Summer Series 2.0 Part 4 with Scott Wedgewood

(upbeat music) - Regressing to the meat since 2015. It's the hockey epidemiocast with your host, Demetri Philipovich. - Welcome to the hockey epidemiocast. My name is Demetri Philipovich and joining me is like good buddy, John Mattis. John, what's going on, man? - We got a special guest today, man. I'm not gonna waste your time. Let's get to it. I'm very excited about this. We got big shoes to fill. We had Dan Muse on, mostly recently, for part two of the summer series. He blew us away with how good he was and how good his voice sounded in particular, real podcasting tone. So we got big shoes to fill, but I'm confident that we're gonna kill it on this one because I was canvassing the league for prepping my guest list before we started the summer series. And a name that kept coming up was, you gotta get Scott Woodward on. He's great. He always provides tremendous quotes. He loves to talk about the game and just talk shop in general. And so we're gonna do so, Scott's writing us. Scott, how's it going, man? - Really good. I gotta live up to that and entry, I guess, right? - Yeah, well, I had to big you up a little bit on the intro there, but I'm excited about this. You know, it was reflecting on your journey over the years, right? And how much the game has changed in particular since I think you came into the league. You were drafted in 2010. I think you're first like real NHL season came in 2015. And that coincided with the peak for league average save percentage where I think it was 9.15 that season, if you compare it to this past year, we're coming off of where it was 8.96. I think that kind of demonstrates how much maybe offensive has changed around the league and what's taken place in NHL. It's definitely not because the goalies have gotten worse if anything. They've gotten bigger and more athletic in that time. But I think a combination of the shooters getting so lethal with their releases, the stick technology, just the approach teams have in terms of where they're trying to create their offense from the way shots are tracked as well. That kind of all coalesces into what's happened with goalie save percentage. Have you felt that in real time over the years in terms of maybe like the changing environment or just like in general, the way the games are being played in front of you? - Yeah, I think you kind of touched on all of them. I think one of the biggest things that has changed is not just the throwaway shots anymore. Like I think it used to be like teams of barrier. I got a, I get 12 a period or 15 a period to make them feel the pressure and you just go low to high hammer, low to high hammer, low to high hammer. I just got four shots and nothing was dangerous. We boxed out, you just fed three to the corner and caught one. It was easy kind of pickings. Now I think with the deception of skating and angle changing and cutting to the middle and putting defensemen on, obviously, they're back of their heels and making the extra pass. Like it's all kind of correlates into that. And like you said, the tracking of it too, sometimes you look up at by like a 15 shots in the first period and you come back out for the second, like a 11. So I lost four in the intermission somehow. And that's, you know, betting is a big part of the game now. I think that is, you know, one thing where you'd go into, you know, Madison Square Garden and be middle of the second period, you have 35 shots or I mean, 35 shots in seven games. Like what do we, what do we, and you make us save outside the post? Does it go in probably not to get taken away? But yeah, I think just people are fine in their spots. I think, you know, shot blocking, obviously, has been with the layer defenses. Some teams are playing, stuff stays off the net more. You play an East West team like Utah. They're not kind of, you know, Carolina where they play ping pong off your pads. It's, it's a little bit different. So, yeah, I think all that. And then, like you said, I think with the ability to score the, you know, the 12 until the score is now becoming 10 until the score and also your 900 guy. What about how you've adjusted, like, you know, you mentioned all the different variables there and how offenses are just at another level. And a little more, I could call it sophisticated than they were 10 years ago. If you take just East West passing and how much, I suppose, pre-shop movement there is, whether it's the Pocker bodies themselves, like how do you adjust as a goalie over the years to that in particular where there used to be a lot more, you just square to the shooter and, you know, let's see what you got, buddy. But now it's just you're playing a lot of, it's a lot of guessing game. It's a lot of moving laterally. What have been the major adjustments to your game? - Well, I think when I came in, I thought I had to do everything, middle of my blocker, catch every puck, beat clean, like it was almost like I wanted everything to just, like, feel perfect, right? So, it was like, you know, if I made a blocker say, but I hit my fingertip and kind of created chaos in the middle, now I gotta get the, you know, back my hand on that, push it to the corner. And then it started to become like, I had so many tools in my toolbox. It's like, you can come down the right side, I can one pad save, I can one knee drop, I could butterfly, I could go splits, I could go, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? You can, you can play it. I remember Scott Clemenson as a goalie partner, he came down and got picked me corner and I was like, I should have went one knee down. He's like, what do you usually do? I mean, you should go one knee down. He's like, yeah, but nine out of 10 times, that works. But I'm like, yeah, but that one, I made the wrong choice on, but he's like, it's a 900. Like you're, you're now trying to change it on that one shot that beat you when you didn't need to change it nine other times. And that kind of put it into like a little bit of like a, you know, late pop quick. It's like, okay, so if, you know, I do seven different things on 10 shots and I was sending him against going on five times, even though I made, you know, five different saves, I could just do the same thing over and over again, play it the right way and lose once. And that was kind of where it was kind of like, okay, now my game chart started to mature. I used to be a, you know, half splits on everything and you know, I got the Colorado still in my game and you see it was like, I don't want to see like, you're, you know, post one knee down in the middle of your net. Like it's never used. Maybe in a shootout, but he's like, I don't ever want to, he's like, you drop both knees, you make the save it, you're a sealed component, you're not half in between things. And that's, you know, the last, obviously my full NHL time, I bounced around there, there was only a few different stints, but going to Dallas, and then to Nashville and to here, I think the last four years really has just been when I've really started like, take up space and I'm not the biggest goal yet all. I mean, I just shy of six two. I get six two and it's that track or so I call it six two, but you know, it's become situational where it's like the micro shuffles. I'm a very good skater. So like if you used to work dot line to me and skate dot to dot from the top of the blue line to the face off circle on like my blocker side, I would just kind of like spread and move myself back. So I'd start at like, you know, just inside shoulder width and by the time you got to me, I was almost like halfway to the splits. And now you just take that shoulder width stance and that left foot just, it might move three inches, but it's moving instead of just like kind of getting that gliding spread. And that's where I think the game really changed because now you're not in a situation where you're off balance, you're leaning, you're guessing that guy moves downhill and his stick is now lined up to my right shoulder and I gotta make a blocker save only. And the left side of my body is now out of position. So like that, that micro shuffling, I mean, you watch Demko, he does it very many school. He's very good at it, but I think that's one thing where it's just like I've been able to stay more upright, push shooters off the, what they see, take a little more space and then once they're in their release point, then you spread, then you're not caught in that off center lean where instead of being center mass, you're now a foot off and he's pushing and he's going low blockers and only gonna go and get it, but you're now extended in at a position on the next play. I think that's where my games really leveled up and then I think, you know, in the summary of it all, I think it's just plain. I didn't get a chance to play a ton until the last two years, a lot of them before that, right? Like I'm 34 now, I've not even hit 200 games play it. So it's, last two years has been the big bulk of my games played and my games elevated, just being in there. - Do you think skating's become even more important for goalies, like it's sort of always been that underrated skill where if you're a casual fan, you go skating. What kind of skating do goalies do? But then you actually look at a goalie and really pay attention to the little nuances. It's pretty obvious that skating is huge. Do you think it's even more important than ever given the way the modern offense operates? - Yeah, I think like, it's funny. I think it's come back around, right? Like Broder, I think peaked it with the way he moved around the net and he got lucky, but he got very smart in the sense he wouldn't work you downhill. So if you came over the middle and then worked to his blocker side, he would just rotate his left hip and just push you downhill. So you shoot back against him as bodies there and then he's just working down. He would be on his outside edge going right, which no one really does ever any more unless you're kind of just losing your net. And then like a bend bishop comes in and it's like, you don't have to move if you're that big. When he could move, it was just, he took up so much net. So then it was like, let's go get these monster goalies. And now the monster goalies have caught up that they have to move just with the angle changes and one timers and pull ups and everything. Like you just gotta be able to skate. And I mean, I'll do my own horror, but if you take my pads off, I think I can give some guys a run for their money and speed and I used to, I mean, I still like, if I don't skate before practice and stuff, like I don't feel good, like it's mobility stuff. Like I don't feel like I get tired in that sense in the bag skating, but yeah, like you have to, right? You get stuck on a post unless, unless everything they're doing is not changing your stance. Like if you have a, you know, making passes from the dot to the top of the circle, that's just a spread, like at the same circle. But if you're going, you know, dot to far hash mark, you gotta move. And then you'll get stuck in a sly and they shot back and you can see it at different times. Everyone gets beat. But if you can beat a pass on your feet, you know, offside guys where they're not taking one timer, you can keep that foot. And that guy throws another pass. you're there and that's where like the big saves come in and you make harder saves look easy, but it's got to be the first tool because you can only react so much if you're off if you're off center or off mass, right? Like it's it's become such a fast-paced game releases, backdoor plays, everyone's driving the net. You got middle lane drive, you got guy cutting middle, then you go to drop pass and he's going back to the way and then they're going back door on you. So I think that post integration has really changed helping a lot of, not bad skaters but the say lesser tier of it because you anchor posts not only of one movement. So like I sit there they just play that percentage like I'm now you know you're at the daughter below I'm in a reverse the only thing you really have is people call it a bad goal but you have your hole and you have the odd leaker through the hip but then if you go anywhere back door he's that legs preloaded just to jam any back door play. You know Andre's really good at it. Vaseleski's really good at it and they just sit in that reverse and you just throw pucks off him. Yeah you hit your perfect shot four times a year I'll give up those four goals for 100 shots into my body and then that's that lateral post movement and then they just reset once the play gets higher and I think that's where the reverse really started to save people was it to I don't want to call it a copter and it's just a smart play when you have the size. You're only there for a couple of months because you got traded last season to Colorado but you got to spend some time in in Nashville in a tandem with with UC Soros. Do you feel like? I'm always curious about the relationship that you know you have with the goalie you're in tandem with and sort of either on a day-by-day basis kind of trading tricks of the trade or working on stuff together and then I imagine with him there's an element of not necessarily being able to replicate some of the stuff he does because he's so unique in terms of his athleticism and some of that agility and kind of post-to-post movement was that do you think that's true or was that kind of underselling maybe like what a technician he is or certain things that you could kind of take from his game. No he's in a lead in a very different way and I think that's a guy that reverses calm small but reverses in a smaller size but my like biggest takeaway from that was vendor clock corn and Mitch corn and him were obviously very peak with Peca and then making UC as good as he is a lot of his stuff is he reacts like I want to say the word in motion but I don't want it to be like he's like not static I think what I'm trying to say is like if you've got a a guy coming down your blocker sign he's shooting glove they're trying to implement the fact that like he's shooting glove you're making that save glove and like flowing with it so it's like I'm making the low glove save well traveling low glove and then that rebound I'm already kind of flowing in that and that was so hard for me because I'm like if you come down low glove and you shoot low glove I'm firing my left leg out I'm not firing my right ankle the move left and that was like the hardest rewire type situation for me is like okay I'm gonna this guy rips at blocker and I'm anticipating to fire right leg I'm off on blocker but then if he goes blocker he also want to make that save and move into post where like I would sometimes not drop and spread but I would just react if I made that save glove I'd react then it's fire right hip and move move right where it's almost like okay let's take that shot move into it right now I'm almost like ready for two and then it's just like a mini adjustment because you're already in flow and you'll see Saros make some of these unbelievable saves two on one it hits his low blocker and then he's already like somehow flowing blocker without that rotational thing and then when he does get sprung he's great at somehow keeping his hands a foot and a half off his body and clearing leg lifts where like I find like it's cool like in practice I can I can you know manipulate it and be like I'm gonna keep my hands out and then just shift and you know kind of draw that steering wheel you know my sticks gonna go and then my hips are gonna come up but a lot of times it's like I drop seal and now I want to get my leg up I got a clear hand so a lot of guys throw their glove over their left hip to pick their left hip up right he's like almost hands in front of him so he's like I'm going this way my hands coming it's hard to I don't do and stuff but you can't see it but his hands is just clear it and that was like the hardest thing for me to try and like not even replicate but just like try and add to my game because it was just like he's so good at it fluent he's like chest square hands in front of him and legs are firing where it's like I feel like a lot of people are kind of that runner right like your your arms are swinging opposite to go the other way awesome dude love the guy it was it was honestly like not in a long time I didn't learn anything but I just want to say like it was like a new approach when I got the Nashville and loved learning it was just kind of one of those days where you almost kind of lost confidence sometimes it's like I don't do it this way and I'm like annoyed at myself that I can't do it this way and I see that it works for somebody then I just didn't have enough time there to obviously try and implement it and follow that because once I got the Colorado that that game plan just wasn't what we were then working towards on the note of kind of reacting to either change in the shot angle or where it's coming from and then accordingly moving yourself to get set again I told our mutual friend Kevin Woodley I was going to have you on and which was going to be no surprise to any of our listeners he was incredibly fired up by that and he sent over a long list of stuff to ask you about one that really stuck out to me though was this concept of quote unquote counting hands and he wanted me to get you to talk a little bit about that in terms of you know being either familiar with what you're dealing with in front of you whoever's on the ice where the shots might be coming from do you feel like that allows you to maybe kind of play the odds or have some sort of probability of like all right well I know that the if there's a shot or a threat coming it probably will be from here and so it allows you to not cheat but maybe get ahead of that read a little bit like obviously the game's moving very quickly and there's certain times where it might be tougher to accomplish that it's probably easier off a face off where it's a bit of downtime in between but I want to hear you kind of cook a little bit on that sort of process and just that idea of counting hands yeah this this was that TNT interview I think kind of shocked everybody but I mean my thing in a big summary of it is like doing your homework right like you know right now if you were just coming this podcast to be right we're gonna talk to Scott Wedgewood and well crap where has he been right like you're just you just don't know so it's like you know you you'd go to hockey DB you look at some stuff you figure some stuff out you're like okay now I can go into that moment and be like hey I have a question about this that you did so I kind of take that same approach from high school right if I didn't study and I want to do a classroom okay he was a test today we told you on Monday it's Friday you didn't do anything you're that was I hated that feeling and it wasn't necessarily that in games but it was you know if I didn't check off properly and also in that guy fired at one time and I get beat and you can see goal he's in even me at times when it's like oh like oh if I would have just looked or if I would have just checked off one more time that backdoor pass to a lefty was different than the backdoor pass to a righty and it's the same as an angle change to me it's like okay if if he pulls up and that guy's a one-timer and he's coming down the slot as a one-timer I'm going to preset on the inside and if you know he's on his backhand facing up ice he's no threat I'm going to drift back a little bit on him and be prepared for this one-timer pass like why would I wait on this guy's backhand going to a one-timer and then be late the guy beats me for our side it's kind of how that approach came and I just didn't like being surprised and still get surprised obviously like you said games fast screens all that stuff um but yeah like you know before games I I have a sheet on the wall that our team puts up and I just had them I kind of mentioned it that they've put hands on guys so be all right we got you know three lines of all righties and one line of a lefty center and the lefty on the right like a three lefties or whatever you want to call it and most of time teams don't really switch and if they do it just kind of is a count for me but it's mainly like rushes right you take a two on one and you got a lefty with the puck on my glove side to a righty you got you know guy coming down he opens up for one timer yeah you're gonna know that but if that righty is still driving and I can get one more check inside the hash marks now he's just backhand jamming it so I just pushed to his backhand and if he catches in goes it's it's that he can't open up below my my goal line or my top of my crease same if he was a righty on my glove side back door you just take a little bit more flow to try and get back and meet him inside that post because they can't really chip that right puck up into the top corner that well most of time they're scoring back to the middle of the net and it's under your arm as you're extending so it's like you know you just I watch it I watch games I watch how goals go in it's just hard to be like okay I'm going into a low glove push back door to a righty and I'm gonna extend and take away the net and he chips it back underneath your arm at your hip and you're like you know I was talking about today with Talbot we were skating and I was just like we were talking about price and I was like it used to not annoying me but it was just like he'd come over in like a sealed butterfly slide and get a one-timer in the hip and not move and then you come over and you get you get a one-timer beat him low blocker and he'd not move I'm like dude you're amazing just make that save and then but it was just kind of that same thing nine and a ten times he was so in control and flow he would just come over tight and they'd hit him because that righty opening up can't score really that well inside that short side post and he'd play those odds over and over again it's just doing it obviously every time so that's where I think that hand exchange for me is like if I can have a little bit more information then the next guy if I don't have all the talent in the world that's a you know another you know tip to my side of the scale it's kind of how I just prepare each play and then you know battle it out after that Scott you and I have talked in the past about sort of the mental side of the game but maybe off ice or like interpersonal related versus If you're in the crease and that mental part of it and you know specifically a couple years ago We talked about what it's like to be an hL back up and how the cheerleading part of the the role doesn't come naturally to some younger Goleys yet is like absolutely essential not only for you in that year and making your GM happy your coach happy your really coach happy etc getting starts But also just for the longevity of your career being known as a guy who can work in tandem and then you know You fast forward a little bit to where we are today and the vast majority of teams are either tandems or three golly rotations I think it was but Melka at 64 games was the only goalie with 60 plus last year So like you're running into a tandem everywhere you go Can you talk a little bit about your evolution how you've wrapped your head around sort of like that aspect of working with your partner and not being like I suppose overly competitive because as you and I have discussed in the past like There was a point where you maybe couldn't get out of your own head in terms of like Hey, I want to be starting. I want to be you know in the net whereas sometimes you got to take a step back and go Okay, it's my partner's turn for the net. I got to support him. I got to be on his side and we're all sort of in this together Yeah, I mean it's not one of those things that comes with time like It's it's different because one guy plays every night, you know And then also if you have a tiered situation not in your play is gonna play more than me a day I sign I knew it, you know, it's those situations kind of write themselves and you just got to wrap your head around it But like American League coming up. It was like do or die every night Sometimes you don't like your partner or the situation that's going on and those thoughts creep in where it's like if you give So five I'll get the next one and he plays the next one You're like well, what happened to him giving up five in your mind and now you're not playing the next one like and it was hard I think in a sense because it's like it's a team sport. So if he won and got to play again Sucks for me, but we're team our team's doing better than if I played and won our team's doing better But if I played and lost then I don't get to play again So then I am annoyed but the team's not doing well. So I want us to win like it's there's that mental, you know Hula hoop and roundabout that you're going on your mind and I think in the American League It was obviously like I need to I need to learn I need to grow East Coast. I played a ton And then it got to a situation where it was like if I play and play well now I'm in the I can get my shot in the NHL. So then now you're once again a little bit selfish And then I got hurt and At the time King Cade went up and got a had a great year and they signed them So then I came in a camp and like you know, I want to push for a job and say well, we got two contracts We'll go back down and then I missed the whole season and he had a good year and then I came back And it was like we got Blackwood now and we're gonna play them and Here aren't you know Arizona's gonna trade for you. So then it's like okay Now I'm going Arizona and I think it was Louis the Ming at the time wasn't doing that well and onto your onto was kind of hurt So I was like I'm gonna get chances to play So I got the play on a on a bad team. We were bad. I was young. I was trying my best and then all of a sudden it was like Oh, we're trading you to LA for Kemper and then LA's like hey, like we're gonna help you Get to the NHL. We're gonna send you the American League. I'm like I just got there. What do you mean? Like? I just played my first 20 games like what do I need help with and then they've not They had their situation. I didn't play So then I go to Buffalo hoping to get a chance in the NHL with Mac or Sorry Carter Hutton and Maybe not being the healthiest of his career in all marks first experience selfish there and want to play and want to get up blah blah blah Nothing happens. There's not a there's not a break the whole season. I think I backed up two games with like a sickness had a good American League year And then I signed in Syracuse and that was where it was like, you know, this doesn't go well I'm pretty much overseas and I've hit my limit. I missed that one opportunity. I thought I had with the injury So then yourself is and like I'm never a bad guy like obviously teammates playing things like that But it just started to switch where it's like I always worked I always you know guys were happy to shoot on me I wasn't lazy and I've had partners that guys want to chop in the head sometimes like go down like give me an effort So I always try to stay away from that but then I kind of switch where it was like if I can just get my feet in the door and be that kind of helper so then I I get the bubble France John that was kind of the obviously the fire got lit winning the cup with Tampa You know, I didn't do anything other than Help the guys practice, but I did a part which was cool for me and at the time, you know, highlight of the career Um, and that was kind of like, you know, you're you're you're a part of it You're more of a shooter-tutor energy guy happy go lucky you can take stamp courses one time around the head for 68 days and still smile Kind of vibes and then I resigned in in Jersey made a victory lap and then Cory Crawford retired and was blackwood and I And that was like okay, I'm in the HL. I look black. He's a guy I'm his biggest true leader if I get the play and get a contract that I played decently well And then it kind of switch again, you know, Scott Clements and I got to give him Christmas card every year, but he's just like, you know, I played probably three to five more years Because everybody knew what they were gonna get He's like I had my chance to be a starter didn't go that well, but you know, I played my 20 to 30 games at different points Never cost a problem never had anyone say bad name don't mean, you know, maybe they did But you know is what it is and he's like I got made you know three four more years making a couple million bucks Being a good guy and that kind of hit where I was like okay, maybe I'm not going to be the superstar that my mind wants me to be And I feel like I can be but I can make him the league And then I got from Jersey to Arizona then Arizona Dallas and then it kind of then I kind of lived it which I think I was proud of because when I got to Dallas I was close with SEG and he was like, hey, we got this stud and otter and he just wants to play And I don't think he knows yet that he can't play 82. He just wants to play too Yeah, so I remember like the first couple interactions like it wasn't bad anything I used to tell he's like is this guy gonna take my job do you get starts I was like dude like I've been battling to keep my head above water like I don't even want your job Like I do and like the back of my mind, but I'm like I want my own like if I can help you and you like me And like I come back and I make a million bucks in the excel like I don't care what I got to do and that's where it's switched where it was like okay, there's the 60 game guy I might get 20 plus depending on what happens Let me help and then it was like, you know, he's a great dude It worked so well with just what we both liked and all that stuff I think I had matured I've taken my you know my wax and my beatings and all that kind of stuff of Trying to do it and failing Proud of all that because like I think you're looking my DB like I don't know if I I should own the U-Haul just the way it all went around And then that was where it evolved into like I'm gonna be the the support character and the guys Robert's in shoot thousand bucks a day, you know, and then this all becomes now I get a chance with blackwood and he unfortunately gets hurt I get a chance to play whatever it was this year 40 something games and do do well get consistent all that But um, but even now like I think going back with him after we've both matured has been awesome too because it's the same vibe It's like dude go out there and get a shout out please because I'll give you a shout tomorrow And then you get a shout out the next day and then we're gonna get 80 shout-outs and we're gonna win the Jennings and all the stuff and it was never like, you know, especially when a team that you're you know when you're in Arizona and Jersey Playoffs aren't even in the picture post-December and it just kind of sucks everyone's playing for themselves With our team. It's like dude like just get points. We get points. We're in the playoffs. We got a chance to win Let's get in the playoffs and then obviously we did what we did but But yeah, I think you know it's taking those licks and having conversations with guys who've gone through it and You know, there's no real recipe to it because you're selfish at the end of the day when you play like I Want to be the best for me. I'm playing for me. I'm obviously the teams in front of me But I got to get you know my best out of myself And then when you play I'm part of it all but I'm just sitting here open at a door But guys been there here. I think I got really good at kind of helping guys with goalies. We're pointing ends questions here and there Being that cheerleader. I love the game. So I love the talking. I think guys understand that Sorry long-winded answer as would the club we expected but Yeah, I can see why you guys get along so well Yeah, but that growth of it all I think you know in the grand scheme. It was just Earned in my licks and then finding the kind of way to keep my head up of water and you know now last season was obviously the peak of it all Yeah, you played 45 regular season games last year another 11 in the playoffs. It's I was looking at it It's you know other than that one year in Rochester where you played 48 games I believe it's the most by far that you've played since the early 2010s and I'm curious and reflecting on that if you have any thoughts on this was sort of the unique journey You took along the way where you've been part of seven different NHL organizations all the teams that you've played on kind of Weather goalies just Have a different development arc than maybe their skater counterparts right because I think we typically all think about forwards and defensemen and like Generally early 20s. You're kind of about your physical prime if you're gonna be something in this league We're probably gonna see it by then for for someone like yourself, you know, you get drafted in 2010 You come into the league in 2015 you're 34 years old now and just coming off your best season still clearly adding to your game and evolving at your position Do you feel like it was kind of not a necessary part of it like either that maturity or seasoning along the way and some of the stuff you picked up At each stop or do you think it's just as simple as like There's only 64 jobs in the league for goalies that are using two of them and it's a matter of opportunity And you finally fell into the right spot to get to play this much and have the success you had last year Kind of how do you sort of view that in terms of that aging process and development along the way over these past 10 15 years? I mean to make it a one where like a two word answer is games plate guy we just don't play enough and it's not even a like no way it's not that you can it's just in the American League there's two guys who's usually two prospects the coast you're sometimes sharing the net and then you know you get guys that kind of get their you know he's not easier path but they're they're their waters are a little bit clear but you know I remember I was always envious of Peter Murase contraption Detroit my year I think Howard went down I think they had the monster that Gustavson went down at Thomas McCallum and Grand Rapids went down he pretty like 40 some games a second or 30 year in the in the minors that weighed six years for Coruscany or his elbow when I was just like waiting like not in me obviously you got to earn it sometimes you earn it well early enough and teams like hey you're you're out performing what we can even do I come up here and get a shot um and maybe I didn't do that well enough to enforce their hand either um but I just think you know like you said there's two jobs a lot of it sometimes contract I think I'm really gonna call up this American League contract and then sit my three million dollar backup who only plays 25 games so this other kid can play it's just it's not part of the cap situation and then it's also you gotta have somebody willing to make that decision for you a lot of the time it's it's an injury situation guy comes in plays well it's like oh by the way this guy can do it this guy's up for contract we'll let this guy do it and it's just kind of how it how it teeters right so and there wasn't a lot of turnover there I felt like you know it's almost like the 90s babies were learning how to use cell phones and then we were also learning how to change with the hockey golfing position because it changed so much from you know when you started to what it is now but um yeah I think you know you get some guys in certain situations I mean who is it just this summer that coaster right like you didn't really get much chance in Detroit to play and Utah's like we'll take you know so here's a two million dollar contract come play he's got to be ecstatic but it's also you know why didn't the wings you was a medal and it's nothing against them it's just you know they had guys under contract and people were gonna play and it's like okay are you am I gonna really sit a veteran for a guy that we don't know what we're gonna get out of them maybe if you're out of the playoffs and of the eric some teams throw those you know games around um yeah I think also the maturity right like you want to make money you want to take care of your family you want to do all this stuff and that was a lot of my pressure was like you know I want to make something out of this and get a good life career short all that kind of stuff I remember in Jersey before they signed Bernie that last year with the covid Canadian Americans scheduled in the divisions I like maybe it's like I'm mapped it out I might get six more starts if I play like lich it I can get it one way the amount of pressure I had for no reason on myself for those six starts was was like soul crushing and I had a bad game and it's just like you think you just lost everything for your future family and stuff and I remember that and you know players come out they earn it they have two good years also and here's an eight by eight you have you know a stud player all the nutrition stuff's paid for you know you get all those early accessible advantages and perks um that you've earned but I find that sometimes we don't like I I didn't get that until you know 32 minutes like you start making some money and you can start spending like you get it at 2324 when they come up that entry level and they're making money um a lot of that I mean not that the pressure's not there but I feel like that that side life pressure kind of comes off and then people are stable and you can play and play right so there's probably a lot to it but and it could just be be better well you mentioned you mentioned that pressure um and I think typically we get a lot fixated on technique and tactics and we you know we're guilty of that here we've talked about that for the first 30 minutes but I think an underappreciated part of the puzzle is maybe that mental component and you touched on it a little bit but I wanted to dig into a bit further because in preparation for this I was looking at some of your previous interviews and you were talking about um when you were in Arizona I think under the guidance of Carter had at the time you you kind of seeked out um like a mental coach and sort of investing in that part of the game and described it as a career altering decision on your part um I want you to get into that a little bit and sort of the utilization of that whether it's for you know visualization resetting off the ice whatever you're using it for to kind of help navigate some of that pressure and I guess prepare yourself for when you're actually on the ice needing to physically make the stops that you do yeah it kind of was one of those you know maybe like a potential regret right like hey I'm going to go into this career give everything I have sacrifice christmas is a family time and nieces and nephews time and everything that that comes with it and I'm like if it ends and I didn't seek somebody else out to talk to like I feel like I would have had a regret not making that decision right to call and um remember Carter Hutton had the same agency as I and we had just kind of been like he was hurt and we were just kind of you know spitball and conversations if he worked with anybody kind of thought process and I always kind of felt like I was like a a prophet epic man we'd come down we'd hit the post or something we'd be up to one I'm like damn without gonna put the game away like they can't score bang tutu you're just like like in my like what's the lottery numbers like let's just start going like you know it just seemed to be like one of those implemented seeds that I would lose that you know final battle on early in my career and those thoughts come in I'm at what if I'm a realist like it's like you know we missed the end they scored games tight no yeah no crap that happens like it's just the way it is but I felt like sometimes those those thoughts are creeping and I'd be having a great game and all of a sudden it would just quickly like you know you know getting in quicksand all of a sudden your mind for two minutes will be gone and it just isn't clean so yeah I made like I made a call um it was air hopper it used to be a coach RIT and now he does this is a performance coaching thing and you know it's it's different like my wife's in my corner my parents from my corner you know text to your dad after the game hey you played great I'm like honestly I felt terrible but you know I'll be love you have a good night like you played great and it's like yeah you're in my corner and I'm paying this guy so it's kind of in my corner too right so like you're paying them to not listen to you but it was just nice to sit there and be like you know in my hotel room before a game like do like I don't know why like we're playing whoever we're playing jersey I used to play for and I just you know I want to beat him they like they let me go I didn't work out blah blah blah like I just want to stick it to him or whatever it doesn't matter if you've played for everybody like it's just it's a hockey game blue paint you know there's just like easy not cliche things but it was more just like how can we rewire our mind to be like okay if it's too one and we missed the net how do you get back to that next shot you're in your blue paint you play it the same way prepare the same way and then you we had some voice note stuff that would just kind of like you sit there before I'd get ready and you'd fire some some questions you know how do you feel today where where's this how do we get into the zone this kind of stuff like how do you want to play this situation you want to play that situation visualize that so it wasn't like this you know crazy out of the blue kind of context of how do you approach it but it was also a little bit more of don't just go in there and feel at anxiousness let's get let's get direction let's you know understand we're playing the game inside the blue paint and this is how we want to play it day in and day out feel confident in that you're you're meant to be there let's play instead of just being like open up give up six you know it was always like you had both ends of the spectrum it's like either I'm gonna have a shuttle make 42 saves or I'm gonna give up 20 goals on 22 shots and I'll never play hockey again it's like what if you just gave up two on 25 like your your brain is for whatever reason like fight or flake right like I'm gonna be the greatest goalie ever or I'm the worst goalie ever is it why don't we just like be comfortable if they score a goal and have two on 25 year team a chance to win and that kind of was like the big kind of like light ball moment where I'm like yeah it's kind of good nowadays like let's just approach that where if we get scored on my you know you don't have to fall apart so Scott I mean that's that's fantastic I'm glad you you came around on that sounds like a real crossroads moment in your career switching gears a bit so it's it's been a wild couple of years for the goal union I mean you had two goals goalie goals and in 24-25 Sirokin and then a guy you know fairly well in the delkovich and then last year there's three fights in the delkovich versus Bob Swaman versus Vasilevsky Marx-Rim versus Shostirkin this may be a dumb question but whatever if you could only have one on your resume would it be a goalie goal or a goalie fight I have to be goal it's just because it's you know you like I mean I don't want I don't want to get punched in the face from anybody along I had to the guys that do that on a nightly basis like all the power to you but I think the goal is just a little bit more of a of a momentum I think I think if you have like the line brawl Patrick Wachrisseis got a good rivalry you know everyone's pulling that clip up for the rest of their lives and talking about it like that's a that might you know be over a five two you know shot off your pad off the far wall and you kind of goal but I think the goalie goal is just a little bit more of an achievement for sure well on that note like who who is your guy from 90s hockey because you're 34 I think dims 35 36 I'm 38 we all grew up on 90s hockey and really a heyday with hashtag and wand koo joe and all these guys who was your guy back in the day honestly it was Marty it was going to be drafted there and like I didn't want it like I didn't want to you know breathe his own air kind of vibes and my first interaction was funny it's like you're sticks too long and I was like oh nice to meet you I had like an old angel stick I guess it wasn't NHL height or whatever and then he got hurt and I think I did some too so we spent like a week together on the ice and unbelievable I was like I still had that photo on my phone it's like taken by with the life barn camera it was like the one photo that I had with them on the ice when I was young but I But no, I mean, it was anyone who played the Leafs, like my family loved the Leafs, and I just love to be a past third child, and I know my brothers and stuff, but like I love the mass, like the lean with the Marvin, the Martian, I played for the Mississippi Senators, growing up, so it was kind of like, you know, I was affiliated with them in a way, and just a gear, Trevor kid, like anything done, Cherry, like the goalie, social group, you know, Grant Fury, Curtis Joseph, see more rubber than a dead scunk, and a transcanon highway, like Rock 'n' Soccer 6. I love those things, I was on when I was younger to watch before games, but yeah, I think, yeah, like the Kujo, Pop Van, Leaf Time, obviously they were on our TV every other night, and then I'd fall in Jersey when they were obviously in their heyday. Oddly enough, I don't think I watched much of Patchwatch just because of the timing of it all, right? Like it was kind of, at least for all, we watched every Leaf game, and it wasn't like you had the TV like you have now, right? Like I get any child network, I can just throw on, you know, Vancouver and watch the long-go play, Patchwatch Wall, I don't really, and then we were doing our own hockey, so it was also time that, but yeah, it was pretty much the Leaf guys in Jersey. - Well, first off, I'm still 34, for a couple more months, so I appreciate you, John, Aegean, me, both Scott and I, are 34-year-olds who are in our prime, and thriving, and only getting better every day, so I wanted to get that on the record. Scott, this is one of the final questions I have for you, but I wanted to talk about last year a little bit with the abs, in particular, I think, how you sort of view, from your perspective, the benefit of playing for a team that obviously had a remarkable regular season, but the goals support specifically in front of you, where, you know, the abs, I think, average like 3.6 goals per game last year, which led the league, and whether you sort of view that, as a benefit as a goalie, just from the perspective of maybe decreasing some of that pressure, in the moment where, let's say you give up a couple early, or whatever happens, you have maybe slightly more margin for error, you don't have to be perfect on that night, 'cause you know that the team can actually come back and score goals and bunches to get you back in it, and still have a chance to win, 'cause I know, Woodley and I talk about that a lot, sometimes that pressure that goalies put on themselves, where if you have a low scoring offense in front of you, maybe you feel like you're a bit tight, because any mistake you make, you might not be able to dig your way out of it, and actually have a chance to win. Did you sort of feel that way last year, with the absence of knowing that we have this, you know, firing on all cylinders offense, and even if we are down to nothing in the first period, we might be up for two by the end of it. Was there any element of that, or do you kind of just focus on what you're doing, and let the skaters figure out the goal scoring for themselves? - I think it's there in the sense of like, it's not a hope in a prayer away. Like it's almost like, especially in my first game, if you guys remember, I went in in Buffalo, and Georgia gave up four on the first, we came back in one five four. It just like, it almost got built into like, you know, your bones, or your, you know, a bloodstream there, it was like, you know, first period down four, and after all of a sudden, you win five four and 40 minutes, and they only give up 15 more shots for 40 minutes, and just overpower a team, and even when you played them, it was like, you know, these guys, as a goalie, it was like, these guys can put a four on me in four shots if it goes their way. So, I think with a lineup thing, and that was one thing I've kind of talked about two at times, is, you know, you're in the NHL, but when we were playing in Arizona, and all of a sudden, the powerhouse would come in, you're like, all right, like, you know, if I give up less than five tonight, I had a good night, and that goes into that mental approach too, just like, all right, now you've just put five in your mind as a thought process, but that was kind of the view. It's like, if we have a good night, you know, we lost three two, but I gave up, you know, three goals on 38 shots, I had a great night, could have been seven two in the first, like, it's just the way it kind of goes. And then you go into games with that lineup, and you're like, all right, like, we can win, let's go. Like, let's play, I can be free and play, it's not like I have to be carry price in 2015, and be sub two every night on 40 shots against, and when every trophy the NHL has to offer kind of vibes, as much as you want to, like, every, you know, no one takes that and says, like, okay, I don't have to try. It's never that. Everyone obviously puts their best foot forward, but there is an element to a little bit of freedom in the sense of, you know, if someone goes wrong, everyone's kind of pulling the same rope or it's not like, all right, we just need McKinnon to take over. Like, you know, you got five, six weapons that can put the puck in the net, and even the bottom six forwards were great for us last year, and that sense where people were chipping in and so many facets that was really cool. So, yeah, there's definitely, there's definitely a lighter step heading out to the lineup, you know, to the ice with that lineup than it is. You know, obviously, when you're near the bottom of the lead, you gotta, you know, fight to stay in it some nights. - You brought up McKinnon there, I got to ask. Lots of lore around him in terms of his fireiness, his hard driving personality, you know, obsessive about nutrition and training plans. Just generally, it seems like super high standards, like when he's at the rink, like it's business, and honestly, as a national media member, not even a beat rider, I can feel the intensity just being in the room, but, I mean, what's it like being his teammate? Everyone has opinions about, you know, his intensity from afar, what's it like when you're actually in the room with him? - It's so funny, I feel like he's like one of those, like, I don't, he's good in so many different ways in that, right? Like whatever we're on the road and the guys are all hanging out and he cracks something up beer and you're just like, you can't have that, like media told me you can't have that. (laughs) They don't know what I put in my body, and it's just like, he plays into it a little bit too, but he is also one of those people that I've found throughout my career, like just in his presence makes me want to be better in a sense of like, you know, if he's pulling this rope at this speed and this intensity and this thing, like, I don't want to be the guy to ruin that and fail behind him that, you know, pulls his pedigree down. But he's also got like a good point to it where like, the stuff that he does isn't just like, I'm gonna go and lift heavy before the game to, to, you know, prime my nervous system and I think it works and it's been helping me. And then just hide it from everybody. Like, he's so good at this act. He's like, I do this, this is what my team and people that I've paid for 'cause he's got the resources and he brings it to the rest of the roster. It's not like, you know, I'm over here with the secret sauce and no one's allowed to touch it 'cause no one else wants to get to my pedigree. So he's great in that regard. Like, recovery rise, like, he's got a team that obviously is knowledgeable and goes about what works and finding that extra edge. And then it's, you know, seen down the ladder, down the chain throughout the organization in the room. And he wants to win. And I think that's one of the things that people give him a hard time about is, you know, he's obviously a little fiery and he'd probably the first one to say it at different moments. He could probably handle a little bit better than what he does. But at the same time, you know, talk to me when you've got 140 points of season and you score 60 goals and do what he does. Yeah, you know, it might put people from afar on edge and, you know, he's only at times. He's come up to guys and apologized and done stuff that media doesn't know and they don't have to know. You know, obviously there's times where he gets chewed apart. But, you know, some days he comes in, he's funniest guy in the locker room and he's on the top and just the way it is. Like, there's the side of it. But, you know, I've had 20 minutes sauna sessions with him and I'm like, you know, I'm the greatest guy ever and then there's times where after a game doesn't go right. I'm not talking to him in the sauna. It's just, you know, if I give up six and get pulled, you don't want to talk to me in a sauna either. Like, it's just, you know, he holds himself to a super high standard and that's what makes him great. But, no, I think he gets a little bit of a bad rep just because of the viral clips that they pull out of certain things. But since I've been there, you know, doesn't never set a bad word to me as a goalie. Like, I remember I watched one interview I did and he's like, I don't know. He's got a great attitude and he stops the puck. He's like, I don't know the first thing my goal thing. I don't care. He's just nice to be around. Let's go, he's on my set. That's what I want to hear. Yeah, but no, like, you know, likes the same thing golf. We talk books, you know, he had me reading one of his books series this year and we were, you know, bond over that, sits in front of me in front of the plane and chat and just like anybody, some days he doesn't want to talk to you and I'm sure sometimes on the media beats you up and comes after you all the time. Like, I give him all the rights sometimes, they're in his stall every day and you guys are doing your job and he's sometimes he's just over it. And obviously that gets shown after a bad game and you're like, how did the game go? He's like, oh, fuck, get out of my face. Like, you know, there's those moments at the end and sometimes those high competitors, it's not the right time. We catch him on a good day and I've seen him talk to guys for a long time. So, yeah, I think it's just depends time and day and how many points he got, I guess. Yeah, one more for you Scott. When you first came in the league, it was still kind of that heyday of the Zidane O'Cara, Shay Weber, 100 plus mile driver slap shots. We still got Darren Radish and Evan Blueshard in the league. But for the most part, it's become a bit of an extinct art form. I'd argue the bigger threat for a goalie these days is just the release on some of these forwards and how deceptive they are and disguising their intentions or kind of when they're gonna go where it's gonna go for you to read. As a goalie, is there anyone in the league that you really kind of view as like incredibly annoying to try to stop their shot because of either the placement or just not having a good feel for like when they're gonna get it off. Like who sticks out to you as the most either dangerous or creative shooters in the league right now? - I mean, obviously we play the central a lot. It's funny 'cause like I skate with Robinson in the summer and we're good buddies so like he's always trying to score 40 an night on me just the way it is. So yeah, but I mean like he's got a different release than like deceptive, he's just pinpointing. I feel like Capriceov has a few different release points and just skillful It gets like his back foot falling away middle of the slot gets off his heel and it comes off higher than a heel shot should and Skate with cool coffee on the summer and he's 90 stick handles inside the hashmark and you know can just hold on to it longer than you should and then pinpoint that corner What we only play him twice a year Kyle Connor ski with him in the summary plays on Winnipeg. He's a threat every time he comes down But like that crazy like deception thing I think the Matthews release has really changed to always view on that just because of the the two-foot pull and then you can push it Still from the inside, which has been what everyone's trying to kind of replicate is you know He changed the angle. He's got a shuffle then from the inside. You can go back the other way That's become you know a hard shot and then you just got the You know for the reason everyone is now I like to go low glove and low block underneath the hands, right? So that ability to kind of come east west and then go underneath it has been a big challenge, but It's hard like When you skate with your own team so much you see them more than you get four shots from a guy You know in the in the slot, but these higher goalscores obviously have been able to get it off, but Yeah, like it's different like Ovescan powers it through you with a curve and that puck never lays flat Like he's always just bearing it through you with movements So if unless you catch it center mass. It's it's finding us a hold just because it moves um And then like dry cydle sits in that low corner and just hammers it off your hip no matter what you do You have to almost play him as a barely goalie to stop it because of where he's placed um But yeah, I think it's through screen deception movement Extra pass and then just fire at home, right? Like So many different ways of scoring out right like you need a good teamwork score 15 goals that way you can be a one-time specialist and be doing gunther Think that guy scored two goals on me hammering knucklepucks, and I'm just like how like that shouldn't move that way But let alone be hard and on net, but you hit a rolling puck It why wasn't that 40 feet into the net let alone bar in somehow when you hit a rolling puck So it doesn't seem to go in my way, but um Yeah, like you said, there's just there's so much of it. I think it's now just Finding that gaps in the D zone and and releasing some stuff All right, it's got well. This was awesome. You definitely lived up to the hype We're gonna have to get you back on turn this into an annual tradition in the off season Thank you for coming on man, and good luck with this season and we'll level chat soon. I always appreciate you guys All right, where there you have it The Scott Wedgewood interview on the PDO cast the first time definitely not the last time john. He was incredible You know, he was sold to us as a must for the summer series and He was incredible now. I just want him and woodley to have a weekly podcast Maybe here on the PDO cast network just so we can uh, we can listen to them talk shop and break down The goalie position. I mean, he was phenomenal. I love you know, you never know especially With players like I always expect in in these summer shows you're gonna get a bit more out of them Uh, they've agreed to come on the show. I think they get the general vibe of it I'd like to think we asked them more thought-provoking questions than they get During intermissions of games and so it allows them to kind of settle into a comfort zone But he was off the charts with all of his answers I thought like he pretty much just cooked for for 10 minutes anytime you and I asked him something So I I think he made our lives pretty easy as code as as co-hosts here and um, yeah, I really enjoyed that Yeah, I mean just an open book, right like Like you said a long informant of answers every time and I think there's a lot of humility there where You know, this guy is a legit journeyman who has risen to Jennings award winner and it wasn't easy like him talking about hiring a mental skills coach like He talks about it sort of as like this crossroads moment that to me really sticks out as you know Something important to talk about generally, but also You know, you think about what could have happened if he didn't you know, look in the mirror at that moment and he's up to eight NHL organizations Five NHL teams. He repeated the Devils and and the coyotes there. So like he's bounced around and for him at 34 to finish fifth and Vesna voting and And you know, nine 21 save percentage, you know, almost 40 goals saved above expected like he really had a huge year at 34 and for him to Have in his back pocket all these experiences of being an NHL or an ECHL or a backup Traded four times claimed off waivers like he can really bring it all like if if if you were An organization you had a rookie coming through the door. Let's say a star rookie was drafted in the first round I mean wedge was gotta be right up there in terms of the guys You would hope that that rookie would interact with and be able to learn from Yeah, he was telling us before we went on the air He's renowing the the basement that he was recording from And he's looking for space to put all 40 of his goalie masks that he's worn over the years And I think that demonstrates definitely how he's kind of bouncing around and and worked His way to where he is now, and I think it's a it's a pretty cool Story, you know, didn't really get to bring this up as much as part of our chat But I think it's definitely in line with when we were discussing sort of I think the luxury of playing on last year's ads for him where you get that kind of relative lack of pressure from a Up your scoreboard perspective because you can give a couple and still feel like they're gonna score enough to To get you the way and it probably honestly though doesn't apply to him as much because You know, I talk about this would be quite a bit like maybe The pressure goalies put on themselves depending on their situation like if you're on a bad team And I think like the sharks a couple years ago when black was there before he came over the abs were a great example of this He was putting up these huge say percentages, but it's like Ultimately doesn't really matter as much because it like you're not gonna be judged on whether you win or lose That night and there's such high-shovel you and they're like you're facing 40-45 shots It's a pretty good spot I think to settle into a rhythm and feel the puck and get settled It's such you know goalies aren't really getting to do that much in today's game, but that doesn't really apply to him because even when he was on bad teams in the past he was always trying to Either earn that next opportunity or that next contract, right like regardless of the team's own ambitions and where they were in the standings He individually was needing to prove himself just to stay in the league and create a career for himself and so Um, I think that's a pretty interesting component of it and then so now getting to this spot in Colorado where I guess there is the pressure of you know, especially with Nathan making another team like it's such a high standard You're gonna be judged on whether you win the Stanley Cup or not and so the games matter that much more But just kind of this I guess Roundabout path that he took throughout his NHL career to get there and then finally earning that opportunity. I think is incredible Yeah, if you were good to go through the transcript of that interview I bet you he mentioned the word pressure or the most out of the non-common words that you use like and and button I like I feel like it's just a huge theme in his in his development and his evolution here where it's like an internal pressure and just sort of like Not seeing the forest for the trees and then him finally getting over that and it you know You make a really good point there where now he's in a position where there is that team pressure Let's win the cup. Let's actually do make you know some noise in the playoffs aside from our 2022 cup So that's something I'll be looking out for in terms of that storyline here moving forward and of course There's blackwood there who he's he's partnered with and I think ideally if you're the abs. It's a nice split Black was this guy who's you know been touted as Athletic and you know powerful and this sort of like freak of nature physically, but you know can he stay healthy? Can he get in the rhythm? That's that's another story and we saw play it last year with Wedgewood Really sliding into more of a one-a-roll Partly because he was playing super well, but partly because it was out of necessity So I'm keeping an eye on what's going on with with the abs and the goal tending in the workload there I mean it makes sense that he's fixated on that. He's living it right like after we we finished our call with him He was talking about like because we had caught him coming off the ice during his offseason trading And he's out there taking shots from some of the guys he listed But you know cow caught her cool coffee old jack. He was like going down the line of top goalscores in the league And so he's he's feeling that pressure every day in terms of trying to get better and testing himself And so I think you can certainly see that on the ice with him Yeah, what else what else stuck out to you because I think you know he was so transparent As you said and made it really easy on us We I think got to ask him pretty much everything we had planned to get into But what's stuck out to you in terms of like the most either insightful or interesting stuff that you know He was pretty willing to talk about today Well, I find the you know paying attention to the hand in this super Interesting as a non goalie like I'm sure there's some goalies out here then go like oh I do that too not a big deal But for Scott to be so open about it and talk about how he is Fixed it is probably the wrong word but how he's obsessive in some ways of like okay You know, we got four righties on the ice right now and one lefty. Okay. This guy just changed and just sort of like Keeping a tally so that when there's a guy going back door is he a leftier is a right is he rightian You know, there's the position of goal tending has changed so much physically It is so demanding physically That we sometimes forget that like a huge massive gigantic portion of it is mental both when you're in the crease And then when the pads are off and you got to deal with you know the pressure of being The last line of defense of like if you let in the goal Everyone sort of blaming you the lack of knowledge around the position generally in terms of fans and media You know that that brings even more haters in terms of just not knowing like oh that was actually a goal that was impossible to save Um versus like you know just blaming the goalie by default. So yeah, I mean I find the mental stuff like super fascinating I've written You know three or four deep dives on like getting goalies heads and trying to figure out what it is like to be them at the NHL level where it's whether it's like the art of being a backup or like, hey, you let me go and the puck's dropping in a minute. What are you doing to reset, which Adam Francilia who has been mentioned by Kevin Willie a bunch on the show, he calls it a post goal protocol where you try to have, you know, these habits that reset your mind. You can actually stop the next puck versus being fixated on what just went in the net. So yeah, Scotts is again like one of the, you know, maybe one of the ideal. People to have on to talk about all things gold to any because he's just seen it all and been through it all. Yeah, must be humbling to kind of like realize I think that there's only so much you can control right I guess the eyes for everyone, but I think goal is in particular because of all those elements where you could have the right safe selection and make the read and do everything by the book and the puck still goes in because it either counts as weird or someone's in front of you and screens you and takes away your eyes or it gets tipped or goes in off your defender, particular if you were an oilers goalie last year and everything was going in off darn all nurse, I'm sure they feel like all this stuff plays into it. But I think he's kind of been primed for that because of that that path we talked about where I think he even and he brought this up, which was interesting sort of the business side as well right with how few positions there are available in the league and maybe especially once you become a bit of a journeyman in the league within the eyes of the organization like there's probably someone else they're more committed to either because they took them higher in the draft or because they've already invested via contract and so it's not necessarily even an even playing field for you where it's like a pure meritocracy like if you make the saves you're going to keep playing like that isn't necessarily how it always works either in terms of burning starts and so I think all that stuff kind of coalesces together and you know it was just really cool kind of talking about all of it with him and I thought he was incredibly well spoken and also just willing to chop it up I told him afterwards that if he ever wants to get into broadcasting he'll be. Very equipped to do so he doesn't seem as as keen but it seems like he's got a couple more strong years ahead of him playing the position so he doesn't have to worry about that yet. Yeah I mean Goldening is it's all reactive right like if you actually just sit there and think about it's like okay if you're forward and you had a bad shift you just go out and hit someone like if you don't have your legs that that night you find a way to block a shot whatever it is there's other ways if you're goalie the plays all coming to you you can't like go out and do something I suppose you could like play the puck to feel it and feel like you're contributing the breakout or something but again you're waiting for the puck to come to you so it's very difficult in that aspect where you got to really. You know center yourself if things have gone sideways and make sure that you perform for the rest of the game like you know there's the every year there's a goalie that for whatever reason the first shot of the game it's it's just really fooled him and then you know it depends on the goalie it's case by case but does he bounce back in that game and it almost becomes a relevant that he keeps letting in the first goal or does it crumble him next thing you know he's you know on waivers it's the margins are so thin with goal 10. You saying I just sent a shiver down the spine of devils fans who have been living that the past couple of years everybody well that's all we have for today part three of the summer series in the books if you haven't listened to the first couple definitely go back Todd diamond on part one Dan use that a that Matt as an eye tag team as well on part two you and I have a couple more coming up I think I've got maybe three or four more of these scheduled nothing imminent right now so we're not going to tease like we did last time the specific guest but a couple really fun once we got a you know without giving too much way get some GM's on here as well because we've covered all the other angles of hockey but we got to get into this decision makers and the guys were making some of these moves so you and I were working on unlocking that in will have a couple more probably early September. I'd say to look forward to you got anything you want to plug here on the way out or you're still just plug in the the PDO cast and everyone's going to say listening. Yeah just plug in the summer interview series which was a great concept to come up with in terms of catching people when they you know of their the top button of their their shirt undone versus in the middle of the season when things are a little more serious and just talking big picture things with them it's is it your third year or second you're doing second area yeah so last year was a huge hit and I've enjoyed the two I've been on this this summer and Todd diamond also hit out of the part two with your solo up. Well it's been a blast doing these with you Madison looking forward to the remaining interviews we've got left on the summer series schedule couple quick notes from me on the way out here first if you're a die hard sicko that enjoys listening to the show and we're well over an hour and today so if you're still here I think it's safe to say you qualify as such I highly recommend subscribing to the PDO cast Patreon if you haven't done so already it's going to give you access to every single show we do this season you'll get the ad free version of each episode and we'll be posting them on that feed immediately as soon as we finish recording so you can listen to it right away we're still going to have at least one you show per week available on this free feed for you but if you're not on the patreon you're going to be missing out on a lot of the content we're going to be doing over the course of the season there's going to be a steady flow of patron exclusive episodes available just for subscribers on that feed so if you want to miss out on that and you want to catch all these shows we're doing please join us over there and become a patreon subscriber with a subscription you also get a discount code to the merge we've now got available for our listeners we've got the first edition of hats and t-shirts available for purchase on the online shop you can find more information and links for how to get some for yourself in the show notes here or pinned to the top of the patreon page a bunch of you have already picked up some merch for yourselves and it makes me very happy to see that I hope you enjoy it and I hope you rock it with pride help represent the PDO cast brand in full force and then more of you get in on the fun last note please also subscribe to the PDO cast YouTube channel that's a free option available for you we've already been posting the video for a good selection of the shows we've done this off season there we're going to keep doing more and more of that this season trying to get as many episodes as we can up there for you to watch it's something we didn't really do that much of in the past and I really want to grow that channel this season so each of your likes and comments and subscriptions helps build that up along the way and is greatly appreciated okay that's all I've got for you today we'll be back soon with plenty more thank you for subscribing and for listening to the hockey PDO cast [Music] [Music] [Music]