Our Kids Play Hockey
Our Kids Play Hockey is a podcast that focuses on youth hockey, offering insights, stories, and interviews from the hockey community. It provides valuable advice for parents, coaches, and players, covering various aspects of the game, including skill development, sportsmanship, teamwork, and creating a positive experience for young athletes. The show frequently features guests who share their expertise and personal experiences in youth hockey, both on and off the ice.
The show features three hockey parents, who all work in the game at high levels:
- Christie Casciano-Burns - USA Hockey Columnist, Author, and WSYR Anchor
- Mike Bonelli - USA Hockey Coach and Organizational Consultant
- Lee M.J. Elias - Hockey Entrepreneur, Author, and Team Strategist
In addition to the main podcast, there are several spin-off series that dive into specific aspects of youth hockey:
1.Our Girls Play Hockey – This series highlights the growing presence of girls in hockey, addressing the unique challenges they face while celebrating their accomplishments and contributions to the sport. Each episode of Our Girls Play Hockey is also hosted by Sheri Hudspeth who is the Director, Youth Hockey Programs and Fan Development for the Vegas Golden Knights.
2.The Ride to The Rink – A shorter, motivational series designed to be listened to on the way to the rink, offering quick, inspirational tips and advice to help players and parents get into the right mindset before a game or practice.
3.Our Kids Play Goalie – This series is dedicated to young goalies and the unique challenges they face. It provides advice for players, parents, and coaches on how to support and develop young goaltenders, focusing on the mental and physical demands of the position.
Together, these shows provide a comprehensive platform for parents, players, and coaches involved in youth hockey, offering insights for all aspects of the sport, from parenting, playing, or coaching to specialized positions like goaltending.
Our Kids Play Hockey
The Ride To The Rink - The Bonelli Blueprint for Crushing Your Hockey Goals
Are you ready to elevate your hockey game and finish this season strong?
On this episode of "The Ride to the Rink" hosts Lee and Mike share motivational strategies to help young players enhance their skills and performance in the second half of the season. They offer practical advice on setting achievable goals, managing time effectively, and honing specific skills both during team practice and personal time. With a focus on continuous learning and self-belief, this episode is packed with insights to inspire and guide players on their journey to improvement.
--
Key Discussion Points
- Setting Goals for the Rest of the Season
- Time Management and Creating Opportunities
- Working on Skills Outside of Team Practice
- Continuous Learning and Improvement
- Motivation and Self-Belief
--
Click To Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!
Looking for the best gift to give your team at the end of this season? Hockey Wraparound is offering a really great Team Deal that includes 12 Wraparound (10 Hockey Wraparounds + 2 Goalie Wraparounds) plus 12 MYBALLs for just $199!
Order now at HockeyWraparound.com!
Have A Topic You Want Us To Cover? Let us know!
Please Be Sure To Subscribe & Leave A Review For Us On Apple Podcasts, doing so helps our show grow!
Follow Us On Social Media:
Lee MJ Elias [1:07 - 3:46]: Hello hockey skaters and goalies around the world. Welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. It's Lee and Mike with you today. And it's a new year. It's a new year, a new you. We'll find out today. We're talking all about what to do here the rest of the season. Now you're kind of at the top of the slide now. Wherever you're playing, you're going to go down the slide. No matter where your season's at, whether you're having a great season or a bad season in your own mind, whether your team is having a great season or a bad season from the rankings, none of that's going to matter in what we say. Because the truth is this, my friends, to the players listening, the actions you take, regardless of where you're at, are going to be the same. I know that sounds crazy to a lot of you. It's like, I need to try harder when you try more. It's all about consistency this time of the year. So what I want you to do is sit down and think about some of the goals that you had maybe at the beginning of the season. And if you didn't set goals at the beginning of the season, that's okay. Set some goals. Now. What are three to five things as a hockey player you want to improve on the rest of the season? Write them down and make sure that there are realistic things. Don't. Don't write something simple like score more, right? Let's be a little more specific. How's your wrist shot? How's your snapshot? How's your backhand? Right? How are some of the different aspects of shooting? Are you making great dekes on a goaltender? If you're a defenseman, are you even able to reach the net? If you are able to reach the net, are you able to pinpoint accuracy where you want the puck to go? These are specifics that you want to work on. How is your skating? Great questions demand great answers. Other aspects of skating that you need to get better, forwards, backwards crossovers, inside edge, outside edge, stopping, whatever it is. Think about some things you want to improve on. Write them down, bring them to your coach. I promise this will impress them and say, coach, these are the three things I think I would like to improve on over the next three or four months and then ask this question, my friends, do you agree with me, coach? Are there other aspects of my game that you see that you think I should work on? Have that conversation with your coaching staff. You can have that conversation with your parents to find out the things you want to improve on. Because while the score does matter in your games and I know you want to win, you becoming a better hockey player is really, really important to making sure those scores come out in the right way. Also, remember, you're a hockey player. You want to get better every single year. Another question you might want to start asking your coaches is, hey, what do I need to get better at so I can be better next year? Right? And they might tell you, hey, let's do this year first. But it's a good question to ask. Mike, I would love your thoughts on this as well for the hockey players lesson.
Mike Bonelli [3:46 - 5:53]: Yeah, I think when you're. When you're. When you're evaluating your season and you're evaluating how to get better, I mean, I would probably focus. You know, all those skills are great and all those improvements that your coach can help you with, but focus on the mechanics of how do you get there. Like, is it visualization? Is it writing things down? Is it setting up small chunks? Is it setting up a shooting room in your garage? Is it. Is it creating more space and time in your own schedule so that you could do these things and sticks and pucks and open hockey and private lessons and extra clinics like you like all the. It's great to have all those goals. I want to be a better goal scorer. I want to. I want to Improve my skating. That's great. And your coach can only do so much within the team dynamics. So what are you doing to reschedule your time and create better time management for yourself and your family so that you can accomplish your individual goals? I mean, you know, it's very hard in a team sport for coaches to concentrate on individual player accomplishments. Just hard, especially at the youth level, because you don't have all the resources that the rest of us have. Right? So as a player, think about, what do you need to do during your time management in your skills? Can you show up to the ring right now? If you told your coach you wanted to show up 15 minutes early for practice to work on the mechanics of your shot, 95% of those people, if they're capable of teaching it, would love it. Or they'll help you find the person you know to help accomplish that goal. So think about, what are the mechanics to get to where you want to get for your goals? You know, break those down, then you can start inserting. Want to be a better skater? Want to be a better shooter? Want to be a better passer? Take all those pieces, though, break them down, and then figure out, you know, am I really doing what I need to do to create that time to get better? Am I getting my schoolwork in? Am I eating right? Am I sleeping enough? Am I helping my parents so that they can provide more time for me to get to where I need to get to? This is all great opportunities for you between now and the end of this and the end of the hockey season to. To do all those things and put yourself in a great position for tryouts or for being selected to a team early or, you know, or for getting ready for summer development.
Lee MJ Elias [5:54 - 8:12]: Yeah. Mike, you bring up a really great point for us as coaches. We usually only get you an hour, maybe hour and a half max at a practice, maybe a couple times a week. There's so many more hours in the week that you can be working on your game. So I think you're right, Mike. Let's go to the coaches. Let's learn some of those mechanics. But you got to put that time in at home. And, kids, this is a choice, right? If it's more important to play Fortnite or another game than it is to go outside for, really 20 minutes, 30 minutes, it doesn't take an immense amount of time and work on whatever it is that you need to work on. That's a choice that you're making. Right? And I'll tell you what, when Mike and I were kids, you know, and while we did have video games, they were very different at the time. I think we couldn't wait to get outside to go and shoot pucks or play roller hockey or. Or find something to do. And I think there's kids out there, Mike, today too. I'm speaking to you that I don't have the training aids to do this. My friends, I put paper plates up on a wall, and I would shoot at the paper plates. If you want it enough, you'll find enough. And I also think there's a good chance most of you have training aids at home. Commit to at least 20 minutes a day of working on something. Find those little skill sets that you can work on, and take the time to do it. Now, if you're having a great season, you're lighting up the lamp, you're doing everything you want to do. Now is not the time to get comfortable either, right? Because there's a kid out there working hard, trying to catch up, trying to get better. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got as a player was that as hard as you're working, someone's working harder. And I always remember that. I always felt like somebody out there is working harder than me, and that motivated me to work even harder. That's something you should take back home. So, again, kids, no matter where you're at, don't rest on your laurels. That means don't get comfortable, right? Enjoy training, enjoy the process, but find those little ways to get yourself better. Find those little ways to learn. Ask great questions. You'll get great answers. And as you head down the slope of the slide of this season, you can say we the whole way down. But make sure that you're also continuing to learn, continuing to find ways to get better. And again, whether you're in a winning season or a losing season, if you're not learning, you're losing. All right? No matter what the scoreboard says, you should want to learn as much as you can this season as you play. Mike, any final words?
Mike Bonelli [8:13 - 8:57]: No. Just. Again, you have. You have a. You have a. A finite opportunity here to improve your game. You can do a lot of it on your own. Most of it has to be on your own. A lot of it could be the support of your staff and your. And your coaching staff that you have access to. But it really comes down to what are you going to do to create those opportunities, both with your coach, with your parents, on your own time. It's all about choices. And the choices you make are really going to be, you know, where you end up at the end of the year, whether you felt you had success and you improved or I just didn't get better, you can really reflect and say, well, did I get didn't get better because I didn't do the work or did I not get better just because I'm incapable of getting better? Most of the time it's going to be because you didn't do the work right.
Lee MJ Elias [8:57 - 9:47]: 99 of the time it's going to be that. So in closing, my friends listening here, first off, welcome to 2025. It's good to have you here. Good to see you. Good you're listening to the podcast. Always appreciate you listening to these episodes. And remember, if no one's told you today or this season, I'm sure they haven't. I'm going to tell you anyway. We believe in you, but you need to believe in you too, right? We'll tell you that every time. We really do believe in you hockey players. If you're listening to this show, we really believe in you because you love it. But you have to believe in yourself too. That's a big part of it. Finding that self esteem. That's going to do it. For this edition of the Ride to the Rink from Mike Minnelli and Lee Elias. Kids, have fun out there. Don't forget to be grateful and enjoy every moment you're on the ice. Remember that you love to play this game. Every time you walk into a rink, say it to yourself, I love playing hockey. Remember that and continue to skate on. We'll see you next time, my friends. Have a good one.
