Why Roles Matter in Hockey (and Life) – Featuring NHL Veteran Scott Hartnell

Hello, hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome to another episode of Our Kids Play Hockey. I'm Lee Elias, joined by my co-host, Mike Bonelli and Christy Casciano-Burns. And our guest today is someone who embodies what it means to play the game with heart, grit, and joy.

And he happens to be one of my favorite players. Scott Hartnell is joining us today. Over a 17-year NHL career, Scott played more than 1,200 games, scoring over 300 goals and becoming one of the league's most respected power forwards. And known for his energy, leadership, and his personality, something we'll get into today, both on and off the ice. He was a first-round draft pick and played 17 seasons, as I said, with the Nashville Predators, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. And these days, he's a broadcaster for the Flyers and a passionate advocate for youth hockey and community initiatives.

So today we're going to talk about his journey from growing up in Canada to his time in the NHL, plus his transition into broadcasting, his passion for going the game, and the lesson he believes kids and parents can take from that experience. And it's NHL experience, which we know you love at home, which is why we bring on the big names for you to listen to. Scott, welcome to Our Kids Play Hockey. Yeah, I appreciate the intro. If I ever need an ego boost, I'll come back on. We'll have Jim Jackson back on the show to do that for you. He's pretty good about that. He likes it. He knows it.

Yeah, no doubt. Yeah. Appreciate it. Thanks guys.

Yeah, and we are so excited to have you. Fellow broadcaster, hello there. Welcome to our show. We always love, and you've had an amazing career, but we always love to start from the beginning. What was it like when you were a little kid growing up? When did you start to play hockey? What influenced you to go and chase your dreams? Well, it's funny because I grew up in a town, a small town in Saskatchewan. It's called Eston, Saskatchewan, and there was one hockey rink.

mom and dad had keys to the rink. So whenever the rink was not used, you were able to go out there. And I had older brothers and an older sister, five, seven and nine years older. And when they went to the rink, I was dragged to the rink. So I was a rink rat. I always had a stick in my hand, you know, eight, nine months of winter up there. It was, you know, pretty common for, you know, boys and girls to play, you know, hockey. And, you know, I remember my mom was telling me stories when I was, you know, two years old, I had the double.

double blades on just kind of strapped to your shoes. Right. And you kind of just chopped around, chopped around the ice and.

You know, my mom would say, one more time around, I'd be crying, you know, going around again. And, you know, once you get the hang of it, you know, transformed to one blade, obviously. And I just kind of just started skating when you could learn how to walk. And that was probably the norm, you know, in a lot of small town, you know, across Canada and the U.S. So that was my intro into hockey. My first ever game, I remember I was five years old. I think we were playing, you know, seven years.

olds i think and we lost 45 to nothing and i got the puck across their blue line one time and you know i was looking at my mom in the stands like oh did you see that i got in the offensive zone so um not the best start uh you know for for the first game but uh just uh you know fell in love with it you know right from the get-go and and obviously it made a great career you know made lots of money and and uh live a great life and you know very very fortunate yeah i'm always intrigued by the the younger sibling

you know, opportunities that you have, you know, when you're growing up and maybe in a town like where you're from, you know, just talking about that community, you know, just feeding off of, you know, that time in Canada and growing up and the influence you've had as a youth player to drive a lot of, you know, obviously the passion that you have in the game. Can you just talk a little bit about that sibling, you know, I'm sure even the people in your own town felt like siblings, right? It was such a small place that you got to compete.

And it didn't matter what age was on the ice. You know, you were out there competing all the time. Can you just talk a little bit about that, how that influenced maybe, you know, your ability to just continue to love and grow the game at a very young age? Yeah, I was always chasing them, right? If they were out there playing.

Playing street hockey, I was out there, you know, middle of winter, you know, freezing my butt off. You know, if it was in the basement playing knee hockey, I was the goalie just getting peppered with shots. And then, you know, every kid loves a hockey fight. So I was getting absolutely pounded by my older brother. So that's probably led to some of the toughness in my hockey game. And, yeah, my one brother was a smaller, smaller kid. And, yeah, he played actually Colorado College, got a scholarship there at D1. He was more of a, I guess, a fancy player.

player uh more of a skilled player my other brother played at Michigan Tech uh in Michigan and he was kind of more of a tougher player and so I saw the fighting for my one brother you know kind of the goal scoring for my other brother when they played junior hockey uh in in my hometown and uh so kind of combined both of those I guess if you will and I was a little bit bigger than than both of them so I had the size when I was a younger kid as well too so that that helped uh to kind of progress your

trajectory as a younger kid, but yeah, just, they pushed me and, you know, you know, and they weren't jealous. You know, when I made the NHL, when I was 18, they were my biggest fans. So, you know, had a great, great household, great parents, you know, all through my career when I, you know, as a young kid, when I moved away, when I was 16 to play Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL, just, you know, they were always there to watch, support, talk, whatever it was. They were wonderful.

Yeah, Scott, we got to talk about that. And you mentioned it, you know, making the NHL as a teenager drafted sixth by Nashville. I can't even imagine how life changing that was for you. Dream come true. And you were so young. How did you handle that? What was that like for you?

It's so different than today's game, right? Where everyone, you know, when they're 13, 14, they're watching hockey highlights, right? There was no NHL network, you know, a TV show where you could watch all the highlights like my son does now, right? It was if you caught the game live, that was basically about it, right? And you just kind of were just in the moment. You weren't thinking about, you know, two years down the road or five years down the road or, you know, am I going to play against Joe Sacco?

my idol. It was just like, you know, I'm making this Prince Albert Raiders team when I was 16, you know, went into camp and just didn't put my head down and, you know, hit and fought and scored and, and, you know, made an impression. So I wasn't really thinking I had what I'm going to do. It was, it was the here and now, and that's.

kind of how i look at things now right i'm enjoying my kids at a young age i you know you know just love going home for dinner with when it's me and my wife right it's it's kind of i'm not looking ahead at this or that or the other thing it's uh uh so yeah when i was

getting drafted and, you know, you'd read the newspaper. There was hardly any internet, you know, back in 2000, I guess. And it was, you know, I was rated, I think, number fifth overall in the draft. And, you know, obviously my agent's like, okay, we're going to go to Calgary for the draft. And I was like, well, is this really going to happen? You're having all these interviews with different teams and whatnot. And I ended up going sixth overall to Nashville.

And I was like, okay, this is kind of cool. Like, you know, I didn't, you know, no big deal. Wow. And people didn't really, you know.

Back then, my buddies in school, they're like, that's awesome, man. Like, hey, let's go play 21 in the driveway or let's go do this or let's go do a movie or whatever. It wasn't like the hoopla, I think, as it is today. So I was very, very grounded from my parents and all that kind of stuff. And when I went to Nashville, I went to rookie camp first.

I signed a contract in Traverse City and, you know...

I think I got a $500,000 signing bonus, and I had no bank in the States to put it in, so I had no money. Our parents didn't have money. They gave me $200 or $300, and I had a debit card for my Canadian account getting charged an extra service fee when you use that. Looking back, I was so naive, so young, and you learn as you go. That first year as 18, not great stats.

I learned how to be a pro, and I think that kind of, you know, let, you know, kind of my career growing and evolving, I guess. It is a different era, no doubt about it, right? And I think just the fact that you're saying, like, you know, when you got drafted, you know, probably the only people that you got drafted are the people in the room.

You know, it wasn't like, you know, it wasn't a flashing point on Sportsnet or something that, you know, so it happened. So, you know, but what are, you know, but there are similarities, right? So there's a big similarity. You know, we're seeing, especially in the NHL and, you know, obviously the organizations you're with now that, you know, players are entering the league earlier and earlier and they are teenagers. I mean, you know, what advice would you give knowing like that experience that you had outside like the social media and, you know, all the hoopla that goes along with it?

but you know you made a great point like staying grounded i think any player uh whether they're going from you know a subpar 15 year old team to a triple a team or or you know a better program you know what what advice could you give to a player that's jumping in competition like that like going from like an unknown to all of a sudden being you know the the player in the room

I think, you know, for me, do what got you there. Don't try and be someone you're not. Don't try and, you know, if you're you, you know, play with passion and you hit and and, you know, you're looking around and guys beside your toe dragon and all this kind of stuff, the fancy stuff that everyone teaches now, you know, don't do that. You know, if you have it in your game, you know, and there's a chance to do it, just just you.

play your style of game. And, you know, I never really got, you know, I think probably the most skill I got was probably my last year in Nashville when I was playing with Phil Forsberg and he would do all these fancy things with the puck and, you know, the Michigan and all that stuff. And I was just, I was trying it. Roman Yossi as well, his puck protection and stuff that he did. I was watching him and trying to.

put that in my game, didn't happen my last year. But just the skill of these guys now are unbelievable. But, you know, just if you're, you know, everyone is very skilled nowadays, right? When they're 12, 10, 14, 16, in a team game, in the NHL, in the AHL, in D1, you got to fill a role, right? And I think that's the one thing that...

kids aren't really taught i guess i guess maybe nowadays is is if you you need that third line guy to to bring the energy and to to be uh counted on every time to get that puck out to get the puck deep you know make plays because you got the skill to make plays but uh to really you know kind of i guess fill that role if you will and you know you can't have 20 danglers that's gonna you know

toe drag and get, you know, it works every once in a while, but puck's going to be in your back, back of the net. So I guess do, do what got you to where you are and why you're, why you're making a team or why you're moving up in the ranks of hockey. And, and,

A lot of guys were, you know, that I played with were like really, really good junior players that scored a lot of goals. And, you know, maybe on a good team, there's no room for you. So you have to adapt if you want to make the NHL too. So I think adapting and kind of your role is a big thing nowadays too. And some people can't do it. And that's why they won't have a career, you know, or whatever in hockey. And some people can and end up thriving.

You know, Scott, I love that you're bringing up the roles. I got a half page of notes already. And it's so important, like you said, I'm going to reiterate it to kind of understand what a role is. First off, I think that's one of the things with youth athletes. We don't do a great job of explaining, hey, roles matter. Roles exist. And then the other thing, too, is helping kids and follow me here. Everybody is understand what your role is. And I'm going to say right now.

Because in youth hockey, it can change quickly. Find out the skill sets that you're good at. Explore them. Build upon them. But it doesn't mean you invest everything into the one skill set. You want to grow your game. But I have no problem with youth teams, even the younger youth teams, especially in the middle of the season, explaining roles and doing it in a positive way of, hey, you're a great puck mover. You're a great skater. You can score.

I think it's okay to explain to the team, let's figure out how these roles can work together so we can be successful. And I think there's pushback from parents of what my kid needs to be the goal scorer. My kid needs to be this. And the truth is, look, I wish that was realistic in life, but that's just not the way it works. And there's nothing wrong with your kid being a playmaker. There's nothing wrong with your kid being an important third-line grinder.

Right. Right. And it may take time for them to find that role, too. For sure. And I was also going to say, Christy, that that everyone needs to play in youth hockey. Like we talk about that all the time. It's not like like pro hockey where you're on the third line. You don't play. It's you know, I remember one team I was on, you know, I was a higher player selected the team and I ended up being the third line center on that team. But the coach did such a great job of explaining to me, you know, you're a defensive line. You shut down their first line. So in today's day, when you see a third line player, you think, oh, they're bad.

This guy made me feel like the most important player in the world on this. I was playing the top lines every night. Who cared that I was the third line? I was 14, 15 when that happened, just for context. This is when I was 19. Scott, I just love that you brought that up because I think it's really important that coaches do that. Go ahead, Mike. I do have a question, Scott, because you brought it up and just about the roles of players. We talk about that a lot on the show with a lot of certainly NHL players, but any development coach.

uh that's that's you know struggling uh with finding ways to to get kids to understand that and that your role is not always going to be the role throughout your career the same so can you talk a little bit about the transition from like you know when you were Philly and you were with Nashville and you talked about like all of a sudden you get younger guys you're getting older guys are getting younger

You know, how did your role change? And maybe like, how did you like how did you handle that? Like, how did you mentally put yourself in a good place and say, hey, I can embrace this role and I know what my role is. And actually, I'm going to support the guys that maybe are doing things I used to be asked to do. Yeah. Well, it's funny because, you know, junior hockey.

i think i had 82 points in i don't know 77 games my last year in prince albert i was captain of the team you know vocal guy funny guy you know all this kind of stuff i was drafted now i go to nashville and i'm fourth line

third line and I'm like and you know and I play against you know the best players in the world so you know I was you know a little bit wide-eyed and and shocked that I even made the team but you know my role was different I I was an energy guy you know when I had chances to to shoot I would try and shoot but I had two goals and 14 assists and it was a frustrating year offensively you know so that summer I worked on you know my shot you know kind of stick handling obviously speed to get faster to to create more opportunities and and uh

put in a lot of work those first couple off seasons to, I guess, to grow into my body. Cause I was 18, I was still growing. I was still changing, you know, I was a hundred and maybe 82 pounds and, you know, my best years was when I was two 12 to 15. Right. So I put on quite a bit of weight over my career, put on some more after my career too, but, but yeah, just to, to, you know, your role, then you get a power play role, you know, and then I got.

the confidence to be in front of the net on the power play. Then I come to Philadelphia and I'm on that first or second line and you're playing 18 to 20 minutes a night and your focus has to be, I'm not a young kid anymore. I can't kind of hide being a young kid. I'm 24, I'm 26, I'm 27. I have to be that guy that everyone looks at during practice. The best advice I probably had all...

my whole career well maybe two times uh was my my dad he said i want you to be the hardest working uh person on the ice every practice and every game right and and so i prided myself on working on everything being you know not the first guy out there but to get out there to work on your hands uh tips after practice i scored

probably 40 goals on tips in the NHL, just being in front of the net, getting sticks on pucks, probably another 50 assists because they wouldn't go in and someone would bang in a rebound. And those little things that everyone wants to stick handle and this and that and look cool.

But those little other things that are such a hard, you know, the Philadelphia Flyers right now hardly have anyone that goes to the front of the net. That's why their power play is bad. And it's frustrating for me to watch. I'm like, I could strap on my skates and take a couple cross checks and make a million bucks again. Some of us wish you would.

And, you know, when I was to rewind, when I was 18, 19, you know, I took an older guy spot. Right. And I know when I was going through my career, I got traded to Columbus and, you know, my ice time started going down. I was a third, fourth line guy again. And, you know, I kind of relished it. I'm like, this is awesome. I'm only going to get.

eight to 12 minutes, maybe. Right. So I have to make every shift count. I'm not going to complain. I'm not going to be a bad teammate. I'm not going to be a bad guy in the room because that's Bush league. And you won't be on a team if you're, if you're like that, if you had that act, that kind of attitude. So I relished it. I loved it. I, you know, I didn't want to dump the puck in and, you know, go chase it. We tried to make plays, me, Sam Gagne and Lucas Sedlak. And we had a lot of points.

I think it was my last year in Columbus. And, you know, just like you got to love the game too, right? I was still had passion for the game. You know, and then I went to Nashville. We won the President's Trophy. Still, I'm kind of not a power play guy, maybe sometimes. But, you know, I still love the game. And, you know, you get scratched in playoffs. And so you work hard the whole season. Didn't really play much in that final playoffs. And I was like, you know what? I've had played 17 years.

My wife was nine months pregnant. She gave birth literally a week later after my last game. And, you know, when the baby came, I was like, yeah, I'm done. I don't want to train anymore. I want to be around. And it's been a great, great eight years. Right. It was great. What a great career. But I'm sure there were some slumps and lumps and adversity along the way. How'd you plow through those moments? You know, for me...

i would made a living around the net right and and if i went you know eight or ten or twelve games without a goal you know i'd call my dad and be like dad what's going on he's like he's like what are you doing he's like you're a perimeter player

you know, go to the net, right? And he's like, something good is going to happen. And it was a tip or a shot off a shin pad or, you know, off the skate to the guy back door, get a cheesy assist. And, you know, they all count, right? You don't have to, you know, zip around the outside of the ice and make moves and skate so fast.

To get those points, you need the guys like a role on a team, a role on a line, right? You can't have three, you know, snipers on a line. You need a guy to be able to pass to the sniper. You need a guy in front of the net to create some space for the other guys to make their plays.

um you know i just i always kind of went back to what worked right and that was uh uh getting to the front of the net and and sometimes i needed to get in a fight to be honest uh you know when you can't fight to to get the emotions in your body and and to get ticked off and and to go after somebody or to have a big hit and you know especially early in a game for me if i kind of wasn't feeling it i needed to do something to

uh to get myself going and that's uh that's what i did to kind of get you know shock the body shock the system and just go you know you go ahead mike no i was just going to say just on this subject i mean you just mentioned your dad a little bit but you know i think a lot of youth players you know don't have like the parent uh that can that they can lean on as far as like knowledge of the game

And, you know, maybe what does it take to because every parent thinks like at the young levels, like everybody's the sniper, everybody's the first line center. I mean, like like it's hard for a parent to accept their kid being in a role and saying, hey, you just got to be a grinder and you just got to be like, you know, it's not pretty, you know, it's not fun. It's not, you know, so but but the people that do appreciate it and the and the and the player and the and the people that really influence your ice time are coaches. And can you talk a little bit about like what did coaches do?

to help you understand that how important that role was at any time in your career, you know, and, and, and gave you like that, that, that we call it that grit and that fire that you had. Right. But, but somewhere, you know, a coach had to have embraced that and said, I need more of this. If you just talk about a little bit about that and the importance of the role of whether it's a head coach, a support personnel, somebody in the organization. Yeah. There's.

Totally different, like different coaches too, that some are just flat out mean and some are, you know, more gentle to kind of get you going. And, you know, I was more of the, responded to the, you know, the guy that kind of challenged me and said, hey, we need more from you, Scotty. We need you to step up or you're going to sit or you're going to do this, right? And I kind of liked that instead of a guy saying, hey, come on, you know, you can do it, buddy, you know, to play harder. And my dad was my coach.

I think probably till I was maybe 12 or 13. I moved up from like novice to Adam and then Adam to Peewee earlier because I was bigger. Yeah, so Adam to Peewee when I was an Adam age. So I was kind of an underage in Peewee, hitting back then in Peewee. And I got cut from the double A team, so I played Peewee A.

And I'll say this to parents and, you know, kids, you know, to play the AAA team, whether it be, you know, 9U, 10U, whatever it is, you know, 14U, there's nothing wrong with being the best player on maybe a less team because you're going to be able to use your skills, to use your speed, to get confidence, you know, all that kind of stuff to kind of grow into your body because you're still growing all that kind of stuff. And then some kids grow faster early. And you guys know this.

than anyone right you could have a

a 10 year old in a 13 year old's body. And he just is just good. Right. And, and kids will catch up to him after a couple of years. So, you know, with my son, he's a seven turning eight. You know, he's a good little skater. He can stop both ways. You can turn both ways. You can raise the puck and, and, you know, I don't want to push him into something where he's going to be, you know, frustrated and, and, you know, I want him to have success and, and whether that's on a, on a single a team,

double a team or a triple a team whatever you know i kind of feel and he feels that he can uh you know have some fun and employ and like really love the game instead of getting frustrated early where the parents want them to be on that that triple a team so that's uh that's one thing i'm kind of learning right now uh going through it the second time i'm so glad you brought this up because i just had a conversation last weekend with a mom who is going to move her daughter to a triple a team just because this is her thinking if she's with players

who are better she is going to play up she's a star on the team right now it's a it's a house team she wants to put her on the

triple a team because she wants her surrounded with a different culture where kids play and she thinks her kid will now play up but i said well think about that because right now she's so creative out there on the ice she's having a blast yeah she's scoring she's confident just be cautious because if you move her up onto that triple a team

She could sit on the bench a lot more. If you're okay with that, that's fine. So, yeah, parents wrestle with us all the time. I see it, Scott. Yep.

Well, and I'll say too, I've always said that it's got to be a balance. You've got to have, we call them development years and confidence years. The years where you're one of the top players on the team and you're able to be creative and be confident. And then there's other years where you're not, right? But you got to have the balance. And I do like the question that Mike asked you, Scott, because we say it all the time, but when you have a 17 NHL veteran, your veterans say it, a little more weight maybe to the audience. I mean, they've been around for six years, so they're listening.

I got to warn the audience here. Everyone knows I'm from Philadelphia. So if I gush a little bit on these questions, I apologize. But I've got two for you I want to ask. Philadelphia market, you know it well. Obviously, you return to be a broadcaster. Not the easiest market to crack. You talked earlier about being present. You also had a tremendous amount of personality in a sport that's often criticized for not having personality. I want to first ask you about.

Where you believe that came from, was it organic? Because you connected with the Philadelphia fan base incredibly well, all right? Which, again, it's not as easy to do as people think. Really? It's not as easy to do as you think. Yeah, no, I...

I thought I was always, I had to be quick-witted because of my brothers and we were a family of fun, right? It wasn't, you know, serious and all that kind of, there's a lot of discipline in our family. So you can have the fun, but you got to have the discipline as well. And you got to know where that line is. I probably crossed it many times to my mom and dad and you learn, right? Sometimes you learn the hard way, you know, but yeah, coming into Philly, it was, you're at a new team. You're got, you know.

new teammates, you know, you're trying to, you know, figure out where to live, you know, how to get to, you know, to the rinks for Pete's sake, you know what I mean? On the interstate. So, you know, kind of now I'm used to obviously this area, but you know, sometimes it's scary driving. And when you got four lines, four lanes zipping this way, this way, you got an exit all the way to the right. You're in the left lane.

You know, but for me, it's just, you know, just being a good human, number one. You know, be very genuine and, you know, be real. And, you know, if you're that, and then you can add the chirps into here or there. And, you know, Chris Pronger, for example, you know, he probably was the alpha male on every team that he played with. But as soon as he got in there, you know, my first chirp, I could get him. I got him good. And he looked at me and he's like, hey, you little bugger. No one's ever talked to me.

And we hit it off. Right. So one of those guys that I love, well, I hated playing against him, but love to have on our team. So, you know, just try to use my personality and, you know, just, just be me and be real and, and don't be something you're not.

Yeah, and you always did. And I'll say, too, through your charitable things with Hartnell Down, which the audience can look that up. I mean, you were always out front, you know, leading in that way with personality. And, yeah, I don't think anybody wanted to play against Chris Prong or just looking at him throughout his entire career. That guy would get you. The next question I want to ask you is this, you know, you came to Philadelphia at an interesting time, right, where we just come off.

honestly a couple decades of real success without a final um you know we had you know john mclair had started to move on it always felt like you filled in that role with the type of play that you you had in front of the net but what was really amazing about that time scott is the team was in a lull when you arrived and got very good very fast so i'm interested in what happened to get that culture a to a stanley cup level right

What happened to get that team bonded so quickly? Can you give us a view into that locker room, into how a team that really was coming off one of their worst seasons in history started to become one of the best teams in the league again? Yeah, Paul Holmgren, I'll give him almost 100% of the credit. You know, when he traded for Kimo and I.

Uh, you know, he was telling us, he's like, Hey, we're going to sign a couple more, uh, UFAs. Uh, the other guy was Danny Breer. So he brought in him, he goes, I got a trade worked out with, with Edmonton to bring in Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupo. And, you know, you look at those, those players that all relatively, you know, young Danny B, you know, kind of middle of his career, Jason Smith, a Gator, we called him a veteran. He was the captain that, that next year. And, and, uh, you bring in those guys and, and, you know, you had Mike Richards and Jeff Carr.

and Umberger and those guys, those guys were...

great young, young players at that point in time that were kind of on the up and up, you know, very much so. So it was kind of one of those things. And one thing we did early was a team bonding trip. We went out, started our season out in Vancouver, I believe, and went to Whistler for a few days before the actual game and, and just had some fun. We went out, we had dinners, some guys played golf, some guys went to the spa, just kind of, it was kind of a fun, fun experience.

me and and

Talk about tough times, Christy. I think I didn't score in the first 20 games of that season. I got a big contract. I was a shot. I got a big contract, and there was a lot of pressure on me to score. Our team was doing great. Danny B had a great start. Kimo was unbelievable. All these other guys were playing great except for me. Oh, no. I scored my first goal. I think it was in Carolina. It was an empty net goal, and I'm like, finally, I'm like,

you know, monkeys off my back, you know, I can go play the next game. I scored another empty net goal. They're like, Heartsy, you're going to get 20 goals here, all empty netters. And, you know, it was just, it was kind of fun. And I was, you know, had fun with that for a little bit. And I ended up with 20 some goals, but.

Yeah. Just one of those places, you know, where you feel a little bit of pressure and, and first time I probably felt pressure of, I have a contract to go out there and play. And, and after that, it was just, I settled in and, you know, new city and, you know, trying to impress the fans and, you know, try to play my game and couldn't figure it out for, for a month or so, but, you know, ended up settling in quite nice here in Philly.

Yeah, I'll say diamonds. We know that, right? I was working at the NHL when you arrived and I will never forget this. I'm not even sure if the players were aware of this, but the, you know, the Flyers make these start of season videos. Yeah. Kind of hype the crowd up and I'll never forget it. I don't know why this one stood out. 300, the movie 300 had just come out. Yeah. And they did this amazing intro where they like the CGI would make you laugh today, but they literally show the team kind of being.

built and i remember uh as a hockey person but really as a fan feeling the change like feeling the culture change right so i love that you mentioned that you you you kind of went on a team retreat a team bonding trip but i'm going to say it again that you guys rose up so fast what was unique about the leadership and the culture in that locker room because again look every team that's not doing good is rebuilding right they're doing something to rebuild

That was instantaneous from a fan's point of view. What was special about that group? It just had fun, right? And winning equals fun, right? If you're losing hockey games, you're miserable. Your home life's miserable.

you know everything is bad you probably get a ticket on the way to the rink because you're speeding or whatever and just everything is bad when you're losing and you know for us it was power play was good you know for probably seven years I was here it was one of the best or if not you know top five for sure power plays in the league and I was on the power play and it was it was fun you had a chance to get points make plays whatever it is in a positive way every night and

When you have that group of guys that all have that mindset, hey, I'm going to do something for this team. You know, we had tough guys on that team where the one year, how many suspensions did we have, right? With Bola Reese and Cote and Randy Jones. I got suspended. And it was like, you know, we were the bad boys of the NHL. And it was just, you know, something that we, you know, didn't laugh about if guys got hurt. But we, you know, we thrived on being those kind of villains, I guess, if you will. And like you said, like you said, we.

We lost in the conference final that first year to Pittsburgh. I think we lost the next year to Pittsburgh, and the next year we were in the finals. So just crazy how, you know, the hockey works and, you know, the breaks that you need to be successful and, you know, everything that goes along with it. It was a wild ride. Yeah, those Pittsburgh teams had a couple good players on them. Yeah, no doubt. Yeah, go ahead, Mike. I was just going to say, you know, it's amazing to me that, you know, when you look at the NHL,

like everyone in the locker room and every NHL team is a leader. Like they, they, they wouldn't be there. Like they're, they're the top of the, of the pyramid of, and they've all been captains. They've all been the best player on their team. They've all been, you know, goal scoring leaders and everything with the teams that you've seen leadership, you know, you know, blossom. And to what, to what Lee is saying so quickly, what do you have to do as a leader to open up?

the room so that everybody feels like they're a part of that process it's not just one guy in locker room rah rah and you know grabbing somebody and being physical right i mean it it has to be a collective effort and i think do you think the difference of like successful teams that can happen quickly are because everybody takes the leadership role or is there one person that's driving all these like you know uh big huge personalities

Yeah, I think you need to have some different personalities. I don't think you can have, you know, everyone saying something all the time. Like you'd get, you get sick of hearing, you know.

eight guys talk right and when some guy that doesn't really say much steps up and and lays into somebody or lays into how we're playing you know it's kind of shock and awe right it's like oh my god i didn't know the guy could talk like this and then you know had many instances of of that throughout there but um you know the biggest word for me you know in the hockey world is accountability you know if you're if you're

not playing up to your standards and even raising the bar. You know, we've had slogans in teams and locker rooms, you know, raise the bar, raise the bar, raise the bar. And if you're not raising the bar with yourself and being accountable to yourself, you know, you might as well not be playing, right? If you're just kind of in there, just going through the motions and, you know, not getting better every practice, not listening, you know, kind of complaining behind the coach's back, blah, blah, blah.

you're doing a disaster, a disservice to the, to the team. You know, you're kind of, you know, I don't know, being a bad guy is the right word, but just, you know, not being a good teammate. Right. And, and, you know, for, for everyone, everyone, everyone has a role, like we just talked about earlier about on the ice, but, you know, in the dressing room as well, making sure everyone is involved, everyone feels included. You know, that's huge, huge for me because I was a, you know, big team guy.

Yeah, I think that's so important at the youth level, right, that I think kids forget because we're so isolated. You know, at the youth level, it's like the kids go in the locker room, they have their teammates, and then they leave, right? And then mom and dad are in the car like, oh, can you believe Scott said that or the way he played? I can't believe he didn't pass the puck to you. Like, so that's a big, like, and it happens at the NHL level, right? It's dads, it's agents.

It's, it's, it's, you know, why every single fan yelling every single fan. So you make it, you make a great, you make a great point about that accountability piece, because I think it's like, I think it's something that a, that a 14 and 15 year old can really embrace that. You know, if you are a leader in the locker room, how important it is for you to look around and say, well, I got to make sure that everybody in this locker room feels like they can say something, be somebody on this team. And then not just somebody that's coming out there.

You know, they're they're they're they're fake penalty kill unit. And then they don't play like you got to find a way to get everybody to be in that situation in my room to fight for each other. Let's expand on that, Scott. I got a good question for you. You're a parent now. Like you feel what parents feel. Right. What's the parents role in helping the kid experience that, even if it's to do nothing? Because, look, Mike said, look, we all I always like to say this to the audience. All of us, myself included, Christy, Mike, we all feel.

Man, if that kid would have passed to my kid, my kid would have scored. We all feel that. But we don't say it. That's the difference, right? Not always. Sometimes we say it. But Scott, I would like to hear from you, like the parents' responsibility to help cultivate that environment.

Yeah, no, I always, you know, after games, I've been like, hey, what a great pass, Wesley, there. Like, or, you know, you show up, but could you see that pass over there to that guy who was open or, you know, whatever. And he's like, yeah, yeah, dad, but I could score. I'm like, well, there's nothing wrong with passing. You know, I used to, you know, I used to love to pass or a guy, the last defenseman, you know, trying to make a move and, you know, gets it turned over and, you know, they score a big goal. We're down a goal late and kids come off crying and, and you're just trying.

deal with all these emotions of these you know seven eight year olds and and and you can't point fingers you can't be like oh that was a terrible play you just try and you know you'd be as gentle as you can and and you say like oh if you chip it off the boards here use your speed you're going to go in and get that puck and you're going to be able to make a play to your teammate and and you know the team that we had this year you know we went from going offside you know the first three four full ice games like constantly right

You know, then, you know, you work at a practice. Hey guys, you can't, you gotta stop. You gotta stop.

And we had a tournament in Massachusetts, our first ever kind of road hockey tournament for my son, which was super, super fun and lots of great memories for the kids and parents, right? And we went offside like three or four times in four games. And it was just super cool to see how the kids learned so fast at that young of age. And, you know, I was on the bench. I'm proud of everyone, you know, doing that. And we got beat by the same team the last game and then semi-final.

finals uh and we did better in the second game you were trying to you know take their good players away you know you're just like guys don't turn the puck over but you know make plays and create and all this kind of fun stuff and uh it's just kind of cool to be a parent a coach whatever you want to call it and and uh you know watching the kids kind of have a lot of highs and and some lows too as well i'm kind of curious because you know we've never had an nhl

parent team, that's got to be a little extra pressure for you. Let's say a game goes badly and maybe they didn't like the way it was coached. They come up to you and say, what did you think? You're not allowed to question me. I agree with you, Christy. We have an NHL veteran coach and organization.

And I overheard a parent saying something about, wow, you know, he doesn't take the whiteboard out enough. I'm like, OK, let's let's let's step back a second. And why don't we watch practice for the last 25 weeks and see, you know, what they're what they're like, what's the verbiage they're using? What's the tendencies they're giving the kids? You know, Scott talked about a little earlier, like it's all the little nuances of the game. It's not the kid that can, you know.

go around a cone and toe drag and rip the puck up the top shelf is what can you do consistently and i think that's where you get guys like scott i mean that must be so like fun for you like like to watch the evolution of a player like from a like you said like everybody's up in arms like oh my god they're never going to learn how to play a full ice game because they don't know off sides and in like two days they learn off sides so i think it's like more it's it's something where you know it's all perspective right

yeah for me it's you know head manning the puck using your teammates you know i was you know just i wasn't taught the skills that these killed kids are taught now you're taught to pass give and goes those kind of things protect the puck that uh uh you know and for me like

Yeah, to not go offside is because the guys were passing to the guys ahead of them who had more speed, right? And not turning it over and having your goalie trying to make these saves is to chip it off the boards or to pass it earlier before someone gets on you. So little things like that and just repetitiveness of it as well, right? You want guys to be able to...

create things and try and move here and there. But, you know, when you, when it's done over and over and over and it's the same result in a negative way, you got to talk to the kid and, and, uh, uh, you know, try and talk to him without making them upset or mad or whatever. And, and, uh, the kids have been great on, on our team. And, uh, yeah, it's, it's, uh, we've got, I think we've got two full ice games here this weekend, uh, as well. So, uh, in Voorhees, so I'm looking forward to, to those and, and it's just been a lot, a lot of fun. I can't, uh, anybody.

Anybody that plays adult league with me understands that if you don't head man the puck to me, I just go off sides. If you're not going to give me the puck, I just go off sides. You're in the video I see all the time on Instagram. That's right. Now you know, Scott. Scott, if I could transition a little bit before we let you go, because we got to get into your broadcasting career. It's so exciting. My fellow broadcaster here joining us on the podcast. What was the transition like?

for you to slide into that role. Was it difficult? Are you having a blast? The fact that there's life after hockey, right? I'm having a blast now, Christy, but I'll tell you what. My first time at the NHL Network, it was when, heck, one of the coaches got fired from Edmonton. And so we had one of the reporters from Edmonton and was alive.

a live uh interview during the show and so the host brings on on uh the guy we're interviewing then the other analyst asks a question and then i have my question right and i had one question because it was going to be a quick three minute interview and lo and behold the analyst took my question

I hate when that happens. Christy does that all the time to me. But literally my heart was, I was more nervous for that interview than I was for the Stanley Cup finals. Oh my gosh. What a great story. So I'm like, so how do you guys feel? I didn't project. I was so nervous. And then the guy, the producers in my ear, he's like, you have to be a little bit louder when you're talking. And I was like,

And he stuck my question. Yeah, I'm like, I don't have another question, right? When I'm not on camera, I'm like, I'm done. And so anyways, we finish that. We go to break. And I'm like, dude, you stuck my question. We talked about our questions beforehand. And I'm so nervous. And they're like, OK, it's your first day on the NHL Network. So I was like, I'm done. I'm not doing this again. Oh, sure. And I went back a few days later because of your schedule and felt.

a little bit more comfortable and then a little bit more comfortable, but I still get the nerves. So I think that, that means I like it, right? Like where I did color yesterday, the caps flyers game and you know, you get nervous, you know, you're trying to figure out their numbers of guys and names and some stories and our guys power play has been bad, but they scored a big power play goal late. You're trying to put your color on, on the game, right. With, with Jim Jackson.

And, you know, I enjoy that part of it. The pre and post is fun with Al and Ashlyn that we have. So I went from almost quitting after the first day, you know, and kids don't quit. Put your head down, keep learning. And I feel a lot more comfortable, but I still have those nerves, which is a good thing. That's good. I still get nervous too every time I get up on that set and I have to broadcast live to our viewers. But that's good. I think it keeps you on your edge. Yes, it does.

I don't think this is Lee's question, but I'll take it. I can mute the mic. I have control over your microphone. Just remember. I'm just wondering, Scott, as an NHL alum, and now you're doing color, right? And now you're in a position where you have to critique players and what they're doing right and wrong. How do you feel? How do you go about your business?

understanding nuances of, you know, you could call everything out, right? I mean, everything will shift. There could be something wrong that a player does, but you know, how much pressure do you feel or like, how do you work it as, because it's different from a, from just some guy sitting up in the stands, you know, critiquing a player to somebody who's played the game, understands like how hard it is to be on the ice and do these things. Like, like, do you find it's difficult to critique current players or, you know, and how do you juggle that?

I would say constructive criticism, if you will, where you're not, you know, just blowing up a guy just for no reason. You know, my mom always said when she would watch our games when I played, you know, if they only got like the Pittsburgh feed, right? And, you know, I went after Crosby or Malkin and they're like, oh, this Hartnell's a dirt bag, blah, blah, blah. She always said, Scott, somebody's mom's watching. Oh, I love that.

I thought that was great advice, right? So it was, you know, you got to be honest, right? And, you know, if there's a play that somebody did, a bad turnover, or, you know, took the harder pass instead of the easy pass up the wall, flubs it, they go down and score, you got to call a spade a spade, right? You can't sugarcoat around that stuff. And then, you know, he does it again. You don't want to be too hard on him. But, yeah, you got to be honest and, you know,

When he makes a good play, you bounce him back up, you build him back up. For Fly's fans, it's kind of been one of those weird years with Matt Vamichkov, how he came in and he could tell something was going on. He released a statement in November, I think it was, that he was just a little out of shape and just kind of hasn't found his game, which is not okay, but it is okay at the end of the day because he's going to learn from this. Danny B had a great comment where there's ebbs and flows in a career.

They're not giving up on Matt Bamichkov. Everyone knows that he can make some sick passes and make plays, and he's got a great shot, and he's got that high hockey IQ, especially offensively he does, and he's going to build into a really, really, really good NHL player, and I'm not too worried about it, but kind of the first couple months, you're like, whoa, what's going on with this guy? So one of those things where you've got to walk the line with fans talking about him, and fans have all their sorts of, they think they know.

it all but you know sometimes I think I know it all too and I'm totally wrong so it's a fun little place to be and to talk about it. Well I'll say in closing here that you know when I was a kid growing up Scott Gary Dornhofer was in your seat as a color commentator and I remember my father saying you should really listen to him because he's really breaking down the play as a youth hockey player to echo you this is not like we had the internet back then and you do

whether you're on the studio floor or commentary, you do a great job. And I'm going to say that not only do you do a great job, you can learn a lot from this person, but your personality, we mentioned that earlier, really shines through. And we started the episode with you talking about how much fun you have, how much you love the game. It is so obvious how much you love the game. Every time you're on camera, we can see it here today, the way you're talking about the game. And I always like to say that it's such an important part.

of, of success in hockey is you have to love, like really love hockey. Um, and you do that every day, every night you did on the podcast today. So I thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Appreciate the nice words and great, great talk with you guys. Such a great conversation. Thank you.

It goes both ways. So listen, we're going to keep them on for a second to do the ride to the rink. Nobody go anywhere, but we have to end this episode. Scott, thanks so much for joining us. For Christy Cash and Burns, Mike Benelli, I'm Lee Elias. This has been Our Kids Play Hockey. Remember, email us, team at ourkidsplayhockey.com if you have any questions, comments, or if you want to tell Scott Hartnell how to play the game. You can do that. Bring it on. See you next time, everybody. Take care.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey. Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network, or our website, ourkidsplayhockey.com. Also, make sure to check out our children's book, When Hockey Stops, at whenhockeystops.com. It's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life. We're very proud of it. But thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey, and we'll see you on the next episode.F