Hello, it's Hockey on the Beach podcast and Daria
Mironova. While we stay active delivering episodes
in Russian, it's crucial to revive our English
broadcasting, so here we go. Women's hockey takes
a special place in my heart. I'm happy to know
so many amazing coaches and players who grow
the game globally. Today, we meet Brian Idalsky.
a head coach of the St. Cloud State University
women's hockey program who has been successful
on the international stage by coaching Olympic
team China and winning two cups with the funky
race in Russia. Needless to say, Brian and I
hosted a TV program on the KHL -TV. Good job!
Meet coach Brian Idalsky. Brian, thank you for
your time. I was looking forward to this one
for about three years. well it's awesome i'm
a big fan it's great to be able to talk to you
again did you have your morning coffee already
actually i'm uh just hitting my first cup right
now with me talking to you so big coffee person
enjoy it but uh i haven't finished my first cup
yet yeah i've heard about it what is that with
your love for coffee uh to be honest with you
it really started with uh associate head coach
when i was at north dakota peter lander introduced
me to Swedish coffee, told me it was super good.
And from that point on, we started to buy different
kinds of beans and get a grinder in the office.
And we just turned into a staff of coffee snobs.
And so. That continues with me today. I have
a grinder in the office. I come in the morning,
grind up some beans, make a big pot for the whole
staff and everybody, and, you know, buy beans
wherever we go. Anytime we're on the road and
there's a little coffee shop, I'll always buy
some beans and try them. It just became a thing
over the years. That's amazing. At least now
I know what I can give you. You can't go wrong
with some good beans that you've come across
in a little coffee shop somewhere. what about
tea i mean you used to work in russia and you
know people over there are really big on tea
um yeah even in china um i got into a little
bit of tea culture i still enjoy coffee more
though I do have a bunch of tea from my time
overseas and really enjoyed white tea thought
that that was great and have some great bricks
that were given to me by some people while I
was there so every once in a while I'll dip into
tea but the honesty is coffee still my number
one thing let's talk about a different country
you just came back from the Czech Republic where
I believe you enjoyed the women's world championship
how was your trip and What did you drink there?
It was my first time in Czech, so I had heard
a lot about Czech beer from some different players
who have played for me from there, and they were
not wrong. Czech beer is very good, so enjoyed
that. I thought... that they did a great job
putting on the world i thought some of the marketing
just the atmosphere around the rink the beer
gardens they had between games outside the weather
was great Obviously, they set some attendance
records, but it was a super good atmosphere.
I thought they did a great job of promoting the
game, and I thought the games themselves were
pretty excellent. Obviously, you know, both medal
games going to overtime and just being competitive
and both round robin pools. It was a good event.
Women's hockey continues to grow and improve
and get better. It was nice to see. I thought
it was a great event all the way around. I don't
really like to compare, but for people who, let's
say, have never been to Europe, can we say that
Women's World Champ is up to the level of the
Frozen Four over here? Oh, I would tell you this
one in particular, the atmosphere, the crowd.
Yeah, it's way better in Europe. I wish that
more people had the opportunity to go overseas
to experience that in person. Because as fans,
what we grew up with and what we think is an
interactive group is completely different. uh
overseas when you start talking about the drums
and the fan groups and fans and flags and just
the whole atmosphere is completely different
um never really got that growing up in north
america so um the world championships uh when
they're hosted in europe i think are always just
a much different atmosphere i mean canada's one
thing but the us i still don't think we've gotten
that to uh the level that it could be or should
be when it comes to marketing and some of the
other stuff but uh no it was a super good tournament
very interesting okay something you in saint
cloud state can be proud of nine players including
five active huskies were representing their nations
did you feel like oh my god i am so proud of
these girls and myself too Well, since I've only
been here three years, I did not coach every
one of those players. But obviously, we have
a fair amount of players now and who had just
graduated when say five or six who I actually
coached here. Anytime you help elite athletes
achieve goals and be a part of things like that,
it's pretty cool. It's happy to see them do well
and obviously the connections here. you know
you really feel a little bit of like a part of
it when you see them do well and take pride in
that and so yeah it was it was awesome to see
them do well but I'm also I've done this for
a while so there's actually another group of
players who I coached at North Dakota who are
still competing who It was super good to see
them play. They're a little bit older. They've
been playing professionally now for almost 10
years. And Andrea Dolan, who played for me at
North Dakota, for her to have the opportunity
to compete in the top level of the World Championships
with Norway and then score their first goal,
that was... Pretty awesome to be in and around
and to see that obviously Michelle Carvin and
Suzanna Tappany played for me as well at North
Dakota so that group and watching them do well
and win a bronze medal with Finland was super
cool and Nice to see them continue to play at
a high level and have success. So Yeah, it's
fun to be around that and see and know that You
played a small part in their lives and helping
them, and there's a lot of pride that goes along
with that. So it was super fun, for sure. I mean,
that's amazing, because I think we kind of forget
about that, how big you are at the international
stage. I mean, that's amazing when you have such
a big group of players who are able to represent
their nations and just grow, grow, grow. Yeah,
I mean, it's not... It's not entirely me. I mean,
our staff way back when. I mean, that was a very
years ago. That was a very targeted recruiting
plan for me to go overseas. I'm not shy about
the fact that Peter Lander was a big mentor and
friend and really helped with that. But it was
also me growing up in Detroit and. Watching the
amount of Swedish players get drafted and be
excellent in an area that was smaller than, you
know, the state of Michigan. Watching, you know,
the Russian Five and how successful Detroit was
because of the way they played and the style
that they played and puck possession and that
being. more the way the women's game was opposed
to the men's game that I grew up where it was
more clutch and grab and everybody just hammering
each other and very physical and You know, all
kinds of obstruction. I still joke with kids
that we practiced obstruction like 20 minutes
every practice, like literally how to put a stick
on somebody to hold them up, but then let go
so you wouldn't get a penalty and then hold them
again. So there were a lot of influences that
kind of led me to that point. But there's no
doubt that I had a fair amount of success with.
coaching players all over the world and really
have embraced that and learned from that and
it's It's been a great journey to have those
experiences. I think it's made me a better person,
definitely made me a better coach. What about
the Olympics? I know it's a pre -Olympic season
and I'm sure some of your players will want to
go to Italy. And I don't know about the rules,
but does the NCAA season stop? No, we will continue
to play. Our players, specifically from European
countries, because they have never... centralized
will just miss time during our season to go compete
in the Olympics. So they'll miss a month, month
and a half between semesters. So it's very interesting.
how different schools handle that with academics
and with their course loads obviously they have
to be very good students to be missing some of
that time and you also need the help of your
administration and faculty staff to support those
players and luckily ours do they understand that
that's not only a big deal for our players to
have that opportunity to represent their country
and play in the Olympics, but also what that
does and how that reflects on the university
itself and the attention that brings to have
us associated with, you know, culturally one
of the greatest athletic competitions the world's
ever known. So super cool. So they'll miss a
little bit of school. We kind of prepare for
that and kind of understand that. Our roster
will probably need to be a little bit larger
in Olympic year in anticipation for missing some
players. So we support them. It's a big deal.
That's really why they come here is development
wise to improve so they can play in those arenas.
So it'll be a fun year. We're really proud and
excited. We have potentially five players who
will play in the Olympics in Italy coming up
this next year. when you got back to the ncwa
hockey after professional women's hockey did
you feel like you had to adjust change something
in your game um that's a great question i honestly
was a little bit worried about coming back into
the ncaa just because of the fact i knew the
landscape had changed dramatically with some
of the recruiting rules and some of the things
that are going on in college athletics but i
was also concerned because I can be pretty direct
and I enjoy coaching and I enjoy correcting and
teaching. And I think this generation sometimes
gets a bad rap for not being receptive or the
perception that this, you know, age group and
generation is soft. So I was a little concerned
how I would handle that. And, you know, it was
easy to have conversations with professional
players. They're older, they're more mature.
They've experienced things in the game so they
can talk at a little higher level and kind of
give you feedback on what they're seeing and
what they're feeling and what's going on. And
you can have a much higher level conversation.
So I was worried about that. But honestly, I
was very lucky. The group was very hungry. to
learn they were very hungry to make some changes
in the way that they went about their business
as hockey players here they took on a much more
professional attitude and level and honestly
the biggest thing was they were super hungry
to be coached and to get feedback and to be coached
and so the transition went better than I would
ever have imagined. We were pretty successful
immediately even though talent wise we weren't
the most talented group that first year but a
great group of kids and they made my transition
pretty easy for me by Working really hard and
being very coachable. I believe 18 wins, right?
That was correct. So I think they had nine or
eight the year before. So we doubled our wins.
And what is, it's not even arguably, what is
the toughest conference in NCAA hockey in the
WCHA? I mean, we consistently have. four and
five teams ranked in the top 10 throughout the
years so um it's the best of the best i think
the wcha has won pretty much every national championship
uh but two in like 25 years coach of the year
award it's something that you you have experienced
quite a few times and what lesson do you take
from that that's also interesting because i feel
like that is an outdated award and term to be
honest with you um 25 years ago there was a head
coach and you'd be lucky if you had an assistant
coach and that was it so I don't really feel
like a head coach award is as much of a thing
because we have I'm super blessed to have staff
so I have three assistant coaches look at them
and treat them as equals i have a video coach
you know i have a athletic trainer i have an
equipment manager like i there are a lot of people
that uh support and are here and pushing in the
right direction and who are helping us be successful.
So I feel like that should be changed to be a
staff award because there are a lot of people
that that goes into. I actually feel a little
uncomfortable with one person being singled out
because there are a lot of people that go into
the success of a program. And for us, there's
a lot of people that went into, you know, us
turning the program around. It wasn't just me.
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. That's something
I want to talk about for the league and for the
national award stuff. I think we should change
that to a staff award and not just a coach award.
That's a great point. I think it goes the same
even like with the KHL when people say, oh, this
coach deserves this and that. But usually people
mean that the team deserves it. 100 % because
you're not, you can't run. two power play units
you can and run the PK and run the D zone and
the overall structure and manage personalities
like without good people around you and the ability
to delegate some of that stuff one person is
not doing that anymore so let's hear it for your
team then perfect love that but on your social
media occasionally you post inspirational quotes
is that for yourself for players or people around
you a little bit of all of the above sometimes
i can be a little negative and so some of that's
just uh for me to remind myself to you know be
in the moment and kind of make sure that i'm
doing the right things and i'm modeling the right
behaviors and i'm reminding myself of what's
important and what it means to be doing what
I'm doing. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sometimes
putting it out to get a message to our team.
There are times there are things we're talking
about in the locker room and then sometimes like
material come to me and, you know, I should read
more books like I did earlier in my career. But
there's so much good content and podcasts and
like social media postings that I get a lot of
that stuff now from being on those kind of. And
so I'll post that because it'll end up being
something we've talked about as a team and share
it with them and put it on stuff. So, yeah, I'm
big into that. I'm big into what you surround
yourself in. I'm big into, you know, what kind
of message you're putting out for yourself and
how you're talking to yourself and talking in
and around other people. And so it's good to
surround myself with some of that stuff for sure.
well thank you and i use it i'm sure a lot of
people find it very helpful yeah i probably spend
so much time looking at stuff but uh i i enjoy
it and i do i do think that uh and i believe
that That stuff helps to be reminded of that
and to surround myself with some of those messages
to reinforce some of my beliefs and what I believe
and to keep me in a positive state of mind and
reference and to not get down when things aren't
going great. uh get caught up too much in the
day -to -day and i always make sure that i have
uh as i stay in the moment that i still understand
that uh that's a process and that their goals
that we're working to and they take time and
it's nothing is immediate um when it comes to
buildings so as a coach i think the next question
is really helpful to parents and the players
as a coach what are you looking for in a new
player So everyone always asks this question
and it's not easy to answer. I try to explain
like every situation is different. I think people,
especially coaches, when you're recruiting for
whatever team you're building, talent is one
thing. Absolutely. We need to be able to skate,
need to be able to, you know. handle a puck need
to have some hockey IQ need to be able to compete
be physical like all these intricate pieces are
important your character your work ethic so just
picking out a couple I think is wrong here's
the best advice that I was ever given and it's
you need to be really honest with yourself about
who you are, what kind of player you are, and
you need to be great at one thing. So whatever
that one thing is that you can bring to a team
that no one else can bring. Unfortunately, everyone
thinks that that's scoring goals. Everyone thinks
that, you know, I've got to be on a successful
team where I'm always putting the puck in the
net or, you know, putting up a lot of points.
When we're building a team, We understand there's
certain people that, yes, we need people who
can put the puck in the net. But there's so many
other things and roles we're trying to fill.
I don't need, you know, 12 forwards who cheat
on the offensive side of pucks and, you know,
play for offense and have holes in their game.
Like, don't play a 200 -foot game. I need kids
who... are grade F1 and always hound the puck
and are relentless. I need kids that always back
check to the house and are very responsible and
always understand getting above the puck when
it turns over and always thinking about what
might go wrong. I need kids that block shots
and kill penalties and always win their board
battles. And so every given cycle, You're kind
of evaluating as a coach, whether it's pro, NCAA,
about what your team is missing. And you're trying
to bring in somebody who can fill that role.
At least I do. So I recruit very much with the
roster I have and trying to pair them up with
other people that I think they would play well
with. I feel like we're deficient in an area
bringing players, I think, address that and kind
of make us better, deeper and more talented in
those areas. That could be as minute as a physical
defenseman that just boxes out really well. That
can be, you know, as minute as someone who's
really good at board battles and defending in
the D zone. So there isn't one thing, unfortunately.
But I do believe, Daria, that people sometimes
get busy chasing exposure instead of working
on their craft to be great at one thing. Oh,
I totally get it. I mean, I agree and I think
you answered this question perfectly. It still
goes... back to the youth hockey. Because like
you said, everyone is focusing that their kids
need to score, score, score. But when you're
a child, you need to focus on developing different
skills. So when you actually go to the university,
you know what are your good skills. Yeah, everyone
wants to be a center, roam around and score goals.
But every level, everyone's looking for a solid
shutdown defenseman. But there's very few of
them at every level who are competent and very
good at that. So it's always very interesting
to see how kids kind of come through. I mean,
my goodness, I've had what I enjoy now really
is players who have played both positions and
are good at both positions. I've had a fair amount
of kids who played forward their whole life.
And so they're weak at skating backwards. So
now when you lock a lane and try to get them
to go backwards to forwards and angle. they're
not really good at it. They can't do it. Or defensemen
who, you know, you start to teach joining the
rush and being engaged in the offense and attacking
as a group of five in the O zone and they get
a puck below the goal line and they panic with
it and throw it away because they're not comfortable
handling pucks in those situations because they've
been a D their whole life and just stand on the
blue line. Being a well -rounded player with
the way that the game is going is super important.
And the biggest thing now for us acquiring players
at our level is dealing with the increased physicality
and understanding what competing hard really
looks like and that it's okay. What about the
coaches who want to grow and reach the NCAA level?
Do you have any advice for those guys? Well,
if I've learned anything over my time is that
I personally feel like the hockey stuff is very
easy. Lots of people can drop a drill at practice
and run a drill. That's probably the easier things
that we do. um we're in a people business being
good with people networking getting people um
to know you feel comfortable with you being exposed
to them and kind of so networking is such a big
thing going to conferences working camps continually
learning new things and exposing yourself to
different things and learning from people um
i feel like that really big when you build a
coaching staff you're in small quarters working
long hours for a long time and so you want to
be around people that you enjoy that you know
have a solid work ethic and are students of the
game and love the game and that's being at the
rink is their happy place so It's really hard
to get to know someone just going through an
interview process. So I would tell you networking.
Don't be shy to introduce yourself to people
and ask questions and get engaged with that.
You'd be shocked at how many people would be
more than happy to help you, advise you, guide
you, have a conversation and share experiences.
I think that's what makes hockey. so special
is it's such a close -knit small community that
I think we easily go out of our way to help other
people and kind of talk and have those discussions
and grow the game so get yourself out there talk
to people and when you were growing up who did
you look up to well I was lucky to play for some
pretty good coaches who I kind of laugh with
our kids because when i was younger if i was
going to learn anything i had to be in front
of that person i had to be at that camp i had
to be working with them or introduced to them
or meet them in person um so getting information
was hard you really had to work for it you had
to be there um kids coming up now my goodness
you can go on instagram and follow the 10 best
skill coaches in the world and run through content
information isn't a problem them actually getting
up every day and like putting in the work a small
amount every day over a long period of time like
that that is a harder task um i think for the
younger generation so i i tell people that my
first year or so of coaching i worked like eight
to ten weeks of camp in the summer and it wasn't
to get richer for the money it was just to learn
to be exposed to things to pick up things to
listen to other people how they taught things
drills that they ran and stole those drills like
that was a big part of me developing and getting
better and I was lucky to you know be surrounded
by some pretty good people in those time frames
too and kind of learn a lot from a lot of different
people so but for sure I mean it was Bruce Garber
was the first I played for Bruce for a couple
years he was the first person to give me a coaching
job he played for Lou Lamorello at Providence
Obviously, Mark Johnson played for Madison early
in my career. You know, it was kind of influential
a little bit. One of the best coaches I ever
had was my junior coach. He was in still. probably
is the one i most like in my personality with
how i go about my day -to -day and commitment
to improving uh not only as a person and studying
the game but just work ethic and grit and what
it takes to be successful so um yeah those were
people i looked up to and uh were kind of important
to me in the early years of me getting into coaching
and playing Something I just remembered, you
recently reposted Chris Pronger's quote, the
ability to show up even when you don't feel like
it, the most underrated skill in life. Yeah,
100%. I thought that was awesome. And, you know,
that was... In my career, I didn't have anyone
necessarily kind of... giving us that kind of
information like it was very spotty and weight
training didn't really understand it i don't
think i consistently lifted till i got to college
at 20 um and now you've got kids at 14 15 or
you know being exposed to having world -class
strength and conditioning coaches and being on
exercise programs and uh are taking care of their
bodies but To be honest with you, that quote
reminded me of Jocelyn and Monique Lamer, who
played for me in North Dakota and obviously with
the U .S. Olympic national team, because they
embodied that to me. There was nobody who did
work on a daily basis. like those two kids over
a long period of time like from the moment I
first met them as like 14 year old 15 year old
kids it was easy to see their work ethic but
to watch them over the course of that time frame
in college and deal with adversity but those
kids showed up on a daily basis and I always
tell people like they they weren't the tallest
kids or biggest kids they were you know, five,
six, which is kind of undersized nowadays a little
bit. They weren't our strongest kids. I had kids
that were, you know, lifted more weights and
tested better in the weight room. They weren't
our best skaters, but my goodness, those two
kids were so competitive and they worked hard
day in, day out over eight plus years to get
to the point where They make those plays in Sochi.
To me, there's no greater human beings or players
than those two because I got a front row seat
to watch them work so hard over such a long period
of time to be in that moment. Actually, I think
I know one girl who stood out when she was still
a teenager. Well, she's still a teenager, but
I mean, Maria Mikhailian, you know that name
too. The first time I met her, she was probably
about 14. And I'm just so happy that she is committed
to the university where she will be able to work
with you. Yeah, I'm super happy to reconnect
and to see her again. And so, yeah, looking forward
to her coming in next year as a first year collegiate
athlete. I kind of joke with people. that she
has some characteristics of being kind of a female
vetchkin she can really shoot a buck and she's
got a good knack around the net and still has
that kind of physical presence as well so which
is funny because he ran over cole caulfield and
that's my college teammate's son and so i got
a chuckle out of that i thought he gave a great
app interview afterwards and they asked him how
that felt and he said yeah I wouldn't recommend
that that wasn't great so I'm super happy to
have Maria come in next year I think she's gonna
have a great career here collegiately for us
yes I'm very happy for her too and thank you
for that because I believe she will eventually
be able to grow up in a high caliber national
team player too well that's the hope i would
hope that we kind of develop her to a point where
uh you know she's able to uh compete at that
level i definitely think she has the ability
and the talent um so um yeah looking forward
to that and you already mentioned 25 and i'm
talking about 25 year mark anniversary for you
did you have any party anniversary No, I think
when you get older, you just kind of pass that
by. It's just a reminder of how much time's passed.
And so, no, won't make a big deal about that.
Why not? You have to. It's a lot. It's a big
deal. Yeah, that's not my style. What about some
quotes about that? I wouldn't even know what
to say. I love what I do. I enjoy doing it. You
know, something that always stuck out with me
was I was playing some kind of board game with
some friends and a couple of couples. And one
of the cards was something to do with if you
could do anything in the world, what job would
you have? And, you know, my friends were, you
know, saying, oh, I'd love to do this as a professional.
I'd love to do that. And it's like it came to
me and I was like, yeah, I really like what I
do. I don't think I would want to do anything
else. Like this is it for me. So I feel very
blessed to do what I do. It's fun. It's rewarding.
And, you know, I still enjoy it. going on the
ice shooting the puck off the glass every once
in a while letting everyone know that i used
to play a little bit and so it's still fun going
back into your playing years have you ever imagined
that you're gonna find your success in women's
hockey uh absolutely not um i think just generationally
where i grew up those opportunities didn't exist
i like Most males, you grow up and you think
you're going to the NHL in some capacity. And
even when I started coaching, I thought I was
really smart and I knew everything early on and
that I was going to be a high riser and move
up through things. And so as you get older, you
start to look around the landscape and you understand
that it's... uh difficult and so i just feel
very fortunate uh that i've been able to continue
to do it as long as i i've done it i know there's
a lot of people who would love to do it and don't
get those chances and or get one shot and for
whatever reason it doesn't work out and they
don't get another chance so i feel very just
blessed that um uh that i continue to be able
to do that so i guess i don't want to celebrate
because i don't want to jinx it Oh, that's a
good point. See, we made it. We made to that
point. Okay, that's a good point. Maybe I'll
celebrate it when I retire because of old age
or something. But I still enjoy, you know, and
as you get older, people ask you if you want
to do other things. You want to GM, you want
to, you know, scout, you want to be a commissioner,
you know. And the fact is, I still really like
being... on the ice I love running practice I
love running the bench in a game and line matchups
and going back and forth with our coach and trying
to figure out what's best for our club to be
successful against any given opponent and the
preparation like I still think that that stuff's
awesome it's awesome it's true but you have to
tell us how does it feel when you have to do
it for international players For people who speak
different language, how does it change? Like
the way you talk hockey? Well, it's funny because
when I came back, the cadence of my speech had
changed. So everyone has a certain level of English,
but we talk really fast in our native tongue.
So it was hard for people to understand. So I
had to be very deliberate. I had to really slow
down and pause between words. And I think when
I came home, people thought I was simple a little
bit because of that. But I just learned how important
communication is, was, and how effective it is
when you speak clearly about what your expectations
are and what you want players to do and how you
want them to. do things I think that learn to
be very good explaining the why of everything
that we're doing so everyone knows why we do
certain things and how it fits into the bigger
game and how it fits for what we're going to
do against the next opponent and why it's important
for the long haul and for the end of the year
and what these things mean and every drill. that
we're doing has a piece to improving us for the
bigger picture and being able to have players
understand why we do things a certain way. So
that, that was, I think that was super huge for
me. Cause you're right. I mean, when I was overseas
with the Chinese team in Russia, I mean, I think
we had players from eight different countries.
So. It was fun. I enjoyed it. There were obviously
some of those challenges in trying to communicate,
but I thought we did a good job of spending time
to overcome some of that so people understood
and being accessible to answer questions as much
as possible outside of rink time and explain
things super well. Another thing that people
probably don't understand, yes, you can get ready,
you can explain, but... when it's a game time
you don't have time it's all about reaction and
that's why preparation was so important so that
they they knew but that's definitely a conversation
like and that's getting to know your players
and because there's numerous times i'm like i
need you to trust me i don't have time to explain
in the moment in a game But I will sit with you
afterwards and tell you what I see, how I see
it, and why I believe what I did. But right now,
you just need to do what I'm asking you to do.
So that's some of the equity. And also in explaining
to players that playing time is trust. It's me
trusting you to do the right thing in the right
moment at the right time. And it's you trusting
me that I'm putting in situations for you and
the team to be successful. That goes back to
relationships. That's hard to do if you do not
have a relationship with a player and an understanding
of knowing who they are as people and what their
motivations are and them knowing what your expectations
are and what your role is for them and how they
can best help the club. As a Michigan kid, are
you still... the fan of the Detroit Red Wings.
100%. I still read the Detroit Free Press every
morning. It's been a tough few years, but I do
believe that, you know, they're doing the right
things. They're drafting well. Their younger
player pool is very good. But you don't win with
20 -year -olds, 22 -year -olds in the NHL. Like,
you still need a veteran base. And they're kind
of missing that talent at those older, mature
levels. And there are definitely still some holes
in the roster. But, you know, I lived through
25 years straight of them making the playoffs.
I guess I can ride through nine or ten if not.
So I've still been... Pretty spoiled as a fan
of the Red Wings. And like I said, that's been
pretty influential on me growing up and watching
that program be built and watching them fail
and then be successful and just the change in
the game and the international players and the
success that they had with Detroit. And so, yeah,
I'll always be a fan. What about the Russian
Five? Have you ever had a chance to meet someone?
I did. And so that's a great story because we
were in Ufa and I can't remember what team at
the time, but some of our players were playing.
What club is the old French Canadian coach at?
He's a legend there. Been there a long time.
Avant -garde? Oh, avant -garde. Yes. Yes. So
they were in the same hotel and one of the older
assistant coaches started talking to a couple
of our Canadian kids. And so he started talking
to me and he was like, oh, yeah, like, where
are you from in Michigan? Oh, yeah. Red Wings
fan. Same thing. He's like, oh, Slava Kozlov's
on our staff. And so he came down and had breakfast
and he introduced me and I was just like. That's
crazy. Like, how cool is that? I got to meet
him in person in Russia. Like, yeah, so that
was cool. And then I did get a chance to watch
a Datsun play when we were in his hometown. So
that was awesome, too, because I think that arena
is like five thousand, seven thousand. And, you
know. I was maybe eight rows away and taking
pictures of him taking face -offs. And he's still
throwing backhand sauce from one sideboard to
the other and made it look effortless. That was
cool. I'd seen him play in Detroit, you know,
as a kid a fair amount. But I was like 20 ,000
arena. I was up in the nosebleeds. So that was
such an intimate setting and being that close
and watching him. That was super cool. That's
it as far as my Detroit and Russia experiences.
Didn't get to meet Datsuk, but I did meet Kozlov,
so that was awesome. What about Sergey Fedorov
or Igor Larionov? I mean, you guys were so close.
I know, and I never was able to cross paths or
track anyone else down, so Larionov. plastered
all over the rink in southern Moscow that we
played with 3 .62. And so I took a bunch of pictures
of that and sent it back to my family. I thought
that was very cool in the history and that rink
and him growing up in that program. Yeah, I love
that. I'm a big history fan, so I enjoyed going
to different rinks and walking around and seeing
different players that played in different organizations
and where they ended up and playing in the NHL.
I thought that was super cool. And I love that
about my experience, just going to the different
areas and towns and rinks. And so I thought that
that was super cool. Yeah, I kind of feel bad
because if I knew about your... Russian Five,
Childhood, and Detroit. I would invest more time
in trying to make sure that you meet all of them.
Now I feel so bad. Well, that's all right. Before
I'm done and it's all said and done, hopefully
I get back in some capacity and then I can maybe
cross paths with them as well. And I'm sure we're
going to meet too. I mean, right now I'm in Florida.
You are in where you are. It's off season. NCA
coaching is everyone kind of chuckles like, what
do you do in the summer? I recruit. So I'm in
a rink and going to different areas and scouting
players throughout most of the summer. So there
really isn't an off time for us. But the NCA
coaches convention is coming up in another week
or so. Naples, Florida. So that was probably
the smartest thing that the Coaches Association
ever did. About probably 30 years ago, they decided
to have the Coaches Convention and Conference
down in Florida. So that's been a rite of passage
for us to go to the nice weather coming up in
the beginning of May, end of April. So I'll be
down in Florida soon. Are you going to play golf?
No. Um, wife comes down with me, so, um, the
restaurants, um, there's, you know, meetings
for our leagues and national meetings. And so
I have a sprinkle into some of that. Not much
of a golfer when I go down there, though I try
when I'm up north once in a while, but I definitely
don't get out as much as I would like to. So
I don't think you can be good going out, you
know, two to four times a summer. That's not
really how that works. That's another interesting
detail that I learned about you today, the golf.
When you practice obstruction and cross -checking
people, it wasn't really good for my swing either.
So I would tell you, not very fluid. a little
uh a little clunky with my swing so that is so
funny well thank you so much for your time i
really enjoyed it thank you and you should know
that i have really huge hopes for you i'm not
going to share them i appreciate that and i've
always been a big fan i appreciate what you do
not only for hockey but women's hockey and your
platform and i feel very fortunate to have crossed
paths with you over in russia to call you a friend
Thank you so much. You're too nice. Thank you.