ON AIR

Gui (like LaFleur) Bradshaw shares what it takes to be a successful working on-ice official and details the path he took to working in the OHSAA and WCHA women's ranks. He says you need to be comfortable being the bad guy to be a good ref and points out that more players getting into refereeing will make the game better. Don Van Massenhoven shares some stories from his career as an NHL referee, which spanned 21 years and 1,366 games plus Stanley Cup playoffs and Olympics, talks about the importance of not making makeup calls, highlights the upside of one of hockey's most thankless jobs, and details his current duties as the NHL's director of officiating operations.

Gilmour Academy's John Malloy has won more games than any other high school hockey coach in Ohio history, but tells us his focus was never on wins, but on building better citizens and men. He reflects on his start as a figure skater at Cincinnati Gardens, his playing career in the infancy of the program at Miami University and shares some stories from his coaching career at Cleveland Heights and Gilmour. In a very candid interview Patrick O’Rourke, head coach of the four-time defending state champion Saint Ignatius Wildcats, told us he is up for an "unofficial" Frozen Four this summer, revealed that wheels are in motion to move the OHSAA to two divisions for hockey by 2021-22 and shared his experiences - good and bad - with the state tournament being held at Nationwide Arena.

Seven Hills native Lynsey Wallace played for Gilmour Academy as well as four years of varsity hockey on the boys team at Padua Franciscan before walking on with the nationally-ranked women's team at The Ohio State University. Lynsey, who was named to both the WCHA and Big Ten All-Academic teams, is also a member of ROTC at Ohio State, and was the subject of what is still the most read article in the history of Ohio Hockey Digest. R. J. Umberger has been a fixture of the hockey scene in Columbus going back to his NCAA career with the Ohio State Buckeyes. The 16th overall selection of the 2001 NHL Draft, we split his 12-year NHL career between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers, and now works developing the next generation of players with the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association where he is the associate coach of the U16 and U18 teams.

Lee W. Mowen talks about covering high school hockey in Southwest Ohio, especially broadcasting Centerville and Springboro games, tells us how he got into broadcasting and recalls his time covering the Dayton Demons on their championship run in the Federal League. Talawanda bench boss Zach Sens compares winning the SWOHSHL title as a player versus as a coach, talks about how he got buy-in from his players in his first season as the head coach at his alma-mater, and challenges what you might think about high school hockey in the southwest part of the state.

Medina native Dawson DiPietro made his way up through the ranks in Northeast Ohio - Parma Youth Hockey, Cleveland Jr. Barons, Team Ohio and Walsh Jesuit - before playing Tier II junior hockey in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and moving on to a DI NCAA career at Western Michigan University. In March, he signed an entry-level contract with the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. OHL and AHL Goaltender of the Year Alex Nedeljkovic grew up in Parma and played for the Cleveland Jr. Barons before heading off to play major junior in the Ontario Hockey League and becoming a second-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes. Alex, who has scored goals in both the ECHL and AHL, has represented the USA at U18 and U20 world championships and helped the Charlotte Checkers to the AHL's Calder Cup championship in 2019.

Toledo Walleye head coach Dan Watson gets out of his car long enough to tell us about how far the ECHL has come over the years - overall and specifically in Toledo - and to give us some insight on what his game days are like and the challenges and mechanics of assembling a roster at the "AA" level. In a must-listen episode for any young player, Ian Moran of Neutral Zone details the process of scouting young players and provides a very revealing look at what it is scouts are noticing when you don't think they are watching. He also reflects on spending the first two years of his pro career in Cleveland - the last year of the Richfield Coliseum and the first year of "The Gund."

Seanna Conway tells us about all the amazing places the game of hockey took her all around the globe, starting in a hockey-playing family of (mostly) goalies, to playing on the boys team at Gilmour Academy, then on to college in the U. S. and Canada and then Ireland, where she played professionally and internationally on the one and only rink in the country. She also shares her thoughts on girls playing with and against boys vs. girls-only competition. Cleveland Monsters assistant coach Trent Vogelhuber talks about growing up in a youth hockey scene that was just starting to take off after the arrival of the NHL's Blue Jackets, being the first hometown draft pick of the team, and playing for some great coaches with lots of Ohio-grown talent at Miami. He also tells some stories about the Monsters’ 2016 Calder Cup championship, the ensuing parade, and his surprisingly sudden decision to go into coaching.

Mentor Ice Breakers head coach Sebastian Ragno reflects on his young career in hockey, and the path that led to him to be a head coach in the pro ranks at 23 years old, tells us about his goals for the Federal Prospects Hockey League franchise, and updates us on the pieces put in place for the 2020-21 roster. Aaron Portzline gives us a look behind the scenes of the day-to-day life of an NHL beat writer, shares some opinions on the immediate future of the Columbus Blue Jackets and speculates on the viability of Columbus as a divisional hub should the NHL resume 2019-20 regular season play in the coming months.

Absolutely he's from Cleveland! Ohio Hockey Project founder Russ Sinkewich tells us about the path he took from Cleveland-area youth hockey to the pros, including a year playing JV that might have been the most influential year in his development, and what he is trying to add to the hockey ecosystem in Ohio with the Ohio Hockey Project. Russ also talks about how he is continuing to push hockey players to reach their potential with the OHP at Home virtual training sessions during the stay-at-home order.

A former Mr. Hockey for the state of Wisconsin, Matt Buss, ended up in Ohio and the Columbus-area hockey community is the beneficiary. Matt talks about how the strong hockey market in Columbus, with the Blue Jackets, Ohio State, and growing high school hockey, made the area attractive to his hockey-playing family and the sense of accomplishment leading New Albany to their first district title. He also recounts being in Nationwide Arena with the Eagles on a pre-states orientation visit when they learned the tournament had been postponed.