Our Kids Play Goalie: Mental Health In The Crease & Beyond With NHL Veteran Goaltender Clint Malarchuk

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Everybody, it's time for our kids play goal. I got a very famous, very notable guest today, and Clint Millar Chuck. If you do not know who that is, stop really quick and Google his name. He played the NHL for 12 years. He has an amazing story after dodging death three times in multiple ways, one of them being uh suicide. He is a mental health advocate. Uh, he has been for many years, and this has been an amazing discussion about goaltending, but also about you know mental fitness, mental health, and his journey to do that. It's an important episode uh that you should listen to. You can listen to this one with your with your kids if you want uh to talk about that conversation. Uh promise you it's not a downer. It's very uplifting and fun, and you're gonna enjoy it. Um also, if you have a chance, stop and make sure you subscribe if you haven't already. Give us that five-star review. Um, and make sure that you're sharing this with people because it really is important we get these messages out there to build our community, but really the community around mental health, mental fitness, and doing the best we can as parents, coaches, and players to just make this a better place for everybody. So without further ado, let's get you into the episode. Clint Millardchuk is with us today on Our Kids Play Goalie. Hello, hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome to another episode of our super popular spin-off series to Our Kids Play Hockey, titled Our Kids Play Goalie. Our guest today, Clint Millardchuck, is a 12-year NHL goaltending veteran, an inductee into New York State Hockey Hall of Fame. But beyond those accolades, which are impressive on their own, Clint's story and life are changing the way we look at mental health in the game and beyond. As a suicide survivor and someone who has experienced trauma throughout his life from childhood on, Clint now dedicates his life to helping others. He has accomplished this through speaking regularly on mental health, authoring his biography titled Crazy Game, How I Survived in the Crease and Beyond. In the U.S., it's called The Matter of Inches. Make sure you pick that up if you haven't already. He's also the host of the Warriors Unmasked podcast, and he serves as a figurehead for the movement throughout his work with the Ranch Teammates for Life organization, which we'll talk about today, and other groups on similar missions. We're going to have a very impactful conversation today about goaltending and mental health. So make sure you stick around for the whole episode. I know Mike and I are looking forward to it. Clint, let me be the first to welcome you to Our Kids Play Goalie. My pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. Hey, it's our honor to have you today. So, Clint, again, the focus of today's conversation is going to be about mental health, mental fitness. Uh, but as it is a goaltending show, you are a very famous goaltender. I want to ask you, um, how did you get into the position? Everybody's got a unique story about how they ended up in the net. Sometimes it's a sibling thing, sometimes it's just the way your mind works. Uh, sometimes it's luck of the draw. How did you end up becoming a goalie?

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Well, my my dad was a goaltender in uh senior leagues up in Canada. Back then, uh senior leagues were pretty high level and uh he played without a mask. That's how far back. Yeah. Uh you're looking at me, probably going, uh, I don't think you wore a mask either. But uh, and then my brother, big brother, seven years older, which is that's you know, seven years is quite a bit. So I kind of looked up to him big time. So I had two of those guys ahead of me. Uh, so I I wanted to be a goalie, like they were. Uh, they they insisted that I play forward, uh, till I well, I think I started playing goal at nine years old. Uh, the reason being is they said you gotta learn to skate, right? You know, so that was kind of how I ended up in in the in the pipes.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

I think any goaltending coach worth their salt will tell a young goalie you need to learn to skate because the goalie's got to be the best skater on the team.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

It's just it's just they don't have to be the they don't have to be the fastest, but they do have to have good edges, good push, you know, good balance, really.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Right, absolutely. Uh, you know, my my son, uh, who just literally turned nine the other day, uh, is a goalie. Uh it's funny. I Clint, when I say that, I still find myself saying, is he a goalie? Yeah, he's a goalie. He's he's he just fits the personality, and and that's what they've told him. So we have him skate a lot. Um, you know, Clint, I want to dive into this here. You know, we talk a lot on this show about how we all love the game, but the game shouldn't necessarily define who we are solely, right? That it's not just I'm a hockey player. Obviously, in your life, you had to deal with uh a moment in time threatening to become what defines you, right? How did you overcome that? And what are your thoughts on having the game define who you are, you know, especially for the youth hockey players listening?

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Well, I think that's a great statement. Um, you know, for me, I I can really speak to that because if I had a good game, I was a good person, a good kid. And if I had a bad game, I felt like I was a bad kid or a bad person. And that's really not healthy thinking at all. But uh my dad was kind of uh he was a great guy, don't get me wrong. But he was an abusive alcoholic. So I think some of that I got from being under that pressure of you know, hockey was everything for me. And but I I had a hard time uh sorting through some of those those things. Uh, you know, good game, good kid, you know, that that that sort of thing. And I can't tell you when I pulled out of that or um it was I was definitely playing, you know, pro hockey, right? And still, still feeling those that way. And like I said, that's really not a good uh a good place to be, you know, for anybody. It doesn't define who we are as a person, it's just something a person does. Right. It took me took me a long time to learn that.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Yeah, I I think one of the one of the uh the hardest things to overcome, I think, for us as parents watching other parents, and especially like in a somebody like me in my position, watching uh, you know, an abusive parent or watching an overbearing parent or watching a parent that you know is pushing their kids to to be at every skills clinic, every program, every tryout, is that the they all the when you talk to them, they understand and they watch somebody like you who succeeded. So they're like, Well, it's he succeeded. I'm like, Well, I I know, but what's your definition of success? I mean, and that's that there's so many kids that get pushed this way, right? Without their own doing, and they happen to they happen to make it to the highest level. But I think what's what's lost on all of us at the youth level is we don't see the thousands of kids that didn't make it. Right. That that experience the exact same thing. I mean, so wouldn't you say that like in your situation and some other professional athlete situations that come from this type of background, you were just you were just lucky, like you made it through, where a lot of kids just don't. Many kids don't.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yeah, you know, we're we're talking a little bit on the parents uh and how they kind of act and everything as you started with your your comments there. And I still uh give private lessons occasionally, and uh more than once I've had a parent uh standing on the bench, yelling and screaming at the kid. I'm giving a private lesson, it's not a game, it's not even a real practice, you know. We're going through drills and sequences, and and then you got this parent yelling at their kid and then waving the kid over to the to the bench, you know, and and telling the kid what to I mean, come on, you're you wanted me to give the lessons, and I've got the background and experience, and here you are, button in, and and you know what I say to myself or say in my I guess in the back of my head is uh this poor kid's gonna quit the game before he's even you know 15, 16 years old, because that's just overbearing to the kid, it wears on them. Uh, I think it's just a negative impact. And uh parents is you know, they can be their the worst enemy for a kid. As much as they love their kid and want the kid to succeed, I don't think they realize the damage they can be doing. Uh, you know, let the coach coach, um let the kid have fun. Uh when you leave the rink, you know, leave the game at leave the game at the rink.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

You know, Clint, I can tell you too, you said this too. It comes from a place of love, right? The the overbearing parent. And I always like to say that because along with that, the overpairing, the overbearing parent doesn't realize they're the overbearing parent typically. And the things that they tell themselves, um, and look, I'm guilty of this at times too. I'm very competitive, but I've heard well, I'm I I just want my kid to be competitive. You know, I've I've heard that, and I said, right, but but you need them to love the game first. If they don't love the game, it it won't matter. The other thing, too, is you're creating a value set for that kid that is unrealistic of that you need to be perfect or you need to do this right all the time. Um, and in a way, you take the creativity out of the game, right? And that that's that's really the best part, you know, it's the pond hockey nature of it. But you know, to the parents listening out there, and I'd love for you to talk to them about this again. It comes from a place of love, but you gotta check yourself, make sure that that you're not, you know, vicariously accidentally living through the kid, right? And again, we're all guilty of that. Um, and then also you got to check your ego because I think what happens is some parents double, triple, quadruple down on the no, I'm just trying to help them. And and it's you you're almost blind to the fact that you're not, it's doing quite the opposite.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Well, a lot of parents, I think they, you know, their kid's the one, he's gonna make it, he's gonna be in the NHL, or or if it's a gal uh playing goal, they're gonna go collegiate and and that oh it's not always the case, right? Right, but they they want it so bad, I think for the for the kid more than themselves. I think they would really want it for their kid, right? But uh, you know, nowadays too, the coaches uh, you know, when I played uh minor hockey and that it was always a parent that coached, right? Uh maybe a couple parents. And now they have like levels of coaching um that you have to, you know, you have to graduate through coaching levels and certificates, get these certificates to be a coach. So it's not like it's it, you know, the coach does know what they're doing. They've been having to pass an exam uh to get to that, you know, coaching level. Right.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Yeah, and I think I think knowing that sometimes I'll joke around, like I do a lot of coaching education for USA hockey in the States here.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

And USA hockey, there's your there's your there's your go-to right there.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

And and you have, but but there's there's certainly a lot of people that like so there's a big difference to me in, and I I love your comment about like when I grew up, it was all parent coaching, and you know, there was no certifications. I mean, who even knew what the background was half these people, you know, and and and who maybe we didn't want to know, but I think in the way it's structured right now, the tools are out there for any coach to become a better coach and understand, you know, uh the the you know the the format of the game. But I think you know, one of the things that's lacking in all the coaching education, and I don't know if you know Wally Kozak, he's a Canadian. Very well. Yeah, so Wally, Wally and I talk every week, and uh, you know, one of his aspects, him and Tim Bothwell, I think he put it in the back of the house.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I know the I know the group. Yeah, so that's what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Yeah, yeah. So the sharks there. And then and what we talk about all the time is the lack of education of the mental side, of the of the compassionate side, of the ethical side. And, you know, maybe we didn't know this all growing up because there wasn't social media and we didn't see the the mom, you know, climbing over the glass, yelling at an official, and we didn't see somebody, you know, throwing a garbage can across the rink and like we didn't see a lot of that because we were all in our own little worlds. I mean, it definitely happened. It happened, right? But I think now that there's so much exposure, one of the things we have to do is understand that we're we're educating the X's and O's, certainly, but there's even more of an emphasis because of the exposure to educate the mental side, the compassionate side. And maybe you can speak to that a little bit. I mean, even your unqualified, you know, parent coaching, the one thing they didn't know how to do was be a parent, right? First. And I think what we've lost a lot is when we watch the pro coach, listen, there's uh a a binder of level five USA hockey coaches that I have that I would never allow to coach my kid ever to step on the ice of my kid. I don't care how high a level certification are, because they're just not good people. No, so I think finding the good people first um and then letting them learn uh you know teach the game, I think is one of the top priorities I think we have to we have to look at.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Oh, absolutely. I I I couldn't have said it better. But uh, you know, you get the mix, of course. Not every coach is gonna be the the uh the greatest, but they're you gotta remember they're out there trying and they're doing their best to help your kid or that kid. And uh, you know, we we should probably be thanking them rather than ridiculing them. Right.

unknown 13:45

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:45

They're so important to our game because if you don't have coaches and officials, we talked about it all the time. We don't we don't have a game, right? It depends that you can skate all you want, but I think it's and I think even more so with the goaltending side. I mean, I watch, you know, when we when we ask people to raise their hands to be a goaltender at seven, eight years old, I mean, it would we with the stigma is oh, this kid raised his hand, what's wrong with him? Like there must be something wrong with him, so stick him in the net and let him keep him there. But I but I think that that whole idea that you know we have to how do we nurture kids to play goalie? Be respectful of the position as far as the the skill development, but also embrace the fact that it is a different position. There's there's a different level of anxiety for the parent and the kid. Oh, yeah. And and we have to also understand it's a lot easier for us to knock a kid out of the net and we can't replace them. Like how many kids are raising their hand to play goalie in a group of 15 kids? You know, one.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Well, but back in my day, it was either the fat kid or the kid that couldn't skate. And that they you're the goalie. You can't skate, you're the goalie, you're overweight, you can't move fast enough, you're the goalie. Right. And uh, so I what I hear you saying too is you got to respect that position. Um, it it's it's a tough one, uh, not just physically, but mentally. And and I think the worst thing is is a hockey uh goalie mom, because she has to sit there with that anxiety. If he lets in a goal, everybody's gonna blame him. And and to a point, you know, there there is some truth to that. Um, especially if it's uh he wins or loses the game. I mean, he could lose the game by a bad goal or you know, bad game, and uh there's that pressure that goes with it, even as the kids uh at the young ages, because uh, you know, we're competitors, and that's why we play sports. So that with that with that competitiveness comes that uh that self-made pressure. That uh and again that position is full of pressure.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Yeah, my son plays lacrosse goalie, and I when he gets scored on my wife goes, Well, what about the guys that lost the ball down there and then they got through the middies and then the middies lost the ball and got through the D, and then the D didn't know how to cover the player, and it was an open net. It's not his fault. Well, eventually it's somebody's fault, but I mean again, it's a full team effort, but the goalie is his own thing.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Several mistakes made before the puck gets you know shot on the goal. I mean, there's there's a breakdown here, or there's several, or somebody coughs up a puck. I mean, right, but no one sees that. Well, they see it, but then the once that uh puck crosses the goal line, that's what they remember.

SPEAKER_03 16:21

Unless the goalie's diving out of the unless the goalie's diving out of the way of the puck, then maybe it's probably not completely fault.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

That was me.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

I get real I get real skinny as a goalie. And Mike, we always say, right, as coaches, uh, when we win the game, the players did it, when we lose the game, it was a coach's fault. Um, you know, Clint, I'll tell you this too with my kid, and and again, like you, I'm a mental health advocate. Um, and when he jumped in net, I remember my concern was not, you know, pucks going in the net. It was, you know, my kid's a pretty emotional kid at his age. Um, and so I took more of an approach of using the position as a vehicle for his growth in that way. Um, and I have been uh astounded at his resiliency of when a puck goes in the net and controlling himself and understanding how to deal with those emotions. Um, and that's what I coach to uh when we do talk about. I try never to coach him in the car or anything after the game, but we talk about okay, when the puck goes in the net, what is your process mentally, son, to kind of overcome what's happening? He's not always perfect at it. Again, he's just turned nine, but I'm so proud of him that that he says, like, you know, I have to do better at just getting focused after a goal. To me, no matter what he does in the game, right? If he stops in five years or one year, he's learning a valuable life lesson that's that goes beyond hockey. Um, and I always said this this is sports in general, but hockey specifically is a vehicle for our kids' growth as human beings. And and when you focus on that, it really creates good people. And I always said this good people make good players, right? Um, when you get to that point, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Well, that's what sports does to us. It it you know, it helps build uh character, helps uh uh coping mechanisms with pressure, uh how to channel, how to focus. But you know, you'll even hear uh goalie coaches, head coaches, and even commentators uh talk about how a goal, a certain goaltender, and I'm talking in the NHL, where he's very, very capable of parking a bad goal or a bad game and coming back with a strong performance or rebounding uh with great saves after a bad goal. And it it's I think it's a learned uh talent, really. That you have to you have to focus, you have to learn how to mentally rehearse. Like I used to when I let in a goal, good or bad, I used to mentally rehearse the the goal going in, see it, and I'm doing all this before the next face-off. Uh, see it, and then I'd redo it in my head. Hopefully, I could get five times in of making the save, doing something different, and then I was able to park it. And uh, so that that was a tool that I had learned from a book that I had read. And um, you know, it was about mental uh uh toughness or uh enhancing your mental game as an athlete. And what I liked about the book, it gave a six-week practice. You did uh a certain thing one week, and then you expanded on that in week two, uh, adding another skill. And you you had to do this, I think it was 20 minutes a day. It was like going into the gym and riding the bike for 20 minutes, right? Right. Uh you know, so uh it really, really helped. I I believe that book made me from an American Hockey League goaltender to an NHL uh goaltender. Uh, because whenever I got called up to the NHL, I'd do okay, but I was lighting it up in the American League. And I was like, why can't I do that in the NHL? What is the difference? Bigger stage, uh, bigger now. You got TV. We didn't have TV in the American League last uh when I played. Uh all the you know, the pressures now with the internet, you can stream games, even at the very there's a thing called uh oh shoot, something barn, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Live barn, live barn hockey TV.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My my wife's uh the figure skating director director at uh here in Reno, Reno Ice, and she's got that barn TV, so she can see what's going on on the ice anytime, right? And so I mean, how far have we come with that?

SPEAKER_00 20:19

I I've had adult league players send me clips of them playing adult league hockey, which is I'm I mean it's silly to me, but uh hey, whatever, whatever floats you. But you remember the name of that book by chance?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Uh it's an old book, obviously. Yeah, uh it's called Sports Psyching. I'm writing this down. Uh uh Dr. Thomas Tutcoat, T-U-T-K-O-A. And I think there's a co-author too, but he's the main guy. Well, one of the nice things about the internet, Clinton, is that we can find anything, so we'll make sure we look that one up. Uh, a former player, Tim Tuki, and I we do uh adult camps here in up in Reno. I live about an hour outside of Reno. And uh you you would not believe it's mostly beer league guys, right? And gals too. We get girls playing too, and we put them together, the men and the women. And I'll tell you the intensity and the willingness to learn and improve, it's unbelievable. I'm like, it really I love doing the adult camps. I really do. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

I believe it.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Well, that's that's one, and but again, that's where you think about, I mean, just that stuff, just just understanding that you went out, researched this on your own, found this book on your own. Think about the resources that are available now to NHL goalies, right? They're not, they're not, they're not having to read a book or go search it out because hopefully, well, that again, maybe, and maybe, and maybe we need to even start bringing this down every level, right? Is that if this is accessible to our our everyday players, like why are we waiting then not to be proactive and adding these into our you know, programs like Lee does with his his little kids, even his eight-year-olds, is a lot of those things that you're doing, that that mental toughness training or that recovery ability, like we like you know, we need to add this into the into the player development spectrum uh for what we do with our kids, because I think we just say, you know, I think like when I grew up, it was just like, well, I don't know, toughen up. Like you don't just stop the damn puck. Like how how hard can how hard can it be? You know, so we don't we don't think about all the other things that go through a player's heads, and then the un and then the fact is the game is mental. I mean, if you can't, I mean, you know, if you can't understand that as an ex player going in, how can how can you teach it to these pla these young kids that are now to your point, they're like what was the first time, Clint, right, that you saw yourself on film as a goalie, probably really late in your career, right? I mean, and now these kids see it on the bench during the play. I mean, so so like it's like you know, think about how fast we're asked to recall a mistake where where years ago you didn't even know you made a mistake.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Well what you said right off the start there was uh just do it. Just do it well, how? Where's the how? Right and to expand on not just the mental side, now the athletes uh and they start very young now. It's not just in junior hockey, they start younger. Nutritionists, um, you know, uh fitness, uh office fitness coaching, uh things like that. And these kids are are starting that at 13, 14 years old. Um, you know, so there's a lot more resources on the how, how to do it, not just back in the day. Just do it. Just do it.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Here's the how. I I want to bring up a couple things here, Clint. One of the one of the terms you said earlier that I loved, I've actually never heard this before is that mental rehearsing. I I want to reiterate that to the audience. I think that's a really great statement. And then you alluded to this too about uh, you know, I use the term mental fitness a lot in my work uh because I think it equates easily to physical fitness, and everybody understands, and we talk about this all the time on the show. You work out, you'll get in shape. If you stop, you will get out of shape, and your mind works very similarly. Um, and and I what I find in my line of work, I want to definitely turn the conversation this way, is that um the stigma surrounding mental health, mental fitness is is starting to break a little bit. We just have a long way to go. And when I say it's breaking, what I find uh when I work with coaches and teams now is that it's not a it's not a just shut up and don't feel anymore. It's okay, you have feelings, you know, there's a mental side of the game, but that is kind of now where the conversation stops. It's as you just said, okay, well, what am I supposed to do about it? Um and as Mike said, a lot of my work comes is that's where I start to fill in the gap. So, well, let's let's do two minutes of meditation with eight-year-olds, which is extremely hard, but they can do it and they learn how to do it. Now we're planting seeds at a very young age of mental health, mental fitness, and understanding that this your mind is just as important as any skill set you have physically. Um, do you want to comment on that?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Well, I think it goes back to what I said about that book. You know, it gave a six-week program, right? You you actually put into your game if you're scored on or between face-offs, you were mentally rehearsing something, you were visualizing, uh, you were preparing for the drop of the puck in the next uh sequence of plays. And uh you you you you you touched on it too. We're we're we're we're we're we're teaching how now instead of just do it. Right. But yeah, I think uh that comment about yeah, you you go to the gym, you work out, we we've we've done that part for years and years and years, and we're just we're starting to really graduate more and more into the mental part. It's like what it's like lifting weights with your brain or your mind. Doing reps, mental reps, that's what I call them. Yep, and it's it's so important. Like I said, it it I think that's what uh got me out of the minor leagues and into the NHL. But I did the program, I did it every day, and uh, you know, I I implemented what I learned and practiced, more importantly, what I practiced mentally into my game, what I was doing.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

I'm just thinking here too. Now, that's very forward-thinking for that time period. You know, that was not a wildly accepted uh uh thing back then. In fact, it's probably looked at as weakness or as as uh you know this the stigma goes, you know. Um, Clint, just continues. Look, as we said, there is a stigma surrounding mental health. Um, you know, and for the audience listening, Clint's works are well documented, his life is well documented. I encourage you all to look him up, look at his his TED talks, look at his speeches, because he talks on this all the time. And uh, you know, just in researching the show, I I remember, you know, you you have said you suffered in silence in your life. Um, and while we know that the conversation of mental health is more prevalent, um, we are still seeing some of the highest rates of suicide among young athletes ever. Yeah, so my question is what can we do as a community to get better at this? So, not just the coaches and the parents, but as a community, how do we break the stigma and have these conversations that we need to have?

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Well, the word you just used, conversations, and we need to we need to talk about it rather than uh brushing things under the rug and turning our back to it and pretending it's not there. I just got back from the University of Minnesota. I'd I spoke there and there's a lot of student athletes. Uh I was kind of overwhelmed by how many emails I got. Uh, you know, on, hey, I struggle, uh, and I'm afraid that, you know, that it's gonna affect my game, all sorts of different comments. But I was kind of like, wow, you know, there's a lot of pressure on student athletes, you know, they got the education, they got to juggle the, you know, the their sport with uh uh going to classes and and studying and everything. But uh we we've come a long way with the erasing the stigma, but we're we're we're we got a lot of work to do still, right? And I think we you gotta talk about it, you know. That's why I'm really impressed when companies, corporations, um uh universities, even high schools, uh bring somebody like me in to talk and tell their story. And for a lot of people, they for the first time they've heard a maybe a former professional athlete really open up about what they dealt with. And yeah, you know, mine was more than the pressure of playing goal in the NHL. I also struggled with mental illness, and I did as a kid too. So, and I used to think I was mentally weak because I had all this anxiety issues and depression. And I look back now and I go, I wasn't mentally weak. I was I was dealing with NHL pressure and mental illness. I was double tough, but at the time I sure didn't think that. And as you mentioned, I I suffered in silence and darkness. I didn't I didn't want anybody to know that I struggled with these issues because it would be perceived as weak. Right. And it's not a weakness. It is not a weakness, it's uh so many people can relate uh to depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, which I have. Um and and I it but they they do it in silence because they feel they're gonna be judged. And uh we're we're getting uh more progress, I think, opening up more, like I said, when people bring people like me in to speak, they're obviously seeing that we have a problem, whether it be in our school or our company, or you know, the HR people, uh, they're they're they're forming hotlines, uh where and it's all anonymous where you know they can get help uh through the company, but no one knows they're they're struggling. And you know, it's funny if if you're diagnosed with, let's say, God forbid, cancer, well, you know, you got to do treatment, uh, you you know, all these things, uh, medications, and you know, the probably the first thing you're gonna do is go into your boss or your employer and say, Hey, uh, I got I got to go through this. And what are they gonna do? They're gonna say, what can we do to help? Take time off, work at home, do it, you know, take care of yourself. Now, if you have mental illness, what are the chances you going into your coach or your boss and and and saying, Hey, I really struggle with depression and anxiety because of the stigma. They're afraid they're gonna be judged. And in a lot of cases, they still are. But we're we're we're getting better and better, I think, as a society with that.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yeah, and Clint, I'll tell you uh, Mike, I'll throw it to you in a minute. Sorry, that that this is an issue that goes so well beyond hockey and sports. We're seeing this in military, uh we're seeing this just in daily work. Uh, people afraid to go to their bosses. You know, one of the things I wanted to say too is that we're going to keeping in sports for a second, they've done polls. Everyone can look this up. They've poll young athletes, what is the number one topic that you're most interested in? And it is always today, mental health, mental fitness, or some version of that. But with that said, I would ask all the parents out there, myself included, how often do your kids bring this up to you? Right? Because there is a bit of a generational gap here, right? We we should also say this too, Clint, that a lot of the understanding of mental illness didn't exist 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, right? So so it's some of it's people are victims of their time. They didn't understand, we didn't know, right? But you you bring up cancer, and it, you know, it's amazing to me because you know you have an illness, you know there's medicines, but you know what? I I doubt most people are diving into how chemo and radiation work to the cellular level. They just know they need it, yeah, right. So we just we have to find the the analogies here of you know, sometimes it is talking to someone going with a therapist is not a weakness. No, it is not, it's it's courageous. It it's I agree.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

And you you know, I I use an example all the time in my in my talks because people at I'm trying to break down the stigma. And you know, when when I uh for me, when when you you mentioned the word military, and uh I think who are the who are the most mentally toughest, mentally toughest men and women in the world. I would have to say military, right? First responders, um, you know, but I think of military right now, uh as an example. And we have these mentally tough people, you have to be to do that job. You could die. You're you're going on tour, you you're you're away from home for maybe a year at a time, and it's mental toughness is huge. Yet in in the US, we have 22 suicides a day every night just by just by Iraq and and Afghanistan veterans. They go over there and they get mentally damaged, PTSD. They come back, they self-medicate and die by suicide. And these are the so is and my point is it doesn't matter how tough you are. It it's I know for me, uh uh I don't produce enough serotonin. My brain, it's a mood, the the mood uh chemical, and uh that's why I'm prone to depression and anxiety and OCD and all these things. So, what's the difference if you're diabetic? It's it's a chemical imbalance of I think the pancreas. My chemical imbalance is of the brain. So, what is the difference? Please don't label me as weak, right? And the diabetic is different, you know, it's different organ.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Yeah, and I'll say this too, and Mike, I'll throw it to you. Uh, what's interesting about the stats, right? The 22 a day stat, which actually I believe is actually a lot higher right now, post-COVID. Could be. Um, you know, to put that in context for people listening, if you did the math on let's just keep it at 22 a day, if how many uh veterans we lose to suicide a year, and compare that to how many casualties of war we have, it is a staggering difference.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

It I mean, we lose an extremely amount of more people to suicide than war, and we're not taking care of our veterans for that, or each other. And the steps to do that are a lot easier than you might think. A lot of it is just empathy and acceptance, but even just asking someone, how are you today? Are you okay? Or if you believe someone to be suicidal, coming right to them and saying, Are you having suicidal thoughts? Right? The direct way is the right way, I think, with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Um go ahead. I well, I I I think too that you know, if we put uh as much resource, resources into helping people or educating people on mental illness and mental health, uh, you know what, crime would be down. Prison population would be down. A lot of the uh criminal elements or criminals uh that are in prison are mentally ill. Right. And you know, they sure they might be self-medicating, getting into drugs, alcohol, or whatever, and performing uh these crimes and they go to prison. But if we were to educate at a young age, uh that hey, there's help, let's if you're struggling, and we're getting better, don't get me wrong. I don't want to bang on the system. I mean, we've come a long, long ways, especially from uh from when I was really struggling and first got diagnosed at around 30 years old. You know, I'm 61 now.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Yeah, yeah, the the conversation's going the right way, uh, for sure. I agree with you. We're making headway, but you know, I always reflect on this too. There was a young player in the OOHL that recently committed suicide, and uh a high-ranking person in the OHL the week before had said, Oh, we've got that mental health stuff under control. Yeah, and I remember thinking it's not something you get under control. That's that's just the statement is almost incorrect. Um, so so I I agree with you. We're definitely going the right direction, but there's a long way to go. Mike, I've I've sucked up enough of the oxygen the last five minutes. I apologize. I know you had a question there. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

I forget. That's a lot to unpack right now in the last uh five minutes, though.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

One thing before I forget, because uh I will forget. Concussions, concussions. Um the uh the statement you met, you said, Lee, was uh, and I really had a hard time with this too, because I was like, Well, what do you mean? What do you mean? We've grown up with committed suicide, and you do I was told do not say that. Not when I public uh speaking, I was really kind of the people are banging on my door, do not say commit. I'm like, Well, that's what you say. We grew up with that phrase, right? Uh and they said to me, You do you die? Uh do you commit a heart attack? Do you commit cancer? Uh no, we say die, uh, died by suicide. I and I had a hard time getting that out because it the go to the go-to phrase is commit suicide. It's what we grew up with. So our our our our verbiage is getting better even. And at first I was kind of offended, what's you know, what's the big deal? And I thought about it and I went, no, there's there's something to that.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Oh, I agree. Look when it comes to suicide, not to keep this on suicide too long, but you know, if you ask someone if they're all right and they're contemplating suicide, they might tell you they're fine. Oh, yeah. Um, you know, and and and that that's why I I said, and again, I I was fortunate enough to go through some training for this, and I'm thankful for that training every day. But um, it was hard. I remember uh Mike, I never told you this. They made us go through an exercise where we had practice asking someone, are you contemplating suicide? Are you having suicidal thoughts? And even in the the practice, it was really hard. I mean, it was hard. Um, it got real serious. And I realized in that moment, um, you know, wow, that this was a hurdle I had to get over myself, you know. And I and I'm not someone who's who's, you know, thankfully I've never, you know, experienced that, right? But people do every day, and there's a guarantee you're walking by someone who's doing it, just by statistics. So uh, you know, again for for hockey parents, I'm gonna make sure keep it, keep it on hockey. Um, you know, it's okay to have those conversations with your kids. Your kid might roll their eyes, right? They they might they might act like they don't want to talk about it, but just them knowing that you care, that's them knowing that you're you're on top of it. Um, is there the the other staggering stat about suicide was that uh almost everyone contemplating thinking about it, almost everyone is looking for help or looking for someone to talk to them about it.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

You know, just the last thing, I guess, on suicide. That you know, I think you mentioned I'm a suicide survivor, and I can tell you this I've heard suicide described as cowardly, I've heard it described as courageous, because you know, it that takes some something, you know, courage to do, I would I would think. And it's neither. It's sick, it's somebody that's really um emotionally ill uh in a bad way. Uh maybe life isn't good. It's not always it's not always mental illness. Yeah, I always try to preach too. Sometimes it's uh because a lot of people, well, I'm not mentally ill, but if you say emotional distress, oh shoot, I can relate to that. Oh, that divorce I went through, I was a I was I was a basket case, I was depressed, I was anxious, you know. So sometimes people get turned uh I they're not mentally ill. But if you say emotionally distressed, well, yeah, we've all been that way, everybody. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Uh then I want to I want to bring us back to actually the goalie position a little bit too. So one of the the goals with this offshoot of our show was to create an episode that focused on goaltending, but that that everyone could relate to, right? Not just goalies or goaltending coaches, but coaches, players, skaters, parents. Um, and one of the questions we like to ask is uh, what are the questions that youth coaches should be asking about the goaltending position that maybe they're not currently asking? Right? It's not just, hey, stop the puck. You know, there's a little bit more to it than that.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

First question, are you having fun? Do you enjoy stopping pucks? Do you enjoy this position? That's the first question. Because some kids will go, you know, they tried to be a goalie and now they're stuck there and they're not really enjoying it. They're not built for that. What they're not wired for that position. So that's the first question. And then uh, you know, we could ask all the other questions, you know, but they're not really questions, there are things we should be looking for. How good of a skater is my goalie? Um, again, I when I do private lessons, I get these kids and they can barely barely stand up. And I'm flipping pucks at them, and they're they can't because they don't have balance. They so that's what you got to do is you gotta look for can the kids skate before you you you stick them in goal? And is he working on his skating? And like my wife teaches figure skating and power skating, and the first thing I'll do is go to a parent and say, forget me right now. Let your kid work with her, and then he can come to me, or she can come to me. I you know it's amazing too. Like, why the and I I don't want to get off topic here. Uh, some of my best goalies are I shouldn't say best goalies, uh, best students are female, young girls. And and I always think, why is that? They I don't know if it's the wiring, male, female, or whatever, but they they just uh I think they process things different than the guy. Uh guys that were eager, aggressive, keen, uh competitive women, I think. And this is my own uh thinking because I kind of study it myself, is they're more analytical. They they retain or not retain, they they listen better. And you know, uh you put a kid out there and he just wants to go, whether it's goalie or forward, D, whatever. And uh I find it even with our adult groups, the the women tend to process things a little bit in more in depth. It's my own opinion.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

My own well, I mean it's we we see that a lot with the with our like I work a lot with eight you kids and and you know, ten you kids, and just that that what you mentioned earlier about you know making sure they are they enjoying the position. And I think one of the one of the things that's kind of occurred in our game, which has been a really positive piece of this, is we've gone to like I know at the at the in the USA hockey level, we've gone to intermediate nets for the little eight-year-old kids. So they're not in a they're not in a regulation net. And I mean, literally, this just happened last night. We have a we have you know eight, nine, ten different kids that try goalie, quick change gear. They throw it in there. We don't put the player in a full-size regulation NHL net, but we put them in an age appropriate net that actually that kid left. I mean, you you couldn't have had a bigger smile on your face because so many, I don't know if he even made a lot of saves, but a lot of pucks hit him. And the pucks that hit him, he felt he saved them. And his teammates felt he saved them. And all of a sudden they're like, oh my God, this kid's like a real goaltender. Like, he's stopping pucks and it's hitting them. But we gave him the chance to have success because there just wasn't anywhere else to put the puck. And I think you know that that was an each piece.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Yeah, that's a great, great concept. And and uh not only that, some parents will, you know, their kid's not a goalie, and they're like, Well, my kid can't score on that. No, you're helping that kid be a better shooter.

SPEAKER_03 42:51

Well, we say it all the time. Yeah, in our non-goaltending episodes, we talk about that all the time. Like, you want to teach the whole athlete, well, it it's not you know, so so Clint, how many games in the NHL has a puck lofted over your shoulder and fallen into the net? Never. It doesn't happen, right? So what we do is not gonna be. I don't want to bring up any bad memories. I don't want to bring up any bad memories, but but I mean I think it's the the like to make it look like the real game, then our shooters need to learn how to put the puck on a rope. Like you need to shoot. And so an elevated puck is not the same as a looping puck. And I think that's what happens when the kids get into these these huge nets that pucks are looping over their shoulder, and we're asking them, I mean, you as a teacher, right? We're asking them to do things that just aren't in a normal thing. But I think my my my whole point was the fact that you know, if we put our kids in in places where they can find success and they can get confidence and they can feel good about being in the position, we're going to get more kids that want to be in the position. And um, you know, and I think that's the the the our job at the at at six and seven, eight years old is to find it is to find you know, joy is to make sure that the kids love being on the ice. And I don't know if I put a kid in the net and he gave up you know 27 goals in his first experience, if he would find joy in being in the net. I I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

Well, and as a goalie coach too, I I always like you know, where you bring some shooters out so you can do you know uh drills. And uh what I always tell the the goalie, I sure I'm out there for the goalies, I'm the goalie coach, okay? But I tell the shooters, do this. It's hard for the goalie. Goalies do not like this. It's a tough, it's a tough save, like dragging the puck, changing the angle, getting the goalie moving lateral where he has to open up and close again. Um, make it make it uh uh you know good for the goalie and good for the shooters, you know, an education for both.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

We have Steve Aliquette working with the kids down here, and I I see I the kids are clamoring. The shooters are like climbing over themselves to get on the ice with Steve to shoot. And he doesn't really, he's I think he's teaching them more than the shooting coach is teaching him because he's telling them this is where goalies are weaker. This is where I need my I need to improve my goalies reaction to this type of shot. But listen, I need you to take this type of shot because this is the shot that on a goalie that I'm not teaching won't be able to do. to stop.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

So I think it's you know or shoot for a rebound. Sometimes you're at a you're thank you you're at a bad angle. Thank you. There's no way you're gonna score, but shoot it at his paddle of the net where the rebound's gonna go right out in the front.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

You know you don't like you don't like hearing pucks go off the glass you don't like that you know you know you know Mike I'll tell you a few things Clint you too number one is I always tell him every age group this is from pro down I say half the goals scored are on a second chance opportunity in front of the net it behooves you to get very good at that. Here's the other thing too go ahead Clint sorry well you could throw in screens and deflections too right right it's such an underdeveloped or understudied part of the game at the youth levels. Clint you were talking a few minutes ago and this is this all connects right about uh men versus women or boys versus girls. You know, when I really got into studying coaching I realized that I was very into hockey I said I have to look at other sports. I remember starting that like I need to look at basketball and football and see how they do it. Man, that really expanded my knowledge um but then I started coaching different genders and I learned a lot you know uh female players tend to bond a lot faster than boys and men and I learned a lot about how to do that even more effectively by coaching women so I I think that it's so important that you try different things. And with that said for the parents listening this is what I always tell I tell kids and parents you want to be a great winger play defense. You want to be a great defenseman play center. Uh you know they used to call me Mike I don't remember if I told this story but when I was growing up I started playing at 12 I was pretty late and I could skate like the wind but I could not score they used to call me Stonehands. That was the nickname they gave me and I I just like you kind of talked about with sports psyching that book um the the method of education to start learning how to score was going to goalie clinics. I volunteered to go to goalie clinics and you know what I learned how goalies think. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 47:11

And then I started scoring because I understood another great concept is to make every uh player on the team go and goal for one practice. And all of a sudden you know I'll tell you one thing the the older kids that can shoot high and shoot hard they're gonna respect that goalie a little more. Yes. You know you you know what I mean they're not uh zinging him by his ears and that um you just I think uh you learn uh what that position is and what goes into that position.

SPEAKER_03 47:43

Yeah there's no doubt we've come such a long way in goalie development I think and and knowing I mean even on this show you know having talked to so many different goalies now and you know where it where the game was and how a goalie was just like the fat slow kid to now you know one of the you know like the best athletes on you know on on the planet and the and really the mentally toughest athletes on the planet. And I think you know you mentioned it earlier. I think the one aspect I think that kids can learn in the goaltending position is you know they they for for a lot of ways they do have the time to do what you're doing Clint right and reset and think about like they have the time between and maybe that maybe me as a coach I have to understand that like I need to have the relationship with my goaltender to say hey listen a goal scored like you got to give me a sign like do you need more time to to work through this and I'll I'll you know I could break a stick on the bench or you know lose an edge or you know I could I could question uh something a little harder like we're like we can work together with our goaltenders to allow them to to have that structure that to allow them to have that ability to say okay I have time here let me reset let me go through my whatever whatever routine it is doesn't have to be what you did Clint it could be whatever right but knowing that we can work together to understand like a goalie doesn't get the opportunity like if I'm a defenseman and I and I'm on the ice for a really bad goal and my coach pulls me off the ice I probably have like six minutes to to digest that well because I was gonna say just look up Patrick Wall in 1995 if you want to know the effects of not giving your goaltender a moment. Well yeah yeah you lose a franchise kid but I think but I and I but I think that's but I think that's that's really understanding now that we know what we know right understanding that this is something that we can we can strategize and work together on and and and to your point under you know communicate that to the rest of our team because are my forwards and my D it's built into the way the game is structured that they can go on the bench the coach could talk to them you can coddle them you could yell at them whatever it is you could do the things you need to do but our goaltenders don't get that opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

No no they don't they the buck is dropped and they gotta be they got to be mentally ready.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

And it's I know my goal my like my assistant coach used to get so mad at me when we at the youth level we used to switch goalies like at the halfway mark of games like when one kid would play half the game the other kid played the other half the game and we'd always like I I and me me I wasn't even thinking sometimes like I would if the if the if the the the time where the kid had a switch if the face off was in our zone we'd always defer and say okay let's I'll give up the extra time but let's not put this brand new goaltender into a place where the puck is already at their feet. Like why don't we why don't we put them in when the face off's in the neutral zone or the other end so that it's like the first thing they don't see when they get in the net is a shot on net. And I think that's you know that's just something to strategize about trying to think about you know how am I structuring the game but you know but to your point we we need to build in these opportunities for the goaltenders.

SPEAKER_00 50:37

Yeah the goal goalie can move around a little bit if the face off's at the other end he can you know he can watch your feel yeah get the feel and get it get his edges and get some pushes in you know Mike you're also making me think about you're talking about and Clinton you too about how we don't give the goalies the time man we don't even do that between periods.

SPEAKER_01 50:54

What what think about what's the what's the go to hey you okay you okay all right good let me talk to the rest of the team for the two minutes that I have about the offensive zone uh for check that we're sucking at um I wanted to talk about your work a little bit too uh you know you're the vice president and founder of the ranch Teammates for life uh which is committed to supporting others uh suffering from PTSD brain injuries uh and other uh mental or emotional distress as we talked about I just want to give you some time to talk about the organization and and how it's working to break the stigma surrounding mental health well what we what we've done it was the mark mark pavlich who was you know New York Ranger and uh gold medal champion in 1980 um he had some some mental health issues uh ended up uh you know dying by suicide uh but him it it was him that uh really wanted to start this ranch him and Barry Beck uh former NHL and and along with uh Mark's sister Jean uh they got a hold of me I can't I don't know how it was a couple three years ago and said would you like to be involved? I said sure and uh you know then they said we'd like you to be the president and I was like I can't I can't even send an email so we well so I ended up being the vice president and what we're trying to do is help like you said uh uh veteran athletes that uh because a lot of uh post-career uh players struggle and a lot of it's concussions because concussions uh can cause uh anxiety depression and some mental health issues down the road uh so we we do uh anybody with brain trauma mental issues uh depression anxiety uh addiction uh things like that and it's not just for uh you know former NHL players it's for any player any sport uh we will not turn anybody away but it's also for military veterans we uh we formed with the Eagles Healing Nest in Minnesota which is a uh an organization that helps veterans and a lot of these veterans would be homeless without the Eagles Healing Nest and they were uh nice enough uh Melanie Butler uh who founded the Eagles Healing Nest uh donated us a building on there we're renovating it right now we're raising funds and that's what we want to do we just want to help people and prevent you know uh you know I'm a suicide survivor Mark died by suicide uh we've had uh some junior hockey players and uh NHL former NHLers especially that have died by suicide or overdoses and uh so we want to prevent that uh I believe God spared me for those that are still suffering so you know I I've almost died three times and once was you know uh an attempt at my own life so uh I'm very passionate about uh you know being alive number one and I'm here for a purpose and I better uh make note of it and work on it.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Yeah and hearing you talk about this and this for the audience uh again through your various ways of finding you speak online uh it's so inspirational and and thank you no thank you I thank you for being courageous enough to do what you're doing right um yeah you speak so freely about it and with so much passion that it's infectious and we all play a role in helping each other right I think the ranch is uh is just one of the many places where that's happening and you know I'll I'll tell you in in my work with uh military veterans as well you know one of the things that leads to depression um and eventually sometimes suicide is the loss of three things and when you're done a pro career in sports or military you will lose these three things immediately purpose identity and community and when those two three things disappear you are in a very bad position and we need to provide veterans and athletes with purpose identity and community um preferably before they retire right like this this this process should start years in advance but you're providing that um and I've always been amazed Clint and at this concept that someone who has suffered like you and has been in the position that you've been in finds solace in helping people in similar positions. And I think that that is a key I think that unlocks a key for people of that if you're feeling a certain way I find that reaching out and helping other people is an amazing healing process right and and you do that obviously the ranch does that I'm gonna talk a minute about how the Minnesota wild are doing that. But we all play a role in that and I just I think that that's one of the major parts of this episode we want to share.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

Well yeah you know I I have certain tools that I use to keep my daily balance uh you know especially when I do struggle uh I I do take medication uh I don't like the alternative some some people are anti-meds but I don't like the alternative I I went to a very dark bad place uh working out uh and you know there's a couple of counseling um but I I the biggest one is being of service it gives me such uh gratification and purpose when you and a lot of people say I don't have time to join the rotary club I don't being a being a service can be opening the door for somebody smiling smiling at a coworker when you really don't feel like it you're kind of grumpy or even pissed off right you'd be surprised you get out of yourself and into others and that's why I love public speaking because people come up to me after and say wow I'm gonna go get help wow I'm gonna talk to my parents wow I'm gonna talk to a doctor you know um and you you they're tearful they're we're hugging you know it's like it selfishly I think I do it for myself makes me feel so good.

SPEAKER_00 56:31

Hey there's nothing wrong with that and no there isn't yeah so sometimes getting out of out of here getting out of your own head and like you said I I love the way you put that putting it in someone else's shoes.

SPEAKER_01 56:40

You you made me think of uh I I do coaching with uh is it's a it's a it's the we're called USA warriors and there's uh every not every city a lot of cities around the US have uh disabled vets uh and they they they join these USA warriors and we do tournaments and we do them all over the place and I'll tell you what I get to coach and you you and I get to meet them and hear a lot of stories and my God but a lot of them that you know I had a one arm defenseman and you wouldn't even know he had one arm. I had a one eye it was a fantastic uh and and then but the thing is most of them have uh if they're not physically disabled it's a PTSD thing and they say that hockey that camaraderie it it just fills a void that they they missed and they got into it. Some of them didn't play hockey they had to learn and learn how to skate and it it's a blast and it's very gratifying.

SPEAKER_03 57:35

Yeah I gotta say I I I do a lot of coordinating with the Wounded Warrior project and we do a lot of sled hockey events and wounded warrior hockey events and there's no doubt that the people I always feel bad about asking people to help me do these things like asking you know firemen, policemen, you know service people, they're always the first ones to add service like and and then they'll leave like I'll send out a thank you note oh guys thanks so much for coming you know blah blah blah and every single one of them like are you kidding me like it was the most gratifying experience that I've ever had to do this. And I think that's what's missing. I try to do this with all our kids you know that I coach too is you know service is it like you said does it doesn't have to be extreme but if you can do it it's amazing how many kids jump on board to say wow you know I really enjoyed that and I like that and and wow I didn't realize how fortunate and lucky and you know that I am. And if I can do a little bit and look how joyful this other person is into and like you're saying that's sometimes that's the best part of those people's uh you know you know whole year is that is that tournament you know because they don't get that joy in other areas of their life. And I think that's a great you know just a thing for the audience to you know that you can seek out and find like organizations like yours um to add service to that doesn't cost you anything. You don't have to give money you just add your time and a little bit of effort and I think you know it's amazing you know how much joy you get back from working uh with these different you know different you know whether it's a wounded warriors or disabled vets or you know any any I work a lot with the uh Asha you know American special hockey groups any way you could give you your expertise and your joy it it's uh it's gonna make you feel just as like giving a gift at the holidays you always feel better when you give the gift it's always a gift yeah it's and I think it just goes unnoticed a lot when we're all hustling and bustling and getting private lessons and going to tournaments and spending money on bags and jackets and hats and and we go wow I could just do this one little thing and it would be more impactful than anything else I do for my kids.

SPEAKER_01 59:37

Mike you're in Colorado right uh I'm in New York oh you're in New York okay it's lose down uh losing Colorado still yeah okay yeah yeah they have a big uh disabled American veterans winter sports classic in aspen and I oh man what a what a trip you got blind skiers and you got uh you know sled hockey and and snorkeling and and canoeing and oh man it's it's just it it it's fun to see the smiles on those veterans.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:06

Yeah and and and again it doesn't do it doesn't cost you more than anything but your time.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:10

Yeah and I'll I'll I'll say this guys before I jump in this last question here is you know I've studied this you know biologically humans are not meant to operate alone we are uh from an animal level meant to be together we are meant to work together and there's a lot of forces right now ripping us apart from each other and it's not surprising to me that it's causing problems but at a base level we are supposed to help each other we are supposed to take care of each other it's it it it's just it's hard for people to embrace that concept right now but I'm I'm hell bent on making sure that we learn how to trust to work together again. Glenn I want to I'm gonna make sure I bring this up before the episode ends. We also know the Minnesota wild have taken a really proactive stance on mental health. They're doing uh a thing called hockey talks hockey talks I don't know where my accent came from there. But there's these little segments uh again today's date's February 7th 2023 if you're listening to this in the future this is something they do annually um and next week the the University of Minnesota head coach PJ Flex is going to be speaking um at the St.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

Paul River Center which is a which is a great location all the the let's play hockey expos there is every year um how important are events like these to furthering the conversation again I know you speak about this all the time but we're starting to see the other things sprout up yeah I I was uh I spoke at that uh hockey talks in Minnesota last year right I was uh I was the uh my wife was with me too she spoke with me uh great these things uh you I think we got I can't remember the don't quote me on this I think we got 17 teams that are doing hockey talks but a lot of teams if they're not doing hockey talks they're doing a mental health uh awareness night right uh I'm supposed to go to Buffalo and next month and do their their uh their game and yeah I I think it it's so important that the you know we we look up to our up to our athletes and celebrities and then when you see them uh doing things that are helping people it it it just opens up the door for that person that's struggling in science to say hey you know uh Marc Andre Fleury is is a an advocate for this or whoever it might be maybe I should go you know talk to somebody it it just opens up the awareness and the uh conversation yeah it it's uh first off it's awesome to see the NHL taking a step forward with this and again look we've said the whole episode we've got a long way to go but it's going the right direction I feel like we finally have have you know we're walking the right line and uh Clint again look you're a champion in this realm I'm so thankful that you came on today I'm thankful for the ranch and um everything that you do that you stand for.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:49

You know I'm glad you're here and and uh you you tell your story with such courage you know there's no there's no stumbling in it you know what I mean it it it's just like this is who I am this is what I've done and this is why I'm here I think we need more people like that right now that are not afraid to talk about their lives in that way because we all deal with this on some level every one of us there's not one person that is just mentally fit all the time it doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:17

No it should yeah so Mike any final words before I uh close this out no I just appreciate uh Clint you being on and I think you know we talk uh a lot on our show about you know access for kids and access for the sport of hockey but I think one of the things you've done is you know provide access for for mental health and it's the same thing if you're a parent you know if you're getting your kid power skating lessons or shooting classes or goaltending lessons or whatever it might be I mean this is this is has to be top in your priority of you know how you're gonna you know what what your what your uh workshop is gonna look like uh for your kids each year and I think adding some type of uh mental health and and you know development in there is uh you know on it should be on top of mind for every every one of our parents absolutely I agree a hundred percent uh anybody that what wants to reach out uh I try not to give advice but I you know it's hard to because I'm not really a doctor well I am a it's honorary though but so I don't know anything that's true that is true uh but they can go to my website it's uh Millarchuk.com uh you can email me through that and uh you know if you got questions or uh need a little bit of direction or something I will try to help.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:29

Well and I was gonna say at minimum visit that website or just search Clint's name Clint Millarchuk you'll you'll find everything you need to know about this man who I do want to reiterate had a 12 year NHL career when you talk about the puck bouncing over you. You don't make it 12 years of the NHL if you don't have some idea of what you're doing. But uh Clint fantastic episode thank you for being here uh today that that's gonna do it for this episode of Our Kids Play Goalie again all of our episodes of our kids play goalie and our kids play hockey can be found at our kidsplayhockey.com or wherever you listen if you enjoyed this episode make sure to share it with your friends your coaches your your kids your team snap wherever it is that you do it if you're on live farm put it in chat I don't have chat but you know what I mean share this we got to get this message out there and we'll see you next time on another edition of our kids play goalie thanks for Mike Vanelli flip malarch on Leis. We'll see you next time we hope you enjoyed this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value wherever you're listening whether it's a podcast network, the social media network or our website ourkidsplayhockey calm also make sure to check out our children's book When Hockey Stops at WhenHockeyStops.com the book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life is very proud of it. Thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey and we'll see you on the next episode.