THE MENTAL GAME Sports Podcast

Jaclyn Hawkins is the leader and founder of Women's Hockey Life as she navigates building a women’s hockey empire while raising toddler twins in Ottawa, Ontario.

The idea for Women’s Hockey Life began over a slice of pizza in Switzerland—it’s where she decided how she’d stay involved in women’s hockey after retiring from a successful playing career with the University of Connecticut Huskies in the NCAA D1, Boston Blades of the CWHL, ZSC Lions in Switzerland, and even a stint with Hockey Canada, as well as an accomplished coaching career.

Fast forward 10+ years and Jaclyn has created and runs the leading women’s hockey website and community, along with multiple branches under WHL, to help give other women the opportunities she had with education and guidance. 

Jeff has been actively involved in hockey at the grassroots and provincial levels. He has served as a Director on the Ontario Hockey Federation Board since 2018 brings strong leadership experience and a long-standing commitment to the sport.

In addition to his seven year journey with the OHF, Jeff has had a long career in the Wealth Management industry. He lives in Aurora with his wife Susan. They have six children and four grandchildren. 

Dr. Skip Flanagan is a mental performance coach and former professional baseball player who competed at every level of the game as a deaf athlete.
He developed Diamond Standard, where he assesses a player's mental game and builds the roadmap to sharpen it. He is on the coaching staff for USA Deaf Baseball and a faculty member at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Skip has authored several books and developed the Deaf Athlete Blueprint, a system for athletes who have been told their disability is the reason they will fall short. In mid July he launches his own batting glove company.
Across everything he builds, he drives one message. Can't Hear Excuses.

During this exciting episode on The Mental Game Sports Podcast, Skip and Larissa discuss how to compete when everything says you can't.
Skip talks about building a pro baseball career as a deaf athlete, the mental performance system he uses to coach players through pressure and slumps, and why competing every pitch is what separates the players who break from the players who break through!

During this episode of The Mental Game Sports Podcast we had on Jenny Perez to discuss how we plan to change the norm together.  Unplugged Canada’s mission is to change the current societal norm where kids and teens depend on smartphones and social media. We discuss how we can help lead the way in educating athletes and sports organizations to play a leadership role in this norm-shifting initiative!

Jenny Perez is an economist, MBA, entrepreneur, children’s mental health activist, and the founder of Unplugged Canada.
Unplugged Canada is a grassroots, volunteer-parent-led movement working across the country to raise awareness of the effects of online technologies on children’s minds.
As a parent of a 11-year-old daughter, Jenny brings both personal insight and a growing national platform to the conversation around child development, digital environments, and age-appropriate safeguards.
Through Unplugged Canada, Jenny has helped mobilize thousands of families nationwide to delay smartphones until age 14 and social media until age 16, working to shift societal norms.

On this exciting episode of The Mental Game Sports Podcast we have Jessica Frame discussing various topics regarding recovery, performance and her journey on impacting athletes lives! 

We had the opportunity to chat about creating synergies between her areas of expertise to develop a more holistic approach to athletic development, and addition of Cognitive Performance Coaching to her approach. Tune in and up your mental game! 

Jessica Frame grew up in the South (Virginia and Georgia) training horses and showing Holsteins. She earned a Bachelor’s in Special Education; Master's in Health and Human Performance; 16 years of Athletic Training/ Sports Medicine; over a decade of experience in hockey and developed a passion and specialty in recovery; loves gardening, hiking, and spending time at the lake!

On this episode of The Mental Game Sports Podcast we have 10 year NHL veteran and current Brampton Canadettes u22AA head coach Jason Ward. 

Jason was born in Chapleau Ontario and grew up in the Oshawa. Jason played his minor hockey in Oshawa and was drafted by the Niagara Falls Thunder in the OHL 6th Overall. Jason Proudly represented Team Ontario in 1996, Team Canada U18 in 1997 winning gold, 2 World Juniors Championships in 1998, and 1999 winning Silver. Jason was drafted 11th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1997 and went on to play over 700 professional games playing for the Canadiens, New York Rangers, LA Kings, and Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Jason started his coaching career in the OHL with the Brampton Battalion from 2011-2013. After taking time away from the game and moving back to North Bay Jason returned to coaching in 2020 joining the Georgetown Raiders in the OJHL as an assistant coach in 2021-22 season and spending the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with the Oakville Blades as an Associate Head Coach. In 2024-25 he begun his tenure as the Head Coach and GM of the Brampton Canadettes Junior team U22AA and is currently going into his 3rd season.

Dr. Kevin Willis (DrDub) joins NHL Radio on SiriusXM to discuss the mental side of hockey performance. Topics draw from his 20+ years working with athletes across all levels, including his work on player psychology, decision-making under pressure, and what it actually takes to compete at your best when it matters most.

Dr. Kevin Willis (DrDub) joins NHL Radio on SiriusXM to discuss the mental side of hockey performance. In this episode, learn how athletes can perform at their best by simply learning how they are wired and what they think.  Have the best combine with the best mental and cognitive performance tools out there. https://mentalgameacademy.com/athletes-page-8945

Topics draw from his 20+ years working with athletes across all levels, including his work on player psychology, decision-making under pressure, and what it actually takes to compete at your best when it matters most.

Dr. Kevin Willis (DrDub) joins NHL Radio on SiriusXM to discuss the mental side of hockey performance. Topics draw from his 20+ years working with athletes across all levels, including his work on player psychology, decision-making under pressure, and what it actually takes to compete at your best when it matters most