The Hockey Think Tank Podcast

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, Jeff and Topher create a podcast surprise Christmas present for a few certain people that have been some of the best role models in their lives. Tune in to find out who and listen to a podcast full of love, family, and of course...hockey.

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, Topher and Jeff talk about what they can do...and what we all can do...to get the most out of our potential. They use the framework of Topher's "10 Commandments" of things he'd like to incorporate into his life....only later to be named the "Tophmandments" by Jeff. This was a really fun episode that will make you laugh, think, and reflect upon how you are getting the most out of yourself in your own life. Some of the Tophmandments include:-You are defined by your actions, not your experiences-Physical health is mental health and mental health is physical health-Perspective is power-Every day is a series of choices hinging on self-discipline-And More!!Thank you to all of our amazing listeners...we hope you have an amazing holiday!And thank you to our awesome sponsors in GELSTX, TRAINHEROIC, and ICEHOCKEYSYSTEMS.COM!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we bring on former University of Michigan standout and current owner of the hockey development company TopLine Hockey Justin Selman! This was a really insightful and candid conversation about the journey to high level hockey with a lot of really open stories about the ups, downs, and everything that goes into the grind of getting better. We talk:-How being different isn't easy-How rushing the process comes with a major risk-Playing on a line with Dylan Larkin and Zach Hyman at Michigan-How doing the right things all the time can lead to opportunities-MUCH MORE!!This was so much fun, we know you are going to love it and learn something along the way. Thank you to our sponsors GELSTX, TrainHeroic, and IceHockeySystems.com. And thank you so much to all of our loyal listeners who continue to tune in with us every week!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, Rob Rassey and Ryan Ward join Topher on the Windy City Hockey Roundtable to talk POSITIONLESS HOCKEY. We feel like it's a term that is used a lot but under-defined...but can have a positive effect on your team's play and individual player development. Some of the concepts we go over include:-Getting back and sorting out the Dzone-Developing versatile players-Rush and Ozone play-MUCH MORE!!Thank you to everyone that takes the time to listen to this episode, we hope that you'll be able to use this with your teams! Thank you to our sponsors GELSTX, IceHockeySystems.com, and TrainHeroic. And thanks the most to all of our amazing listeners!!!!!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we bring on former NHL referee Tim Peel! Tim is a veteran of over 1,300 NHL games, he reffed an All-Star game, and he also reffed at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. This was an awesome conversation where we talked:-How the game has changed in the decades he's reffed-The difference between reffing players like Gretzky vs. McDavid-The "Hot Mic" incident that cost him his job-Refs in youth hockey today-MUCH MUCH MOREThis was a really cool conversation on what it's like to be a ref in the NHL and building relationships with some of the top players in the world. Thank you to all of our amazing listeners, and thank you to our sponsors GELSTX, TrainHeroic, and MyHockeySystems.com. You're going to love this one!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we talk everything TEAM CAPTAINS on the Windy City Storm Hockey Roundtable. We bring on former Asst Coach of Harvard, Detroit Red Wings scout, and current director of TPH Chicago Rob Rassey go detail player leadership and so many ideas and insights relating to team captains. We talk:-What makes a good captain?-How do you choose them?-The importance of secondary leadership-Best player/role player as captain-MUCH MORE!This was a phenomenal conversation we hope can stir up some ideas that you could use with your teams or businesses. Thank you to Rass again for coming on. Thank you to our sponsors GELSTX, TrainHeroic, and IceHockeySystems.com. And thank you thank you thank you to all of our amazing listeners who continue to ride this podcast train with us!!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we bring on the two hosts of "NEXT SHIFT" podcast Sean Coffey and George Hughes. Sean is an NHL agent and George was an All-American defenseman and they teamed up to start a podcast on the stories of great people in the hockey world both during their careers and what they're up to afterwards.With their experiences in the game, we tackle some awesome subjects including:-Playing to play vs. playing for expectations and external rewards-Handling pressure - "Playing the game" vs "Thinking the game"-Lessons for life after hockey-MUCH MUCH MOREWe get vulnerable and share a bunch of stories that we think will be able to put things into perspective for a lot of hockey players out there, Sean and George are great hockey guys and we know you'll enjoy a lot of their stories!Thank you to all of our amazing supporters who continue to tune in every week. Thank you to our title sponsor GelStx, TrainHeroic, and IceHockeySystems.com.

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we talk ENTRIES and RUSH!! What a fun episode this was...we bring on our Robbie Murden and Mike Monti to talk anything and everything regarding having successful entries. We go through...-How good defense leads to rush chances-Teaching predictability vs. creativity-The importance of entering through the middle of the ice-The give and take of Blueline turnovers-Net DriveMuch More!!We know you'll take a ton out of this episode that you can use with your teams....and hopefully get some more goals!We want to thank the people that support us, including our title sponsor GelStx (gelstx.com), TrainHeroic (app on your phone), and IceHockeySystems.com. And most importantly, thank you to all of our thousands of listeners who tune in with us every week. We so appreciate you!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we bring on firefighter, paramedic and aspiring professional hockey player Kevin Porter! What an inspiring episode with someone who is stopping at nothing to achieve his dreams, even in his 40's. So much positivity and so many uplifting stories of battling adversity on this one...we talk:-How to drown out the haters-How a near-death experience sparked his attempt to achieve his dreams-How a firehouse relates to a hockey locker room and culture-So.Much.More!!What a conversation this one was...we know you are going to enjoy the heck out of it. Thank you to our sponsors GelStx, IceHockeySystems.com, and TrainHeroic. Thank you to our podcast platform BlueWire Pods. And thank you to all of our amazing listeners who hang out with us every week!

On this episode of the Hockey Think Tank podcast, we have our Windy City Storm roundtable detailing our ORGANIZATIONAL WEEKEND we executed the week prior. This ORGANIZATIONAL WEEKEND was an idea we tried getting all of our youth teams in our rink for a weekend to build our culture and get everyone excited about being part of the Windy City Storm family. Here's what we did:-Split practices and games with an older team and younger team on the ice at the same time.-Info sessions for our players and parents with our hockey directors-Info session with our strength coach on off-ice philosophy-Intrasquad games with older players coaching younger teams and vice versa.IT WAS AWESOME!! Our hope by doing this podcast is that other youth organizations take the idea and run with it. I think over the weekend we were able to build a camaraderie with all of our teams and families and taught the players that what the crest in front of the jersey means more than the names on the back.Check it out!!Thank you to our sponsors GELSTX, TrainHeroic, and IceHockeySystems.com. Thank you to our podcast platform BlueWire. And thank you to our amazing listeners. We know you'll get a ton out of this one!!!