June 1, 2024

Sheri Hudspeth's Vision for Las Vegas Youth Hockey and Community Engagement

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Season 1 Our Kids Play Hockey

In this week’s episode of "Our Kids Play Hockey," Lee, Mike, and Christie are joined by Sheri Hudspeth, Director of Youth Hockey Programs and Fan Development for the Vegas Golden Knights. With an extensive background as both a player and coach, Sheri discusses her journey through the world of hockey and her pivotal role with an NHL team that's swiftly become a community pillar in Las Vegas.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

  • Sheri Hudspeth’s Hockey Roots: Discover how growing up in a hockey-loving Canadian family influenced Sheri's lifelong passion for the sport and paved her path to a career in the NHL.
  • The Vegas Hockey Phenomenon: Sheri takes us behind the scenes of how the Vegas Golden Knights have transcended the typical expansion team trajectory to become a beacon of hockey culture in the desert.
  • Community and Fan Development: Learn about the unique strategies the Golden Knights employ to engage with local fans and foster a deep connection between the team and the residents of Las Vegas.
  • Youth Programs and Impact: Sheri shares insights into the development and success of youth hockey programs under the Golden Knights’ umbrella, highlighting how these initiatives are shaping the future of the sport in Nevada.
  • The Role of Hockey in Las Vegas: From pre-game shows that rival the best on the Strip to fostering a local fanbase, find out how the Golden Knights are making hockey an integral part of Las Vegas culture.

Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!

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00:52 - Growing Hockey in Vegas

09:56 - Youth Hockey Impact of Stanley Cup

17:51 - Youth Hockey Development and Fan Engagement

23:43 - Building Culture and Community in Hockey

30:01 - Empowering Girls in Sports

38:52 - Importance of Youth Hockey Development

50:30 - Benefits of Taking a Spring Break

54:32 - Our Kids Play Hockey Podcast Launch

WEBVTT

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Hello hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome to another edition of Our Kids Play Hockey, powered by NHL Sensorena.

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I'm Lee Elias, with Mike Bonelli and Christy Casciano-Burns, and our guest today is the director of youth hockey programs and fan development for the Vegas Golden Knights.

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You can't say that name normally.

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You got to put it in with a little bit of ump the Vegas Golden Knights.

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You can't say that name normally.

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You got to put it in with a little bit of ump the Vegas Golden Knights.

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And, as you can imagine, she is a hockey lifer with 19 years logged as a player, including seasons with the Minnesota State University in the NCAA, and 10 years of coaching, which also brought her to the NCAA ranks.

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Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Sherry Hudspeth to the show today.

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Sherry, welcome to Our Kids Play Hockey.

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Hi guys, good morning.

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Thanks for having me.

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It is a good morning.

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We should note you are out there on the West.

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You are doing this early.

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We always appreciate this on a Monday morning.

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Nonetheless, sherry, I know that working in the NHL it's a lifelong dream for you.

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You've been wanting to do it your whole life.

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But let's start at the origin point.

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How did you find hockey or, more aptly, how did hockey find you?

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Oh well, I'm Canadian, I'm from uh it's always a simple answer.

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Everybody knows what you mean by that.

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Yeah, I'm Canadian, you can't miss it.

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It's on our passports, it was on our currency, it's in the commercials.

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You know I grew up, you know, in, in, uh, aurora, ontario.

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So, um, everyone around me my dad played, my grandfather played, my uncles, my brothers, like everyone, played hockey.

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So it's just pretty natural for me to want to play hockey and and had a lot of guy friends in school and we had hockey in school like in our curriculum, so something you really like couldn't miss, and it's just something I always just took to and loved, so wanted to be.

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My dad played, you know, he used to take me to Westwood Arena and I used to watch his men's league when I was little little girl.

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So I always just kind of, I guess, looked up to my dad and wanted to be like him and play hockey.

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That's cool.

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Tell us about your journey.

00:01:55.992 --> 00:02:02.168
So I mean, the job that you have now sounds amazing and that's a like.

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Was that a lifelong dream of yours to work, you know, at the level that you're at?

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I mean, yes, it is.

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It is a dream job.

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Great title, Great job.

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I probably have one of the best jobs in the NHL.

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There's not a lot of roles like the one I have, because it is a hybrid role I have on ice programming and I have off ice stuff in the community, so it's really cool.

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It's never really a boring day.

00:02:27.165 --> 00:02:28.389
Um, not, it wasn't something I ever aspired to.

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You know that I wanted to work in the nhl.

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It just kind of, I think, happened naturally in the way way kind of my path fell through coaching and and the stops along the way.

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I ended up here.

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I actually came here for 12 you girls hockey, so I was coaching girls hockey here and then I became the director of the girls program here and then in July I moved into this role, which is underneath the marketing umbrella.

00:02:53.382 --> 00:03:00.966
So Sherry hockey in Vegas has a longer history than I think people realize they were doing outdoor games there, well before the Winter Classic.

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It's always been somewhat of a destination for the game, for lots of different reasons, I'll just say.

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But it's fortified now for more reasons than one, not to mention a Stanley Cup, but two Stanley Cup runs, obviously, and then just being really a dominant force in the NHL, I think for the better.

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And again, for those of you listening to the show, not watching, sherry proudly has the Golden Knights logo on her jacket on the wall.

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Um, I have been so impressed by this franchise, no matter what anybody thinks.

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I mean, vegas is here and it's a hockey town.

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There's just no way to look at it.

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Um, tell us about the recent years and having to.

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I mean, is grow the game the right term or is it is expanding the game?

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Because, again, it's, it's not.

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It wasn't new to Vegas in terms of hockey being there, but the franchise is how has that process gone?

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so, yeah, it's definitely a hockey town and I don't I don't think people understand how small Vegas is.

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You see that the big city, you know millions of people, tourists, that sort of thing, that people that actually live here.

00:04:03.043 --> 00:04:10.645
We don't live on the strip, we live pretty normally and I think you know people have really taken to the Vegas Golden Knights it's it's a Vegas born team.

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We're the first team here, it's the city's team and we do a lot for the community and I think the community supports us, you know, because of that.

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So when you go to the games, it is a lot of locals, it's not, it's not tourists's not tourists.

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This is our team.

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We're very proud Nevadans here that have, you know, a great team and they get behind their team.

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So we have had hockey here.

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I moved here in 2021, but in the 90s, I believe there's the Las Vegas Wranglers, you know.

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So we've had, we've had hockey here for a long time.

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People liked it, but the pro hockey, like when the Knights came in, that's when it really, really exploded and, I think, opened the door.

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You know, now for other sports, with Major League Baseball, hopefully, nba, f1.

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All the stuff that we have here is because of the Knights and Mr Foley, you know, taking the chance and putting the team here and it took off and I think it's changing.

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You know, sports in America is Vegas, what we've done here, so yeah, done here.

00:05:08.101 --> 00:05:12.956
So yeah, but you know you say a lot of locals go there, but if you go to a pregame show that would rival any show on the strip.

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What a production team, yeah.

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So what's interesting here?

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Right, like in Vegas, you have a lot of shows.

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You have, you can.

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There's headliners every night, there's concerts, there's theaters.

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There's a lot of ways that you know people can spend their money and not everyone, like if you are a tourist and you don't like hockey.

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People have heard of our show and it is a Vegas show on the strip and when you come to it it's just like the in-game entertainment is incredible.

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We try to have the best fan experience in the league and just make something for, you know, for everyone, like I do.

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Mites at night during the intermission, we have kids activations out on the plaza, out on the rink.

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We have a kids club.

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We have, you know, stuff now with Maverick.

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We really have something for everyone.

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And then just the show is something I can't even explain.

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Like you just need to see it.

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And for playoffs we double.

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Like whatever we did, we just had a huge drag in and the drum bots, and the show is just something you really need to see.

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It's a spectacle and I'm so proud to work here and work with the people in this facility.

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Like everyone's so talented at what they do.

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It's unbelievable.

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Yeah, you guys are always pushing the envelope.

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Is there a massive production team putting this show up?

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Nope, you'd be surprised.

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You would be surprised at how young they are, how talented they are.

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They're just a really tight knit group in production and their slogan that I love is called unapologetically up.

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So they do so true, they do push the envelope, they try new things.

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That's the nice thing about here.

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We are kind of you know, now we're in seven year, but we are a startup, so we do have the freedom to try stuff and it maybe it works, maybe it doesn't.

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To try stuff and it maybe it works, maybe it doesn't like we have a lot of brainstorming where it's like what if we did this, let's do it, let's try it right.

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And uh, we love pushing the envelope, we love being different and and I think with the nhl, a lot of stuff is like a copycat league where people just want to copy stuff.

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We don't want to copy anyone, we want to make our own stuff.

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I want to do everything differently.

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I think everyone has the same mindset as how can we do this better, bigger, you know, in Vegas?

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So, yeah, it's an honor to just be able to have that freedom and creativity across all departments.

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You guys definitely have that title.

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Yeah, I'll add on to that too, that not to NHL fan out for a second here, but in a league where kind of being humble and being a little less loud might be the norm for some teams, you are unapologetically vegas.

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I mean there's no way around it.

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When you go there, it's just as exciting as anything else going on there, if not more exciting.

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If you're a hockey fan I've been there during hockey season I mean it's infectious, and and again, this is a great example.

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I always talk about identity when I do team building.

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This is an organization.

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I love that you called yourself a startup, because you're not wrong, but I never thought of Vegas that way.

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But this is a team that understands their identity and they're embracing it.

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Vegas is also a huge military destination with bases out there.

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There's a town a lot of you don't know.

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There's a town called Henderson out there.

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That's where a lot of the residents live.

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So, yeah, it's a.

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It's a huge community out there and, of course, it's also a pretty cool draw.

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Uh, you know, if you're a fan of any other team of, hey, let's go to Vegas and see our team play the golden Knights.

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Yeah, um, it doesn't take much convincing.

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You know what I mean.

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I'm thinking about that in my head Like it's it was reading your bio, and 2023 was a pretty extraordinary year for you for multiple reasons.

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You had a Stanley Cup championship.

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You also had a rivalry series in Henderson with the Canadian-US national teams.

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I don't want to give too much of the story away, but can you walk us through both those events and maybe even try to express what it's like to win a stanley cup?

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I know that's not possible, um, but man, what a year.

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That's amazing.

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And you and you got to drop a ceremonial puck at this game in in anderson as well incredible it was the same year because it was, yes, 2020.

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It was december 2022 for the uh rivalry series which is honored, honored to host here between canada and u.

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No, it is.

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It is the same.

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It's the same season, though, right?

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So even though it's not 2023, it's the same hockey season.

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So got to drop the puck.

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We had a lot of girls activations throughout the whole week.

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So it was funny because that weekend before the Sunday, we were in Austin, texas, for the Can-Am with the 12 year old girls.

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We won that tournament, flew back monday we had the activations with the national team, like with kendall corn.

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All a lot of the uh, the us uh players came out on the ice and we did a girls skills clinic.

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On the next day we did a try hockey for free, all girls with uh.

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A lot of the players came out again on Tuesday at City National Arena.

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Then the game, I think, was on Thursday.

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So we had 100 girls in our organization.

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The Vegas Golden Knights purchased tickets.

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It was over $10,000 of tickets for every girl in our organization to sit along the glass.

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I wanted them one to be seen on camera on TSN what we're doing here in their Vegas jerseys of support.

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But I also wanted those girls to be able to see hockey of that caliber and the parents to sit up close, right, like we don't have women's hockey in Vegas.

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Like we can see the men practice every day.

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We can see the games.

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We don't see how fast the women are.

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So it was really important to have the girls up close, seeing these people.

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And then the touch points with the girls activations we included everyone in our organization that we could.

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Your registered female player under our umbrella, whether tenderson here you were invited to these activations.

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So very, very special and impactful for our girls growth.

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Um, and then the game.

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We did a.

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So all the girls at the game.

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We did a handshake line, we dropped the puck.

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We had had the Vegas Junior Golden Knights on the blue line for the anthem with the players.

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It was just for me, I was just running around the entire game because we had Junior Knights, we had House League girls, we had Learn to Play girls, just different groups, and I was just running around like crazy.

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But we got through it all cleanly.

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Excellent game.

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And then it was kind of funny at the end.

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Um, excellent game.

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And then, um, it was kind of funny at the end they wanted me to present the trophy if us won, and I'm canadian, so uh, yeah, so big fan because obviously we did the activations all week.

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I'm friends with a lot of the us players the us director, katie million, and and so great honor that they asked me to do that, but part of me still was like, oh no, I don't want to present because it's like my best friend growing up was on the bench as the equipment manager and I was like I cannot give this to Americans in front of my friends, but then also grateful for the Americans.

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So I try to stay pretty neutral.

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I've been in the States like 20 years in Canada in 20 years.

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So I try to just support the game overall but I don't want to pick it, pick a team.

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So I was lucky that I didn't have to present that trophy as much of an honor as it would have been.

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Um, and then so that was the rivalry series.

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Um, we have it's pretty neat, like I do a lot with female ambassadors here trying to get um when we do girls skills clinics to have Olympians come in and we always do autograph sessions at the end.

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And, uh, we had Megan Bozak here and she was here for our Toyota high performance camp but a girl brought the poster from the rivalry series Like she kept it, you know, for Megan to sign and just seeing stuff like that where you do get through to kids and they keep the posters of the women's hockey and bring it to do that.

00:12:16.206 --> 00:12:17.846
So very cool.

00:12:17.846 --> 00:12:25.471
So that was the rivalry series and then same year, our Stanley Cup final run, which is unbelievable.

00:12:25.471 --> 00:12:27.181
I wouldn't even know where to start on that.

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Being part of that is something bigger than I could even put into words.

00:12:32.937 --> 00:12:39.052
Like working through the playoff run, I think is incredible experience With an NHL franchise.

00:12:39.072 --> 00:12:48.551
Maybe you know a lot of people don't get to go through that whole process and how intense it is and how like you have to pivot and be on your toes and you don't know if you're going whole process and how intense it is and how like you have to pivot and be on your toes and you don't know if you're going to play the next game or we're playing.

00:12:48.551 --> 00:12:49.982
Okay, we're preparing for success.

00:12:49.982 --> 00:12:52.188
You're always so, we are always planning.

00:12:52.188 --> 00:12:58.782
You know, like as far as marketing, you have to have towels, t shirts, hats, like all that stuff, but you don't know if you're going to make it through to the next round.

00:12:58.782 --> 00:13:00.666
But you still have to plan as though you are so.

00:13:00.666 --> 00:13:05.533
You are so that I learned a lot professionally working through that time.

00:13:14.500 --> 00:13:14.941
It's very intense.

00:13:14.941 --> 00:13:18.085
And then you know all the activations and then people are trying to get guests and you know sirens, all that stuff was.

00:13:18.085 --> 00:13:20.048
I learned a lot during that time and then, obviously, so the run was kind of weird.

00:13:20.048 --> 00:13:21.850
I'm a lifelong NHL fan and and you love your team.

00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:26.442
But you know you get an opponent and then you don't know if you're going to get past that opponent.

00:13:26.442 --> 00:13:29.010
It's like, oh, okay, edmonton, oh, that's going to be very hard.

00:13:29.010 --> 00:13:30.023
And then you get past Edmonton.

00:13:30.023 --> 00:13:31.707
It's like Winnipeg, oh no, white Oats.

00:13:31.707 --> 00:13:34.628
And then you get past them and you're like, okay, this is really happening.

00:13:34.668 --> 00:13:43.169
But it got all the way to Florida and I remember seeing my boss during the second period of the game and we were up like I don't remember what it was, but it was like six something.

00:13:43.169 --> 00:13:46.640
Like we were up and this is like looking like it's really going to happen.

00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:51.990
But he's a hockey guy too, darren Elliott Right, and I looked at him and we both looked at each other like don't say anything.

00:13:51.990 --> 00:13:54.884
Same, like intense.

00:13:54.884 --> 00:13:55.947
Look like this is hat.

00:13:55.947 --> 00:13:58.546
Like we're both like this is happening, but don't jinx it.

00:13:58.546 --> 00:14:09.961
Like don't say anything, like a shadow, and we just looked at each other.

00:14:09.981 --> 00:14:13.193
And then we ended up winning nine to three and the building exploded and confetti came out and I was crying like my whole row was our hockey directors and stuff.

00:14:13.193 --> 00:14:13.775
We're crying like drum night.

00:14:13.775 --> 00:14:16.889
These guys are crying hockey guys, right, because it's just like can't believe this even happened.

00:14:16.889 --> 00:14:22.264
And then you know, celebration on the ice and they had celebration upstairs and, um, yeah, just I don't know.

00:14:22.264 --> 00:14:37.647
Then then had you do the parade, right, like the parade is is the craziest thing that I've ever seen in my life, like I've always whenever I watched hockey, like I grew up a Leaf fan and watching the Stanley Cup finals my entire life and I always stayed to the end of the game.

00:14:37.667 --> 00:14:53.639
You know where you see them celebrating in the locker room on TSN they'll show it for another half an hour or something and my dad would always be like, oh, they're gonna party tonight, like he would say that every single year and getting to see that, what happens, you know, after that half an hour, like getting to see the whole part of it.

00:14:53.678 --> 00:14:55.604
You're part of it, right like you just see it.

00:14:55.624 --> 00:15:03.345
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we had the cup and the ice and and being included in that, and just remember hearing my dad say, oh, they're gonna party tonight.

00:15:03.404 --> 00:15:18.504
I was partying the whole day, like I did towels at 11 o'clock, I partied the whole day until so, yeah, and then, uh, and then it's incredible.

00:15:18.504 --> 00:15:21.672
What I don't think what people know is what goes with the wind right, it's not over that night, it's with you.

00:15:21.672 --> 00:15:28.062
For don't think what people know is what goes with the win right, it's not over that night, it's with you for the whole year.

00:15:28.062 --> 00:15:38.892
As far as like retail and activations and stuff that you get to do and celebrating the win, our VGK road trip, you know, you celebrate it with our whole TV market for an entire year.

00:15:38.892 --> 00:15:41.047
You know, and you have the parade.

00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.427
We had 250,000 people come out for the parade, which we had to do at night because it was June.

00:15:48.427 --> 00:15:48.788
Right, it's so hot.

00:15:48.788 --> 00:15:55.466
So, doing it at night and seeing the marquees lit up in gold with the players, and it was just incredible.

00:15:55.466 --> 00:16:01.427
I don't know if they showed it on TV, I don't know, but just an incredible thing to be a part of it.

00:16:01.427 --> 00:16:05.046
I hope I get to do it again and it's just, it's so incredible.

00:16:05.900 --> 00:16:20.567
You know one thing I do want to ask so and this is a unique position for us, to have you on the show, especially kind of so close to this cup championship a lot of NHL fans can make a newer team, you know, ridiculous like just kind of dismiss it, which is ridiculous.

00:16:20.567 --> 00:16:22.091
That is ridiculous to begin with.

00:16:22.091 --> 00:16:23.354
You win, you, you win all right.

00:16:23.354 --> 00:16:43.048
Um, but talk to me about those young girls and those young boys in the youth hockey and what this must have meant to them, because we have to remember especially everybody listening there was no team here seven seasons ago, right, the hockey was not represented the way it is now.

00:16:43.048 --> 00:16:46.102
Can you, can you walk through what it meant to the kids?

00:16:46.102 --> 00:16:52.102
I, I, I know there's no way for you to express what it means to the adults, right, is there even a way to express it to the kids?

00:16:53.485 --> 00:16:57.092
um, well, like here, like it's, our growth is exploding.

00:16:57.092 --> 00:16:58.361
I think that's only going to help.

00:16:58.361 --> 00:17:07.325
Um, we're the cool thing that we we just I just took the 10u girls to the winter classic right, and we played against the Seattle Kraken 10U girls.

00:17:07.325 --> 00:17:16.172
But you start realizing that this generation, now these kids that are 9U 10U, these kids are Vegas born, like they came through our NHL learn to play.

00:17:16.172 --> 00:17:28.517
They came through our little nights and they came through our house league and now they're Vegas junior golden knights and we're starting to get this generation that grew up as vegas golden knights fans right like they're not colorado fans or, you know, anaheim or la.

00:17:28.517 --> 00:17:31.804
They are junior knights, like little learn to play.

00:17:31.804 --> 00:17:33.508
So I think that's really special.

00:17:33.508 --> 00:17:41.702
And and um, the cup I don't know if the kids know right like it's not, like they grew up in a toronto where it's like you're starved to get and you finally win.

00:17:41.702 --> 00:17:47.834
You know these kids have only known winning, so I don't they have right.

00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:50.890
Like the first year, they're winning, and they're always a good team.

00:17:51.941 --> 00:17:53.005
The other 31 teams.

00:17:53.005 --> 00:17:53.787
Fans just groaned.

00:17:53.787 --> 00:17:54.650
I just want you to know that.

00:17:57.068 --> 00:17:58.957
Yeah, no, I don't mean it to be arrogant or anything.

00:17:58.998 --> 00:18:13.509
No, you're not Growing up in Toronto where you don't win every year and you have good teams and it's like you haven't like I've not seen a cup in my lifetime with the Toronto Maple Leafs, unfortunately, but here I've been very fortunate to be part of, you know, the cup.

00:18:13.509 --> 00:18:27.114
And so, getting back to the kids is with the Vegas Junior Golden Knights, with the Learn to Play, with Little Knights, everything is branded VGK, you know, and all their little T-shirts and hats and and their sticks that they get in the school system, it's all branded VGK.

00:18:27.114 --> 00:18:33.871
So I think we do a pretty good job of you know, kids development, fans development, and then it translates into your youth hockey registration.

00:18:33.871 --> 00:18:37.309
So, yeah, like our youth hockey here is exploding.

00:18:38.161 --> 00:18:38.983
It is exploding.

00:18:38.983 --> 00:18:39.746
But I got to ask you.

00:18:39.746 --> 00:18:40.829
You grew up in Toronto.

00:18:40.829 --> 00:18:47.465
Obviously there's so much access to race You've got to have some limitations there in Vegas.

00:18:47.465 --> 00:18:51.409
And plus is your job developing a fan base.

00:18:51.409 --> 00:18:59.396
Are you going into schools Because you know you don't have a ton of rinks to go to to try and develop the fan base?

00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:02.839
Yep.

00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:03.721
So we have a program through Envy Energy.

00:19:03.721 --> 00:19:05.705
It's a sponsored program, it's their school physical education program.

00:19:05.705 --> 00:19:18.269
So in the first year when Vegas came here, before they even had the hockey and the rinks were being built, they went intentionally into all the schools and provide them with sticks and curriculum and programming for them to have hockey in the school.

00:19:18.269 --> 00:19:21.907
So that was like our first piece of community fan development before we even hit the ice.

00:19:22.528 --> 00:19:33.284
And then now, so we're seven years later, I'm going back and we're trying to refresh sticks, like we were trying to go back to the schools, clean up their equipment, because now, like they play outside on courts so we have to, you know, clean that up.

00:19:33.304 --> 00:19:35.721
The sticks get kind of whittled down and you need new equipment.

00:19:35.721 --> 00:19:37.929
So always staying on top of that.

00:19:37.929 --> 00:19:40.167
But with the envy energy school program it's really fun.

00:19:40.167 --> 00:19:57.579
We go visit schools, we take chance it's co-branded with our henderson silver knights, our ahl team and we take the mascot lucky and chance as well as some cast like our knights, guard and vivas and myself and we go do hockey clinics and we provide them with an equipment donation.

00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:05.686
They have it in their pe curriculum so we try to go on their championship day and just make it like way more fun, like best day with the Knights for them.

00:20:05.686 --> 00:20:22.201
And then after that, without the teachers knowing I think that's the pretty funnest part we just go chaotic through the school and we go in classrooms like they'll be teaching, like full on lessons, and we just crashed like the door with chance and lucky and we draw on the.

00:20:22.201 --> 00:20:24.845
We draw no homework on the board with chance.

00:20:24.884 --> 00:20:26.386
And everyone's like yeah.

00:20:26.547 --> 00:20:31.333
All those groans just turned to to to like come on, I want that no homework.

00:20:31.373 --> 00:20:36.067
It's like, yes, we are your favorite hockey team Go home, watch us.

00:20:36.067 --> 00:20:41.181
No homework?

00:20:41.181 --> 00:20:42.224
Yeah no, Sometimes we don't know.

00:20:42.224 --> 00:20:44.653
But the teachers, yeah, they, they take just as many photos as the kids with chance.

00:20:44.673 --> 00:20:44.953
I love it.

00:20:45.234 --> 00:20:45.897
Yeah, it's great.

00:20:45.897 --> 00:20:46.480
It's really fun.

00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:48.788
I was going to say, in 20 years, two things are going to happen.

00:20:48.788 --> 00:20:50.827
There's going to be a very disgruntled teacher going.

00:20:50.827 --> 00:20:52.707
Well, those Knights came to the class and ruined it.

00:20:52.707 --> 00:20:53.249
I never got to.

00:20:53.249 --> 00:21:01.230
And then, at the same time, some kid who grew up with a VGK on their chest is going to be in the NH bill that we saw it.

00:21:01.230 --> 00:21:04.355
Um, out of I'll just say arizona and teams that were there.

00:21:04.355 --> 00:21:15.569
Uh, you can see it on california, uh, you know, this is a generational macro viewpoint that you have to have when, when developing a team and, look, winning a cup helps tremendously.

00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:18.868
Uh, you, you can look at any young team that won a cup.

00:21:18.868 --> 00:21:23.826
You know it's not limited to to vegas, right, like, like philadelphia flyers did this early on in their in, in their time period.

00:21:23.826 --> 00:21:29.230
And other teams Colorado, avalanche did it in their first season, right, so so hockey works.

00:21:31.381 --> 00:21:33.307
Let's bring in our silent partner here.

00:21:35.703 --> 00:21:36.444
Mike is great Wake up.

00:21:44.586 --> 00:21:45.829
Yeah, they have a great program out there.

00:21:47.012 --> 00:21:51.267
I mean, that's really the key, right is to get into these communities.

00:21:51.267 --> 00:21:58.835
Um, and, and you know, using the NHL's mantra that you know, everything is hockey, you know, you don't, you don't need to have ice, you don't need to have skates.

00:21:58.835 --> 00:22:07.977
Um, I think them, you know, obviously, uh, growing the sport, I guess is is, is, it's a it's, it's a whole different way of looking at it.

00:22:07.977 --> 00:22:15.059
Right, are you growing the sport to get people in the building a winning team?

00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:21.797
And I and I think you know Lee mentioned a little a little earlier about the military, you know, piece of the town.

00:22:21.856 --> 00:22:25.914
But what I'd like to hear, sherry, is just a little bit of the influence of.

00:22:25.914 --> 00:22:57.744
You know, the Vagan Golden Knights are a product of a West Point grad Right, and I think the Florida Panthers are the same way and I I had the fortune of being behind the scenes with the Panthers for a little while when they changed ownership groups and just looking at how the culture changed and it was used, can you tell a little bit about, from the youth hockey perspective of where you're at, about what that influence is from that leadership piece of West Point and the focus on you know, maybe how does that transition into your workday?

00:22:58.930 --> 00:22:59.192
Yeah.

00:22:59.192 --> 00:23:05.395
So kind of two pieces one with the business office, with the leadership and the people that are hired here in our culture.

00:23:05.395 --> 00:23:11.259
So biggest thing with Mr Foley is is it's a we, not me, ego approach.

00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:15.230
Even though we won the cup, it's like we are still educating fans.

00:23:15.230 --> 00:23:17.776
They want us to be like day one, right there.

00:23:17.776 --> 00:23:18.758
There's no team here.

00:23:19.138 --> 00:23:22.854
We had to go into the community and beat down doors and be like, hey, we have a hockey team here.

00:23:22.854 --> 00:23:24.759
We want to keep that same mindset.

00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:29.018
You don't want to be arrogant or have a big ego like we want a cup.

00:23:29.018 --> 00:23:30.781
You know it's like don't talk to me, I work in NHL.

00:23:30.781 --> 00:23:39.845
It's like no, we still have to educate fans and be like day one and and try to just, you know, create a fan out of every, every single person you see.

00:23:39.845 --> 00:23:42.176
So there comes from that.

00:23:42.176 --> 00:23:49.540
And then our we have a night's code in the office and there's signs, you know, like in hockey locker rooms, where it says like commitment and dedication, that sort of thing.

00:23:49.540 --> 00:23:59.102
So our office is kind of like a hockey locker room where it has the night's code saying around the office and so that trickles into your leadership.

00:23:59.241 --> 00:24:01.856
I mean, some of them are like the biggest one is.

00:24:01.856 --> 00:24:03.401
It's like one of them.

00:24:03.401 --> 00:24:12.662
It says, like hockey, community is a contact sport, so the biggest thing that's really was was into the community before there was even hockey here.

00:24:12.662 --> 00:24:16.845
So for us, being in the community is, I think, number one important for us.

00:24:16.845 --> 00:24:18.570
Um, like that.

00:24:18.570 --> 00:24:24.192
Um, some of the things like just, you know, support your line mates, our, our office people are called line mates.

00:24:24.192 --> 00:24:25.877
They're not departments, not like they.

00:24:25.877 --> 00:24:26.881
They did this.

00:24:26.881 --> 00:24:29.615
It's like we're all one team, we're line mates, we all work together.

00:24:29.615 --> 00:24:32.060
Um, a big one is ignore the naysayers.

00:24:32.060 --> 00:24:35.958
You know there's a lot, of, a lot of naysayers of stuff that we're doing.

00:24:35.958 --> 00:24:43.028
We're a very visible company, so try to do that and just play fast, finish your checks, stuff like that.

00:24:43.028 --> 00:24:52.182
That's all around the office, so that trickles into leadership and then obviously it's going to trickle down into everything that you do as part of your workday and for me, my workday includes working with kids.

00:24:52.430 --> 00:25:20.739
So we need to just be out there in the community and and, uh, play fast, finish our checks and do as much, as as much as we can for as many people as we can, and try to grow the game and grow our brand yeah, I think when we talk to, when we talk to fan development people around the league, it's always the uh, the thing that goes unnoticed, I think, and you're hitting on it a little bit and you're, and you know, bit without having ego about it, but it is a lot of on-the-ground work.

00:25:20.739 --> 00:25:21.451
It's a lot of.

00:25:21.451 --> 00:25:34.874
You know it sounds glamorous, right, but it's going to classrooms and being energized and having that 9 am practice with a whole new group of new kids and making them feel like it's the best experience they're ever going to have.

00:25:34.874 --> 00:25:40.940
Those are really really hard things to do, especially, you know, the longer you do it.

00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:44.684
But I think you had mentioned about, you know, how young a lot of the people on the staff are.

00:25:44.684 --> 00:25:52.635
You know that's infectious and you know, and I think it's contagious and people are like, wow, you know, these people got so much great energy and I think you're seeing it.

00:25:52.635 --> 00:25:55.880
You know, just from a fan's perspective, watching it on TV.

00:25:55.880 --> 00:26:00.286
You feel that energy which is you don't get that everywhere.

00:26:00.286 --> 00:26:01.734
I've been around a lot of league.

00:26:01.734 --> 00:26:09.821
Some people are very polished and very proper and then you have the programs that you can tell are fighting on the edge.

00:26:09.821 --> 00:26:13.941
Your social media stuff is fantastic and things like that.

00:26:13.941 --> 00:26:18.653
All of that, I think, really just just flows into, you know, the brand itself.

00:26:19.394 --> 00:26:22.382
Yeah, we are like pretty much pretty young and passionate.

00:26:22.382 --> 00:26:28.594
I think everyone that works here you know, if you're in this office, you're talented no matter what you do, and it's like we are.

00:26:28.594 --> 00:26:30.819
I think it's West coast and it fits me really good.

00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:31.442
I couldn't work.

00:26:31.442 --> 00:26:38.603
I think it's some of the East coast clubs where it's very corporate and putting a suit on and going to work every day and and getting dressed and hair and makeup.

00:26:38.643 --> 00:27:07.354
It's like I'm on the ice or I'm in a school and it's like if I want to come in the office in a hoodie or shorts, you can work in NHL front office in in your, in your hoodie, you know, and you'll see George McPhee come through sometimes he's got a hoodie on or like we're just very casual and comfortable and I think, like in an environment like that, you can do your best work, like if you're comfortable, you're not and and you have the freedom to to work like and be your like kind of authentic self, versus trying to be someone you're not and and being corporate and speaking a certain way.

00:27:07.354 --> 00:27:08.517
And yeah, it's just.

00:27:08.517 --> 00:27:09.740
I think it's great here.

00:27:10.250 --> 00:27:15.979
Well, I hope a lot of managers out there are listening to this, because there's a few things I'm taking away from what you're saying.

00:27:15.979 --> 00:27:20.869
You know we talk about almost every episode Now we talk about the ROI of youth hockey, and what is it?

00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.941
And it's not going to college, it's not playing pro.

00:27:23.941 --> 00:27:37.883
It's the life skills that you develop along the way of not just adversity for yourself but working with other people, being part of a team, and I love that the the Vigo school Knights are applying that to the office work as well.

00:27:37.883 --> 00:27:41.746
You're a team and this is not going to go on a soapbox here.

00:27:41.746 --> 00:27:46.596
This is something I think we need to see more in America, in corporate America, right.

00:27:46.656 --> 00:27:47.460
I feel like it's more.

00:27:47.460 --> 00:27:52.920
Is it more of a West coast thing, though, where it's like more relaxed, like if you go to clubs in California and stuff, are we more relaxed?

00:27:58.470 --> 00:27:59.372
I can pull those, maybe due to the west coast.

00:27:59.372 --> 00:28:02.701
But like, yeah, yeah, but it just the nature of hey, we're one team, right, and we work together towards a common goal.

00:28:02.701 --> 00:28:04.836
But, yes, you're absolutely right, it is a west coast thing.

00:28:05.598 --> 00:28:09.832
Um we might get a friday where it's business casual you can wear jeans on a friday.

00:28:09.853 --> 00:28:10.894
Yeah, today you can wear jeans, that's it.

00:28:10.894 --> 00:28:11.958
But yeah, we can all drive it.

00:28:11.958 --> 00:28:15.425
I wouldn't thrive in that environment, you can be the same person of the same passion yeah, that's it.

00:28:15.425 --> 00:28:16.869
But we can all learn from each other.

00:28:16.970 --> 00:28:18.215
I wouldn't thrive in that environment.

00:28:18.215 --> 00:28:19.876
You can be the same person of the same passion.

00:28:19.876 --> 00:28:22.117
But it's like I think, if you're not comfortable, you know.

00:28:22.390 --> 00:28:23.556
I think a lot goes to that.

00:28:25.932 --> 00:28:28.440
There's a misconception on the East that you need to suffer to do hard work.

00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:29.142
That's right.

00:28:29.142 --> 00:28:30.731
It's not true, unfortunately.

00:28:30.731 --> 00:28:36.159
You know, cher, we're privileged to interview so many powerful women in the game on this show.

00:28:36.159 --> 00:28:40.244
We know that we have a lot of parents with daughters who play the game and listen to the show too.

00:28:48.690 --> 00:28:52.142
I'd love for you to speak to all of our hockey families, boys and girls, about how we all play a role in making hockey for everyone Right and we've been there too.

00:28:52.142 --> 00:28:54.309
Your thoughts on the professional women's hockey league too.

00:28:54.309 --> 00:28:56.416
I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

00:28:57.930 --> 00:28:59.253
Yeah Well, so I grew up.

00:28:59.253 --> 00:29:01.500
My background is in girls and women's hockey, right.

00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:02.201
So I have.

00:29:02.201 --> 00:29:03.412
I lived it.

00:29:03.412 --> 00:29:14.692
So I know what I liked and what I didn't like and what things I would like to see, and I think everything just draws from just my experience as a girl growing up in hockey and not being able to play.

00:29:14.692 --> 00:29:16.194
Sometimes they're just different stuff.

00:29:16.194 --> 00:29:17.156
That happened in the 90s.

00:29:17.217 --> 00:29:34.636
So I always take that experience and just apply it and try to make things better for girls here and um, one of the things with girls hockey I know like there's a lot of conversation on, but like I feel, like you, just with girls hockey, you don't have to have pink helmets and purple helmets and pink jerseys and stuff.

00:29:34.636 --> 00:29:38.709
Like I like with Vegas, go junior golden Knights Everything is the same as the boys.

00:29:38.709 --> 00:29:43.576
Like we have the same Jersey, same helmets, same everything and it's cool, right.

00:29:43.576 --> 00:29:45.438
Like girls hockey has to be cool.

00:29:45.438 --> 00:29:49.622
It doesn't have to be different or anything different than the boys.

00:29:49.622 --> 00:29:58.724
Like if you're going to have a son playing, make sure the girl has the exact same equipment, the same $300 stick that he gets, like same jerseys, like they don't need a pink helmet, you know.

00:29:58.724 --> 00:30:05.981
So I've always tried to just make it really cool and you want girls to one get, get into hockey and stay in hockey.

00:30:05.981 --> 00:30:21.181
So if there is girls programming and I that's something we're working on we're still pretty new as girls programming where girls can play with other girls and make friends and be comfortable and, you know, dance in the locker room with girls and it's fun then they'll want to come back and want to stay in the game.

00:30:21.280 --> 00:30:27.022
And then one of the other pieces that's really helped our growth here is having female ambassadors come in.

00:30:27.022 --> 00:30:34.451
So NHL allows us some grant funding where we can bring in like we've had Megan Keller come here, megan Bozak we just had.

00:30:34.451 --> 00:30:38.621
Angela James was here, one player that I played with Sherry Piper.

00:30:38.621 --> 00:30:40.044
She's a director with Hockey Canada.

00:30:40.044 --> 00:30:46.914
She came in and having female role models and having them meet them, skate with them, talk to them, ask questions.

00:30:46.914 --> 00:30:47.678
We do panels.

00:30:47.678 --> 00:30:54.178
That's been very impactful and now with our 14U girls team they just won a national championship.

00:30:54.519 --> 00:31:00.877
But those girls are really starting to believe like, yeah, there's a path for me, I can play college hockey.

00:31:00.877 --> 00:31:01.141
Now I get it.

00:31:01.141 --> 00:31:02.230
Like we won a national championship for girls hockey.

00:31:02.230 --> 00:31:10.821
And when they hear Megan talk or Megan Keller talk, now they're starting to believe it and see it and and it's happening here.

00:31:10.821 --> 00:31:14.797
So I mean, it's going to take a little time time to get there, but we're.

00:31:14.797 --> 00:31:16.520
We're getting there for girls hockey.

00:31:16.520 --> 00:31:17.643
So, yeah, it's cool.

00:31:17.643 --> 00:31:29.955
It's good to see PWHL we obviously do not have in Vegas, but we have the rivalry series.

00:31:29.955 --> 00:31:38.281
But now my little 10U girls you know 10U's, 12u's, even 14U's they're starting to see that there is, you know, a path for you, a real path, where it's like, yeah, you can play pro hockey just the same as a boy.

00:31:38.281 --> 00:31:43.751
Like, if they see, you know, vegas Golden Knights, they see Jack Eichel, it's like, ok, well, you can be Megan Keller, you know.

00:31:43.751 --> 00:31:46.000
So that is really special.

00:31:46.170 --> 00:31:49.359
And I just thought, like we do a really good program here.

00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:50.615
We're going into our second year.

00:31:50.615 --> 00:31:52.758
It's called Bauer Empowered with BGK.

00:31:52.758 --> 00:31:56.962
I with BGK I don't know if you've seen that we're starting that May 25th.

00:31:56.962 --> 00:32:01.936
We have Caroline Harvey and Layla Edwards are coming here to help us kick that off with Bauer Hockey.

00:32:01.936 --> 00:32:05.335
We're getting 30 new girls into hockey that have never played before.

00:32:05.335 --> 00:32:08.375
They get all the equipment.

00:32:08.375 --> 00:32:09.836
Bauer donates all the equipment.

00:32:09.836 --> 00:32:13.535
We have athletes here and they do an eight-week program of girls that have never played.

00:32:13.535 --> 00:32:19.601
It's a brand new USA Hockey registration program of girls that have never played, so brand new USA hockey registrations and yeah, so it's the PWHL.

00:32:19.601 --> 00:32:26.489
Where I'm going with that is is, yeah, like I can say, hey, you can play pro now, right, like there is a path for you and it looks like.

00:32:26.489 --> 00:32:30.317
It looks like it's going really well in Canada, like it's really popping off in Canada.

00:32:30.930 --> 00:32:35.099
Yeah, I was trying good crowds, nhl crowds.

00:32:35.461 --> 00:32:36.563
Yeah, it's cool, really cool.

00:32:39.369 --> 00:32:44.162
I always like to reiterate the fact that you know it can be very easy for for certain people to just say well, what's the big deal?

00:32:44.162 --> 00:32:45.214
You know it's always been there.

00:32:45.214 --> 00:32:48.150
The truth is this you have to understand I always say this.

00:32:48.150 --> 00:32:56.919
You have to understand sometimes you're not going to understand what it is to be somebody else, and that you might not be in a position where these people might not be in a position where they've seen this before.

00:32:56.919 --> 00:33:04.933
Until you see someone doing it right, like if you're a young girl, until you see a woman hockey player in front of 20 000 fans.

00:33:04.933 --> 00:33:06.518
You've never seen that before.

00:33:06.518 --> 00:33:09.412
All of us, it's true, and it makes it possible, right?

00:33:09.412 --> 00:33:13.222
The other thing, too, is that I think this is really cool.

00:33:13.222 --> 00:33:14.711
This is one of the cooler stories I saw this week.

00:33:14.730 --> 00:33:20.315
You know, uh, when I was young, growing up, and you took a basketball, you took a three or a jump shot.

00:33:20.315 --> 00:33:27.519
You'd say Jordan or Kobe, and now young boys are saying Caitlin Clark, right, and I think that's a really cool thing.

00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:28.279
That's starting to change.

00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:34.104
It has been a banner year for women's sports and I really hope that it's only going to go up from here.

00:33:34.104 --> 00:33:35.806
Right, something has changed.

00:33:35.806 --> 00:33:48.250
Nobody can seem to put their finger on what has changed, but for the first time in my life, you're seeing equal, if not more, airtime and more onus on women's sports, which is the way it should have always been right.

00:33:48.912 --> 00:33:51.440
You just nailed it is that you're seeing it, right?

00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:52.515
You're getting it on TV.

00:33:52.515 --> 00:33:54.056
You're getting TV contracts.

00:33:54.056 --> 00:33:56.218
That was missing, right?

00:33:56.218 --> 00:33:58.231
You're not seeing it on tv.

00:33:58.231 --> 00:33:58.932
And now you are um here.

00:33:58.932 --> 00:34:02.161
We have las vegas aces back-to-back wmba championships.

00:34:02.161 --> 00:34:12.244
Those guys pack barnes and they're cool and they're um actually going to the caitlyn clark game here on the 25th against aces everyone's going to the clark game this year, no matter where she's.

00:34:12.405 --> 00:34:23.101
Yeah, yeah, right yeah, but it's like that you can see it, that you could see the caitlin clark game, that you even know who she is, because that college basketball for women's sports was televised and it was, it wasn't before.

00:34:23.161 --> 00:34:31.713
So it's like, yeah, there's probably been a lot of women athletes across all sports that you could never see, so they never even had a chance to build their name or get that, get that same following.

00:34:31.713 --> 00:34:42.820
And asia is getting a shoe deal now, too, with n, and the promotion that Nike did for Caitlin Clark's campaigns are really cool and just companies getting behind female athletes.

00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:46.737
So yeah, and then the women's hockey now it's on TV and you're seeing it.

00:34:46.737 --> 00:34:47.719
It's on social media.

00:34:47.739 --> 00:34:55.438
It's getting coverage Like it's just going to continue to grow and I know with me personally, like I watch, I love watching sports.

00:34:55.438 --> 00:34:57.744
So I'm not like, oh, I'm going to women's basketball tonight.

00:34:57.744 --> 00:35:04.097
My ticket master is like I have nights, one night I have aces, another night I went and watched Lexi Thompson golf here.

00:35:04.097 --> 00:35:14.081
It's just, I don't know, like not really an advocate, not really advocating for women's sports, but maybe you just get to the point where it's like you're just going, like you're going to a basketball game that night and it's women's.

00:35:14.081 --> 00:35:18.072
We have pro women's volleyball here now under a Foley umbrella with the Vegas thrill.

00:35:18.072 --> 00:35:32.797
We took our girls to watch the thrill, the thrill is doing well here and and just maybe gets to the point where men and boys and girls, families, are just like okay, tonight we're going to basketball and it's women men's and your ticket masters like a combined mix of of sports that you're watching.

00:35:33.197 --> 00:35:34.458
Well, and to support that.

00:35:34.458 --> 00:35:36.219
I sure it's like in my house.

00:35:36.219 --> 00:35:50.219
One of the cooler moments this year for me was, you know, it's very easy to watch an nhl game, but it was really cool for my daughter and my son, for me just to put on oh, here's another hockey game, and it was pwhl hockey, right and and and there was no, there was no, nobody want, this is girls.

00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:56.516
Yeah, yeah, he did that, it was just there's hockey on tv, turn it on right on Right and look, I think that's important.

00:35:56.516 --> 00:36:03.005
You know I can only speak for myself, I know all of us feel that on this panel here, but I can only speak for us with that.

00:36:03.005 --> 00:36:08.094
But it's a good change that's happening and I'm hoping that evolves One direction.

00:36:08.094 --> 00:36:09.679
I did want to go because I know we're short on time here.

00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:16.063
I would have loved it if the Flyers came through my classrooms when I was growing up wrote no homework on the board.

00:36:16.123 --> 00:36:18.085
I was thinking the same thing?

00:36:18.465 --> 00:36:21.568
Yeah, I mean that would be pretty amazing, especially at that time period.

00:36:21.568 --> 00:36:36.820
We have a lot of hockey directors that listen to the show, we have a lot of coaches that listen to the show, and we always like to ask of our NHL friends the advice that you have for them in youth hockey and this is any organization right of how we can help grow the game.

00:36:36.820 --> 00:36:43.021
How can we make our organizations either more fun or more you know, better running?

00:36:43.021 --> 00:36:55.956
I mean, there's a lot of different ways to look at it, but you're at a peak of a mountain here, right, in terms of your role and what you're doing out there, and I can make the clear distinction, too, that you're doing it in a place that didn't have the game prior right.

00:36:55.956 --> 00:37:02.753
So what is your advice to those hockey directors, those coaches, those volunteers to make this game better around the country and the world?

00:37:04.016 --> 00:37:08.398
Yeah, it's difficult, speaking from Nevada, because I think we are in a unique situation.

00:37:08.398 --> 00:37:16.519
We don't have as many rinks as say, like a Boston or Minnesota, and we don't have the youth hockey organizations Like we have Vegas Junior Golden Knights.

00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:17.420
We have, I think, three.

00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:20.226
There's four in the state right, so wow.

00:37:20.867 --> 00:37:26.041
Yeah, so we all we work together under Naha and our president of Naha, darren Elliott.

00:37:26.041 --> 00:37:35.338
He's with Vegas Golden Knights, so we have a lot of horsepower here with that and the way we run is is a little, a little bit different.

00:37:35.338 --> 00:37:46.590
And I think advice maybe I don't know if it's advice, but the way we start out here is we have a very strong learn to skate and I think you need to start, the kids need to have skating right.

00:37:46.590 --> 00:37:53.552
Like you can't do a try hockey for free and then you're thrown into like whatever cross ice program or half ice or whatever, right.

00:37:53.552 --> 00:37:58.472
So here our foundation, foundation and we have three national championships in six years, right.

00:37:58.472 --> 00:38:01.458
So we're going from nothing to like these kids are really playing.

00:38:01.498 --> 00:38:06.998
We have full um tier one single birth year this year in our seventh year, triple a.

00:38:06.998 --> 00:38:08.882
So very, very quickly.

00:38:08.882 --> 00:38:13.423
Youth development and I I would say that that comes from our strong skating academy.

00:38:13.423 --> 00:38:15.512
We we do not shortcut on our, our skating.

00:38:15.512 --> 00:38:17.166
They do the us figure shortcut on our, our skating, they do the U?

00:38:17.166 --> 00:38:18.452
S figure skating program.

00:38:18.452 --> 00:38:19.556
You have to go all the way through.

00:38:19.556 --> 00:38:23.556
It takes about a year to a year and a half before you're even putting a stick in your hand.

00:38:23.757 --> 00:38:23.976
Wow.

00:38:24.036 --> 00:38:26.041
Right, so our kids can skate right.

00:38:26.041 --> 00:38:30.260
And then you get a stick in their hand and then you're able to have organized practices.

00:38:30.260 --> 00:38:36.525
It's not chaos, because when they're five and six years old, coaching you know 50 kids on the ice for a learn to play.

00:38:36.525 --> 00:38:39.353
It can be very hard on coaches to do that.

00:38:39.353 --> 00:38:44.534
So if the kids all have the same foundation, they're all graduating the same time into a learn to play.

00:38:44.534 --> 00:38:49.775
Then they go into a cross ice, then they go into a half ice and then they're into a full ice.

00:38:49.775 --> 00:38:51.862
By the time they're eight or nine.

00:38:51.862 --> 00:38:57.003
Right, so our development pathway we do not shortcut right, right?

00:38:57.003 --> 00:39:00.614
So I think a lot of organizations are just like we got to pump up.

00:39:00.614 --> 00:39:02.219
We have to have huge learn to play numbers.

00:39:02.219 --> 00:39:03.251
Look at our learn to play numbers.

00:39:03.251 --> 00:39:03.853
They're incredible.

00:39:03.853 --> 00:39:06.940
Well, yeah, I can put as many kids as I want and learn to play.

00:39:06.940 --> 00:39:09.960
It doesn't mean that they can skate or actually play hockey.

00:39:09.960 --> 00:39:10.242
Right?

00:39:10.242 --> 00:39:16.320
So I think we take the actual hockey very seriously and it starts with your foundation of your base.

00:39:22.349 --> 00:39:27.871
Sherry, I'm smiling because one of the beautiful parts of this show is we're all, technically, hockey journalists on this panel, all right, and it's really awesome that we get to speak to people all around the country.

00:39:27.871 --> 00:39:36.809
We were just having a conversation about this mic last week about how it's not about more is better, it's about proper technique.

00:39:36.809 --> 00:39:39.498
You have four teams in the state.

00:39:39.498 --> 00:39:47.179
You focused, get this people on the fundamental skills, you developed them and created champions out of that.

00:39:47.179 --> 00:39:50.641
Mike, I have to throw it to you because we talk about this all the time.

00:39:50.641 --> 00:39:53.719
I mean, this sounds like proof to everything we talk about.

00:39:55.931 --> 00:39:56.152
Right.

00:39:56.192 --> 00:40:06.416
But Sherry has such a unique place there and setting where you're isolated, like you can control the narrative of all that happening.

00:40:06.693 --> 00:40:17.201
What happens on the East Coast and certainly in Toronto right, is when you try to do this, other influences fractures those kids off.

00:40:17.201 --> 00:40:20.860
But the fact is you're proving the concept is correct.

00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:53.494
It's just in a lot of different regions and I think this is speaking to our audience of coaches and directors and organizers that you know, creating the model to put kids in and giving them access and then creating the base of the skill development is more important than fast tracking a player into a, you know, $800 Vegas gold Knights Jersey and sweatsuit and bag and stick and, at six years old, traveling to Phoenix to go play a travel game.

00:40:53.494 --> 00:41:05.295
So I think that's where, you know, that's for us, where the dilemma oh, you know, one of the reasons we're on this show is that's always been a dilemma, that you know you just can't speed up development.

00:41:05.295 --> 00:41:14.134
You just can't say, well, if I put this person on the travel team, they will naturally just get better because they're now on a travel team and they miss all of the base, all the base.

00:41:16.364 --> 00:41:17.949
I mean, listen, travel team, and they miss all of the base, of all the base.

00:41:17.949 --> 00:41:24.969
I mean, listen, there are, there are I can name 700 programs right now that wish they had one national championship in their 80 you know, 80 season career.

00:41:24.969 --> 00:41:26.913
You know, so you're doing it right.

00:41:26.913 --> 00:41:28.076
I think that's the message.

00:41:28.076 --> 00:41:38.195
I think that hopefully a lot of people here is that that the base of the program, you know the, the first steps program, the before they get into a place where they're playing games.

00:41:39.206 --> 00:41:44.012
That's the one unique thing about our sport, right, is you have to be able to skate.

00:41:44.012 --> 00:41:54.911
I know, I heard, even when Vegas won the Cup, there was a lot of at the higher level development people were like, oh, look at the model, now Everybody's going to start following that model.

00:41:54.911 --> 00:42:02.469
Big long-remen and, and, and those players that have are battle tested.

00:42:02.469 --> 00:42:06.858
But the one common theme amongst all of them, they can all skate at an elite level.

00:42:06.858 --> 00:42:08.148
There's no, yeah, like.

00:42:08.148 --> 00:42:10.333
There's no, like, oh, he's a big guy who could just hit.

00:42:10.333 --> 00:42:14.251
I go, no, no, they're all elite skaters number one, and I think that's's so.

00:42:14.251 --> 00:42:27.235
I think, when people hear what you're saying about the discipline of keeping players in the model and then allowing them to progress in that model is huge.

00:42:27.235 --> 00:42:35.052
And I think again, it's a hard thing on the East Coast because the rink down the road from you is trying to steal that kid just because they don't want to do that work.

00:42:36.527 --> 00:42:37.873
I mean different associations.

00:42:37.873 --> 00:42:52.373
And then you know you have your parent groups that are pushing for them to play up and, uh, different associations are going to do stuff the way that maybe it's private association, maybe it's not, but, um, like, there's other associations and they're not doing the stuff the same as as vgk is doing it.

00:42:52.413 --> 00:42:59.574
But that's just that's and that's you know, came from Darren Elliott and his philosophy is we do not shortcut.

00:42:59.574 --> 00:43:05.130
You're doing the skating academy and then you're doing learn to play, and then you're doing cross ice and then you're doing half ice.

00:43:05.130 --> 00:43:08.251
You're not getting on the full ice until you've gone through all that.

00:43:08.251 --> 00:43:17.387
And now this is the first year we're in single birth year, triple A, tier one, like in seven years and I was when I was in johnstown.

00:43:17.387 --> 00:43:20.036
I mean johnstown, when I was there, they had hockey for 55 years.

00:43:20.036 --> 00:43:22.905
They don't have triple a, so it's like 55 years.

00:43:22.905 --> 00:43:23.427
What do you guys?

00:43:23.427 --> 00:43:24.710
You know, what are you doing here?

00:43:24.710 --> 00:43:26.596
And and they're they're not doing.

00:43:26.596 --> 00:43:36.297
It's just, you know, it's a board and it's, it's different and they, they're not doing the same stuff, like I've seen different organizations do stuff and it's, yeah, they, they're getting kids through the, the mites hockey, but they can't skate.

00:43:37.065 --> 00:43:40.706
Sherry, I'm, I'm, I'm rolling up my sleeves here because now you're in my wheelhouse.

00:43:40.867 --> 00:43:42.753
I got, I got to get you fired up.

00:43:44.485 --> 00:43:45.088
I'll tell you why.

00:43:45.088 --> 00:43:52.353
Because and this might be like the huge takeaway Unapologetically, you right, you go against the grain.

00:43:52.353 --> 00:43:58.556
Parents listening to this, okay, and this is not true for every kid in the world, but just please listen.

00:43:58.556 --> 00:44:08.518
It's on us, as parents, to go against the grain, to fight that FOMO of your ability right, to put your kids in a position where they can work on these fundamental skills right.

00:44:08.539 --> 00:44:22.389
I have this conversation with my kids every day.

00:44:22.389 --> 00:44:23.554
They're in baseball right now.

00:44:23.554 --> 00:44:26.266
I tell them look, hitting that baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.

00:44:26.266 --> 00:44:34.268
It's kind of universally agreed upon, right fundamentals working on your swing, working on your your mechanics, working on your mobility.

00:44:34.268 --> 00:44:38.612
Same thing in hockey you got to work on your skating and sometimes that's got to be fun.

00:44:38.612 --> 00:44:45.599
And, parents, it's not about forcing your kids into a skating coach, it's about making them understand the value of that.

00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.282
That's the other half of it.

00:44:47.282 --> 00:44:53.570
You can tell your kids what to do and they'll do it, especially if you force them to do it.

00:44:53.570 --> 00:44:57.976
But if you can get it in their head, hey, your fundamentals are extremely important and like reading Rainbow, you don't got to take my word for it.

00:44:57.976 --> 00:45:00.849
Go on YouTube and listen to any great athlete through history.

00:45:00.849 --> 00:45:03.317
Talk about fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.

00:45:03.585 --> 00:45:05.333
So again, I'm not judging parents here.

00:45:05.333 --> 00:45:09.047
I'm more or less kind of bringing this to the forefront here of you.

00:45:09.047 --> 00:45:13.378
You can take a stand against that training.

00:45:13.378 --> 00:45:15.824
I'm not saying go to your local organization, tell them to screw themselves.

00:45:15.824 --> 00:45:16.585
That's not my point.

00:45:16.585 --> 00:45:20.434
God bless you, mike.

00:45:20.434 --> 00:45:26.992
All right, that's a little bit of a political game, but you can take your kid to a public session and just skate.

00:45:26.992 --> 00:45:27.474
You can.

00:45:27.474 --> 00:45:32.253
You can explain to them why it's so important that you learn to become a better skater.

00:45:32.673 --> 00:45:36.670
Or my favorite example what I always use, sherry, is like look, the Michigan's a very fun play.

00:45:36.670 --> 00:45:37.092
I.

00:45:37.092 --> 00:45:39.516
I tell my kids all the time it's creative, it's fun.

00:45:39.516 --> 00:45:46.514
But even on the the game the other night I can't remember what announcer he said, like it's a brian boucher said it's extremely low percentage play.

00:45:46.514 --> 00:45:49.385
And even in the nhl and you'd rather see them try something else.

00:45:49.385 --> 00:46:00.550
If you can michigan, but cannot take a wrist shot, it's's a problem, it's a major problem, all right, and it's like it's something that we all play a role in.

00:46:00.550 --> 00:46:03.268
And again, parents, I know it sounds like I'm lecturing.

00:46:03.268 --> 00:46:04.192
I'm really not trying to.

00:46:04.192 --> 00:46:05.355
I'm sorry, I am just fired up.

00:46:05.355 --> 00:46:13.349
I just think we can all do that job together of encouraging our kids in a village mentality of hey look, coach wants you to work on skating.

00:46:13.349 --> 00:46:17.753
Here's why that's important, right, and most teams do prioritize that, but it's very much.

00:46:17.773 --> 00:46:22.336
let's get the skating out of the way so we can work from there one, three, one, and they want to push them up right.

00:46:22.336 --> 00:46:26.621
But like, if you start skating here, we can start skating as early as three.

00:46:29.826 --> 00:46:32.315
So you start skating three, four, five, six years old In Toronto.

00:46:32.315 --> 00:46:34.324
It's three months right.

00:46:37.264 --> 00:46:42.168
In Toronto months, right in toronto, yeah, yeah, no, I'm just well, you gotta understand, we don't have the access to go skate on lakes and ponds like they do in minnesota, and they don't flood baseball diamonds here in the winter.

00:46:42.168 --> 00:46:43.434
Like we don't have that access.

00:46:43.434 --> 00:46:52.708
So I mean to win three national championships without having any extra ice or access or lakes or ponds or training facilities, ntr rinks we don't have that.

00:46:52.708 --> 00:47:06.875
So it's like if it's a testament to the skating Academy is like, yeah, take your time at five, six, seven years old, do the skating right and then go, just go in the pathway and then, when you're 13, make that triple A team right.

00:47:06.875 --> 00:47:10.688
You got to put in the work and I think too is the kids.

00:47:10.708 --> 00:47:13.713
So I see a lot of parents that like want to force kids into playing.

00:47:13.713 --> 00:47:15.436
Like the parents want it more than they do.

00:47:15.436 --> 00:47:21.807
And and you know, like when I was growing up, playing like you, I would do roller, roller, rollerblading.

00:47:21.807 --> 00:47:27.773
You know street hockey, lakes, ponds, gym class, street hockey, video games, tsn, like watching it.

00:47:27.773 --> 00:47:30.494
You could not pull me away from hockey.

00:47:30.764 --> 00:47:34.835
Like the kids have to love it themselves to be able to excel at it.

00:47:34.835 --> 00:47:37.864
And it's like the kids have to love it themselves, to be able to excel at it.

00:47:37.864 --> 00:47:41.996
And it's like if they don't love it and you're forcing them to practice at 6am or 7pm at night and they don't want to go, it's not for them.

00:47:41.996 --> 00:47:47.155
Like maybe you're you're taking them away from, maybe they're a good baseball player or maybe they're a gymnast, maybe there's something else.

00:47:47.155 --> 00:47:54.697
But it's like if they don't want to wait at the door with their stuff, like dad, come home for work, I want to, I want to go to the rink, then they're not a hockey player.

00:47:54.697 --> 00:48:00.612
And it's like the kids that really make it through have that natural passion and has to be inside of you and like want to do it.

00:48:00.612 --> 00:48:02.231
Otherwise you're just spending money for nothing.

00:48:02.666 --> 00:48:12.931
You know, sherry, I always like to make myself vulnerable on this and then and then this would be the last thing I say.

00:48:12.931 --> 00:48:14.231
Then, christy, I'm going to person.

00:48:14.231 --> 00:48:20.677
I inadvertently just blurted out that my kids weren't around, but like, yeah, that's really helping my son with his glove hand right as a goalie.

00:48:20.677 --> 00:48:26.041
And I realized when I said that, like man, I'm not even thinking about, does he like baseball?

00:48:26.041 --> 00:48:27.623
Right Now he enjoys it.

00:48:27.623 --> 00:48:34.233
But my brain just naturally said, well, baseball is giving him this hockey skill and I'm like it's not fair for me to even put that on him.

00:48:34.253 --> 00:48:37.871
I want him to enjoy, and my daughter too, the game of baseball or softball.

00:48:37.871 --> 00:48:42.871
And that's exactly how I portray it to them when I'm around them, Like, hey, how are you enjoying the game?

00:48:42.871 --> 00:48:48.831
And you know what's funny is, without any pressure, they're both saying to me now, hey, when are we playing hockey again?

00:48:48.831 --> 00:48:50.650
When are we getting back on the ice again?

00:48:50.650 --> 00:49:01.670
Which is I mean, look, I'm not gonna lie, it's music to my ears as a hockey person.

00:49:01.670 --> 00:49:02.916
But you can see that organically, they will make that decision.

00:49:02.916 --> 00:49:03.699
You cannot force that decision on them.

00:49:03.699 --> 00:49:06.849
And while they're enjoying softball and baseball, they miss hockey right now and that may change in five years, 10 years.

00:49:07.289 --> 00:49:17.737
No, that's a really good, a really good thing right Like, and then also parents with the FOMO and the summer elite spring don a don't do it please.

00:49:17.797 --> 00:49:22.373
Like, take off may, june, july, because yeah, the kid's gonna say, yeah, when can we go back?

00:49:22.373 --> 00:49:26.148
They're not burnt out when they're 11 years old, they don't have knee injuries.

00:49:26.148 --> 00:49:44.554
When they're 14 years old, be playing baseball, playing soccer, like, be a multi-sport athlete, and that's, you know, it's going to cut down on injuries, it's going to make them want to come back to hockey and also they're working on their, like, hand-eye coordination, developing different, different parts of their bodies and brains, and athletic.

00:49:44.554 --> 00:49:45.557
You know life.

00:49:45.557 --> 00:49:46.648
So it's, it's not.

00:49:46.989 --> 00:50:07.731
I hate seeing parents all year around because when it does come to the grind of december, january, february, these kids are burnt out because they're playing in august and I'll just say that Mike and Christy have given me a ton of amazing advice because I have the youngest kids on the show and I'm thankful for that, but by far I think the greatest advice was Lee, take the spring off, right.

00:50:07.771 --> 00:50:10.925
And I did that and I'm telling you the benefits from that now, two seasons.

00:50:10.925 --> 00:50:12.929
The benefits are super clear.

00:50:12.929 --> 00:50:16.615
So for those of you parents listening, you can take the spring off.

00:50:16.615 --> 00:50:17.898
Christy, I want to talk to you.

00:50:17.898 --> 00:50:18.478
I know we've got to go.

00:50:19.300 --> 00:50:21.101
Not just for the kids, but for the parents too.

00:50:21.121 --> 00:50:21.922
Yes, I needed it too.

00:50:22.204 --> 00:50:23.972
It's such a nice break.

00:50:24.605 --> 00:50:27.355
You know what it's like to wake up on a Saturday and not have anything to do.

00:50:27.355 --> 00:50:28.264
Yeah.

00:50:28.284 --> 00:50:29.927
I think it's so good.

00:50:30.409 --> 00:50:30.829
It's tough.

00:50:30.829 --> 00:50:32.010
I understand.

00:50:32.010 --> 00:50:36.898
It's tough for parents too, when you see like Bobby is doing this camp and Bobby's going here and Bobby's going there.

00:50:36.898 --> 00:50:43.155
It's like well, johnny's in baseball Shoot should he be doing that and I think the FOMO is real and I understand it for parents.

00:50:43.155 --> 00:50:46.514
But yeah, like in the long run, I think a break is good for them.

00:50:46.784 --> 00:50:49.666
Look, I felt it and I fought it and I'm thankful that I did.

00:50:49.666 --> 00:50:54.791
And I'm not trying to say like, oh, I've done it better than you or anything like that, like every family is different.

00:50:54.791 --> 00:51:05.840
But I'm just saying in my experience, taking off for the spring not only has been great for all of us, the whole family, but I actually think it has helped them in hockey more than I mean it hasn't hurt them at all, but it's helped them.

00:51:05.840 --> 00:51:08.681
Christy, again, we're out of time, but I wanted to give you the final word today.

00:51:11.387 --> 00:51:12.369
Oh, no, such great conversation.

00:51:12.369 --> 00:51:12.851
I love this.

00:51:13.791 --> 00:51:14.833
Yeah, yeah.

00:51:14.833 --> 00:51:23.576
And I had parents reach out to me just a few weeks ago because they're so concerned their kid didn't sign up, doesn't want to sign up for the spring hockey league.

00:51:23.576 --> 00:51:25.913
They want to do karate instead.

00:51:25.913 --> 00:51:27.469
What should we do?

00:51:27.469 --> 00:51:34.130
I said let him do karate, he's going to love it and you're going to see he'll be.

00:51:34.130 --> 00:51:39.269
When the fall comes around, he's gonna be excited about hockey again yeah, take a break.

00:51:39.431 --> 00:51:46.769
It's gotta be fun, or maybe he'll become a black belt someday that's okay.

00:51:46.829 --> 00:51:47.771
Support your kid.

00:51:47.771 --> 00:51:49.695
I know we're trying to wrap this up, but that's.

00:51:49.695 --> 00:51:51.186
I think that's my, you know.

00:51:51.186 --> 00:51:53.634
My question to everyone is like well, why are you doing this?

00:51:53.634 --> 00:51:53.773
All?

00:51:53.773 --> 00:51:55.588
I'm doing this because it's gonna help him with hockey, I go.

00:51:55.588 --> 00:51:56.331
Well, what?

00:51:56.331 --> 00:51:57.876
I don't understand what that even means.

00:51:57.876 --> 00:52:00.751
How do you know that?

00:52:00.751 --> 00:52:03.137
Hockey is what they're going to be?

00:52:03.137 --> 00:52:06.050
They're six, so I think it's a matter of it.

00:52:06.070 --> 00:52:09.257
Helps them be a child and do different things.

00:52:09.257 --> 00:52:13.715
Of course the science is telling us that the injuries will be reduced.

00:52:13.715 --> 00:52:16.914
Of course we're going to see that burnout is less.

00:52:16.914 --> 00:52:19.449
Of course, all those other things.

00:52:19.449 --> 00:52:30.873
You know, they're going to meet different friends and use different muscles, but ultimately, it's just be a kid and as a parent, you know, allow them to be children and you too, allow yourself to be like wow, this is a really this.

00:52:30.873 --> 00:52:32.625
I never knew about this or I didn't.

00:52:32.625 --> 00:52:34.547
You know, I sit and watch.

00:52:34.547 --> 00:52:38.230
I'm not a tennis player, I didn't grow up as a tennis player, but every Monday I get to go watch.

00:52:38.230 --> 00:52:52.481
You know, my kids play tennis and with no expectations that wow, you know them, using their backhand is really helping them with their torso flexion and it's going to give them an opportunity of a better inside edge when they when they play hockey.

00:52:52.481 --> 00:52:55.893
And it doesn't go through my mind, except for right now I'm going to say it again.

00:52:55.913 --> 00:52:58.088
It went through my mind and I had to catch myself.

00:52:58.088 --> 00:52:58.851
I was like what are you doing?

00:52:58.851 --> 00:52:59.954
What are you doing, man?

00:53:00.925 --> 00:53:02.570
You're not in the back of his mind.

00:53:03.835 --> 00:53:10.514
Oh man, it was a real awakening moment for me of just like, oh, wow, I really equate everything back to hockey.

00:53:10.514 --> 00:53:13.253
But that's me right, that's my life, that makes sense for me.

00:53:13.253 --> 00:53:22.990
And I'll finish on this thought too there's never been a high-level athlete like a really high-level athlete whose parents went yeah, they're great at tennis, but I really wanted them to be a hockey player.

00:53:22.990 --> 00:53:24.094
This is so disappointing.

00:53:24.094 --> 00:53:26.331
Like that doesn't happen in real life.

00:53:26.331 --> 00:53:28.413
So I am going to wrap it up there.

00:53:28.413 --> 00:53:32.175
Sherry, you said this was a wonderful occasion, wonderful conversation.

00:53:32.175 --> 00:53:33.297
You've been a wonderful guest.

00:53:33.297 --> 00:53:39.981
I really appreciate you coming on, especially so early, and again, we don't take it for granted when members of NHL teams come on the show.

00:53:39.981 --> 00:53:40.907
It's a privilege for us.

00:53:40.907 --> 00:53:42.353
So thank you so much for being here today.

00:53:42.786 --> 00:53:45.534
Thanks guys, this was great, great show Keep it up, thank you.

00:53:45.844 --> 00:53:48.449
That's going to do it for this episode of our kids play hockey.

00:53:48.449 --> 00:53:51.132
For Christy Casciano Burns, mike Benelli and Sherry Hudspeth.

00:53:51.132 --> 00:53:52.034
I'm Lee Elias.

00:53:52.034 --> 00:53:52.936
We'll see you on the next episode.

00:53:52.936 --> 00:53:55.940
Remember all the episodes ourkidsplayhockeycom.

00:53:55.940 --> 00:53:57.128
Have a great week, everybody.

00:53:57.128 --> 00:53:57.610
We'll see you soon.

00:53:57.610 --> 00:54:03.094
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey.

00:54:03.094 --> 00:54:06.360
Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value.

00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:12.557
Wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network or our website, ourkidsplayhockeycom.

00:54:12.557 --> 00:54:24.092
Also, make sure to check out our children's book when Hockey Stops at whenhockeystopscom.

00:54:24.092 --> 00:54:25.255
It's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life.

00:54:25.255 --> 00:54:25.297
We're very proud of it.

00:54:25.297 --> 00:54:27.440
But thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey and we'll see you on the next episode.