Debunking Youth Hockey Myths with Boston Bruins' Performance Coach Kevin Neeld

What truly defines a successful young athlete in today's competitive world?

In this compelling episode of Our Kids Play Hockey, performance coach Kevin Neeld joins Lee and Christie to share insights from his work with the Boston Bruins and beyond. From the traits of successful NHL players to the critical role of sleep and nutrition, Neeld offers a treasure trove of advice for parents and coaches aiming to nurture young talent.

🔥 Highlights Include:

• The key characteristics that set NHL players apart 🏆
• Practical tips for optimizing sleep and nutrition for young athletes 💤🥦
• Navigating mental health and pressure in youth sports 🧠
• Effective training methods that balance strength and speed 💪
• Understanding individual differences in athlete development 🌟

Whether you're a parent, coach, or young player, this episode is packed with actionable strategies, expert advice, and inspiring stories that extend far beyond the ice.

🎧 Listen now to discover how to support the next generation of hockey stars!

📖 Explore more at Kevin Neeld's website: kevinneeld.com

💬 Got questions? Share your thoughts with us at team@ourkidsplayhockey.com.

YouthHockey #KevinNeeld #OurKidsPlayHockey #AthleteDevelopment #ParentingTips

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Transcript

Lee MJ Elias [0:07 - 1:04]: Hello, hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome to another episode of Our Kids Play Hockey. I'm Lee Elias, joined by Christy Casciano Burns. Mike Benelli is on assignment today, coaching, of all things, if you can believe that. A rare thing on the show. Our guest today is one of the most respected performance coaches in the NHL. As the current performance coach for the Boston Bruins, Kevin Neild has been instrumental in optimizing athletic development, injury prevention, and on ice performance for elite hockey players. With a background that spans youth hockey to the NHL, Kevin brings in a wealth of knowledge in sports, science, strength and conditioning, and player development. He's also the author of several books on hockey training, is widely regarded as one of the top educators in the field of athletic performance. Today we're going to dive into his journey through the NHL, his insights on youth hockey and how players can maximize their potential, and his advice for parents navigating the developmental space. That one might surprise you. Kevin, we're thrilled to have you on the show today. Welcome to our Kids Play Hockey. 

Kevin Neeld [1:04 - 1:06]: Excited to be here. Thanks for having me. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:06 - 1:30]: Hey, thanks for being here, man. Like, let me, let me jump in with the juicy question that I know our listeners love. You've worked with some of the best players in the league and the world at the highest levels. Can you share some stories or insights about maybe what separates NHL athletes from the rest? Even in, you know, mindset preparation, all of it, you know, for the kids listening especially, they always want to know those little tips and tricks, maybe that separates an NHL athlete. 

Kevin Neeld [1:30 - 1:37]: Yeah, I mean, I think we could probably dive into that topic for the next several hours, but in the interest of. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:37 - 1:38]: I'm just kidding. 

Kevin Neeld [1:38 - 4:33]: Yeah, no, in the interest of keeping things a little more digestible here, I think, you know, there's a couple of things that have really jumped out to me, not only about, you know, the players that make it to the NHL level, but the ones that are the most successful at that level. And, you know, I think one is a humility to consistently want to get better. You know, the best players that I've had an opportunity to work with that, you know, are, you know, between my two years in San Jose and my time in Boston, there's a handful of what will end up being first ballot hall of Fame players there. And I think the commonalities among all of them is that they were constantly right through the last year of their careers, they were constantly trying to find ways to get better. You know, I think they were open to feedback, they were coachable, they communicated with their line mates and their teammates, well, about what, you know, what they saw that could help them get better. And you know, I think there's a real humility to that to have the level of success that those guys have had and still be that eager for improvement. So, you know, that's a big one that stood out to me and then the other one. And this may be a little bit less intuitive for people that aren't working in an environment where you're playing three and a half games every week. But you know, our players basically from the time the training camp opens through the end of the season, are in the rink every day. You know, it's you, there's some days off, but it's largely a seven day a week ordeal. And because of that, you know, there's an expectation from our aspect that players come in and they go through some preparation, warm up process before every single skate, which means game days, there's a morning skate and then there's a game later at night every practice day. And you know, there's, there's a monotony to the day to day of the NHL life where you're going through the exact same processes over and over and over and over. And I think the, the players that have been the most successful are the ones that don't even think about, they don't make it a conscious decision to do the right thing. They just come in and do it. You know, they embrace the monotony of the day to day and they just, you know, there's no mental energy exhausted at all and trying to decide like ah, do I, you know, want to go through my hip and core preparation work before practice or you know, I'm a little tired, do I really want to go in and, and train or warm up. They just show up and do the right things day in and day out. And you know, I think that, that it's that thought process that has allowed a lot of those guys to be so successful for so long because you know, the, the game, there's wear and tear associated with, with all sports, but particularly ice hockey. And I think one of the best ways to, to last a long time is to take care of yourself. And you know, a lot of those guys have embraced the habits off the ice that allow them to stay healthy and keep playing the game that they love. 

Christie Casciano [4:33 - 5:00]: Kevin that's the perfect recipe for the elite athlete. You know, a lot of our listeners, moms and dads with younger athletes, I bet you we could get some takeaways from that. Of course we don't want the monotony for our kids and we don't want that rigorous return because they're kids. But what kinds of things, what kinds of habits can kids develop now that's going to help them succeed at hockey, be that better athlete and throughout their life? 

Kevin Neeld [5:01 - 10:44]: Yeah, no, it's a great question. I, you know, sometimes I'll talk to our players and say like the message coming from you, the kids will actually listen to even if their parents have told them to do the same things a thousand times. And you know, I think really to answer your question, it's the basics that everybody listening is probably aware of, but still a lot of people listening probably struggle with the consistency and you know, the, the number one recovery tool both for your body, from a physical standpoint, for your brain, which is really important not just in, you know, in, in learning in some of the, you know, the, the cognitive benefits of, of that, but more focused on hockey like skill development. You put in the work during the day, but those things are reinforced and reintegrated into your, you know, you learn at night when your brain is recovering. So you know, decision making on the ice, the ability to do that at the highest level that you're personally capable of is dependent upon your brain being well rested and in, in a state that it has the energy to do that. So you know, sleep is, is by far the number one thing that I think ev, you know, kids, kids struggle with. You know, I, again I mentioned before we hopped on here, I have a 7 year old son at home that just thinks it's the coolest thing to stay up late and then you know, the next day. The moods of roller coasters. Energy is a roller coaster. And you know, I think the, the more consistently you can instill, you know, consistent bedtimes, consistent wake times. You know, we, we really, even with our players try to reinforce like the, the bedroom environment should be cold, it should be completely dark and it should be quiet. So you know, obviously like kids at really young ages, some of them have nightlights and you know, PlayStations. Exactly. You go through that process. But the darker you can have your room and the quieter you can have it, the more rested you're going to be. And you know, I think as just, you know, like a thought experiment here, if you close your eyes and somebody hits the light switch on your, in your room and then hits it again, you're going to know whether your eyes are open or closed, if the lights are on and off. And that's because even through your closed Eyelids, your eyes can perceive light, and light is one of the main drivers to stimulate your body that you should be awake. So, you know, I think even simple things like for the, the players and parents listening that have phones on the, you know, the bed stand right next to it, if that's face up. And anytime a message or an alert comes through and it's lighting up, that is waking you up while you sleep, whether you're, you know, actively sitting up out of bed and moving or not. You know, same thing like with the, the vibrations and everything else. So, you know, I think that's a big one. The other big one is nutrition. And, you know, that's a battle with young kids that I can certainly empathize with. But, you know, so many of the kids that I come across don't eat vegetables at all. And really, you know, people at all ages should be striving to get, you know, at a minimum three servings a day and really closer to five. And, you know, people, you know, what's a serving like if you just use the palm of your hand as a side, a rough size guide? You know, I think most people are coming really short of what they should be getting as a minimum input there. And it's something that, you know, I, I try to talk to my kids about a lot about. You know, that the food is literally the building blocks that your body is made out of. You know, your body, when you eat food, breaks it down into these different parts that are then shuttled to different areas of your body. It builds your muscles, it builds your bones, it builds and reinforces your, you know, your brain structure and a bunch of different other parts of your body. And if you are putting, you know, low quality ingredients in, then you're building a low quality product on the other side of it. And, you know, I think just having an awareness too, of, of the response that you have to certain foods. Like, you know, the, when you have anything that's high in sugar, your blood sugar goes way up and your energy goes way up. And then your body realizes that there's been this massive spike in the amount of sugar circulating in your body. You probably don't need it, so it pulls it all out. And then there's a crash afterwards where your blood sugar is actually lower than where it was before you started. And along with that, your energy goes down. You know, your mood follows that same roller coaster. We're then on the back end of having something with a lot of sugar in it that, you know, you don't, you don't want to do things, you're not as motivated, you're not as coachable, you're not as open to trying new things, open to feedback. So, you know, there's, there's certainly a time and a place for, for, you know, ice cream and other foods that are, that kids enjoy and they should, should enjoy and have those opportunities. But you know, I think the, like, the standardized diet for kids that I see is, you know, you have some sort of like waffle or pancake or something or cereal for breakfast, you know, then you're eating whatever the school gives you. You know, kids are sucking down sports drinks and stuff at, at the rink, a lot of which are loaded with sugar that they don't need. Yeah, yeah. And the reality is, you know, the, the only thing that resembles real food that kids eat on a day to day basis is whatever their parents are feeding them for dinner. And you know that sometimes can. 

Lee MJ Elias [10:44 - 10:46]: That's a toss up too. Yeah, exactly. 

Kevin Neeld [10:46 - 10:48]: Can leave a little bit to be desired. So. 

Christie Casciano [10:48 - 11:03]: But there's lots of ways that parents can compensate that for that because you can hide those vegetables, especially if you get a juicer, you know, and there's kind of creative ways that you can put those veggies in a meal without them even realizing they're eating it. 

Kevin Neeld [11:03 - 11:23]: Like, our, our kids love chili. So that's what, that's what we do. And you know, perfect. So my, my wife and I differ in our approaches to the recipe there sometimes. But, you know, my, my kids the other week were pulling carrots out. You put carrots in chili. But, you know, whatever it all, it all ends up tasting the same anyway. So. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:23 - 11:35]: Yeah, my mom, my mom would put them in muffins, carrots and muffins. I remember it'd be eating it and be like, is this a carrot? The muffin? And she goes, yeah, it tastes fine, right? It's like, well, yeah. So you just keep eating it. You know, it's funny. 

Christie Casciano [11:36 - 11:39]: I want to tell you where I put the broccoli, kids. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:39 - 11:41]: Yeah, you don't, you don't need to know where the broccoli's at. 

Christie Casciano [11:41 - 11:42]: You don't need to know that. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:42 - 13:33]: I'll tell you a few funny things here. The way, and this is kind of a happy accident, the way I got my kids to love vegetables and they do was by accident. We, we were fortunate. We went to a hibachi and they do it just a great job with the vegetables there. And ever since then, they just weren't bothered by it. Another thing I wrote down here, Kev It's. I think this is something all parents can do. And we should say this, too. Parents, you are the biggest advocate for this for the kids. You can't expect the kids to really know or understand. Why wouldn't they want McDonald's? Why wouldn't they want Sweets? Right? That's. That's what it is to be a kid. So you really need to lead the charge. And, you know, we've heard. We've heard all of them, the. I don't want to say excuses, but we've. Oh, I've got so many kids. I have no time. You got to make the time for this, whether they play hockey or not, to be honest with you. Right. And it doesn't take as much time as I think we think it does. But, Kevin, one of the things I did with my kids that really worked, I taught them to read labels on the. On the side of a package, and I showed them that. You know, when it says 125% of your sugar for the day and a Pepsi probably should not drink that Pepsi, right? And so they're pretty active. We made it kind of a scavenger hunt of, oh, this is too high. Right? This is not enough. So I think that parents, first off, all labels now have to show the percentage of sugar. That's. That's somewhat new, right? They weren't doing that 20 years ago. So teacher kid, like, if it's over, I mean, Kevin, I'll let you be the expert, but I always say, guys, if it's over 12, 13%, I mean, you're pushing it, right? And parents again, Gatorade. Not great. Not great for your kids, right? A lot of these sports drinks that tout themselves as, like, recovery or we have electrolytes. Way too much sugar in them. Right? They're not helping. Right. And then the other things, too. Kevin, I talk about, like, prime. All the kids love prime. Right? Now I'm like, you guys gotta look. What's in that? I don't know if how bad or good that is, but it's not like they just took. There's other stuff in that. 

Kevin Neeld [13:33 - 16:10]: Yeah. You know, when. When you. When you sweat, you're not just losing water, you're losing salt, and, you know, you're losing electrolytes. So, you know, I think where sports drinks originated is that you should be replenishing more than just water in those time periods where you're sweating a lot, right? You're also, you know, in a practice or in a game, you're also burning energy. You're Burning sugar, among other energy sources. So, you know, slowly sipping on something that has sugar in it while you're playing isn't a bad thing. I think the, the leap that, that a lot of people took, including me when I was younger, was that, you know, it's called a sports drink. If it's good for me while I'm playing sports, it's probably good for me when I'm not. And the way that your body handles and needs sugar outside of actually playing, so at periods more of rest is totally different than the way it does when you're engaged in, in sport. So, you know, I think that's the big message is, is not to just, you know, guzzle those things down away from when you're actually, you know, when you're actually playing. And you know, teaching kids to read labels is huge. Like my, you know, I kind of laugh. My 7 year old son's flipping, you know, bottles and boxes around and he's like, all right, dad, this says one gram of sugar and 12 grams of protein. He's like, this is pretty good for me. It's like, yeah, that's, you know, even if you just anchor to those two things, how much sugar, how much protein. Yeah, that's a good start there. And you know, the other thing you mentioned in, I think as parents, you know, it's, it is almost always an uphill climb to get your kids to do the right things from nutrition standpoint. And the thing that I would say is that it's worth it, it's worth every fight. It's worth putting your foot down. You know, we've had a handful of like, like, I understand if you don't want to eat this, but this is the next thing you're eating. So you can eat it now, you can eat it in an hour, you can eat it tomorrow morning for breakfast. But, you know, yeah, exactly. It's like, it's that important that kids are eating the right things and they're learning that it's that important to do those things. And you know, we've bought in some of those like frozen popsicle molds and we'll blend up like Greek yogurt and fruit and things like that and you know, that becomes dessert for them. You know, I've, I've taken like some chocolate protein powders and mix it in with Greek yogurt that actually tastes like chocolate mousse or a cheesecake filling, depending on what you're making. So there are ways to do it that are more palatable and kid friendly, but you Know, I think the big message from my standpoint is that it's worth it. 

Christie Casciano [16:10 - 16:43]: It is worth it. You're right. I'm so glad you brought this up. The importance of good sleep, that is so important. Good nutrition. But we also want to talk about the importance of the mental health picture of this. And that can be a difficult challenge, especially these days with parents and kids getting bombarded with social and negative messages. It's a real battle out there for youngsters. What advice would you give to the parent as they try and guide their kid through what can be a difficult journey? 

Kevin Neeld [16:44 - 18:43]: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, now there seems to be. And when I was growing up playing, I feel like I was almost witnessing this transition in real time where, you know, sport when I grew up was, you know, you'd go outside, you'd play with the neighborhood kids. Some days it's, you know, you're playing flag football. Some days for us we're playing street hockey or shooting hoops, playing basketball. And sport was a way to, you know, to be active, to have fun, to compete with your friends. And you know, I, I, for me growing up, like, I fell in love with hockey and that's what me and my older brother spend almost all of our free time doing. But it was because we loved the sport and we were doing it. My dad had never played hockey yet. No. He had no horse in the race to, to push us to, you know, fulfill some sort of, some sort of dream that he had. There was no, you know, there was nothing put on us about, you know, you need to do this so you can get a scholarship or compete for. Everything that my older brother and I went through was because we love the sport and we wanted to be great at it. And you know, I think really quickly that's turned into, we've almost professionalized youth sports. And I think, you know, with the nil changes that are taking place in college, that it, the trickle down effect of that is going to be worse in that regard, that there's going to be opportunities for people to make money, a very, very small proportion of people to make money. And as a result of that, everybody's going to be pushing for it and that's going to have a profoundly, an even more profoundly negative impact, I think, on youth sports. And you know, I think with regards to mental health, like sports are supposed to be fun and, you know, there's a lot of adversity built into sport competition and they don't, there doesn't need to be more added by the parents so. 

Lee MJ Elias [18:43 - 18:43]: Right. 

Kevin Neeld [18:43 - 19:40]: You know, I think the. There's, you know, now decades of research that are shining a light on why so many kids across sports quit when they turn 13 and 14 years old. And pretty consistently, one of the main reasons is the parents that, you know, the. The pressure and the, you know, the constant negative feedback put on the kids by the parents is what drives a lot of kids out of the sport at times when, you know, they're transitioning into high school. And it should be, you know, there. There should be opportunities to continue enjoying the sport and having a lot of fun. And, you know, I think the thing that I've realized that, you know, working now in professional hockey for close to a decade is that everybody's there for different reasons, but the thing that is consistent across all the players is that they are exceptionally unique. 

Lee MJ Elias [19:40 - 19:40]: Yeah. 

Kevin Neeld [19:40 - 23:21]: And some are there because they have exceptionally unique skill sets. Some are there because physically they just have, you know, incredible speed and power, strength or, you know, an engine from a conditioning standpoint, that they can keep going and going and going. And, you know, I think that, you know, obviously, there's. There's value for kids striving to be their best. I think there's also. It's important for parents to recognize that not everybody's ceiling is. Is professional athlete. Not everybody's ceiling is Division one athlete. And there is so much more to sport than just competing at, you know, a professional or, you know, national team level that is being stripped away from kids because of the pressure that's being put on them to excel up to those levels. So, you know, mental health, I think it starts at home. I think it starts with having a support network around you that starts with the parents. That includes teammates. I think for coaches and parents to. To encourage the players to support each other and to pick each other up and to look for people that, you know, maybe need a little extra support and look for the kids that are. That are down or, you know, maybe are a little bit more on the outside from a social standpoint. And, you know, I can tell you I've. I've had, you know, I've had an opportunity now in Boston to, you know, work with Zidane Ochar and Patrice Berger on that are two guys that, you know, I'm. I'm not sharing any secrets here that are regarded as two of the better leaders in the history of the sport. And the thing that both of those guys share is that they are constantly looking out for what struggles their teammates may be going through and how they can support them. Throughout, through that. And you know, I, I think that that is, you know, obviously a testament to their character and to their personalities and their leadership. But I also think there's a lesson there that two of the best players ever do it, two of the best leaders to ever do it. That's their mentality. So, you know, if you're a 12, 13, 14 year old kid, there are opportunities for you. If you're the best kid on your team, you know, you're the one that maybe has a little bit of swagger. It's easy for you look down on the other kids around you because they're not as good as you. There's also an opportunity for you to, to support those other kids and to pick them up and to try to bring out the best in them, which ultimately is what brings out the best in the team. You know, I think that there's, there's a lot of value in teaching kids that the best way for a team to have success isn't just to ride the best players. It's to help bring out the best on every single person on the roster. And you know what our at, as you ascend to higher and higher levels, seasons end based on a single play. And that single play isn't always your best player, you know, making a great move and scoring a goal. A lot of times it's, you know, it might be the fourth line guy that needs to clear a puck out of the zone and you know, if, if he's feeling good and confident and he makes that play, it may save a season. You know, you might have somebody else that from a mental standpoint is feeling, you know, is, is crumbling a little bit more under the pressure, doesn't feel the support and feels isolated in that moment that, you know, fails to make that play. And the puck can end up in the back of your net too. I just, I think that team success is really contingent upon everybody playing at their highest level. And that requires people supporting, you know, each other throughout the process. 

Christie Casciano [23:21 - 24:13]: Yeah, I agree. And my favorite saying, and I signed this when I autographed, I wrote a book called the Puck, which is exactly what you're talking about. It's a kids book. And when I autograph the books, I always say a real star makes everybody shine. And that's the exact message that you're conveying right now. Yeah, you might be the star, the leader on the team, but it also gives you an opportunity to help elevate the rest of the kids on the team and to help them rise too. So thank you for sharing that message. Another thing which you said at the top of this show, you said what separates the more elite athlete, the, the real special athlete is their humility, the humility of wanting to get better. And sadly, I am seeing less and less of that. What's going on? 

Kevin Neeld [24:14 - 26:12]: Yeah, I don't know. I mean I, you know, there's, you know, my, my kids again. I have a seven year old and a four year old that are just really entering that journey. I think, you know, I, I've had some exposure to, you know, the YouTube and tick tock scenes and I just feel like everybody, there's more pressure now on kids and there's more of an opportunity for kids to try to, you know, they have access now to seeing these other kids that are at a really, really high level that are promoting themselves. And I feel like that's kind of led to people really wanting to put the spotlight on themselves maybe more than, you know, certainly my and former generations had an opportunity to, to go through and you know, again, I, kids resemble and portray the qualities that they're surrounded by. And you know, it's, it's harder and harder I think now for parents and teachers because there is, there is so many, there are so many more influences that are going into the kids than, you know, for us growing up it was, you know, you had your family, you had, you know, the friends, the people that surrounded you on a day to day basis. But you know, the Internet wasn't what it is now and you know, the app, the interconnectedness with video games and people on headsets and talking to people all over the world, like there's some good that comes from that, but there's also some challenges that are unique to, to how connected and the exposure that kids have these days. And you know, I think that I won't pretend that it's easy from a parenting standpoint or from a coaching standpoint or from an athlete standpoint to, you know, do some of the things I just mentioned and supporting the people around you. I just think it's important. So, you know, if, if there's more noise coming from other sources, then you know, the voice from the coaches and the parents and the siblings and the teammates that that voice needs to get louder. 

Lee MJ Elias [26:12 - 27:14]: Well, I agree. I can comment on this too, Christy. Yeah, I, you know, again, Kev, my kids just a few years old in yours and I can tell you some things that I'm seeing that didn't exist 20 years ago. Mike AAA was not a thing 20 years ago. Here's one for everybody. There are far less B teams than I've ever seen. There's way more aaaa. And just because it says that does not mean you are a true, whatever, elite athlete. Right. There was nothing wrong with being on a B team when I was a kid. It was a developmental structure. Other things I have seen and I, and I like starkly against this, parents of eight year old kids telling their kids their NHL potential. All right. You know, someone came up to me once and said, well, come on, Lee, don't you want your kids to play in the NHL and the pwhl? I said, yeah, sure. Excuse me. Of course. Yeah, like that's, but that's my thing. Like, that's, I'm not putting that on them. 

Christie Casciano [27:15 - 27:15]: Right, right. 

Lee MJ Elias [27:15 - 28:51]: Like, what parent wouldn't want us. That's kind of a dumb question. Like, what parent wouldn't want to see their kid get there? I'm not gonna put that on them. That's my thing. Right. And, and then I always followed up with, that would be like a nice little dream scenario. And, and this is the key, Kev. I'll say this to you, I'll say it to you, Christy. I think that, that it's so important that parents understand you do not want your child's worth to be attached to the outcome of a game, which is the outcome of their performance alone. Okay. And I mean, like, if, if there's great effort and they lose, I'm not saying that shouldn't hurt, but you should not tie their love to that win or loss. And I see parents doing that and I think they do it unknowingly because they definitely love their kids. But the messages. You're giving your kids another one too. We talked about social media. These kids are going up in a human highlight reel and we're not saying enough. That's not reality. I think we're starting to, I think that this current crop of parents sees that. I think that, you know, parents to, to, to the parents, you know, point of view. Like, you know, if you parented 15 years ago, like you didn't know what was coming with social media. I don't, you know, it's, this is evolving. Here's another one that I'm seeing on benches now. We have to encourage our kids and we're talking, you know, 12, 11, 10 years old, to kind of cheer for big plays. You know, like when your goalie makes a big save, they're very quiet on the bench, which was not the way it was when I was growing up. Right. So But I see that as an opportunity, as you were saying, Kev, to teach the team thing, like when your goalie makes a big save, everybody should be standing up about. 

Christie Casciano [28:51 - 28:54]: Absolutely. That doesn't happen. 

Lee MJ Elias [28:54 - 29:21]: I mean, it's. It was. It's eerily silent now. By the end of the season, we got them moving, you know, but we. But here's the thing. We had to explain to them, you know, the situation and why that's important. And, you know, we went to their goal. Do you hear that? When they. Yeah, yeah. It makes me feel good, things like that. You know, Kevin also makes me think of a quote, too, that I love, which is you talked about Chara and. And the great leadership. You know, good players play great. Great players make everyone around them play great. 

Christie Casciano [29:21 - 29:22]: Correct. 

Kevin Neeld [29:22 - 29:22]: And. 

Lee MJ Elias [29:22 - 29:55]: And that is a skill set that you can teach. And I think that, you know, a lot of parents will. Oh, they either have that or you don't. BS like, this is the mentorship that coaches and parents need to be bringing to the game. You should be encouraging your kid to make or to be a great teammate. We talk about the car ride home all the time. Are you pointing the finger? Are you being accountable or not? Because if you get in the car and say, well, if that kid passed or that penalty or that ref or that coach didn't do, you are. It's a horrible message. It may be true. 

Christie Casciano [29:55 - 29:56]: It may be true. 

Lee MJ Elias [29:56 - 29:57]: Yeah, but it's a horrible message. 

Christie Casciano [29:57 - 30:00]: Your tongue, you know, it does happen. 

Lee MJ Elias [30:00 - 30:39]: You know, it's all about how you word it. Like, so, Christy, I'll say to my kids and like, look, when you play youth hockey, you're going to get youth refs. You're going to get, you know, that. That kind of type of officiating. So I'll say something like, yeah, look, I didn't agree with that call either. It's a tough call. What are we going to do to respond to it right now? You've created a way better conversation, mental approach, some level of accountability than just, yeah, that ref screwed you. If that ref wasn't like, guys, that's not the way it should work in hockey. And at the highest level, Kev, you've seen it. I doubt there's a lot of finger pointing if it's not constructive in the sense of, we need to be better. Right? 

Kevin Neeld [30:40 - 32:36]: No, for sure. And I, you know, the referee thing, you know, I won't spend too much time on that, but I will just say that the referees across professional sports are the best at what they do, right? They have the Most experience, they were selected based on the expertise and, and, and the abilities that they've shown at different levels to reach that point. And they still, every single game are heavily scrutinized for things that they may have missed. So with that in mind, you know, the teenage kid that's reffing your, you know, your kids peewee hockey game, they have a 0% chance that they're going to get it right every time. There's no chance. They're learning and you know, if anybody is, I would encourage people, if they have a lot of negative feedback for refereeing, to try it. Because when you step out there and you realize how many different things that you have to keep in place, you know, it's easy from the stands to say, oh, that guy was offsides. It's a little harder when you're also trying to keep track of what's going on behind the play. You know, especially in youth hockey where, you know, it's not like the NHL where you have two linesmen and two referees and you know, you have a couple guys that are trying to do all of it together at once. There's no chance they're going to get it right. So, you know, I think to your point, Lee, there's, I, to me, it's not even worth commenting on at all. You know, if, if there's, if somebody misses a call, it's, it's part of the human experience that people make mistakes. Referees are not immune to that either. You know, to, to your point, I think, you know, understanding over time, some are going to go your way, some are not. You know, that's going to kind of balance out. But in those moments where things are not going your way from a call standpoint, you have to come together as a, you know, as a player, as a group, as a team and overcome that adversity. Absolutely. 

Lee MJ Elias [32:36 - 32:38]: And that's the real lesson. 

Kevin Neeld [32:38 - 32:53]: Exactly. And you know, one thing that you had mentioned earlier on, on the might Triple A teams, you know, I think it's, it's really, really important that we keep, that we keep a really clear definition of what elite means. 

Lee MJ Elias [32:54 - 32:56]: We're not doing a good job with that, Kevin. 

Kevin Neeld [32:57 - 35:02]: It's because, you know, I, I, everybody wants to have, you know, it feels good to say, you know, I'm on the elite team or, you know, I'm, I'm on the AAA team. But the reality is the best 8 year old in the world is not good by a really elite standpoint. There are no 8 year olds playing in the NHL. There's there's no 12 year olds that are making Olympic rosters. It doesn't, that is elite. Yeah. Anything short of that, you're in a developmental stage, right? So you know, I, to me, like, there is no such thing as elite 8 year olds, elite 10 year olds, there's elite 18 and you know, through 43 or however, however old the oldest players are. But anything short of that, throw the word out because you're saying this man, the other. You know, anybody that's been around the game for a long enough time has seen that the best players at 8 are not always the best players at 18. And you know, I've seen kids that at 13, 14 years old, best players on their team, you know, in the conversation for, you know, national caliber players, meaning in their age group, they're one of the top 20 to 30 kids in the country that by 18 are, are not division one ready. So it can change that fast. In the course of four years, you can go from one of the best kids in the country to not capable of playing at the Division 1 level. And I think that the message there is that at 14, you could also not be on anybody's radar for playing at the Division 1 level. And through, through hard work and through natural ebbs and flows in the developmental process, you can, you can ascend and you can keep, you know, competing and catching some of the kids that were better ahead of you. And you know, there's, you know, obviously, and I mentioned this early on, like there is a tremendous amount of value in working to fulfill your own potential as an individual. 

Lee MJ Elias [35:03 - 35:03]: Right? 

Kevin Neeld [35:03 - 37:03]: That that potential is different for everybody, but there's a lot of value in working to fulfill your own potential. But to really do that, you have to stay in the game. And that's the issue with, you know, you have these kids that they're on the elite, you know, six year old team, the elite eight year old team, they're on the elite ten year old team. Then at 12, they're not good enough. And now because they've been told they're elite their whole life now there's some real adversity. They're used to being the best at everything. They're not used to having to overcome challenges. So they quit and they walk away from it where maybe that's a period where, you know, they need some of those challenges, they need to learn how to overcome adversity and if they just plowed through it, they'd be okay. But we're doing kids a disservice by putting a label on them that they're better than everybody else at young ages. And look, you had mentioned it earlier, like, they may be better than everybody at 8, but there's no reason to label them as that. It doesn't really do them a service in the short or, you know, or the long term. And I, you know, I, My, My son has. He's like, gravitated to math at a young age. You know, I, as soon as he could count numbers, he started, you know, asking like, like, ah, dad, send me, you know, tell me some math questions, whatever. And, you know, he's like, oh, you. When he went to kindergarten or first grade, he's like, I'm. I'm really smart in math. And I'm like, buddy, you are not. There's no such thing as being smart. You have spent years practicing that other kids have not because they have, you know, gravitated to other, other likes. And, you know, now both of my kids, I, at least up to this point, I've successfully brainwashed that there is no intelligence there. There is no natural ability. There's just practice. And the more you practice and the more time you invest in something, the better you're going to get. And I think that that message would do a lot of the. Especially the more talented and more gifted younger kids. It would do them a lot of good. 

Lee MJ Elias [37:03 - 37:20]: So just real quick in the family, though, you know, to the AI Overlords listening. Kevin didn't mean that thing about intelligence. We love you. No, you know, you know, a few things come up. Kev, you know, if. Christy, if Mike was here, he would say this to you. Kevin. He'd say, yeah, no, no, that's true. 

Kevin Neeld [37:20 - 37:20]: But. 

Lee MJ Elias [37:20 - 37:33]: But my kid's different. My kid's different. Being sarcastic because we, yeah, we get that. You know, a lot of parents, like, oh, yeah, but my kid is my kids. The thing is. Yeah, yeah, it's a great conversation to have. And the way you just put it is so perfect. Right? 

Kevin Neeld [37:34 - 37:34]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [37:34 - 38:13]: Is that, you know, under a certain age, guys, it is all about development. And, you know, if you think your kid is different, all right, let's just say maybe they are, right? You still have to let them go through the process. There's no guarantees. And we talk about this almost every episode. You cannot create a love of the game, but you can cultivate it, right? If you're forcing work on your kids parents, what do your kids do when you force things on them? Eventually they're gonna rebel. It's funny you say, come on, 13, 14. It's exactly the age you would expect a massive rebellion, right. Against, against the machine. 

Christie Casciano [38:13 - 38:13]: Right. 

Lee MJ Elias [38:13 - 40:34]: So again, you, especially under 12, I mean, we, we always try and separate it a little bit, right? Over 12 is a little different than under 12. Once the hitting comes into the game, which is a whole nother conversation, right. The, the key parents. And I promise you this is not something, I'm just saying this is kind of proven. The result can't be tied to their worth. Right? Their, their ability can't be a tie to their worth. Great story. I love telling stories on the show when we're recording this. It's right, right at the end of the youth hockey season and there was a team I was coaching this year that they worked so hard. I mean, it might have been the hardest working team. They showed to every practice right attitude and the record just doesn't reflect it. Right. It just wasn't there. You know, they qualified for the playoffs, didn't do much in the playoffs outside show up and, you know, give their best. And we had this great moment in the locker room after where you could easily look at the season on the surface as a failure if you wanted to. But we had this great moment of, you know, I told him, kids, I, I can't explain to you why you had to feel so many tough moments this season, but I guarantee you it's developing you for the hockey player you're going to be. The champions that you're going to become are the result of seasons like this. Nobody quit. Everybody worked. And I said, that's what we value as coaches, right? I said, I know you want a better record. I said, who doesn't? So someone's got to be the top of the league. But I said, the, the fact that nobody quit, that's the win. And if you can't take that out of the season, then we failed as coaches, right? You're gonna have seasons like you have. Actually, I'm gonna rephrase that right now. You have to go through, through seasons like that if you want to learn how to win, right? I don't know one player that's just, just one, one, one, one got to the Stanley cup final and won. Even Sidney Crosby has had losses. All right? And if we're talking a lot now with the 40, he hasn't lost the game against USA in 20. He doesn't win the Stanley cup every year, all right? He's lost Stanley Cups. A Stanley Cup. All right? The, the best don't win all the time. You have to learn how to lose to win. And again, I'm getting on a soapbox here. But that's okay. When you're under 12, parents, coaches, you got to be realistic. And even over 12. You said it. There really is no super Elite. I'd say above what, 16, 17 would probably be the ages you could start having that conversation. Even 16 is too young, now that you mention it. Right. 

Kevin Neeld [40:34 - 40:39]: I know. I just. To me, Lee, like, elite is playing at the highest level. 

Lee MJ Elias [40:39 - 40:40]: Yeah. Yeah. 

Kevin Neeld [40:40 - 40:44]: And any, anything short of that, you're aspiring well, you're developing. 

Lee MJ Elias [40:44 - 41:07]: Parents just said Triple A might is the elite and that. I'll tell you, man, those games freak me out again. We can have a longer conversation about this another time. I'm not necessarily against full 8 mice flight mice. Full ice mites. Excuse me. In some scenarios, I understand why that could be beneficial, but tagging AAA Elite to it is insane to me. It's insane. So I cut you off. I'm sorry. 

Kevin Neeld [41:07 - 41:50]: Yeah, no, it's, it's. I, I, you know, I, I think it's, it's just a matter of understanding where you want the finish line to be. You know, if, in that's where you tag elite. So, you know, if you're happy with, you know, I. My son or daughter's playing triple a, you know, U10 hockey. Like, if, if that is the finish line for them, then you can call it whatever you want. Sure. You know, I think a lot of times we're, we're winning the race to the wrong finish line, where you have to understand that to me, sport, especially hockey, is such an incredible game that there's, there are opportunities to keep playing your whole life. 

Lee MJ Elias [41:50 - 41:50]: Right. 

Kevin Neeld [41:50 - 42:45]: And, you know, there's, it's such a great game that it's just a shame that people are turned off and stripped of it because there's so much pressure early on to compete at these levels. And like I said, I mean, a lot of the damage associated with labeling really young kids elite is that they start to think of themselves as being better than everybody else, and they think it should be easy. And there's the adversity component that, you know, again, I. One of the great benefits of playing team sport in particular, but sports in general is that it teaches you how to handle adversity and to overcome challenges. And that serves you really well in the real world, in life as you're growing up and inevitably faced with challenges. And, you know, when you, when you give kids this pedestal that they're better than everybody else, they learn really quickly that it should come easy to them. 

Lee MJ Elias [42:45 - 42:46]: Right. 

Christie Casciano [42:46 - 43:15]: Right. And having young Adult children who are both hockey players. I see that. And they're just flourishing as young adults. And all of that, really, a lot of it had to do with being able to face adversity, overcome challenges, and not be afraid. It's okay to fail. You learn from your mistakes and you get better. And so many parents are so afraid to see their kids fail. You gotta let them fail. They learn from that. Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [43:15 - 44:37]: I want to add on, like, you know, it's come up before. And again, look, when you host a podcast as popular as this one, people come up to you a lot, and it's. I've gotten before. Well, you just. You just rag on AAA because your kid's not there. That's happened. Right, right. And then that. That's where the coach in me comes out and says, yeah, I'm actually okay with that because my kid is not developmentally ready for that level. And that's okay. I don't need the. The aaa. And if. If should my son or daughter ever want to play at that level, they will have to put the work in to try and ascend to that level. It's not about the status for me. Yeah, right. I don't want to come out and just say, well, my kid is not good enough for that level. That wouldn't be fair to my kid to say something like that. But I think my kid is appropriately placed to enjoy the game of hockey. I mean, that's to compete and to learn the life skills, which is the roi. And if your kid is a triple A player and is doing that, I'm happy for you. I really, really mean that. But it's not a status thing for me. I. The status is that I get to enjoy the game with my kids. That's good enough for me. Again, I really am not trying to sound condescending. That is from the heart, what I'm saying right now. Okay, Kev, I do want to turn the conversation, because if we don't talk about the physical side of the game, in terms of physical fitness, we've wasted this interview by accident, and we gotta. 

Christie Casciano [44:37 - 44:39]: Make room for rapid fire. 

Lee MJ Elias [44:39 - 45:16]: Yeah, we've got some rapid fire questions at the end, but keeping it with the youth hockey idea. All right? And for the audience saying Kevin is one of the. You are elite in this space. Right? You're one of the best. I'm going to ask the question like this because I think we have a lot of coaches out there that, you know, maybe grew up in the 80s and 90s, and they're kind of looking at physical fitness like we did in the 80s and 90s. And things have really, really, really changed since then. So I would love for you to tell me, and you can do this, like in threes, three maybe things you wish you would see youth athletes do more, and then also three things you wish they would stop doing. 

Kevin Neeld [45:18 - 51:45]: Yeah, I mean, I, I, it is, I understand the question. It is a little hard to summarize. You know, what are the, the best ways to, you know, from a physical development standpoint to prepare and what should people stop doing? You know, I think what I still hear from a particularly high school aged, you know, male players more than anybody is that they're following these bodybuilding split lifting routines that are eerily similar to what, you know, what was being told to me 30 years ago when I was that age that, you know, I'm a little curious where, like, who's on the street corners whispering these, these programs into everybody's ears that they've persisted this long. You know, I think the, from a training standpoint, you know, there's a couple things that I think are really important for kids to understand. One is consistency is important. So you can show up for a couple weeks, you know, train really hard, and then stop for months at a time because, you know, inevitably, and we talk to our players about this too, there's this yo yo effect where, you know, you spend a little bit of time getting better and then you stop and everything detrains. And then the next time you go to train, you spend a little bit of time getting better and you're just kind of going around this circle of getting better than losing it, getting better than losing it, and you're not making long term progress. So, you know, I, I think we, you know, starting at, you know, you kind of drew that line in the sand around 12, sure, around 12 years old. Like when I was in the private sector, that was the age that we would start to allow kids to come into our facility to work out. And you know, there would be a scale of how many days per week we would recommend that they go through some form of training, both because of where they were at from a physical standpoint, but just as importantly, as we've talked about, where they are from a social standpoint. And you know, how we know that they should be spending their time, which is not five days a week in a, in a gym, going through structured, you know, performance training programs with us. So, you know, I think one, if you're at an age where you're going through some form of Strength training. The overwhelming majority of the time you should be following a full body training day program. So that allows you to get more touch points in throughout a week for all the different areas of your body, which is going to help lead to not just faster but more sustainable long term progress as well. You know, I think at the higher levels, one of the things that's changed a lot over the last 20 years is the emphasis on speed versus the emphasis on strength. And you know, when I was even early on in my career, there was a little bit of a thought of like there was no such thing as too strong, that you should just continue to keep chasing, getting a little bit stronger and a little bit stronger. And you know, I, I think, and this I think will be fairly intuitive for most people listening at some point to get a little bit better, you have to invest a massive amount of resources to squeak out that last 1% in those resources. The time, the energy, the recovery cost of the training that you're doing, it comes at the expense of other things. Meaning, you know, if you're putting all of your eggs in the strength basket, that's less time, energy and recovery resources from your body that you can use to spend on speed training or skill development or practice. And you know, I remember, you know, I, I've all the things that I laugh out now I, you know, I lived through. So like I remember in high school having a lower body day and then literally being so sore for the next three days that I couldn't really skate on the ice. And you know, I had a couple coaches be like, you know, is this, is this really the best thing for you? And at the time it's like, just get stronger, just get stronger. You know, this doesn't matter. And you know, now I, I think it's, there's obviously, you know, that you learn through your own stupidity, I guess. But you know, I reflect back on that and like the training should always be there to support the sport. It should never interfere with it. So you know, particularly in season, if you're training in a way that's leading to fatigue and soreness, that's not allowing you to practice to your full capacity, then I would say that it, it's hindering your development more than enhancing it. You know, I, I think the how strong is strong enough conversation, like I can tell you that a lot of the, a lot of the best people in elite level hockey are emphasizing speed development more so than strength development. And some of that is an age effect. A lot of the players that we have will have, you know, five, ten plus years of consistent year round training under their belt. So we see more players that have hit that threshold of strength, we're getting a little bit stronger isn't going to benefit them as much as getting a little bit faster. But you know, I think, you know, from a practice standpoint and from a coach's perspective, the game is continuing to get faster and you know, there's, you know, obviously you have to teach the skills and you know, some of the underlying foundational elements of the game that allow you to play at a high level. But I also think that prioritizing speed development on the ice, whether that's, you know, spending five minutes and literally just like no pucks, just goal line to blue line and just going through a couple sprints, allowing players to come back, fully recover before they go again so that they're continuing to push their ceiling on speed higher can be really beneficial. But then also integrating drills that they're having to then, you know, execute skills and make decisions at a faster speed because, you know, speed, speed allows you to create space for yourself. It also allows you to close space from a defensive standpoint. And as the game gets faster and faster, you know, a lot of times you have less time to make decisions. And that's one of the things that, you know, when you think of speed on the ice. There's, there's this spectrum of can you be fast to, can you play fast? 

Lee MJ Elias [51:45 - 51:45]: Right. 

Kevin Neeld [51:45 - 52:02]: A lot of the gap there is made up by processing and decision making. And I feel like the more coaches can integrate speed into their practice plan and into their, you know, into their training, I think it's just going to benefit the players as they keep going. 

Lee MJ Elias [52:02 - 52:19]: You know, I just wrote down here first off, that was a fantastic answer and I know it was a broad question. And what you've done there has given people something to think about. And that's, that was the goal with the question. So thank you so much for that answer. And I just, I just wrote down the, the years 2005 and 2010. 

Kevin Neeld [52:20 - 52:20]: 25. 

Lee MJ Elias [52:20 - 53:38]: All right, so 2005, for those of you who maybe weren't huge hockey fans, NHL lockout was, was happening at that time. The rules dramatically changed. If you were to look at an NHL athlete in 2005 and put him next to a 20, 25 NHL athlete, I think people would be shocked in the difference of how they look. Right. When I'm around NHL athletes today, and don't get me wrong, they're strong. Like these are athletes, professional athletes, but They're, They're. I don't want to say tall and thin, but there's a slenderness to them. Right. You can see that they're built for speed. It's like, it's like, you know, a car that's built for that. If you go back to 2005 or even back to 1995, I mean, we called them Neanderthals at that time. They were just big, hulking people with gigantic everything. Right. The game has dramatically changed. And I'm just again bringing that up, Kev, because sometimes we can get locked in a time period and, And I've seen strength training from some. Some people that maybe don't. Don't research this enough, going like, well, you got to be big. And I'm like, what are you doing? You know, and the truth is this. And I'll throw it back to you. There is no one way for any athlete. Every athlete is different, every skill set is different, every ability is different, and everybody needs a different plan for the type of game that they play. Right? 

Kevin Neeld [53:38 - 54:37]: Yeah. 100. And I think, you know, that's one of the things, obviously, working with players that come from all over the world. You know, the, the standardized training practices are different here than they are in the Czech Republic and in Russia and Finland and some of these other areas. And, you know, I think one of the things that, that, you know, we've tried to do is to understand what are the commonalities and why things work for certain players and to be really open to understanding, you know, why does a player feel like a certain thing helps them. And, you know, once you can kind of take a peek under the hood there and understand, you know, the. The player has done this, they've responded this way, they've tried this, they haven't responded well to that. Why might that be? It can help you guide the decision making on an individualized basis moving forward. And, you know, I, you know, I've. You don't have to look that hard to understand that, like, players are all built differently. 

Lee MJ Elias [54:37 - 54:38]: Yeah. 

Kevin Neeld [54:38 - 58:25]: You know, some players are. Are tall, some players are short, some players are wider than others. Some players are naturally fast. You know, we kind of. I kind of describe it as racehorses, plow horses and unicorns. You know, some. Some are naturally fast, some are more, you know, of a grindy, maybe a little bit stronger, but consistent. And then the unicorns are kind of good at everything. And there's, you know, you may have one of those on a team, you may have two, you might have zero. They're you know, not as consistent. You know, obviously there's a lot, there's a lot in between there. But you know, I, I think training, you know, again like for a lot of high school kids and even younger it's, you know, they show up to the gym, they lift some weights and then they call it a day. And you know, I think like a lot of the training programs that, that I, I've designed over the years for players at all levels, like there's specific mobility work that they go through every single day. There's hip and core work they go through every day. There's locomotion dynamic warm up based work that they would do almost every day. There's sprinting and transitional speed or agility work. There's jumping components, there's medicine ball throws, there's resistance training and then there's conditioning elements. And you know, when you look at that list, for the bulk of my playing years we, I was primarily being told I just needed to lift, you know, and I think there's a big one. There's a big misconception that like younger kids don't need mobility work and don't need range of motion work. And it was interesting. I would have told you and I would have told you too that you know, younger kids are naturally more flexible. And I had an experience early in my career that we did some testing for. It was a youth soccer organization actually. And the, we ran them through an ankle mobility test which you know, just quickly is just how far the knee can go forward over the toes. And in hockey there's, you know, range of motion in general isn't a more is better. There's, you know, not enough can be a problem. Too much can be a problem. There's a sweet spot in the middle. But I, I was blown away by the number of 12 and 13 year old female athletes at that age that had substantial def in their ankle range of motion. And you know, I think there's an element of, for me like just don't take anything for granted. You know, if you have an opportunity to assess or use your eyes and see, you know, if somebody looks like they're lacking something, don't assume that they have it just because of their age or where they're at in development. But you know, more broadly for, for the parents and the coaches and the players listening, you know, there's a, the, all of that is important for a player's development. Being able to get into the positions the sport requires. That's where mobility training comes in. You know, the Speed and power aspects of the sprinting, the jumping, the medicine ball throws, some of those exercises are important. You know, the resistance training and strength training, you know, obviously there's an element of helping you build the durability to give and withstand contact. Being able to create for us is also the foundation for speed and power work. So there's a benefit there. And, you know, from a conditioning standpoint, too, the ability to execute at a high level consistently is a hundred percent a result of your conditioning. So, you know, I think that if you're looking at a training program, even if you only, you know, if you're at a stage of your development where the goal is just to get bigger and just to get stronger, all of those other things are an important piece of the puzzle that can help support your ability to, you know, turn that increase strength and size into speed and, and help you transition those skill sets onto the ice. 

Lee MJ Elias [58:26 - 58:39]: All right, man, this has been ridiculously good. I loved every second of it. I know the parents and the coaches and everybody, but we got, we got a few rapid fire questions for you to end the episode. Okay, Christy, do you have them up? Do you want to leave us off here? Okay, so, so no pressure. 

Kevin Neeld [58:40 - 58:41]: I'm ready. 

Christie Casciano [58:41 - 58:45]: Rapid fire question number one. Favorite NHL city to visit. 

Kevin Neeld [58:47 - 59:26]: Oh, you know what? I came from San Jose, so there's a special place in my heart going back there with Boston. But I really actually, man, I, you know, I, I think I know this, and this is the random fire, and I'm already waffling. So we're off to a tough start here, but we'll go with Sam's day. You know what? I, I like to go. I like to go to Vancouver. I think it's a, A cool city built on the water, and I, I've turned into a big sushi guy, and they have some of the best sushi in North America, so. True. There you go. As far as cities we don't spend a ton of time in, that's. That's one that I look forward to. 

Lee MJ Elias [59:26 - 59:46]: Keep in mind, friends, that this man is well traveled and he's got a pick from all 32 of them. I don't know if you've been to Utah yet, but that's a pretty good answer, man. Vancouver is accurately. Okay, the next question. And again, this might be a tough one to answer for you, but do you think you could give us a most underrated exercise for hockey players? And you can be broad. Maybe it's a set of exercises. 

Kevin Neeld [59:48 - 1:01:01]: You know, I think one of the Things that a lot of hockey players, especially youth hockey players, struggling, struggle with is adopting low skating positions. And, you know, the lower the skating position you're in, the longer your stride is, which means you can generate more power with every skating stride. So, you know, it's a little bit boring because you're not actually moving. But I think split squat ISO holds where, you know, essentially you're just in the bottom of a lunge position and you're just holding that with your knee hovering right above the ground. I think that's one of the best things that players can do that will have a big impact on, on their endurance, on their speed early on, on their lower body strength, and it doesn't require any equipment and just a little bit of time. So, you know, we generally, if people can hold a squat hold for more than 30 seconds and we would start to introduce split squat holds, we generally, you know, with younger players, start them with 15 second holds, then progress to 20, then 30, and ultimately, you know, players should work towards being able to hold it for 90 seconds on each side, you know, without breaking position. So that, that's, I don't know if it's underrated. It's certainly, it's specific one that I. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:01:01 - 1:01:03]: Think has a lot of value, and I love that. 

Christie Casciano [1:01:03 - 1:01:12]: And Scott, hold for me maybe five seconds. Anyway, third and final question, which happens to be my favorite. Kevin, are you ready for this? 

Kevin Neeld [1:01:14 - 1:01:20]: Am I ready for this? Yes, I am ready for it. Oh, sorry. I didn't know if that was the question. 

Christie Casciano [1:01:21 - 1:01:22]: Final answer. 

Kevin Neeld [1:01:22 - 1:01:23]: Okay, yes, next one. 

Christie Casciano [1:01:23 - 1:01:32]: Here we go. One piece of advice you would give Kevin to your younger, young Kevin. What would you tell him? 

Kevin Neeld [1:01:33 - 1:02:22]: Oh, man. I mean, I, I, I feel like I was really fortunate, Christie, to be honest. Like, I was surrounded by good teammates and, and good coaches at a young age that, you know, I was the kid that got cut from all the teams early on and, you know, had to kind of scratch and claw my way onto, you know, from the B team, which still existed back then, to, you know, the second A team to the first A team. And throughout that journey, I had a lot of people that, you know, were supporting me and telling me that I could do it and to keep working and push harder. And, you know, I, I think any advice for myself back then, I think would just be maybe a little bit more aware of how fortunate I am to have great resources around me and great support and make sure to let them know in the moment. So very good. 

Christie Casciano [1:02:22 - 1:02:28]: Great appreciation for what, where you are, where you're at, and what you have. Very good, Kev. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:02:28 - 1:02:34]: You have been a great guest today. Just incredible insight. I can't thank you enough for being here, man. 

Kevin Neeld [1:02:34 - 1:02:36]: No, I'm happy to do it. This has been fun. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:02:36 - 1:03:40]: Yeah. Again, for everybody listening, make sure you follow Kevin's journey. Check out he's got a lot of educational resources@Kevin Neal.com that's Neil N E E L-D.com Kevin spelled K E V I N. I was gonna say the normal way, but you never know. Kevin Neal.com as always, remember, don't forget to, like, share. Subscribe to Our Kids Play Hockey and if you have questions, remember in the episode description there's a link you can click and you can send a text to us directly. If you like it. Old school kids at our I'm Sorry team@our kidsplayhockey.com you can email us a question, but that's gonna do it for this episode for Kevin Neal, Christy Cashiano Burns, I'm Lee Elias. We'll see you on the next episode of Our Kids Play Hockey. Let's get on, everybody. We hope you enjoyed this edition of our Kids Play Hockey. Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network, or our website, our kids playhockey.com also make sure to check out our children's book, when hockey stops at when hockeystops.com it's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life. We're very proud of it. But thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey and we'll see you on the next episode.