The Ride To The Rink - Ken Martel on Embracing Failure and Succeeding in Hockey With Perseverance

Lee MJ Elias [0:08 - 0:43]: Hello, hockey skaters and goalies around the world. And welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. We have one of the top level people at USA Hockey with us today. Ken Martel is here. He is directly involved with hockey development. He has been involved with the game for pretty much his entire life. And in our long episode this week, he spoke a lot about patience and the patience that's needed to develop really well in the game of hockey. So what I want to do, Ken, is I want to throw it to you and I want you to talk to all the kids listening about the importance of patience and what does that actually mean when it comes to hockey development? 

KEN MARTEL [0:45 - 1:54]: Well, thanks, Lee. Yeah. You know, patience for, for us as players is, you know, we're going to have some struggles. We may not get the, you know, that the execution, for example, on a new drill that the coaches showed us or a new skill, you know, maybe we want to, you know, learn a particular shot or something. So for us, it takes a lot of work and takes a lot of effort. It's not going to go right the first time. And we just have to be patient and put in the effort and we'll get it eventually. But there's a process, right? Got to work, put in the work to acquire the abilities that allow us to be better. So don't get frustrated. Failure is okay. It's get up, get back, try it again, and you'll get a little bit better each time you try. So patience in our ability to stick with it, keep working at things, you'll get them eventually. 

Mike Bonelli [1:54 - 2:21]: Yeah. Ken, your role, like as a player development person, you know, what are some strategies a player can use that don't have the resources around them like a pro staff like, that they can use to kind of build that perseverance and into their ability to say, okay, I think I can get it. I know I can get it. I want to get it. But what are some of their building blocks to get there? 

KEN MARTEL [2:23 - 3:06]: Well, again, don't get frustrated, right? It's easy. We have that little voice in our head sometimes that talks negatively to us. You know, you need to talk positively to yourself. I can do this. I can get this. Keep telling yourself that. It'll become a reality if you're consistent with that messaging in your own head. Don't get yourself down. Be comfortable with the failure. Know that failure is just part of learning. So stick with it. Say good things to yourself. And those are some of the secrets to being more persistent. You know, I got this. I can do it. 

Lee MJ Elias [3:07 - 4:56]: Yeah. And Can I add to that? Coaches should be echoing that to the kids as well. And, you know, one of the cool things about being a coach is when we see a kid that wants to learn. And I always encourage. And, kids, I'm talking to you right now. I always encourage you to tell me things that you want to work on within your game. I'll tell you a really quick, great story. I have a young man on a team right now who's having a hard time with his shot, and he was getting very frustrated. And I give him a lot of credit because we. We were working one on one for a little bit. And then I kind of let him go back in the drill. And I could see it on his face. He wasn't feeling good. And I said, well, hey, what do you want to do? And he said, well, what's going to make me a better hockey player? Right? And we discussed it, and he says, well, I want to do whatever it takes to become a better hockey player. And I love that attitude, right? That's the attitude that I hope every player shows up to practice with. And look, not every day is going to feel great. Sometimes you're going to be a little under the weather and not want to practice. Sometimes you might be tired, but we show up, right? And we want to be there for you as your coach. So, echoing Ken, what you just said, it's that mindset of, you know, it's okay to have emotions, but we can't let those feelings control us. You have to control them, right? So if it's something's not working, ask a coach, ask someone. I mean, and again, as Mike just said, there's a lot of ways we can practice these things off the ice as well. But don't ever give up, right? If you put the time in and you really love what you're doing, you're going to get better and better and better. Mike, Ken, any final thoughts for the kids before we close this up? Awesome. Well, listen, kids. Listening. You're the best. We love you. That's why we do this show. Remember, we believe in you, Right? You need to believe in yourselves as well. And above all, have fun every time you step a foot on the ice or every time you get to play hockey off the ice. It's a wonderful day. That's it for today on this edition of the Ride to the Rink. We'll see you next time. Skate on.