Hi everyone. And welcome back to the hockey journey podcast. Episode number four, my hockey journey. As a player, parts of my professional career presented to you by online hockey training.com. I'm your host coach landscape. If you're new here, please make sure you subscribe so you won't miss out on any future.
Before we get back to it. If you want to learn more about me, my hockey experiences, what I know, and most importantly, how I've been helping hockey players get really good with a stick and puck, just head on over to online hockey, training.com and gain instant access to my 10 part video series, where I'll show you everything considered my gift to you.
In the last episode, we dipped our toes into the first three years of my professional hockey career, where I was exposed to extreme travel conditions that I'd never experienced. Had an Olympic run that turned out to be the most challenging winter season I ever had. I scored my first professional goal.
Got my first tooth, knocked out, got married, and now find myself going into training camp with the Hershey bears back in the fall of 1993, after being a healthy scratch for over three months at the end of the previous season, thinking I'm heading down to the league below the HL, the east coast league.
And that's where we begin today. One change that happened after we didn't make the playoffs the year before there was a new one. Mike Eves was let go. And a new coach was given the job and his name was Jay leech. He was an east coast guy, and I had no idea what was going to happen. Once I arrived at camp that year I prepped for the season, as I normally would left for camp and was preparing for the worst, me getting relocated to a lower level league, but also hoping for the best.
With a new coaching change. I might be able to somehow connect with the new staff and be able to stay in the HL. One more year. I arrived in Pennsylvania that last year coming off my best year of off season training to date, I went in confident, but I didn't know what was going to happen next. The next chapter was completely out of my control.
My dad, Larry is an old soul and patient man. And I remember him always saying when challenging times would arrive, that we only can control what's in our country. So that's what I did prepared for the season, went to camp and was only focusing on what was in my control and the two things most of my energy went into where my attitude and effort I was going to have to have an optimistic and positive outlook.
And I was going to have to outwork everyone that I'd be competing against however long my trial was going. Can't began, but this one was different because there were maybe only five or six players there that were under contract with Philly. I was one of them. Then there were a few players that were under contract with Hershey on just a minor league deal.
And the rest of the players there probably about 30 in total, we're all fighting for one or two roster spots. That's what all the players were told when they were asked to come out, it was setting up to be a very competitive training. I think we're a three or four days into the process. And the head trainer pulled me aside after the skate and told me that the coach wanted to see me before I left the rink, my heart sank because the day before the same thing happened to another player.
And after that meeting, he was gone. So I took off all my gear showered up. And while I was putting on my socks, I remembered something my mind, coach Ali saying to me, once negative brings more now. I don't know if I was negative at the time. I was more scared than anything, but I knew for sure, I wasn't positive at that moment.
So I took a few seconds, closed my eyes and thought about all the things in my life I'm grateful for. And after a minute or two, I was in a different state of mind and I made my way to coach Leach's. Once there his door was closed. So I pause for a moment throughout a little prayer ski asking that I could stay in Hershey this season and not be relocated to the east coast league, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
What happened after I opened the door and was welcomed into his office was completely unexpected. He asked me to sit down in one of two chairs in front of the. He proceeded to ask me questions about my childhood, how my parents influenced me and things. I was passionate about outside of hockey. I went into the meeting pretty guarded.
I mean, I thought it was getting sent down until coach leached asked one final question. Have you ever played forward? Right then? I knew I had my lifeline coach saw something in me and I might be standing here. I answered this question like this coach, I can't play goalie for ya, but if I have to play forward for you in order to stay here, I'll give it my best effort.
He said good and ended the meeting with I'll see you tomorrow. I walked out of the office feeling confused, but also optimum. I continued to focus on what was in my control, the remainder of the tryout, and when camp finally ended, again, my name somehow found its way on the final roster. I was going to be a Hershey bear for another season.
Like I mentioned, coach leach was from the east coast with a strong east coast accent. When I think of the conversation he had to have had with the fliers GM, where he yells out, I thought Padlet was outta here and coach Leach's reply. I did not. I kind of liked the kid and I want. Thank you, coach leech for believing in me and giving me another kick at the can though, I got to stay.
As the regular season started up, I found myself being a healthy scratch the first five or six games. The game before a lineup change would be made and I'd get my shot was in Cornwall, Ontario against the ACEs, which was the Quebec Nordiques AHL affiliate. Why I remember this game so vividly was because after the home team would score, there'd be fireworks that would shoot out of the score.
The other healthy scratch. And I were sitting in the stands eating some arena food, and we noticed a guy up on a catwalk near the ceiling, pushing a cart across, over to the scoreboard. We were down by eight goals after two periods of play. And I was curious what the guy would be working on during the game.
So I asked the arena staff person who was standing behind me, what was going on. She said, reloading the fireworks in the scoreboard. It only holds enough for eight goals. So the guy is restocking it for the. I thought that was hub leeriness. The following game, I got inserted into the lineup. We ended up going on a bit of a winning streak and I never was a healthy scratch again that season during that final year in Hershey, my wife was preparing to start medical school.
The following year at the university of Minnesota. She already completed her entrance exams and did a couple of required internships at a nearby hospital in Hershey. So she was ready to go once, fall rolled around later that. But there wasn't a lot of clarity for me because once that final game was played that year, I was out of a job and had no idea what my life would look like.
We had a pretty solid team that last year there and ended up making it to the second round of the playoffs, losing to the Cornwall ACEs. And just like that my four years playing for the Hershey bears had come to an end and I didn't know what my hockey future was going to be before I say goodbye to Hershey.
I want to thank the Philadelphia flyers for giving me an opportunity. Even if it wasn't an NHL one, I'm still very grateful. I want to thank all the coaches those years and all of my teammates. I got to go on that journey. Thank you, Jay Feaster, Doug yanks, all of the trainers, especially Dan stuck, also known as beaker another.
Thank you to our bus driver. Roger, who always got us to wherever we were going safely to the Hershey bears booster club. You were amazing. Shout out to crystal and Jake Tobias and Don Olivette. And finally, a big thank you to one of my teammates, Tim Tookie, he and his wife, Sue and daughter Trista took us into their home for a season because money was a little tight for my wife.
We'll never forget your generosity and kindness. Shout out to Gaga who is Trista's grandma and would come down from Edmonton regularly and made the best cabbage rolls and parolees good times. And good vibes. Let's move on. Soon after my wife and I returned home to many, I got a call from my agent saying there was someone from the Minnesota moose, which was an independent AHL team at the time they wanted to meet with.
The moose was a local professional team here in the twin cities in between the time the north stars left for Texas. And until the time Minnesota was awarded a new franchise, the Minnesota wild, the person that wanted to get together for lunch was a guy that I knew. And I knew that he liked me. It was Glenn Sonde.
Mark, is this guy going to come through for me again with another hockey opportunity? I mean, he got me drafted with the Minnesota north stars in 1986. And when I got released from them in 1990, he was the one who had a contract on the table for me in less than 24 hours with Philadelphia upon me being released.
So I scheduled a meeting with him the next. I've had a couple of quick conversations with him over the years, but it was always with a group of people. So it was going to be nice to have a little one-on-one time with him to get to know him a little better. Mr. Sohn, Maura is such a great storyteller. I could have sat there for hours besides being a good storyteller.
He's also very persuasive and tried to convince me to give up on my NHL dream and come play for them. It was a two-year deal where I'd make a little more money than I made in Hershey. My wife could start medical school and we could be together. See what I mean? I was excited that I was going to be able to play hockey for another couple of years.
But that was also at a crossroad. I, again, grateful for the offer, but I didn't know if I was ready to give up on my NHL dream yet. So I told them I needed some time to think about it. He said, if you could let me know by the end of the month, the offer is good until then that gave me just under two weeks to make a final decision.
The wife and I had some talking to do, I don't recall the exact timeline, but five or six days later, my agent called again and had another offer on the. It was a two way deal. And it was with the auto senators. I would find out later that a guy named ratio had watched a couple of games in the second round we had against the Cornwall ACEs that year.
And I guess he liked what he saw the wife and I had some more talking to do. Here's what I was thinking. My wife had paused her dream to become a doctor, followed me around for three seasons. I could still play hockey, just not at the highest level. I'd be making really good money and we'd be able to be together.
So I was prepared to sign with the Minnesota moose, but it was my wife who said, I think you should go with Ottawa. It's a two way deal, but at least they're affiliated with an NHL team. She said, let's see what happens the next year or two. And then go from there. Basically, she told me that she's willing to delay her.
Long-term objective a medical school another year or two. So I could go swing for the fences one more time and see if I could make it to the NFL. So that's what we did. And I signed with the Ottawa senators. My first season up in Canada in 1994 was a lockout year for NHL players, but the AHL season wasn't affected.
So off, I went to the senators, minor league affiliate, a place I've never heard of before. And that place was called prince Edward island. Prince Edward island is one of Eastern Canada's maritime, provinces off new Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the Gulf of St. It's a large island. And at the time, the only way to access it was by flying in or taking a ferry from the mainland today.
There's a bridge. But back then, I remember some long road trips got even longer as we'd get stuck on the ferry for hours because of high winds and were unable to dock safely. PEI is marked by red sand beaches, lighthouses fertile farmland, and is renowned for its seafood, especially local lobsters. Then.
The capital city is Charlotte town, and that was going to be my wife and I, his new home. They call it the Hawaii of Canada in the summer. We were both excited for this new adventure. The usual routine of the start of a season for my wife and I was, I would fly out, rent a car and then find a place once I did she'd drive out with my dad or someone from her side, pulling a six by eight covered trailer that would make up our apartment.
We lived pretty simple, no box spring, just a mattress on the floor, our kitchen table and chairs all folded up and our TV set on top of it. We'd buy some use furniture to outfit the rest of our new living arrangement and then sell it back to someone before we depart at home, if you've never been to the Maritimes, it's different than any other part of Canada, new Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and prince Edward island all have their own unique dialect.
As I explored the island and spoke with some of the locals, I was concerned there may be some health risks living on the island. I called my wife and said I had to do some more investigating. As I thought that there was a respiratory problem with the. 'cause they all would gasp for air at the end of their sentences.
Like this I'd later find out that in the Maritimes, that's their version of a, at the end of sentences. Let me give you an example of each version, traditional Canadians. That was a great game. Last night, a and the PEI version. That was a great game. Last night. It's such a cool place. At the beginning of this fresh start, it was weird because in Hershey, I was young on that team, but when I got to PEI, all of a sudden I was one of the oldest guys on the team.
They had coach was a spirited, former NHL or Dave Alison, and right away, he threw me into a leadership role, naming the captain of the. That first year on the island was a really good one for me personally, I put up eight goals in 19 assists at the 61 game mark of the season. I was picked to participate in the AHL all-star game that winter, and guess what I actually scored in the game.
But those two things, weren't the biggest news I would receive that season. It was a cold Sunday on the island that morning after playing my 61st game the night before. And the wind was really howling. My wife was in the kitchen making breakfast and I was reading the paper on the couch and the liver.
The lockout had ended in the Andean shell was back up and running, playing a condensed schedule. My wife randomly poked her head out from the kitchen and said, maybe you should start fighting more. And see if you get called up. I slowly put the paper down and explained to her that if I couldn't make it plain as the player I am, I guess it wasn't meant to happen.
And that was the end of that conversation. And she went back to. It's funny how life works sometimes, because about two hours later, I got a call from coach Ellison informing me that I was getting called up and would be in Ottawa's lineup for the next game. Coach congratulated me. I got packed up, headed to the rink, picked up my gear and headed to the airport from the time I got the call from coach Alison till I was on the plane was two hours.
So I didn't have much time to think my wife asks what she should do. And I had no. So I just said, let me get a lay of the land when I'm up there and I'll report back and maybe you can fly out in a day. Or two. I arrived in Ottawa was picked up by someone from the team. We drove to the rink. I dropped off my gear and then I was dropped off at the hotel and had that evening to start preparing for my first ever NHL game.
The hotel was called the Mentos suites and was so nice. I felt like I was in a world of the rich and famous and I was going to live. So I got unpacked, ordered some room service and settled in for the night. I'm a big movie guy. And the one I watched that evening was Shawshank redemption. Halfway through the movie.
I got a little hungry, so I rung up room service for a second time and ordered some chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. I was taking it all in after the movie. I tried to shut it down, but I didn't get much sleep. It was just a wrestling match with my pillows and blankets all night as I couldn't turn off my mind in anticipation of what was about to have.
The next morning, I was a little tired when I got out of bed, but that didn't last long. As all of a sudden I got super excited to get to the rink. So I went down to the restaurant, had a quick breakfast and then took a cab to the rink. There were a couple of guys on the team from Minnesota, so I knew I'd be welcomed.
And I was the morning skate took place, showered up, had my pre-game meal with a couple other players. Then back to the hotel for my pregame. I've never been much of a sleeper, but the one thing I'm really good at is taking naps. I'd never taken a nap. I didn't like on a normal game day with a seven 30 start time.
I'd sleep from two to 4:00 PM. Get dressed, head to the rank. As I like to be there three hours before puck drop, I was always the first guy there. So I never had to feel rushed if something unexpected. I had just called the hotel front desk, asking if they could call me a cab was grabbing my coat and there was a knock at the door, which I thought was odd since I hadn't requested anything from the hotel.
I walked over and looked through the peephole and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my wife, Lisa. I opened the door. The first words that came out of my mouth were, what are you doing here? And her reply was it's my first game too. And I wasn't going to. I'm going to do a future episode on that first game experience for the two of us and what she did from the time I left until the time I saw her the next day in Ottawa, what she had to go through to be there that night.
It's a pretty cool story and I'll get to it down the road. She knew my schedule and I had to go. So we had a hug and a kiss. She wished me well, I had a downtown and she crawled into bed for a couple hour nap after a long night of travel. And we'd meet up at the rink after that. I don't remember much from that first NHL game, other than we lost at that time, Ottawa was a new franchise.
And back then it took a number of years before the team would start winning more games than they lost. Ottawa was still losing way more games than they were winning, but it didn't bother me. I was getting my shot and I was going to ride the wave as long as I. I was able to stay up with the big club a few weeks before I got sent down the first time.
And there was one game that I wasn't looking forward to. And that was the road game that we had in a couple of days against the Pittsburgh penguins, because they had a couple of superstars that I knew were going to be really hard to contain. And they were Jaromir, Jaeger, and Mario Lemieux. When we arrived in Pittsburgh, I was a healthy scratch the game before.
So I didn't know if I'd be playing, but once we got to the hotel, one of the assistant coaches told me I'd be in next game. So start prepping. Start preparing to shit. Myself was more like it. After the morning skate. I just couldn't stop thinking about what I do if I had to defend either of them. So I thought I'd asked my deep partner, Carrie Huffman, what the game plan was strengthened numbers.
Right? When I approached him and asked if I could have a couple of minutes, he said he had to get a cup of coffee and he'd be right back. When he sat down in the stall next to me, I asked him what we were going to do. If we were on the ice with yogurt. When you're on the road, the home team gets the last change.
So I knew there was a good chance. The pens would get their top guys out against the third defensive pair, which was where I fit in on the team. As the sixth defenseman, Carrie looked at me and said, I don't know what you're going to do if we get stuck out there with them, but I'm getting off the ice as quick as I can.
And I suggest you do the same. And he walked away. He walked away. That's what he did. I think I ended up being a minus three or four that. I ended up getting in 15 NHL games that season was sent back down to PEI where we'd lost in the second round of the playoffs. You're number one up in Canada was the best year I ever had.
And both my wife and I were pretty excited about being a part of the Ottawa senators organization. Before we headed back to the states for the off season, we had to take part in one of the traditions. The island celebrates each spring and that's the first lobster and muscle. People gathering backyards or driveways, have a bunch of boiling pots to cook up as much lobster and muscles you could ever want.
So the wife and I had a seafood feast with some teammates and friends before we started the drive back to the United States year one in the record books, after a few weeks off upon our return to the land of 10,000 lakes, it was back to preparing for the next season, but with a different swagger. Now I played some games in the.
If you remember my training partner or training buddy was former golfer teammate, Ben Hankinson, Hank was a year younger than me, but once he turned pro we did all of our training together until he retired in 1998, Ben had already played a handful of NHL games with the New Jersey devils, but like me hadn't figured out a way yet to become an everyday player in that league.
So we were super motivated and disciplined that summer preparing for critical years for both of us, as we were getting close to being called career minded. I was 27 years old when I played my first NHL games. So the clock was ticking for both of us. Our routine was hitting the Wade room four to five days a week.
We never skated on the ice the first part of the summer, but we did do an intense 10 week treadmill skating program. Two to three days a week. We never got off that treadmill that summer ever not feeling like we were going to. I don't remember ever working with an Ani skills coach during the summer or work done my stick skills off bias.
Once I went to college, it was completely different back then compared to how players prepare for a season today at the end of the summer, both Hank and I went into our respective camps, knowing that that was the best summer of training we've ever had together. But a few days into camp, we were both sent to the miners.
We call that having a cup of coffee at. We spoke after it happened and just laughed. Opportunity is such an important part of this process. We prepared for it for so many years, but hadn't gotten the opportunity yet to be an everyday player in the NHL. The second year in PEI became a short one. I played a handful of games and then started the routine of being called up and sent back.
A lot of times when I got called up, I never ended up playing, but I didn't care because every time I got called up, I was making triple of what I was making in the minors. The first, third of the year was a lot of travel because I was being called up and sent back down all the time. But the second half of the season, I ended up staying up more days than down.
And Lisa was able to join me there for a three month stretch up the end of the season. I played 29 AHL games and 28 NHL games that year. So I was a healthy, scratch or injured. I was sent back to PEI for the playoffs, but we lost in the first round. And just like that season number two has come to an end, as you'll see in a minute, that would be the last time my wife and I were ever back to prince Edward island.
But before we move on to the next part, I have to recognize the family that became really close to my wife and I, and that's David and nor Jenkins the year before our first season on PEI, my wife had been super busy with her internships, had a part-time job and was preparing to go to medical school that.
Now we're on a remote island. She can't work because she's American and all of a sudden she's got a lot of time on her hands. I remember that first year coming back from a long road trip. And the next morning when I woke up, she's got her whole day planned out of sight scene and the immersing ourselves in the island.
But unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. As I had that Sunday peg for sitting on the couch all day, trying to regroup it a bit and rest up for practice. The next day we ended up having a conversation and at the end of it, she decided she needed to get involved in things in order to have something to do when I wasn't.
And when I was home, she needed things to do because on days off it's recovery mode, for me, I suggested she see if there was some volunteer opportunities at the local hospital. So the next week she went to investigate and that's where she met Nora Jenkins. There was a connection made. And from that point on our two families became friends.
We couldn't go home for Christmas that first year. And they invited us over to celebrate the holiday with their family. All I can say is that it was a special. And all of the missing of our family and friends back home was fulfilled by their families, warmth and kindness that made Christmas that year.
One to remember the second year on the island, I wasn't there much, but my wife was, we had found a furnished studio apartment that had a month to month renting. Yeah. I don't know how it happened, but one time I got sent back down. My wife picked me up at the airport and instead of going to our apartment, we went to David and Nora's house.
Apparently my continuous absence prompted Nora to ask Lisa if we wanted to live with them for the rest of the season, Lisa being super lonely. And after speaking with me, took them up on the offer and moved in how generous was. David and Nora you'll never know how much that meant to us someday. We'll get back out there to see ya again.
Somehow we just get super human beings intersecting into our lives. My third training camp in Ottawa, I made it through the entire camp for the first time, played in a couple exhibition games, which never happened before. And once camp was over, I was the seventh defenseman and made the team. Yes, you could have imagined.
I was pretty excited. What made this even more special was that it was a contract year for me. So far, my entire professional career, I've been on two way contracts, which means that when you're in the minors, you make minor league money per day. But when you're up with the big club, you make NHL money, which was five times more per day than I made in the minors.
It's significant. So the next step for me was to establish myself as an everyday player on the senators. So I could sign a one-way card. And that means it doesn't matter if you're in the miners or the NHL, you make NHL money. That's why this year was so important. Five games into the season. I was scratched for each of them, but in good spirits, because I was up with the big club.
Hockey is a funny game. Just when you think you're stuck in a rut and you don't see a way out things change. We were in New Jersey, playing the devils in two of our D men, went down with season, any knee injuries. And all of a sudden, I go from the seventh defensemen to number five. And I started playing in every game from that point on never to be a healthy scratch again for that organization, that season proved to be a special one for the franchise and community games.
The previous year we had lose by a goal this year, we were winning. Both the team and the city could feel that this might be the team that could make the playoffs for the first time, since the NHL returned to Ottawa in 1992, what most people don't know is that the senators have won 11 Stanley cups when they were playing in the NHL from 1917 through 1930.
Ottawa is rich in history that has passed on from generation to generation. So when that city got a new franchise, they were going to keep it. And the unbelievable support by the community began this wasn't easy to do the first few seasons because there were so many losses and not much to celebrate, but this year there was a different energy and people could sense it.
And the team did as well. Something special was happening. I had finally gotten the opportunity I'd been searching for. And I was part of what was starting to brew in Ottawa that season, as we entered the stretch drive of the season, mathematically, it looked like a tall task to make the. But if you've been around hockey for any length of time, there are some unbelievable things that can happen where teams overcome extraordinary odds.
I remember the last 10 to 12 games leading up to the final contest of the regular season. We just went on a tear and we're surprising everyone, even ourselves, but the belief factor was strengthening in the room. As we wound down the season. One of the last road games we had that year was against the red wings into.
They were a powerhouse back then and went on to win the cup that season. But before they did, we went into their barn and took two points. We had done our job leading up to the last game of the regular season. We just needed to win. Now, let me pause for a moment and say this, the deeper I get into this exercise.
There've been times where my memories are clouded. I've done my best to rewind the tape and recount the experience, the best of my ability, but I'm sure I've made some mistakes with that being said. There's one guy that I know would be able to relive any of my Ottawa senators years. And the guy's name is Liam McGee.
He has an extraordinary mind and a unique ability to recall things like I've never seen before. I'll have him on the show sometime, and he can let everyone know what mistakes I made and recounting my years as a Sen. And we'll talk about some other things as well. It was April 12th, 1997, the last game of the regular season for us at home against the very good Buffalo Sabres team.
Our goalie for that last game was wrong. Tug nut, the sabers had dominant Cassick nickname. The city and arena was electric. None of us players had felt an energy in the building like that. Before one memory I had happened during warmups, we were all skating around shooting pucks into the net. Right? When you get out onto the ice, after each shot, players would peel off toward either corner, grabbing the puck gift.
They're back up to the blue line, cut across to the middle and back towards the net for the next shot. I exited stage right after his shot and saw gal at ice level with a sign that said our goalie has bigger tug nuts than you. I smiled and chuckled under my breath, but I knew this was going to be a game and a game.
It turned out to be, this was a goaltending duel between Tucknott and hassock with my guy tugger and the rest of my Senator teammates. And I coming out on top one, nothing with Steve Dushane, getting the games only goal late in the third year. That arena and city erupted that night. And the celebration that ensued once the final horn sounded lasted late into the night.
It was a fun moment in time, and I'll never forget the feeling. I felt that evening of accomplishment and community pride, Ottawa was back on that. Has second, the sabers would have the last laugh, however, as they were, who he faced in the conference quarterfinals soon after our epic game with Buffalo prevailing in the seventh game, all of us players knew we didn't want a cup that year, but what happened that season closed the chapter of tough years for the city being an expansion team to now possibly a Stanley cup contender.
And it was special. The Iowa senators franchise would go on to make the playoffs for the next 11 years. The barrier was broken. The tradition was created and every team that played after that, April 12th, 1997 game verse Buffalo carried on that tradition for over a decade. Pretty cool. Well, that concludes part three of my hockey journey.
As a player I finally got, my first NHL games eventually became an everyday player in the league and became part of history by making the playoffs for the first time in the modern. I still have a few more stories to tell you from my first three years in Ottawa, and I'll do that in the next and last episode of this series, where we'll get into the final stages of Miami HL career.
I can't thank you enough for stopping by and listening. I hope you enjoyed the stories from that section of my life. If you think that there's someone in your circle of family and friends that might enjoy this. Please share with just one person. It will really help me in growing this hockey community.
Again, I appreciate you being here. Don't forget to subscribe. I hope to see you back here soon and do me a favor. Make someone close to you. Smile today. All the best. My friends.
