Full Transcript for Scott Niedermayer: Teamwork, Leadership & What It Takes to Win

that style of game, and they're not afraid to get right under your nose, stick handle, hold on to the puck. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:49.039 They know that you can't come with a slash or a cross check or the things that used to happen in the game of hockey. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.759 So I think that took time for those players to really understand what they could and couldn't do. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:55.840 For us, it was hard defending. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.159 We were in the box a lot early in those days, back in 05, 06, 07. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:06.400 But I still don't think we changed our game offensively much to sort of take advantage of the way the game was called. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.840 So I think that's just allowed individual skill to explode. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:16.399 I will say, to an extent where I think it can be a problem at times, where too much of the focus on the game is individual skill. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:22.399 I think you see the best players and the best teams still know how to play as a team, and they make each other better. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:28.079 And they're the best, hardest teams to beat, and they're the teams that win championships by playing that way. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:29.839 I don't think you win it as an individual. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:38.720 That that is one of the things that I think I learned about hockey and now very much appreciate is it takes a team, a true team effort to have success. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:52.160 And I would say that there is definitely a bit too much focus on the individual player and their individual skills rather than the team play and moving away, you know, with moving without the puck and what you're doing without the puck. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:05:03.519 I kind of throw it back to growing up when we had frozen ponds down, you know, in Cranberg here and we go out and just play scrimmage and you just learn how to play hockey with your teammates, how to play without the puck or play road hockey. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:08.639 I think there's less of that and more focus on individual skill, which when you watch the game is amazing. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:14.240 I mean, you look at even junior hockey, you watch the players in warm-up, they can handle the puck, they skate well. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.759 It's impressive to watch. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:22.319 But there is the other side of the game that I think has maybe been a little bit left behind in relation to that individual skill. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.959 That's really, really interesting you see that. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:37.199 As you're talking like that, I'm thinking to myself, okay, so I can pick up my handheld device and I can watch all kinds of incredible individual skills and guys doing stuff I could never ever dreamed of doing. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:41.759 And you do start to see a little bit of that manifest itself in the NHL, don't you? 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:49.680 And certainly even up to that point in time, there's there's a lot of kids and guys trying things and women trying things that would never have been explored before. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:56.160 And it's interesting that you start to suggest, maybe to a degree, at least at the expense of the team outcome. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:58.160 And I don't know if what I'm saying is good or bad. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:02.480 I just have this realization in my mind that there is a lot of freelancing going on out there. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:05.839 And maybe need her to tell me if I'm wrong, but I mean, nothing's perfect. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:07.839 And I've had this discussion with others as well. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:11.600 And I talked to Jimmy Hiller the other day, actually, and and we were talking about this. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:24.639 And I'm a little fearful that we always sort of seek this perfection thing and we don't give players, and back in a day like yourself, you know, you could do it really anything you wanted to, but you were you were a good teammate first and foremost and played that way. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:32.160 But if we're looking for perfection, we then take away the opportunity for creativity and imagination and being inventive. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.560 And well, you've got one there in Paul Korea. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:40.079 Paulie was a had all kinds of imagination when he played, and that was the hardest thing to defend in Paul Korea. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.040 Great skater, great shooter, great playmaker, great player, sure. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.959 But boy, when he started to create things on his own, it was very, very tough to defend that. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:55.680 On one side, I I appreciate that the team concept has maybe paid the price here a bit, and yet at the same time, I don't think it's a perfect game. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.800 And that so to allow for that level of creativity is also important. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.040 So it's a a bit of a catch-22. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:15.199 Have you noticed when you're watching youngsters as you were in in the Okanagan over the years, do you see kids kind of l applying these skills that they're learning similarly, or do you see the team game or or what do you see in sort of the evolution of development of a young player? 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.199 Yeah, I mean, I think those are all great points, and I would agree fully with them. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.680 I mean, you want players to be having fun, you want them to be trying things, working on skills. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:32.879 I mean, I don't at all say that that shouldn't happen by any stretch of the imagination, but I think again, you mentioned social media, you know, the the highlights that we can get. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:40.319 Now, I remember when I think TSN first came on TV and they would have Sports Center at night, and that gave you an opportunity to watch highlights.

00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:43.279 And it was, as a young kid, that was a dream come true. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:49.199 You know, you sit down after dinner and you watch the highlights of the NHL and the flashy plays that happen, the big go bulls. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.759 And now kids get a steady diet of this all the time. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.319 It's connected to their phones, it's everywhere they look. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:08:01.120 There's just nowhere you can really hide from that much focus on sort of the highlight real goals, which I'm I enjoy as much as anybody. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.000 There's no question. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.800 You see the skill level and and those things. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:26.319 I guess, you know, with all that focus, I think it does kind of pull you away from being part of a team and using that skill to not only make yourself more successful, but your teammate to be more successful, your team to be more successful, and being efficient and effective with what you're doing rather than just doing it for a clip and a highlight to show your buddies kind of thing. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.519 And it is difficult to balance both those mindsets. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.600 I don't think it's one or the other for sure. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:39.279 I think you can kind of be aware of both and and try and be good and learn both areas of the game to be the best player you can be. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:40.799 I I don't deny that at all. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:56.399 But I do think maybe at times we've swayed a little bit too much to that individual and not understand the importance of playing for each other, um, doing things to help your teammates rather than the focus being maybe on you as much as maybe it seems sometimes. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.000 So I think that's a good point. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.559 And we can't lose sight of the fact that we want these kids to create and and make things happen. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:11.360 And I I watched the PWHL, I watched the women's game, and the transformation there in the last 20 years, Scott, has been just phenomenal. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:22.000 And, you know, now that we have the PWHL and the women have got something to aspire to, I think it's just fantastic for the game, obviously, and it's gonna grow the the women's opportunities tenfold for sure. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.679 But I actually I really enjoy watching the PWHL. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.120 I enjoy watching women's hockey. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:31.440 It just there's a certain purity to it, and it is about the team, without a doubt, for sure. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:32.720 I like it when they try stuff. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:37.039 You know, you can start to see the confidence building in these women where they're legit best in the world. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:45.440 I'm excited about that, and I'm excited for little girls that want to that want to play hockey or play sports, and I'm gonna I'm gonna take you off on a on a little different tangent here. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.440 When you grew up, Scott, you and Robbie played, you were multi-sport athletes. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:10:01.200 What else did you play and how did that lend itself to not just being a an NHL player and a great great ones at that, but even just you know, good citizenship, whatever, you know, a good person. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.519 Obviously, your family's second to none. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.600 Just tell me a little bit about how you feel about that. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.799 Yeah, well, I uh I've you know thought about this before. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:13.200 We've talked about different people, you know, sort of the difference you know in the world today. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:14.399 We had no real choice. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:15.840 I mean, it just was the way it was. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.080 The rink, the ice came out of the Cranberg Arena in April and didn't go back in until end of August. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.960 So we had no, you know, we probably played road hockey through the summer a little bit and things like that. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.720 And I'm actually very thankful that that's the reality that I grew up in. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.600 So we did look around, we played a bit of golf. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:45.279 Probably the main sport both Rob and I played was soccer, played on the local Cranberg team and went to tournaments in Lethbridge and Sandpoint, Idaho, and different places, and that was kind of another one of our you know main sports. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:50.240 Played a bit of baseball, things like that, hiking and fishing in the summer, kind of get away from hockey. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.840 And but but everybody was doing it. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.799 It wasn't just us making a decision to do it. 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:57.360 That was just the way the calendar laid out. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.600 You know, soccer shut down during the winter as well. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.320 There was no one playing soccer over the course of the winter. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:13.840 And and I'm actually thankful that I grew up in a world like that, whereas now, good intentions, people are out there providing opportunities to train, learn, and you know, in any sport, not just hockey, but it is a lot. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:21.360 And if you're in you're in one of these sports for the long haul, you know, I think that can provide wear and tear both mentally, probably and physically on your body. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:26.480 And I think that is a big advantage of doing different sports, doing different things. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:40.399 You know, it does teach you new things, different perspectives on all kinds of things, and and your body as well, moving differently, you know, maybe gaining strength where it was a weakness because of skating and and maybe giving a rest to

parts of your body that maybe need it as well. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.360 So it's hard to do these days because it's sort of every you know, the better players are doing it. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:50.879 And if you want to keep up to the pack and make the team the next year, you feel like there's pressure to to keep going yourself. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:52.960 And I honestly don't have an answer to that puzzle. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:57.039 And it does increase, it increases the talent, the skill level gets developed. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.080 There's no doubt about that. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.600 I mean, you can see that every day you watch hockey for sure, like you said. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:09.840 But maybe we are giving up something on you know in other areas of our lives and our our physical growth as athletes as we get older. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:11.759 Here's an interesting one for you, Neater. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:17.519 I don't know, but I know some of the minor hockey coaches you had in Cranbrook personally as well, and you know, great people. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:22.000 But was there ever a time when you were young where you thought to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.559 I'm done. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.000 Was there ever a time where you thought I don't think so. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:27.600 I sure don't remember it. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:30.159 I yeah, I remember having a lot of fun. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:37.679 I remember going to tryouts at the end of August, early September, you know, dusting the gear off from under the stairs and just being like so excited. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:42.240 Maybe you have a new stick or you know, a new piece of equipment and away you go. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.960 And you you were just so excited to hit the ice again. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:45.840 See your buddies. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.360 Obviously, in a small town like Crammerk, it was the same crew most of the time. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.919 And right, you know, back to having fun and playing hockey and the season wasn't super long. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.279 I mean, yeah, I honestly'm pretty sure I never never thought that. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.519 Definitely when I was playing here in town, absolutely. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:00.559 Yeah, definitely. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:04.399 What about now when I think back, we in Kamloops. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:09.759 I was so happy on December 1st of the year you and Sid came back, and I thought, okay, now we got a chance. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.919 And believe me, I had nothing to do with it. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.000 But when you went to Jersey, well, first of all, when you were in Kamloops, you played the game Scotty Niedermeyer hockey. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.960 And like z nobody had a problem with that, of course. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.600 And uh you did wonderful things for that entire organization. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:25.519 Well, sure, I'm sure you did occasionally. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:31.039 I'm sure occasionally you had a problem, but I had I had one I remember, but uh in any event. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:36.000 And that was flat outfind a great story nowadays, maybe for another time. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.960 But when you went to Jersey, you were a certain player, Scotty, and you know, I think was Jacques the coach then? 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:41.360 You know what? 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:47.279 He he didn't come until my second actually, my it was my third year after draft two years after I was drafted. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:51.440 Oh first year that I stayed there was Tom McVee. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.639 My second year was uh Herb Brooks. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:55.519 Okay. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.919 And then uh Jacques Lamaire came. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:58.240 Yeah. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:07.759 So you were always as good as defensively as you needed to be, because you were such a great skater and you had a great head for the game and this vision beyond anybody I'd ever seen before. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:10.399 So you're always good defensively, but you loved attack. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:18.080 You loved attacking, you loved moving the puck, you know, you loved joining the rush, you loved, you know, but just putting the pressure on the opponent as five guys for sure. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:32.879 And it seemed to me, if I remember right, that you you kind of, I don't know if you reinvented yourself or if your coaches had that kind of an effect on you, but you really, and maybe it was just a dynamic of the NHL neater, but you you really kind of became an outstanding 200-foot guy. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.919 And is that a fair comment or am I way off base there? 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.840 No, I talk about that a lot actually. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:46.399 And and to be honest, going through sort of the adjustments and learning that I did in the NHL, I kind of look back on it and say, like, it was the best thing that happened to me as a player. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:48.080 At the time, I thought it was the worst. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:53.759 You know, at the time I was kind of frustrated and trying to figure it out like how do I make this work? 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:57.120 How do I do what the coach wants, but I still think I can do these things. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:02.480 Like it really was a puzzle that that took me some time to kind of figure out as I was going through my career. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.120 I'd already been in the NHL, you know, a year plus. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.200 Jacques Lamaire came in as a very, you know, he knew what it took to win. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.759 This guy, part of so many Stanley Cups, right, as player and management coach. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:20.639 And he, you know, he really wanted a button-down game where defense was the commitment, and uh that was

gonna be how we won. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.639 And the second year with Shock, we did win. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:26.000 We won the first Stanley Cup in New Jersey, 1995. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.480 That was my first Stanley Cup, and what a thrill. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.360 I mean, really, that's that's what you're doing it for, and and I felt no different than the rest of the team. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:50.960 Probably in the next couple of years after that, as you start maybe trying to spread your wings and do some more things and grow as a player, and at least in my mind, you know, that's when Jacques and I kind of, well, Jacques wanted us to play a certain way, and maybe I was pushing the edges and not doing exactly what what he wanted. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:16:00.559 And there was a period of probably a couple years at least where I was frustrated and discouraged by my game and maybe what I felt or, you know, I could or couldn't do as part of the team. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:01.440 But you know what? 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.399 I eventually Josh or Jacques was a stubborn guy. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.639 He knew what he liked and he stuck with it. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:19.600 He wasn't gonna, you know, bend to my wishes as a young 21-year-old hockey player thinking I knew what it took, where this guy'd been around the league, around the game his whole life and really did know what it took to win and the commitment it did for a team. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:32.399 And I think once I sort of wrapped my head around it, got comfortable with making decisions when I was on the ice and how that could help and how that affected the team and my own my own success in play when I was on the ice and the opportunity it would give me. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.440 I settled into that. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.600 I was probably a little bit different player for sure. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:42.159 But I I also think I just learned to be more efficient, you know, at picking the right moments to join the attack or to be aggressive. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:45.279 And when that that time wasn't there, it wasn't time to make that play. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.080 And I think that's a fairly reasonable sort of thing for any employer that they need to learn. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:55.519 I think we all love to score goals and be aggressive and be part of the offense, you know, when we're younger. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:03.120 And I think every young player has to score to go on a similar type journey and learning as they get older to be effective and help their team have success. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:04.319 That's a great comment. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:06.960 And it's it's a bit of a trade-off, but it is. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:08.400 I'm thankful for it now. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:23.839 So well, the the other thing that I find interesting, Scott, is that you always seem to have this measure of poise and just whatever whatever fire drill was going on around you, you always seem to be calm and in control of yourself and you know the situation around you. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.400 And and I I always really admired that. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:32.880 And I can remember um I think it might have been we did a world championship with Robbie, you and myself. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.559 And actually, that was uh 2004, I think. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.519 Four or three. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:38.079 Was it three? 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:39.440 Oh 2004 it was. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:40.880 Okay, 2004. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.039 Yeah, and I think we were playing Sweden. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:53.279 Mike and I were coaching and uh Mike Polino and Mike Babcock, and I think we might have been, I don't know, we're going into the going in between the second and third period, and and uh Mike said to me, What do we do? 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.559 And I just said, you know what, just let the guys have the room, just let them have it. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.440 I he said, Why? 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:58.160 What do you what do you think? 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:01.519 And I'm thinking I said, Scott, Scott's got this under control. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.480 Yeah, just just let the players have the room. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:09.519 And if I didn't, I was gonna look like I did, but yeah, Peter, you and I both know that that's true. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:10.880 But that's that's the case. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.599 Like that's how I reflect on your career and the person you are and all those things. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.079 You know, you're very there's nothing calculated about you. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:24.960 It's all very genuine and authentic, but very real and calm, and seems like anything was kind of attainable. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:29.920 And my point to the quit to the my remark was that we just had to just like let you guys have it. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:35.599 We had a great third period and won the world championship, and it was great to see you and Rob and your mom on the ice together with that. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:36.400 I just love that. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:37.920 But it speaks volumes to you. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:40.640 I think Robbie's similar, you know, in his disposition. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.480 Yeah, and I think that's a great thing. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.440 Where did that come from? 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.960 Is it is it you how you grew up? 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:46.640 Is it just you know, is it DNA? 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.079 What where did it all come from? 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:48.559 Yeah. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:53.920 I definitely will give uh credit to my parents for sure, but I also think it's sort of our personalities. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:54.799 That's who I was. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:58.160 I think you kind of mentioned it, and I don't think I was trying to be something I wasn't. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:09.359 You

know, there may be moments I should have been louder and maybe I should have been more, you know, sort of emotional and and different things, because hockey does call for that as well at the right times, I believe, or maybe from the right person too. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.039 Maybe I wasn't the person to do that. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:19.039 But I think just being level-headed, being calm, just kind of going to work and doing everything you can and and kind of just having a little bit of belief in there as well. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:35.119 I I think, and especially by the time I got to 2004, I'd I'd played, I'd been through a lot, had success, kind of had a level of confidence that I kind of had an idea of what it took, you know, getting thrown off the game plan or caught up in things that don't really matter and winning a hockey game were a waste of time. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.119 And I think I kind of understood that. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:47.599 And, you know, so by the time I got there, I just had a level of confidence and belief that if we just keep focused on the things that you know we're doing as a team from our coaches from from each other, we trust each other. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:50.240 We may not win, but that's our best chance to win. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:50.480 Yeah. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.680 And I think by that point had a pretty good understanding of that for sure. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:20:00.160 It must have been awesome to be on the ice in a couple of Olympics with just the best hockey players on the planet. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.440 We thought certainly Canada, but really every team was great. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.279 And um, that must have been special. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:12.480 When you spoke a little bit earlier about team and maybe hanging that individual success and you know, all that kind of stuff, leave it outside. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:20.079 It must have been phenomenal to be around that, but but you also have had to have felt like very much a part of the leadership of of those groups, certainly in the second one. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:27.519 And I'm curious to know how you how you helped lead a group of leaders for starters, but great players, period. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:33.119 Yeah, I mean, you know, at that point in the second Olympics, that was the last year 2010. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.759 And, you know, I was 36 years old at that point. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:46.960 So if there was anything I was bringing to that team, it wasn't gonna be speed anymore, it wasn't gonna be necessarily the the best player on the ice, but it was experience, you know, it was a little bit of wisdom, hopefully, that I'd acquired over time. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:58.000 And, you know, the key there, playing in Vancouver, you know, obviously a tremendous amount of pressure anytime you're on a Canadian hockey team, no matter where you are, but makes a little bit more when you're in front of the home fans and in Canada playing. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:09.759 You know, my job was like I talked about, you know, let's just control what we can, guys, trust each other, trust the staff that we're working with, and just believe that if we do these things, again, that's our best chance to win. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:11.200 For sure, there's never a guarantee. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.400 I mean, we went overtime. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:18.240 I mean, one bounce, one mishap, anything could have led to the opposite result very, very easily. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.200 Um, but we went out, we regrouped quick after giving up a tough goal late in that game. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:28.799 I hope I kind of showed a love some confidence and still belief in each other and our team when we got in the dressing room. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.240 At least I tried to. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:41.119 And uh, you know, we went out and uh obviously Jerome making a great little pass to Sid, who supported the puck well and just a quick sneaky shot, and we win the gold medal, and it kind of worked out. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:46.240 So I think if you give yourself a chance, you know, and continue to do the right things, you don't win them all. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.119 But I think you're gonna do all right, would be my my guess. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:49.839 Makes sense. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.559 I'm gonna go back and then I'm gonna come back again, and we're gonna wrap it up. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:52.960 I promise. 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:53.839 You need time with your kids. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:54.480 No problem. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:59.839 So back in the day when Carol's teaching you guys skating, giving you power skating. 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:00.640 Instructions. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:01.680 Was she firm? 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.200 What kind of a coach was mom? 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.240 Yeah, well, she she grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.240 So there wasn't a whole lot of messing around. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:12.720 She uh she she loved hard work and and that was important. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:17.119 So when we were at the rink, you know, we're allowed to have fun, but we better be working hard at the same time. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.720 That that was a consistent message. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.319 There wasn't really about results. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.319 It wasn't really about those type of things. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.240 It was just about on the ice, you work hard. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:27.759 If you're you know out on the farm or whatever, you work hard to get your job done. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.240 I mean, that was just sort of the mindset that she brought. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.839 And uh definitely a valuable one. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:34.640 You know, I think it's it's something that is important for sure. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.640 And uh just get out there, do your

best. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.039 It's not the same for anybody, er for everyone. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.000 And uh that was definitely my mum's calling card for sure. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:52.160 And I think even you know, talking about Bob in his line of work as a medical doctor, there's a certain discipline that's required there, you know, attention to detail, that sort of thing too. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:57.839 So again, I the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree when it comes to you know getting the job done and getting it done the right way. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.480 Yeah, I mean, now that I've you know been a parent, our youngest son just graduated high school. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:10.559 I now can actually speak from experience and just you definitely recognize what your parents did for you, you know, when you're in the middle of it yourself trying to figure it out. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:16.000 Um and yeah, you know, Rob and I were we're very lucky with both my mom and dad, what what they did. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.640 A lot of hockey parents do a lot for for their kids and all sorts of different things for sure. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:25.039 I guess not just hockey, but I know hockey and that's what I went through, and and they were there for us. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:26.480 They they supported us for sure. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.960 We'll wrap up with this here, Scott, and thanks again. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:33.039 How do you think kids deal, how can they deal with the pressure? 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:46.000 I'm thinking about the stressors that are a part of a program that my daughter has, and it's can't name them all, but fatigue, pressure, criticism, relationships, time management, all those things. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:52.319 How does a young person, you know, you've watched your kids do it, so I'm curious to know, and I know they're all athletic. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.319 Um, you and your wife are very much so. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.759 How do we help them deal with the pressure, you know, of the expectations? 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:04.400 Um, you know, how do we make sure that they're not fatigued or even tired of, you know, playing anymore, which scares me. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.039 Um, you know, how did you find yourself dealing with that? 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:13.599 And how do you see that being so important again moving forward as a as a young parent in sport in general? 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:14.559 Well, that's it, yeah. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.119 You said you saved an easy one for last, I guess. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:18.319 Yeah, I did, yeah. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.440 Um it's different. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.640 There's just no question. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:23.759 It is so different. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:40.400 And uh just the awareness and just everything that these kids are in boon with now, and you know, the information that's out there, uh, the opinions, the you know the things that get said and shared out in the world, like it's so much beyond what we had to deal with back in the good old days. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:47.119 You know, you hope that just ultimately support and love, I guess, can really take carefully of a good number, a good amount of that. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:54.880 Yeah, you know, and I and I guess at the same time, like you hear people talk about are like do you want to win or are you afraid of failing? 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:58.880 Or I kind of feel like it's it's never good to be afraid to lose. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:24:59.599 You're gonna lose. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.400 You're gonna fail. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:05.839 I've been backwards skating in the middle of a game and caught an edge on the blue line and went flying, and the guy went in and scored. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:06.319 It happens. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:08.640 Yeah, you know, it's a matter of what do you what do you do next? 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:09.599 You just keep working, right? 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:11.039 You just pick yourself up. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:20.240 You hope your teammates have your back, good teammates will, and you get back to it and you just keep working and you hope over the long haul that this you know moves you in the right direction. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:24.960 And again, easier said than done, especially when it's all in your face, like it is in today's world. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:32.480 It's hard to kind of get away or get away from different other people's opinions and things like that for these young, young athletes, young people in general. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:34.400 So I do feel for them in that sense. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:39.440 At the same time, I guess I would say for the most part, those comments are made very flippant. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.359 I don't think people really think much about it. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.440 It's said and they move on and they forget about it. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:44.799 So why would you carry it around? 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:53.359 But it is it is hard, and I feel I feel for kids that are, you know, living growing up, figuring life out with these added pressures that they do have now. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:26:05.200 I think it we do need to be aware of it and uh you know try to manage as best we can to give them a chance to you know be confident individuals as they get older and and be able to enjoy life and contribute to life. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:12.799 Well, it's interesting, Scotty, because you know, you mentioned you know, mom growing up on the farm, you know, dad's attention to detail, those types of things. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:25.359 But I guess if we can be anything for not just our kids, any kids, be an example of that, you know, second and third effort, be an example of you know good values, being an example of being a good teammate, you know, whatever. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:33.119 I'm sure we watch examples every day, and sometimes they're maybe not the best, but that speaks louder than a lot of words. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:42.720 So I think when I look at you and I think of you and your family and Rob and his and and um you know how you guys carry yourself as a family, it's pretty, pretty impressive, Scotty. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.799 And even taking the time like you did today for an old coach, I really appreciate it. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:53.759 It's just part of trying to pay it forward myself, you know, and and help people understand where they are and how they can, you know, the be the best version of themselves. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.000 And I can't thank you enough for taking the time today. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.279 I really do appreciate it, Scott. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.759 And um be sure to say hi to everybody for me. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:01.440 No, I'll absolutely do that, Tom. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.599 Yeah, it was great talking to you, catching up for sure. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:05.279 And uh yeah, great seeing you. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:05.680 Thank you.