Our Kids Play Hockey

🏒 What happens when a player’s belief is strong enough to take him all the way to the NHL—but his identity becomes so tied to hockey that he has to rediscover who he is when the game ends?
Former NHL player Kurtis Gabriel joins Lee Elias and Mike Bonelli for a powerful conversation about chasing impossible dreams, being overlooked, finding your role, handling pressure, and learning that hockey can be an incredible part of your life without becoming your entire sense of worth.
Kurtis wasn’t a highly touted prospect. He played AA hockey, considered hanging up his skates, was passed over in the NHL Draft, and still developed an unwavering conviction that he would eventually play in the NHL.
What followed was a remarkable journey built on work ethic, sacrifice, resilience, and what Kurtis describes as something even stronger than belief: knowing.
But reaching the NHL is only part of his story.
Kurtis opens up about how deeply his identity and self-worth became connected to being a hockey player, the struggles he faced after retiring earlier than expected, and why his journey inward has changed the way he now looks at hockey, parenting, coaching, success, and happiness.
🔥 In this episode, you’ll hear:
Why Kurtis believes young players should be allowed to dream as big as possible
How a AA player went from nearly quitting hockey to eventually reaching the NHL
Why parents shouldn’t have to manufacture motivation for their kids
The difference between supporting a player’s passion and making hockey their identity
Why your child needs home to remain a safe landing place after difficult games
How parents can model the behaviors and values they want their children to develop
Why process, presence, and self-awareness can matter more than obsessing over outcomes
How meditation and recognizing emotions can help athletes respond to mistakes and pressure
Why Kurtis believes happiness and fulfillment cannot ultimately come from hockey—or anything outside yourself
What he learned from reconnecting with former NHL opponents through The Fight Plan Podcast
One of the biggest reminders from this conversation is one we return to often on Our Kids Play Hockey:
The return on youth hockey isn’t a scholarship, a roster spot, or even the NHL. It’s the person your child becomes through the experience.
Let them dream.
Let them work.
Let them stumble.
And when they come home from the rink, make sure they know that their performance never determines their value to you.
🎧 Listen now for an honest, vulnerable conversation every hockey parent, player, and coach should hear.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Your Child Is More Than a Hockey Player: What Kurtis Gabriel’s NHL Journey Can Teach Hockey Families
And be sure to follow Kurtis Gabriel and check out The Fight Plan Podcast, where he continues exploring the fights athletes face on the ice—and the much bigger fights all of us face in life.
#OurKidsPlayHockey #KurtisGabriel #YouthHockey #HockeyParents #HockeyDevelopment #HockeyMindset #MentalPerformance #AthleteIdentity #YouthSports #HockeyLife #NHL #SportsParenting
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Hockey IQ: Scanning the ice, recognizing pressure, anticipating what happens next, making the right decision faster. Research shows these perceptual and decision-making skills can actually be trained. With NHL Sense Arena, kids can get extra game-like reps at home, working on hockey IQ, reactions, real stick-handling for skaters, while goalies can train reads and tracking. Save $25 on an annual plan with code OKPH at http://hockey.sensearena.com/okph
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🏒 What if confidence isn’t something a coach, parent, teammate, or scoreboard can give you—or take away from you?
Olympic gold medalist and Walter Cup champion Hayley Scamurra joins the conversation for a powerful look at one of the most important—and misunderstood—parts of being an athlete: building confidence from within.
Even at the highest levels of hockey, doubt doesn’t disappear. Hayley opens up about seeking approval from coaches and parents as a young player, struggling with public speaking, learning to trust her own assessment of her game, and discovering that confidence isn’t about never making mistakes. In many ways, it’s built because of them. 
The conversation also explores the experience of girls in hockey, including the pressure many young female athletes feel to be perfect, follow every instruction exactly, and avoid mistakes. Hayley explains why giving girls permission to experiment, create, fail, and learn can be critical to developing both confidence and long-term success.
🔥 In this episode:
 Why external validation can make confidence fragile 
 How athletes can reset after a bad play or mistake 
 The power of asking, “Are you proud of yourself?”
 Why coaches and parents should help athletes evaluate their own performance 
 How mistakes can become evidence that an athlete is growing 
 Why girls may feel extra pressure to be perfect 
 How coaches can create environments where young female players feel safe being creative 
 Why comparing your everyday game to someone else’s social-media highlights can destroy confidence 
 How even Olympic champions still whiff pucks, get nervous, and have imperfect practices 
 Why real confidence is less about praise and more about learning: “I can figure this out.”
For parents and coaches, this episode is an important reminder: our job isn’t to manufacture confidence for young athletes. It’s to create the conditions where they can discover it for themselves.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: How Girls Hockey Players Can Build Real Confidence: Lessons From Hayley Scamurra
🎧 Listen, share this episode with a hockey parent, coach, or young player who needs the reminder, and subscribe to Our Girls Play Hockey for more conversations supporting girls at every stage of the game.
#OurGirlsPlayHockey #GirlsHockey #WomensHockey #HayleyScamurra #HockeyConfidence #YouthHockey #FemaleAthletes #HockeyParents #HockeyCoaches #MentalPerformance #AthleteMindset #GirlsInSports
Click To Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!
Hockey IQ: Scanning the ice, recognizing pressure, anticipating what happens next, making the right decision faster. Research shows these perceptual and decision-making skills can actually be trained. With NHL Sense Arena, kids can get extra game-like reps at home, working on hockey IQ, reactions, real stick-handling for skaters, while goalies can train reads and tracking. Save $25 on an annual plan with code OKPH at http://hockey.sensearena.com/okph
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🏒 Do you know what your skates are telling you when something just doesn’t feel right on the ice?
Your stick gets a lot of attention. Your gloves are fun to pick out. But when it comes to actually moving, stopping, turning, and competing on the ice, everything starts with your skates.
On this episode of The Ride To The Rink, Lee Elias and Christie Casciano Burns are joined by Russ Layton, founder and CEO of Sparx Hockey, for a quick, practical lesson every young hockey player should hear: how to understand and take better care of your skate blades.
Russ explains why players—not just their parents—need to recognize when an edge feels wrong and speak up after a practice or game. He also walks through his complete pre- and post-skate care routine, from drying skates and removing footbeds to protecting blades with soakers and checking edges before heading back onto the ice. 
You’ll also get a crash course on skate hollow and why the amount of grip or glide you feel can change depending on your sharpening setup.
🔥 In this ride, young players will learn:
 🏒 How to recognize when a skate edge may be damaged or dull 
 🗣️ Why telling your parents how your skates feel is part of being responsible for your equipment 
 💧 Why completely drying your skates after every session matters 
 🛡️ How skate soakers help protect your blades around the locker room 
 ⚙️ What a skate sharpening “hollow” actually means 
 💨 The difference between more grip and more glide 
 📈 Why understanding your skates can improve consistency and confidence 
 📱 How Sparx Hockey’s Hollow Finder can help players explore sharpening options 
The biggest takeaway? Your edges are the foundation of your skating. If you can’t trust them when you turn, stop, accelerate, or change direction, the rest of your equipment can only do so much.
Spend a little time learning how your blades work, take care of them, and start becoming an active participant in your own hockey equipment decisions.
And wherever you are on your hockey journey, remember: we believe in you. You should too.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Why Every Young Hockey Player Should Understand Skate Sharpening
#YouthHockey #HockeySkates #SkateSharpening #HockeyTips #HockeyPlayers #SparxHockey #HockeyEquipment #HockeyDevelopment #SkatingSkills #TheRideToTheRink
Click To Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!
Hockey IQ: Scanning the ice, recognizing pressure, anticipating what happens next, making the right decision faster. Research shows these perceptual and decision-making skills can actually be trained. With NHL Sense Arena, kids can get extra game-like reps at home, working on hockey IQ, reactions, real stick-handling for skaters, while goalies can train reads and tracking. Save $25 on an annual plan with code OKPH at http://hockey.sensearena.com/okph
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🏒 Your player knows their stick flex, curve, and favorite tape job—but do they know what’s happening underneath their skates?
Skate sharpening may be one of the most overlooked parts of youth hockey, yet the condition of a player’s edges can directly affect their confidence, turning, stopping, acceleration, and overall feel on the ice.
In this episode of Our Kids Play Hockey, Lee Elias, Mike Bonelli, and Christie Casciano-Burns welcome Russ Layton, Founder & CEO of Sparx Hockey, for a deep dive into everything hockey families need to understand about skate sharpening. 
And one of the biggest lessons might surprise you: there is no magic number of hours between sharpenings.
Russ explains why an edge can be lost before a player even touches the ice, how parents can recognize a damaged edge, what “hollow” actually means, and why consistency matters much more than simply waiting until skates “feel dull.”
🔥 In this episode, you’ll learn:
 🏒 Why skate edges usually don’t gradually dull the way many parents think 
 🔍 How to perform the simple “fingernail test” on a skate blade 
 ⚙️ What skate hollow means and how it affects grip vs. glide
 📏 Why 1/2" may be a starting point—but not necessarily the perfect hollow for every player 
 🚀 How flatter hollows can reduce resistance while deeper hollows create more bite 
 🧠 Why younger players may not recognize when they’ve lost an edge 
 🔄 How removable steel has changed tournament preparation 
 🧳 Why carrying multiple sharpened sets of steel can save a hockey weekend 
 🥅 How player preference, skating style, position, strength, and body size can affect sharpening choices 
 ❄️ How ice conditions can change how a player's edges feel 
 🧼 Why drying blades, removing footbeds, and properly storing skates matters 
 💡 Why reliable, consistent edges should come before expensive equipment upgrades 
 🏠 How at-home skate sharpening can change convenience and consistency for hockey families 
Perhaps most importantly, Russ and the crew remind parents that skate sharpening isn’t a shortcut to becoming a better player. Kids still have to learn how to skate. But giving them dependable edges provides the foundation they need to actually use the skills they’re developing.
Whether your child is just learning to skate, traveling every weekend for tournaments, playing goalie, or beginning to experiment with different hollows and steel, this conversation will help your family make much more informed decisions about one of hockey’s most important pieces of equipment.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Are Your Kid’s Skates Holding Them Back? What Hockey Families Need to Know About Skate Sharpening
🎧 Listen now, check those edges, and make sure your player isn't stepping onto the ice with their most important performance tool working against them.
Have a hockey question for the crew? Reach out to Our Kids Play Hockey and keep the conversation going.
#OurKidsPlayHockey #YouthHockey #HockeyParents #SkateSharpening #SparxHockey #HockeySkates #HockeyEquipment #HockeyTips #YouthHockeyParents #HockeyDevelopment
Click To Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!
Hockey IQ: Scanning the ice, recognizing pressure, anticipating what happens next, making the right decision faster. Research shows these perceptual and decision-making skills can actually be trained. With NHL Sense Arena, kids can get extra game-like reps at home, working on hockey IQ, reactions, real stick-handling for skaters, while goalies can train reads and tracking. Save $25 on an annual plan with code OKPH at http://hockey.sensearena.com/okph
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🏒 What if one of the best things a young hockey player can do for her game is… step away from it?
In a sport where players constantly hear messages about working harder, training more, and never taking a day off, knowing when to rest, reset, and simply be a kid can feel almost counterintuitive.
In this episode of Our Girls Play Hockey, Lee Elias, Mike Bonelli, and Olympic gold medalist and Walter Cup champion Hayley Scamurra explore the best things they’ve done away from the rink—and why those experiences may have helped them just as much as another practice ever could.
Hayley shares memories of summers at the lake, playing soccer and tennis, spending time with family, puzzling, hiking, and learning throughout her career that it really is okay to rest. She also explains how she now balances elite-level offseason training with travel, relationships, recovery, and the flexibility required when life changes the plan.
And yes… there’s also a middle-school dance story involving hockey practice and hands that still smelled like hockey gloves. 😅
✨ In this episode, we discuss:
🧠 Why mentally disconnecting from hockey can actually help athletes come back more motivated
🏒 The difference between taking a random day off and intentionally planning recovery
🌊 How some of Hayley’s favorite childhood memories had nothing to do with hockey
⚽ Why other sports, hobbies, friendships, and free play matter for young athletes
📅 How elite athletes build routines without becoming prisoners of their schedules
🔄 Why adaptability is a critical skill when training plans change
💪 How strong habits allow athletes to take a break without fearing they’ll “lose everything”
👨‍👩‍👧 Why parents should think carefully before turning every free moment into another development opportunity
🌳 The importance of letting kids play outside simply because it’s fun
❤️ Why who you are away from hockey matters more than any trophy, title, or stat
One of the biggest messages from Hayley is one every young player should hear:
Not everything you do has to make you better at your sport. Sometimes you should do something simply because you enjoy it.
For hockey parents, this episode is an important reminder that development isn’t just about accumulating ice time. Your daughter is developing when she makes friends, learns another sport, spends time outside, reads a book, explores a hobby, rests her body, or discovers something she loves that has absolutely nothing to do with hockey.
And sometimes stepping away is exactly what allows a player to realize just how much she misses the game.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Why Time Away From Hockey Can Help Girls Become Better Athletes—and Happier People
🎧 Listen together with your player and ask this question afterward: What’s something you love doing that has nothing to do with hockey?
Because great hockey players need recovery—but great people also need room to discover who they are beyond the rink.
#OurGirlsPlayHockey #GirlsHockey #WomensHockey #YouthHockey #HockeyParents #HockeyDevelopment #AthleteRecovery #YouthSports #HockeyMindset #HayleyScamurra
Click To Text The Our Kids Play Hockey Team!
Hockey IQ: Scanning the ice, recognizing pressure, anticipating what happens next, making the right decision faster. Research shows these perceptual and decision-making skills can actually be trained. With NHL Sense Arena, kids can get extra game-like reps at home, working on hockey IQ, reactions, real stick-handling for skaters, while goalies can train reads and tracking. Save $25 on an annual plan with code OKPH at http://hockey.sensearena.com/okph
Have A Topic You Want Us To Cover? Let us know!

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