Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan
Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan
EP. 157 - Jeremy Mylymok from CDA - His Secret Formula: Character, Leadership, and Personal Growth
Jeremy Mylymok, former pro hockey player and current director of hockey at Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy, shares his remarkable journey from a California skateboarder to Notre Dame Hounds student to professional hockey champion, revealing how character development and consistent effort create pathways to success in hockey and life.
• Character is defined as "how you behave when nobody's watching"
• Consistent effort in practice, weight room, and off-hours separates successful players from others
• Honest feedback from coaches is crucial for development even when difficult to hear
• Mental toughness is often the most overlooked but important component of player development
• The journey from Notre Dame Hounds to University of Alaska Anchorage to professional hockey
• Winning championships with the Chicago Wolves after starting as an unlikely prospect
• Building Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy with a focus on developing the right players, not just the best
• Comprehensive facilities with on-site training, academics, and development create the ideal environment
• The importance of self-motivated players who utilize available resources during free time
• Finding coaches and programs that understand your child as both a player and person
If you're considering where your player might continue their development, Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy offers exceptional facilities, dedicated coaching staff, and a proven approach to player development in a beautiful setting with spots available for the upcoming season.
I think every kid should aspire to be that leader. It doesn't mean you have to let her, but I think if you're consistent in your approach and I define character as how you behave and nobody's watching and if you're the same kid, sooner or later you're going to get noticed for it. I remember kids at ND that you know when the strength coach is in the weight room they're putting in the work, they're going to work hard. But it's the kids I noticed that would show up before school or after school late, stay late. They're there consistently. After all, I'm like, hey, kid, keep putting in the work, you're gonna, you're gonna close some gaps here, you're gonna, you're gonna push through and you're gonna pass some kids by. So there's lots of different areas. As a hockey player, uh, you need to have be a 10 out of 10. And I think the last piece we all talk about, unfortunately, which is probably the most important, is the mental side that was former pro and current director of hockey at Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy.
Speaker 2:Jeremy Milmock and you are listening to the Up my Hockey podcast with Jason Padolan. Welcome to Up my Hockey with Jason Padolan, where we deconstruct the NHL journey, discuss what it takes to make it and have a few laughs along the way. I'm your host, jason Padolan, a 31st overall draft pick who played 41 NHL games but thought he was destined for 1,000. Learn from my story and those of my guests. This is a hockey podcast about reaching your potential. Hey there everyone. It's Jason Padola and welcome back to the show, or welcome to the show if this happens to be your first time listening. We're happy to have you and today you're in for a good one. We got Jeremy Milmock on. He's the director of hockey for the Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy down in Coeur d'Alene, idaho, picturesque tourist town that it is. We are going to be chatting all things hockey, all things development. His journey, his own personal journey, is super cool and really aligns with everything that I do here at Up my Hockey as far as being a part of a process, as far as committing to your own personal development and seeing where it can take you, and Jeremy had a really awesome career through the academy system himself as far as being a Notre Dame hound coming out of California which is one of my favorite parts of the interview when he shares that story of him arriving in Wilcox, saskatchewan, from California and then continuing on to Fairbanks, alaska, where he earned a scholarship and then becoming a pro, and then his journey becoming full circle, going back to Notre Dame where he was the hockey director there for eight years, I believe, and then continued on to Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy where, ironically, he played a lot of time in pro with the Steelheads. So a really cool journey. He has boys that are pros themselves, that are playing hockey in the minor league system right now and went through the NCAA route. And yeah, it's an awesome conversation.
Speaker 2:But before we get into the conversation, just a quick ask again, which I've been doing here in the last few episodes is to please press download on this episode? We are trying to figure out actually, how many people are listening to the program and, and, if this makes a difference, asking you to download. I know that I'm personally a streamer of downloads and I've learned that one of the best ways to support the, the podcast that you listen to is to download it. For some reason, that is the data metric that seems to trump all is the downloads metric. So please press download, take a second here just to download it. You're welcome to delete it as soon as you download it, but it is a cool thing.
Speaker 2:If you do subscribe to a podcast, just say download all episodes. They don't take up much room on your phone and you can get rid of them whenever you want. Uh, I will be sharing, uh, the results of that here in the next week or so to see if there is an uptick. It seems like it is creeping up a little bit, although not quite as dramatically as I thought, so potentially people aren't listening to my request. It would be great if you did. Uh, so please do that and we'll see if we can find out where the numbers are truly at. So yeah, so, without further ado, well, I guess I should say that this is a special episode for me, because Jeremy was somebody that I was doing research about, and I was doing research about the Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy, because I was considering about where to send particularly Hudson and the rest of my boys next year.
Speaker 2:We were considering a move and wondering where a cool move would be and where it would be a great place to continue their development. And so I was doing some research on Coeur d'Alene. I knew about the town from playing in Spokane, washington, with the Chiefs for years. I'd always been a fan of Coeur d'Alene, didn't know much about what they were doing down there as far as their facilities and such and who was the coaches and all that. So I was doing my work as a hockey dad and turned out that they ended up they could use someone like me down there and ended up being part of the discussion. So myself and my wife and the boys, we're all going to be going down to Coeur d'Alene for the upcoming hockey season and we're really excited to be a part of that. I'm going to be the u18 uh prep coach there, I said, or I should say co-coach, along with jeremy. Jeremy is also the director of hockey there, so he will be bouncing around between the teams, but we will co-lead the u18 prep team there in the csshl uh u18 prep division. So I'm really excited about that opportunity. And uh and my boys will be playing on the various teams that they're uh, that they're chosen for. So I'm excited about going down there. I'm excited about sharing what cordelaine's all about.
Speaker 2:It really, it really truly is an amazing place to play hockey simply can't say anything else other than that the facilities are fantastic. Uh, everything is right on site. It's got a very campus feel. The town is amazing. The access for the players to the gym and to the ice and all the things that are allowing you to become better is right there at their fingertips. The school system, the academics are so taken care of and they have a great on-site teacher system there, so I couldn't be happier about what they have there. I really do think that it's one of these gems that people just need to find out about.
Speaker 2:And, my goodness, there's going to be a lineup out the door, I'm telling you. So, yeah, I mean, if you are somebody actually at this point, if you are considering, hey, what do I do with my U15 or my U17 or my U18 player? We're not sure what to do next year. Where can they get better? Where's a good spot that we know they're going to be safe and well taken care of, with good access to development and coaching and academics? By all means, coeur d'Alene is a place that you should be calling Again. I will be coaching the U18 prep team.
Speaker 2:If there's anyone out there that is undecided, in that, we do have a couple spots left for the right players. We're holding spots for the right players, uh, to to give the team the best chance of success. So if that's something you're interested, by all means check it out. My youngest tj uh, who is stepping into u15, will be playing on their u15 csshl team. This year they'll have a triple team, a varsity team at the CSSHL level, and I know that they're recruiting for that right now. So there's another option there. For sure that if you are interested in playing in the CSSHL, from wherever you are, there is going to be a really good opportunity and some awesome players to build around with that program too. So thanks for being here. Thanks for listening. Jeremy is a heck of a guy. I know you're going to enjoy our conversation, so, without further ado, I bring you Jeremy Milmock, all right? Well, here we are.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the podcast, Jeremy Milmock. Thanks for having me Great to be here and excited to talk about what we've got going on in Coeur d'Alene.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it in Coeur d'Alene. I love it. I love it. You look like you're in the war room right now. Down there, is that where you're at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in the office here Busy at times Just had our tryouts a couple weeks ago and just finalizing the rosters for next season, so the excitement around here is at a new level and I think the players and families that were here to visit loved it. And it's great to get more people from different areas, locations to spread the word, because I think we have a special thing going on in Coeur d'Alene and, yeah, I can say I'm already excited for next season. We're sitting here. I just got to May, so, yeah, it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:That's cool. Yeah, I totally want to get into that and I was down there for that visit, as obviously you know, with being involved with the u18 team and having my boys come down there myself and and right outside those doors for anyone who's watching this on on youtube is like one of the coolest uh training facilities you will ever see in an academy setting. It looks like it belongs at a university level, uh, but uh, yeah, the, the head coach, their director of office and then freddie's freddie's in that room and the owner and then right outside is this amazing training facility that really captured my attention when I walked in there. So it's a fun place to be, but we'll definitely get to CDA.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about that and what we got going on there, but let's talk about you and your background first. It was funny when I looked up your elite prospects. It was cool to see that you ended up coming full circle yourself, like playing at Notre Dame as a player, then coming back there as a director and a head coach. Talk to me about your decision as a player to go to Notre Dame, which is one of the original kind of academy settings in Canada.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it was. For me, it was a decision based off of hockey and academics. I was moved to California. We were very young, I was playing hockey there and I loved to play baseball. I surfed, skateboarded, played field hockey I did everything in the outdoors my parents always believed in who knows what your passion is. Get involved as many things as possible and then you'll gravitate to one. As you get older and as I got to high school, a question was laid out to me baseball. As you get older and as I got to high school, a question was laid out to me baseball or hockey? I love baseball as well, but my passion was hockey. So my father told me listen, I got a spot for you.
Speaker 1:He was from Rockland Saskatchewan, grew up there, knew about the Notre Dame Hounds program and explained to me what they had to offer and what they were all about, and made the decision at a young age to go there with my brothers and went there, quickly, found out where I was as a hockey player and what I had to work on. But it was a life-changing experience for me, as a lot of these academies are not just for the hockey piece but as a kid to grow up a little bit, mature and learn how to do things on my own with time management skills and also take more pride in my academics, as I learned their academics at Spurs, and it just gave me an opportunity to be around guys like Robert, namur, curtis, joseph amongst you know, a ton of other players that moved on and I didn't go there for the reason to get somewhere or get to junior hockey or get to college. I just loved the game, I loved the atmosphere and I love the experience. And as I got there and learned the game and was coached, got the ice that I needed and had a chance to really watch the peers ahead of me and where they were at and how they lived their lives and how they worked out and how they just were humble and took care of their bodies throughout the course of the season, I started to learn from them. It kind of was organically what happened.
Speaker 1:Again, I didn't play AAA to grade 12, never made the top team there until my last season, but I still had fun, I enjoyed it, I just enjoyed the game. And then, as I got to those higher levels, junior teams started calling USHL Western League. Then I got on to junior hockey, then colleges started calling and but yeah, I didn't really seek out those things as a player. Nothing was mapped out for me. I just played the game because I loved it. And because I loved it, I worked hard at it and things started to happen for me just because of my play on the ice, my performance, and it just kept going from college to pro and just kind of advanced through my life where I just like the reason I played so long in the minors. I just love the game. I love what it gave to me as a person, the friendships I made and the experience I had through hockey and, as we all know, there's a lot of life lessons learned through hockey to help me become successful outside of the game itself in this role I'm in now. So, yeah, great experience.
Speaker 1:I had a chance to go back there. My kids were at a stage. I was in Florida, the Panthers hired me there to work, run their three-sheet facility, all their youth hockey, travel hockey program and all those things there. And then, as my kids got to high school, the same thing. I asked them, you know, do you want to play this game, do you love it? And it just happened the opportunity to go back to Notre Dame was in the cards and we took, took the opportunity, went back to Saskatchewan with my family and let my kids go through the same process.
Speaker 1:I went through and learn on their own and get coaching and have the facilities there to chase the game and, um, yeah, they got some guidance from me but overall it was uh, it was nice to see them kind of flourish on their own and grow that love of the game and the passion for it. And things that happened for me happened for them too. So great experience. My wife was a house parent there for nine years, so she took what she learned from that brought it to the academy here because she runs the program here in the dorm houses. So she does a fantastic job. And the chance for me to go through a program, have my kids go through, was pretty special and something that I won't forget and it's been a pretty cool process it's been. As you know, this game goes by quickly. The time we have with our kids to watch them play and travel with them and see them experience the same things that we went through you can't put a price tag on that, so it's been awesome.
Speaker 2:That's cool. So how old were you when you first stepped foot on the grounds of Wilcox, Saskatchewan?
Speaker 1:I was in ninth grade, so I was 14. I got there with my skateboarding.
Speaker 2:That's the youngest. You could be there, correct?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so back then it was grade nine. I think it's grade eight now, but I was going into grade nine. So I got there with my brother's skateboards in tow and I'm looking down the gravel road saying there's nowhere to skateboard in this town. We still get a kick out of some of the staff that's still there talking about the day we showed up there, the blonde-haired kids from California with their skateboards. So got there, I looked at the pamphlet. I looked at my dad. I said are we getting gas or where are we? He goes pamphlet. I looked at my dad. I said we're getting gas or where are we? He goes. No, we're here. I was like you're kidding me. He goes. No, we're coming from newport beach, california, to the prairies of saskatchewan. And uh, but I loved it. I mean it was uh, hold on hold on, hold on.
Speaker 2:you maybe loved it after, but like, let's talk about that because, like, I have that experience too. We went there same age actually, and I'll tell a story. Actually, tyler Tyler querying, who is a good buddy of mine, helping me coach right now Some of my spring stuff here in Vernon, avid listener of the podcast so him and I were like he was older than me, but every second year we got to play together and we had really fun chemistry. Tyler. Tyler was somebody that would come with us on road trips, often like for, for, for games, just because of the way his family environment was. He lived with his grandparents, et cetera, et cetera, and my dad really took him under his wing almost as another son and he was like Tyler. I think this might be a good fit for you and I thought that maybe I wanted to go to Notre Dame too at some point.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, I've been there and I've done that thing and I want to finish the Tyler story but talk to me about how long that adjustment took, and did you really want to turn around and leave when you first arrived or not? I mean it was. It was nerve wracking. You're moving away from home. It kind of hits you when you get dropped off of the dorm and you see your dad's taillights hit there, hit the main street heading back to California, and then you know you have some little anxious moments. I met some. They do a great job though. They get you as groups, together with your classmates, your dorm mates they have. They keep you active.
Speaker 1:Those first two weeks You're very busy keeping your mind off, being at home, getting to know the other staff, the other students. But yeah, I mean, if I sit here and tell you that I didn't want to go back home, I'd be lying to you. I mean, if I sit here and tell you that I didn't want to go back home, I'd be lying to you. I mean there's a few phone calls back to my mom saying hey, I don't know if I'm going to last here, if I can stay. She said well, you made a commitment, stick to it. You're not going anywhere. You talked about it all summer. You're excited to be there. Just give it some time. And obviously great advice because, uh, after you know that first month I called back and said, yeah, I'm going to be here for four years, so isn't that?
Speaker 2:wow, like I think, yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, because there's lessons in that right now and you know there's all types of, you know, young kids listen to this and parents listen to this, and older junior guys and and we've had that discussion before in different contexts whether you're a 16 year old leaving home for the first time for major junior, you know, or for a junior team, or whether you you do leave earlier for an academy environment, like that first time you leave, there is challenge, for sure. And when you throw Wilcox, saskatchewan, into the mix, after coming from Newport, uh Beach, california, like that's a massive, massive culture, yeah, um, but you got through it and now you're saying you're looking back and that's saying that's one of the most, in, you know, influential points of my entire life, for sure yeah.
Speaker 1:And if I had parents that said, yeah, come home. You know having it's a tough time. You know, instead of uh, facing adversity and working through it and I had the green light to go back home, I would have missed out on so many things in my life that have been hugely impactful for me and my family. So my message to families is always say there's going to be an adjustment. I don't sugarcoat it. When parents make the change or the decision to come here, so there's going to be an adjustment, they're going to get homesick. It's normal. It's not going to go through anything that the rest aren't going through. And it doesn't matter if you're grade nine or even where our kids, my kids left for you know USHL and North American League in grade 11 and 12. There it wasn't any easier for us as parents, 11 to go, but we knew we went through it and we preached to parents give it time, be patient with it. But even with your own kids it's never easy, whether it's grade 9 or going into college. So there's going to be an adjustment for both sides. But I just know that thankfully I got parents that were very supportive and level-headed, that didn't listen to me at that age and you know, our parents always know what's best and they know these things are going to happen. But at the same time, yeah, for me to go through that, the adversity, making new friends, you know, going through the trial process for the first time at Notre Dame, it was tough. I mean, they posted all the cuts on the varsity doors we go eat, so it wasn't like it was one-on-one conversations. There's a list put up and I kept looking down the list at the bottom every day to see where I was going to get cut to and end up playing the Dan and B team I think my first year. But once the team was made I had 20 new you know, 19 new friends, a new coach and a new experience and I loved it.
Speaker 1:And I just learned through my own experience that if you are in a situation where you're not getting what you need and you do move away from these academies if you put in the work and stay loyal to our program, I think there's going to be growth. I think the coaches will know exactly what you need to work on. They'll know you inside and out as a person, whether it's your work ethic, whether it's your weight room practice habits. You know, I had a situation in grade 10 where my coach was Dennis Homer God bless his soul here but his kids one's in San Jose now and one's in North Dakota. But in grade 10, he pulled me aside and said listen, millsy, he goes. You got talent, you're a kid that can move on in this game, but your work ethic and practices, your habits, are poor. He goes. You don't give the effort, you're always in the back of the line, you cut real short. He's like I'll tell you what he goes. I'm not going to get on with the rest of the season, but I'm going to say this, this to you right now, that if you keep doing what you're doing, when you hit grade 12 at Notre Dame, you graduate, your hockey career is done. He goes to make up your, make up your mind. If you want to play this game, buy in, and if you don't, he goes. Remember this graduation when I shake your hand and your career is going to be over. So that'd be pretty hard. I mean, it was the honest truth. I needed it.
Speaker 1:But I think, uh, in these academies and what we do here as well, in the private school, our teachers and coaches get to know these kids on a personal level. Some kids have all the pieces on the ice. They're missing things off the ice. That's where we can dig down. We see these kids every day. Our offices are right here in the field house, so we have a chance to have a positive impact on these kids and they say listen, hell of a player, but guess what your diamond does in the next level. So how do you separate from the rest of the pack? Is that your habits in the weight room? Is your practice habits? Is it your attitude? Are you a good teammate? So we can really help these kids in different areas than just the hockey piece and that's where I got a lot of value at Notre Dame was it wasn't just the hockey.
Speaker 1:I took more pride in academics. I learned how to study properly. My study habits got better. My grades went up. I prepared myself for university, so I get the opportunity came to go to college. I was prepared for it and when I got to university, school was actually easier than it was in high school because I had more time to get homework done. I understood time management and I understood accountability. The grades aren't there, you don't play.
Speaker 1:So yeah, we have all those things here and I think for parents that are making these decisions, find a place that you trust the people there. It's the biggest thing I think we're. The first barriers to entrance is the staff there. If you don't have a great staff, your kids won't have a great experience. That's one thing we've done here is we've really got a fantastic staff where you've met them. I love what we have here. I think kids that come are going to benefit. Maybe when you get here, you're not going to start where you want it to, but if you work hard and listen and take advantage of the opportunities here, you will end where you want it to be.
Speaker 2:So yeah, wow, I love that. Love that story, like the the story about the coach pulling you aside.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the truth, like it says. Like the truth, I mean, somebody can take that and be crushed by it, right? Or somebody can take that and use that as exactly what they need, which is the lesson right, and to make a new decision. And I just find that there's less and less people willing to have that honest discussion with players right now and I don't know if it's like the day and age, right, the environment, that people are less willing to hear it. But I think that's where the most value can come from a coach is someone who's willing to say what they honestly need to hear yeah, I mean it is crucial.
Speaker 1:Conversations got to be had, um, and I think players can look back. I mean to me I still remember the exact location at the rink was right outside the blue line, on the way bench, right in the face off dot. I still remember exactly where we that conversation was had. And it's a big impact on me and um, if you don't have those conversations, if you're just in a situation where kids are just coming in every year and leaving and jumping around um again, it's tough to have those impactful conversations. It's tough to get to know kids and what makes them tick, and I think kids need that.
Speaker 1:I always appreciate the honest feedback. I mean every player does something good or well, but let's focus on those weaknesses too and make those better and let's keep building on your strengths. But if you don't have honest conversations and you don't get the honest feedback, how do you know what to work on the young kids? I mean they could be a great player, but they're missing a piece of the game. The one thing you tell them might put them over the top, to separate from the pack, and I think that's our job as coaches and as mentors is not just to work on skills and systems and practices and games, but also have these one-on-one conversations and say, listen, here's where we're at. We've been here for a month now. This is what I see. This is your areas of focus moving forward. It could be your strength coach moving forward. It could be your strength coach, it could be your skills coach or goalie coach. It could be your head coach, or it could be another coach in the program that watches the game, that sees things.
Speaker 1:I see our coaches constantly pulling kids in and, you know, showing video clips, and it's not any other player. They just have an interest in the kids here. I want to see kids succeed. I want to see kids move on. I squeeze the most out of my career. I never thought I would play AAA hockey, let alone junior and college and pro and all these things and have a chance to win championships in pro hockey. I just played because I loved it, but now I can look back at the coaches that had impacts on me, things that I appreciated as a player. Your coach is there to mentor and to build you up and make you a better person, a better player. I think that's something that we take pride in.
Speaker 2:I love it Because we all have blind spots, and I know that I still do at 49, right, we're just wired that way. We can work as much as we want in our self-awareness, and that is something that I love working with players on their ability to self-evaluate their game where their holes are. But you're still. You need some direction, especially at the younger, the younger ages and uh yeah, and that's awesome.
Speaker 2:You guys are willing to have those those talks. Uh, I'll share a quick Huddy story with uh. Huddy doesn't listen to the podcast so I can talk about him. That's, that's my oldest boy, um, but it's good for parents and and just, and it goes on that line of uh and coaches. It goes on that line of, like truth, and it goes back to last year, which was his last year, Bantam. Right, second year Bantam, he wants to get drafted. He's in that, he's in the CSSHL. He's in U15 prep playing for rink and his teammates he's having success. Like he's playing well, uh, but his teammates are all getting. You know, even his own coach isn't really playing him a ton, right, he's getting around 14, 15 minutes a game and he's getting frustrated because he's working his tail off, but, um, but not necessarily working.
Speaker 2:Where you know, I was suggesting that he worked and uh, and we had a real heart to heart and he's like you know, like what's going on? Like, well, I, why, why, why am I going to get drafted? And this, that and the other. And I said, well, you know why you're not getting questionnaires? And he goes no, why? And I said because you can't skate like I just straight up, I said, cause you can't skate? I'm like you can't skate well enough to be assumed the WHO player at the next level. And I said I can help you with that right now if you want to put the work in. But that's what's stopping you. Nothing else, not your work ethic, not your compete, it's not your hockey IQ, it's your feet.
Speaker 2:And uh, anyways that that raw conversation turned into him working on that, like the skating stuff that I wanted him to work on off the ice it on the ice. And he just came back. Why it's so relevant for me. Like yesterday they did on ice skating again. Uh, today with their team, he was the fastest player on his team in the 10 meter sprint. He was top three in fastest lap. Like he was top three in everything that they did there yesterday. Like so for anyone out there like I, just I love that story just from what I do as well. Right, it's like you can be responsible for your own development and if you're somebody that doesn't have great hands, there is a way to get better hands.
Speaker 2:If you're willing to put the work in. There's a way to be a better skater, but you have to be curious, you have to be dedicated and you have to have someone around you that's going to support you in that. And and I just freaking love it, like I love that that he's getting that feedback, that you know what the work pays off. And it sounds like you got that exact feedback too, because if you walk into notre dame as a b player, you leave as a pro player, like you know, like talked about that I mean because you obviously weren't you given first PP minutes the minute you walked through the door, like what was your own school development process.
Speaker 1:Like it was. Uh, I got to a point where getting there and getting I wasn't too worried about what. I was happy. I made a team. You know, I got there and made a team. I got to throw the jersey on. I got to play in a rink that had glass and boards and that carpet and nets like we had in California. Um, I got to play in a rink that had glass and boards and that carpet and nets like we had in California. I got to get in a bus with a team and travel. So I mean those are all first-time experiences for me and that was enough to get me through that first year.
Speaker 1:I made some really good friends. I think my coach was Darren Olson. He was a football coach. Actually we had so many kids at school there. They grabbed a football coach and said, oli, you're going to coach the hockey team. And I always bug Oli. To this day I see him in Calgary. He said if I had a good coach my first year I could have been something. He always laughs, but I just love the experience.
Speaker 1:But as I got there I started to see you know the Rob Brandon Morris, dwayne Norris, jason Erd or Curtis Joseph, and I see these guys practice. I see them watch and play games games and I was a student of the game. I just loved to watch the game. I was a hockey nerd and I would see things they would do in practice and I would emulate that in my practices and I would work on things until I could do it in practice so that I'd break to my games, apply it in games at work. I started to slowly climb the ladder and I think the next piece was the weight room learning how to use the weight room, getting stronger, taking pride in that portion of it and just really watching my peer group and seeing where I was. I was always in my mind like, okay, I'm as good as that kid. He's playing ahead of me right now, but I'm right there now. I'm going to catch him next year Then go back to trials. I think my second year I was the last cut from the band of AAA team. My second year and then the next year I made midget AA. It was in the mix with AAA and then double a was in the mixture, triple a. Then my senior year I finally caught everybody and got to that triple a level and it's really good team that went to the uh eric canada cup, which is the telescope today. So in my mind I'm like, all right, I'm where I need to be in grade 12. Um, from where I was in grade nine, I've made some serious leaps and bounds. So now what do I gotta do next?
Speaker 1:And skating was an area for me power skating, edge, where, where I'd become a better skater, keep working on the puck skills. So my parents were very supportive. I did skating camps. There wasn't the individual skills coaches that you have nowadays everywhere. You had to go to different places, different markets in Canada or California to travel, to get the coaching you needed. Again, supportive parents that were willing to drive me around the state of california, send me to canada for these camps and clinics and ice times to get better.
Speaker 1:So for me it was just. It was just seeing where I was mentally in my own mind, where I thought I could get to, and then skating with guys in the summer that were playing division one or playing western league, and then in my mind, comparing notes, like, all right, I'm as good as this guy, he's playing here, why can't I get there? And that really fueled me to keep working. I was a late bloomer and I knew I had work to do. I wasn't frustrated by it. In grade 12, the USHL Rochester Mustang team drafted me and then I had the opportunity to play there and then I was in the FGHL the next year and then college started calling and then I went from there. So for me it was a process.
Speaker 1:I embraced the grind. I didn't mind having to work. My mindset was always someone out there is going to work harder than me. So my off-ice workouts, my sprints, my footwork, stuff was consistent through my summers. I didn't take days off and I really enjoyed that grind. I loved the hard work.
Speaker 1:I don't anymore in the way you're on the ice, but you know, when I was a younger player I just, I guess fear of failure drove me. I didn't want to let. It wasn't my parents. There was no pressure from my parents to make it or get there. Hey, we're spending this money, you better get this scholarship. It was always like hey, you have fun? The only thing my dad asked me as a youth hockey player was hey, did you have fun today? The only time I got in crap was if I didn't work hard. That was it. The rest was just enjoy it, foster that love of the game and there's no pressure from home to get to a certain level or be a certain player. It came from me and I think that's why I passed on to my kids. Yeah, I can't do it for you Like, here's your route, here's your pathway, here's what I think you need to do. You can buy in or not, but I'm not going to hold hands and force you to do something. You got to have a passion for the game and you have to love it.
Speaker 1:I think the number one reason players have success at any level is as they enjoy it. They love doing it, and when you love something, you're not going to want to let yourself down. You're going to want to put on the work in the weight room, you're going to want to put on the work on the ice, you're going to want to be a good teammate, be a leader, and those are things I learned through my time in Notre Dame and I took pride in being a captain through my you know, junior career, college and pro and I leadership aspect of what hockey does for us and I think, um, you know, every kid should aspire to be that leader. It doesn't mean you have to let a letter. But I think, uh, if you're consistent in your approach and I define characters, how you behave and nobody's watching and if you're the same kid, sooner or later you're gonna get noticed for it. I remember kids at nd that you know when the strength coach is in the weight room they're putting in the work, they're gonna work hard, but the kids I noticed that would show up before school or after school late, stay late. They're there consistently. After all, I'm like, hey, kid, keep putting the work. You're gonna, you're gonna close some gaps here, you're gonna, you're gonna push through and you're gonna pass some kids by. So there's lots of different areas.
Speaker 1:As a hockey player, uh, you need to have, uh, be a 10 out of 10 in. And I think the last piece we all talk about, unfortunately, which is probably the most important, is the mental side, um, that mental toughness where, when you do get cut or you didn't make that team, or you didn't get that power play time you know how do you respond. Do you uh have a bad attitude, you get frustrated, you blame others, or do you just go to work and find out what you need to do to get there, and then coaches are willing to talk. You got to build relationships with your coaches, you got to have clear feedback, and direction is what you need to do, and I think that's something that we take pride in here.
Speaker 1:And hey, I didn't learn to run a power play until I was 26. I wasn't good enough for it. As I got older and again student of the game and worked in practices, I finally got my opportunity. But it's something that, again, you need the right people around you that understand you as a person. What makes you tick off the ice and then on the ice. Obviously, how do we get to that next level? Put in the work. Have a plan in place and put in the work.
Speaker 2:I love it. I like that character definition. It's one thing that when I'm talking with players or working with players who are interested in leadership or want to be leaders, I find that there's some confusion about what that is, especially at the younger levels, right, like they think that they need to be the loudest guy in the room or the guy that is running the team warm-up or whatever the case may be, and those are all little indicators potentially right, like how socially aware you are and these types of things. Of course, that grows as players mature. But the one thing that I suggest and it sounds like I mean you're in line with that is lead yourself, right, like if you lead yourself, like if you, if you know what you want and if you are an example of how to align with that goal and dream of whatever it is you want that is going to show leadership to everybody else, because that's freaking hard to do. Yeah, you know that's freaking hard to do.
Speaker 2:You're early or you stay late, or your intensity in the workout or in practice, or your competitive spirit, like if these are all things, like you said, are 10 out of 10, that's a leader. You don't even have to talk to anybody right, because they're going to want to be like you and they're going to figure out like how can I be like them? Not only from that aspect, but also like the results aspect. They are going to get better. You are going to get better as an individual. People want to get better as well, so you end up bringing people along with you. So I always say, like you know what?
Speaker 1:Until you can lead yourself. Don't, captain, listen the reason you're voted captain. I have the peers vote. I like to see what our team, our players, think of their peers. Same time, it's going to be a coach's decision when it comes time to pick captains. But I just tell my guys the reason you're a captain is because of what you're doing. Don't change a thing. You're going to be more vocal, less vocal. You don't have to do anything. Different practices, you work hard and just keep doing what you do. And some young kids think they have to be more vocal or have to do things differently, but at the end of the day, you're respected by your peers and your coaching staff. That's enough.
Speaker 1:And I always look at, you know, guys like joe sakic. When he was playing he was a quiet leader, but just everything the right way on the off the ice and didn't have to say much, because players just watch and say, okay, that's how we got to play, that's what we have to do. And some guys are probably more vocal, like in Mark Messier. You come in and take the bull by the horns and say this is what we need to do. And you know, I look at Charles in Boston. You know, I knew their equipment manager there in Boston. Some things he talked about inside the locker room, you know, helping pick up sticks after games and load bags on the bus, and he was, above anything, picking up pucks after practice.
Speaker 1:So I mean, sometimes people think they have to lead by. You know, being more vocal or telling people what to do. That's really your coach's job. Your job is to be humble. Help your teammates I'll pick them up if the coach yells at them and have a tough game, not to uh jump on and say you cost us the game. But you know, hey, don't worry about, we got tomorrow, bounce back and we got your back. So I think, uh, it's a, it's a a slippery slope. At times with young leaders it's tough because they're not usually mentally uh mature enough to to have that pressure to have to lead a whole group. That's where it's just hey.
Speaker 2:Like you said, focus on yourself, just do what you do, lead yourself and the rest will follow well, when it comes to University of Anchorage, alaska, like so you go from Wilcox, saskatchewan, to University of Anchorage and and not that you know that's not a big town or a big city, but it's obviously a heck of a long way away from all the other d1 hockey schools. Uh, so you're a little bit of a nomad there as well. Talk about that experience heading up to to NCAA and playing in Anchorage yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 1:I mean I got to a point I had schools like Maine and Michigan State, miami, ohio, colorado College and Anchorage and I got through. I got through about Christmas time and I looked at, I went for a visit. I liked the guys there. The rink at that time was packed. I mean it was 6,500 fans. The fans were great.
Speaker 1:I had a good time there with this, with the players on the weekend. I enjoyed the staff and I got back to Wilcox and I just made a decision. I said, hey, let's you know to myself, I'm like I'm going to a place that's going to be going into the WCHA, which was the best conference at the time in college. They were losing six defensemen. They carried eight. So I looked at opportunity and said in my mind I'm confident, I'm going to play every game. I'm going to get there. I'm not going to be a healthy scratch, I'm going to step in and play A new experience. Alaska's far away, yes, but when you're traveling with 23 other players and you're having a chance to play in all these different rinks in Denver, north Dakota, minnesota and Minnesota, duluth and CC and all these other places, the travel didn't bother me at all. I thought it was an opportunity to see the world and be in a unique situation. I fell in love with Alaska. I met my wife there, got married up there. We've got friends and family still there to this day and I love the outdoors, I love the fish, so I got into that heavy.
Speaker 1:When I was there. I spent summers there. I worked in the summers, trained up there and hit the Kenai River pretty much two or three days a week with my roommates and friends in town. I met some friends in town. I met some friends today that were season ticket holders and fans of the game that I'm still in touch with that uh are now in idaho actually. So I see them when I go to boise and we still hang out and fish and golf and it was just a great experience and everybody, a lot of people, say, oh man, it's so far away. The travel must have sucked. I'm like you don't know different. You're that age, you're playing cards, you're, you're having a great time in the airports, you're, you're. It was all laughs. I mean it was a great group of kids when I was there and the cool thing for us when we traveled is we got to spend saturday nights in the other teams, towns, so we didn't leave. A lot of teams will pack the bus, hit the airport and his bus back home after games. We got to go on saturday nights in north dakota, minnesota, you name it. Our coach was pretty lenient back then. He was pretty good to us Make sure you're on the bus for the airport and going home. So we had a good time and you know hockey is. You got friends on every team or somebody knows somebody on the other team. So we got taken to their homes, their parties.
Speaker 1:I got to enjoy the extracurricular stuff in college which you know Saturday nights is for, because you have pretty much routines Monday through Saturday. It's pretty much the same thing school hockey and training. So Saturdays kind of are nice to blow off some steam and have some fun. So we got to experience all the different college talents, which was great. I made a lot of good friends on the other teams. Because of that I'm still in contact with today and four years there was awesome. It was great for me. I got to play every game. I got to play a ton. I really grew as a person, I grew as a player and it gave me an opportunity to move on in the game, so I'm forever thankful for my my experience at UAA.
Speaker 2:Take a short break from the podcast with Jeremy to remind you that Up my Hockey is much more than a podcast. It is a personal development tool and it is a place to get your mindset taken care of, sharpen what matters most and that is your mental fitness, and that is what we specialize in here at Up my Hockey. If you are interested about what that entails, by all means there's a few avenues to do that Go visit the website upmyhockeycom. You can see what some of the services are there. You can also visit the parent group on Facebook if you're a Facebooker. It's an awesome community almost 3,000 members now. We support each other. We talk about things that matter. You're also first to see some of the new things that are launched with Up my Hockey. You get some free tips and tricks in that group, so you can do that at upmyhockeycom. No, upmyhockeyparentgroup on Facebook. We do have an Up my Hockey business page on Facebook that you're welcome to follow. I'm also quite active on Instagram, so you can follow at Jason Padolan if you want to look up that, or you can also look up Up my Hockey. You will also find my handle on Instagram there. So lots of ways to get involved with Up my Hockey.
Speaker 2:One thing I do recommend for anyone who is interested for their player whether you are a player listening to this or whether you are a parent listening to this for your player there is what I call my player mindset quiz. This is a great way to open the door to mental fitness and what could be available on the other side. It's a very quick quiz. It tells me and also tells you where you are currently at with your mental fitness, things that maybe bother you, things that you strive in, maybe some things you struggle with or are neutral at, and it kind of opens your eyes to the idea of like, oh, I've never really thought about how this impacts me as a hockey player, how this mental side of the game can have a positive effect on me. So that's a great way to open the door. I check out all of the mindset quizzes personally. If I feel that it's like an automatic, that this would be something that would benefit you, I reach out personally and say, hey, let's get you involved. At the worst case scenario it is a little bit of a self-assessment into where your mindset is at, and if that's all it is for you, then that's great. It only takes five minutes of your time. So you can find that on the website. You can find that on Instagram the uh the player quiz. So great way to get introduced to to uh, mental fitness and what the programming might do for you. So, without personal, I mean without, without any further uh, without any further promotions here.
Speaker 2:Well, let's get back to the conversation with Jeremy Milmock. And ended up playing pro yourself. Um, you know, you bounced around at AHL, ihl, ended up, uh, kind of found a home in Idaho, there with the steelhead, which I find was super cool, right, because you end up, after you're done pro, you end up going back to Notre Dame where you started, and then now you're back in Idaho where you kind of finished. So it's interesting the way your scenario worked there. But, yeah, talk to me about your pro experience and maybe how you ended up in Idaho and called that home for so many years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I mean I left college and I still had the itch to play. I wanted to see how far I could take this. So I had the opportunity to play in Toledo at the end of my college season with my old college roommate. Actually, he talked to the coach there, they brought me in and I got to play at the end of the season and playoffs in Toledo and had a great experience. And it just worked out that the assistant coach there moved on to Chicago Wolves and the IHL so he brought me there to camp. He really liked me and got me an invite there.
Speaker 1:And that's where you know for me that mental toughness and the ability to understand what I was as a player, what I needed to do, and it was a tryout. I mean I was assigned, they had I think 70 signed me, got there, player, what I needed to do, and and it was a tryout, I mean I wasn't signed. They had I think 70 sign. We got there.
Speaker 1:I remember guys in locker room talking, saying why we've been here. They already got seven guys on one ways. You know no one's making this team and I just sat my stall like I'm making this team, I don't care what it takes like he's going to trade somebody or cut somebody whatever I'm going to make this team. And as he went through the trial process back then, there was a red sticker in your stall if you were getting cut. So after each skate, guys would come in there, see it, pack their bags, have their meeting and leave, and never saw that red sticker. So I had a chance to make an impact there and then when the season started after preseason, the coach called me I want to stop you for a second.
Speaker 2:So that mindset is huge, of course, right that you're seeing an opportunity where other guys aren't right, or you're going to knock the wall down or break through it or whatever the case may be. But it's one thing of having that idea, which I think is imperative, or else it wouldn't have happened. But how did that transfer into action on the ice? That actually made it a realization?
Speaker 1:I didn't play to make friends there. I mean, honestly, on the ice I pissed off everybody. I mean I was a stay-at-home, stay-at-defenseman. I was smart, I liked to hit my passion with hitting. I hit hard. I wasn't a big defenseman so I had to play a certain way. I wasn't a power play guy.
Speaker 1:So I mean, most teams probably say what are you doing with this kid here at camp, like what's he gonna bring? And I think, through the process again, didn't matter if it was a returning captain or returning veteran. I remember going after their 60 goal score in training camp and and he was pissed off, he shot a puck at me and you know, you know all that goes. And he was fired up and I just said, hey, whenever you're, you're ready, I'm here, I'm waiting for you. And I go back to the bench and Wendell Young, who's still with with the Chicago Wolves organization. He's the GM there for years now. But he pulled me aside and said kid, keep doing it, we love it. That's coming from a veteran goalie. You want Stanley Cups, you want Memorial Cups, you want IHL Cups, you want everything in hockey you can have. So to have a guy like that pull me aside and say, keep doing it. That was confidence. I knew I was doing the right thing and I was opening some eyes. And then, after the trials were done, they called me in and said hey, we had no intention of keeping you, but we're going to keep you, we're going to make room, we're going to find a way to make it work. So I stuck around there at the start of the season. I stuck around the first month but eventually made my way back down to the East Coast League.
Speaker 1:Then you fast forward to that year. I got traded to Pensacola, Did well there. They're affiliated with Quebec. They signed me for the next two years and then fast forward through that year. Chicago's making a playoff run. They got a really good team. They're looking for depth for defense. They go back to training camp at for Chicago Wolves, you know three years ago, and say, how about Milwaukee? He's the guy we had here, we loved him, let's bring him in. And got a chance to get there. And then a couple of D got hurt down the season. Next thing I'm playing every game in playoffs and we win a cup for Chicago. So I mean, you just never know what's. You know your pathways in this game and things can change in a heartbeat. And this way we stick with it. You work hard, your time will come. It's not always easy and there's there's times you're getting scratched.
Speaker 1:As a player, you know where I was in my career was a drafted, a high-end prospect, so I was that guy kind of in and out of the lineup, but I never uh, pouted or was upset. I still hung out with the team. I still did things with the team, I had fun with the guys, um, and then it was time to play. I was ready and then took advantage of the opportunity and played every game and then came back next year and played there again and, uh, it was just for me it was. It was a level I never thought I'd get to. I was happy.
Speaker 1:A lot of people complain, say I'm not in nhl, so you know the socks are. This is bad, their attitudes are bad. They get sent down from the nhl. Their attitudes are poor. They're blaming up their advisor or the coach is up there and I'm better than this guy. Why is he's up and why am I down? And I never looked at that way. I was fortunate, I thought, to be there and I was going to take advantage of it and enjoy it. And, um, just so happened, I did and I got to play at a high level a lot of kids don't get to and something that, uh, you know again helped shape my career path in life afterwards of the people I met and which they talked to the owners and the players to this day. So it's, it's been great man.
Speaker 1:Even after I got sent released the next year I was on the last year of my contract with chicago.
Speaker 1:I went back to the east coast league and they had another strong team and again, come playoff time you know the guys are still there that I won a championship with. They told the gm, which is kevin shovel day off and johnny anderson was the coach said, hey, bring millsie back, let's go, we need him back in the locker room. He's a great guy and he can play if we need him. So I came back there for their playoff run, won another cup, got another ring and had another experience with this different group of guys, but a lot of the core guys from my previous year in 98 where we won and, yeah, it was cool, it was again. For me it was just an experience that I never thought I would have had when I pulled into Notre Dame in grade nine and saw where I was as a player playing Bantam B. To get to that level and win was just gravy for me for my career, so I was excited to do it, that's awesome, awesome.
Speaker 2:Who did you play in the final? You remember the two teams you beat. Yeah, so we played.
Speaker 1:Detroit Vipers. And then we played, uh, grand Rapids and Griffins. So it was uh, yeah, detroit was a rivalry. That was a tough series. They had a tough team, they were very skilled, but they were a heavy team.
Speaker 1:We actually had a brawl and warm-ups before game seven. You can believe it or not. I was actually in my dressing room after warm-ups getting my skates off. I heard the fans erupt and I'm like, all right, that's not normal. You know, from warm-ups it was a home game, game seven. And I went to the TV monitors in our change room. I was like, oh, get my skates back on. We got something going on, boys.
Speaker 1:So we all came back up the tunnel and I'll never forget the ref came in the locker rooms after warm-ups, after it all got cleaned up and guys got separated, he just walked in and said you know what, no penalties, no suspensions. The best team's gonna win this game seven. It's tv game on fox. It's like we're all playing, so good luck. We walked out of the room. We're like. We looked around, we're like this is amazing. Yeah, so we end up winning 3-1. And yeah, great experience 18,000 fans, packed house, grew a great passionate fan base in Chicago and to win at home, in front of your home crowd and your owners and your staff, was was a great experience and something that uh, yeah, never forget that one that's wild.
Speaker 2:Well, the reason I ask is because I was like, oh my gosh, did we play against each other? Because when I was with um the sound taggers bridgeport, we played. We played in the final against chicago and we got. We ended up getting swept. I think maybe swept two overtime games okay, but I I'm so bad with years but I think ours was just that was american league probably, yeah yeah, it was just in the early 2000s when they switched back to the a um yes, yeah, but uh, but yeah, they always had a powerhouse there, and that Steve Maltese just kept scoring goals too.
Speaker 2:My gosh, he didn't know how to do anything else. What's your story on him? Just kind of a little off topic. Do you think he like was it his skating? Was that why he couldn't be in NHL? He's scored so much at the minor.
Speaker 1:It's funny, that's the guy that I got into with in my first trial with Sam. So when I got traded there he was pissed off. I got traded because he did not like me, because I played against him that whole year and I used to go after him. But they had become good friends, as you know in the hockey world. But you know what I think it was just he scored 60 goals three years in a row in the Chicago Wolves. I played in, I think, tampa, maybe Boston, but I just think for him it would have been all right. You need to be here as a bottom six and play that role until you get your opportunity to be a top six. And I don't think either he didn't want to do it or felt he deserved more when he got there. Let's face it in the NHL there's guys there they have already signed or drafted or have been there for their top six and I think for him to be a bottom six would have been an ask a little bit for him, because he's a power play guy. He shoots the puck, he fills the bat. All of a sudden you've got to change your role You've had since junior hockey and the first four or five years of pro. You're filming that. It's like now you're expected to be this.
Speaker 1:Maybe he just couldn't make that shift. I don't know, because he was 6'1", 210. He wasn't a. You know, he was a good skater. He was a strong skater, he was smart on the walls, he was an intelligent player. He was mean too. He didn't fight, but I mean he was mean with a stick and he would throw the elbows. So I don't know. I mean I think some guys you just watch and you're like, all right, he could probably step up there and be a bottom six, hit and still do his job and maybe push up top six with injuries or opportunities and then maybe put someone in the back of the net and then you know he gets that opportunity. So I'm not sure why that could have been it. But yeah, he was a heck of a player and you know he's one of those guys.
Speaker 1:When you're before you get to pro hockey you look at guys' stats. You see where they're at. I remember seeing guys getting 100 points a year in the ECHL. You know 40 goals, 120 points. In your mind you're like why isn't he in the American League? And then you play against him. You're like I don't know why he's not in the American League? Because he feeds on the power play. He American League because he feeds on the power play. He doesn't work hard, he's lazy, bad attitude, whatever it is. But Maltz wasn't that way. He was a hardworking guy and he kept building it. But there's sometimes this opportunity, sometimes this role is given, sometimes it's taking advantage of those times and it's a short window for some guys. You take advantage or you don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of good players, a lot of good players out there, for sure, with everyone has their own story. Uh, what about your time in idaho? Um, well, I'm just going to preface because I think it's a pretty cool story. Terry ryan, I think I might have brought him up to you, but so terry ryan, who's now, you know, gone on, uh, to some fame with with shore z and you know he's he's kind of all over the place spitting chiclets, has had him on and stuff, and he was a heck of a hockey player in his own right. I mean first rounder to Montreal. I think he was top five or top six in the draft and didn't have the NHL career that he wanted. But he ended up playing with you in Idaho, yeah, and so well, I'll just maybe leave it there. Just talk to me about Idaho, talk about your time there.
Speaker 1:And Terry Ryan story after you get done. There's lots of Terry Ryan stories. We could go an hour just on Terry, I think. So I was actually after I got sent down from Chicago I finished in ECHL Actually it was in Jackson, mississippi, where my oldest son was born, believe it or not and I was looking for a place to kind of I knew I wasn't going to the NHL.
Speaker 1:I wanted to find a good home, a place I could start my family, be in a great community, a place I could get involved in the community, give back and just hunker down for life type situation. So I looked at different places. I grew up in California, so San Diego was kind of the top of my list and I was going to go there. And then John Oliver stepped in. He saw me playing college. John's probably the best recruiter I've ever seen at any level. He's amazing. He had my number, he had a big notepad he kept, he had his pen and paper back then and he had my name circled. And he called me in Mississippi at the end of the season and he actually flew me to Boise for a visit and I got there and I was like, wow, this place is unbelievable. I mean facilities. The arena is great downtown. You get the river runs through downtown. You got, uh, the golfing it's uh, the climate's great. Uh, the people. I call it Pleasantville. The people were amazing.
Speaker 1:And I came back from that visit and looked at my wife and said we're going to Boise. She's like I'm going to San Diego. She's like because she went to college in San Diego, she wants to wear sandals and shorts and she was looking forward to the sunshine. And I just said you're going to go for a visit and then put on a plane. Probably that week she went there for a visit, looked at houses and said, yeah, we're going to Boise. So it's a, it's a cool place. And I signed a three-year deal there. We bought our first house and Connor was six months old. We moved there. I just fell in love with the community. The people.
Speaker 1:Coach was great, we had good teams. It was kind of, you know, I'd say similar. When I look at Coeur d'Alene when I got here, I got to Boise, I'm thinking, okay, you got this beautiful arena downtown, you have a great community. We get treated well in town. Um, why, why haven't you won yet?
Speaker 1:You know, and john albert came there and took over master recruiter, very, very strong coach. He thrives in getting character people and he looked at that game. We're gonna build this thing into a championship caliber team and our first year, just seeing the guys he brought in, I was amazed like this level. I'm like this is like an ihl team or american team. We were very good and, uh, we got to the finals that year, lost in game seven. We lost the next year in finals again and then year three, uh, we actually switched to the echl and we uh won the, uh won the, uh the cup there, um, the kelly cup in that year in boise and unreal place. I mean, we had core of the team, probably had six, seven guys that were there the whole time, that stayed together, that lived there, had family started there, so we had a really tight group of veteran guys there and so when JO recruited and brought guys in, he let us be part of the process. We take these guys out golfing for dinner, get to know them and make sure they're a right fit for our culture and had success there every year. Every year we had good teams and every year we were at the top of the league. It's something that I take pride in saying all right, kind of came here and they were never very good and when he left, he left for the championship gave him the first the city, his first championship there, the city, its first championship there. Um, a lot of guys stayed in the community.
Speaker 1:I lived there and so when I went through the process at uh with the steelheads now luke's born he was born in 2001 I got two kids. They're growing up and so we stayed six more years after that and boy zevi lived there I just got to a point where I just felt, with what I was doing, with work, and when my kids were in their hockey careers, I just felt they needed more and I wasn't afraid of moving around. I spent my life moving around, from a young age, through my dad's work and through high school and junior hockey. And kids are resilient and I just looked at like an opportunity to get better myself move to Florida, you know, and get in that program there and then back to Wilcox. But deep down I always knew I was coming back to Idaho somehow or some way. I'm like I love the state, I love the people, I love the outdoors, I love the fly fish, I love the golf my kids love all the same. We have the same passions in life, so they love it here as well.
Speaker 1:So it was tough to leave their friends behind the first time. But behind the first time. But the experience that gave them really shaped their, their personalities and their work ethic and just understanding that change can be good and that it's a big world out there. My dad always taught me it's a big world, jeremy. Don't be afraid to make changes or make moves. Um, you miss out on so many opportunities if you don't take advantage of these changes. So I learned that from a young age and I wasn't scared to move, I I was excited. And when you're in the, the field of hockey, um, I mean, the face has changed, but the, the character stayed the same. So you meet good people in this, in this line of work, so it was great that's wild.
Speaker 2:So was that a big deal in Boise like as far as winning the championship? Did Boise itself like really get behind the team and did they know how big of a deal that was?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was crazy. I mean we drew well there and I think they're the top drawing program in that league. Every year you go to one. I go back right now during the season. Actually, my son's first pro stand was with the Steelheads. Luke's first pro goal was against the Steelheads. I got to see all that. So for me to go back there and see them in that environment that I played in was pretty cool. But yeah, the fans are nuts. I mean I go back now to get tickets and I got to pull strings with the players that are there or the staff there, and you know, I played there for six years. My jersey's on the wall. They retired my jersey in 2006, I think. But they've done a great job.
Speaker 1:And back then we they've done a great job. Back then we played Florida in the finals and we lost. Friday night we were up 3-1 and our saying back then was Saturday nights, we don't lose. Saturday night in Boise, we knew we were going to win and we had the team to do it. It was crazy. The stands were packed, everybody was white out, the atmosphere was great, the town was buzzing the whole time and the community was excited.
Speaker 1:And there's it's not a big uh sports town. As far as you look at pro sports back then, bsu wasn't that strong football team. They've since become a strong program but back then we were uh packing it in every game and we were very well received in town and our players and they love living there. They still do. It's a great place to live. So I I think it's, you know, looking back in 2000,. Going there and helping the shift from kind of just a good place to play to being the premier place to play and the expectation is not just to be here but to win was something that I took pride in leaving there, knowing that when I got there that wasn't always the expectation, but leaving there with a championship ring and seeing the batters go up in the rink now and you go back and visit, there's a lot of pride in that and it's a cool community and any kid that's at that level yeah, it's the place to play. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:So you have your jersey freaking in the rafters and you still have to make phone calls to get tickets. Jeez, what the it's. You know they've worked hard in that community. They've gone through some lean years with the fans because BSU got real big and BSU took that market over the football team, where they've had a fight and claw for their fans. But, yeah, it's a, uh, it's, it's a, it's a great, great venue. For sure, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Take another short break from the podcast just to remind anyone out there who is a head coach, who is a president of a minor hockey association, who is a director of hockey uh, as Jeremy is that up my hockey could be your gateway to a more robust, more beneficial, more developmental program. If you don't have mental fitness involved in your academy, with your team, in your minor hockey association, you are definitely missing out. This is something that is becoming much more common and even, in my opinion, a requirement. This is something that coaches cannot. Much more common, and even I, in my opinion, a requirement. Uh, this is something that coaches cannot be responsible for, at least properly, in my opinion, uh, unless you're in this all the time, like we are here at up my hockey, we're trying to find ways to support people's uh confidence, support their mental fitness, support their personal development. Uh, it is hard to do. I I mean coaches are backlogged. Having a system in place that you can plug and play and staple on your existing on-ice programming is the easy, natural way to do it, and we have a proven success record with how we are impacting players on the daily basis. So if this is something that you think is great, that you would like to at least consider for the 25, 26 season, by all means check out up my hockeycom uh. Fill out the contact form. We can discuss what that would look like for all your programs. Uh, take the wear and tear away from your, from your coaches. Have a done for you. Stay pulled on uh mental fitness curriculum that will not only help your players on the ice with better performances, with more wins, but also help your players off the ice with less issues, being able to handle adversity, being able to be a better teammate, be able to be invested in their own personal development. This is one of the biggest game changers that you will see happen for your team or for your association. So don't be shy, uh. Check out up my hockeycom or email me direct at either Jason at up my hockeycom or admin at up my hockeycom and we will look after you All.
Speaker 2:Right now let's get back to the conversation with Jeremy Milmock. Well, so I'm going to tell you my terry ryan story into the listeners. So, terry, you know, I know him well enough, obviously, to give him a call or to text or whatever. And I and it was when we were trying to decide what to do, uh, this year with with the program right, where are my boys going to play? And you know what am I going to do? Am I going to be involved in some capacity? You know this, that and the other, and I hadn't.
Speaker 2:I wasn't really sure at that point. You know where I fit into the scheme, but I knew that we were going to probably find a new home for Hudson at least, and maybe the other two. And so when I saw that you were the head coach down in there in Coeur d'Alene and then saw that Terry had played with you and I did know some other guys, I said, hey, terry, tell me about this. Jeremy Milmock, what about him? I might have Hudson play for him this year, and it was pretty wild dude like. So I mean, I've heard some pretty good character references before. You know, like there, there, there is some some pretty good ones out there that I've come across, but terry's for you was like top shelf, like he.
Speaker 2:Actually, it was a voice, it was a voice message, and I think he actually used the the line that if there was five people in the world that I would choose to raise my own child, jeremy would be one of them, and I was like wow, like that's a statement, you know, like um, an impressive statement. I thought that was so cool because, really, if you boil down to like where would you want to send your kid, as in a hockey capacity, like you'd want to send them where someone's going to look after them, right, it's going to be an example. It's going to be somebody that's going to lead and and and provide that that type of environment. So, anyways, Terry Ryan definitely has your back. I thought that was a really cool, a really cool message that he gave and one that I really wanted to share with everyone else, because that's high praise, that's cool, yeah, is awesome.
Speaker 1:But you know, I I try to uh treat my teammates the same way. Where the kids were, you know, the, the uh, the veteran guys or the rookies coming in, trying to make everybody feel at home the same thing. Our academy, here there's not one kid more important than the other. Um, they all have their needs and they all have their, their moments. They get to get, they need to be mentored their young kids trying to find their way, not just in hockey but in life. I think there's so many life lessons learned through hockey, with accountability, leadership, work ethic, social skills, everything that we're again because we have the advantage for us, I believe, because our offices are here. We're here six days a week with these kids, so we have a chance to have a positive impact on them in life, not just hockey. And you know, for Terry to say that's high praise and I appreciate it. And, yeah, terry's a guy too that, yeah, we love them as a teammate. He would do anything for you. I still remember I got cheap-shotted against a Colorado team and the first guy there was Terry and the first guy to go off to that guy was Terry and when I got, I was out for probably, I think, four weeks and we played them the first game back against that team and Terry's like I got him. I said, no, I got him first, you can have him second. And Terry went to him and said alright, you got Millsy, then me, then you got this guy. Next he goes, you're getting all three. I think Jablonski was there, he goes, you're getting all three today. So welcome back. That's the kind of guy he was. He'd do any first teammate. You talk about guys who want to get their shirt off their back. That was Terry. He's a high-character guy. He's a great guy in the room. I can't say enough about him too, and it's fun to watch him where he's progressed. We still stay in touch and, like you talked to Terry about me, I'm the same thing. I say give me some scoops on Padal in here, and he's the same thing. He said said you know what unbelievable guy. He's the guy you want your program. He's the guy that's going to help take you to another level. So it was. It was cool that uh.
Speaker 1:You know we have hockey's a small world right. That's what I think a lot of parents don't get. A lot of uh players don't get that. Wherever you go, we're gonna know somebody there and if you're not gonna behave the right way or do the right thing, they're gonna call me me. You might not want to call me, but they're going to because any program I think worth their weight is not just going to take kids. They're going to do their research, they're going to call their coaches, their previous coaches. They're going to call somebody they know that coach or they might call a teammate's dad. They know well that played with your son.
Speaker 1:So it's a very connected world out there and I think that this one thing for us, for our culture, is not just bringing in good players.
Speaker 1:We want good people. I think I tell my staff it's not always about the best players, it's about the right players, and the right players will turn into your best players and I know that because I was one of those players. I wasn't the best player, I was the right person on these programs and I knew going through the process as a young kid and through pro hockey, that it's not always the best players that make it. It's the ones that put in the work, that are coachable, that are good people, because who doesn't want to be around a good kid? You know it's that way at the American League and NHL. Sometimes the most skilled guy is not going to make the NHL. It's going to be. Here's the guy that puts the work every day, he does the right things, he's a leader, he competes, he skates. We get us to be able to skate and have the skill set to play there. But at the same time, they want the right people, because you don't win championships without the right people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree more. That's great and a great message to parents out there too, because what you're doing right now, or because of your kid, or you know it, might have the best interest you feel at heart. But, boy, like those, stories travel fast too.
Speaker 1:Parent stories, you know what they will do, how they get involved, what they won't do, and you, it's a small enough world where that can catch up as well, you know, and anyway, Nothing against anybody, it's just hey, I got six teams here, so I don't want to spend my time on the phone every day with little things or problems in the stands or problems in the parking lot or hotels or behind-the-scenes conversations with our kids. It's like, hey, just trust us to do what we do. Our only thing we want to do is make your kid better. That's it.
Speaker 1:There is an expense to this whole academy lifestyle, but at the same time, that's why I always tell parents hey, it might not be court lane, but I here's my checklist what I would ask other teams for. This is what we offer, this is what we have, and take this checklist and use it and I know you're all talking different programs, but make your decision based off the people there, because that'll be the biggest difference maker in your kid's career is the people that he's surrounded by, not the hockey, hockey's hockey. There's skills coaches, there's goalie coaches, there's ice time we're all getting the same thing. So I think what it boils down to is who are the people in these programs that you can trust with your kids development, not just in hockey, but socially, academically and make them better people?
Speaker 2:yeah, what do you think of the highlights for cordaline? Uh, as far as like what drew you down there, what you think is is is puts puts you maybe a bit ahead of of some of the other options out there right now.
Speaker 1:I think it's the people. I think the staff, our teachers are fantastic. I mean everyone that comes through here. They meet with their academic side first. They get on the ice. They see the. I mean again, I think the separation is people. I really do. I think you have a great staff. Our teachers are. We own a private school. We're fully accredited private school, so our kids graduate from here with diplomas. We have all NCAA approved classes, our schools, monday through Thursday. The kids get a ton of support, whether it's before school, during their spares or after school. They simply got to send an email or text or just walk up to the teacher and say, hey, I'm struggling in math, can I get some help? They get it. They don't get left behind. We're a very hockey-centric academy because that's what we do, but at the same time we don't lose sight of academics from the human side, the social side, whether it's mental health. We have support systems in place for mental health, for kids it's. You know, they're young kids and they get a lot thrown at them with social media and expectations and pressures. So I think support had support on the mental health side.
Speaker 1:Um, and what drew me here was, honestly, was the owner. I got to know him over the years through the csshl he was. He's been here now for, I think, 12 years when he bought this academy. Um bought this academy. His kid wasn't even playing hockey at the time, he just loved and he played in the. He played Division One football and NFL and CFL. He understands how hard it is to get there and things you need in place whether it's the right people, the right programming. He has a passion for sports and for, as he says, I want to build employable kids for the future, not just hockey players, and we stick to that code. But I just loved his vision.
Speaker 1:I came here for a visit and I just realized, you know, from afar I've always seen this program that wasn't very good, wasn't winning a lot of games, but they always had teams. I'm like man every year. They're not good, they fill it, they fill it. What's there? You know I kind of want to get under the hood here and there. You know I kind of want to get out of the hood here. And so I came for a visit and checked it out. I talked with the owner extensively about what I saw, my vision of what I've been through. I made mistakes as a director and as a coach. Through my time I've learned from them and I know what works but doesn't work. Um, I felt online school doesn't work. I felt it was important to have an in-person learning situation for kids, just just socially accountability, building relationships with your teachers, with your fellow students, is huge. I like that culture. So he agreed and we brought that in Facilities.
Speaker 1:There's things here that we needed in the weight room that I thought we had what. I think we had things that we needed, but there's wants. And when my sons came back during my first summer and trained, he sat them down and said, hey, what are we missing? What do you need her to train hockey specifically? And the boy sat down. My sons, connor and Luke, gave him a list and, to my owner's credit, we got that list. We went to work and got with some different vendors and ordered all the equipment in there. So everything these kids need and want is here now and we added a full-time strength coach.
Speaker 1:I thought it was important that our kids aren't just in the weight room with a piece of paper saying here's your program. They need mentorship in the weight room, just like they need in the classroom or on the ice. So our strength coach works with our kids four days a week in the weight room Could be yoga, it could be a recovery day, but when it's time to work out, they have to learn how to train sports. Specifically. I guess my philosophy has always been you can't be a lead on this unless you're lead off of it. So I think having them learn this new area, embrace the grind of the weight room and and light bulb moments go off as they get stronger and faster because of their off-ice habits um gets better nutrition side. So, and then we got the rink here. Your team has our own dressing room and plans were for a second arena which is being built right now. Since you were here, jason, the walls are pretty much up on that rink now. Yeah, it's. It's been exciting to walk, walk outside every day and look over and see that rink going up. So I just think the line behind us we're going to put a restaurant, maybe gymnasium or outdoor turf field.
Speaker 1:Bring other sports look at the golf academy. Uh, we're sitting in court lane, idaho, and I remember talking to my coaches this year they were. You know, we want to win more games, we want to be more successful, and I said hey guys, if you look at things through a microscope, we're going to be disappointed. But if you pull back the lens a little bit through a telescope and see we're in Coeur d'Alene, idaho, and competitive teams that are winning games in the sports school league, they're having success. Kids that are getting offers in north american league, bchl, western league teams are obviously looking at our players.
Speaker 1:So to see the growth we've had and and understanding where we're at, have a guy like you that wants to come in, that has an extensive background in youth hockey, pro hockey, that would even think about coming here. Uh is a feather in our cap. And the families that were here for tryouts from different academies throughout this league have been here and have walked the grounds and met the staff and they're texting me. They're so excited to be here. They had no idea what we had. So for us it's just getting that word out, getting more people in here, getting better people in here, better players. And the next step for our program is going to be, you know, aesthetically, with the grounds, the parking lot, the second arena, the other, you know parts of the facility we're growing with the golf academy there's going to be a full, full blown sports academy down the road here in Northwest, which not a lot of places have.
Speaker 1:So that excites me and it was a vision he had and people said, well, you can't take any risk, you know there's nothing there right now. How are you always going to do it? Maybe his kid graduates in grade 12 and he sells or he moves on. I'm like I just got to know. I'm a big people person. I just get to know people and I got a good feel for where they're at. I ask a lot of questions and I spend a lot of time with people and in those situations you get a good feel, get a good read flags for me with his vision or what he said he could do or what he wanted to do, and I've seen him.
Speaker 1:He's very smart business guy. He does things the right way, he doesn't get ahead of himself. He wants to make sure things are in place and now that the hockey's growing and thriving I think we had two teams here year one we're at six right now we're gonna have plans to add a u18 female team. That second rink is done out of 15 preps. Now we're going to eight teams, plus golf, plus other sports. So it's happening real fast. The days aren't long enough, the weeks are too short right now, but I'm excited.
Speaker 1:I have a passion for this and to see where it's gone. And what gives me most pride is when, you know, I talk to my owner. He calls with updates and he's excited. He's really excited and proud of what he's put together here and he loves the staff and what we have. So we're not just me, our whole staff's like me. They love it, they love being here, love spending time and at the end of the day, I want to see kids move on and chase their dream and I tell them because all the time I made mistakes, I'm going to tell you what you're doing right now. So don't learn the hard way, learn the easy way. Start doing this or this, whether it's attitude, workouts or eating habits, you name it.
Speaker 1:We have a direct impact on these kids' livelihoods and I think it's something that excites us as a staff and as a program and we're ready to take another step next season and grow this thing. I think we have the, honestly, I believe we have the premier spot in one of the premier spots in North America is what we have. I mean, yeah, as far as facilities, as far as our staff, as far as the league we're in competition, development uh, I'll put us up against anybody in the nation for all we have, and people can look at history and say we haven't been very good. Well, yeah, we got to start somewhere and that somewhere started three years ago. We've taken steps every year. We're going to keep keep growing and again, to me, it's about getting the right people here. Get the right people, you get the right kids yeah, I, uh, yeah, I, it's so fun.
Speaker 2:Let's even listen to you. Obviously you have a ton of passion for it. You know, for me, from an outside looking in, you mean you can, you can get caught up into it, being there all the time, right, you almost can forget in some aspects, like how special it is, like with me walking through doors there, like for everybody listening who is considering a spot. Like you know, we've been, you know we were at Rink, kelowna, and I'm familiar with a lot of the programs around and one of the things that I was found instantly attracted to was the arena is separated by a parking lot to the school, which is connected by a doorway to the training facility and the training facility you have access to, the players essentially have access to almost all the time.
Speaker 2:Like it's not, like you have a dedicated one hour window where you get access to this thing right, like they can be in there when they want to be in there, and like that's to me, like anyone who knows anything about development, is like that's the key, is like, can you have access to your own development? And they do. And again, like the access to the teachers was where this, with where the classrooms is and how they're set up, is amazing. The fact that they can walk to practice is amazing, um, yeah. And and even like the town is small enough, that norm, whether you're living on site, you know, with one of the hockey houses that you guys have, or whether you're with a billet or you've rented, like the like, what's the maximum you are away from from the rink? 10 minutes, 15 minutes, right, yeah, you're 10, 15 max, everything's yeah, 10, 15, no matter where you're at as far as, like, you still get time at home too.
Speaker 2:So it's I mean all those things to me, like as a hockey dad, looking for a place to you know, invest, uh, for my kids is like wow. Like you get the family time, you get the access to to the development, you get the great staff, the facilities are right there, you're in the right league and you're in a beautiful fricking town to top it all off Right.
Speaker 2:Like with all these extra things that they have. So I mean I'm right there with you. I mean I think it's a diamond in the rough still and and, uh, and obviously that, uh, the spotlight's opening up though it can mean to your point, you said the first year that you were there you had 15 kids or something show up for the development skate, and this last year or last, last couple of weekends ago, there was over 150 or something.
Speaker 1:So like, how special is that? Yeah, it was cool to see. I mean, um, it's, it's uh, it's rewarding. It's a lot of hard work but again, it's the right people and I think you need someone in my seat that people trust that has done it be a lot of success. At Notre Dame, when I was there, we won telescope so we had the girls in the in the SO Cup uh championship. So, um, actually, two years were in the telescope when I was there and I just think you gotta do things the right way.
Speaker 1:It's all about your, your staff, your people and having a program that's going to hold kids accountable. They're young, they need structure. Kids thrive in structure. They need it. Don't always like it, but they need it. And the cool thing here is we own our facility so our kids aren't locked out here Like I got kids shooting pucks right now. They got spares, they're shooting pucks. They'll get a workout in. They want to come after school, stay late. Our staffs are working until the last staff leaves. They can stay here Weekends if they're not playing games, like right now. We'll have designated times during the day and it's not like they're going to walk in here and have public use in here. It's just private. We own it. Our kids have access to it. They get to use it. They get better here.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's some kids that are going to come back next season. It's their third now and we sat there after tryouts and we're like, remember when he walked in year one? Well, we had to keep him because we're short bodies. We had to sign this kid and look where he's at now. He's a legitimate player, like he's grown, he's gonna play at a high level and, uh, to see the growth of these kids and and the ones that put on the work, I just know what we do works. I think it's.
Speaker 1:It's easy to say I'm gonna jump here, I'm gonna get a promise here. I promise everybody, are you getting what you need outside? Just the hockey piece? Are you getting coaches to understand where your kids at in this development? Because some kids, as you know, hey, you're fully developed by 16. You're you're a grown man and you're a dominant player. You're on your way up. Some kids, hey, you're gonna need to grade 12 or later, even to take this game to another level. So we recognize those things, put plans in place and the cool thing is I tell kids I need self-motivated kids here. We have a great program, a great schedule. We have everything the skills coaches, strength and goalie and head coaches. You get a lot of direction, a lot of support, but it's what you do in your free time.
Speaker 1:I call it time management. When you got your routines going through the season and you know, on wednesdays you got two hours of free time to do something, what are you doing with that free time? Are you gonna game? Are you gonna sit at your house? Are you gonna sleep in it, like right now? We have no school fridays. Um, our school goes monday through thursday, so fridays I'm like gym's open friday, why isn't it packed? You know you guys gotta be in there. So they're starting. We're getting more and more trickle in. But at the same time, it is a beautiful city and these kids are, you know, turkey hunting. They're fly fishing, they're golfing. They can golf for five bucks around here, so they're always in the golf course. They're taking advantage of the community, which I love. They need to. But same time, my message here for a reason you want to get better, right behind me in the work, get going love it.
Speaker 2:How about? Okay, so you and I are handling the u18 prep team like maybe we should just throw a shout out there, you know, for anyone listening who's wondering for a place to play, we do have some spots available there. I know the u15 team is the brand new team to the csshl. That's where my youngest boy, tj, is going to be playing this year. It's going to be a varsity team this year, um, and we're looking for players there. Maybe we can just about you know what spots are open or what we have to offer there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I would say I guess, if you want to fill it, we could Right now, especially on the 18s and the 17s, but again put ourselves in a spot to be a little more selective with bringing the right people, the right caliber players. So I think our 18s you know, I'd say we need one D-man and a couple forwards we're looking at on that team. Our 17 prep honestly we've got too many kids. Probably we're going to have to, you know, make some tough decisions the next week or two here. Then, with our 17 AAA team, again we'll probably, you know, more heavy on the forward end, probably need two or four more forwards there.
Speaker 1:And 15s we just got back from Chicago. We got a lot of calls this week with some really good players that want to come in. So we're excited for that. And yeah, those are the. Our main, our main focus right now is probably our 17 triple a and our 15. Uh, varsity team is telling those and yeah, we're excited to do it and I know, uh, we'll get her done. And again, I think families now are excited to um, be part of what we have going on, or they see it, they feel it, and when they get out here and visit. They love it, so it's a fun spot.
Speaker 2:So I know we, I know we got to run, but I do want to spend just a little time, like if somebody is interested in in you know either. Like how to? How does somebody get in touch with you? They have a kid that they think can be a good asset to the program. What?
Speaker 1:what's the next step? For a parent or for an advisor? Yeah, the next step is to get in touch with me. I mean they can email me or they can call me, and then all I like to do is I think parents seem to be here to go for a skate meet the teachers, us meet the kid, the kid meet the other players. I had two kids from Texas here this week that went through it. They skated four times. They got to be around the facilities, meet with the teachers, meet with the program coordinator, student director, student life, and at the end of it we interview, give them an evaluation of where they fit in and go from there. And we got one kid committed. Probably get both of them, but one just committed when he was here.
Speaker 1:And it was cool for me. I asked them because I kind of set their schedule and they kind of set their schedule and they kind of roam the school, they roam the weight room, they get on the dress rooms of the players and they ask how are the kids? They treat you well. They're like, oh, the kids are awesome. They were very welcoming. We asked a lot of questions. We can share ourselves here. We had a good experience. The culture is great. So that's something that's important to me and I think when your students can relay the information that we've talked about over the years with integrity and character and doing things the right way to have new players come in that don't know anybody that leave here with a good feeling about our program, is, is a is fantastic.
Speaker 2:That's great. And then what about, just from a quickly, from a Canadian player standpoint? I mean, obviously my boys are Canadian, they are dual citizens, so they're coming down like maybe just answer some of those questions from canadian parents that might be interested. Is there any issue at all with canadians coming down there? Is it easy process? What's that all about?
Speaker 1:it's an easy process and we have a lot of canadians here. The kids come in uh from grade nine through uh grade, actually grade eight through grade 12. Now, um, we are fully accredited school. We have cvis accreditation, so it's real simple for canadians. We get their information, passport, passport information, their address, their parents' information. Our principal draws up the application form, fills it out, sends it back to the Canadian parents. They get signed off on it, get a stamp from their consulate there and it's done.
Speaker 2:It's usually about a 48 hour process and that's essentially you're talking like a student visa for maybe lack of a better word that allows them to be here F1 student visa.
Speaker 1:So when they travel here, they need their passport, their F1 visa and road trips. So when we go back, come back from Canada for our road trips, they just all the coaches keep their passports and F1 student visas and submit it through customs and we're back home.
Speaker 2:So simple process is super easy, very easy. Um, that's not a barrier at all.
Speaker 1:So no, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to be involved in it. I know that the team's looking really, really solid this year as far as u18 team.
Speaker 2:Uh, we're hoping we're hoping to push to push and uh and yeah and, like I said, with the u15 being a new, new option there, I know there's lots of players coming out of u13 now here in Canada looking for a good place to be, a good home. By all means, we'd love to welcome some good players and some good people. So thanks, jeremy, for sharing your story. I know you got to run. Love it, love what you got going there. You should be proud of what you started I shouldn't say started, but what you're building.
Speaker 1:And I'm happy to be a part of the team. So, uh, looking forward to absolutely we are, too. We're excited to have you here, appreciate you, uh believing in us and coming here. Like I said, I can't wait to get. I always tell my staff we look for us, I look to bring in better people. You know, I want people that want to uh work hard, that are good people, that understand this game. It's not just hockey, it's life, and I think, uh, having guys here that have been through it and again, kids learn from our mistakes we got a lot of valuable things. We can teach them before they make those mistakes so they can avoid those pitfalls in this game, because there's a lot of moving parts, it's a every player's got a different pathway and we can help navigate that through our experiences and through what we do here. I love it.
Speaker 2:We'll have to check our pro games experience. We might hold the title here for the U18 CSSHL League for our coaching staff. Yeah, no kidding. All right Well yeah, good luck with everything you got going on there. We'll be in touch, but yeah thanks for coming on the program.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was awesome. Talk to you later.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening to the entire episode with jeremy. I hope that you enjoyed, enjoyed that as much as I did. Uh, again, cordelaine fantastic place, uh, in idaho in the united states, like just as far as a place to live, period. The people are fantastic, the town is fantastic. If you are into anything outdoors at all fly fishing, hunting, boating, swimming, golf, uh, biking, running, anything of that nature it can be done there with a huge smile on your face and, uh, and they have good cuisine, they have good restaurants. Uh, there is, there is so much to do. And then you have the bigger city of spokane that is right down the road, about a half an hour away in Washington, where you get the WHL Spokane Chiefs, so there's a lot to offer. There's a big airport there in Spokane as well, so it is a really cool venue. And then, when you get into the idea of what they have there as far as facilities is concerned, with what they call the Fieldhouse what a gateway to get better, oh, my goodness. And the fact that that's just on on the other side of the classroom wall, that that's available to players whenever they want to go in there is fantastic. The teachers that they put together there, the academic program. It's a full, fully accredited Academy, school, academic Academy, as well as the hockey that has surrounded it and and the staff that they've built there is fantastic. So, like I said, if you have not considered Coeur d'Alene as an option for one of your players' sons before, I think that you should. There is some really, really great people around there and if your son wants to improve at the game, this is the place to do it. So, thank you, jeremy, for coming on. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me be a part of your academy.
Speaker 2:I look forward to offering my, my skillset and my, my experience to the, to the group and to the players that I get to coach and and and influence and, and I'm really excited about that opportunity and we're we're going to be moving down there in the end of September. So for anyone, that's another thing. Actually, for those who are listening, this doesn't change anything that I'm doing without my hockey. I'm going to be a coach. I've been on the ice lots as far as supporting teams in the mental capacity game. That is something that will continue to happen, either through me personally or some of my associate coaches, and even my on-the-ground programs in Vernon, british Columbia, my spring programs and my summer programs will all operate as per normal, that nothing is changing. So my hockey is continuing to grow. Uh, the mental fitness component of it, uh, the team component, the Academy component, uh, we are being, uh, we are servicing more and more teams and more players and that's super exciting. And, and my involvement with the Coeur d'Alene Academy as the UA team prep coach uh is not going to going to influence uh that or negatively influence that at all, which where all systems grow here with uh, with, uh, with us at up my hockey. So thanks again for listening.
Speaker 2:Um, and I love just, I mean, I'll part with the idea of, like what terry ryan was saying there. I know I emphasize that in the podcast, but, oh, my goodness, like all you, all you players out there and all you moms and dads out there, what, and what a great reference right that this is somebody that I would want to raise my kids. Uh, when you think about that as a hockey player, status like this is somebody that I want on my hockey team. This is a, this is a player that I want to lead my team. I want to wear the sea of my hockey team. I want all the other players to look up to them and if we, if we can strive to be like this player, like we're doing something well that's essentially what Terry Ryan was saying with Jeremy Milmock and, um, I just think that's such a great endorsement and, uh, and yeah, I mean, if we can strive to be that, you know, if we can do that in our personal lives.
Speaker 2:I know that I do try to do that. I try to be a uh, a positive influence on the players that I work with and I try to provide that example, not only when people are watching, but also when people aren't watching. I take that character description that Jeremy described into consideration with what I'm doing and how I'm acting, and I think if we can all strive to do that, you don't know when you're going to influence. You don't know when that person might be listening or that person might be watching or how you might be able to positively affect somebody's life. But I say that to anyone I work with, whether they're 12 years old or 18 years old. There's somebody looking up to you right now and you are making a difference for somebody.
Speaker 2:So I guess, ask yourself that question. You mean, am I doing? Am I living the way that I want to? And and is this, is this the way that I encourage others to live and to lead? Uh, and to you know, engage in the community, or whatever else is that is important to you. So, uh, jeremy, great example, you know, thanks for being you and thanks for being that example for everyone there at Coeur d'Alene and for all of you out there. Continue to strive, continue to push, continue to to uh, to be better, and even that attempt at being better, I think, goes noticed and that serves as an, as inspiration for others around you. So, until next time, play hard and keep your head up.