Host Jason Jacobs welcomes Tyler Holske to Puck Academy to discuss hockey player development and Holske’s end-to-end experience as a former goalie, coach, general manager, and scout. Holske outlines his current roles as head coach and general manager of the South Shore Kings (NCDC), assistant general manager and director of scouting for the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL), and regional scout for NHL Central Scouting covering draft-eligible prospects across New England. He recounts growing up with a backyard rink, transitioning to full-time goalie in youth hockey, playing junior hockey with the Boston Junior Bruins and South Shore Kings, captaining Southern New Hampshire University and finishing as the program’s all-time saves leader, and playing two years professionally in the Netherlands. He explains his coaching path beginning in 2016 as a goaltending coach, working at Milton Academy under Paul Cannata, and eventually leading the Kings to sustained success including three straight finals and a 2024 Dineen Cup championship. This conversation is about what actually drives long-term success in hockey — and what too many players and families get wrong. Drawing from his experience as a junior head coach, USHL scout, and NHL Central Scouting evaluator, Tyler Holske breaks down how he evaluates players and why hockey sense and compete level consistently separate prospects over raw skill. We talk about whether hockey IQ can truly be developed (his answer: yes, but only intentionally), why small-area games and game-translatable reps matter more than endless skill sessions, and how video — used properly — can accelerate decision-making. Tyler also shares a candid view of today’s development landscape: the rise of 12-month hockey, the risks of early specialization, and the increasing pressure on families navigating prep, juniors, CHL, and NCAA pathways. He emphasizes that there is no single “right” route — but there is a wrong one: forcing the process or chasing status over development. The episode closes with a grounded reminder: there are fewer college spots than ever, most players won’t play pro, and the players who thrive are the ones who genuinely love going to the rink. This is a practical, honest conversation for players, parents, and coaches trying to make smarter long-term decisions in a complicated hockey world.
In this episode of Puck Academy, Jason Jacobs sits down with Tyler Holske — head coach and general manager of the South Shore Kings (NCDC), where he is in his fourth season leading the program. He also serves as assistant general manager and director of scouting for the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) and as a regional scout for NHL Central Scouting, evaluating draft-eligible players across New England.
A former goaltender, Tyler played junior hockey in New England with the South Shore Kings and Boston Junior Bruins before playing four years at Southern New Hampshire University, where he captained the team and became the program’s all-time saves leader. He went on to play professionally in Europe for two seasons in the Netherlands.
Tyler brings a rare perspective shaped by experience as a player, coach, general manager, and scout — giving him a comprehensive view of player development and the evolving hockey pathways.
What we cover:
What really matters in player evaluation
Hockey sense first
Compete level second
Skill third
Why high-IQ, high-compete players win long term.
Can hockey IQ be developed?
Small-area games vs. skill-only training
Teaching “how to play” instead of just skating better
Using video the right way
Building internally motivated self-starters
How development has changed
The rise of 12-month hockey
Early specialization and burnout
Why kids need to love going to the rink
Prep vs. juniors vs. CHL
There is no single right path
Why academics still matter
Due diligence families should do before leaving prep
How the landscape is getting more competitive
The bigger picture
There aren’t enough college spots
Most players won’t play pro
If you love the game, keep playing
Show notes:
00:00 Welcome to Puck Academy + Meet Tyler Holske (Goalie to GM/Scout)
02:28 Tyler’s Current Roles: South Shore Kings, USHL Scouting, NHL Central Scouting
03:34 Origin Story: Backyard Rink, Choosing Goalie, College & Pro in Europe
05:10 From Player to Coach: Kings Goalie Coach to Head Coach/GM & Building a Winning Culture
07:55 How the Development Path Has Changed: 12-Month Hockey, Specialization & Burnout
10:45 Let Kids Be Kids: Balancing Love of the Game, Commitment, and Parent Pressure
13:51 Synergy of Coaching + Scouting Hats Across Levels
15:57 What Tyler Looks For: Hockey Sense, Compete Level, and Skill (In That Order)
18:07 Can Hockey IQ & Compete Be Taught? Video, Self-Starters, and Accountability
20:17 Raising Hockey IQ: Small-Area Games, Teaching ‘How to Play,’ and Video-to-Ice Pairing
24:19 Tools of the Trade: InStat Workflow, Drill Sources, and Learning as a Coach
27:26 Analytics vs Eye Test: Opponent Prep, Special Teams Tendencies, and Key Metrics
29:29 When Skill Work Backfires: Making Training Game-Translatable
30:31 Can You Develop Compete & Hockey IQ Over Time?
32:26 Modern Coaching: Managing 26 Personalities & Building Buy-In
34:05 Choosing the Right Path: Don’t Rush Levels + Academics Matter
37:05 Prep vs Juniors: The 24/7 Hockey Environment Explained
39:36 Should You Skip Juniors? Readiness, Reps, and Due Diligence
43:18 CHL Rule Changes & the NCDC’s Niche in College Placement
46:27 Advisors, Outreach, and the Behind-the-Scenes Placement Machine
49:23 Recruiting vs Development: Culture, Process, and Handling Adversity
51:22 A Tougher Landscape: Not Enough Spots + What Needs to Change
54:24 Reality vs Dreams: Playing for the Love of the Game
56:44 Future of Hockey: Opportunity, Cost Barriers, and Final Wrap-Up
[Jason] (0:00 - 2:05)
Welcome to Puck Academy, a show about how hockey players grow on and off the ice. I'm Jason Jacobs, the host. And each week I talk with players, coaches, and experts shaping the future of player development.
Today's guest is Tyler Holske, whose path through hockey spans playing, coaching, management, and scouting across nearly every level of the game. As a player, Tyler was a goalie who came up through the New England Junior Hockey System playing for the South Shore Kings and the Boston Junior Bruins. He went on to play college hockey at Southern New Hampshire University, where he served as captain and finished his career as the program's all-time leader in saves.
After college, he played professionally in Europe before transitioning into coaching. On the coaching and development side, Tyler returned to the Kings, where he worked his way from goal-tenning coach, into assistant coach, assistant general manager, and eventually head coach and general manager of the NCDC team leading the program to a Denine Cup Championship. Along the way, he's also coached at the prep level at Milton Academy under Coach Kanata for many years.
He works in scouting and hockey operations roles with the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, and also currently contributes to NHL Central Scouting, where he helps evaluate draft eligible players at the highest level here in New England. Taken together, Tyler brings a rare end-to-end perspective on the development pipeline, and we cover all of that and more in this discussion. We talk about Tyler's journey in the sport.
We talk about the development path, how that's been evolving. We talk about what Tyler looks for in players, both with his coach and GM hat on, but also as a scout. We talk about which aspects are innate and which can be taught, and specifically what Tyler does and what philosophies he implements to teach and develop as part of the Kings.
It's a great discussion, and I hope you enjoy it. Tyler, welcome to the show.
[Tyler] (2:06 - 2:12)
Thanks for having me. Super, super excited to be on here today and looking forward to chatting with you.
[Jason] (2:12 - 2:15)
I like the, uh, the rink whiteboard in the background. It's on brand.
[Tyler] (2:16 - 2:27)
Yeah, just here in the office and, uh, yeah, like you said, whiteboard behind me and got the lineup and, uh, all sorts of players and, yeah, on we go.
[Jason] (2:28 - 2:44)
Well, for starters, Tyler, before we dig into your journey and how you found the sport and all that, maybe just frame it. I know you were some different hats today with different organizations, and so it would be great just to understand your, uh, your portfolio of hockey responsibilities at this moment in time.
[Tyler] (2:44 - 3:33)
Yeah, so my main, uh, obviously responsibility. I am the general manager and head coach for the South Shore Kings in the, in the NCDC. That's a tier two, uh, junior a league primarily on the East Coast here.
I've been in this position for this is my fourth year. Along with that, I do some scouting for Sioux City Musketeers. I've been with them for six years.
So in that role, pretty much just cover, you know, the scouting here in the East, you know, prep school, midget hockey. And do some crossover scouting as well, but again, primarily my focus is, is the players out here in the East. And then along with that on the regional scout here in the East for NHL central scouting.
So with that, I'm in charge of watching draft eligible prospects for the NHL draft.
[Jason] (3:34 - 3:46)
Nice. Well, now we can go on the way back machines. So, so how'd you come into playing hockey way back in the day?
Uh, did it run in your family? Were you the first one in the sport? Um, how'd you find it?
Or how did it find you?
[Tyler] (3:47 - 5:11)
So my dad played hockey growing up and honestly, just, just picked it up at a very young age. We had a backyard rink growing up. So, you know, the cold nights being out there every night, obviously.
Looking back on that was, was obviously super fun as a kid and just kept going with it. I was both a goalie and a skater for many years. I think probably it's why I was about 10 or 11.
And then from there, I was a goalie full time, you know, through peewees and bantoms and then into high school hockey. And then from there played division three college hockey at Southern New Hampshire. University and then was fortunate after I graduated there to go on and play two years of.
Some professional hockey in Europe, two years in the Netherlands. Just an unbelievable experience. Obviously, you know, to be able to play hockey was great, but, but honestly, it was just being over there experiment thing with just different cultures and getting to know different people and.
Just the way of life over there was was unbelievable. So very fortunate as a kid used to having, you know, my parents, everything they gave me and. Allowing me to play the sport at a young age and just.
My experiences over the years and and everything has been been nothing but special as you were coming up in the game.
[Jason] (5:12 - 5:21)
I mean, could you have guessed at that time that you would end up making a career in the sport and that it would be as big a part of your life as it is well into adulthood.
[Tyler] (5:21 - 7:04)
You know, I think as I got older, you know, especially in college. You know, I kind of knew that right. And when you get the call, it's like, what's next?
What am I going to do when I graduate? You know, and I just hockey is kind of my life, right? It's it always has been and just I really never thought about doing something different.
So when it became time to. Hang the skates up. I got right into coaching that was back in 2016.
I got right into coaching here with the Kings. I started just just as a goaltending coach. I was the goalie director for the South Shore Kings youth program and worked with the midget and junior teams as well, more of like a part time.
Position at the time, along with that. I was fortunate to get hired by Paul Kanata at Milton Academy where I spent six seasons with him as an assistant coach did a lot of recruiting. With Paul over the years there and we had some excellent team.
So, so did both Milton Academy and the social king's for a number of years. And then, you know, three years ago, the opportunity to jump in as the general manager and head coach came along and I jumped all over it. And it's been a blast since, you know, we've had a lot of success here.
We have a winning culture. We've been in the finals three years in a row. You know, we won it all in 2024.
But more than that, right? It's, it's, it's about the players and we've had so many good players come through here. A lot of players, you know, now playing college hockey.
So again, it's been, it's been awesome and I'm very fortunate.
[Jason] (7:05 - 7:26)
My past experiences have really helped me get to where I am now. So I went to Bishop Field High School where I played three years of high school hockey. Growing up and went straight from high school entity three.
So no, no juniors, no, no PG, no, no any of that. Did I get that right?
[Tyler] (7:26 - 7:55)
So I went to Bishop Field High School where I played three years of high school hockey. At my senior year, I did play junior hockey for the Boston Junior Bruins play for Chris Masters. And then I did do a year after high school here playing for Scott Harlow at the time was the head coach of the South Shore Kings.
So spent a year playing for him. And then right after that went on to play four years, like I said, at Southern New Hampshire University.
[Jason] (7:55 - 8:05)
One question I have is just, you know, versus the time that you were coming up in the game. What are some of the key differences as you look at the state of the game today?
[Tyler] (8:05 - 9:43)
It's different significantly. And it's, you know, when you think about it, just from when I played, you know, as a kid, and honestly, like even in high school and junior hockey and college, like how different it is now. And just, I think what's available for these families and obviously the players, like we didn't have that when I was growing up, you know, like the specialization with skill development, you know, one on one.
One coaching in the spring and summer, the summer tournament teams that these kids are playing on, you know, the brick tournament. Like, there's just a lot of options right now. And kids, obviously the hockey season starts usually Labor Day, you know, at the youth level.
And it goes till, you know, early March and then honestly, like kids are going right into spring hockey, you know, spring tournament teams, you know, working with their skill coaches. And then right into summer tournament teams, you know, playing in summer leagues, strength and conditioning. Like, there's just a lot out there that people are offering.
And it's just, again, it's 12 months, right? It never ends. So we didn't really have that.
When I was a kid and going through, like I said, high school junior hockey college, you know, you usually played hockey and when the spring rolled around, you put the hockey skates away and you played baseball or you played lacrosse, you know, and then you usually picked up hockey. You know, towards July. You know, so, but again, it's totally different now and just the resources available for these families and kids.
It's unbelievable.
[Jason] (9:44 - 10:44)
Well, I mean, there's some obvious benefits to that in terms of the increase in skill level in the game, which is, I mean, even very visible. I mean, I look at like the in my son's 13 and I feel like these 13 year old teams could probably beat my high school varsity team from from when I was coming up in the game. I do worry a bit when it comes to earlier specialization and earlier profession professionalization in terms of burnout in terms of who's steering the ship, you know, how much of that is coming from mom or dad versus coming from the kids.
And if you make it a job too early, does it ruin the fun of it? I worry about variety and building muscles in other areas, building friendships in other areas. But then, I mean, there's some obvious benefits to it too.
In terms of learning at a young age, how to develop habits and discipline and mastery. So I'll stop rambling. But that's kind of the tug of war and back and forth that I do as a dad.
I'd love to hear just how you think about those trade offs.
[Tyler] (10:45 - 12:11)
Yeah, it's very interesting, you know, and I'm seeing it honestly more and more, you know, with players that maybe are, you know, the best player at that age 10 or 11, 12, you know, and then by the time they get, you know, 15, you 16, you like, it's different. Right, kids catch up to you. Kids hit puberty, you know, and all of a sudden you're not the best player.
Right. And you kind of plateau. Right.
And sometimes, you know, the players that are so good at a young age and maybe a lot better, you know, than the rest of the pack. You know, now it's like, all right, do those players continue to progress? Those continued players continue to put in the work, you know, whereas some of these other players that are maybe on the smaller side at that age, you know, they start to grow.
They really focus on, you know, the strength conditioning. Now all of a sudden 15, you 16, you know, these players are close and some players are passing, you know, the players that were better at age 10. You know, I'm seeing that a lot, you know, and I didn't go back to it, you know, I talk about, you know, age 10, 11, like the amount of hockey these kids are playing at that age, it's, it's crazy.
You know, and you're just seeing more and more kids getting burnt out by the time they get into high school.
[Jason] (12:11 - 13:03)
Yeah. But you can also see why, because the past getting harder and harder to play beyond youth, right? And so on the one hand, it's like, well, I know if, if the kid doesn't dial back, they're going to burn out and they should also have other experiences so that they're a well-rounded athlete and a well-rounded human.
But on the other hand, the path is getting so much more competitive and my kid loves the game and I want them to have the opportunity to play. And therefore, like, they get a grind, right? And it's like, you can chase yourself around in circles and I don't know if there's a right answer and I'm sure it's different for every kid in every family.
And that's what people say when they come on the show. But I don't know. Like, if there is a right answer, I really don't know it.
And I find I'm wrestling with that tug war every day. And then you say, like, well, let the kids drive, but it's like, well, if I let the kids drive, they would just sit on their smartphones all day eating Doritos, right? So.
[Tyler] (13:04 - 13:51)
It's very interesting. You know, like, my thing for families is like, you know, let the kids be kids. You know, they have to love the sport.
And if they don't, it's fine. You know, but don't make it about you as parents. Don't force your kids to play a sport just because you want them to.
Like, they have to love it, especially hockey, right? It's a very expensive sport. There's a lot of time and energy put in by everybody, right?
So again, let the kids be kids and if they like it, continue with it, right? Give them that opportunity. But again, it's a grind and the players have to be committed to sticking to it.
But most importantly, I have to love going to the rink every single time they're there.
[Jason] (13:51 - 14:03)
So Tyler, jumping over to the professional hats that you described with the, with the Musketeers and with the Kings and, and with the NHL. So are they synergistic? Do they feed each other or is it really kind of three separate and distinct hats?
[Tyler] (14:03 - 15:30)
Yeah. So I think on the scouting side, so obviously I coach and scout for a living, you know, the scouting side, you know, out here, you know, I'm primarily watching, you know, midget hockey. You know, in high school hockey, New England prep school.
So, you know, it does go hand in hand a bit. You know, I'm watching prep school games to try to find players for the, for the Self Short Kings. Our team over the years has been made up of primarily prep school players and then obviously going to prep school games, like there's players that are at the next level, right?
That hopefully can get to the USHL level, you know, and then obviously with, with central scouting, you know, we have a few players that we've identified. In New England prep school that that we're tracking for, for the NHL draft. So I would say it all does go hand in hand and, you know, I do enjoy both sides of it coaching and having that, that atmosphere of, of helping players achieve their goals and getting in the next level.
But I also really enjoy watching players, tracking players, seeing them progress and, and for here with, with South Shore, you know, we've had a lot of success. Like I said, with, with the prep school kids. So just going to those games, you identify a lot of players and for the USHL or here for, for my team with South Shore is really important for me to be watching a lot of games.
[Jason] (15:31 - 15:56)
Given that, that that time is money and more efficiently use your time, the better the output that comes out the other side. I mean, not just in your profession, but really in any profession. How, how do you determine how to use that time with your scout hat on?
How much pre scouting do you do? What do you look for when you're there? And, and how do you connect the dots between, you know, what you see and, and what you then go to do?
[Tyler] (15:57 - 18:07)
It's a real interesting topic. And obviously, I'm, I'm sure you talked to a lot of people, you know, you asked them like, Hey, what do you, what do you look for? And a player, what do you look for when you're, when you're watching a game?
You know, and, and for me, you know, the, the biggest thing is hockey sense. Like you have to be able to think the game, especially as you get older and you're, you're playing at a high level and, and hoping to get to the next level. Like you have to be able to think the game.
You have to have a feel, you know, for, for every situation, every time you're on the ice. I think from there, it's about being competitive. You know, I'm looking for players that are super competitive.
You know, they want to impact the game every time they're on the ice. And that's just, you know, people think about like, Oh, impacting the game is scoring a goal or making a big, a big play that leads to a goal. Like, no, like there's many ways to impact the game, right?
Blocking a shot. You know, as a winger, chipping a puck out on the, on the wall, you know, a centerman being low support for the D. Down low on the D zone or winning a face off, like there's so many different ways to impact the game.
You know, goalie's making timely saves, you know. So again, like hockey sense being ultra competitive. And then from there, obviously, you know, the skill, right?
You have to be able to skate, right? You have to be able to have quick hands and have a quick release. But, but for me, like I would rather have a player that, you know, thinks the game at a high level is ultra competitive.
Maybe his skating is skill is average. I would rather have that player than the player that maybe is ultra skilled. Maybe a little less competitive in the hockey sense is a concern, right?
So I think it's about finding, you know, here in Seltier, we have 26 man roster, typically 23 skaters, three goalies. Like, I want 23 players that can all think the game and play with the high compete level.
[Jason] (18:07 - 18:40)
If you look at those three areas, you mentioned the hockey sense, the competitiveness and the skill. I mean, the skill is an obvious one in terms of, how do you get it better? I mean, you get it better from reps.
You go, shoot pucks. You go, you know, you practice state. You just practice like picture.
You can each of the different skill components you practice. I want to focus on the other two things, though, on compete and on hockey IQ for each of those. And we can take them one at a time.
How much is innate and how much can be taught? And to the extent they can be taught, how do you teach it?
[Tyler] (18:41 - 20:17)
Yeah, I would say hockey sense. Yeah. Actually, both of them, hockey sense and being competitive.
They both can be taught, right? And so, I'm not a receiver in video, whether it's team video or doing one on one video with the players, you know, and I think a lot of kids are visual learners, right? They have to see it.
You know, and a lot of what we do, you know, we try to put the players in situations during the week where it's more game like, right? Where it's going to translate, come Friday, Saturday. day.
And then just, you know, on the competitive side, like, you know, I'm looking for players that are internally, they have that fuel, right? It doesn't take me as the coach to motivate them every time they're on the ice. Yeah, every time they come back from a shift, you know, I want players that are self starters.
That's a big thing. Yeah, I talk about with my players, like be a self starter, right? Have that internal drive, right?
Have that accountability, right? You're going to have a bad shift. Don't have a bad period.
Have a bad period. Don't have a bad game, right? I want those players that are internally motivated to wanting to get better on a daily basis, wanting to come to me to do one on one video, right?
And usually, like the more you show the players, you know, I believe the more you're going to get out of them because they know you're invested in and helping them get better.
[Jason] (20:17 - 20:43)
So it's clear. I mean, like anyone with eyes can see that that the skill level in the game has in the speed of the game have increased a lot in the last several years and even decades. What do you think has been happening on the IQ side as the skill level has gone up?
You know, has it decreased? Has it increased with the skill level? Has it has it stayed flat?
Like, what is the IQ trajectory? How does it compare?
[Tyler] (20:43 - 21:14)
Yeah, that's a great topic, you know, and I'm seeing a lot of that, especially as the kids get to to the older levels, you know, my level here in junior hockey. And I think a lot of it, right, is these kids are going to and don't get me wrong, right? Like the skill development part, going to a skating coach in the summer, right?
Super important, right? And there are a lot of good guys out there, especially here in New England and the Boston area that do a phenomenal job with players, you know, in the office.
[Jason] (21:14 - 21:16)
Some of them who work right out of Foxborough.
[Tyler] (21:16 - 22:26)
Yeah, yeah, we have a lot of great, great people right out of here, you know, but I think what's missing a lot is the small area games, right? You especially at a young age, like the kids have to be able to kind of figure things out for themselves, you know, in tight areas, you know, they have to be able to make plays in tight areas, right? So I think a lot of times, you know, we talk about like the spring and summer, the hockey season is over.
And then all of a sudden, it's just I'm going to work with my skating coach or I'm going to work with my goalie coach, you know, on the fundamentals. But I think what's missing from all that is like just, you know, coaches and the off season, spring and summer, just teaching kids how to play hockey, right? So for me, I'm seeing that a lot as the kids get to this age, just some kids struggle to think it, right?
You know, just their past experiences. Maybe they haven't been in an environment where hockey sense or just just the coaching in terms of teaching kids just how to play hockey, maybe that was missing.
[Jason] (22:26 - 22:58)
So it'd be great to just kind of double click on the whole video helps for teaching IQ. And I use video a lot, just what that means. But I also want to talk about how video and on ice should be paired.
Because if you teach a concept on video, I would think that you'd want to reinforce it on the ice. But is that just through small area games without structure or with a constraint or two? Or are there actually more kind of surgical ways to reinforce the concepts that you're trying to get across with the video?
[Tyler] (22:58 - 24:19)
Yeah, for sure. So we, like, I'll just use, you know, myself, you know, kind of our philosophy and what we do with our players here on a daily basis, right? So again, I touched on, you know, for me as a coach, I'm super big into video and, you know, on any given day, you know, we're doing video when the kids arrive in the morning for the day here.
And usually on any given day, it's one concept that we're going over. Maybe it's, you know, D zone coverage, right? So that morning, we're looking at, you know, maybe it's our own clips from, from the weekend, some teaching moments on our D zone.
Or maybe it's, you know, me pulling up some NHL clips of a similar D zone that we play. And then right after we kind of show it as a staff, we go out, kind of reinforce and work on it, right? Same goes for, you know, our for check or special teams or neutral zone for check, right?
I think kind of showing it, you know, like, hey, this is what we're looking for. This is what we want to do and then going out and implementing it, you know, that same day. That's kind of the approach that we've taken here.
So again, I just think both of them go hand in hand, you know, both video and kind of the on ice part.
[Jason] (24:20 - 24:44)
So in terms of that clip pulling, is it a very manual process or, or is there technology that assists in terms of the drills that you're doing to reinforce it? Are you inventing them? Are they coming from, you know, coaches of teams that you've played on?
Are there books or websites or, you know, how, how do you do the right creation and pairing?
[Tyler] (24:45 - 26:02)
Yeah, I'd say for video, like we use in stat, I know most, you know, college programs, junior programs have in stat. All our games are broken down on in stat. So our players get their shifts emailed to them after every game.
You know, we get a full as a coaching staff, we get a full break game breakdown, usually 12 hours or so after each game on in stat, I can access any NHL game, you know, make clips within the game, you know, that are teaching clips to show our players. So that's we really utilize that on a daily basis. Obviously, it's an awesome tool to have.
So again, that's, that's super important for me as a coach. And what about on the drill side? Drill side, you know, I would say like it's, listen, we're not reinventing the wheel.
Right. I think us as coaches, you know, a lot of what we do is, you know, I'll go back to my past experiences, you know, coaching with, with Coach Kanata and Milton or, you know, playing under Scott Arlo when I played for the Kings, you know, like there's, there's many people that I've been fortunate to be around over the years and I've taken a lot from them, you know, and a lot of what they've done, you know, is what I'm kind of doing now with, with my own team.
[Jason] (26:03 - 26:28)
And is apprenticeship in that way, formally or informally, the primary way that coaches learn or is there, is there any call it a curriculum, call it a body of content, call it books that that are not just for novelty and actually are substantive and applicable for coaches, even at, at a, at a high level, like, like what you're coaching.
[Tyler] (26:29 - 27:25)
Yeah, like there's a lot of resources out there that are, that are available, you know, for coaches, right? You know, whether it's coaching symposiums, you know, the NHL, you know, coaching clinic, you know, in the summer before the NHL draft, the coaches site, like there's a lot of different tools available for, for coaches. But at the end of the day, like, I just, I think for, I'm not going to speak for, for other people, but I know for me, it's, it really comes down to my past experiences being an assistant coach or even just being a player and kind of, you know, remembering, you know, a lot of the things that, you know, Coach Kanata, you know, I referenced before, or Coach Harlow, when I played for the Kings, like, it's, it's those people that you learn from, right? And I, I took a lot from those guys.
And like I said, a lot of what I do now is, is honestly a lot, you know, of what they did when I was with them.
[Jason] (27:26 - 27:46)
Where do analytics come into play, if at all? You mentioned you get a full game right up from Instat after every game and the players get their shifts. Is there, is there certain data that you have come to rely on and that plays a meaningful role in dictating strategy or, or is the eye test still largely carrying the day?
[Tyler] (27:47 - 29:28)
Yeah, it's a little bit of both. You know, the eye test for me is at the end of the day, like you have to go out and execute, right? And we obviously, we do a lot of preschool, you know, on, on each opponent, right?
I, I try not to show, you know, a ton to the players, because I think at the end of the day, it's, it's about, it's about your team and going out and executing, right? So I try not to show a ton, but I do think, you know, the analytics and just overall video and showing players some tendencies of your opponent, I do think it's important, right? And usually like a lot of what we show is just, you know, special teams, power play, PK, some tendencies that, that teams have there, you know, maybe the four check or, you know, what type of D zone they play, you know, boxing one, or maybe their wingers press up on the D or are they man on man?
Like, there's things to show players, but, you know, in terms of like the overall analytics, you know, like, there's so much available for coaches, right? When we talk about the game breakdowns that we get, after each game, you know, I could pull up a playlist of, you know, all my sentiments, you know, their face offs, right? I can send each centerman, you know, their face offs from the previous game.
And it's a, it's a clip of, of each face off, win or, win or lose, right? You know, expected goals, right? That's a big thing we look at, you know, scoring chances, high danger scoring chances, foreign against, you know, line rushes, line rushes against, you know, like there's, there's so many different things to look at and just what we have available to us, it's, it's really unbelievable.
[Jason] (29:29 - 29:57)
When you think about the rise in individual skills that you mentioned, I mean, I get that it can't be enough that you need to also do things like smell area games that are translatable to game environments, but are there certain kinds of individual skills or certain quantities of individual skills that, that aren't just maybe not as helpful as focusing out of the things, but can even be detrimental to a player's development in terms of game translatable ability?
[Tyler] (29:58 - 30:38)
Yeah, like listen, like, you know, the skill part, you know, like you have to be able to skate, right? You have to be able to especially, you know, as you get to higher levels, you have to be able to make plays right in, in tight space, right? And going back to, you know, the skill development part and doing those things in the off season, you know, like they're important.
But at the end of the day, like, I don't care what anybody says, you have to be able to think the game, you have to be able to process the game, right? You have to be a self starter, right? You have to be competitive, right?
And I just think without those things, you're going to have a real hard time, especially as you try to get to the next level.
[Jason] (30:39 - 31:15)
In your experience, the players that have those things when they are older, juniors, college, pro, et cetera, are they, are they the same ones that kind of had those things innately when they were little guys? I mean, I know puberty, you can't control in terms of growth and strength and, and, and that kind of stuff. But what about these, these more, you know, non size and weight related attributes like compete or, or thinking the game?
You know, is it consistently the ones that were good at it early that are good at it later, or, or can that get turned on its head?
[Tyler] (31:16 - 32:26)
I'm a firm believer that, you know, you develop those, you know, those traits over time, right? And, and we talked about early in this conversation, you know, it's not the ones that are that do those things really well at a young age, you know, and they're not always the ones that do it, you know, when they get older, some players just, it takes more time, right? Some players just need more reps, you know, to figure things out, you know, so I'm, we get players here, you know, when they're 18 years old coming out of prep school that still, you know, maybe can't think certain situations, right?
And it's up to us as coaches to, to help, help them navigate through that, right? Whether it's, it's doing one on one video, you know, or just, you know, staying with them after practice to show them some things. But it's just every player is different and some players are really good at a young age and they continue to progress and, you know, they're the best of the best come 18, 19 years old.
But again, there's also the players that, that peak at such, such a young age, that get, get passed by others, you know, by the time they get to high school.
[Jason] (32:26 - 32:39)
What about the, the craft of coaching itself? As the game has evolved, how has coaching evolved and what are some differences in terms of what it takes to be a great coach today versus when you were coming up in the game?
[Tyler] (32:39 - 34:04)
Yeah, like, you know, one thing for me is, you know, when you, when you form a team and you bring a team together, you know, late August, you know, there, there are a lot of personalities, right? And as a coach, you need to understand that. Every player is different in their own way.
And as a coach, it's, it's, it's, how do you, how do you manage the, you know, here 26 personalities, right? And, and for me, it's about kind of just knowing that and knowing that each player is different in their own way. But at the same time, you know, as a coach, making sure that all 26 players kind of have the might, same mindset.
And I just think, you know, being a player's coach is obviously, you know, so important nowadays, right? And I think just, just for the players knowing that their, their coach cares, that's super important, right? You know, and, and having a coach that is going to put the time, time and energy into doing the extra things to help the players, you know, whether that's, you know, we talked about before the video, one on one video, or, you know, making calls to, to college coaches or, or junior coaches at higher levels, right?
I think there's so much that goes into this. And, and the more you can show the players, how much you care, the more you're going to get out of them in the long run.
[Jason] (34:06 - 34:34)
Some people have come on the show and talked about how steel strap and steel, and you want to play at as high level as you can execute well in. And others have come on and said, don't be in a rush. Don't leave too early, you know, until you're dominating at one level, like stay right where you are.
And if you rush, you can, you know, you can, you can do damage. How do you think about that tension and what's your advice to players and families trying to navigate their own journeys in the game?
[Tyler] (34:34 - 36:02)
That's an interesting topic, you know, and, and like I said before, like every player is different in their own way. Every player has a different path, right? And a lot of people are like, what is the right path?
Like, I don't think there is like, you know, one path. Honestly, you know, and some players, you know, we'll go to prep school for for four years or some kids will go to prep school and repeat and then play two years of junior hockey, they'll grind it out and maybe, you know, a junior league or two junior leagues, whatever that might look like, and then get to college. Some kids maybe need one year of junior hockey and then get to college.
Some kids will do a post grad year at a prep school and then go right to college or then do one year of junior hockey, right? So there's so many different different paths. But for me, the one thing I always come back to is what's important is school, right?
You have to be a good student, right? And if you want to play at the next level, right? College hockey, right?
You have to have a good academic background, plain and simple, right? You could be the best player or, you know, one of the best players at your age group. But if you don't have the academic background, if you don't have good grades, you have a real hard time getting to somewhere where you want to go.
[Jason] (36:03 - 37:05)
I'd love to push on that one a little more because, I mean, something I've observed is as the landscape gets more competitive, I mean, you offered you even talk with like when you went on the I'm New England Hockey Journal podcast, you talked about how, you know, versus prep on the Kings, you get so much more ice. You get ice, you get video, you get gym, you get right, and it's like all right there, right? And I mean, you're seeing this, I mean, that's kind of the value pop of some of these academies that are popping up where it's like you go to school in the rink on Zoom school, and then you get so much more ice as much as you want.
And there's a shooting room, and there's gym, and there's, you know, mindset, and there's video, and there's, and there's whatever. But on the same token, like you said, in the life path, right, you know, education's important. And even just being able to function when you finally get to the college, right?
Like, academics matter. So, I mean, it feels like an almost impossible task to, to manage that tension because both pieces demand more of you than there is time in the day, and somehow you need to find a way to manage each of them together.
[Tyler] (37:05 - 38:39)
Yeah, and it's different, right? Where, you know, prep school, you know, compared to junior hockey, right? They're two totally different environments.
You know, prep school, you're, you kind of have a full day of, of academics and, and hockey and, and strength conditioning, and then, you know, study hall, you know, and then you're doing it all over again the next day. And junior hockey, you know, most, most players are out of high school. You know, they've graduated from high school, you know, where the focus really is just hockey, you know, and here you're coming to the rink at 9 30 every morning, you're starting every day with video, team video, that is, and then you're going on the ice, maybe as, you know, a decor and getting extra work in with, with, with the decoach, you know, for 15, 20 minutes, then it's team practice.
And then right after that, you're going upstairs, you know, to work with, with the strength coach for an hour, you know, now we're at two o'clock, you know, you've been here for four hours and the focus is hockey, you know, and then after that, maybe it's your meeting with coach one on one to go through, through your shifts on instat, you know, or your, your, your meeting with coach to, to see where things are at with, with, with colleges, right?
So they're two totally different kind of things, two totally different environments, right? And I just think, you know, what's available to players at the junior level, you know, it's, it's second to none. It's, it's hockey 24 seven.
[Jason] (38:39 - 39:55)
So there's a few trends I want to, um, highlight. One is that it seems, and I think I also heard you talk about this on your episode with Evan, um, that, uh, that kids are leaving prep more and more and not finishing so that they can go play juniors because if they, if the colleges look at them without the junior's experience, they have to wonder how they're going to do when they get to juniors. So like, I kind of want to see what they can do with the big boys before, you know, before I know that they're truly ready regardless of how many points they have in prep, right?
And it's similarly, it seems like the age of incoming freshmen is continuing to get later in the sport, right? It's a late blooming sport. At the same time, you have kids, some kids that are skipping, um, juniors all together and going straight from prep into college, um, you know, being a 17 year old at B or something, or the other way, you know, straight from prep into the NESCAC, right?
Where, where they might have gone D one if they had, if they, if they had gone for and done their duty, you know, their tour of duty in juniors first. So, so I guess my question is how do you know what players can skip juniors, but then a separate question, which is also important, which is just because you can doesn't mean you should. So what advice do you have for when it makes sense to skip juniors versus, um, making sure you do the tour of duty, whether you need to or not?
[Tyler] (39:55 - 43:18)
Well, the first thing I would say to that is, you know, most players have to do a year of junior hockey after they graduate from high school, some too, some three, right? You know, I go back to what I said before, like every player is different. Every player has a different path.
Going back to your kind of your question on, you know, when should you leave maybe high school hockey to jump into junior hockey? You know, like most kids leave after, you know, four years playing out of prep school or high school and then junior hockey, but you're seeing it now a lot too with kids jumping early. Kids leaving after their freshman or sophomore year of high school, you know, to step into junior hockey.
For some, it works. Don't get me wrong. For some, some kids, it, you know, maybe physically they're, they're ready to make the jump, but you do see a lot of kids that make the jump early that have a hard time.
And now all of a sudden it's, you know, we talk about development, you know, like, are you getting enough puck touches? Are you getting enough reps? Are you getting enough minutes come game time?
You know, what, what's your confidence like? When, when, when things aren't going well? You know, how's the coaching staff going to work with you?
When things aren't going well, right? Because let's be honest, like every, every player goes through adversity, whether you're a younger player or you're an older player, adversity always kicks in. And it's how you deal with it.
And for some younger players, you know, there's adversity early on in junior hockey. You see it all the time, right? And sometimes that can go the other way, right, where you, you can't recover from it, right?
So I think just, you know, my message to, to families, players that are trying to navigate through it. Yeah, oh, should I, should I leave after my sophomore year to, to go play junior hockey? Well, like, you really have to do your homework.
Where are you going to go play? You know, what's the coaching staff like? What's the history of, of the organization?
What's the history of players moving on, you know, to the next level from that program? What's the, what's the history of young players going to that organization and, and doing well? What's the living environment?
If I'm a 16, 17 year old, moving away from home, right? There's a lot that, that goes into it, right? And, you know, for a parent, like, you should be asking those questions, right?
Because honestly, like, staying that extra year or graduating, there's nothing wrong with that. Especially if, if you're at a high-end academic school, you know, I coached at Milton, you know, one of the top prep schools in North America, you know, to be able to graduate from Milton Academy, like, that's special, right? And that carries a lot of weight in the long run, right?
You know, and there's other tremendous schools out there. But again, you just, if you, if you are going to leave early, you know, you really just have to do your due diligence on, on the situation and just what's, what's the environment going to be like when I get there?
[Jason] (43:18 - 44:00)
So coming back around to an NCDC specific question, I've heard you say on the Evan show that, that the NCDC sometimes doesn't get enough credit. And actually, if you come see the caliber of play, and I mean, increasingly, if you look at where the placements are going coming out of there, right? I mean, I know the Kings have been quite successful recently with some, some really great college placements at the NCDCs on the rise.
At the same time with the rule changes, right? There's all these new pools of players that are opening up that these colleges have access to. So what are you seeing in terms of the implication of those rule changes and how that's impacting your world in the NCDC and the development path for the players that you tend to work with?
[Tyler] (44:00 - 46:27)
It's interesting, right? And when all this kind of happened, you know, a few months back with, with the rule changes and the CHL, the players being eligible to play college hockey here now in the United States, you know, you wonder like, Oh, geez, what's, how is this going to impact the players that I get here in so short? Like, are they going to have a hard time getting to college hockey now, right?
So all those things came up right when this, when this all went down a few months back. But I think for us, you know, and I'll just speak for kind of what we do here and obviously the success we've had with, with placing players like, we've found a niche of, you know, most of our team, you know, year after year is made up primarily of New England prep school players. You know, obviously myself, I have that background of coaching at, at a New England prep school, right?
And just having, you know, a group of players that have all come from similar past experiences that are all solid students, right? They come here for a year, some two, right? And then they go on to, you know, a lot of them really good.
Division three college hockey programs, you know, and, and here we deal with a lot of the NESCAC schools, right? You know, we, Babson, you know, Coach Rice, you know, another phenomenal school, phenomenal hockey program, right? And, and I think those coaches, knowing that we have a lot of good, you know, sharp students here, right, they want to come watch our players, right?
So, you know, you said it before, like, listen, every, every league has, has good teams, has bad teams, every league has good operators, has bad operators, right? So it's, if you're a family or a player trying to navigate through this when you, when you graduate from high school, or like, where should I go play? Like, again, like, do your homework.
You know, where can you go where maybe it's a good location? We're 40 minutes south of Boston. We're 20 minutes north of Providence.
We have a lot of college hockey programs right in our backyard where it's convenient for coaches to come watch, right? That's a big self for us, right? And I think it's why, honestly, we've had a lot of success here with placing players at the next level.
[Jason] (46:27 - 47:02)
So for the players and families that are trying to navigate and maybe in prep now and and thinking about that, juniors, first of all, what do you think about agents or advisors, rather, and who should have them and when should they have them? And then, relatedly, because for whatever reason, I always seem to ask my question in twos, what communication do you want and when and from who? Like, what comes from the advisor?
What comes from the parents? And what comes from the kids and when? Like, do they just wait and then you'll let them know if you're interested when you show up at the games or do you like the inbound outreach as well?
[Tyler] (47:03 - 49:22)
I think having, you know, we talk about advisors and right, like, there's a lot of them out there. You know, I think having somebody kind of in your corner, so to say, I think it's important, right? And there are a lot of them out there.
But again, as from a family standpoint, like, I think it's super important that you're finding the right person that has a great background, you know, that's in it for the right reasons. And if you could find that individual who's looking out for your son or daughter, I think it's great. And for me as a coach, you know, we deal with, you know, agents and advisors all the time.
You know, I get texts or emails, you know, daily from guys, hey, like, you're interested in this player, hey, like, this guy's looking for a new team. That's really how it comes about in terms of, you know, getting players here. But also a lot of it is, you know, me going out to watch a game and who I like this guy, you know, and then me going on, you know, ring net and finding out who is, who his advisor is and then contacting his advisor, hey, is so and so looking to the player year of junior hockey, you know, would he be interested in and coming to look at the self short kinks, you know, like, so I think, you know, you're seeing and more and more like all these players, you know, have advisors and agents. So, you know, we work closely with all of them.
And I like to think when the players get here, though, I think the one thing that maybe goes unnoticed a little bit is like when the players get here, like the coaching part, you know, is the easy part, right? It's the fun part. You know, the other side of it is like my job is to get these players placed and get them on the next level, you know, and we obviously spend a ton of time every day on the phone with college coaches, you know, talking about players we have here, getting college coaches, you know, players transcripts, right?
And, you know, with that comes the advisors too, right? They're working closely with coaching staffs and college coaches. It's kind of a group effort, you know, when it comes to trying to help these players move along to the next level.
[Jason] (49:23 - 50:06)
I've heard some college coaches come on and talk about how their job has become increasingly more transactional in both directions, transactional in terms of, you know, them maybe being more recruiting focused than player development focus because of stuff like the portal, right? But also from the player standpoint, it's like, you know, being a lot more likely to hit the eject button with any adversity, you know, versus grinding it out and proving themselves because of the portal, right? And so I guess my question for you is given that, but also just given the transient nature of the NCDC where you get them in for one year or two or three years and then the goal is to send them on their way, how much of your job is recruiting versus development and how much in your ideal world would it be?
[Tyler] (50:07 - 51:18)
It starts with recruiting, right? You want to get the right players here, you know, and that's super important to me, you know, like team culture, having good people, you know, having, you know, here a 26-man roster of really good people that all have the right, you know, in similar mindset. But I think like a lot of it, you know, when you talk about the players need to understand that it is a process, right?
And what goes into this, it's not going to happen overnight, right? There's going to be a lot of adversity along the way, right? And it's for players like, how do you deal with that?
How do you deal with the adversity? You know, how do you deal when something bad happens to you, right? So, as a coach, like, you know, for me, it's super important that, you know, we're helping players navigate through those challenging times because there is going to be challenging times, you know, it's just, it's just a matter of when that happens to that individual.
And as coaches, like it's our job to work with the players through those tough times and get them back on the right path.
[Jason] (51:18 - 52:03)
As it seems like the path is getting harder for the local boys and girls, you know, as there's more options for these teams at the college level, I mean, the benefit from a college coach standpoint, and they've said it is that they're going to build better teams and the competition is going to get higher, right? But as a local player, right, that means it's a tougher road and a smaller probability that you'll make it. From where you sit, how do you feel about the landscape getting harder?
And what do you hope looking forwards in terms of how that changes if at all? And what might change to facilitate it?
[Tyler] (52:04 - 53:12)
Yeah, I mean, it is a hard road right now for players. You know, we're seeing it, you know, for these kids, right? And I think a lot of it is, it's mental to, right?
Because a lot of these kids are seeing, especially at my level, right? Like a lot of kids are seeing now that the CHL players can play, you know, Division One, college hockey, you know, and probably at some point, Division Three, college hockey. Now for a lot of these local kids, it's like, well, shoot, like, am I going to have a spot in college hockey?
What's what's my path to get there? And a lot of kids right now, you know, are having a difficult time, good players, and various leagues. If you're having a hard time, you know, getting to to a college program where maybe a year ago, it was a lot easier, you know, you had good grades.
So, you know, a college program took you, you know, and you're a good hockey player. Now it's like, there are a lot of good players out there and not enough spots. That's just what it comes down to.
[Jason] (53:13 - 53:25)
And when you look directionally, what do you think the, well, one, does there need to be an answer? Or do you think that actually, like, I don't think it's broken, it's just an after course, like, you know, is there something that needs fixing?
[Tyler] (53:25 - 54:23)
So if if more spots would be beneficial, which is a question, right, what's the best way to bring both at the Division 1 and Division 3 levels, right? And just, and listen, you know, like a club hockey now, it's a great option for kids, you know, when some players can go right out of high school and go play club hockey, right? And it's a, that's a home run, right?
Some players want to grind out junior hockey, you know, but for the other day, like right now, when we talk about like NCAA, the Division 1 and Division 3 level, like, there's just, there's not enough opportunity for kids, and it's, it's too bad, right? Because there are a lot of good, good hockey players out there that are honestly getting screwed from all of this, right? So I think how do we fix it?
You know, hopefully in the long run, you have more college hockey programs at both levels coming up.
[Jason] (54:25 - 55:14)
So as a player and family trying to navigate, especially given the cost, the time commitment, the travel, the sacrifice, right? I mean, it's an unbelievable sport, right? I mean, we're all here for a reason, right?
But, but, but like on the one hand, it's like, well, don't look at the odds, like, don't, you know, don't focus on how far you'll, how much it'll hurt if you fall when you're climbing the ladder, like focus on how good it will feel when you get to the summit, right? Because if you don't, if you don't even try, then you have no shot. So no matter what the odds are, like, if you want it badly enough, then go for it.
Like, I get that, right? So you don't, you don't want to give up on your dreams or give up on your kids' dreams. But at the same time, like, like, there can be a point at which, like, your delusion and detachment from reality is not healthy, right?
And so where's that line?
[Tyler] (55:14 - 56:44)
I see it a lot, like a lot of these kids are getting fed, you know, the wrong information, you know, and all of a sudden they got, you know, a lot of voices in their head and try, they're trying to figure out what, what the right path is, you know, and my thing, it's simple. You know, like, if you love the game, you want to play hockey. You should play hockey, right?
So if it's, you know, you go to, you know, a high school and play at a mediocre level of high school hockey and you want to play, you know, junior hockey after high school, do it, right? At the end of the day, you know, the percentage of players that make it to professional hockey, it's, it's obviously super slim, right? So, so my message to kids is like, enjoy it, because at some point it's going to end, right?
So if you want to play, you know, high school hockey or prep school and then a couple years of junior hockey, you know, even if it's at a lower level, you know, by all means, right? Enjoy it, right? And if it's, if it's club hockey for four years, great.
Okay, if it's NCAA Division III or Division I, outstanding, you know, but again, for a player that just loves the game and wants to play, you know, I think it's great that, you know, there's a lot of opportunity for kids, you know, at the junior hockey level after high school to, to play for a couple of years.
[Jason] (56:44 - 56:52)
Looking forward to a few, if you look ahead, say five years, 10 years, what are your predictions on where the game will be and where do you hope it'll be?
[Tyler] (56:53 - 57:45)
There are a lot of good hockey players out there, you know, and we're seeing it every year, like even at a young age, kids are so good now at such a young age, you know, and I just hope, you know, two, three, five years from now, I just, I just hope there's enough opportunity for kids to play at a high level, right? Because, you know, we just talked about it, right? Right now there's not enough opportunity, right?
Come, come time to to play in college. And listen, it's, it's hard to play in college. Division three college hockey is really good.
You have to be a really, really good hockey player to play at that level. Never mind Division one, right? But I just, I hope down the road, like I said before, I hope there's more, you know, programs that, that are going to pop up for these kids, where they can play even at the Division three level.
[Jason] (57:46 - 57:59)
What do you think the biggest barriers are in it? I mean, other people have come on the show and said, said cost to, you know, to, to skip to the punchline, but yeah, what are the biggest barriers to more programs popping up and what can we do about it?
[Tyler] (57:59 - 58:33)
Well, there's really nothing you could do about it. You know, and the cost, it's, you know, hockey is an expensive sport, right? And, you know, earlier in this conversation, we talked about, you know, how hockey is, it really never ends.
You go from your, your fall winter season to right into spring hockey, right into summer hockey and the amount of money and time and energy that, that goes into this, it's crazy, right? But I don't, I don't think there's much, you know, that, that we can really do about this, you know what I mean?
[Jason] (58:34 - 58:41)
We've covered a lot in this episode, Tyler. Is there anything I didn't ask that you wish I did or any parting words you'd like to leave with listeners?
[Tyler] (58:42 - 58:49)
No, I think obviously some, some great topics, some great touching points. I don't believe anything else.
[Jason] (58:50 - 59:03)
Well, thanks again for coming on the show. I guess my last question is just for anyone that heard this that wants to learn more, you know, about the kings, about the musketeers, about the NHLs are, who do you want to hear from and what's the best way for them to find you?
[Tyler] (59:03 - 59:26)
Yeah, obviously, you know, I'm pretty easy to, to talk to and if people want to reach out to me directly, they can. My email is right on the South Shore Kings website, same with my phone number, my love talk in hockey. So, you know, absolutely feel free to reach out with, with any questions or if I can help in any way, happy to do so.
[Jason] (59:27 - 59:30)
Okay, great, Tyler. Thanks again and best of luck in the remainder of the season.
[Tyler] (59:30 - 59:32)
Awesome. Thanks for having me.
[Jason] (59:33 - 59:44)
Thanks for listening to Puck Academy. If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcast and share it with someone serious about their game. See you next week.