The Hockey Think Tank Podcast

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about what an ideal game day schedule looks like for a player to be at their best.  TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk 2-on-1s, but with a twist -  from the D-side. Some awesome tips and tricks when defending a 2-on-1, Vechs gets to drop one of his favorite sayings, “play chess, not checkers," and we tee up the age-old debate on this for defensemen: to slide or not to slide!TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

This week Topher and Jeff welcome NTDP Head Strength Coach, Joe Meloni to the podcast! Awesome, awesome guy and this was a great conversation with some incredible insight into what it’s like working with, motivating, and developing the elite young talent in our game.In this episode we talk about:— The development environment they create at NTDP— How competition breeds excellence— Attributes of players that give themselves a chance to be the bestAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and, our newest sponsor, Crossbar! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about how coaches, players and parents navigate the reality of multi-sport athletes, in-season. It’s one thing to say we want our athletes to have a diverse skill set, and to say we encourage players to play multiple sports - but it’s an entirely different thing to manage that as a coach, parent and player. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to break down the 1-3-1 power play. How to be successful if you’re playing it - how to stop it if you’re killing against it.  TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

This week Topher and Jeff welcome former UMD captain and eight year pro player, Jon Francisco to the podcast! Following his hockey career, he served as a firefighter for 10 years in California and Wisconsin before leaving the fire service to build Francisco Hockey & 4Check Hockey which make major impacts in hockey, training, skills and safety.In this episode we talk about:— Fostering passion as a parent— Encouraging multi sport athletes and how parents can help navigate the overlap during the season— Teaching players how to give and receive hits in today’s game— His experience parenting a player on their journey to the NTDPAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and, our newest sponsor, Crossbar! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about what coaches should be doing with their first practice of the season.  TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph welcomes the CEO of SkillShark, Neil Anderson, to talk about the innovative way their product makes the tryout and evaluation process so much easier and more efficient for organizers.TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! As a partner of ours, remember to use our discount code Hockey20 when you visit SkillShark.comWe appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

This week Topher and Jeff welcome one of Vechs’ former teammates and 14 year pro, Olivier Latendresse. We dive into so many topics on the game and had an absolute blast!In this episode we talk about:— Being present and enjoying the hockey journey— The importance of versatility & hard work— Preparing for life after hockey - regardless of how long you play— An UNREAL Brett Hull storyAND SO MUCH MORE!Toph’s fundraiser for Team Racker - a team supporting Racker Rivals Big Red 2024:https://www.givegab.com/p2p/racker-rivals-big-red-2024/topher-scottThank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and, our newest sponsor, Crossbar! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about not only the importance of players learning how to talk to their coaches, but tips on HOW to effectively navigate initiating them.  TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!