Glass and Out

In episode #180 of the Glass and Out podcast, Chris Lazary Head Coach of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, stops by. Lazary was named Saginaw Head Coach on November 18, 2018, after serving as an Associate Coach for over two seasons. He led the Spirit to back-to-back West Division Championships (2018-19, 2019-20) for the first time in team history, and in the process, his team put up a ton of goals.   As you’ll hear, Lazary is clearly passionate about providing his players a framework to play with the puck on their sticks, and creating space to get creative and make plays. Get your notepads out! He got his start in junior as an Assistant Coach with the St. Michaels Buzzers in the Ontario Junior Hockey League during the 2010-11 season, following several years of coaching minor hockey in the Toronto area. After two seasons with the Buzzers, Lazary moved on to be an Assistant Coach at his hometown York University. He made the jump to the OHL in 2014 with the Sarnia Sting as an Assistant Coach, where he spent two seasons prior to joining the Spirit.   While last season was a rebuilding year for the Spirit, the future is bright as they’ll return a roster of young talent, including incoming rookie Michael Misha, who was selected 1st overall in the OHL draft after having been granted exceptional player status, meaning he will play his rookie season in Saginaw as an underage player.   Find out Lazary's philosophy on teaching offensive tactics, how he handles the junior hockey balance of development and winning, and what he’s picked up from a systems and tactics perspective from this year's NHL playoffs.

In episode #179 of the Glass and Out podcast, we're joined by Dr. Ethan Kross, who is one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor and bestselling author in the University of Michigan’s top ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions and relationships. Dr. Kross is the author of the National Bestseller Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters and How to Harness It, which was chosen as one of the best new books of the year by the Washington Post, CNN and USA Today. He will be going into further detail on the topic of his book at next month's TCS Live. If you haven't already bought your ticket, you can still register. You definitely don't want to miss it. Kross' research has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among other peer-reviewed journals. He has participated in policy discussion at the White House and has been interviewed on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper Full Circle, and NPR’s Morning Edition. His pioneering research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, The Economist, The Atlantic, Forbes, and Time. Legit. In this week's podcast, he shares how we can all improve our mental skills, regardless of what stage of life we’re in, why it's important to embrace stress, and the problems with over venting.

For episode #178, we revisit one of our favourite conversations from last year's College Hockey Inc. Virtual Coaching Clinic. Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol sat down with us in advance of their inaugural training camp to discuss what goes into building a franchise/team from scratch and his coaching journey up to that point. Despite not living up to the lofty heights of the Vegas Golden Knights incredible expansion season, Hakstol and the Kraken appear to be in good shape to build off their first year with plenty of cap space and a surplus of draft picks. Hakstol got his coaching career started in 1996 with the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers, a role he held for four seasons before returning to his alma mater, the University of North Dakota. He was named Head Coach in 2004, leading the team to the NCAA Frozen Four on seven occasions and was also honoured with the conference Coach of the Year Awards in 2009 and 2015. Hakstol made the jump to the NHL in 2015 with the Philadelphia Flyers, becoming the first head coach since 1982 to go directly from the NCAA to the NHL. After four seasons, he joined Toronto for two seasons as an assistant. Hear about the whirlwind summer leading up to the Hakstol's first season with the Kraken, tips on how to support your players during the off-season, and how his climb up the coaching ladder helped shape him as a person.

We're joined by Nadine Muzerall, Head Coach of the National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes, for episode #177 of the Glass and Out podcast. While most would associate OSU with their legendary football program, Muzerall has been building a tradition of her own with the women's hockey program since she arrived on campus in 2016. In her six seasons, the Buckeyes have gone from a sub-500 team to a perennial college powerhouse, qualifying for NCAA tournament on four occasions and capturing the 2022 NCAA Frozen Four Championship as the top seed in women's college hockey. Muzerall has also been recognized as the WCHA Coach of the Year twice. The Mississauga, Ontario, product played her college hockey at the University of Minnesota, where she was named an All-American in 1998 and 2000, while also earning Team MVP honours during those seasons. Muzerall had the honour of becoming the first women hockey player to be inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame. She joined her former Head Coach Brad Frost as an Assistant Coach with her alma mater in 2011. During her return to the Gophers, the program captured four National Championships in five seasons. Hear about how Muzerall reshaped the culture at OSU, her unique mentorship from John Tortorella, and the offensive philosophy that led to her squad putting up a staggering 175 goals in only 29 games.

We welcome a familiar face for episode #176 of the Glass and Out podcast. University of Vermont Head Coach Todd Woodcroft is a good friend of The Coaches Site and has presented at numerous events. He'll also be joining us at TCS Live at the University of Michigan this coming June. If you haven't already bought tickets, now is the time. Woodcroft just wrapped his second season as coach of the Catamounts, a position he was hired for at the on-set of the pandemic. Despite some obvious challenges, he has begun to put his mark on the program by adding several NHL prospects and looking outside of North America for talent, as there are players from nine different countries on the roster. Prior to his arrival in Vermont, Woodcroft spent four seasons as an Assistant Coach on the Winnipeg Jets coaching staff, one of several roles and stops in the NHL during the course of his career. His first stint was as video coach with the Minnesota Wild during their inaugural season and he went on to work as a scout for the Wild, Washington Capitals, and Los Angeles Kings. From 2013 to 2016, he was the Director of Scouting for the Calgary Flames. Woodcroft also has significant international experience, having been a part of the coaching staffs for Canada, Belarus, Switzerland, and Sweden. On the podcast we discuss how he's handled the challenges of rebuilding a program during a pandemic, how he structures his practices, and why he feels positivity is a coach's most powerful tool.

In episode #175 of the Glass and Out podcast, we speak with Tomas Pacina, who up until the day before we recorded this conversation, had been the Head Coach of the Czechia National Women’s program for two seasons. Pacina has had an incredibly unique and diverse career that has touched just about every level of hockey. He moved to Calgary, Alberta, in the mid 90s and began coaching midget hockey, while working at a local hockey academy. This led to the opportunity become a Skills Coach for Canada’s National Men's Team, which at the time was under the guidance of current Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney. From there, he joined the New York Rangers as a Skills Coach, becoming one of the first of his position to be hired by an NHL team. He remained with the Rangers until 2004, and later worked with the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens in a similar capacity. From 2011 until 2020, Pacina was a skills coach for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, working under the leadership of Mike Johnston for majority of his tenure. In addition to his work in the men's game, Pacina has also making significant inroads in women’s hockey. From 2002-2007, he was the Head Coach of the Calgary Oval X-Treme of the NWHL, and led the club to two league Championships. Pacina returned behind the bench of Calgary’s professional women’s team in 2017, however this time it was for the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL. He was named the league's Coach of the Year. In 2020, he was named Head Coach of the Czech National Women’s team and put in charge of developing a competitive program. He helped the program qualify for its first Olympic games and jump up to seventh in world rankings. Hear his process for assisting players in building confidence, the benefits of playing a position-less system, and how to connect with an athlete’s human spirit through inspiration.

For episode #174 of the Glass and Out podcast, we revisit one of our favourite conversations from last year's Virtual Hockey Summit. As many hockey seasons begin to wrap up, the time for coaches to start looking and networking for their next jobs is upon us. Gil Scott is the President & CEO of Gil Scott Sports Management and is the agent for top NHL coaches like Barry Trotz and Bruce Boudreau. He spoke with TCS Founder Aaron Wilbur on what it takes to prepare for an interview and be at your best when there’s a lot on the line. Scott founded Gil Scott Sports Management in 1979 and has negotiated over 500 contracts of coaches and players. In addition to his clientele of coaches, he currently represents 65 active NFL and CFL players. He is a graduate of Michigan State University, was the first Canadian to be certified by the NFLPA and served as a sports consultant for the Royal Banks Sports Professionals Program from 1997-2009. There is no instruction manual when it comes to finding your next coaching job or how to prepare for an interview, but it’s a skill that all successful coaches need. And while having the right strategy heading into an interview or being comfortable approaching people in the industry with the goal of opening a door to your next gig may not make you a better coach than other candidates, it very well could mean you still get the nod. Hear valuable advice on what approach is best to take heading into the interview process, what he's learned from working with some of the top coaches in hockey, and why networking is still a coaches best friend when it comes to finding new opportunities.

In episode #173 of the Glass and Out podcast, we're joined by Bob Mancini, Assistant Executive Director of USA Hockey, who oversees hockey development. Mancini has done it all in hockey, coaching and overseeing programs as an administrator at just about every level. In the process, he has accumulated a diverse set of experiences that make him uniquely suited for his current role. Following his collegiate playing career at Colorado College, he embarked on a collegiate coaching career that included time with Lake Superior State University, Ferris State University, and Michigan Tech University. He was then a part of the inaugural US National Development Team Program coaching staff in 1996, where he coached at the U17, U18, and U20 levels for four seasons. His only stop in the NHL (so far) came with the Edmonton Oilers on two different occasions, as a scout and development coach. He also spent three years as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. In addition to his pro and junior hockey experience, Mancini has coached minor hockey and has spent countless hours on the ice with youth teams across the US. Find out about the origins of the USA hockey National Development Team Program, hear how the growth of the American Development Model is creating some of the top players in hockey, and his advice to coaches on how to keep their players more engaged during practices and games. If you enjoy this conversation, Mancini will be presenting at TCS Live, our hockey coaches conference taking place June 15-17th at the University of Michigan. He’ll be joined by a collection of some of the top coaches and performance experts in our game; get your ticket today so you don’t miss out!

For episode #172, we welcome a familiar face to the Glass and Out podcast. Dr. Cassidy Preston is a High-Performance Coach and the Founder of Consistent Elite Performance. He is also the co-host of the Beyond the X's and O's podcast, and has been a regular contributor at The Coaches Site and presenter at our past virtual events. On top of all that, he will be presenting at TCS Live, our in-person hockey coaches conference taking place at the University of Michigan from June 15-17th.  Dr. Preston grew up in North Bay, Ontario, where he played hockey; he was selected in the 4th round of the OHL draft and played five seasons of junior hockey. Following a brief professional career, he attended and played hockey at York University and later the University of Toronto, where he obtained a PHD in Sport and Performance Psychology. In addition, he also spent time coaching hockey at the grassroots levels in the Toronto area. With his education and the experience gained from his different positions in the game, he decided to create Consistent Elite Performance, an organization that assists athletes, coaches, teams and businesses in enhancing their mental performance and well-being. In this week's podcast, find out his thoughts on the evolution of performance psychology, hear tips on how to get your team into the optimal mindset, and why he feels process over results is the key to an athletes and team success.

In episode #171 of the Glass and Out Podcast, we're joined by Brad Ralph, Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League. Ralph is currently in his sixth season with the Everblades, quietly helping them develop into one of the top programs in the ECHL. During his tenure, Florida has captured four South Division titles and advanced to two conference championships. In the 2017-2018 season, he helped the club set a record for most wins (53) and points (112) in a season. The Blades also advanced to the Kelly Cup final and he was awarded the Jack Brophy Award as ECHL Coach of the Year. His 45 career wins in the Kelly Cup playoffs currently ranks him fifth all time in the ECHL. Ralph got his coaching career start at just 30-years-old in Augusta, Georgia, with the Augusta RiverHawks of the Southern Professional Leagues. After being handed the keys to an expansion franchise with no coaching experience on his resume, he led the team to the league final and was recognized as Coach of the Year. After three season with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads, he made a brief stop in the Western Hockey League as Head Coach of the Kelowna Rockets, during which he led the team to a 48-20-4 record and an appearance in the Western Conference Championship. Find out his strategies for managing the grind of an ECHL season, why preparation is key to developing relationships with his players, and why he believes every player has the potential to achieve their dream of playing the NHL.