The Ride to The Rink: Character Counts—On and Off the Ice

Lee MJ Elias [0:08 - 2:55]: Goalies and skaters around the world. Welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. It's Lee and Mike with you recording in the kind of late spring summer. So you may be on the way to the rink, you may be just hanging out right now, but we're gonna keep doing these all summer. Mike, I had a great experience yesterday that I wanted to share with everybody here. My family and I were out in town. I, we promised the kids some milkshakes. Delicious, right? Because they were exuding some good behavior the day before. So we went to this nice milkshake place and we walk in, which place we've never been, and one of my son's teammates is in the restaurant, right? And immediately lit up, said hello to my, my kids, said hello to me, was very polite, you know, and just got a head little chit chat and he left. And the, the person behind the counter came up to me and said, do you know that kid? Actually my first thought was, oh boy, what does that mean? I go, yeah, no, I coach him. He plays with my son. And she said to me, and this is so cool, all right. She said, would you please tell his parents that's how, that's how she started, how wonderful and nice he was. He was so kind, he was so professional. He had really great manners. And I want his parents to know, I, I, of course I said I will absolutely tell his parents. I did not say I'm going to make a whole podcast about it, but that's what we're doing now. So the lesson is this, kids, first off, as his coach, not even his parents as his coach, boy, did that fill me up and make me feel good because we obviously work on that kind of stuff a lot through hockey. And I know for a fact his parents are very diligent about things like that too. You know, I like to think my kids are like that too. These types of manners go a really long way. The reason I'm making this a ride to the rink is because the things you do on the ice, the things you do for hockey have to transcend that. And this kid is a warrior on the ice. I've seen him play, right? I'm not, I'm not saying he's not kind on the ice, but he'll, he'll fight you for the puck, but he's a very kind kid off the ice. He's always, always respectful of the coaches. He's always respectful to his parents. And now I know he does that outside of the rink. He's not just doing that. To get in favor with me. I never thought that he was. He practices that all the time because that's who he is. He's a good kid. He's a good person. Kids, you need to strive to do this because it. I'm going to tell you right now, it does make a difference. Not only did he brighten that person's day, but she felt strongly enough for his coach to tell his parents, which I'm gonna do. All right. It makes a huge impact, Mike. I just want your thoughts on it. I thought it was a really cool story. I mean, I just wasn't expecting that, and it just made me feel really good. It was. It was cool because. Because multiple kids I coach were in the same environment, and that's what she felt. 

Mike Bonelli [2:56 - 4:04]: Yeah. I think it also. It shows, like, it. As a parent, right. Sometimes, like, sometimes when you're with your kids all the time, you are looking at them through a different lens. So you don't. Sometimes you don't think they're being very polite and they could, you know, you're in with them all day being, you know, like, being a little, you know, snarky and Right. And you get, you know, everybody's getting on each other's nerves, and maybe they're not polite or, or they don't have the greatest manners when they're with you. Like, I joke around, like, is that how you're going to eat at your friend's house? As you get kicked out of the house, you'll never be allowed there. But then you hear, oh, my God, your son was so, you know, my kid. So I think a lot. So if you're in the car with your parents, your parents are riding you, and the parents are like, you know, they're, they're, they're. They're asking you to do these certain things, like in a. In a private setting. So it is so great when they, when you hear that it's in a public setting, right. From that point of view. And I think, you know, from, from. From Coach Elias's side, it. It's so nice, too, as a organization leader, like somebody within an organization. Like, I'm sure that kid's probably wearing his jacket or his hat or his shirt. So he was, he was wearing. 

Lee MJ Elias [4:04 - 4:06]: He was wearing a tournament T shirt. Now, you mention. 

Mike Bonelli [4:06 - 5:00]: Right? So when you're a player and you're out in public, like, like you. It's a big responsibility. It's like, you know, because people then associate you and your behavior with an organization's behavior, right? They associate you with the other people you, you know, you hang out with and, and that you are, you know, aligning yourself with. So it is great when you hear that a player went out of their way and acted normal. Like we all say, like when, you know, when does character really count? Well, character really counts when nobody's watching. Like so when you don't know that somebody thinks that you should be behaving yourself and you don't know that somebody like is not watching you, you know, pick up the locker room or you know, help like, like let somebody go in front of you in a line at the ice cream parlor or you know, or, or you know, doing little things like saying please and thank you. Like if it just becomes human nature to you such a long way in so many different aspects of your life. 

Lee MJ Elias [5:00 - 5:59]: Yeah, I love it, Mike. And kids, look, I gotta tell you this too. When Mike and I coach the high level teams, the, the older teams, national teams, whatever you want to say, even professional teams, man, if you are, if you don't have this down, you're gonna get kicked off the team pretty quickly. All right? We, we, we demand and require and so do our athletes, the highest levels of professionalism at all times in the rink and away from the rink. If I get a note that one of my players is misbehaving and causing a problem that was unjust away from the rink, we're gonna have a sit down because that's going to be a problem for me. But the practice for that kids, not to scare you starts earlier and I'm gonna shout this kid out. His name's Caleb. I won't say last names on the show. I'll send this to your parents, Caleb, because it's a big deal. I'm a coach and I recognize that it's a great way to stand out kids. And he did not do this. He did not know I was going to walk to that ice cream parlor. He did not know that the, the person behind the counter was going to say anything. He did it because it was just who he is. Right? And that's the type of practice that you need to put in, right? 

Mike Bonelli [6:00 - 6:21]: And in closing too, with the kids, with the players, you don't have to be, you don't have to be nicey nice on the ice. You could be a nasty player. You could be, you know, if any of, if anybody's been sitting around watching, you know, Chris Pronger on, you know, NHL right now on tnt, you'll know that Chris Pronger was the nastiest, dirtiest. 

Lee MJ Elias [6:22 - 6:23]: He'D do anything to win. 

Mike Bonelli [6:23 - 6:54]: How about any player but off the ice, probably one of the nicest people around. So I think, I think it all depends on, and I guarantee saying thank you to the, the staff. I guarantee he's, you know, making sure that the, the rink personnel are, are, are treated fairly. And, and, and, and, and I think, you know, in the way you treat other people, you know, certainly goes a long way and how they want to treat you. But I think that's great that Caleb was able to, you know, go in un, you know, unprovoked and been nice. 

Lee MJ Elias [6:54 - 7:31]: Yeah, well, I love it and I guess I treat others the way you want to be treated. And kids, one last piece of advice. It's very normal to rebel against your parents. Very normal. But try and be conscious of that. We are doing the best that we can possibly do. Okay? But yeah, big shout out to Caleb for just being a great person. All right? And, and I love that. And it deserves to be shouted out. So that's gonna do it for this edition of the Ride to the Rink. Kids, remember, wherever you're at in your hockey journey, we believe in you. You should too. All right, have fun, skate hard. We'll see you on the next ride of the Ring. Take care. Okay, you want to do the equipment one? 

Mike Bonelli [7:33 - 7:35]: Have we done anything like that before? 

Lee MJ Elias [7:35 - 7:36]: Not recently. 

Mike Bonelli [7:36 - 7:36]: I remember. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:36 - 7:38]: I mean, is it, is it equipment season or does that come later? 

Mike Bonelli [7:40 - 7:46]: Well, I'm just saying it's like it's, it's. Now is the time. If you didn't like something about something is the time to use. Try it. Not, not in November. 

Lee MJ Elias [7:46 - 8:30]: Let's just do it. Let's just do it. See how it sounds. Okay, I'll prompt you. You dive into it. Okay. Hello, hockey goalies and skaters around the world. Welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. It's Lee and Mike with you today, and I don't know how many gear heads we have, but the kid who loves the stick. You love the Proto Stick. Gotta have the Proto Stick. You gotta have whatever. New skates, new gloves, new helmet, new shins, new shoulders, new elbows, new pants. I don't think I forgot anything there, Mike, but it's the time of year we're recording this in the spring. Probably looking at some new gear for the new season. Some new things are coming out. Mike wants to share some advice with you on maybe how to approach that, keeping in mind you might grow five inches this summer, which can be a hurt to the wall for the parents. But Mike, why don't you dive into it? 

Mike Bonelli [8:31 - 9:28]: Yeah. Well, the growth part is, is a problem, obviously, because you might be growing out of stuff, but if you're going through, if you're somebody that, you know, never feels comfortable in shoulder pads or your elbow pads or you want to try a different pair of skates or you wanted to. I was thinking more like, you know, if you're, if you're getting older, you want to try different profiles and you want to try different skate sharpening. When somebody's saying, oh, you should be in 5, 8, and you should be in half inch or you should be in one quarter, like, this is the kind of stuff you want to educate yourself with, and this is the time to try those things. November and December probably isn't the best time to try out different gear. No. But now, you know, the pro shops are a little lighter. There's not as many people running in and out of there. But it's a really good time to go in and sit yourself down for, you know, a half hour and just, just try different things on, find like, the different gloves that fit. It's not because as you get older, it's not only about, you know, how cool the stuff looks and it's not always about, oh, because this, my favorite player wears this is this. Does this, this fit my hand. 

Lee MJ Elias [9:28 - 9:28]: Right, right. 

Mike Bonelli [9:28 - 10:02]: Does this fit my, you know, do I like these elbow pads? Because, but I wear short sleeve shirts, so these elbow pads don't work well with me because they, the Velcro hurts my arm. So instead of going through nine months of pain and discomfort, just find it out now. This is the best time to go in, try different things out, try different curves. I know most of us probably on the, listening to this are too young under, you know, to know what a lie of a stick is, but understand that sticks have different ways that they lay down and, and, and, and hit the ice. Try those different things, right? Different tape jobs, different, you know, not, you know, but end job. 

Lee MJ Elias [10:03 - 10:03]: Yeah. 

Mike Bonelli [10:03 - 10:18]: These are, these are all the times to do all these little things, especially when you start feeling a little more confident about your skills and saying, yeah, you know, I really like this and I don't like this, and this is something I want to focus on. This is the time of year to do it as you go through spring, summer, you know, into your hockey season. 

Lee MJ Elias [10:18 - 11:53]: Yeah. And I'll add it on to that, Mike. That Mike brings up a great point about the commercialization of the gear kids. And what I mean by that is the equipment companies have done a really great job of making you believe that the flashiest, newest thing is the best thing. And I'll tell you right now, while there are advancements in, in technology and equipment, I'm not, I'm not going to deny that every once in a while there is a huge advancement. They don't come that often. And if you need any more proof, Sidney Crosby playing in the double IHF World Championships right now looks like he's wearing 10 year old skates, which is probably not true, but they're older. His stick is a ribcore ccm. That's an older stick if I'm not mistaken. A lot of his pads he's been using his whole career. It's not the equipment that makes you great, it's you make the equipment great. I'm going to repeat that for you kids. It's not the equipment that makes you great, it's you that makes the equipment great. I will say you gotta feel good though. As Mike said, okay, you want to feel good, feel good, play good, I do believe in that. But feel good has nothing to do with the flashiest newest 400 stick. That does not. That's not a feel good. That's you spending your parents money. I'm turning into a dad real quick. I'm sorry kids. You make your equipment great. I guarantee you right now an NHL player, if that's what you aspire to be, can pick up almost any stick, almost any stick, including the old wooden ones, and probably make it work for themselves. I'm not going to say they're going to like it, but that's their talent shining through. Build your skills, don't empty your parents wallets. Okay? 

Mike Bonelli [11:54 - 12:45]: That being said, you don't have to have the highest end stuff to feel comfortable. True, you certainly don't have to have the highest end stuff to perform the best. But what I'm saying is take the off season. Take the time that you have. You know, you could go on, I don't know, sideline swap or something. Get something that get, get a different brand that maybe you wouldn't have normally got. Try it out. If you don't like, you send it back. I mean there's so many different options for you buy things and get rid of them that it's so easy to do this. And once you find, you know your, your niche or what you like or you like the, the way gloves are shaped like there's a big difference in all these different things. There's a reason why it's just not. They don't just make one glove and say, hey, there's the glove. So, you know, try to, you know, try to find different things that fit your style, your needs, your comfort level, and then. And then use that for your basis of how you want to go into the season. 

Lee MJ Elias [12:45 - 13:37]: I love it, Mike. And like I said, I'll just say in closing, too, that, you know, when I go get new skates or new gloves, I don't. I try not to look at the price tag. I try and blindly do it, like, what feels the best. And, kids, I'll tell you 50% of the time, it's not the most expensive piece of equipment there's. All right? And I feel way better on the ice using that. All right, so listen, not trying to poo poo on you, getting the best stuff that you want to get. I know things are flashy. I'm. I'm just trying to say, and Mike's just trying to say, if you want to be the best player you can be, it's about you developing. It's not about the gear, but this is the time to try it out. Sidelineswap.com if you haven't checked it out or go to your local pro shop, see if they'll let you just play around with some stuff without taking it outside and off ice stuff, too, this time of year, just as a healthy reminder. All right, kids, no matter where you're at in a hockey journey, remember, we believe in you. You should, too. Skate hard, have fun. We'll see you in the next ride of the ring. Take.