In this episode of Puck Academy, host Jason Jacobs welcomes Scott McDougall, the Senior Associate Head Coach for Sacred Heart University's Men's Hockey Program. They discuss the evolving landscape of college hockey, Scott's coaching journey, and the challenges and best practices of player development. Scott shares insights from his extensive experience in coaching and recruiting, the impact of the changing rules and regulations, and the importance of high compete level in young players. He also recounts a recent challenging recruiting trip in Canada, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the coaching life. The episode delves into the balance between specialization and maintaining a love for the game, providing valuable advice for players, parents, and coaches navigating the path to college hockey.
In this episode of Puck Academy, host Jason Jacobs delves into the intricate world of college hockey with Scott McDougall, Senior Associate Head Coach for Sacred Heart University's Men's Hockey Program. Scott shares insights from his extensive coaching career, starting from his days as a player at the University of Connecticut, through his coaching stints at Wesleyan and the Neponset Valley River Rats. They discuss the challenges of recruiting in a constantly shifting landscape, the impact of the CHL and pro players on college hockey, and the vital elements in player development and scouting. Scott recounts a recent ordeal during a recruiting trip to Canada, reflecting on the unpredictabilities of a coach's life on the road. The episode offers a candid look at the pressures, changes, and joys of coaching college hockey today.
00:00 Introduction to Puck Academy
00:15 Meet Scott McDougall: Sacred Heart's Senior Associate Head Coach
00:33 Scott's Journey and Career Highlights 01:19 Challenges and Changes in College Hockey
02:35 A Crazy Recruiting Story
07:48 Life on the Road as a Coach
08:59 Jason's Personal Hockey Journey
11:01 Scott's Early Hockey Days
12:42 Coaching Philosophy and Changes Over Time
15:23 Transition to Coaching and the River Rats
21:17 The Evolution of Sacred Heart's Hockey Program
22:04 The Role of Family in Hockey Development
26:22 The Role of Recruiting in College Hockey
28:10 Balancing Early Talent Identification and Development
29:45 The Importance of Competitiveness
33:52 Navigating the Path to College Hockey
39:40 Challenges in College Hockey Recruiting
40:31 The Impact of Changes in College Hockey
45:11 Adapting to the Evolving Landscape
51:23 Advice for Aspiring Players and Coaches
53:38 Concluding Thoughts on the Future of Hockey
[Jason Jacobs] (0:00 - 2:34)
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 Scott McDougal, the senior associate head coach for Sacred Heart University's men's hockey program, the Pioneers Division One program.
They have an absolutely fabulous facility that I drew over from a distance. I was excited for this one because Scott's got such an interesting story. He's been with Sacred Heart since 2009, spent a couple years coaching at Wesleyan before that, my alma mater.
He was a 2007 graduate of the University of Connecticut, so he played D1 hockey, where he finished with 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 career points in 89 games. He's also been active over the years as a camp and club team counselor, instructor, and coach, working with Massachusetts Player Development Camp, handling 13 to 15-year-olds, the Connecticut Hockey Experience with 13 to 18-year-olds. He also was the head coach of the Neponset Valley River Rats U18 team in the Massachusetts Select League for five seasons.
Scott has seen the game from a lot of different angles. Not only that, as I've made the rounds, everyone wants to know what these D1 coaches are seeing because the landscape's been changing so much. Scott gives a really candid, raw point of view in terms of what's happening on the ground.
I mean, it sounds like with these lawsuits going back and forth, the rules are changing so frequently that it can be hard to get momentum in any one direction because the rules of the game keep changing under your feet. We have a great discussion about that, the evolving landscape. We talk about Scott's journey in the game.
We talk about clubs and privatization. We talk about specialization happening earlier and earlier. We talk with Scott's recruiting and scouting hat on about what he looks for in players, and how young is too young to scout, and whether the kids that are best early are the best later, and if there's any telltale signs that a kid's got it.
We also have a great discussion about the state of the game, what's going well, what's not going well, what Scott hopes for in the future, and his advice for anyone trying to navigate the path as a player, a parent, or others involved with this great game. Scott, welcome to the show.
[Scott McDougall] (2:35 - 4:58)
Happy to be here. It's been a crazy couple days, so I'm on my phone right now because this is a crazy recruiting story, but we'll start with this. When I agreed to do this, I was planning to be driving during it from like Ottawa to Avon for the Avon tournament today, but I was up in the WHL recruiting.
We just committed a kid in Red Deer, so I was up meeting with him. I went to a game in Edmonton where the Oilers play on Sunday night, and park, lock the car, go into the rink, pay the $18 in this lot, which not in the greatest area, but whatever. I go in the game.
I see Dan Jewell there, actually. I have a red-eye flight that night. Dan's the Merrimack assistant coach.
I go talk to a recruit. We're recruiting a kid that was in the game, so I talked to him after the game. I asked Dan, I'm like, hey, what are you doing?
What do you got the next couple days? He's like, well, I'm staying here for a few days recruiting. Sounds good.
Where's your airport? He's like, well, it's over by the airport in Edmonton. I'm like, well, I got the red-eye tonight.
You want to get dinner before? He's like, sure. I go grab dinner with him, and I pull in about 9.30 for my midnight flight, and I go to grab my backpack. I'm like, huh, I thought it was on the seat next to me. I'm like, it must be in the back seat. It wasn't there.
It wasn't in the trunk. I'm like, I don't have my backpack, which has my passport in it. I'm like, this isn't good.
So I tell the rental guy. I'm like, I don't have my backpack. He's like, maybe you left it.
I'm like, God, I travel a lot. I don't think I would have left it anywhere. But I look in my car, and I had been driving from Red Deer to Edmonton.
I had a phone charger there because my phone was almost dead after the meeting. So at that time, when I realized that was missing, I'm like, I don't have my passport. I'm not going to be able to fly home.
So this happens on Sunday. They're like, you got to go. There's a police station inside here.
I go talk to them. They're like, where did this happen? I'm like, in Edmonton.
They're like, you got to drive back to Edmonton. So the airport's 30 minutes outside of Edmonton. So I drive back to Edmonton.
I get the police report. I deal with all that stuff. They're never going to find it, obviously.
They stole the backpack.
[Jason Jacobs] (4:59 - 5:01)
Wait, so did they break a window? Did you leave the car unlocked?
[Scott McDougall] (5:01 - 7:19)
No, so they popped it in the back. I realized it after. So I just never looked.
I got in the car and drove away. So they went through the back door. There's a way with these cars that I had, that you can pop the lock, whatever, so without causing major damage.
They didn't break the window, but damaged the side to pop the lock. So anyway, I get the police report. I'm like, all right, I'm an American.
What do I do? They're like, yeah, you got to go to the consulate. I'm like, OK, I'll write down the address.
I'll write down the address. It's in Calgary. I'm like, how far is that?
It's three hours. So this is like 11 o'clock at night, 12 o'clock in the morning at this point. So I'm like, man, that's not good.
So I ended up finishing all the police stuff, you know, find the serial number for my laptop, just a bunch of stuff, right? So I go to sleep about one, get up at six, back on the phone with the police. They were awesome.
They were like, I'm really sorry this happened to you. I'm like, it is what it is, you know? So I drive to Calgary on Monday and I go to the consulate.
And they're like, hey, do you have an appointment? I'm like, no, I got my stuff robbed last night. Like, I didn't know I needed an appointment.
They're like, well, you need an appointment. We'll get you in tomorrow. You got to do this, this, and the next thing.
So I ended up having to get passport, pictures. I'm running around on this checklist they give you of things you need to do. Luckily, I had my phone in my wallet, so I was able to stay in a hotel, right?
So finally, I go back there again. Tuesday morning, you got to put your phone in the locker. I'm sitting there for about three hours.
I finally get an emergency passport and got a flight out Tuesday night and finally got home just after midnight, you know, Wednesday morning. And so now I don't have a computer, which is why I'm just on my phone. I don't really have a passport.
I have to go deal with some things to get a real passport. I have the emergency passport. So nightmare last few days for me.
Like I said, I thought I was going to be driving for about six hours with all the time in the world, but I am back in my office. And my 12 o'clock meeting is with our IT just to sign some paperwork and stuff so I can get a new computer. So that was my last couple of days.
[Jason Jacobs] (7:19 - 7:46)
Well, I'm so sorry that that happened to you. We went to a tournament. I think it was the summer before this one in Canada, in Montreal.
And I think in the rink parking lot, there were like eight or nine cars broken into, including one of the teams we were playing lost a bunch of like all their hockey gear was stolen. And that, I think that whole thing, as crappy as it was, might have also been a commercial for why coaches leave to become youth hockey directors or player development people.
[Scott McDougall] (7:47 - 7:48)
I mean, it was...
[Jason Jacobs] (7:49 - 8:07)
The road lifestyle takes its tolls. Same thing with me. It's like, why I don't want to run a company right now?
Because like the road lifestyle, it's like, you know, you get to a certain age, you have young kids. Yeah, it's a big, I mean, you really got to love it, as you know, because there's a lot that you're sacrificing to live the dream.
[Scott McDougall] (8:07 - 8:23)
It was a tough couple of days there. There was no games to go to. I'm just sitting in Calgary with no idea.
You can't book a flight without a passport number when you're traveling internationally. I didn't even know when I was getting out of there. So it was a tough couple of days, but yeah, life on the road.
[Jason Jacobs] (8:23 - 8:23)
Welcome back.
[Scott McDougall] (8:24 - 8:57)
You're bound to have some problems over the years. That was a first for me. So I've had my passport the whole time.
So usually it was in my pocket, but my pockets weren't very deep. And the rink there, it's where the Oilers play. It's a top five rink in the NHL.
So it's beautiful. So I didn't bring in like a heavy coat that I would normally have my passport in the pocket of, you know what I mean? So anyway, I lost my clothes, my passport.
I was in the same clothes for three days, you know? So it was quite a trip, but I'm glad to be back.
[Jason Jacobs] (8:58 - 9:52)
I have one little one for you. You know, we had initial discussion before we booked this call. And I can't remember if I told you or I didn't tell you, but hockey was a big part of my life growing up.
And I played for a year and a couple of games in Division III, and then I quit. And honestly, I'm almost 50, and I still have demons about it. Not just because of not taking advantage of the opportunities I had in college, but that started well before that, right?
And it's not that I would have been something in the sport, but just whatever my potential was, I didn't reach it, right? But that college was Wesleyan. And I saw that you spent some time coaching there when I was prepping for this discussion.
I didn't realize that when we chatted initially. But yeah, I went straight from my crappy public high school program into D3. No juniors, no repeating, no anything.
Wasn't very good. And that's what you could do back then. Obviously, the landscapes changed a lot.
Did you go to Duke's Memorial this summer?
[Scott McDougall] (9:53 - 10:02)
He was before your time. He was before my time. So Chris, who I worked for, obviously knew him, but that was before my time, so I didn't know him.
[Jason Jacobs] (10:03 - 10:17)
Yeah, so I was there. So I met Chris for the first time there and met a bunch of the current players. And yeah, it gave me an inferiority complex because the current players are like specimens relative to our squad.
They're all like big, V-shaped backs.
[Scott McDougall] (10:18 - 10:37)
Our head coach here, CJ's son's on the team now at Wesleyan. He's a senior now. I've always obviously followed Wesleyan, but we've even fallen closer now.
And having the opportunity to work for Chris was great. We had a great time. He's a great friend of mine.
And I always enjoy talking to him.
[Jason Jacobs] (10:38 - 10:58)
Okay, well, down to business. So for starters, there's not a lot of information out there about you in the public domain. And then the interviews that you've given have tended to be pretty kind of this season at Sacred Heart specific.
So I'm psyched just to have you come on and kind of go back in the Wayback Machine because I can't find it anywhere online. Is that by design?
[Scott McDougall] (10:59 - 11:01)
I don't know. I guess we'll find out.
[Jason Jacobs] (11:02 - 11:04)
So how'd you first get into the sport?
[Scott McDougall] (11:04 - 11:52)
My dad was a hockey player. I grew up in hockey. And it's funny, the difference between...
Hockey has been everything I've wanted to do my whole life. And by the time my kids are six and three, my son's three. And he doesn't have that same I was like, hey, mom, was I?
No, by then you were all into hockey all day. He's into tons of different things. So my whole life I've been really excited to play hockey.
I started playing on a pond in my backyard when I was three, three and a half. And then came up through youth hockey playing Tri-County Saints and High Park and Junior Bruins. And eventually got to...
I grew up in Mansfield as you showed with your shirt, the Great Woods shirt there.
[Jason Jacobs] (11:52 - 11:54)
Yeah, before we were recording. But yeah, I wore that for you.
[Scott McDougall] (11:55 - 12:39)
Yes. So I grew up in Mansfield. Mansfield High School had just kind of started the hockey program there.
But I ended up kind of deciding between going to Cal Primorial or Mount St. Charles. I ended up going to Cal Primorial in seventh grade. And that was a great experience.
Great program there. Playing for Bill Hanson was... He's a legendary figure in Mass High School hockey.
So I think for me, always wanting to be part of the game, I really looked up to Coach Hanson. He did a great job. Different coach than how you're playing nowadays.
I mean, he was certainly different from the players you have to coach now. But I played three years, my freshman...
[Jason Jacobs] (12:39 - 12:48)
Man, I don't want to cut you off, but I kind of have to push on that. So how are the players different now? And how was he different?
[Scott McDougall] (12:48 - 13:45)
God, I mean, you could be much harder on people back then. You could coach with intimidation. And players just innately respected their coach at that point.
Nowadays in coaching, you really have to make sure you're relating the players, especially at the college level. It's a completely different game. When I went to UConn, if I wanted to leave and go somewhere, you have to sit a year.
It is the complete opposite of that at this point. Because of the portal? Because of the portal and just the way players are and what have you.
For me at CM, we had great respect, but also fear for Coach Hanson, almost hiding from him at times, where in today's world, you need to be as approachable, relatable as you can possibly be to your players. I played CM for three years. I played junior hockey my senior year.
Then went over to UConn, played there for four years.
[Jason Jacobs] (13:46 - 13:56)
Can I ask one question about that before you keep going? Was that a tough call to play junior hockey? Because I would imagine senior year at CM is where all the glory is.
[Scott McDougall] (13:57 - 15:36)
Yeah, so I was actually one of the first to do it. A lot of them did it after. For me, it was...
I don't know why I wanted to, but I really wanted to get right into college, out of high school. That was something that I thought would be a good situation for me. I had had three good years at CM.
We had won two state titles, lost in the finals the other year. I had led the league in scoring. I had done pretty well.
For me, as talking to Holy Cross, some of the schools I was talking to, if I wanted to come to college, I was going to have to go to junior hockey and do well. I actually graduated from CM. I played for the Walpole Stars for Jack Sweeney, who was a completely different coach than Coach Hanson.
Great experience with a really good coach that helped me along the way. I had a good year there. We had a really good team.
There were some guys who were also doing that. Their senior year, Joe Rooney went to Boston College. Paul Dufo went to Harvard.
They were seniors like I was. We had a really good time. It was great.
Then I was able to go to UConn at 18, which probably for my hockey career, knowing what I know now, wouldn't have been the best move, but it also allowed me to get into this profession earlier and climb with tough ranks. I'm never a guy who looks back and, oh, I wish I didn't do that. I move forward each day.
I had a great four years at UConn. I knew I wanted to do some coaching, so I actually started coaching. My family has run the Riverettes for 20- Just so we don't lose it, can I ask one question about the UConn?
[Jason Jacobs] (15:36 - 15:49)
Yeah. I go back and forth about whether to just let you flow. What makes you say, in hindsight, it might not have been the best path, and what would have been a better path and why?
[Scott McDougall] (15:49 - 17:07)
Yeah, I think just being a little bit older. I got there at 18 years old. I soon turned 19.
I would have been, had I aged out of junior hockey, a freshman when I was a junior, and that was when I really started having more success. I was a little undersized. You go and play against men, so I had a couple of injuries my first couple of years, and it was being physically stronger is something that is a huge advantage.
When I was a junior, the freshmen were my age, and that was a good year for me, but at the end of the day, like I said, I had a great four years. I really enjoyed it, and I'm happy with how everything went, but living in it now and having guys age out of junior hockey, it wasn't the same as it is now. There wasn't the access to the USHL and learning about it and things like that that players have the access to now.
This was, we're talking 20-something years ago now, so it certainly made it a little more challenging because I got there at 18. There was guys on my team at 25, and that's a huge difference, and you're even seeing it nowadays in college hockey. These 18-year-old freshmen are coming in.
It's tough to dominate the game when you're playing 25-year-olds, no matter how good you are.
[Jason Jacobs] (17:08 - 17:13)
And you were about to go on and say that when you got out, I got you to coaching earlier, and then you were starting to talk about the Rats.
[Scott McDougall] (17:13 - 17:53)
Yeah, so my family's around the River Rats for 25 years or so, maybe longer now. Jeez, close to 30 years now, and the U18 team had been good, and they were kind of in a downward slope. My junior year, they were not gonna have a team, and again, at that point in my career, I really wanted to stay in hockey.
And as you self-reflect as a person and a player in anything, you can kind of realize, I'm looking at my career numbers. I had 22 career goals. I wasn't gonna make a living playing pro hockey.
[Jason Jacobs] (17:53 - 17:56)
Maybe I could get- What year did you kind of go D1?
[Scott McDougall] (17:57 - 17:58)
98, I think.
[Jason Jacobs] (17:59 - 18:02)
Oh, wow. So that was, yeah, I graduated Wesleyan in 98. So that was, yeah.
[Scott McDougall] (18:02 - 18:08)
And I remembered it was after I graduated, but I guess it was right after I- Yeah, so they went in 98, and I got there in 2003.
[Jason Jacobs] (18:09 - 18:16)
But it's all relative. You still got that many goals for a D1 program as a hockey player. How many players get to say they did that?
[Scott McDougall] (18:16 - 19:28)
Yeah, so listen, I had a good career. It was fun. So my junior year, the River Rats team was kind of gonna fold, and I was like, hey, you know what?
I'll keep the team afloat with this guy, Billy Juicy. He was a Needham High coach, and a friend of my dad's. And we kind of took the team on, and we weren't very good at all.
I remember getting smoked one night at Walter Brown Arena against the Senators. And I'm like, you know what? If I'm gonna do this again next year, like, I'm gonna make this team good, you know?
And I'm gonna really dive into this thing. So I went to Bruce Marshalls, who was the head coach of Utah, and he's passed away. And, you know, I said, hey, I think, you know, I really want to coach.
I'd like to coach the fall team while playing. It's like, I don't think so. So I ended up meeting with the assistants, and they kind of went to Bruce, was like, hey, he's got some good players, because I had put the team together.
And they brought me in. They're like, get us a player, and you can coach the team. So I'm like, sounds good.
So I coached the team again with Billy. Now, this year, we were very, very good. We had NHLers on the team, you know?
So I worked to get them. Steve Bergen, who's actually the other assistant, his desk is right behind mine. He's on the road today.
I tried to give him Brian Flynn.
[Jason Jacobs] (19:28 - 19:30)
Hopefully, he's not in Canada.
[Scott McDougall] (19:30 - 20:52)
No, no, he was. He's back. But I tried to give him Brian Flynn, who they kind of passed on.
Brian played about 450 games in the NHL. So I always tell Bergen, they should have taken Flynn, not you. So when I did that, I got in and really got a passion for it.
So I had some great, you know, players. I mean, Kevin Quick played in the NHL, and Joe Whitney played in the NHL, Brian Flynn played in the NHL. And obviously, it was a different time.
And, you know, the best kids were staying local at that point. So we had a really good team. That's how I kind of met Chris Potter.
It's how I met CJ, my boss now. And I was going to go try to play in the East Coast League like everyone would when you finish. And Chris Potter called me and was like, hey, I need an assistant.
My guy just left. Do you know anyone? I'm like, yeah, let me think of some names for you.
And I remember still this point. I was sitting there having lunch one day, and I'm like, why don't I go do that? Like, I don't know how good I, you know, like, I'm fine.
So I called Chris and said, yeah, I got a guy. I'll do it. Yeah, sounds great.
So I came down. I worked a couple of years for Chris at Wesleyan, which was so resourceful because I was able to learn how to coach at the college level. I was still coaching my River Rat teams who were good, still coaching really good players.
I brought on John Hutchin with me by that point, who is my best friend at the time. So I was coaching.
[Jason Jacobs] (20:52 - 20:53)
Wait, John Hutchin from Elevate?
[Scott McDougall] (20:54 - 22:03)
Yeah. So I was coaching with John for River Rats. We're really good.
And I was coaching at Wesleyan. I was learning how to be a college coach, video, all that stuff. Great experience.
And, you know, from there, the Sacred Heart job came open after two years at Wesleyan. I had a good relationship with CJ. He was recruiting a lot of my River Rat kids.
He's good friends with Chris Potter. And, you know, I took a job that now, as I sit here in a hundred million dollar rank, it was a lot different back then. We were playing the Milford Ice Pavilion.
It was a harder sell to get people to Sacred Heart. Our campus has since put a billion dollars into it. So I got into what would be a tough Division I time for Sacred Heart.
We had a good team that year, but we didn't have as much scholarship money. They were going through a time where they were saving up to build all this stuff. So that's kind of how I got to this point.
The program has grown exponentially. Like I said, I mean, I'm sitting in a palace right now, and it's been a great experience. But, you know, that was kind of how I got to the seat I'm in right now.
[Jason Jacobs] (22:04 - 22:26)
So going back to the Rats, so how did your family come to start the Rats? And did either of your parents grow up in the game? Like where, because hockey's a pretty, I mean, as you know, way better than me, you know, hockey's a pretty niche sport.
Although the people that are in it are crazies, but it's not something that people from outside of it like tend to find that often.
[Scott McDougall] (22:27 - 23:20)
Yeah, so my dad did. He grew up, played at Canton, went to Clarkson. Like, you know, he had always been a part of the game.
So when, you know, the River Rats were a much smaller, you know, it was a different time. People were running things very small. So when I played U18, my dad and buddy Yandel, who's Keith and Brian Yandel's dad, it goes very full circle here, but they kind of took over and coached the team together.
So Brian and I played at CM together. There was a lot of CM and Sebs kids, and, you know, we had a good group. So they kind of took it over and ran it just because, you know, it was like the next guy up.
Like, oh, you're running the team, you run it. And then they ended up growing it from there all the way down to youth hockey. As I say, it's funny, it goes full circle.
My dad, who's still coaching like the U19 team, he had Brian's son on his team this year. So that's kind of how long, you know, when he started coaching.
[Jason Jacobs] (23:20 - 23:22)
Is that the 2011 son?
[Scott McDougall] (23:22 - 23:25)
No, the 2006 son. Oh, got it.
[Jason Jacobs] (23:26 - 23:28)
Yeah, because I see him at the rink sometimes because my son is a Terrier.
[Scott McDougall] (23:28 - 23:46)
Yes, right. So Brian and I played together, buddy, and my dad coached the team and my dad just kind of kept it going. I say my dad, my mom, I feel like does way more of the work than anybody.
But so they have been doing it for years since then. So whatever that was, 2001 or so. So 20, 26 years, I guess.
[Jason Jacobs] (23:46 - 23:59)
I'm embarrassed I asked that question because I think you mentioned the team year and then obviously a 2011 wouldn't add up to that. So I'm not going to delete that, but it's just like an example I'm going to leave in of me being a dummy. Yeah.
And so did your dad coach you growing up?
[Scott McDougall] (23:59 - 24:19)
Yeah, yeah. So he coached me pretty much every year growing up, up until I got to high school, I guess even through high school. So I would say about 90% of my youth hockey, my dad was coaching me.
My brother played as well. He coached him a little bit, but seemed to be coaching my team a little bit more.
[Jason Jacobs] (24:20 - 24:28)
What percentage of the kids that make it to the Sacred Heart level had dads or moms that coached them growing up?
[Scott McDougall] (24:28 - 24:39)
You know what? It's a good question. I don't know.
I mean, we've had some for sure over the years. I don't know the whole dynamic to it, but off the top of my head, I can think of a few, that's for sure.
[Jason Jacobs] (24:40 - 25:02)
Yeah. So I want to ask a question about that and also about just recognizing the last names on the jerseys of the kids coming up because of their parents, right? How much of that do you think is genetics?
And how much of that do you think is the osmosis of being around it day in and day out and just everything you soak in from having access to their brain?
[Scott McDougall] (25:02 - 26:22)
You see a lot of coaches' kids be good players I think it's probably a lot of what you talked about. I mean, the access to it. I mean, at the end of the day, the kid has to want to be good.
And if they have the passion, they want to be good, the ability to grow up around the game is enormously beneficial. There's resources that you have access to that others don't. So there's great growth through that.
You know, and again, genetics matters. I mean, all this stuff when you're projecting players. And again, I've done this a long time and I've worked through a lot of different things.
Like genetics is a big piece of it. You know, so there's some great squirts that you're like, man, I don't know if that kid's going to be able to, you know, there's factors, right? Like if you're a goalie, how many great goalies are there?
And we have, we've had one and we've had a couple that are small, but there's not many small goalies. You can be the best goalie, but if you're only five, six or something, you're going to be exceptional to get there. You know?
So, whereas the NHL, I mean, especially when you get to the top of the pyramid, I mean, I don't know, there's one goalie under six, one in the NHL. You know, they're just, they're just not there. You get the Wolf kid, maybe one more, maybe, but that's about it.
[Jason Jacobs] (26:23 - 26:29)
So given your trip and your title, I would imagine that recruiting is a big part of your job.
[Scott McDougall] (26:29 - 27:49)
Yeah. When I self-evaluate myself, I think that's kind of the area that I most identify as, if you will. You know, there's a lot of jobs as a college hockey person, but I would say that's probably the biggest thing.
Our staff is in a great spot when you talk about our assistants, because, you know, I've come from a great, you know, background of recruiting and knowing the player pool. Steve Bergen, one of our other assistants, has come from the pro side. Like he, he, you know, I coach Steve, but he went right to pro hockey, coached the South Carolina Stingrays as the assistant, was the head coach in South Carolina, was the head coach or assistant coach in the Hershey in the American League.
So he's come from a straight coaching background. And Chris Asano, who has been on for a couple of years now, has kind of been in a mix of that. You know, he's done a lot of coaching, but also, you know, big into recruiting when he was at Army and Colgate and what have you.
So, you know, we break up the work really well. So, but, you know, when you identify yourself as a more of a recruiter or more of a coach coach, if you have to put the bucket on those things, because you do kind of have to pick one or the other, I would say more on the recruiting side.
[Jason Jacobs] (27:50 - 28:22)
There are players out there that you can look at and say, you know, from the youngest age, they had a twinkle in their eye and I always knew they were going to be something special. Right. But then there's also players who, you know, like you look at them when they're little and that's how they look.
And then they flame out or you look at them how they're little and they're not even skating yet or they're not on the radar. And then they're late bloomers. As a recruiter, how do you balance the, you know, before a certain age, who cares because everything changes versus finding the diamonds in the rough early and then showering them with reverses and attention?
[Scott McDougall] (28:22 - 29:29)
Listen, it's a great question. And I've, you know, being a little bit of part of youth hockey and studying that, I've really seen it. I'd say the first thing, it's super hard to front run.
If you are the best, very rarely, you're not the best at the end. There's the Sidney Crosby's of the world, you know, where they kind of have been able to front run. But if you're not chasing somebody, it's hard to stay there.
You know, again, genetics play into it. You may feel like you're better than this guy as a player. And then he's six, four and you're five, nine.
I mean, that's a big difference, you know? So it's all a piece of the puzzle and the evaluation tool. And you try to, you know, go on the history of the recruiting that you've done, you know, as you try to see what the development curve of players that look like that player in the past has been, you know?
So everybody wants the player who's going to improve in your program, you know? So the trajectory of it is very important as you're recruiting. If you can get guy going up as opposed to going down, that's a big difference.
[Jason Jacobs] (29:30 - 29:45)
Are there things that you look at in the younger players coming up that tend to be more enduring traits of people that end up getting there? Or is it really just a guessing game?
[Scott McDougall] (29:45 - 32:21)
I think at the end of the day, the one thing that I think is really important is just straight competitiveness, you know? I give a lot of, you know, we have a great camp here at Sacred Heart. There's a lot of good players.
And I talk to them about it. I'm like, your best chance to succeed is to be competitive in everything you do. Whether you're trying to play a men's league game, a pickup game, a split season game, the national championship game, like you can't turn it off.
The best are competitive and want to win at all times, you know? So that competitiveness is important. You know, I think when I recruit, I look at it, there's a lot of intangibles that you need to get to the division one level.
And you usually need a couple of them, you know? So like if you're a great skater and you have a great IQ, but a limited stick, like you probably can do it, you know? You usually need a couple of them.
But there's a lot of times where, you know, if you can do one thing exceptionally well, you may be able to overcome a lot of deficiencies. You know, I use, and I'm heading up there later today at Avon Old Farms. I remember when I first started coaching, I went to the game and I remember hearing about how great Cam Atkinson, who's just retiring, he was a great player, Nick Bonino, same boat, now coaching, were, and I remember watching warmups and the first shift and I'm like, this Atkinson kid, I mean, he could fly.
He looks awesome. Bonino's skating was just terrible. Like he looks sloppy.
And then I'm like, this kid's not gonna be able to do it. I mean, the puck dropped and Nick Bonino would just dominate the game without being able to skate, without like looking at him and being like, wow, this kid's like, he doesn't look the part at all, you know? But his brain was just so elite, you know, that he just made these plays and controlled the game.
And there's people like that who have that success. And obviously, those are two players who both went to the NHL and both had great careers. But if you can excel at one thing, you know, that's great.
But the competitiveness at the end of the day is probably the thing that I have most grown to think is the most important because the goalposts keep changing on these players, you know? And it's like, oh, the fifth year's back. Oh, there's CHL players.
You're gonna add pro players. So these guys are dealing with such adversity in their career thinking, oh, I'm gonna commit. Now, let's push back.
I'm this, I'm that. The guys that were just head down as competitive as I can be, those are the players who have the best chance, I think.
[Jason Jacobs] (32:21 - 32:39)
And does that tend to be consistent in terms of like the level of compete versus your peers to your left and your right as a little guy or girl versus later on, like maybe skills and ability and size and strength and speed, like all that stuff can change. But does compete change and does IQ change or is it kind of innate?
[Scott McDougall] (32:39 - 33:51)
Listen, I mean, I think you can always work on both. And there's always times where sometimes it just clicks on players, you know? Again, it goes to genetics and stuff.
If two people are working out next to each other and do the exact same things with two different genetics, your body's gonna change differently. You know what I mean? So those play into factors.
But for the most part, these competitive people who wanna win, it's something that's ingrained in you, you know? And it's something that everyone says. And as I talk to players all the time, I'm like, you gotta try to do something every day that makes you better.
You know, when kids are 14 and 15 and I have a chance to talk to them, well, what can I do? You can get there. You gotta work at it every day, you know?
It's like, you wanna be a kid. Okay, your friends are going to the beach. We're leaving at eight.
Great, I'm gonna get up at seven and shoot 200 pucks. You know, I'm gonna do something every day that is a sacrifice that makes me better, you know? And, you know, those are things that players and people can do, but they're hard.
Everybody says they wanna get to that level, but the sacrifices that need to be made to get to that level are hard.
[Jason Jacobs] (33:52 - 34:54)
And one narrative that I've heard as I've made the rounds is that, that why rush it, that hockey's a late blooming game and it's a long road and dominate where you are before, you know, before moving to the next level. Everyone's in a rush. Why are they in a rush?
Another narrative I hear is you wanna play at a high level as you can, as early as you can and push yourself as far out of your comfort zone as you can because, like, success begets success and opportunity begets opportunity. And as you get older, the window, you know, closes more and more in terms of the ability to get to those levels. And the level, you know, and each level up kind of plucks from that level of the level down.
I mean, as a player, as a family, what's your advice for how to navigate that and what to optimize for and what to stress about versus, you know, what to just let ride, if you will.
[Scott McDougall] (34:54 - 36:10)
There's a million players over my time, a million, let's call it 10s or 20s of players who have left somewhere too early and done, you know, damage to their stock and themselves as a player. It is really hard to come back from that. You know what I mean?
I believe you want to play at the highest level you can where you're going to have success. It's a hard thing to exactly say, you know, but you're better off staying longer than leaving early is probably the easiest way I can word that scenario. You know, I think New England kids have a great, you know, great situations.
There's plenty of great options for them, you know, and all of them have the ability to play at their age group for at least the fall season. So if you're not in an academy, you're at least able to play your age in the fall and be judged against your peers. And then you can play at high school level or the prep level and what have you and play against some older guys.
So I think that's a great example of players being able to do that. You know, where I think players get in trouble is I'm going to leave my prep school. I'm going to go to junior hockey and they're going to realize how hard it can be.
You know, it becomes a business. You're away from home. It's harder, you know.
And I think the older you are when you do that, the easier it is to deal with it.
[Jason Jacobs] (36:11 - 37:22)
On the one hand, if you want to play at the highest levels where you can be successful, like you said, the way to do that is to specialize, right? And shoot all those pucks and play spring hockey and go to the showcases and get your name out there and build relationships and build a track record and beef up your skills in the off season, right? And there's pressure to do that younger and younger and younger and younger.
You know, I talked to very successful coaches that have been in the game a long time who say, you know, it's a long game and you got to just tune that out and get them off the ice, put the bag away, pick up other sports, make them the best athlete you can. Don't burn them out. Don't grind them.
Don't lead to overuse injuries, right? Like don't make them hate the game. Don't make it feel like a job, right?
And it's like, it's like, gosh, these seem like they're directly contradictory. And one thing I wonder too, is it an old school, new school thing too? And just how to reconcile, you know, what is sage advice and what is dated advice and what's right for you?
And granted, every family and every kid is different, but what do you think? What are you gonna do with your kids?
[Scott McDougall] (37:22 - 39:36)
Yeah, well, we'll see, right? My kids are still young and you know, my thing, and again, I've had a lot of thoughts on this. And listen, when you talk about competitiveness, it's not just in hockey, you know?
You have to be competitive in the gym. You have to be competitive when you're playing basketball or playing football with your friends. I am fully supportive of you need to be the best athlete you can be.
But I'm also in the boat that if a kid wants to be on the ice and play and they're driving this, I don't think it's bad for them to be working on their game. Again, that doesn't mean they need to be playing in a tournament every weekend, you know? But if they love the game and they wanna do skills and they're still playing football with their friends and they're still doing those things, I think it's fine.
Like I do believe that you can train year round in a way that is productive for players to develop and also not burnout. Now, having said that, if the parent is the one driving this, you need to be doing skills and what have you, it is not going to be productive, you know? And at that time, it's put the bag away, give it a little bit of time off and then pick it back up at that point.
You know what I mean? I think that is the more answer that I have for that, you know? If it's kid-driven, you don't need to hide his bag, you know?
Hey, I wanna go play. There's people who just love getting on the ice. I wanna do skills.
I wanna go play with my friends. I wanna do this, like go for it. You know, people will say like, hey, like what do you think?
Like I wanna play in the Chowder Cup because my friends are playing and I'm like, well, if you're playing in the Chowder Cup because you wanna get seen, I don't know how many people are gonna watch that at this point. You know, it's a different market but if you're playing because all your friends are playing and you're really looking forward to it, go play, you know? Like that's something that you're gonna enjoy.
So I don't worry about burnout as long as it's player-driven, you know? That's my take on it but I certainly get the player of the sports and do these things and, you know, but if a player has the passion to continue to do it, I struggle to take it away from them, you know?
[Jason Jacobs] (39:36 - 40:30)
So bringing it around a bit to the college hockey world. So I had Ken Martell on the show recently and from a USA hockey standpoint, you know, some of the recent changes with the Canadian major juniors and such are scary because it means a harder road for US players, right? I had Sean Hogan on from College Hockey Inc and his tail's wagging, right?
Because he's like, oh man, like, you know, like NCAA hockey is gonna get a lot better, right? And then I had a couple USHL GMs on that haven't shipped yet but their perspective was, man, get some college coaches on the show because I wanna hear what they're thinking and what their world looks like. So here we are, you're a D1 college coach.
What does your world look like? What are your thoughts on the changes, the implications on college hockey, the implication on US players coming up and also the implications on you and how you guys are managing your recruiting, your pipeline, your player development, et cetera.
[Scott McDougall] (40:31 - 43:03)
I would start with this, that it is a way different time. I've done this job for, I don't know, 16, 17, 18 years now and the job is completely different than it was five years ago. The CHL, the pro players have completely changed the life of recruiting.
I used to take great pride in knowing every kid who was committing or 95% of kids who were committing Division I. I'll see four guys come in, I've never seen them. I don't know these kids or my boss is like, how's this kid who just committed from ESPN in Niagara?
I don't, I have no idea. So it is much more challenging. I'm gonna give you the short answer to this.
I think our teams will all get better. You're coaching better players but it's far less spots in college hockey for deserving players. A lot of those being deserving American players and for me, that is a really tough pill to swallow because I think there's gonna be some really good players that have grown up in this neck of the woods who when I grew up, my dream was to play Division I college hockey and it felt attainable.
It is very challenging at this time and unless there's more teams or what have you, it is just getting more challenging and more challenging because all the CHL, there's pro players, there's everything. So what I really loved most about this job was providing a spot for a New England or a Long Island or a New Jersey kid to reach his dream and come here and battle. And it's not obviously you wanna recruit the guys, the Danforths that play in the NHL, that's great but the real joy for me was those fringe guys who have finally made it for their dream and that's getting harder and harder now.
I think that's disappointing on my end because that's something I took great enjoyment in. Listen, we're getting better players so the product gets better but everyone's product gets better so it's not any different. It's hard but I do feel for the American kid who the path just got harder for and it's been hard for like five years with COVID, the fifth year and it's just these people keep getting hit.
So how is it? It's really tough. It was a job that I think all of us felt like we had a great handle on and now it's a much more challenging job that it's really hard to have a handle on.
[Jason Jacobs] (43:03 - 43:09)
Well, that's how I feel about leaving youth hockey and entering U14. So it's like a little micro example.
[Scott McDougall] (43:09 - 43:42)
Yeah, yeah. I mean it certainly changes. It's just at least there it's local.
It's the same players you know. There's a few that get added in. They go to boarding school and things like that.
Here you're talking about so many players added in and so many relationships you've had with recruits. Remember, I recruited a lot of players who were committed before this CHL thing and that makes things really challenging and when I talk to my peers that's probably the worst part you have guys who may not have a home anymore due to this CHL stuff and that's tough.
[Jason Jacobs] (43:42 - 44:33)
So growing up, I mean the world I was exposed to in hockey was all about kind of play where you live and town hockey and the narrative is that Massachusetts used to be like that how Minnesota is now, right? But Peter Masters when he was on the show was saying actually the clubs always existed. It was just back then it was the 10% of the crazies and now it's like 90% but it's not like it wasn't there.
But regardless, it seems like through a combination of privatization and all these clubs at the youth level and then at the college level, things like the portal that it's gotten a lot more individualistic and transactional. Do you agree or disagree? Well, actually there's a related question to that because you said a big part of your job was recruiting, right?
Where does development fit into the picture at the college level as well?
[Scott McDougall] (44:34 - 45:11)
Less important but still important. Very transactional on both sides of the player and the team. You make decisions that you might not have in years past.
So it is in a tough place and it's disappointing and some of the things that have to happen. So yeah, I mean listen, you obviously work to develop your players but there are players that will play in four colleges in four years and that did not happen not long ago. So the decision that it's not a good fit for a player comes so much earlier than it used to and that's tough.
[Jason Jacobs] (45:12 - 45:28)
Has some of this, do you think, been driving the rise of these player development coaches outside of the walls of the teams that work with the players on their own in the off season and such and might watch their film? Is that popping up much with your players and if so, how much interaction do you have with them and what do you think about their existence?
[Scott McDougall] (45:29 - 45:52)
Yeah, listen, a little bit. Everyone has a job to do. I don't get mad at anyone doing the job that they have been tasked to do.
So there's a lot of factors that have come into play that have changed things and what have you but it's the world you live in. So people are like, hey, you like this. The answer is it doesn't really matter whether you like it or not.
You need to adapt and do the job to the best of your ability. That's what you're paid to do.
[Jason Jacobs] (45:52 - 46:04)
There's a narrative out there that as the individual skills have gotten better, the team cohesiveness and IQ, thinking the game, has gotten worse. Do you agree or disagree?
[Scott McDougall] (46:05 - 46:53)
I mean, the game changes in every generation, you know. So, you know, the technology, the sticks, you know, that you could score, you could shoot it so much harder. I mean, the game has changed a little bit from 20 years ago and 40 years ago and what have you.
Do I think the IQ is down? Not necessarily. I think the game just moves faster, you know.
But do I think it's harder to have a team? Yeah, of course. Because back then, like, you know, you went to Sacred Heart and that was your four-year college.
Not everyone, you know, probably 30 or 40 percent of these kids are playing in all different colleges now, you know. So you don't feel the same. You know, it's more about your team this year than the program itself.
That's kind of how you have to recruit it and deal with it now.
[Jason Jacobs] (46:54 - 47:04)
Do you think that genie is too far out of the bottle or are there ways to maybe get it back to a more kind of enduring, cohesive feeling and brand?
[Scott McDougall] (47:05 - 47:21)
I think that is out of the bottle, you know. It's just, it's hard to put it back. I mean, things change and you sound like the old guys, like back in my day, you know.
So I try not to do that as much. But yeah, listen, I think it just changes, you know. It's just the world you live in.
[Jason Jacobs] (47:21 - 47:34)
So looking forwards, I mean, if you had a wish or a few wishes of changes that are maybe outside of the scope of your control that would help put the game on a better path, what would it be and why?
[Scott McDougall] (47:34 - 48:05)
You just got to keep moving forward with the time. So, you know, it is what it is, you know. Listen, the best thing that could ever happen, and it is not easy done, is there would be more teams and more spots and more, you know, there's so many deserving players that could play Division I hockey that aren't right now, you know.
But in the world you live in, you're paid to win. You have to get the best players. There's so few teams.
I don't see anything that I say, oh, wow, that's something that I would change right now. But lucky I'm not a commissioner or anything like that.
[Jason Jacobs] (48:05 - 48:08)
Well, what's the best way to get more teams? And what's holding us back?
[Scott McDougall] (48:09 - 48:30)
Funding. It's just too expensive. You know, you got to build a rink.
I mean, we put a $100 million rink. Like you have to do, the expense to start it is so extreme, you know. There's so much emphasis on paying athletes and football and basketball, the expense it takes for all those to win.
It's very hard to start any of these programs at this point.
[Jason Jacobs] (48:31 - 48:43)
If the teams are focusing more on recruiting and less on development, given the nature of what's happening out there, as a player, if you're seeking to develop, where should that development come from?
[Scott McDougall] (48:43 - 49:27)
There's great resources to develop still. There's great strength coaches. There's great skills coaches.
There's great programs. It's all about becoming the best player you can possibly be and letting the chips fall as they may, you know. If you compete every day, there is a spot for you within hockey, you know.
It's just a matter of where that ends up being. So within, grind every day, get with the right coaches, the right strength coaches. You can have that path.
I mean, there's still going to be Division One players and NHL players. It's just a harder road right now. But there are great paths out there.
There's great programs in Connecticut and Massachusetts and New Jersey that do an awesome job developing hockey players, you know. And they're going to get their players to this level, you know. There's just a little less of them now.
[Jason Jacobs] (49:28 - 49:39)
What strategies have you found to be most effective given the increasing revolving door, if you will, in college hockey to get that cohesiveness within the season that you're in?
[Scott McDougall] (49:39 - 49:53)
It's building relationships with your players. I mean, that's the importance of it from the recruiting parts of time to the meetings while you're here. That's what it comes down to.
It's relating and speaking and helping those players and doing whatever you can to help them.
[Jason Jacobs] (49:54 - 50:07)
Last topic. I mean, it's less of a charged one, but it's one I'm curious about. It's just the kind of the rise in data and analytics.
And how much is it still kind of the eye test and you got to see it and you'll just know it when you see it versus, you know, call it the moneyball effect.
[Scott McDougall] (50:08 - 50:38)
Yeah. Listen, you know, when I started this, I was one of the younger assistants. I'm starting to grow to be one of the older ones, you know.
So you have people doing all different things and this analytics stuff is really pretty new, you know. So for me and doing this a long time, you still have a lot of the eye tests, you know. But this becomes a big factor to things.
It really does, you know. So that is a real thing. I think the answer is five or six years down the road, we'll have a better idea of what the right path to do is.
[Jason Jacobs] (50:39 - 50:55)
And as a program, do you guys like to be, you know, kind of early in the guinea pigs or do you like to watch and wait till something's a little more proven and reliable before you lean in? Are you changing what skill sets you get around the table as a team to, you know, to start experimenting and get this expertise?
[Scott McDougall] (50:55 - 51:23)
I mean, listen, I think for me, especially with all the change that keeps happening, we're more of a wait and see a little bit. We kind of dip our toes into each little area and see what works for us. We feel like, you know, we can be a little bit of bigger fish within our league due to the facilities and things, you know.
So we don't have to jump off the diving board on one thing and put all the eggs in that basket. But you want to test every avenue you possibly can and try to find what's best for you in the program.
[Jason Jacobs] (51:24 - 51:51)
Well, for the U.S. players that are coming up that do dream of playing, you know, Division I college hockey, as the road keeps getting tougher and as more is required of them in terms of like later entry point and, you know, maybe repeating, sometimes repeating twice, like juniors, billet families, like all the stuff, right? At what point is it not giving up on the dream and at what point, like when is it healthy ambition and when is it like, you know, reckless and out of touch with reality?
[Scott McDougall] (51:52 - 52:50)
Well, I think there's always a place to play. And if you want to play, whether it's club or Division I, Division III, I would never tell anyone not to chase their dream. I think there's a lot of players who smartly have started to go to club hockey because they're realistic to where they will end up.
But if you have a passion for it and you want to keep doing it, chase the dream and go as long as you can. Like you have till 21, like the workforce will be there, you know? So it contradicts itself to what I'm saying, but if the player, it's player-driven, as I talked about earlier, and they really have a passion for it, do it.
What ends up happening to a lot of people is they get to junior hockey and they're like, my friends are in college and this just doesn't seem as fun for me at this point. You know what I mean? That's changes things for players, you know?
So as long as they're enjoying it, chase it as long as you can, get to the highest level you can get to, you know? But it's gotta be their decision driven through them, that's for sure, because junior hockey's hard.
[Jason Jacobs] (52:50 - 53:11)
I want to ask the same question about aspiring D1 coaches. It sounds like the game is changing so much and that the skillset and style of the coaches is needing to adapt so much. What advice do you have for coaches coming up about the recipe for success, steps they should take, things they should keep in mind, things they should be aware of?
[Scott McDougall] (53:12 - 53:38)
Yeah, I mean listen, everything's changed so it's challenging now. I would have a better answer for you years ago, you know? Hard work still is great, you know?
Knowing the player pool is at the paramount but it's really hard to do right now, you know? So I'm gonna need more time to get back to you on the best advice I could give. I think it's a really hard time right now.
[Jason Jacobs] (53:39 - 53:44)
And if you look out over the next five, 10 years, what's your optimism level about the future of the game?
[Scott McDougall] (53:45 - 54:06)
The game's in it. Listen, hockey's in a great place. College sports are, you know, there's a lot going on.
There's lawsuits all the time, you know? So as things get hopefully finally settled in, I think it'll make things a little bit easier, you know? But right now there's a new, the goalposts move every day.
All of a sudden it was CHL players and then it was pro players and it's just a really hard dynamic. Yeah.
[Jason Jacobs] (54:07 - 54:23)
What I'm hearing from you, it sounds almost less about the way, the state of the state or like the way things are. And it sounds more about just longing for some consistency so that you know how things are gonna be so you can actually dig in and do the work without constantly getting thrashed.
[Scott McDougall] (54:24 - 54:47)
100%. I would love to know exactly the rules and how it's going to play out and how we do it, where the goalposts are. So when you're recruiting players, you know that the goalposts are 100, 120 yards apart.
As opposed to that moving from 70 to 150 and you have these guys being recruited and then the pool changes. It's really challenging.
[Jason Jacobs] (54:47 - 54:51)
What is leading to the thrash? Why is it thrashing so much?
[Scott McDougall] (54:52 - 55:09)
I mean, the lawsuits, everything keeps changing. There's pro kids. I mean, I didn't see the 10 guys who played in the East Coast League and the American League playing this year.
Like I had no idea, you know? So that changes everything. So now you get calls from agents on pro guys.
It just continues to change, you know? So I don't know. We'll see.
[Jason Jacobs] (55:10 - 55:25)
Well, for me, it's a fun time to be trying to sort through it because it seems like it's moving so fast that no one can keep up with it. Even the people that are in it. Maybe even especially the people that are in it because they have day jobs and they're just trying to stay on the treadmill.
[Scott McDougall] (55:25 - 55:40)
I'm hoping by the time your son being younger, it's hopefully settled in by the time they're at college. That's for sure. It's been a tough couple of years.
I'm sure if you talk to other people, they would... You know, it's tough. It is.
It's a tough time.
[Jason Jacobs] (55:40 - 55:45)
Well, I'm super appreciative for you making the time to come on, Scott. And we covered a lot of ground here.
[Scott McDougall] (55:45 - 55:47)
We did. I appreciate you having me.
[Jason Jacobs] (55:47 - 55:50)
Is there anything we didn't cover that you wish we did or any parting words for listeners?
[Scott McDougall] (55:50 - 56:48)
Again, I think hockey is a great sport. And for all players, this stuff will sort itself out through the NCAA and the homes at the end. It's just play the game you love, work hard, attack it every day.
You will find a home. I do believe that. Hopefully, there'll be a little more clarity for players in the coming years here.
But yeah, listen, it's a great game. I feel like I was negative on what it is of what's happened. It's not the game.
I love the game. I love coaching college hockey. I love recruiting these players.
It's just where it's gone to has made things a little more challenging. But I'm sure it'll be back. The game itself is in a great spot.
Players are really good. It's fun to coach them. They're good kids.
I love relating to all of our players and other players. My parting words is you love the game, work at it, attack it every day, and the right home will be there for you.
[Jason Jacobs] (56:48 - 56:58)
Yeah, well, it can be frustrating for players and families to try to sort through. And I think one thing this episode is going to do is just humanize it because it's like, oh, you think it's hard for you guys? Like, it's hard for us too, right?
[Scott McDougall] (56:59 - 57:01)
So 100%. Yeah, 100%.
[Jason Jacobs] (57:01 - 57:08)
Thank you. Best of luck. Yeah, best of luck for the rest of the season.
And yeah, I'm just, again, appreciative that you made the time.
[Scott McDougall] (57:08 - 57:09)
You got it. I'll talk to you soon.
[Jason Jacobs] (57:10 - 57:20)
Thanks for listening to Puck Academy. If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and share it with someone serious about their game. See you next week.