prohockeypod

This week the prohockeypod was fortunate to have long time coach Troy Ward spare some time for chat. Troy Ward is a name many people in the hockey world know or have heard. His long coaching career is a testament to him wanting it more than others and his willingness to put in the hard work. Like myself, Troy was a graduate of D3 hockey who knew as soon as he was done playing, he wanted to get into coaching. Troy has coached in NCAA, CHL, NHL and European pro. He was given advice young in his coaching career to try to move around a lot early on and learn from as many people as possible. Be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge he could. Troy has always been known as a coach who teaches his athletes how to be professionals on the ice, but more importantly, off the ice. Skills and characteristics that these athletes will use long after their hockey careers. If you are interested in learning about coaching all over the world and how to shape young athletes, then this episode is for you. Hope you enjoy!

2-time NCAA D1 Champion Nate Leaman came on the prohockeypod this week and we made the most of our 35 minutes together. Like myself, Nate is a graduate of the NCAA D3 path who has gone on to do great things in the game. He worked his way up as an Assistant Coach with the University of Maine and Harvard before taking a chance with an up and coming program at Union College. Nate wore many hats there and slowly began building a power house that over his time, became a top 10 school in D1 hockey. After his time at Union, Nate took another chance with Providence College and helped rebuild their program to ultimately winning a National Championship in 14/15. Even though we only got to chat for 35 minutes, I left this episode in “awe” of the knowledge Nate has about the sport of hockey. It is easy to see why he has had success with multiple NCAA programs and with Team USA. If you have some time to hear from someone as respected in college hockey as Nate Leaman is, this episode is for you. Hope you enjoy!

The prohockeypod keeps rolling along with GM’s from the CHL. This week, Bill Bowler from the Windsor Spitfires. Bill has always been part of the Windsor Spitfires family. Whether it was as a player for 4 years or returning to be an assistant coach, VP of Hockey Operations and now the General Manager. He bleeds for Windsor. We talked about his OHL playing career, debuting in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets, venturing over to Germany and winning a championship, before transitioning to the coaching side. Bill talked about his passion for the game and grinding to work his way up in the coaching/management world while still working a normal job. Eventually his hard work paid off when he became Vice President of Hockey Operations in Windsor and helping them win a Memorial Cup. He is now in his 6th season as the GM and we talked about what he looks for in his players, as well as his staff members. Hope you enjoy!

Ottawa 67’s GM James Boyd spared some time for the prohockeypod this week. James has a lot of experience in the OHL, starting with playing 4 years in the league. After the OHL, James went to the University of Guelph before being offered an Assistant Coaching position back in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls. James learned a lot from Lou Crawford in these first few years before being promoted to HC. After Belleville, James moved to the Toronto/Mississauga franchise where he would hold different positions over 13 years including Assistant Coach/Assistant GM and then Head Coach/General Manager duties. We talked a lot about his experiences doing both jobs and how he juggled all the responsibilities. His time in Mississauga brought a lot of success, including a Memorial Cup Finals appearance in 2011. After 16/17, James moved on to the Ottawa 67’s where he has been the GM for the past 7 seasons. I asked him about how he picks his players, coaching staff members and what it means to be a 67. We also touched on their core values. Hope you enjoy!

Prince Albert Raiders GM Curtis Hunt joined the prohockeypod this week. From day 1, Curtis always believed in for the goodness of the team. Team first mentality. He grew up playing multiple sports and took a tryout in the WHL, thinking nothing of it. Next thing you know, he was drafted to the NHL and would embark on a 9 year pro career before shifting his focus to coaching. After years of coaching Pro and in the WHL, he transitioned to a GM role. Someone like Curtis has a lot of experience in both the coaching and general manager world. I asked him what he looks for in players and picking his rosters, as well as the requirements he tries to have in picking a head coach. He also touched on how Prince Albert has instituted a mentorship program which allows coaches to get their foot in the door, gain experience and see if this could be a good fit for both sides. There is a reason Curtis has been doing this a long time. Hope you enjoy!

7 time DEL Champion Youri Ziffzer took some time out of his busy work schedule to come on the prohockeypod this week. Youri had an unusual path to ice hockey but once he was introduced, he didn’t look back. We talked about how he first became a goalie and starting his pro career at such a young age. Youri built up a reputation in the DEL as being a great team guy and was always wanted by the top teams. We dove deep into his “role” as a goalie in Germany as a “1B”. In hockey, championship teams need 2 goalies who are capable of stepping into the net and handling the pressure at any time. This is something Youri prided himself on and understood his job as a team player. At the end of the day, he was part of the team and the success that came with it each season. This is a great mindset to have as an athlete. After he retired, he jumped right into the office world with the Adler Mannheim as Team Manager. Youri talked about the adjustment it is, going from playing hockey to the work world and how it changed his daily routine. A lot of great lessons here and I have a lot of respect for Youri and what he achieved. Happy to have him as my boss, as well as call him a friend. Hope you enjoy!

Current Schwenningen Wild Wings goalie coach Josh Robinson stopped by the prohockeypod this week. We talked about his unusual path of playing AA most of his minor hockey career and his crazy jump to the USHL after only 6 AAA games to his name. He went on to play NCAA at Michigan Tech where he continued to grow his game and battle through adversity. After college, he signed pro with the Dallas Stars organization and began his AHL/ECHL goalie grind. Josh would venture over to EU on 2 different occasions in his playing career before returning back to the ECHL. After retiring, Josh began Goalie & Video Coaching in NA then heading to Germany, where he is starting his 3rd season in the DEL. Near the end, we jumped into Josh developing new ways of tracking/using analytics for goalies and implementing them into their training. It was honestly very interesting to see how he uses this kind of data and uses it to train his goalies so that in games they have already done these scenarios many times over. It was a pleasure to talk to Josh and pick his brain. Hope you enjoy!

This week the prohockey pod was happy to have Frank Hora stop by. Since Frank was little, his only path seemed to be hockey. Being one of 7 siblings, he was immediately thrown in net for the basement mini stick sessions. Frank soon transitioned to Defence and from there his game developed. We talked about Frank’s childhood growing up in NY State and his early introduction to the Buffalo Sabres. After youth hockey, Frank played 4 seasons with the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL (with multiple NHL camp invites) before starting his pro journey in NA. We talked about the “grind” it is below the NHL and how Frank handled the constant change in teams. Frank has since taken his game to Europe, where he played in Slovakia last season and will be suiting up for the Graz 99ers in Austria this season. Hope you enjoy!

Mitch grew up in the Montreal area before moving to Kitchener. We went through some of his funny minor hockey experiences before he transitioned to the OHL at 16. Mitch played 5 seasons in the OHL with a lot of deep playoff runs and getting drafted to the NHL. After major junior, Mitch jumped between pro and USports before landing in Norway, where we became teammates. We talked about our famous day off routine that helped us get through a tough season. We then dove deep into how Mitch gave up playing pro to become a caddy and what life is like for him now in pro golf. If you are someone interested in both hockey and golf, then this is a good episode for you. Hope you enjoy!

It took us awhile to get our schedules to match up but Kasimir Kaskisuo was finally able to hop on the pod. Kasimir is a goalie from Finland who made the jump over to NA when he was 20 years old to pursue his dream. We talked about his college career, him signing pro, the grind and his eventual NHL start against Pittsburgh. After North America, Kaz went to Sweden for 2 seasons before returning to NA this past season. Kaz has also gained popularity through his youtube videos and documenting his life as a pro goalie, which started in the covid/hockey bubble days. I think these videos are great for his audience to see the “behind the scenes” of a pro athlete and can also help influence young goalies into good habits. Hope you enjoy! 

Check out his links below:

Instagram: kaskisuo
Youtube: KasimirKaskisuoOfficial