The Ride to the Rink: You Become Who You’re Around — A Youth Hockey Mindset Lesson with Doug Smith

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This episode is powered by NHL Sense Arena. Hello, hockey skaters and goalies around the world. Welcome back to another ride to the rink. It's Lee and Mike here, and we have our friend Doug Smith here today. Doug was a second overall draft pick, played in the NHL, played in a pretty famous game known as the Miracle on Manchester. Kids, you should probably go look that up on YouTube if you haven't seen it yet. Greatest NHL comeback in the playoffs of all time against a guy named Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers. I don't know if you heard that name before. But Doug was on our big episode this week, and he has dedicated his life really to helping others and to kind of growing our mindset as people. And his journey has been amazing. Obviously, played in the NHL, had a pretty major injury kids that he was able to come back from. Again, you can listen to the big episode if you want to hear more about that. But Doug, what we want to talk to you about today with the kids is a question of identity. And kids, we talk about this a lot. If you're listening to this show, you love hockey, you love playing hockey, training for hockey, and everything about the game. But we have said before to you that while that's amazing and you have your dreams, it's so important to recognize that your identity is not only linked to you as a hockey player. You are a whole separate person beyond the game. And Doug does a lot of work with youth athletes and a lot of kids to expand their mindset. So, Doug, can you talk to the kids for a few minutes about the power of identity and why it's also important to expand your mind just beyond the ice?

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Well, the first rule, and uh thanks for having me, um, is you become what you're around. You don't have the means to prevent yourself from becoming what you're around. So be cautious about what's going in and the people you hang around with, and know that if you get around people that are better than you, and you know who the better people are, and you might have to take a few shots, but you know, you'll become just like them. So that that's really the the message that I want to hammer home is you know, we're we all affect each other in either a positive way or a negative way, and I promise you there is no inertia.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

You know, I'll say real quick, Mike, before I let you jump in. Kids listening, just to give you an example of this. When I was growing up, I saw it out from a hockey standpoint the better skaters, the better shooters, the better passers, the older kids. I always wanted to be on the ice with players better than me when I wasn't maybe with my regular season team. I looked for those things. And by the time I got back to my team, I wanted to be amongst the kids who were trying the hardest and working the hardest. Now, that's when I was younger. As I got older, I started yearning for people also yearning for knowledge and trying to find ways to better themselves. If you surround yourself with those people now, as a kid, it will have massive impact on your life. And what's tough, kids, I it might be toughest at your age to do this because when you're a kid, peer pressure is heavy. Wanting to fit in is heavy. Worrying about what other people think about you, it's a heavy thing that happens when you're growing up. We're trying to tell you and give you permission that it's okay to not be that kid. All right, you can forge your own path and you can find other people out there. One of my favorite quotes I ever heard that I have found to be true, kids, is that like-minded people end up finding each other. If you are listening to this show, you are an uncommon kid. I don't know many kids that are searching out hockey podcasts at your age to better themselves. There's a lot of kids who listen to this podcast. You'll find each other. Search the kids, search your peers that are like-minded. Don't don't fall for the peer pressure of just, oh, I gotta look a certain way or play a certain way. You don't don't let that constrain you. Sorry, I got on a pedestal there. I just very passionate about that.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

You know what? I didn't, I had a choppy skating stride when I got to the Ottawa 67s as an underage. And John Linsman, Ken Linsman's brother, okay, used to win all the races around the rink. You know, they used to do the races around the rink, and so I studied him, man. I studied him my first year, and then I started skating like him. And then when I got to the NHL, Steve Jensen and I were arguably the two fastest skaters in the NHL. And it wasn't my skating stride, it was I I adopted it from somebody else.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, we gotta say, Mike, for the kids listening, you need to look up some of these names because these are equivalent to some of the biggest names of today back then. All right, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to make sure you understand.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

These are the arc architects of today's game, you know. And I think, you know, Doug, I mean, you know, the great thing about I think this uh ride to the rink episode, it's often um a parent and a child listening to this together in the car. And I was wondering if you just give us a little, like a couple of bullets on if I'm a parent, because it's so hard. Like we know children, children are children, right? And the parent is the child's best advocate. So sometimes we have to help them navigate this world of, you know, I don't have to keep up with that other kid. I gotta find my own path, man. I gotta find this kid, I gotta find this family. You know, what can what would you say to parents that are trying to help their child find the right direction on taking a different path, on the on the strength of going a different direction than the rest of the group, only because it's better. It's a better, it's a better option for them.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Yeah, well, I mean, the the same rules apply to the parents, uh, you know, I would say. Um you know, choose the people that you're spending time with wisely, you know, because if you know that there's an impact coming from them, but the main thing is if you can impact them with the positive stuff, with the love and the caring, and you know, putting your hand up to help when when you don't get asked, you know what I mean? All of a sudden you make it a lot easier for your child. Because I mean, I can't imagine having to manage 20 parents, 20, 40 parents coming into an environment. I we can I I just see I I I my daughter's played basketball, so I got I wasn't in the the the hockey world, and I I can't imagine it, but but if if you can encourage them to to follow the same path, because this is for adults as well as kids, and then and then just you know coach the kids into that process for transformation so that they can you know consistently change themselves into something better.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

We we say it all the time, gang. It takes a village, uh kids, you're part of that village, right? Like for the kids listening, you are part of the village. And guess kids, you have a say in this too, right? I always say that too.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

You have a voice too that you should be using within this, but I I I use my voice very well when I was uh when I was younger. I always spoke my mind, and we've taught our kids to do the same. And yeah, my daughters and and and their grandkids, it's like let's just put it all on the table, you know. And and if you can't get blood, if you can't get a little blood on the table, kids, like in the conversation, you know, then this the conversation might not be meaningful enough, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah, how about this, Doug? For the kids out there listening, and parents, I'll I'll do this both ways because I know your parents are sitting next to you. Kids, I know sometimes you can be worried about what if I say the wrong thing, and then parents, I know sometimes you're worried about what if my kid says something crazy. Well, you're not gonna know if it's wrong or crazy till you try and say it.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

That's right, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:31

And the nice part is as a kid, you kind of get a free pass on most things that you can say, right? Most of the time, right? Adults, it doesn't adults. You can get fired if you say the wrong thing. As a kid, you're probably gonna get another chance. So I we always encourage kids communication, talk, express yourself, right? You'll know if it's too much, someone will let you know. But you get those reps in now, just like your shooting reps and your passing reps and your skating reps, the human reps are also insanely important if you want to succeed, uh, not just in hockey, but in life. Doug, another fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Well, I wish everybody who's listening uh the best of luck and get faster. You know, the faster you are, the safer you are. So get faster.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

I love it. All right, kids, listen. You know how we end these shows. Wherever you're at on your hockey journey, we believe in you. You should too. We'll see you on the next ride of the rank. State hard, have fun. Take care.