prohockeypod

Episode 66: Brett Riley. Very happy to get the chance to have Long Island University Head Coach Brett Riley hop on the prohockeypod this week. When you think of the Riley family, you think of hockey and coaching. Brett's dad, Rob, had a long career in coaching at West Point and is now a scout for the Colorado Avalanche. Brett's uncle, Brian, is in his 33rd and final season of coaching at...

Episode 65: Scott Sandelin. The prohockeypod was honoured to have long time NCAA D1 Head Coach Scott Sandelin come on this week. Scott is currently in his 25th season as Head Coach at Minnesota-Duluth University. A draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, Scott played D1 hockey himself at North Dakota before embarking on a 7 year professional playing career. Scott retired at the age of 28 and jumped...

Colgate University alumni and Head Coach Mike Harder stopped by the prohockeypod this week. Mike has always held Colgate close to his heart and has taken pride in always giving back in some way. He has been part of school on many forms, whether it was first as a player, then volunteer then Assistant Coach and now Head Coach. He bleeds Maroon. I actually played my first college career game @ Colgat...

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 int...

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...

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 Columb...

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 H...

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...

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 t...

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 Star...

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. Af...

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 da...

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...

Max didn’t have your “normal path” career. His story is quite interesting. We talked about how in an 8 month span he was cut from one team, played on another and then was drafted in the 1st round to QMJHL in his second year of eligibility. He played 3 years in the Q before going onto pro in the AHL. Even though he produced, he was only given 6 games in the NHL before embarking on a long career in...

Adler Mannheim video coach Florian Keinz stopped by the prohockeypod this week. From someone who grew up a fan of the team spending countless hours/games in the stands cheering on the boys to now being behind the scenes working as the teams video coach is quite the unusual path. Florian bleeds Adler Mannheim and is someone who gives everything for the club. He talks about his beginnings in soccer,...

The captain Denis Reul stopped in to the prohockeypod this week. Denis is known for his defensive play, physicalness and overall team play. We talked about how he got into hockey growing up in a small town, his journey to North America, being drafted to the NHL and playing his whole DEL career in Mannheim. He has represented Germany on many occasion’s and he explained the importance of this. I als...

Tyler Moy was great to chat with this week and shared a lot of insight. A great work ethic was instilled in him at a young age and fired his absolute love/addiction to the sport of hockey. Tyler is a graduate of Harvard University and he shared his time there balancing school and athletics. After Harvard, Tyler signed a contract with the Nashville Predators, the NHL team that had drafted him. He s...

The pride of Hamilton Tyler Gaudet joined the prohockeypod this week. Tyler took a chance to go to the QMJHL, was sent down to Pembroke, where he met Sheldon Keefe. Sheldon ended up getting a job with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds and took Tyler with him at the age of 19. 8 months later, Tyler signed an NHL contract with the Arizona Coyotes. Tyler went through adversity, didn’t give up and was rewarded...

This weeks episode is a special one and brought back a lot of memories. Mike Lomas is a guy i grew up playing minor hockey with in Burlington. He went the OHL route for 5 years before playing USports at Carleton University in Ottawa. Mike talked about his time in the OHL and what he learned year to year. Mike also was very honest about his past battles, how he turned himself around and continues t...

German born defenseman Korbinian Holzer dropped by the prohockeypod this week. Holzy’s resume speaks for itself. Over 500 games in NA pro (NHL/AHL), Olympic Games, World Junior’s, KHL and 250 (and counting) DEL games. Korbinian shared his story on growing up in Germany, choosing to pursue a career in hockey over soccer and what he learned as a young pro that allowed him to get drafted to the NHL a...

 Kyle Gibbons returned this week to the prohockeypod to continue his story. We jumped right into him leaving pro in North America and heading to Germany. Kyle played 3 seasons in Deggendorf, including helping them get promoted to the DEL2. We went through the craziness of the next few years and how he got through it. Kyle is currently playing his 11th pro season for Leipzig in the Oberliga in Germ...

Kyle grew up in Ohio and was drawn to hockey at a young age by the local pro team, the Cleveland Lumberjacks. We talked about his childhood and his passion for the game of hockey. He went on to play in the USHL and made the decision to go NCAA to Canisius College in Buffalo. He had a very successful 4 years before moving on to pro in the ECHL and SPHL leagues. We talked about the grind and what he...

Jordan is a defenseman for the Adler Mannheim and is currently playing in his 8th season of professional hockey. Jordan had a dream of playing in the QMJHL and he set his mind to that. Even though he didn’t make the jump until he was 18, he got to do it for 3 years. After major junior, Jordan attended the University of New Brunswick for 4 years and was able to win 2 University Cups. This earned hi...

Finnish Legend Petri Vehanen joined the prohockeypod this week. Petri and I work together with the Adler Mannheim and I have got to know him well. Petri was a late bloomer who’s mindset was simple: work hard everyday. It ended up paying off as he went on to play 20 years professionally, win a KHL Championship, Gold Medal for Finland at the 2011 World Championships and lastly, had his number retire...

Yannick is a young German prospect known for his work ethic and playing for the Adler Mannheim in the DEL. We talked about his minor hockey journey in Germany that eventually led to him signing a DEL contract. Yannick also was drafted to the WHL and talked about his experience in Spokane. He is one of the happiest people i have met who is always smiling and excited to come to the rink everyday to...