6°of Roger Neilson

In episode six,  catch up with Coach Greg Ireland. 

Coach Ireland has a really interesting coaching background 

He’s head coached at the major junior level, American hockey league level, ECHL, and spent several years coaching in the Swiss league, which is considered to be one of the top leagues in Europe. He’s currently coaching in the Italian league in Bolzano, Italy..I’ve been there before...what a beauty place to be a coach. Great opportunity to explore and grow from. 

Today we get into so many interesting parts of Coach Irelands coaching experiences. 

We discuss what he has learned from legends like Wayne Gretzky and Pavel Datsyuk. 

We discuss the lessons he has learned from going out and educating himself in European coaching cultures...some great coaching wisdom he shares with us about his time in Sweden and Finland. 

We talk about how he has used parenting to help him as a coach, and how he has been able to use his experience as a coach to help his parenting. 

And we discuss all kinds of experiences he’s had with leadership exposure, including what he’s learned from the navy seals, and how he was able to implement coaching development he had received from a Cornell leadership course he had taken to help him improve his coaching game. 

Looking forward to taking you on this very interesting conversation with Coach Greg Ireland.

Mark Eaton played 13 seasons in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, and Pittsburg Penguins where he won a Stanley cup. He is the only player to ever come from Delaware and he is currently the Director of Player Development for the Chicago Blackhawks.

We had a great discussion about coaching at the youth level and where he feels the focus should be at this level. Mark spoke about how he made a career for himself in the NHL. We also talked at length regarding leadership in the game, how you incorporate it and why failure and adaptability are so important to a players success in today's game.

Mark shared his thoughts on Sidney Crosby’s leadership style and what made him so unique to be around. You'll also hear Mark share the most important skill he feels players must possess today to succeed.

We have Dan Lacroix joining us today. 

Dan is currently the head coach of the Moncton Wildcats in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He played in the NHL for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders. 

Besides Moncton, Dan has also coached for 11 years in the NHL for the NY Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. We had a great conversation on this episode where we dove into what he discovered about becoming a professional player in the game. We got into how he evolved as a coach, how he connects with his players, how he coached and parented his own kid, his thoughts on how to handle parents for our youth coaches, what the schedule feels like to be a coach today, and the non-negotiable skills you must possess if you want to coach in the NHL one day. We discussed some great nuggets he learned from Roger himself, and what is one common trait he’s noticed about some of the best coaches in the game.

Mike Foligno has played over 1000 games in his NHL career and then had a successful coaching career in the NHL, AHL & OHL...In this episode, we explore the importance of teaching life skills in the game, why it's important to learn how to work with people around you, what type of mindset should be instilled in younger players, what was the secret of Mike's mental state in helping him achieve 1000 games in the NHL, and why innovation and vision are so important to the success of any coach! Mike is currently the Assistant Coach for Team Canada (National Para Team). It was an honor to spend an hour learning from this man! 

This episode features the NHL's Detroit Red Wings Director of Player Evaluation, Jiri Fischer. Hear Jiri share his unique story, including his near-death experience as a player and how it helped shaped him into one of the leading voices behind player development. I talk a lot of hockey and this is hands down one of the best conversations I've ever had!  

Welcome to the 6°of Roger Neilson Podcast! Join your host, Coach Vinny Malts, and Roger Neilson Coaches Clinic co-owner, Marshall Starkman, as they welcome you to the family and share with you the inspiration behind this podcast and all that you are in for on this journey.