🏒 Made a bad play? Had a rough shift? Feeling nervous, angry, frustrated, or overwhelmed? Former NHL player Kurtis Gabriel has a message for you: those emotions don’t have to control what happens next.

On this episode of The Ride to the Rink, Lee Elias and Mike Bonelli are joined by former NHL player Kurtis Gabriel for a practical conversation about one of the most important parts of becoming a hockey player: learning how to manage your mind when the game gets difficult.

Kurtis introduces young players to a simple breathing technique called the psychological sigh—a tool he used during his own playing career when he needed to calm down, reset, and prepare for his next shift.

But the conversation goes deeper than breathing.

🧠 How do you recognize what fear feels like in your body?
💪 How can you respond differently when pressure shows up?
🎮 What if understanding your emotions is like unlocking a map in a video game?
🔥 And how much could worrying about what other people think be holding you back?

Kurtis encourages players to start “mapping” their emotions—learning what fear, excitement, pressure, and confidence actually feel like physically so they can recognize those feelings when they arrive.

Lee also shares a powerful story from his own playing career about feeling so much pressure during a game that his legs suddenly felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. What changed wasn’t the situation—it was his understanding of what the pressure meant.

Instead of thinking, I can’t handle this, he learned to recognize:

I feel pressure because I care. I feel pressure because this moment matters. How great is it that I get to be in this position?

And Kurtis leaves young athletes with another challenge: break out of the “cringe prison.” Don’t let fear of what teammates or friends might think stop you from working on yourself, believing in yourself, or chasing what matters to you.

In this episode:

🫁 Learn a simple breathing reset for difficult moments

🧠 Discover how to recognize and “map” your emotions

🏒 Understand why staying even-keeled is a hockey superpower

💭 Reframe pressure instead of running from it

💪 Build confidence without comparing your journey to someone else’s

🔥 Stop allowing other people’s opinions to dictate your effort

❤️ Remember that no matter what happens in hockey, you’re going to be okay

Young players: you have more control over your response than you may realize. Like shooting, skating, or stickhandling, managing your emotions is something you can practice.

Wherever you are on your hockey journey, believe in your ability to learn, grow, reset, and attack the next shift.

Skate hard. Have fun. Go learn something.

📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: How Young Hockey Players Can Reset, Handle Pressure, and Believe in Themselves with Kurtis Gabriel

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