The Ride to the Rink: Pavel Barber on Slowing Down, Dreaming Bigger, and Trusting Your Own Path

Are you- Yeah.impressed by the videos that the kids are sending you?Oh, God, yeah.And I, I tell 'em all the time, like, uh, they don't believe me, but it's like, I'm like, I'm like, "Dude, 8yearold you would crush 8yearold me, uh-""And it would be-" "really, really close.I'd be crying."Like, the, the skills- Yeah.they have, especially with the skating, but even, even the stick handling is light years ahead of what I do.So I, I try to tell kids that to not, like, inflate their egos too much, but to be like, "Hey, man, the ceiling's really high for you.""I know you're looking at current me now, 35 years old, uh, and you're like, 'Oh, you could do so much with a puck, you can be consistent doing these skills," and it's like, "Man, like, your, your ceiling's quite a bit higher than mine.You're, you're young, you don't understand that, but like, you know, keep, keep working at your skills.It's, it's very slow.Uh, there's many, many years to go and whatever, but you keep loving it and you keep putting in the work, uh, and focus that's required.I mean, you'll get-" "so much."And we see it.We see it in the NHL, like, these kids- Ah.who come into the, the league.Now, they're age 19 tearing it up.It used to take till age 23, 24 to hit your, hit your stride a bit.Uh, now, like, even defenseman.Like, defenseman used to take really long to develop then.They're walking in the league second, third year top tier.Yeah.Same with these guys- Go, Macar.Godard, Celebrini.I mean, it's just- Yeah.it's ridiculous, but it's also, uh, I completely understand it because I, I just see their approach to development at that young age compared to, like, my age bracket.They're doing, like, way more than us.They have way more, uh, opportunities to learn on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, whatever tutorials.They understand the moves.There's a lot of good, uh, channels other than mine that teach application of moves too- Right.which I'm really, uh, really happy about 'cause I think that's the, the un- unsexy version of hockey that's just, like, not talked about enough is like, "Well, let's talk about where the move's applied here."Uh- Yeah.and I think, uh, that's so good, uh, for kids to see that.Well, that, that's also the gold, Pavel.Uh, and again, we'll talk to the kids in a minute on our other show.But, uh, like, that's the gold is that, kids, if you can search out that application stuff and get, make that, you know, exciting for yourself, man, is that gonna have an impact on your game.And I, I gotta say this too, buddy.You know, I watch these kids' mohawk.I watch these kids do these moves on the ice.Uh, I'll be fully transparent with everybody.The first time I pulled off a Michigan just on practice ice, I was 40 years old.And you know what's funny about it?I did it, and I felt like a kid.I really was just- No.like, "Oh my God, I did that."Uh, I won't say how old I am now, but the point-the point I'm making is that, you know, you, but the kids, the kids do this at elementary age.Kids, you are inspiring me when you do it.Yeah.Right?Totally.Like, I'm, I'm not one of these people that's gonna be like, "Don't ever Michigan out there."No, there's a t- Uh, the fact you can do it at 8, 9, 10, I mean, you said the ceiling.We don't even know the ceiling on where this game's gonna go.Yeah.Uh, so kids, you gotta keep evolving, right?You gotta keep flowing.Definitely please, for the love of God, learn the applications as well if you take anything away from this.Mm-hmm.But, um, Pavel, you've been incredibly generous with your time, and I, I wanna say what I said earlier.You're not, you're not- Thanks.just teaching skills.Uh, you know, you're redefining what skill is.Right?And, and you're, you're inspiring kids to dream.And again, y- you know, look, you've represented Team Canada.Um, and, and you are really proof that creativityTalk about the sauce.Creativity mixed with discipline and passion, uh, really can coexist.Uh, and I think that that, that sauce, if we're gonna use that word, is the, the key.That might be the big takeaway, right?I knowWe're gonna have a lot of people listen to this episode.Uh, and I love so much that this was not a, "Look at all the crazy things Pavel Barber does in this video."You know, that's not what this was.Yeah.It was, it was, look at how he fails and learns.Look at how he- Mm-hmm.he breaks down skills.Look at what he thinks is important in this game for- Right.the kids and the coaches and the parents.That's incredible value for our audience, and I wanna thank you so much for sharing.And watch how he pushes the envelope all the time.It's so exciting.Yeah.No, I appreciate it.Yeah.No, I, I think, like, last thing I'd say to kids is, like, you understand social media is everyone's highlight reels and, uh, all that stuff.So like you guys talked about earlier, like, you don't see the failures away from it.So don't, don't compare yourself to their highlight reels.Like, everyone's failing behind the scenes.Everyone's struggling behind the scenes.We all go through the same, you know, failures at different rates and stuff like that.So just, uh, you know, truly the only one you can compare yourself is, is yourself, your former self.As long as you do that, you're on a good pathway to reach your potential.But the moment you start comparing yourself to other people, that's when things start to go downhill.Uh, so yeah, try to pay special attention to that and just compare yourself to your former self.Try to be a little bit better, and I promise you'll get better faster that way.