you asked him, it would be like, oh, we always fought. We never got along, but I was always watching him. I learned so much from my. 

Mike Bonelli [37:36 - 37:37]: My big brother. Right. 

Lee MJ Elias [37:38 - 40:52]: You know, I want to. I want to bring this up to kind of round the episode out a few points. Number one, and this is going to be A firm stance by me. Audience. Like, again, you know, everybody's got to raise their kids their own way. But you know, academics come before hockey. I have to tell all of you this, right? I do not care how good your kid is. I do not care. I don't care if they really are the next number one overall draft pick in the NHL. You are one major injury away from this going away. And I've said it before, that if the academic side is not there, if they do not realize that there's a world outside of hockey, we are doing them a massive disservice. And I'm going to remind all of you, 99.99999 of us do not fall into that bucket. Okay? One of the things that I was told, and I tell my own kids, and this is so true, is hockey is your reward for doing well in school. I will say it again. Hockey is a reward for doing well in school. If my grades dropped really low, I would not have been able to play. That was made very clear. Now, one of the blessings, just word of the wise here, kind of like, like cautionary tale. I was an okay high school student. B's and C's could have done better. Wasn't, wasn't failing anything. I wasn't a terrible student. Just kind of was like just slightly above average, right, by the grading scale. And I remember I was being recruited my my junior year to go to some pretty high level schools. And my senior year, third game in, I tore my shoulder to. I needed surgery immediately. And all of the recruitment disappeared overnight. Overnight. Now I'm very blessed, very blessed that I was able to heal quick. I did get to go to another school and play. And I did find a major in that school in broadcasting Surprise that I really loved. But I was fortunate. I have seen athletes that their careers have ended early and they don't know what to do and they do not have the academic prowess because it was never instilled in them that you have to do well in school. And I'm going to tell you something, parents, it's a tough life for those kids. All right? Tough. All right. So hockey is your reward for doing well in school. And then the other way that I say this to sometimes the kids is that we do this kind of separation of hockey in school. And I try not to do that. I know they're different places, but it's like if you can work hard in hockey, you can work hard in school. And the best thing you can do is look at school as your payment for Hockey, that's your extension for the game. If you don't do well here, you're, I'm not going to let you do well in hockey because they, they work together. I wrote it. Hockey is school. School is hockey. They are intertwined in my household and for when I was a kid, right. You, you do not get one without the other. Actually, let me rephrase that. You can get school without hockey, but you can't get hockey without school. That's what I'm trying to say. Okay? So I just want to reiterate and parents, I'm sure if you're listening to the show, we probably agree, do not downplay the academic side, no matter how much success your kid is, have, having. And by the way, Mike, I'll throw it to you on this. I, I, there are very few NHL athletes that I have met. 

Mike Bonelli [40:53 - 40:53]: Few. 

Lee MJ Elias [40:53 - 41:19]: I'm not saying all of them that are not insanely intelligent people. I mean, they're really smart. They are masters level people in what they do. Right. They're not just pro athletes, they're like pro thinkers. Right. Their ability to see things, that's why most of them become unbelievable entrepreneurs after they play. It's not just their connections, Right. It's like that's, that's, that's the resources, their ability to think is insane. Right. You got to cultivate that as well. 

Mike Bonelli [41:20 - 41:52]: Yeah. And all the discipline that goes into it and the time management and everything that goes into it, you know, transfers. You know, as we all know, hockey is important, but education is important. And I think, you know, if you, if you can, if you can understand that for your kids, that all, it's all like, like we all want our kids to, I don't know if you talk to a big majority of like travel player parents. They want their kids, like they have this dream for them and a lot of the kids want to have the dream too. They want to play college hockey. 

Lee MJ Elias [41:52 - 41:52]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [41:52 - 42:03]: Like, but how are you going to get there? And you're not going to get there by having zero academic ability. So if you're a triple A hockey player, you got to be a triple A student. 

Lee MJ Elias [42:03 - 42:04]: Yes, absolutely. 

Mike Bonelli [42:05 - 42:32]: They go hand in hand and you, and then, and then more important, if you're a B hockey player, you have to be a triple A student athlete because there's no wiggle room. Like we all find ways to have the superstar, you know, skirt the system a little bit and help get them in, you know, into the basket weaving classes in college if we need them to play there. But that doesn't happen. For the run of the mill, my. 

Lee MJ Elias [42:32 - 42:44]: College had a class. This is not a joke. The class name was how to Watch tv. It actually made national news for being a class at the time. And this is 20 years ago. 

Mike Bonelli [42:44 - 42:46]: Sold out. The sold out class. 

Lee MJ Elias [42:46 - 42:51]: Everyone wanted to be in that class. How to Watch tv. To be fair, as you can imagine, it was a little more intricate. 

Mike Bonelli [42:51 - 42:53]: I'm like, I'm paying for that credit. 

Lee MJ Elias [42:54 - 43:06]: I'm gonna say it was a little more intricate when you're in the class than I think. What the name makes it sound like, of course, but. But it was one of those, you know, it's what. We had an ice skate. There was an ice skating elective that you could have. All the hockey team did ice skating elected. 

Mike Bonelli [43:06 - 43:11]: Yeah, of course. And again. And I joke around the basket weaving, but those are. Those are like. These are real. 

Lee MJ Elias [43:11 - 43:19]: We all took ice skating because. Well, I'll just say the networking that could take place with other students at those things was a fun time. 

Mike Bonelli [43:19 - 43:20]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [43:21 - 43:31]: There's another thing I got to bring up, Mike. For those of you hoping to play college hockey, there's a thing that we don't talk a lot about called minimum GPA required to play. 

Mike Bonelli [43:31 - 43:32]: Right. 

Lee MJ Elias [43:32 - 44:05]: Most schools will not let you even get on the ice if your GPA is. Is. I mean, for me, it was the minimum GPA was 3.0, but our. Our standard was 3.5. We actually raised it for the team that you, you know. No, you're going to be a 3.5 student and then you go on probation and. And if you go below 3.5, you're going to get a tutorial. We were strict about that. So if you think your kid's gonna get to school on their talent. And Mike, I gotta say it, I have seen really talented hockey players get to the NCAA and they flunk out real quick. 

Mike Bonelli [44:06 - 44:06]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [44:06 - 44:12]: Because they're. They. It's not. They're not good at school. No, they never were good at school because they never looked at it like this. 

Mike Bonelli [44:12 - 44:20]: Yeah. As a recruiter, I can't tell you how disappointed I'd be seeing a great player and then having a conversation with them at their transcript. 

Lee MJ Elias [44:20 - 44:22]: I'm like, you're 1.2. 

Mike Bonelli [44:23 - 44:40]: Like, there's nothing I can do. Like. Like, though. Because again, there are certain. Listen, there are always exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, you have to have passed all these clearinghouse pieces and you have to have a GPA and a transcript and something that. 

Lee MJ Elias [44:40 - 44:43]: Looks like an academy that's on top of your parents not being nut jobs. 

Mike Bonelli [44:43 - 45:00]: Right. Yeah. Yeah. All this has to work. Like, you know, the academic side is like, yeah, well. And when you go off to prep school in college, you can, you can look at a parent like, okay, that parent's nuts. But they're probably not that invested in being in the dorm every day. Although I'm seeing all kinds of stuff happen nowadays, but. 

Lee MJ Elias [45:00 - 45:00]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [45:00 - 45:05]: But now you can have. You know, I, I just think a AAA player goes hand in hand with aaa. 

Lee MJ Elias [45:05 - 45:06]: I, I love that statement. 

Mike Bonelli [45:06 - 45:15]: And we just have to be in a really good situation where we can, we could take and cultivate both sides of the fence and still get to the same goal. 

Lee MJ Elias [45:15 - 45:43]: Well, and I'll say this, you keep reminding me things. This little litmus test that I do, there's a little maybe inside access. And, you know, if any of my future players listen to this, I have no problem with you hearing it. All right. I have a little coaches questionnaire for the national team that I have athletes fill out. And there are some questions in there, like, what does a team bond mean to you? What kind of tactical systems do you, you enjoy playing? What. What does trust mean to you? And what, what I'm looking for is just a thoughtful answer. 

Mike Bonelli [45:43 - 45:44]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [45:44 - 45:45]: All right. And I can tell you right now. 

Mike Bonelli [45:45 - 45:47]: Yeah. Not the right answer. 

Lee MJ Elias [45:47 - 46:06]: Never. Never. Because these questions are very interpretive to what you. I actually want to know what you think. Right. I don't even need to agree with your answer. I'm looking for thought. And I can tell you right now that the players who write me a paragraph is a certain type of player versus the player that writes me four or five words. What's trust mean? You can count on me. 

Mike Bonelli [46:07 - 46:08]: Okay. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:08 - 46:16]: You know, and when I meet them, I'm not saying they're bad people. Don't get me wrong. Okay. But. But there is a correlation there between the thought they put into this and the thought they put into the game. 

Mike Bonelli [46:17 - 46:17]: Okay. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:17 - 46:26]: I, I would never make a full judgment call off of this. I got to make sure the parents understand that people listening. But I do recognize I am testing you with these questions. 

Mike Bonelli [46:26 - 46:29]: Well. And it is telling you a story of who you are. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:29 - 46:29]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [46:29 - 46:35]: Because if you're going to cut corners that on that question and you're going to cut corners in a drill. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:35 - 46:35]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [46:36 - 46:39]: Like, and you're going to shortchange. Like, you're going to go for the easy route all the time. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:40 - 46:40]: Yes. 

Mike Bonelli [46:40 - 46:45]: Then sometimes I'm not going to be able to take you to a place I need you to get to as an athlete. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:45 - 46:54]: Right. And I'll, I'll say this too, because I want to make sure that, that I throw it both ways. Sometimes I get extremely, well, thoughtful answers and the talent's not there, but they end up being the best supportive players. 

Mike Bonelli [46:55 - 46:55]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [46:55 - 47:28]: Could have ever wished for. You know, they're not jerks. They understand the role and they want to get better. I can coach that person. Right. Here's another one for you all out there with school and hockey. You know, this is true in academics. Coaches want to coach. Teachers want to teach. Allow us to coach you and teach you by asking great questions. If you don't say anything to us, I don't, I don't know what I need to coach you on all the time if you're just expecting me to watch. You know, if you don't know a system, if you don't know a mathematical equation, if you don't know something about the literature. Yeah, ask, ask the question. 

Mike Bonelli [47:29 - 47:39]: I love cerebral players. I love players that are going to push back a little bit, not, not debate me, but to give me, like, a little. Coach, I know you're saying this, but yesterday you said this. 

Lee MJ Elias [47:40 - 47:41]: Yes, I get that sometimes. 

Mike Bonelli [47:41 - 47:53]: Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. Because if you don't understand it and you're one of the smart guys, imagine what knucklehead over here thinks. Like, like, at least I know there's somebody giving me some pushback and some guidance as to my messaging as well. 

Lee MJ Elias [47:53 - 48:09]: Do you, do you think I want to look at my quarterly budget or do you think I want to talk about a 131 power play with my player? I, I, it's always the 131 power play with my player. Even though I have to get the quarterly budget done right. Like, I'm just. Same thing with teachers. Like, like again, I will, I will say there's a time and a place. 

Mike Bonelli [48:10 - 48:10]: Right. 

Lee MJ Elias [48:10 - 48:26]: But, but that's part of it. So school is hockey. Hockey is school. Kids and parents out there. This was a great episode, Mike. You come up with the best topics. This was one of the Benelli original topic today. Patent that. But Mike, anything before I close this out? Any final advice? 

Mike Bonelli [48:27 - 49:13]: No, I think, I think leading back to the beginning of the show, if you're a student athlete and you're listening to this, it's prepare and plan and just put yourself in a good situation for success by coming up, whatever your system is could be, it could be different for everyone. Coming up with a system that lays out all the different calendars and all the different activities and all the different time and space you have and then start building it in building routines. And then wherever you have your gaps, you have your fun gap and you have your work gap and you have your rest gap and you have your nutrition gap. Build them all in. It's going to help you become just a much more to you're going to enjoy your season much more. It's not going to be the hectic world we're all living in sometimes. 

Lee MJ Elias [49:14 - 50:38]: I love it, Mike. I'll give you the final note on that one. Another tremendous episode of Our Kids Play Hockey. Remember, gang, if you like this episode, give us that five star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Wherever you're listening to this, share it in your team snaps. Share it with your friends. Help us get this audience bigger and bigger and bigger. And remember, if you have any topics, do you have any thoughts? Did we miss something on this episode? Email us team at our kids playhockey.com or click the link accompanying this episode. You can text us directly. Let us know your name, where you're from. We'll bring it up on an episode. You're the best audience in the world. Enjoy the chaos of the cult that we're all in and remember to have fun. Skate hard. We'll see you in the next Kids Play Hockey. Take care everybody. We hope you enjoyed this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey. Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you you found value wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network, or our website, Our Kids Play Hockey dot com. Also, make sure to check out our children's book, When Hockey stops@when hockeystops.com. it's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life. We're very proud of it, but thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey and we'll see you on the next episode. Sam.