The Ride to The Rink: Bringing Your B Game Every Night with Bobby Robins

Lee MJ Elias [0:08 - 0:31]: Skaters and goalies around the world. Welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. It's Lee with former pro Bobby Robbins again. Again played for the Boston Bruins. He played a lot with the Providence Brewing, the ahl. And Bobby shared an incredible story with us about one of his former coaches who's a well known AHL coach about bringing your B game every time you play. What do I mean by that? Take a listen. 

bobby robins [0:31 - 2:37]: And I had one of the. Some of the best advice I ever got in my life was when I really, it was like my 6th year pro and I was really a pro at this point, I had quit a bunch of addictions and distractions and things that were hindering me, things that I was partaking in that were self, self sabotaging my career. And I got dialed in and I was a good pro. I was the real deal with the Providence Bruins, AAA team, American Hockey League team of the Boston Bruins. And Bruce Cassidy, coach of the Vegas Knights, was my coach. So I got to play under Bruce for three seasons and he's the best coach I ever had. I love playing for Bruce. That guy believed in me, you know, he believed in me. And what a cool feeling to have a coach believe in you. Sometimes you. I've played where coaches didn't believe in me and then I had to find out how to navigate that. And that, that brought me strength too. That helped me in my hockey journey, right? And finally it all kind of clicked into place where I found a coach who really believed in me. And we were talking one day and I would, I would. Same thing with that curiosity, Lee. I would ask him questions all the time. I'm like, you know, what's what? How does a guy make it? Like, what's what? Separates. I'm looking around at guys who are the same size as me. They played the same, like, what separates a guy like that from, from somebody who doesn't make it. And one of the best pieces of advice he gave to me personally, he said, Bobby, he goes, you don't have to bring your A game every single night, but you better bring your B game. I was like, okay. So I broke that down. You don't have to bring your A game every night because really you can't. Yeah, you can't bring your A game every night. But what he was talking about was consistency, right? And that was something that I had to learn. So instead of him saying, hey, you have to be better at consistency, you know, he's like the wise teacher. He's a great coach. He gave me Something to think about. You don't have to bring your A game, Bobby, every night, but you better bring your B game. It was almost like a threat, like, hey, you better bring your B game or you're not going to be playing. You know, because you see so many players, and I saw it early in my career, I'd bring my A game, like, play out of my mind. 

Lee MJ Elias [2:38 - 2:38]: Right. 

bobby robins [2:38 - 3:07]: On Friday and Saturday, I was awful, you know, and then Sunday was like, oh, decent. So it's like my A game, then my D game, then my C plus game. And that just equals inconsistent. But I found out later, I was like, okay, whether I feel great, whether I feel like junk, whether I'm sick, whether I'm hurt, I'm gonna bring my B game for sure, which is A, which is good. You know, if you're looking at the grading scale, A is excellent, B is good. 

Lee MJ Elias [3:08 - 3:08]: Right. 

bobby robins [3:08 - 4:04]: He is average. So I play good hockey every single game, and I'm always trying to play my A game. And then maybe, you know, three out of 10 games, I'll bring that A game where everything clicks into place and I'm out of my mind. And that's, you know, you've experienced it, where everything's just effortless and easy. Yeah, I feel like some guys could play, like, yeah, they just exist in the zone. But for me, it was like, you know, some days I. Most days I didn't feel great. Nothing was working. I wasn't catching passes. My legs felt heavy. You know, nothing was going my way. How do I now take that? That's a. That's an atmosphere that could lead to an F game or a D game and just derail the whole. The whole week, you know, right now, how do I take that situation and say, I'm gonna find a way to play my B game, be really good right now. That's. That's consistency, and that's what I learned. And so that's. I love. I love that you don't have to bring your A game every night, but you got to bring your B game. 

Lee MJ Elias [4:05 - 4:10]: I mean, Bobby, that's prolific advice. It's really good. That might be a newsletter. 

bobby robins [4:10 - 4:12]: That might be a Sabbath shift. Right. 

Lee MJ Elias [4:12 - 4:46]: I think you got to do that, you know, and I'll tell. For the kids listening and parents, I know you listen, too. Bobby's joined our team. He's actually writing a whole series on our email list. You can subscribe over@hockeyraparound.com or there'll be a link accompanying this episode as well. But. But, you know, without even Prompting you, Bobby, like, that's the value this guy brings to you in terms of, like, why we've teamed up with him. I was not expecting that answer. I mean, I'm going to share that with my teams. Such a good, good piece of advice. Yeah, it came from an NHL coach, too. 

bobby robins [4:46 - 4:46]: But. 

Lee MJ Elias [4:46 - 6:26]: But, Bobby, I really appreciate you sharing that. And for the. For the kids listening, man, heed that advice. You can't bring that A game every single day to the way. Probably to the ability you want to. But be consistent that that is something that's so important. Coaches notice that, right? Like, and I can tell you, in youth hockey, kids, you know, you all know I coach youth hockey. You know, there's a kid that might show up. We call them streaky. You might show up one time at an A game and might show up as a D game. That's not awesome, right? And usually it's mindset driven. Just. Just show up. Just show up and do your best. Right? And remember, don't allow judgment to. To grip you to the point you can't perform. Be curious. One of the things he said to Bobby, I want to tap on this. The curiosity was not always a fun question, right? Curiosity is not always about, I'm doing great. How can I keep doing great? That's. That's a. That's a good question. But it's. I am not feeling the way I want to feel. I'm not getting the support I want to get. Ask the good questions. What do I need to do? What will separate me? Kids, that curiosity is a skill set. And I promise you kids listening, I want you to really hear me on this. You do have this from birth. It's a natural human instinct to be curious about the world around you. It will be taken from you if you allow it to be taken. Don't lose your curiosity and creativity. Hold on to that as long as you can. Parents, we play a role in that as well, right? We're so encouraging when we're teaching kids to walk, right? But we taper off. Kids, be curious, be creative. Bobby, any final thoughts before we end this? 

bobby robins [6:26 - 6:27]: Go for it. 

Lee MJ Elias [6:28 - 6:28]: Love it. 

bobby robins [6:28 - 7:22]: Go for it. You're gonna chase the dream. Go for it. Don't. You're gonna turn. I turned into an old man. All of a sudden I'm looking. I got some gray hairs. I'm like, oh, man, where did. Where did life go? I played, you know, 30 years chasing the hockey dream, and then it's over. So now I look back and like, man, it goes by fast, but it was worth it. And I have so many memories and. And lessons, and I just encourage you to go for it. And if you can, if you can come to the end of your hockey journey, whether it ends in the NHL as a cup of coffee guy, whether it ends as an NHL all star, whether it ends in junior hockey or college hockey, wherever your journey ends, if you can end that journey and look back and say, I didn't have any regrets at all and my hockey journey equipped me to make the transition and into whatever's next, man. That's a hockey journey well lived and a success, in my opinion. So I'd say live it up and go for it. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:22 - 7:37]: I love it, man. Well, listen, kids, wherever you're at on your hockey journey, remember, we believe in you. You should, too. All right, that's going to do it for this episode of the Ride to the Rink. Well, thank Bobby Robbins. I'm Lee. We'll see you next time, kids. Remember, skate hard. Have fun. Take care. 

bobby robins [7:37 - 7:38]: See you guys.