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 - How to Get the Most Out of Private Lessons
Private lessons can be a great way to grow your game—but only if you approach them the right way.
In this Ride to the Rink, Lee shares advice directly with young players on how to make private coaching sessions truly valuable. From asking the right questions to tracking your progress off the ice, this episode is all about helping players take ownership of their development and turn every lesson into lasting improvement.
🏒 Key Takeaways:
✔️ Don’t just show up—show up with a goal
✔️ Ask smart, specific questions to guide your growth
✔️ Keep a journal of what you’re learning
✔️ Great coaches give you tools—but it’s up to you to use them
✔️ Why the work you do after the lesson matters most
Whether you’re already taking lessons or thinking about starting, this episode will help you get more from every minute of ice time—and from yourself.
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Lee MJ Elias [0:00 - 4:50]: hello, hockey skaters and goalies around the world. And welcome back to another episode of the Ride to the Rink. It's Lee with you. You know, on our big show this week, we talked about private lessons of do you go to a private lesson? What do you look for in a private lesson? So I wanted to talk to you out there, the kids, about if you are searching for private lessons or already going to private lessons, how should you approach those lessons? What are the things you need to know to make sure you're getting the most out of those lessons? Because I know sometimes it's just you get dropped off, you get on the ice and you're going, right? So the first thing and the most important thing is know why you're there, what skill, what aspect of your game are you trying to get better at and how can the coach help you? I'll tell you right now, it's never a good idea to get on the ice with any coach and just go, hey, teach me everything. Teach me something, right? You should have an idea of what it is that you want to work on. That's why you go to a private coach to begin with. If you need all the skills, that's why you have practices. That's why you have the teams. That's why you have the Internet to search for those things. Private coaching is really for a specific thing that you want to work on. So that's the first thing, know why you're there. The second thing for me would be show up with some questions. Why am I not great at this? What can I do to get better at this? Or even more specific, I noticed that my right leg does this, my left leg does not do this. Again, there's a thousand different types of questions I could come up with. I'm not going to give you all of them, but be very curious. That's the key word about the skill that you're working on and how you want to get better at it. When you approach a coach with that type of information, they can really get together and think about how they want to coach you, how they want to push you, what they want to teach. Now also, there's some give and take here. If you go to a coach and say, hey, I want to work on this, they might say to you, okay, no, I want you to work on that too. But you're at step seven and we need to be back here at step two. That's a great value of a private instructor. You as kids, you don't know what you don't know, and Say that again. You don't know what you don't know. So when you go to a private instructor, their value is to give you the information that you don't know. And. And then it's your job to take that information and learn. No skills coach can just snap their fingers and give you a skill. You have to put the time in, you have to listen, receive, do those drills. And then very importantly, kids, you've got to go home and continue to work on it. All right? There are very few skills, probably none, that in an hour of ice time, you're just going to master. It just doesn't work that way. Even if you go every single week, even if you go multiple times a week, you got to work on this stuff away from the rink. And that brings me to my next point. If you go to a private instructor, really pay attention to what they're teaching you. Really pay attention to what you're good at, probably more importantly, what you're not good at. And go home and keep a little journal and write down those things. You'll be surprised how much more they'll be committed to memory if you just do something simple as write them down or type them down however you want to do it, and then ask the question, how can I work on this at home? The real value of private instruction is the knowledge you receive. The greater value is how you take that knowledge and build your game. And I'll finish on that thought. Great quote. You have a toolbox. You got to fill the toolbox up with tools. If we look at skating, shooting, and passing, like the big three is the hammer, the wrench, the screwdriver, Right? Most people have those tools. It's the little tools you don't have that you want to have for every situation that you might need them. The more tools you can put in your toolbox, the better of a hockey player you will become. And great private instructors give you those tools, but you have to learn how to use them in the game. All right, kids, that's how you want to approach private lessons. Great questions. Have a goal. Understand the goal. Learn from the coach, listen to the coach, and. And leave with something that you can build on. That's a tremendous amount of value that you're not always going to get at a team practice, because the team practice is about the team. The private lesson or the small group lesson, because I'm all for groups of two or three as well. That's about you and what you need to build on. That's the value of a private lesson. All right, kids? If you're getting them, great. If not, remember, you can always go outside and practice. If you're not practicing on your own already and you're yearning for knowledge, private lessons might not be there for you yet. Okay, Private essence are not just the answer to everything. You should want to be outside practicing every day. Okay? And I believe with you in that. Excuse me? I believe in you with that. You should, too. All right? Enjoy your hockey, enjoy your time. We'll see you on the next episode of the Ride to the Rink. Take care, everybody.
