Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan

Send us Fan Mail Nolan Pratt had a 9 season, 592 game NHL career as a "stay at home" defenseman. If we count play-off games, Nolan totaled 630 career games. And Nolan scored a grand total of 9 goals. Nolan shares how at the start of his career, while in the AHL, he battled with his identity. He wanted to be offensive. He thought scoring points was the only way to get noticed and receive...

Send us Fan Mail After an incredible season 1, and 50 episodes with some of the most influential people in the hockey world, we are taking a look at some of the highlights along the way. Kevin Pedersen - NHL scout for the Arizona Coyotes - Dives into what it takes to get to where you want to go.   Kevin Sawyer - Ex NHL heavy weight and Winnipeg Jets Broadcaster - Shares a story from when he was co...

Send us Fan Mail Try and find someone who doesn't like Ryan Johnson. Go ahead, I'll wait.... Still waiting... That's what I thought... You couldn't do it.  Ryan Johnson is one the best guys you will ever meet and I think you will be happy to spend 2 hours with him. I had the privilege of calling RJ my roommate in our first year pro. We were both second round draft picks by the...

Send us Fan Mail Rhett Warrener and I first crossed paths as members of Canada’s national U17 team. We were both coming off successful 16 year old seasons in the WHL, (Rhett was in Saskatoon and I was with Spokane) when Hockey Canada gave us the phone call that we were chosen to travel to Japan and play in the Pacific Cup.   We were reunited at the 94 draft, when Rhett was chosen 26th overall and...

Send us Fan Mail Terry Ryan is someone you want to be around. He makes you smile. He makes you laugh. And he makes you feel good. I always enjoy my conversations with TR and I know you will enjoy this one.  Terry was a child prodigy when it came to hockey. He grew early, he understood the game, he could finish, and at 14 years old – he also found out he could fight.  Being a child star comes with...

Send us Fan Mail Tyler Wright was the 12th overall draft pick in the 1991 NHL entry draft to the Edmonton Oilers. Wright was a junior star, scoring 50 goals one season for the Swift Current Broncos. Tyler's success with the Bronco's earned him consecutive spots on Canada's World Junior team, where he earned the gold in 1993 in Sweden, after failing to medal in 1992. As if often the...

Send us Fan Mail Rick Vaive was a sniper and a top prospect. Going into his draft in 1979, he was coming off a 76 goal season. He also spent 199 minutes in the penalty box that year. His season was good enough to get him drafted 5th overall by the Vancouver Canucks. It was also a sign of things to come in the NHL.  Rick Vaive loved scoring goals and was wired to compete. His competitive nature and...

Send us Fan Mail Willie O'Ree is a legend.  Mr. O'Ree is a legend that until all too recently I wasn't aware of. I regret having to admit that. My ignorance to one of the games greatest stories is not something I am proud of, but I am grateful for knowing it now. And I am also grateful to have spent an hour with this incredible human being. Willie O'Ree broke the NHL color barr...

Send us Fan Mail David Quinn is a straight shooter. He knows hockey. He also knows people. And he believes that if you take care of the person, the hockey player will thrive. It’s a coaching philosophy that is gaining popularity in the sport – some are just better at it than others. David Quinn has been doing it his entire career.    The head coach of the New York Rangers also has a sternness abou...

Send us Fan Mail Not many players can say their first NHL training camp happened at 28 years old, but Derek Ryan can.  Derek’s road to the NHL was not typical. It was so far from typical you might think it was made up. However, that is one of my favorite things about sports… it’s real.   Derek never got drafted.  Derek never signed as free agent out of junior.  He played Canadian University hockey...

Send us Fan Mail Dane Jackson was a what some might call a journeyman pro hockey player. He was drafted in the 3rd round by the Canucks and went on to play 671 AHL games 45 NHL games with 8 different teams.  He wore a letter (C or an A) on 5 of those teams and was recognized as a leader throughout his career. Dane took the role of leader seriously. He knew what it took to be a professional - consi...

Send us Fan Mail I don’t have the space to list all the accomplishments of Jarome Iginla.  “First ballot Hall of Famer”, is the one accolade that sums up his career perfectly. In my opinion, he was also the greatest power forward of his era. 1554 NHL regular season games 81 NHL play-off games 625 career goals 1300 career points 1 Art Ross  2 Rocket Richard's 2 Memorial Cups 2 Olympic Gold Med...

Send us Fan Mail When Ken Reid called me and asked if I’d like to be a part of his new book called “One To Remember”, I wasn’t sure what to say. Ken wanted to tell the stories of various players who scored a grand total of one NHL goal in their careers.   I liked the idea, but a piece of me didn’t want to deal go down that road.  Telling the story about my one NHL goal would require me to admit th...

Send us Fan Mail I am sitting at my desk trying to write an episode description for myself and it's weird. I have been looking at my keyboard for a while now, and not sure how to do this. Perhaps I should begin with how it came to be. Nick Konarowski is a Maple Leaf fan, a sports memorabilia collector, and a fan of Up My Hockey. He was also starting his own podcast called “Jersey Stories” whe...

Send us Fan Mail If you look up Jarred Smithson on HockeyDB, you’ll probably notice something pretty quickly – Jarred never scored a lot of goals.  He never had more than 12 in a season as a pro and topped out at 14 in junior.  He wasn’t drafted in bantam.  He wasn’t drafted by an NHL team either. Twice he was passed over.  But he did play 606 games in the best league in the world. Smithson went o...

Send us Fan Mail Dampy Brar, former pro-hockey player and co-founder of Apna Hockey was recently named the winner of the 2020 Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award at the NHL Award's Banquet.   Dampy also happens to be a member of the “Up My Hockey – Parent Group” I host on Facebook.   The Parent Group is a private group dedicated to hockey families all over North America and designed to be...

Send us Fan Mail Bruce Boudreau is a lot of things: a Memorial Cup Champion, an NHL second rounder, an AHL scoring champion, and a former Toronto Maple Leaf. He is also a Jack Adams Award winner (voted best coach in the NHL), with 14 seasons as an NHL head coach under his belt, and one of the highest winning percentages in NHL history. Bruce is also a great guy.  When The Coaches Site reached out...

Send us Fan Mail Dennis Maruk scored 66 goals in 65 games with the London Knights.  It earned a 21st overall selection in the 1975 NHL Draft by the California Seals.  At 5’8”, 155 pounds, he surprised management and earned a spot on the Seals as a 19-year-old. Not only did he make the team, but he scored 30 goals, finished second in team scoring, and finished third in voting for the Calder Trophy,...

Send us Fan Mail Todd Warriner was initially best known as an NHL player, but now many recognize him as broadcaster and analyst with Sportsnet.  At the OHL level, Todd was a force. After a fantastic rookie campaign at 16 years old, he netted 41 goals in only 50 games for the Windsor Spitfires in his draft year. His stat line, excellent skating ability and competitive nature earned him the 4th over...

Send us Fan Mail Dave Scatchard would not allow anything to stop him. He was going to play in the NHL, and that was that.  Time after time Dave’s resolve and commitment was tested. And time after time he answered the bell.  Like his first season away from home at 16, when he wasn’t being fed, wasn’t being played, and was being bullied by the veteran’s. But he fought the urge to go home and found a...

Send us Fan Mail Only one team can win a championship. At the Major Junior Level in the CHL, 60 teams currently compete every season for the Memorial Cup. That means 59 organizations aren’t happy at the end of the season , making one of the toughest trophies in sports to win.    Tyson Nash raised the Memorial Cup 3 times in 4 years with the Kamloops Blazers 1992, 1994, and 1995 - a stretch of domi...

Send us Fan Mail This conversation with Nathan LaFayette was not what I had planned. We never talked about his experience getting drafted 65th overall in 1991 by St. Louis. We never discussed the gold medal he won as a member of Canada’s 1993 World Junior Team. I never asked him what it was like to play with legendary leader Mark Messier in New York. Nathan had a tumultuous pro hockey career. He w...

Send us Fan Mail This week our guest on the Up My Hockey Podcast is legendary NHL goaltender Chris Osgood. Osgood played 744 regular season games, winning 401 of them, which places him as the 13th winningest goalie all-time in the NHL. He is also 8th in all-time play-off wins.  Osgood won 3 Stanley Cups in total, including 2 as a starter in 1998 and 2008. He almost won his fourth Cup during a fant...

Send us Fan Mail Aaron Volpatti wasn’t dreaming of the NHL at 17, he was trying to make the Revelstoke Grizzlies, his local Junior B hockey team. In his NHL draft year, Aaron was living at home, graduating from high school, and hanging with his buddies. He had his sights set on hopefully making the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL as an 18-year-old. Volpatti ended up wearing the jersey of the Vancouver C...

Send us Fan Mail  Standing at 5'9, Steve Passmore always found a way to dominate the crease.  He was always a true competitor and ended up playing over 12 seasons of professional hockey,  92 of those in the National Hockey League.  Steve played hockey across the entire globe.  He is a true professional and someone that I always remember to be one of the fiercest competitors I ever had the ple...