Our Kids Play Hockey | Hockey Stories & Teamwork Tips

🏒 Are you coaching the players on your bench—or shouting instructions at the players already flying around the ice?
There’s a big difference.
In this episode of Our Kids Play Hockey, Lee Elias and Mike Bonelli tackle one of the most common habits they see in youth hockey: coaches trying to control every decision from the bench.
After more than 50 years of combined coaching experience, Lee and Mike admit they’ve both evolved. The younger versions of themselves yelled more, talked more, and believed they could influence every play as it happened.
Today, they see the bench very differently.
The game is where players apply what they’ve learned. The real teaching happens through practices, preparation, video, repetition, and conversations before and after the action.
🎧 In this episode:
🏒 Why shouting constant play-by-play instructions isn’t really coaching
🧠 Why players—especially younger players—struggle to process tactical information during a shift
📋 How to enter every game with just a few clear points of emphasis
🍩 Why simple code words like “donuts,” “butter,” and “go hunting” can communicate more than a long speech
📝 How Lee and Mike use notes, lineup sheets, and game observations to improve future practices
🔄 Why good bench management includes line rotation, fair ice time, substitutions, and situational awareness
👥 How head coaches can better utilize assistant coaches
⏱️ What to say between periods when you only have a few seconds
😤 Why a coach’s emotional state can quickly become the team’s emotional state
📣 Why parents coaching from the stands can make things harder—not easier
🎯 How the definition of success should change depending on the age and developmental level
❤️ Why youth hockey coaching ultimately includes teaching character, empathy, and life lessons
One of the biggest takeaways?
In-game bench management may be the least effective time to teach hockey.
Save the detailed teaching for practice. Save it for video. Save it for the locker room.
On the bench, manage the environment. Communicate simply. Keep players engaged. Control your emotions. Help them compete.
And then let them play.
For coaches trying to become more effective—and parents wondering what good bench coaching should actually look like—this is a conversation worth hearing.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: How to Coach a Youth Hockey Bench Without Overcoaching the Game
#OurKidsPlayHockey #YouthHockey #HockeyCoaching #YouthHockeyCoach #BenchManagement #HockeyDevelopment #HockeyParents #CoachDevelopment #HockeyPractice #PlayerDevelopment #PositiveCoaching

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🏒 What do you do when you don’t get along with a teammate? How do you make friends on a new team? And what separates a good captain from a truly great leader?
Olympic gold medalist and PWHL forward Hayley Scamurra is back for Part 2 of our Our Girls Play Hockey Q&A, answering real questions from young players about some of the hardest—and most relatable—parts of being an athlete.
From navigating difficult teammates and coaches to joining a new locker room, managing pre-game nerves, and learning what elite leadership actually looks like, Hayley shares lessons built from youth hockey, Team USA, the Olympics, and the professional game.
She also takes us inside what makes leaders like Hilary Knight and Marie-Philip Poulin so impactful—not just because of what they do in big moments, but because of how they show up for teammates when nobody is watching.
🎧 In this episode:
🤝 How to handle teammates you don’t naturally connect with
⚡ Why protecting your energy matters in a team environment
👋 How shy players can make friends on a new hockey team
🏒 Why small locker-room conversations can build big connections
⭐ What Hayley looks for in a great captain and leader
🇺🇸 What Hilary Knight’s intensity brought to Team USA’s gold-medal run
🍁 How Marie-Philip Poulin leads through consistency, sacrifice, and genuine care
🧠 How elite athletes separate nervous thoughts from real confidence
🥇 Why Hayley believed she would make Team USA—and win Olympic gold
🌎 Her favorite memories from competing at the Olympics
🥦 And, in perhaps the most important question of all… does Hayley eat her vegetables?
One of the biggest messages in this episode is simple: you do not have to be best friends with everyone on your team to be a great teammate.
Find your people. Make an effort. Be respectful. Support the players beside you. And remember that the way you respond to difficult situations is one of the few things you can always control.
For every girl navigating a new team, dealing with locker-room dynamics, learning to lead, or wondering whether nerves mean she isn’t ready—this episode is for you.
Keep showing up, keep connecting, and keep believing that you belong in the room.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Finding Your People, Leading with Confidence, and Handling Pressure in Hockey
#OurGirlsPlayHockey #HayleyScamurra #GirlsHockey #WomensHockey #YouthHockey #HockeyLeadership #TeamUSA #HilaryKnight #MariePhilipPoulin #PWHL #HockeyConfidence #HockeyTeamwork #OlympicHockey

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🥅 What separates great hockey players and goalies from everyone else? According to former NHL goalie coach and current NCAA Division I goalie coach Steve Briere, it starts long before the puck drops—with preparation, confidence, repetition, and the ability to move on from mistakes.
In this episode of The Ride to The Rink, Steve joins Lee Elias and Mike Bonelli to share lessons young hockey players can use right now, whether they play between the pipes or anywhere else on the ice.
Steve explains why having a plan for every practice can accelerate development, how small competitions can make training more fun, and why elite athletes develop a deep belief in their own abilities.
🔥 In this episode, young players will learn:
Why “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”
How to create a simple plan before practices and games
Easy ways to improve reflexes, footwork, flexibility, and hand-eye coordination
Why making practice competitive can improve both your game and your teammates
How repetition creates real, lasting confidence
Why confidence and arrogance are not the same thing
How one mistake can become several if emotions take control
Why learning to reset after a missed shot or bad goal is such an important hockey skill
How gratitude can help players appreciate every opportunity to step on the ice
Steve also shares the advice he wishes he could give his 12-year-old self: learn how to separate your emotions from your performance. A missed opportunity, bad goal, or tough shift does not have to determine what happens next.
And through it all, Steve reminds young players that the love of the game matters. Prepare with purpose. Compete hard. Believe in yourself. And don’t forget to enjoy the ride.
🎧 Listen now and take one lesson from Steve into your next practice or game.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime?Check out our companion blog: Prepare, Believe, Reset: Steve Briere’s Lessons for Young Hockey Players
For more information about Steve Briere’s goalie training programs, mentorship opportunities, and Path to the Crease nonprofit, check the resources linked in the episode show notes.
Wherever you are on your hockey journey, keep putting in the work—and keep believing you belong on the ice.
#YouthHockey #HockeyGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyConfidence #HockeyMindset #MentalPerformance #YouthSports #HockeyDevelopment #GoalieDevelopment #TheRideToTheRink #OurKidsPlayHockey #SteveBriere
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🥅 What does an NHL goalie coach see that youth goalies, parents, and coaches often miss?
According to longtime NHL goalie coach Steve Briere, the answer isn’t just better technique, more private lessons, or perfect positioning.
It starts with focus. Athleticism. Joy. Compete. Ownership. And a genuine desire to stop the puck.
In this episode of Our Kids Play Goalie, Lee Elias and Mike Bonelli sit down with Briere, whose coaching career includes seven seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, three with the Seattle Kraken, and his current role with the Wisconsin Badgers. After working with goaltenders at the highest levels of the game, Steve shares what truly separates developing goalies — and why some of the most important lessons have little to do with butterfly technique.
🔥 Inside this episode:
🥅 Why “just stop the puck” is more meaningful than it sounds — and how technical perfection can sometimes get in the way of the actual job.
🧠 Why focus, athleticism, passion, and having fun are some of the first qualities Steve notices in a young goalie.
💪 How the meaning of “fun” evolves as players get older — from simply enjoying the crease to loving competition, improvement, and the work itself.
🚗 Why some of the most valuable hockey lessons happen during conversations between parents and kids — and why those conversations should often be about life, not X’s and O’s.
🌱 Why parents can cultivate a young athlete’s drive, but they cannot create it for them.
💡 How innovation, technology, video, vision training, and tools like NHL Sense Arena can help goalies find new ways to improve — without replacing the need for athletes to think for themselves.
🏒 Why goalie development must become increasingly player-driven: instead of constantly being told what to work on, young goalies eventually need to ask, “How can I get better?”
🤝 Why coaches who begin with “I don’t know anything about goalies” may unintentionally isolate one of the most important players on their team.
⚡ How coaches can design practices that respect goalie workload, recovery, development, and the enormous number of reps goaltenders receive compared with skaters.
❤️ And why love, belonging, friendships, leadership, and community matter all the way from youth hockey to the NHL.
One of Steve’s biggest reminders applies far beyond the crease: young athletes are going to be people much longer than they are going to be hockey players.
Develop the goalie. Develop the competitor. But most importantly, help develop the person underneath the mask.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: What NHL Goalie Coaches See That Youth Hockey Often Misses
🎧 Whether you're raising a goalie, coaching one, playing the position yourself, or simply want to better understand the most unique position in hockey, this conversation belongs in your hockey education.
Listen, share it with your goalie community, and keep helping young athletes fall in love with the process of getting better.
#OurKidsPlayGoalie #GoalieDevelopment #YouthHockey #HockeyGoalie #GoalieTraining #GoalieParents #GoalieCoach #HockeyParents #HockeyCoaching #YouthGoalie #Goaltending #WisconsinHockey #NHLGoalieCoach #HockeyDevelopment #HockeyLife
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🧠🏒 Scanning the ice is important—but seeing what’s around you is only the beginning. The real hockey IQ comes from understanding what those cues are telling you.
On this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey IQ Talk with Albe, Lee Elias is joined by former NHL defenseman and NHL Sense Arena team member Andrew “Albe” Alberts to break down one of the biggest separators in player development: identifying cues.
A defender hesitates.
A teammate changes direction.
A passing lane opens.
Pressure arrives from one side.
A stick blade turns.
Those little details can completely change what the right play is—and great players learn how to recognize and process them in fractions of a second.
Albe explains what players should be looking for before they receive the puck, once they have it, and even when they’re playing without it.
🏒 In this episode, you’ll learn:
What “identifying cues” actually means in hockey
Why time, space, pressure, and support are foundational reads
How shoulder checks and pre-scanning help players prepare before the puck arrives
Why stick position, body position, speed, and direction all provide useful information
How younger players can begin developing hockey awareness
Why mistakes are essential to building hockey IQ
Why coaches should create drills that force players to make decisions
Why constantly yelling “pass,” “shoot,” or “move it” can actually limit development
How players without the puck still have important reads and responsibilities
How NHL Sense Arena’s multi-object tracking drill can help train anticipation and recognition
One of Albe’s most important reminders for coaches:
Every time you give a player the answer, you take away a decision they could have learned to make themselves.
That means development requires patience.
Players need opportunities to look, read, choose, fail, adjust, and try again.
🎧 Listen now for an inside look at how NHL players process the game—and how young athletes can begin building those same habits one decision at a time.
#OurKidsPlayHockey #HockeyIQ #YouthHockey #HockeyDevelopment #HockeyCoaching #AndrewAlberts #HockeyAwareness #HockeySkills #DecisionMaking #YouthAthletes #NHLSenseArena #HockeyTraining
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