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Lance
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Hockey Jersey podcast. Episode number 33, the Tom Petersen Hockey Jersey Presented to you by Online Hockey Parade.com. I'm your host Coach Lance Patrick. If you're new here, please make sure you subscribe so you won't miss out on any future episodes before we saddle up the horse, start the conversation. 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 court just head on over to online hockey training dot com and gain instant access to my ten part video series where I'll show you everything considered my gift to you.
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Lance
My next guest is former NHL, our Tom Petersen, this Minnesota native, played his youth and high school hockey for the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars, then went on to play Division one college hockey for the hometown Minnesota Gophers. His strong play early in his freshman season resulted in a roster spot on Team USA in the 1980 889 prestigious World Junior Championship in 1989, he was an 11th round draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars, where he played in 240 NHL games for the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Lance
He also spent some time playing professionally in Japan and Germany. If that wasn't enough, Mr. Peterson is also the creator of the Green Biscuit, so we have a fun discussion ahead of us. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming Tom Peterson to the show. Tommy, welcome to the Hockey Journey podcast.
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Lance
You're my third podcast, so I don't know if that means anything. The number for you. All right, Yuriko, where am I going to start? In 1989, he was an 11th round draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars, where he played in 240 NHL games for the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs. He also spent some time playing professionally in Japan and Germany.
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Lance
If that wasn't enough, Mr. Peterson is also the creator of the Green Biscuit, so we have a fun discussion ahead of us. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming Tom Peterson to the show. Tommy Pete, welcome to the Hockey Journey podcast.
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Tom
Aliens. Great to be here.
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Lance
Well, I'm excited. We were just chatting a little bit offline here, getting caught up. And you're out in California now. You got a wedding coming up?
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Tom
Yeah, it looks like it. That's that's the plan. So I'm going to try it again.
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Okay. So the.
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Tom
First time. But we're going to give her another world.
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Lance
Yeah, well, there's always feedback, isn't there? So good. I'm happy for you and thank you for taking the time and coming on the show. So how I start almost every episode with a former player is we're going to transition backward in time and not chase down some of your early memories. As a kid, where did you grow up?
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Lance
What was your childhood like and when was your first memory of having skates on and the other sports you played? I guess let everyone know what it was like growing up. Tommy Peterson.
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Yeah, well, I.
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You know, I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota there. And I spent a lot of time on the outside rinks, of course, like all of us did. And.
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You know, I would go.
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Tom
Across the street, across the parking lot to the Olson outdoor rink.
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Tom
And.
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Tom
I'd walk home sometimes I'd walk home with my skates on.
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Tom
Because.
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Tom
The warming house was closed. And if I if I wasn't home at 530 at night for dinner, I didn't get to go back when the lights were turned on. I don't even know how many rinks I still have outdoors, but that was that's a memory that I'll have for a long time. So I didn't skate on a lake a lot growing up like a lot of kids did.
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Tom
We had an outdoor rink that was that was close to it that I could access. And I spent a lot of time there. I actually started on double runner's skates. I didn't skate on, you know, traditional hockey skates. They had two blades on them. So these were great. You couldn't fall down. So so I don't I don't know if that's why I was actually a good skater or not that that's my claim.
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Tom
It is hard to fall down on them. And then at some point I switched to, you know, traditional hockey skates and then I could always skate. That was that was a big advantage I had over most of the kids growing up.
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Lance
You were you were you playing in other sports as well or were you just playing? You know what, I.
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Tom
I'm a firm believer that hockey hockey players are really good athletes in a lot of sports. And then you got to kind of narrow it down. So I played baseball. Soccer, played a little football.
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And.
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Tom
In junior high, but then didn't play in high school.
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Tom
On the.
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Tom
Wrestling coach always would bug me in high school about coming out to wrestle. And Jon Bianchi, who was my assistant coach at Jeffersonville.
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Would go over.
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Tom
To the wrestling coach and said, Stop talking to him. He's not wrestling. He's going he's because he's going to get hurt. He's going to college on a hockey scholarship. He's not going to wrestle.
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So I.
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Tom
I don't know what wrestling, what I would have weighed at weight. I went to wrestle that, but I probably would have liked that too.
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Lance
Well, you're a competitor. Yeah, I you know, if you remember the time when you decide, I mean, you're playing a bunch of different sports, when you decided you wanted to maybe chase the college hockey and go for a scholarship.
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Tom
Yeah, you know, that's a question comes up a lot. And what I remember as a kid and growing up in the Jefferson program that Tom sat on was part of sports. But 30 plus years, is it was he really I don't know if he did it on purpose. I'm sure he did. But it was instilling that you want to be a high school varsity hockey player.
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Tom
So it was kind of a progression. So when I was younger, I looked up to all the high school players. I'd go to the high school games, would be on the glass and watch these guys and just in awe. And that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm going to do someday. And then as I got older than I was in high school, and then it was on to being a college hockey player.
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Tom
So when I was young, it was about being.
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A.
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Tom
Varsity hockey player and going to those games. I mean, you couldn't get tickets to, you know, when, when we were younger to the arena, my dad used to go to the Bloomington Ice Gardens at noon to buy his tickets for the game, and it was packed. And now I understand that nobody nobody even goes, which is sad. Maybe that's just Jefferson, because I don't think the program was.
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Tom
I know it's not as strong as it obviously used to be, but I don't think anybody goes to high school games anymore. So, you know, first it was being a varsity hockey player and then then once I got there, then, you know, being a golfer and watching, you know, guys like Corey.
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Millen, you know, who are the.
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Tom
Guys that were just.
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You know, you know, Corey.
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Tom
Miller's a name that that comes to mind that I watched a lot because he's a small guy like me and had success.
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Lance
Micheletti, too, was another guy. Gary Show Peck.
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I remember Gary Shaw.
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Tom
Was a.
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Demon. Yeah.
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Lance
Yeah. So you talk about playing a lot of pond hockey. Did you do anything, anything else outside of your team practices in games from a hockey skill development standpoint.
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That you know, I.
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Tom
I just I got into the weight room real early knowing that I, you know, I wasn't going to be tall, I wasn't going to be big. And it just seemed like back then it was, you know, all your too small to play. That's what they told me.
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For.
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Tom
Ever since I was young. You're too small to play. And this is you know, this is an era of guys that you know, the guys that we played with, how big these guys were now.
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They couldn't.
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Tom
Skate all that great, but they were big bodies out there.
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And.
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Tom
So I realized that I got to, you know, get in the gym and get durable and get strong. And so I was, you know, I got into the weight room early and did that. But as far as off office stuff.
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You know.
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Tom
Like the kids do.
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Now.
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Tom
You know, the green biscuit wasn't around. I did shoot Puck, so that's one thing I did do. So I did have a net kind of a funny story, so I still don't know to this day. Somebody dropped off a somebody stole a city rink from one of the winter rinks, know ice all melts the rink. The nets sit there for a while.
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Tom
Somebody took it and dropped it off at my house. And so I put it in the backyard and got it. I got a piece of Plexiglas and I shot a lot of pucks in the backyard. So that that's what I did. So if you want to be a good shooter, these kids, you know, they got to shoot a lot of pucks.
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Tom
I'm a firm believer in that. And, you know, I had I was I had a good shot and I developed it and I kept shooting. So I'd shoot to 300 bucks a day. You know, my mind, my hands would just be, you know, tore up. But it was fun for me.
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Lance
Yeah, I agree. And I had the same thing that I bring it across the street. There was a tennis court and I put it next to the fence and do that. Let me ask you this. Do you remember taking any backhand shots?
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Tom
But my backhand is still terrible. I can't I can't you know, I'm not I had never had a good backhand. I scored a few goals in the backhand, but they were lucky. Have you ever seen the video.
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Of.
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Tom
Have you ever seen the video of Kovalev? He can take his one hand on the back end, and I think he can like pick in the top corner from like a distance away. I'm like I'm blown away by it. When I saw this, I'm like, Oh my God, you know how hard that is? But it's probably on YouTube.
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Tom
Or is Kovalev.
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Lance
Right? I've seen it and I tried to do it. Not only did I endure my wrist, but I also pulled it dry. So I don't know how he did it.
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Yeah, I could do.
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Tom
With maybe one of those home.
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Pucks.
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Tom
But he was he was one of the most skilled guys I played against, for sure.
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Lance
Oh, absolutely. We'll get to that in a little while. I ask you the question about the backhand, because, you know, no one would have thought I would be in the skill development sector. You. Yes, but now we're both in there. And I said today I get in front of kids and if they say they do, I face sticks, skills, training, that's what they do.
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Lance
A pile of pucks away from the net and they just rip forehand shots.
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And yeah.
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Lance
We're trying to change that and we'll get to the Green Biscuit later. But I want to keep on going on on your player trajectories. So you did shoot pucks a lot of ponds, hockey. I when you got into the high school did you when you decided you're going to play college hockey or want to pursue that, did you drop all the other sports where that's all you ever plan like your junior?
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Tom
I did. I did drop all the other sports, you know, and I, I don't know if it was because, you know, for whatever reason, I just hockey was a long season and I worked at it. I want to I guess maybe I wanted a little time off in between seasons. I don't.
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Know.
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Tom
I wasn't that good athlete at these other sports. And so, you know, probably good enough to play. And I wasn't going to be on the basketball team, that's for sure. But I did I did do things that, you know, I don't want to jeopardize a hockey thing by, you know, maybe playing football and blowing.
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My knee out or, you know.
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Tom
Wrestling and getting.
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Hurt. But I.
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Tom
Did, believe it or not, think about, you know, I got to stay healthy for hockey.
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And and.
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Tom
It wasn't it wasn't a tough decision. I just it just, you know, I'm just going to play hockey and and focus on that. And.
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You know.
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Tom
I didn't feel like I missed anything. You know, I'd go to the other sporting events and watch them and cheer mine. But hockey was my deal in high school and everybody knew it.
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Lance
Yeah, you know, so you're you're rocking it. And just so everyone knows, he alluded to he wasn't the biggest guy out there. Five, nine. And yeah. When when we were playing back growing up and even professionally, I mean if, if you weren't six foot, you didn't even get a look. So again, we'll get to that. But let's let's transition now from from your high school youth in high school to now you're going to go on to the university of Minnesota.
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Lance
What was the college recruitment process for you? Because did you have other schools interested? You end up going to the University of Minnesota, but what went into that final decision?
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Yeah, you.
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Tom
Know, my my dad was a golfer from 56 to 60. He ran track. He was a high hurdler. So, you know, I always wanted to play. And then plus, obviously, how good the golfers were, there was really nowhere else I wanted to go. You know, I remember talking to Wisconsin assistant coach. I think his name was Kemp at the time.
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Tom
And we were at summer camp, I think it was out in Colorado. And he said, What are you going to do? Do we want to even waste our time with you or you going to Minnesota.
00:14:02:23 - 00:14:03:05
Or would you.
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Tom
Consider Wisconsin? And I said, No, I'm going to go to Minnesota. And so, you know, that was that was done early. You know, I think there was a back then there was like an early signing period, your junior year. It was like a week long. I don't even know if they still have it, but that's that's what I committed to the Gophers then.
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Tom
And so I actually I got to a recruitment letter from.
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Harvard, kept it a.
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Tom
Deer a deer athlete. You know, my dad laughed at that one. I wasn't going to Harvard. I wasn't getting in. You know, I probably could have I could have done fine on the ice, but I don't know, in the classroom would have been tougher for me.
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Maybe.
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Lance
I remember being we were playing somewhere out east and we went into a Harvard library where we were able to tour the campus and it was like a huge party going on that loud music. And I walk in there and all of a sudden the record discussion and everyone looks at me like, You don't belong here, fella. This should be other.
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Long hair on.
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Lance
No, that's cool. So in 1988, 89, that marked the beginning of your college career. You put up 29 points and 42 games that season. Pretty solid numbers for a freshman. Do you remember it? Taken you a few weekends to get into the swing of things?
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You know, I was I got I got lucky.
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Tom
I mean, I my defensive partner was Todd Richards and he was a senior and I was a freshman. And then the third defenseman we had was a guy named Rob Stauber.
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And then.
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Tom
I mean, you'd get dumped, the puck would get dumped in. I remember going back there and he did break the thing out for me.
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I'm like, you know.
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Tom
Because he could really handle the puck. I mean, still to this day, he's probably the best guy, you know, that can handle the puck like that. I didn't realize how fortunate I was. And so being able to play with Richards as a partner, you know, and that that team was stacked. So, you know, I guess, I don't know.
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Tom
I was excited to play and I think I don't know if I surprise to the upside, but but I had a lot of support around me. But I was I was ready for that.
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And, you know.
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Tom
So, you know, I think it happened pretty quickly. You know, we had a really good team and, you know, Richards is going to play a lot. So I was his partner. I was on the ice a lot, too. So, you know, I would have fallen on my face. I probably wouldn't have been his partner much longer. Somebody else would have stepped in more, but, you know.
00:16:45:10 - 00:16:59:25
Lance
It just saw the listeners know, you and I were teammates. You know, you're talking about the team that. Yeah, we we went to three guys. Did you go your first three seasons went to the Final Four.
00:17:00:28 - 00:17:01:17
No, no.
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Tom
We didn't go. Only the one just the one year.
00:17:05:19 - 00:17:06:17
Does the first think.
00:17:07:26 - 00:17:23:12
Tom
Yeah I thought you know, I remember looking back on my freshman year, I went to the final four, lost in the championship game. You know, we'll be back there. This is this is great. And it's not easy to get back to that game. It's just not, you know, and as a freshman, you think you've got all these years left to do.
00:17:23:12 - 00:17:33:29
Tom
It goes by quick. I know we lost out in Maine, I think my sophomore year or saw my sophomore year. But in your junior year?
00:17:34:25 - 00:17:39:09
Yeah. And then it got it a long time ago.
00:17:39:09 - 00:18:00:00
Tom
Pitt track of it all. But obviously the freshman year that 18 that year we lost to Harvard, that was that was that was the highlight of my college career. I'm sure it was yours to as far as you know team goes because you mean like I said we were we were stacked.
00:18:00:06 - 00:18:02:03
And would like to.
00:18:02:28 - 00:18:06:15
Tom
Play that game again. But that's not what you do.
00:18:07:07 - 00:18:30:13
Lance
That's not what you do. So during your first Minnesota win, what we ended up losing in the national championship. But I forgot this. You earned a spot on Team USA for the prestigious World Junior Championship. Where was that tournament that year and what was that experience like? I think that.
00:18:30:13 - 00:18:30:18
Was.
00:18:30:27 - 00:18:52:00
Tom
Opening up in Anchorage. That was kind of a funny thing, you know, that team gets picked in the summer and I didn't either get asked to the camp to pick that team or I got asked and I didn't make the team. I don't remember which one it was. And then freshman year rolls around and we start playing and.
00:18:53:09 - 00:18:53:13
I.
00:18:53:13 - 00:19:07:15
Tom
Guess I'm playing pretty good. And so they maybe they leave a couple spots for players like that who or whatever and they ask me at the end, you know, in December I guess they talked to Woo.
00:19:08:07 - 00:19:08:26
I don't know.
00:19:10:21 - 00:19:16:22
Tom
And they asked me then, does he want to go on? I'm like, you know, of course I want to go.
00:19:17:25 - 00:19:19:11
We had a Madondo.
00:19:19:11 - 00:19:20:25
Tom
And Roanoke were both on that team.
00:19:21:28 - 00:19:23:28
Up in Anchorage. Yeah.
00:19:24:15 - 00:19:44:22
Tom
But another thing was that the great story that I tell about that one is was a guy named Pavel Brey. So he's he's on the Russia team. Their first line is Shutter of Mogilny. And Barry, I'm not shitting you. That was their line. And you embraced 16 years old and everyone's talking about how great he is and this and that.
00:19:45:02 - 00:20:09:08
Tom
And I'm 18. I remember saying to somebody, I don't I don't really care. There's no way a 16 year old is going around me. I've ever seen that. Just I mean, he went around me two times in that like the first period, like I wasn't there. I mean, he was that fast and that and that that talented. And I was like, Wow.
00:20:09:08 - 00:20:17:06
Tom
So, you know, having to defend against Bury Mogilny and Fedorov was was something they ended up winning the gold medal we.
00:20:18:28 - 00:20:19:03
I.
00:20:19:04 - 00:20:40:06
Tom
Don't I don't know we did better than most people thought but we, you know, we had a really good team. Amonte was on the team. Roenick, Modano, I think Leclaire was on the team. Well, let's look back, back at the roster. But we had it, we had a Billy Guerin was on the team. I think I got to look back, but we had a good team there too.
00:20:40:14 - 00:20:57:27
Tom
You know, both Madonna and Roenick, they were they were the best American kids in our age group by far. Not even close from I was a 70 we're all 70 birth years. You know, the guys I'm talking about, that team were all born in 70 and those two guys were.
00:20:58:18 - 00:20:59:01
You know.
00:20:59:23 - 00:21:06:23
Tom
Much better than then. All the rest of us. And it kind of buried itself out with our careers, obviously.
00:21:07:16 - 00:21:07:29
You know?
00:21:09:01 - 00:21:39:00
Lance
Yeah, well, when I. I didn't know the significance of that tournament for Canadians and I, I'm assuming I mean, hockey night in Canada has been around forever and they broadcast the World Juniors. But when I played up there for five years, I mean, it's like the Super Bowl now up there watching the World Juniors. I mean, what a tournament that like you said, I mean, what the other team is, the Swedes and the fans.
00:21:39:00 - 00:21:46:14
Lance
I mean, I'm sure that there's a bunch of, you know, Hall of Famers that were in that tournament that year when you were there as well.
00:21:47:28 - 00:21:54:03
Tom
I'd have to look back. I'm trying to think if if Sundin was off and I think he's a 72.
00:21:54:21 - 00:21:55:21
I have to look back.
00:21:55:21 - 00:22:03:09
Tom
But, you know, I think Forsberg was a little younger.
00:22:03:09 - 00:22:03:24
But yeah, no.
00:22:03:27 - 00:22:11:04
Tom
It's a it is a great tournament, you know, and it was nice to see him back at it this year with.
00:22:11:21 - 00:22:17:00
You know, not COVID and people there and, you know.
00:22:18:02 - 00:22:20:12
Lance
So so did you.
00:22:21:00 - 00:22:22:07
Your boy did.
00:22:22:07 - 00:22:23:10
Tom
Your kids ever play in it?
00:22:24:16 - 00:22:52:10
Lance
They didn't. They both played in the USA. What is it, the junior, a challenge or something like that. But I was there on the USA hockey stuff. It just seemed always like even nowadays they have I think back when we were doing the US and stuff that they had the sports festival in the summer. You remember that. Yep.
00:22:52:23 - 00:22:53:25
Yep I do.
00:22:54:10 - 00:23:06:04
Lance
Now. They now they have a, you know, a tiered thing where you started your district and then you go to your state. And then there's a national camp, how they picked the teams.
00:23:06:04 - 00:23:15:00
Tom
But now the sports festival is great because, you know, all the different sports would be there. And so you got to, you know, mingle with the other athletes. So that was it was like an Olympic village. It was awesome.
00:23:15:09 - 00:23:17:01
Lance
Yeah, it was. Did you get to go.
00:23:17:03 - 00:23:22:02
Did you ever Oklahoma? Did did you go to or. That's the one I'm thinking of.
00:23:22:04 - 00:23:23:23
Tom
Yeah, I do remember that.
00:23:25:00 - 00:23:25:03
When.
00:23:25:14 - 00:23:35:15
Tom
I was at Oklahoma, we were at a bar in a bar bar restaurant. Barry Switzer, coach of Oklahoma, walks in and it was like, God came in there. I mean, it was unreal.
00:23:35:21 - 00:23:37:15
I swear to God. I'm like, you know, I didn't.
00:23:38:07 - 00:23:52:18
Tom
I wasn't aware of a lot of stuff that I maybe should have been back when I was younger. I just I was about hockey and I didn't follow college football. I'm like, who's this guy? And it was like the whole bar just like stopped and got silent. He came in there, they cleared a table for him and his group.
00:23:52:18 - 00:23:56:18
Tom
And I was like, This guy must be pretty important. It was Barry Switzer.
00:23:57:26 - 00:24:02:28
Lance
He was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team and.
00:24:03:15 - 00:24:03:18
I.
00:24:04:23 - 00:24:28:24
Lance
Love, you know, this, but when we got back, I don't know someone because I had told the story to someone, they had called me and read me a newspaper clipping that that night that he was out that we saw him, his house got broken into and they stole all of his championship rings. And he's bragging like that. It was a case of Copenhagen.
00:24:28:24 - 00:24:34:10
Lance
They stole his house, got broken into that night when we saw him. And they I.
00:24:34:11 - 00:24:35:23
Never I never heard that.
00:24:36:10 - 00:24:39:12
Lance
Yeah. Interesting. How hilarious.
00:24:39:27 - 00:24:40:18
I remember that.
00:24:41:21 - 00:25:05:18
Lance
Thing just been awesome because Doug who was the coach there and like you said, there was athletes from everywhere. So it was kind of a mini Olympics. It was awesome. All right. We are going to transition now. You're drafted in the 11th round in the 1989 NHL draft by the Minnesota North Stars. But you never signed with them.
00:25:05:27 - 00:25:09:18
Lance
How did you end up in San Jose?
00:25:09:18 - 00:25:31:25
Tom
Yeah. So, you know, that was when the sharks got you know, there was a dispersal draft. So the guns who owned the sharks? They they paid $50 million for a franchise in San Jose. It was a pretty good investment, it looks like, huh. And so what happened was all the North Star draft picks basically got put into a pool and the Sharks took one.
00:25:31:25 - 00:25:50:14
Tom
And then Dallas, I mean, Minnesota kept one and went back and forth, back and forth. I was I was really hoping I would get taken by San Jose because, you know, be an expansion team. Everybody knew they were going to take their lumps. And if you got a lot of losses, you're going to try a lot of different players.
00:25:50:14 - 00:26:01:22
Tom
And I just I just wanted an opportunity. That's all I wanted to do. I thought I could do it, but I wanted an opportunity. And if I couldn't do it, then they would bet on me and I would have been okay with that.
00:26:01:22 - 00:26:03:23
But you know.
00:26:03:23 - 00:26:27:12
Tom
Being on a team back then, like the Rangers or the Red Wings or some, you know, established team, I might not have I definitely wouldn't have got my opportunity, probably as soon. And who knows how it would follow when it went. So when I got drafted, by the way, I got taken by San Jose. I was I was excited, but I never, you know, my first year of the draft, they they bypassed me.
00:26:27:12 - 00:26:44:22
Tom
I didn't get picked. So my senior year in high school, which I was eligible for, nobody took me. And then I didn't get picked until the 11th round of the second year. So I almost went through two full years of being drafted before someone the North Stars took a took a shot on me, which was.
00:26:45:20 - 00:26:46:15
You know, good.
00:26:48:07 - 00:27:13:26
Lance
So I was drafted by the North Stars as well. And in 86 and my senior year with the Gophers, I got hurt. So I think I got hurt in December. So I missed most of the year. North Stars ended up offering me a contract and then 12 hours later they pulled it. Bobby Clark, he was the GM at the time.
00:27:14:12 - 00:27:33:03
Lance
And the reason he said, was because that draft, that draft dispersal draft for San Jose was coming up and he said, we don't want to put a signing bonus in the player that we might lose to them. Not that the signing bonus was very much for a guy.
00:27:33:03 - 00:27:35:18
Tom
What were you draft? What round were you drafted?
00:27:35:18 - 00:27:37:07
Lance
In the ninth.
00:27:38:03 - 00:27:39:06
Wow. Okay, there you go.
00:27:39:23 - 00:28:02:16
Lance
And I tell people I did it on my my podcast, on my hockey journey when I talked about the draft that, you know, when you get past like the seventh round, they just put a big board with all the available players, bring the GM up, blindfold them, give them a dart wherever it lands. That's your draft pick. And that's how they get rid of that, the extra guys.
00:28:02:16 - 00:28:38:11
Lance
But else you mentioned opportunity, and you know you're for you. I didn't get my first game in the NHL until I was 27 and it was almost halfway through that, that fifth season for me. But, you know, for you, in your first full season as a professional, you end up getting 44 games in the show. I mean, tell the listeners and I, on the day you found out you're getting the call and everything that went in between leading up to your first NHL game.
00:28:39:28 - 00:29:01:18
Tom
Yeah, that's a that's a story that I think any hockey player will remember forever. You know, it was back up a little bit. I got I signed with the Sharks like in January or February, I'd got released from the U.S. Olympic team in 92. And so I was sitting in Minneapolis trying to get a contract worked out, nowhere to really play.
00:29:01:18 - 00:29:37:06
Tom
And they sent I signed and they I went to Kansas City, which is the NHL back then, and we had a really good team there, ended up winning the Turner Cup, which is the which is the championship for the NHL. And Kevin Constantine was was the coach then and he happened to get the head coaching job that summer for San Jose and so Kevin, I signed in, he got sent to Kansas City and I start, I roll into town and I'm there and a lot of veterans get Craig Cox was there, John Carter, Larry DePalma.
00:29:37:06 - 00:29:42:13
Tom
These guys had played a lot of hockey. And so I'm the rookie. I'm just getting literally just abused every.
00:29:42:13 - 00:29:46:24
Day on the practice and stuff. And you be Craig.
00:29:46:24 - 00:30:04:29
Tom
Cox, you know, and they're all good guys. But there was just talk. That's just how it was. I don't I'm playing games, I'm in the lineup. And Constantine does not talk to me for over two weeks, doesn't say hello, doesn't say anything to me. And I'm like, you know.
00:30:05:26 - 00:30:07:25
Is this normal? I'm thinking and.
00:30:07:25 - 00:30:09:27
Tom
I'm you know, you're not like me.
00:30:09:28 - 00:30:11:24
I'm like, I'm playing, you know.
00:30:11:24 - 00:30:14:27
Tom
I'm in the lineup. I'm playing. So I don't.
00:30:14:27 - 00:30:15:09
Know.
00:30:16:03 - 00:30:22:26
Tom
Finally, the assistant coach comes to me. Jim Wylie says, Hey, coach wants to talk to you. I'm like, All right. So I go into his room there and.
00:30:24:21 - 00:30:24:26
He.
00:30:24:26 - 00:30:29:26
Tom
Just was like, I don't want to. I didn't talk to you because I didn't want to screw anything up. You were playing great.
00:30:29:26 - 00:30:30:25
And I want to.
00:30:30:25 - 00:30:40:14
Tom
Leave you alone. I didn't want to jinx it. I'm like, Oh, great, because I didn't think you liked me. And he did. And so he got the job in San Jose and.
00:30:40:14 - 00:30:40:24
Then.
00:30:43:04 - 00:30:44:09
Tom
Went to training camp.
00:30:44:26 - 00:30:45:20
That fall.
00:30:47:04 - 00:30:53:12
Tom
But before I was in training camp, I was downtown. Remember the fine line? Remember that bar?
00:30:53:19 - 00:30:54:07
Lance
Oh, yeah. Yep.
00:30:55:09 - 00:31:06:19
Tom
So I'm down there and there's a there's a ruckus going on outside and somebody is running out. One of my friends and I see this guy running and I just turn and just clock him.
00:31:08:03 - 00:31:08:13
What.
00:31:08:22 - 00:31:23:24
Tom
Right in the right in the street. And I he's running and I hit him right across the face, but I broke my wrist and so. Yeah, I know it's terrible, isn't it? I broke my wrist. So I went to training camp and a cast and.
00:31:24:28 - 00:31:25:06
And.
00:31:25:25 - 00:31:28:15
Tom
They're like, How did you do that? I'm like, I was doing, you know.
00:31:29:17 - 00:31:31:01
And I say.
00:31:31:14 - 00:31:48:25
Tom
I was doing conditioning on the ice and I fell on one of the boards. You're like, Oh, yeah, good one. They didn't believe me. They didn't believe me. So I got sent down that I got sent down that training camp. And then I was I got healthy. I was playing for Kansas City and Kevin Constantine calls me.
00:31:49:16 - 00:31:52:25
And at night at home, you know.
00:31:53:02 - 00:31:54:27
Tom
Coach doesn't call players right.
00:31:55:06 - 00:31:56:27
At home at night, right.
00:31:58:04 - 00:31:58:16
Tom
He's like.
00:31:58:16 - 00:31:58:29
Hey.
00:32:00:22 - 00:32:02:20
Tom
I heard the weather's pretty good in Florida.
00:32:03:16 - 00:32:05:02
So what he says to me.
00:32:05:20 - 00:32:07:27
Tom
And I know the team is in Tampa.
00:32:07:27 - 00:32:08:07
Right?
00:32:08:20 - 00:32:14:25
Tom
The shots are in Tampa. I'm I'm like, you better not be joking, because now.
00:32:14:28 - 00:32:15:00
I.
00:32:15:14 - 00:32:37:24
Tom
Was you're going up. Get ready. You got a flight tomorrow morning, you're going to fly to Tampa. You're playing tomorrow night. And so that was my call. That was a pretty big deal. All you know, I still kind of get goose pimples thinking about that because that's your dream as a hockey player. These kids in Minnesota growing up all over the country, all over the world, they want to play in the national Hockey League.
00:32:37:24 - 00:32:41:14
Tom
And now it's now it's there. I'm like, oh, god, here we go.
00:32:41:25 - 00:32:44:28
So, you know.
00:32:45:18 - 00:32:46:22
Tom
Flew into Tampa.
00:32:47:12 - 00:32:52:00
Played and then and then.
00:32:53:12 - 00:33:11:17
Tom
And then from there we went to Chicago. This is another interesting story that nobody knows we play. I got to play at Chicago Stadium, which is awesome, and we lose, but we play really good. And I played probably Lance. I mean, you know, as a player, you know, when you play good and you know when you don't play good.
00:33:12:00 - 00:33:12:15
Lance
Well, yeah.
00:33:12:23 - 00:33:40:00
Tom
And so, you know, the coach's job is to tell you when you don't play good. And if he wants to tell you you played well, that's up to him. But his job is to tell you you didn't play good and you need to play better. And but I played I played as good as I could about play. I thought, you know, and so so I'm getting on the bus after the game and the assistant coach Bob Murdoch says, hey, I got to talk to you.
00:33:40:17 - 00:33:45:27
Tom
And he says, we're sending you back to Kansas City. Wow. So I was up for two games.
00:33:45:27 - 00:33:48:07
Yeah, I said, okay.
00:33:48:09 - 00:34:04:16
Tom
I said, hey, can I ask you something? I said, You know, Bob, I said, That's about as good as I can play. I said, because if I if that's not good enough and I'm that I'm in trouble here because that's about as good as I can play. And so I was pissed. But what am I going to do?
00:34:04:16 - 00:34:20:11
Tom
Right. So my, my personal bag was on the bus, you know, somewhere on the bus ride to get my personal bag off the bus. And then I was going to stay in a hotel in Chicago and fly to Kansas City. And the team was going to go wherever they were going. And I climb on the bus and I get my stuff.
00:34:20:11 - 00:34:28:24
Tom
And I think Kelly Kissinger says, Well, what do you do? And I'm like, Uh, they just they're sending me down, you know?
00:34:28:24 - 00:34:29:04
I mean.
00:34:29:08 - 00:34:53:21
Tom
Cassio, Everson, all the veterans are like, What the hell is going on here? Why would you send him down after the way he's played since he's been here? You know, are we not trying to win games here? Yeah. And, you know, but what you learn as a player is the NHL is a business, too. Right. And so I went to Kansas City and I think I was back up in San Jose and five or six days after that.
00:34:54:17 - 00:35:16:22
Tom
But that's kind of the story, the long version of how I got called up the first time and the details around that. But it was kind of nice. The players stuck up for me and you know, they were they were they recognized that that, you know, that I added something there that they didn't have before, you know, so, you know.
00:35:17:11 - 00:35:30:06
Lance
Yeah, that's awesome. But, you know, it is, it's it's opportunity. And you have Constantine that gave you that chance and you were prepared and you were mentally ready.
00:35:30:06 - 00:35:50:12
Tom
And that's that's the thing I think about young hockey players and even in life, you know, you only get so many opportunities. They're finite, they're not infinite. So you only get so many opportunities. You need to be ready for it. And I was going to be ready for it. And if I like I said, if I fell on my face and I wasn't good enough, then I wasn't good enough.
00:35:50:12 - 00:36:01:23
Tom
That was going to be okay with me. I mean, that I, that I but I was ready. And so I, these young players, I just I hope that they approach it that way. I mean, I watched the guys out in San Jose here, some of these.
00:36:03:12 - 00:36:03:18
San.
00:36:03:18 - 00:36:10:02
Tom
Jose's in a really tough spot right now. And I don't know, I watched some of the guys. I just don't I don't get it.
00:36:11:07 - 00:36:13:18
You know how they play?
00:36:13:18 - 00:36:21:17
Tom
I mean, your head coach is Bob Buckner. Did you play against Buckner or was he. He was he was was he after us? He was after us or was he about our age? Do you remember?
00:36:22:01 - 00:36:26:18
Lance
I yeah, I remember. He played for Buffalo Deni Preparatory.
00:36:26:18 - 00:36:29:26
Tom
I mean, he played for a few teams, but he wasn't a power play guy.
00:36:30:16 - 00:36:31:19
Right? No.
00:36:31:27 - 00:36:34:08
Tom
He was a he was a junkyard dog. Right.
00:36:34:16 - 00:36:34:24
Yeah.
00:36:34:25 - 00:36:49:06
Tom
A defensive defenseman. So he, you know, here and so I was a he's your head coach. So he's the guy that's deciding if you're going to play or not. I would think you'd play a certain way if you wanted to be in the lineup. At least that's what I would do.
00:36:50:21 - 00:36:54:24
Lance
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00:37:23:15 - 00:37:46:19
Lance
You have consistency in the first chunk of your professional career in with San Jose after the 9596 season, you had a crazy one that found you playing in four different leagues during one season one, including Japan. But you also had some NHL games with the Maple Leafs that year. What happened that season?
00:37:46:29 - 00:37:54:09
Tom
You know, I had I had before that I had I had hurt my neck and I would.
00:37:54:09 - 00:37:54:20
Get.
00:37:55:21 - 00:38:00:23
Tom
Stingers from my neck down to my fingertips. I don't know if you've ever had a stinger. I've ever had those.
00:38:01:02 - 00:38:01:27
Lance
No, no.
00:38:03:07 - 00:38:04:15
Tom
You've never had a stinger.
00:38:05:12 - 00:38:06:01
I haven't.
00:38:07:01 - 00:38:29:18
Tom
Well, you are fortunate because it is debilitating and it just sits you right down. It's like it's not like muscle pain. It's it's nerve pain. And it's it's and so the condition I had was not operable. And I would get stingers every time. I would not every time. But a lot of times I'd go into a, you know, a collision.
00:38:30:00 - 00:38:34:18
Tom
And can you imagine how that would affect your play over time?
00:38:34:18 - 00:38:35:18
And so, yeah.
00:38:35:18 - 00:38:52:22
Tom
So I couldn't, you know, I couldn't be the player that I was, you know, I just it just it just affected the way I played. And and so that was, you know, once I realized that that wasn't going to get better and that wasn't, you know, it wasn't something where you could operate on it and get it fixed.
00:38:52:26 - 00:39:15:16
Tom
You know, I kind of knew that this isn't good. And so, you know, I didn't play as well. And you know how it is when you don't play as well. They're going to find someone that plays better than you. And that's basically, you know, what happened. I and so then I ended up in Japan, which was fun, and then I ended up in Germany and then I broke my back in Germany.
00:39:15:16 - 00:39:19:06
Tom
One of the boards headfirst. And that was, that was what ended my career.
00:39:19:19 - 00:39:22:17
So yeah.
00:39:22:20 - 00:39:28:04
Tom
So I've had some injuries, but the neck, the neck was tough. It still gives me some problems now. But but you know.
00:39:28:28 - 00:39:29:11
No.
00:39:29:24 - 00:39:38:20
Tom
No hard feelings. I was super fortunate. I'm very fortunate to be able to get to play in the league. And, you know, it's not sour grapes at all for me.
00:39:40:18 - 00:39:52:18
Lance
Because you just trying to pull up your totals. But like with Europe and Japan and even your last two years in Germany, I mean, you were still putting out points and had in solid seasons.
00:39:53:26 - 00:39:54:12
Yeah.
00:39:54:13 - 00:40:08:21
Tom
Yeah. But you know, there's you know, Japan is not a real physical game and you know how it is in Europe. You got a big rink and I could skate. So, you know, it was just something I managed, but it was always a problem.
00:40:08:21 - 00:40:14:16
For me trying to, you know, have it, you know, stay okay. But, you know.
00:40:14:20 - 00:40:22:25
Tom
Obviously you have to play a certain way in the National Hockey League. And, you know, if they if they know you may be hurt or tentative, you know, what happens to those guys right.
00:40:23:12 - 00:40:24:16
There in that.
00:40:24:24 - 00:40:25:16
Tom
In that league.
00:40:26:05 - 00:40:29:17
You know, you know, for me.
00:40:29:17 - 00:40:53:28
Lance
That was the the final decision. And retiring is, like you said, you just couldn't play the way you're accustomed to plan. And if you can't do that, then you're easily replaced. And but I was sick. I've been in pain. So much, you know, trying to keep climbing the ladder. And I sounds like that's exactly what happened to you.
00:40:54:16 - 00:40:56:01
Or what what what were.
00:40:56:01 - 00:40:57:27
Tom
Your injuries?
00:40:57:27 - 00:41:04:17
Lance
So mine were back here. Midline stuff grinds. I've had nine surgeries, you know.
00:41:04:23 - 00:41:06:13
Yeah, I know. I remember. You haven't.
00:41:06:13 - 00:41:08:17
Tom
You haven't, did you have sports hernias or you had.
00:41:08:25 - 00:41:09:21
Both or what.
00:41:10:01 - 00:41:45:02
Lance
Yeah, both sides. And then I had surgery and just countless hamstring tweaks and flexors and groin pulls. So, you know, it's just hard when that happens all the time and you do get tired of climbing the ladder, but once it's over, you know, you just move on. So what was it like? What was that? You not? I'm hoping that you figure figured out, you know, pain management, but what was life like for you the first year or two after you retired?
00:41:45:07 - 00:41:49:09
Lance
Was it smoother? Did you struggle a bit? Oh, I.
00:41:49:17 - 00:41:54:16
Tom
Was a disaster. It was a disaster. Yeah.
00:41:54:18 - 00:41:56:07
So and that's that's.
00:41:58:13 - 00:42:22:15
Tom
One of the things that, you know, I guess I was a typical ex athlete that got done playing and then struggled, you know, in all the ways that former athletes struggled financially, you know, substance abuse stuff, drinking too much. That was that was I regret those days.
00:42:23:07 - 00:42:23:25
I'll have.
00:42:24:29 - 00:42:27:18
Tom
12 years of sobriety or coming up in November.
00:42:28:10 - 00:42:28:24
So.
00:42:29:12 - 00:42:30:10
Lance
Resolutions.
00:42:31:01 - 00:42:57:19
Tom
Yeah that was that was something I needed to do and I'm really glad that I did. Probably the most important thing I've done in my life, I guess that that is the most important thing. So yes, I struggled that way and tried to figure out, okay, what am I going to do now? And I didn't really know, tried a few different things, you know, tried to sell furnaces and air conditioners, did that for a little while, did a lot of you know.
00:42:57:19 - 00:43:10:23
Tom
But, you know, coaching and living in California is tough. You got to you know, it's just it's expensive to live out here and, you know, I mean, I don't know. I was on the ice six, 8 hours a day. You know what your feet feel when you're on the ice.
00:43:10:23 - 00:43:16:15
That line up, oh, my God. Oh, my God. You know.
00:43:17:12 - 00:43:40:24
Lance
So so you you talk about, you know, yeah, it was a disaster. You're off the rails because this might have been at the time when you made a pivot, because I remember seeing you and I hadn't seen you for a while and you had gained some weight. Yeah, you were looking average below average.
00:43:40:24 - 00:43:41:15
Like I got a little.
00:43:42:03 - 00:43:43:11
Tom
Like I got stung by a B.
00:43:43:21 - 00:43:46:09
Yeah.
00:43:46:09 - 00:43:57:00
Lance
And then the next time you're shredded and you're in unreal shape. So how did you make the transformation? What is what would you do?
00:43:57:00 - 00:44:14:13
Tom
Yeah, I just I decided to make a change in my life, you know? You know, I just think that being a hockey player, if you parlay this the right way, that's the lessons that we learn as players. Because if you play long enough and you play at a high enough level, you get to play for some great coaches.
00:44:14:19 - 00:44:36:28
Tom
You really do some great men and some not so good. But you take what you learn from these great coaches and other leaders on your team. Players. And then the challenge for a player is after you get done plan is to take that and apply that to the next phase of your life, the next chapter. And I think those are the guys that that you see have success.
00:44:37:05 - 00:44:55:14
Tom
And it just took me, you know, a little while to respond my wheels for a little while after I got done playing. But I decided to make a change. You know, I had two daughters and I needed to be around for them and be of service instead of an anchor.
00:44:55:14 - 00:44:59:10
So, you know.
00:44:59:10 - 00:45:06:28
Tom
I just I got myself into, you know, into shape by training and running and lifting weights and all those things that.
00:45:07:05 - 00:45:07:18
You do it.
00:45:07:18 - 00:45:16:07
Tom
But and I've kept that up, you know, ever since. I probably don't look quite like I did when I saw you, when you said I was shredded.
00:45:16:07 - 00:45:21:04
But I'll get back there now.
00:45:21:05 - 00:45:55:10
Lance
Well, congratulations on that. You know, I don't know if you took part in it with the the NHL players life after hockey program. I did do a few public speaking things, courses and weekends too to help with that. But it was a tough transition. I mean, to be honest with you, Tom, it took me probably 8 to 10 years to get remotely close to how I felt as a player.
00:45:55:11 - 00:46:07:26
Lance
You know, having that drive, that that just wake up and you go start accomplishing things to get prepared for the season and stuff like that. And I struggled for a while just kind of floating around.
00:46:09:09 - 00:46:20:12
Tom
Yeah, that's the same way I did. I don't know if it was that long for me, but, you know, I, you know, Green Biscuit, I don't know if you want to talk about that now or not.
00:46:20:12 - 00:46:20:21
Yeah.
00:46:21:11 - 00:46:36:12
Lance
Let's, let's, let's transition right into that. Right now. So when did you come up with the idea? You know, I'm kind of the process of bringing it from idea to a product that you're now knocking on, sporting goods doors, trying to get them to sell it for you.
00:46:37:18 - 00:46:57:02
Tom
And that was really a catalyst in giving me purpose and in what I was doing, what I'm doing now and, you know, I met a guy that had this park, you know, and he had a patent on it. And so I bought the patent from him and then created the business and, you know, just took off from there.
00:46:57:02 - 00:47:00:14
Tom
I knew it was something special because we had nothing like that when we were playing.
00:47:00:29 - 00:47:03:17
And, you know, I would.
00:47:03:17 - 00:47:23:21
Tom
Give these things away to any store that wanted them. They were like, We don't want we just take them, just take them, and you can pay for them later, you know? And you know, before I knew it, these people, they were ordering regularly for me and, you know, I feel like I've built up a lot of goodwill with the Green Biscuit, and it's not a gimmick.
00:47:23:21 - 00:47:29:00
Tom
It's a great trade. You know. So that was something that really, you.
00:47:29:00 - 00:47:31:08
Know.
00:47:31:08 - 00:47:33:21
Tom
Kind of jumpstarted my life after hockey.
00:47:34:18 - 00:47:37:05
Lance
How many years after you retired did that happen?
00:47:38:21 - 00:47:40:09
Tom
You know, that was probably.
00:47:43:18 - 00:47:49:13
Only see here probably a couple.
00:47:49:27 - 00:47:51:22
Tom
Two or three, not not.
00:47:51:22 - 00:47:52:05
Long.
00:47:52:18 - 00:48:11:04
Tom
And I'm thinking back to how so, you know, I started making these myself. I had a press, you know, a rivet press. And so I have to pull it down three times to make them. And I was like all gung ho, let's go, let's go. I had to have I had all the parts and I was doing it for like two or 3 hours and I'd done up like 150 pucks.
00:48:11:04 - 00:48:16:09
Tom
I'm like, okay, this is not going to work.
00:48:16:09 - 00:48:16:17
So.
00:48:16:24 - 00:48:39:09
Lance
So let me ask you this, this because I, I had at one time owned snipers edge hockey. And, you know, we've we did business together. But so I've taken an idea from an idea to a piece of paper to, you know, trying to find out your you're going into the next phase. You can make it. You're making these pucks yourself.
00:48:39:21 - 00:49:08:17
Lance
But just talk about all the steps that go into now what you're going to try to have automated or done by someone else. Packaging. If you're selling in Canada, you got to have French, the French version on there. I mean, just talk about some of the steps that go into having a product and then being able to actually contact sports saying, can you put it on the shelves?
00:49:08:17 - 00:49:09:08
Lance
Like you said?
00:49:11:00 - 00:49:34:24
Tom
Yeah, you know, I just you just knock out one thing at a time. I have a you know, a guy that I work with here in the Bay Area is great. He had the connections already in China, so it worked that way. I just you know, a lot of people said no and I didn't give up, you know, and that's part of, I guess, the hockey part that, you know, we don't there's there's still people that won't do this that won't take the green basket.
00:49:34:24 - 00:49:36:03
Tom
I'm like, you people are crazy.
00:49:36:13 - 00:49:36:26
You know.
00:49:37:08 - 00:49:43:06
Tom
Just try it, you know, again, I'll give you your money back if you don't like it. And they still refuse.
00:49:43:24 - 00:49:44:05
So.
00:49:45:27 - 00:50:07:07
Tom
You know, but not giving up. Keep knocking on doors. Keep being out there. But you know, things come up in life with the business and you just knock them down one at a time. But, you know, and having people I got a lot of people around me that they don't work. I'm the only employee at Green Biscuit, but I've got a lot of people that.
00:50:09:00 - 00:50:10:04
You know, work with me.
00:50:11:11 - 00:50:35:15
Tom
To solve the problems or to help me with the things I need help with. I like to do a lot of this stuff myself because then I know it gets done right. And the stuff that, you know, I'm not good at or don't want to do or it's, you know, above my pay grade, I farm out. So, you know, I was very fortunate with Green Biscuit as well.
00:50:35:24 - 00:50:38:10
Tom
You know.
00:50:38:10 - 00:50:38:17
But.
00:50:38:27 - 00:50:40:06
Tom
I saw the value in it.
00:50:40:23 - 00:50:41:06
And.
00:50:42:05 - 00:50:43:12
Tom
Took a chance, right?
00:50:44:00 - 00:50:45:21
Yeah. To.
00:50:46:04 - 00:50:46:15
Tom
To do.
00:50:46:15 - 00:50:52:08
It, you know.
00:50:52:08 - 00:50:59:04
Tom
I thought a lot of people, you know, nine out of ten businesses are going to fail. You know, that time.
00:50:59:04 - 00:50:59:24
Yeah, I'm.
00:50:59:24 - 00:51:12:17
Tom
Like, all right, well, not this one. Not this one, you know, and you should go on Shark Tank. That's the that people still tell me that today you got you want to go on shark tank.
00:51:12:17 - 00:51:28:08
Lance
I remember when, like I said, we're in the hard goods business and we're up at two tournaments in, let's say, Rosso or something like that. We go to I'd stop into the sporting goods store if they were carrying our product and just say hi and stuff and.
00:51:29:05 - 00:51:29:09
They.
00:51:29:15 - 00:51:49:19
Lance
Were talking about you. And then one guy says, that guy is just relentless. He will not stop. He just keeps and I said, I just said, give me some. I can handle it. This guy can't tell the time. So you are a junkyard dog. And I guess that's exactly what you need to be.
00:51:49:23 - 00:51:51:09
Well, if you got something.
00:51:51:09 - 00:51:58:24
Tom
You believe in, you know, I always said that I felt sorry for sales people that got to sell a crappy product.
00:51:58:24 - 00:51:59:02
You know.
00:51:59:12 - 00:52:09:11
Tom
You got to sell something that, you know is inferior, but you got to put lipstick on it to make it look good. You know, there's they're all over the place, you know, that wasn't the green biscuit. So.
00:52:10:22 - 00:52:11:04
You know.
00:52:11:17 - 00:52:27:27
Tom
Saucer pass, one touch pass, toe drags. That's that's what this puck excels at. And those are all skills that, you know, pretty labor intensive, you know, got to work at it. And if you do, you'll get better at it. It's not like something that.
00:52:28:07 - 00:52:28:16
You know.
00:52:29:00 - 00:52:46:18
Tom
This guy's a really fast skater and why can't I be as fast as I am? While you can train all you want, you're never going to be as fast as him. Just not going to happen. But, you know, can you can you prove you're close that gap and the stick handling department and stick and hand stuff. Sure I think and my puck allows you to do it.
00:52:46:18 - 00:52:52:15
Tom
You know, I'm you know, Trevor Zegras, you see him behind the net when he does that Michigan move?
00:52:53:01 - 00:52:54:16
Oh, you know.
00:52:54:24 - 00:52:59:01
Tom
I wonder if he were considering Biscuit probably when he was younger.
00:52:59:19 - 00:53:18:24
Lance
He might have had it on a stick. Yeah. So it just, it's no one's heard of it. I doubt they. There's a person exists that hasn't heard of Green Biscuit, but what are the benefits like for use? You know, why is this so great compared to other players talks?
00:53:20:00 - 00:53:26:21
Tom
Well, you know, it plays flat when you're working on it on a rough surface. So it's it's designed to work on asphalt and concrete.
00:53:27:13 - 00:53:28:25
It's not perfect. Right.
00:53:29:21 - 00:53:49:06
Tom
You know, but it but, you know, a lot of the kids now have the styles and and, you know, it it's it flies on the smoother the surface, the better the performance. But it doesn't need to have that distance. Let the other flexible vibrate and roll and flip up on end and the kid spends his whole time trying to get it to lay down and then not working on his skills.
00:53:49:09 - 00:53:52:01
Tom
So that that's kind of it in a nutshell.
00:53:53:12 - 00:53:55:00
You know.
00:53:55:00 - 00:54:14:05
Tom
You know, they say, well, you can train with a ball, you know, I mean, I'm sure you know that when you when you stick out the ball, your top hand is a little bit different than with a puck. At least that's my experience. And, and so I just noticed some differences. It's not big, but it is a difference.
00:54:14:05 - 00:54:39:28
Tom
And if you can train, you know, with the puck because that's what you play games with, I think that's what you should do. I mean, there's, there's the, you know, you can over speed train with balls and that's great. But I think you can overspeed train with a green disc and it's that smooth on it's probably faster than a puck is you know on a little touch lighter if you were on a tile it'd be it's probably a little monster.
00:54:39:28 - 00:55:15:05
Lance
But for what I used, I do ice, I use I probably use regulation pucks. The most, but we use a combination of balls or a green basket for for some drills. So, you know, I think it's good to have that variety. So I just I'm curious on this that just because there was a time when your your you had an ignition where you're like that product I can that's got some stickiness.
00:55:15:05 - 00:55:24:23
Lance
I want to be a part of that. So you by the patent and then you start the process of building a business. How big are you now? How big is your reach? Where are you globally?
00:55:26:14 - 00:55:27:18
Well, we're everywhere.
00:55:27:18 - 00:55:40:29
Tom
You know, I've got partners all over the world in different countries. And so, you know, Canadian tire huge. Dick's Sporting Goods.
00:55:41:12 - 00:55:41:28
Lance
Huge.
00:55:42:26 - 00:55:43:09
Yeah.
00:55:43:16 - 00:56:04:29
Tom
And then, you know, you got their pure hockey, you got your piranhas, you know, you know, hockey is a more of a niche niche sport. And, you know, the big box, for whatever reason, they're just they're not that, you know, they don't like hockey that much. It seems like they like lacrosse even more than they like hockey. And I don't know what that is.
00:56:04:29 - 00:56:16:24
Tom
If it's, you know, maybe they've been burned by hockey in the past. I could understand that. And they don't want to do it, you know, you know, I'm talking about the targets, the Walmarts.
00:56:17:15 - 00:56:18:00
You know.
00:56:18:28 - 00:56:35:01
Tom
That those those big box brick and mortar stores. But but, you know, we're pretty much everywhere. And adding adding people, you know, new accounts every every week.
00:56:36:00 - 00:56:38:27
You know.
00:56:38:27 - 00:56:44:16
Lance
So what does it what does a typical day look like for you now, Tom?
00:56:44:16 - 00:56:44:26
Yeah, well.
00:56:44:26 - 00:56:53:00
Tom
I'm up early here in California, and then I get to the gym every day, pretty much. And then I'm at work.
00:56:53:06 - 00:56:54:13
You know.
00:56:54:13 - 00:57:18:12
Tom
Probably, you know, six, 8 hours depending. And it's, you know, I don't look at it as work. You know, it's it's just it's it's it's fun for me, I guess, which is great. I've never was one that wanted to sit behind a desk, you know, boy, I would have been tough, you know, I'm just like I said, I'm very fortunate to get to do something I love.
00:57:18:12 - 00:57:22:24
Tom
I get to stay in the sport of hockey. I get to see these kids.
00:57:23:00 - 00:57:24:29
And, you know.
00:57:25:14 - 00:57:31:22
Tom
Play. I go to tournaments once in a while. I do that a lot more. When I was when it was just first starting out.
00:57:32:13 - 00:57:35:03
And but.
00:57:35:08 - 00:57:57:26
Tom
Pretty quiet life, you know, I don't skate much anymore. I do the little shirts. There's little sharks, you know, lessons for little kids, group lessons. I'm sure they have a little wild. I don't know what they call it there in Minnesota, but I think Ballard does it. I don't know if he still does, but he was.
00:57:59:16 - 00:58:00:18
So I don't know.
00:58:00:23 - 00:58:04:19
Tom
How much do you are still on the ice? A lot or not now.
00:58:05:14 - 00:58:26:16
Lance
I wasn't on the ice for a couple of years. And just because it's uncomfortable for me and my niece and nephew, they were just starting to get introduced to the skating. So I went out. There was a couple of times with them, just had knee surgery, couple ago. So I'm basically done because the next procedure I after that was in the Replacements.
00:58:26:16 - 00:58:28:15
So I just really.
00:58:29:05 - 00:58:29:29
Lance
Yeah, yeah.
00:58:30:24 - 00:58:34:28
Tom
Did you have more than a scope this time?
00:58:34:28 - 00:58:42:27
Lance
Not no, but there's just a lot. It's pretty arthritic and there's a couple of spots where it's down to the bone. So. Yeah.
00:58:42:28 - 00:58:43:26
What, what they.
00:58:44:13 - 00:58:47:17
Tom
How much time do you think you have before you do the replacement? Any idea?
00:58:48:09 - 00:59:22:13
Lance
Well, I can still inject it with cortisone or one of the injection drums, so we'll see how long it lasts here after the surgery. It's been really good and we'll go from there. So yeah, we're at that age, but I, I just, you know, I'm the same way working out. That's really important to me. And if my body is going to allow me to work out any morning, I'm that's the first thing I'm going to do.
00:59:22:13 - 00:59:24:19
Tom
I've got to do it in the morning, otherwise I don't do it.
00:59:25:03 - 00:59:40:14
Lance
Yeah. I can't get my good feels for the day. Yeah, another question. Don't have to answer it, but how many million dream biscuits are on this planet?
00:59:40:14 - 00:59:55:15
Tom
Yeah, we got a couple million out there. It's in the millions that seen. It's pretty cool. My goal was to put a, you know, put a green biscuit in every single hockey bag in the world.
00:59:56:03 - 00:59:57:11
Oh, cool. And what we.
00:59:57:20 - 01:00:21:06
Tom
What we found is that the kids collect them all got you know, I'll see parents like yeah I got about 35 or 40 of your plaques and like thanks for the support, you know the kids collect the different ones, you know, they got I got the NHL license so they collect those and and and so it's, you know, found that the kids have generally don't just have one green biscuit.
01:00:21:06 - 01:00:22:06
Tom
They've got more than one.
01:00:23:00 - 01:00:23:12
You know.
01:00:24:15 - 01:00:30:27
Lance
Even dads. Do I get a couple green biscuits. Yeah, that's dynamite.
01:00:31:03 - 01:00:32:06
So it's cool.
01:00:32:06 - 01:00:49:17
Tom
But is it can you can you can have a catch with your dad? You know, I played baseball and football. I threw the ball. Football and baseball. It was with with my with my dad. But I never did the green best because it wasn't around. But you can actually have a catch down with your dad, with the hockey in the street, which I think is cool.
01:00:50:03 - 01:00:57:00
Tom
Yeah. I don't know. I don't know how many do. But if I had, you know, kids now that played hockey, that's what I'd be doing with them.
01:00:58:10 - 01:01:26:04
Lance
Well, maybe. Maybe Coca-Cola or something. Or come out with those commercials, you know, or the father I'll go back to. You talked about you lived a pretty simple life, but it's a very consistent life, isn't it? Because if you want to have a chance to reach the higher mountain peaks, you got to be put in daily time and and you got to be consistent.
01:01:26:04 - 01:01:33:27
Lance
And this is this isn't for a weekend or a few months. This is this is your life.
01:01:33:27 - 01:01:35:13
Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:35:13 - 01:01:36:18
Tom
I just think that.
01:01:36:18 - 01:01:38:07
You know, you get with what.
01:01:38:07 - 01:01:39:05
Tom
You put in, you get out.
01:01:39:05 - 01:01:40:05
Lance
Of it, you got to you got.
01:01:40:05 - 01:02:03:13
Tom
To put the work in and there's no shortcuts. And I've got two daughters I'm trying to instill that in. And, you know, I wasn't perfect. I didn't do it necessarily the right way. But you look around and it's not too hard to see what works and what doesn't look at successful people and look what they do and copy them right to emulate them.
01:02:03:28 - 01:02:14:01
Tom
And so I worry about kids now. I don't know if people worried about us when we were younger, but I worry about kids now as far as what they.
01:02:14:01 - 01:02:15:25
Think and and.
01:02:17:03 - 01:02:18:09
Tom
How entitled they are.
01:02:18:09 - 01:02:21:07
And how they want everything.
01:02:22:10 - 01:02:29:15
Tom
For nothing. And boy, it's I don't know how it's all going to work out. I worry about that. I thought about getting back into coaching.
01:02:30:27 - 01:02:31:20
You know, and I probably.
01:02:31:20 - 01:02:31:28
Tom
Would.
01:02:31:28 - 01:02:33:01
But.
01:02:33:01 - 01:02:54:01
Tom
You know, I understand. I'm not for everybody, you know, I'm just not. I get that. So if I were to go back into coaching where I think I could make a difference and be kids that were a little bit older, you know, I was like the Barnum level. I don't know about you, but I like working with the band at least because those kids are strong enough and they have, you know, the intellect.
01:02:54:07 - 01:03:04:25
Tom
They're sophisticated enough to kind of articulate and understand what you're trying to show them, and they have the strength to try it, whether we're talking about a snapshot, a snapshot or.
01:03:06:04 - 01:03:06:26
You know, different.
01:03:06:26 - 01:03:14:25
Tom
Things like that. What do you what age groups you work with? I mean, are they all over the map or what is the general age group for you.
01:03:14:28 - 01:03:15:21
That you're working with?
01:03:16:26 - 01:03:44:03
Lance
I, I would say it's seasonal because at the end of the school year and the summer, that's where it's older because my college and pro players are coming back. But I would say, you know, I'm anywhere from very few six year olds do I train. They have to, you know, be pretty advanced, not not skill wise, but just attention being able to keep their attention a little bit.
01:03:44:03 - 01:04:07:05
Lance
But anywhere from seven to probably 13 is is the wheelhouse and and that's the younger ages are I've always been that way because that's where the growth is so noticeable. And I've always been a skill guy. I've never been a tactical guy. I've always had coaches that would do that. I always wanted the skill stuff. So It's interesting.
01:04:07:06 - 01:04:16:21
Lance
Now you're completely different, but we're doing the same thing, just, you know, different times of their developmental career.
01:04:16:21 - 01:04:17:23
Yeah, yeah.
01:04:17:23 - 01:04:33:29
Tom
I'll leave the tactical stuff for the coach to plan for and then, you know, I don't I just don't, you know, we don't have the rinks out. We don't have the ice. You know, there's a couple of office facilities that I that I go to that's got the fake ice or, you know, synthetic ice. It's pretty cool. They've got a treadmill there.
01:04:33:29 - 01:04:44:12
Tom
It's it's great. It's just a it's just about an hour away, though. So it's tougher for me to get to.
01:04:44:12 - 01:05:07:20
Lance
So couple more questions and I'm going to let you go. But just Jerry, you know, you're selling in the millions that are on the planet of the Green Biscuit. I mean, you're you're a successful person. So tell us a little bit about what makes you successful. I mean, do you are you a book reader or are you self-learning?
01:05:07:20 - 01:05:12:04
Lance
How do you stay motivated? What do you got going on there?
01:05:12:04 - 01:05:13:21
Yeah, I do a lot of.
01:05:13:24 - 01:05:26:21
Tom
I do a lot of reading. I wouldn't say book reading. I read a lot of articles, you know, and I like to look at successful people and and and see how they did it.
01:05:28:23 - 01:05:29:05
You know?
01:05:29:08 - 01:05:46:04
Tom
And I just I stay busy. I work hard at this. And, you know, some things work out, some things don't. We got a couple of new projects that I'm launching here to try and grow Green Biscuit. I'm hoping they're going to be successful. We'll see.
01:05:46:15 - 01:05:46:29
You know.
01:05:48:11 - 01:06:11:21
Tom
But those things keep me motivated, you know, keep me young. I don't like to. I get bored easy. I don't know about you so I need to keep myself, you know, incentivized to do stuff. And I think that's a challenge because getting complacent is is easy to do if you're not careful. I don't know. I don't know. Do you know who Jordan Peterson is?
01:06:13:06 - 01:06:16:10
Lance
I think I've heard the name, but I don't know anything about him.
01:06:17:13 - 01:06:27:22
Tom
He's a Canadian psychologist who's he's been on Rogan a bunch of times, and he just talks about personal responsibility.
01:06:28:11 - 01:06:28:26
You know.
01:06:30:08 - 01:06:50:02
Tom
He's not a real political guy, but they make him out to be a political guy because of some of the things he says are a little bit, I don't know, controversial. But he talks about a lot of stuff that makes sense to me that that resonates with me. And so there's a guy that I think that a lot of people can listen to, especially about young men.
01:06:50:02 - 01:06:55:08
Tom
He seems to I guess young men listen to him. But Jordan Peterson is a guy that like to listen to.
01:06:55:08 - 01:06:56:25
And he.
01:06:57:17 - 01:07:14:08
Tom
I like, you know, what he has to say. It makes sense to me. And I'm I'm so I do listen to him a lot. If you have a chance, you should check it out. He's all over it and you can see him on YouTube and stuff and send you some of the clips. Some of the clips that that that he has that I.
01:07:14:12 - 01:07:17:11
Think are worth watching. And so.
01:07:17:29 - 01:07:27:20
Lance
Awesome. So so you're you said you got a couple of things in the pipeline. Can you tell us anything a little further on it or.
01:07:28:24 - 01:07:38:27
Tom
Yeah, I'm going to keep those. They'll be out soon, you know, and a couple of fun projects that I got to decide if I'm going to do or not.
01:07:39:02 - 01:07:39:18
You know.
01:07:40:26 - 01:08:10:29
Tom
The green biscuits got a pretty cool following. You know, it's pretty loyal and, you know, it's it's it's a good it's been a good brand and it's a good brand in hockey. And it's, you know, it's it's it's growing. And so yeah, I'll probably just hold that close to the vest, but, but you'll see, I'll, I'll let you know when we're ready to announce something and you can, you can check it out then if that's okay.
01:08:11:21 - 01:08:21:08
Lance
Yeah. No that's, that's great. I just, I'm just throwing a solid to the greenest nation. Just, you know, I asked the question, he didn't give me the answer, so I didn't.
01:08:23:07 - 01:08:23:15
Do.
01:08:24:14 - 01:08:35:19
Lance
So well. And you're available all over the world. But if someone wanted to go to your website, is it green biscuit dot com?
01:08:36:19 - 01:08:46:20
Tom
It is or you can you know, you can buy on or you can go on Amazon. And, you know, most of the products that you see on Amazon are going to be fulfilled by me.
01:08:47:00 - 01:08:47:07
At.
01:08:47:07 - 01:08:49:09
Tom
My at my facility. So.
01:08:50:17 - 01:08:51:21
You know, it's pretty.
01:08:51:21 - 01:09:03:11
Tom
Funny. I've I've had some pretty funny orders come through, guys. I went to high school with. They don't they don't mention to me. They don't even send me a message. Hey, Tom, I'm going to order some pucks because maybe they don't think that I'm actually fulfilling it.
01:09:03:18 - 01:09:04:01
So.
01:09:04:05 - 01:09:24:26
Tom
So what I'll do is I'll just stuff a bag full of as many pucks as I can get, and they may be ordered to and they get like 15 and they're like, what? Some of that, some of the names. I've got some pretty famous people that have ordered pucks and I'm pretty I don't I don't actually reach out to them and say, but you know the name and you know the area where it comes from, it makes you wonder.
01:09:25:14 - 01:09:31:06
Tom
And a lot of NHL guys by a lot of NHL guys by pucks and I hook them.
01:09:31:06 - 01:09:36:01
Up, you know.
01:09:36:01 - 01:09:50:06
Tom
So but what's the guy? Fellini did it there. There's an article in the Star Trib about the Green Biscuit. A while back during the during the pandemic, he was he was shooting green biscuits and he credited the green biscuit with his new scoring prowess.
01:09:50:24 - 01:09:53:21
At I don't know.
01:09:53:24 - 01:09:57:18
Tom
What do you think's going to happen with The Wild in the Blues? It's a tough one, huh?
01:09:58:29 - 01:10:25:00
Lance
You know what? To be honest with you, I watched so much hockey this winter with my boys. I got a little burnt out, and I'm a playoff hockey junkie. My wife and I, after 30 years, have never taken a honeymoon. So we're on day two down in Florida here. So we watched a little bit of that, the Rangers last night in Pittsburgh, because there's a bunch of Ranger people down here.
01:10:25:00 - 01:10:29:05
Lance
So we're giving them crap. But how.
01:10:29:05 - 01:10:30:18
Come you're not.
01:10:30:18 - 01:10:34:11
Tom
Got any Gopher games this year?
01:10:34:11 - 01:10:48:13
Lance
You're going to. I went to one when my oldest, Ryan, was with the Wild. I went to his first game with the Wild and I went to the first with the Gophers and I never went to another game live. I watched them all, but I just didn't go.
01:10:48:17 - 01:10:49:20
Are you, are you, are you.
01:10:49:26 - 01:10:54:09
Tom
Are you worried about COVID or what is it or are you just what is why don't you go to the games.
01:10:54:21 - 01:11:20:07
Lance
Just because my business, I, I, I there especially during the school season, I'm limited on when I can train players. So even if, you know, I can train till 7:00, do two or three lessons in the evening and then just flip on the TV. So that's pretty much why. And for so many years, you're behind the bench watching the game from a different perspective.
01:11:20:07 - 01:11:28:17
Lance
You know, I had a 17 year coaching career, so it's nice to just be in an easy chair and watching as it. Yeah, you know.
01:11:29:26 - 01:11:31:18
Yeah, well, I.
01:11:31:18 - 01:11:42:29
Tom
Don't I don't go to many games. I don't go to many games anymore. We got an alumni suite with San Jose. I could go to every game if I wanted to. I don't have any interest in going to a lot of hockey games anymore, that's for sure.
01:11:43:24 - 01:11:48:16
Lance
Yeah. And my schedule's pretty tight too. I go, I'm in bed by 9:00.
01:11:49:29 - 01:11:53:04
Yeah, yeah, me too.
01:11:53:19 - 01:12:19:25
Lance
So, you know, it is what it is, but I enjoy it. I mean, to be honest with you, and you may answer it same way, but if when I when I'm worm dirt and I'm in the ground, I hope that I'm not remembered as a player. But for what I did as a coach, I mean, I, I don't know if you feel the same way that, you know, you want people to remember you more for what you did to the game, growing the game and figuring this out.
01:12:19:25 - 01:12:22:13
Lance
And what do you think?
01:12:23:13 - 01:12:25:12
Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah.
01:12:26:10 - 01:12:29:15
Tom
Hopefully, I'm not going to be in the dirt anytime soon, but you never know, right?
01:12:31:09 - 01:12:33:22
Lance
We're all going to some time. But I.
01:12:33:26 - 01:12:34:22
Am smart.
01:12:35:09 - 01:12:35:19
Tom
Right.
01:12:36:00 - 01:13:04:01
Lance
Now. I know that. I'm going to I'm going to be leaving singles. You know, I, I love what I do and I think you do as well. I, I, I truly am excited every morning to wake up. And one of the reasons I started this podcast is because I get in front of a lot of aspiring kids that have lofty goals in hockey and, and a lot of them lofty goals.
01:13:04:01 - 01:13:33:19
Lance
They're already thinking about what they're doing after hockey, preparing for that for medical school, being a lawyer. And I'm just because I think when we were drawing excuse me growing up that what we were being told, what your life is going to be is you go to high school, you get your diploma, you go to college, you get your degree, you get a job, you get married, you get a house, you start having kids and then you retire, you know?
01:13:34:15 - 01:13:56:13
Lance
But college was the the the to success what everyone would say. And I don't think that that yes, college is important, but there is so much opportunity as an entrepreneur today that I don't want them to not I don't want kids to just be honing in that you need to go to college. You don't.
01:13:56:13 - 01:14:00:07
Tom
Absolutely. I agree 100%. I agree 100%.
01:14:00:24 - 01:14:02:04
You know, you can we.
01:14:02:04 - 01:14:06:05
Tom
Look at all the guys that are successful, that don't have a college degree and there's a lot of them.
01:14:06:05 - 01:14:08:03
Out there, you know.
01:14:09:18 - 01:14:12:10
Tom
Yeah, I agree with that fully, you know.
01:14:12:27 - 01:14:39:01
Lance
Yeah. Awesome. Well, my friend very, happy, thank you for sharing your journey. The one thing that I'm grateful for is that you got off the rails. You kind of got on your knees when you fell down, but you got up and you found your way back. And you through hard work and persistence and a lot of grit. Yeah.
01:14:39:06 - 01:14:59:07
Lance
You created a business that is global now with over 300. Over 300 millions of products in the around the world. So thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations on an amazing hockey career and continued success here with the Green Biscuit Time. You're doing great things.
01:15:00:17 - 01:15:06:12
Tom
All right, Lance, it was it was great talking to you. And, you know, next time I'm in town, hopefully it will.
01:15:06:12 - 01:15:07:10
Be maybe.
01:15:07:10 - 01:15:08:25
Tom
Next time at the tournament. You can.
01:15:09:02 - 01:15:09:16
You can.
01:15:10:12 - 01:15:12:11
Tom
Walk on through and we can say hello to each other.
01:15:13:06 - 01:15:32:26
Lance
That would be awesome. And if you need anything from me to help with your business or anything, please don't hesitate. I don't know what I can do, but we're definitely excited to to share this episode with all the listeners. So, again, thank you, Tom, and continued success.
01:15:34:06 - 01:15:35:16
Tom
All right, thanks, Lance.
01:15:35:16 - 01:15:55:07
Lance
Well, that concludes another episode of the Hockey Journey podcast. I can't thank you enough for stopping by and listening. I hope you enjoyed the interview and if you think there's someone in your circle of family and friends that might enjoy this episode as well, please share with just one person. It will really help me in drawing this hockey community again.
01:15:55:07 - 01:16:07:07
Lance
I appreciate you being here. Don't forget to subscribe, rate or submit a review. I hope to see you back here soon. And do me a favor. Make someone close to a smile today. All the best, my friends.
