The Hockey Think Tank Podcast

This week, it’s a MAILBAG episode with Topher and Jeff! Recorded LIVE in our Hockey Think Tank Community, with questions submitted via social media and from our Community members!Visit Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com for information on joining!In this episode we talk about:— Tips for players to handle negative teammates— A good age to start mental performance coaching— The importance of teaching kids how to have hard conversations— Half ice vs. Full ice practices— Injury prevention strategiesAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and IceHockeySystems.com - PLUS, our newest sponsor, NHL Sense Arena! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about tips, tricks, and hacks for parents to help players grow with their gear.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 about handling nerves. Every player experiences nerves - learning how to channel them to be your best on the ice is a skill.TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW!We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On this week’s episode, Topher and Jeff welcome back to the show, one of their best buds, Sean Muncy. Munce was part of the “infamous rags to riches St. Louis ‘85 group” with Vechs, went on to play juniors, Division I college hockey at Brown, and then played pro with Toph. He is now a financial wealth advisor and loves helping young players learn how to make smart decisions to reach their financial goals.In this episode we talk about:— Some awesome stories from their early days of hockey together— Learning the life skill of personal finance— Increased access to information has led to stress and pressure (and the silly season) that didn’t exist back when they played—The importance of resilience and adversity for growth in hockey and in lifeAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and IceHockeySystems.com - PLUS, our newest sponsor, NHL Sense Arena! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about mandatory bus rides, players rooming together, and phone restrictions at the youth levels; what’s a good age (if any) to mandate these things and what are the considerations from a cost and logistics perspective?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 about swagger. How can teams, how can individual players earn some swagger? Winning teams have it - how can players build it?TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW!We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On this week’s episode, Topher is flying solo and recording in person with the leaders of the boys program at Bishop Kearney Selects, from their podcast studio on campus in Rochester, NY! (Vechs says without him on the pod, it was a “slightly less hot” episode.)Topher is joined by Chris Collins (Sr. Director of Boys Hockey Program Development), Ben McManama (Director of Player Personnel), and David Arduin (Director of Boys Hockey| Head Coach, 18U) for a terrific conversation about the various youth hockey paths.In this episode we talk about:— How they’ve built such a successful program in just a few short years (2 national championships in just 4 years)— The importance of putting players in challenging and competitive situations to develop them on and off the ice— Common characteristics that players at the highest levels possess— Helping players and their families navigate the hockey journeyAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and IceHockeySystems.com - PLUS, our newest sponsor, NHL Sense Arena! And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about…SCHOOL! Jeff wants to know Toph’s top three subjects in school and how they shaped who he has become.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 about tipping pucks and this is absolutely in Vechs’ wheelhouse! Toph tees it up and Jeff runs with it! Unreal insight for forwards and defensemen…TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW!We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!

On this week’s episode, Topher and Jeff welcome Matt Dumouchelle to the podcast! Matt is a contributor to The Coaches Site and wrote the series Hockey Factories, which takes a deep dive into how some of hockey’s top development programs in the world train and develop elite talent. In this episode we talk about:— Commonalities among the world’s most successful development programs— Things that hockey directors and coach can take begin to implement into their own programs right away— The correlation between having a cohesive club culture and having success on the iceAND SO MUCH MORE!Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and IceHockeySystems.com. And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites!