March 28, 2022 • 31 mins
On the first episode of Season Two of 'We’re Not Blowing Hot Air,' we talk shop with Madison Packer – a hockey player from the National Women’s Hockey League*, with a reputation for her work ethic – on and off the ice. Get ready to be inspired by this fearless athlete, friend, wife, mom, and mental health advocate.
*The NWHL is now the Premier Hockey Federation or the PHF
About the podcast:
'We’re Not Blowing Hot Air' is a podcast – powered by Oxygen Plus (O+) – featuring amazing athletes and inspiring wellness-minded individuals who share how they elevate their everyday lives. Co-hosts Lauren Carlstrom and Ben Johnson broadcast monthly from O+'s worldwide headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Share, follow, rate and review 'We're Not Blowing Hot Air' wherever you podcast, so more people can elevate their everyday lives with Oxygen Plus. #oxygenplus #werenotblowinghotair
Produced by Lauren Carlstrom and Heidi Norman | Music and Audio Engineering by Scott Deming
Catch Oxygen Plus at @oxygenplus on TikTok and Instagram
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the word app blowing hot air podcast,
powered by oxygen plus featuringamazing athletes and wellness
minded individuals who share howthey elevate their everyday
lives.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
On this episode, we talk shop with Matt packer, a
hockey player from the nationalwomen's hockey league with
reputation for her work ethic onand off the ice.
Get ready to be inspired by thisfearless athlete, friend, wife,
mom, and mental health advocate.
Hey everyone.
Uh, welcome to we're not blowinghot air, uh, season two, episode
(00:36):
one.
I'm Ben Johnson.
Um, today we have Madison packerhere with us.
Um, I'm with my co-host LaurenCarlstrom.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It's great to have you Ben, and hi Madison.
Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Thanks for having me guys.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
How, how are you doing on this Friday?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Good.
We got warm weather here inConnecticut, so we're happy.
We're hopefully gonna go to thepark after we pick our set up
from daycare.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, that's
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Awesome.
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Um, yeah, it's, it's gonna warm up here next week.
So we're, we're, we're crossingour fingers.
Uh, well, yeah, once again, justthank you so much for, um, for,
for joining us.
Uh, Lauren and I are superexcited, um, to get to know you
a little bit more and to haveyou on this podcast.
So, um, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, let's do this thing.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, let's go.
All right.
So kind of first question.
Um, how, how do you owe plus?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, so I use oxygen plus mostly when I'm training in
the gym and out on the ice.
My primary area focus is hockeyobviously, but it's been a huge
tool for me in the gym.
When I'm lifting, doing quick,hit workout, it's just between
sets.
Um, I've actually turned myteammates onto it a little bit
out on the ice.
We use this skinny as easy touse through a face mask.
So I got all my teammates hooks.
(01:52):
Now.
They were actually bugging me atpractice yesterday to make sure
I bring some to the ringtomorrow for the game.
So I use it mostly, uh, in thegym on the ice, like I said, but
, uh, I'm also just bought a newbike.
So I'm looking forward to givenit a tryout on the bike, uh,
this spring and the off season.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Oh, that's fantastic.
I mean, we, we actually just,there was an independent study
done on our product, um, in theUK it's it's on our website.
If you wanna check it out or anyof our listeners wanna check it
out, it, it reduces, uh, I think24%, it, it helps to the build
up of lactic acid and, and speedup recovery.
So it's pretty awesome that, um,using it and it was a cycle, um,
(02:32):
test that was done.
And, um, so really cool to hearyou say that you're using it for
training to help like performbetter and, and train longer,
cuz that's definitely somethingthat happens and works with our
products.
So very cool.
And um, as a hockey player, Imean, wow, you so need it on the
ice.
Like you're going out there aquick sprint back in.
(02:54):
That's like how you need it.
It's
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, I, I can imagine, I mean, after a couple
of shifts on the ice or whateverit is, I mean, I bet, I bet I
would be absolutely gas.
I mean, even when I'm playingpick up hockey, I'm like, holy
smokes.
I don't know how these proplayers do it, but um, I'm, I'm
sure you probably notice it alot.
Um, you know, maybe mid gamewhen you're, um, can go to the
bench and, and just get a energyrecovery on that.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yeah.
It's hugely beneficial betweenshifts or like if you've been
out on the ice for a shift andthen we got a powerplay or
something coming up and thecoach wants to send the same
people back out, um, it's hugelybeneficial.
You touched on the lactic acid.
Like that's something that wefocus on, always in recovery,
obviously with hockey being sucha leg heavy sport.
So it's been great for me.
I'm, I'm, I'm happy to havepartnered with you guys.
And um, like I said, I got someof my teammates, a little
(03:43):
jealous.
I've been having to share mytanks at the ring, so
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Well, that's kinda you to share.
You gotta gotta help yourteammates out though, right?
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Um, well share more about whoyou are, Madison, where you
play, what you do and youalready said you're in
Connecticut, but I wanna knowwhere you're from as well.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah.
So I'm, uh, you guys are inMinnesota, I'm a Midwesterner
two from just outside Detroit.
I was born and raised, um, grewup playing hockey in the Detroit
area.
I'm one of four kids.
So I'm sandwich between twobrothers.
So I always had to do what theywere doing, uh, and got involved
in hockey at a young age, knewfrom that age that I wanted to
(04:24):
play hockey in some form growingup, uh, slowly that picture
became more clear.
I ended up going to theuniversity of Wisconsin to play
for four years, uh, won anational championship there.
And then when I was about tograduate there wasn't a pro
league yet.
And it kind of, the timing allkind of fell into place for
perfectly.
So I started playing in the NHL,which is now the PHF premier
(04:45):
hockey Federation, uh, going onour seventh season.
So I'm a professional hockeyplayer.
And can you
Speaker 1 (04:51):
See, what does the acronym stand for?
Can you share that
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Premier hockey Federation and we were the NHL,
the national women's hockeyleague.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Okay, got it.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So I am, uh, the teams are mostly located on the
east coast.
There's one team in Minnesota.
We just put a team in Toronto inthe off season.
They're adding a team inMontreal and one other mystery
market that we don't know aboutyet.
So that's kind of how I ended upout in Connecticut was I, uh,
signed with the New York teamand ended up liking it out here.
And so I settled out here forthe time
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The New York Riveters .
Yes.
Yeah.
And wow.
What, what are the what's the,or, uh, the origination or
origin, is that how, just to sayit normally of, of that team,
the name,
Speaker 3 (05:34):
So it's kind of cool.
Cuz the Riveter has a Detroittie too.
So Rives were the women thatworked during world war II and
the factories.
Um, and so there's a connectionthere to Brooklyn.
There's a strong connection toDetroit where a lot of those
women worked in the automotiveindustry during world war II, uh
, which is kind of cool for mebeing from Detroit.
Um, we have a pretty iconicmascot that banner with a woman
(05:57):
flexing her arm saying you cando it.
Uh, Rosie, the Riveter is ourteam mascot.
So we started as the New YorkRiveters and then we kind of
spread out into New Jersey.
So we are now the metropolitanRS.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Oh, all right.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah.
And you're, you're in your sevenseason, is that right?
Even playing for were like five,five to seven years.
And you wanna do probably fiveto seven more or what, tell us
about your, your career andwhere you're at in it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah.
So this is my seventh season.
Uh, we had a condensed seasonlast year cuz of COVID.
Um, so there were only a couplegames last season, but we played
up in a bubble.
Uh, the league started in 2015.
We started with four teams.
Uh, we've slowly expanded everyyear.
So hopefully next season we'llhave eight teams and yeah, this
is my, we, we have playoffsstarting next week.
(06:46):
This is my seventh season.
And like you said, I'm hoping toplay for, we'll see, I say five
to seven, three to five, oneyear at a time kind of changes.
So, um, next year's the firstyear that they can offer
multi-year contracts and I thinkthey can offer two year
contracts.
So we're not quite where the menare with offering like longer
(07:06):
deals and things like that.
But hopefully I can get a, get atwo year contract and see how
things go after that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's awesome.
Well, O plus can, you know, takeyou further.
So yeah.
Um, well that's awesome.
Um, you know, it's, it's reallycool to just see your, your
hockey career and just kind ofsee where it goes.
What is typically like thelength for someone in, you know,
in your league?
Like how long do peopletypically play?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, so it's kind of a task cuz the league is so new,
right?
I've been in it for sevenseasons and we're going, this is
our seventh season, we're goingon the eighth year.
So there are, you know, I'd sayfive or six of us.
I think that have been therefrom the beginning outside of
that.
Um, the average career length isprobably between two and four
seasons depending what marketyou're in and who you are.
(07:56):
Uh, the, the goal is to see thatgrow, obviously on the men's
side, you see players playingfor a lot longer.
So as we are able to offerhigher salaries and more
permanent living situations and,and benefits and things like
that, all these things that haverolled out in the last couple
seasons, I think you'll seeplayers coming in right after
college and staying for longerbecause they don't have to worry
about what they're gonna donext.
(08:18):
Um, right now there's thatconcern right?
Where we're not making a hugewage.
So how do you only focus onhockey when you have a career
outside of that is, is the,where we've been stuck kind of.
And so now next season salariesare going up, the cap has
increased.
And so over time I think thehope is that you'll see players
with a little longer careers inthe, you know, seven to 10 even
longer range.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Good.
Good to hear that.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
That's, that's awesome to hear it's it seems
like, um, uh, the sport ofhockey, um, for women, it seems
like it's, it's growing andgrowing a lot more.
Um, you know, what probably, um,you know, has been like the
biggest, um, challenge in termsof like growth for this league.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think visibility,right.
Um, oxygen plus is the greatestexample of a company that
invests in women.
Um, for a long time, women havebeen viewed as a risk and in
some area has a liability whenit comes to sports, right.
Companies wanna see a return ontheir investment.
And how does that look?
You look at the w N B a andthey're crushing it, but even
(09:23):
the w w N B a right now, whenthey get a deal, 80% of that
deal has to go to the NBA.
Wow.
Which is maybe something thatnot everybody knows, but so
these women are like, Hey, wewanna branch off.
And like, we, we can stay in onour own.
We've been partnered with theNBA for 25 years now, I think 26
now, how do we, what more do weneed to do to prove that we can
make it?
(09:44):
I mean, I've been to thosegames, they sell out buildings,
they've got their faces are allover billboards in big towns.
And so we're, we're lucky inhockey that we've had so many
powerful women before for us inother, you know, avenues.
If you look at the us nationalsoccer team on the women's side,
the, just even the, the nationalwomen's soccer league, the w N B
(10:05):
a, we have a lot of women whohave worked really, really hard
for, for decades to try andcreate change.
And, um, it's finally coming tofruition for them.
And while we on the hockey sidehave worked really hard as we,
well, we're just a baby incomparison.
I mean, we're on our seventhseason and we've already more
than tripled our salary cap inseven years.
That's just is unheard of insports.
(10:25):
And it's because we've had somany other women before us to
kind of model ourselves after,and they've done the work.
They've proven that the productis worth investing in.
And it's, you know, someone justsaid the other day, I don't like
the phrase bet on women.
I like invest in women becausethat is a gamble and women have
proven themselves to be valuablein the workplace.
Um, and I think that's so true.
So we just have to keep pluggingaway and you're gonna get a
(10:47):
hundred no's before you get ayes, but that's kind of how it's
always been.
And hopefully the nextgeneration has it a little bit
easier and, um, just keepworking for more
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Well done.
I mean that, I know it takes alot of work, so congrats to you
and everyone that you've beenworking with and leading that
change and that effort.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah.
I mean, you know, all that, allthat success, um, you know, what
do you think is the single mostimportant action you took to
elevate your life to reach your,your current level of success?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, I think for me it was, um, I, I was stopped
being afraid of to fail.
And in that, like when I was akid, I knew I wanted to play
hockey and I had everything laidout for me.
And I didn't really have, Imean, I had choices here and
there, but it was, you go topractice, you come home, you
have a game, you go to bed, youget up, you do the same thing.
And I was on a very clear pathto play in college.
(11:41):
I wanted to be an Olympian.
I had all the tools, all I hadto do was show up.
And then you fast forward to theend of my college career.
And I'm thinking about, okay, Ineed to get a job.
Well, there are billions of jobsin the world.
Like, which one do I pick?
You know, where do I move?
Am I do I go home with mom anddad where it's safe?
And, and like, I know I havesomething to fall back on.
And so that's what I did becauseI didn't have anywhere else to
(12:04):
go.
And then the league came aboutand I remember laying in bed
thinking to myself, like, isthis a good idea?
What if I fail?
And I didn't know what failurelooked like, because I hadn't
really like taken much risk inmy life to that point.
I knew exactly what I wanted todo.
And the more I thought about it,the more I was like worst case
scenario, I fail.
And I end up back at home,living with my mom and dad
(12:26):
working at Lululemon best casescenario.
I'm part of this thing thattotally takes off.
And like, I live my dream or Igo for a year and it doesn't
work out.
And then what, but what I, whatwas like the scariest to me was
not making that change at alland thinking in 15 years, wow.
I could have been a part of thishuge thing.
(12:48):
And like, it was kind oftormenting to sit there and
decide, okay, do I take a riskor do, do I stay in my comfort
zone?
And so I decided to move toBrooklyn.
I was gonna do it for one yearand see where it went.
And I ended up sticking it outthrough a lot of the, a lot of
the muck.
And, uh, there were a lot oftimes where I wanted to quit,
but I just kind of went back tothat moment where I was like, I
(13:11):
took a chance on something thatwas uncertain and, and it's
finally started to pay off yearslater.
Um, but my life could have beentotally different if I hadn't
made that decision.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, that's, I mean, that's awesome.
I think, I think a lot of peoplecan relate, um, to that story,
especially even in the pastcouple of years, I think a lot
of people have just been like,you know, I don't wanna, I don't
wanna stay where I'm at.
I want to go do something new.
And I think a lot of people arefinding new avenues and new new
spaces that they want to enter.
And, um, just kind of not beingafraid to fail, which is, you
(13:46):
know, it's bigger than itsounds, you know?
And it's, um, but no, that's,that's really awesome to hear
that you kind of went with yourdreams and, and you follow
those.
So,
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah.
And, and knowing like failingwill teach you the lesson,
right.
Like you're always gonna getsomething out of trying
something and
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah,
Speaker 1 (14:02):
For sure.
But yeah, so it's like a bit,bit of FOMO and, or like not
wanting to ever like regrethaving any regrets, you know?
Um, well, that's amazing what,you know, so that's some, you've
had some great opportunityyou've seized.
Is there anything in your lifeMadison that like maybe even the
(14:23):
one hardest single mostdifficult thing to face?
Could you share about that?
What that was and, and, um, andwhat that meant to, or means to
you?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, so about a year ago, my bad friend's brother
passed away suddenly, and it wasworld shattering.
Um, you know, the, the pandemichas been hard for a lot of
people and kind of leading up tothat.
And through that, like, I'velost a lot of people close to
me, but, um, this was right atthe end of the hockey season.
(14:55):
So we had just come from beingon like the highest of highs,
where we were in a bubble, wewere on NBC sports.
We were doing all these liketrail blazing things and you
come home and you're excited tocelebrate that.
And the day after we got home,we, we found out that Brandon
died and
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I'm sorry, I didn't
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Didn't I didn't know.
Yeah.
I didn't know, like, what do youdo with that?
And so it was, it was kind of adouble edged sword for me
because I lost this person thatI loved and cared about.
It was my best, friend's onlysibling, but also he was my
skills coach.
He was someone that I connectedto connected with, through a
game that I was still playing agame that I, and, um, you know,
(15:32):
over through the spring and overthe summer, like, I didn't know
if I was gonna play hockey againbecause I was hurt.
And I was reminded constantlywhen I went to the rink, like by
my friend, by my teammates.
Like this thing that I loved waskind of like poisoned in a way
by the, the memories that I hadwith, with him.
And just with my friend, Becca,like seeing her every day was
(15:53):
hard.
Um, excuse me.
So I, like, I also was like thetypical athlete who doesn't ask
for help and I'm just like, oh,I'm fine.
Like, I'll get through it.
Like, I didn't break my leg.
I can't see something's wrong.
It'll all work out.
And I finally asked for helpand, you know, I'm, I'm in my
life, I'm a big advocate formental health and, and things
(16:15):
like that.
And I realized that I was sowilling to help other people and
talk about it for them.
And I wasn't willing to sit downand be like, okay, like, there's
something going on here.
I don't know how to fix it.
I don't know what's going on.
Let's talk about it.
And in that I learned that I wasgoing through two things, right.
I was grieving my, and, and thatloss, but I was also kind of
grieving the loss of a part of asport that I loved and how do I
(16:38):
get that passion back?
And it was really hard.
It took a long time to love thegame.
Again, it took a long time toreconnect with my teammates, cuz
it felt kind of like, you know,the team was gone when all this
was happening.
So it was just her and I goingthrough this thing together and
trying to F figure out which waywas up.
Um, and it was really hard.
And honestly only in the lastcouple weeks, have I been able
(17:01):
to really talk about it again?
Have I been able to really feelwhat those emotions meant and if
there's a learning curve in anyof it, like take, take some
things away from it and reallyenjoy playing hockey again, I
think, think last weekend weplayed some games that was the
first time in a long time that Ireally had fun playing.
Um, and it's just because I'velearned to kind of cope with it,
(17:23):
but it was hard.
It, it affected every aspect ofmy life and it was also going
through it during a time when weweren't, we couldn't be together
because of so many differentthings.
So,
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So Madison, if I could just ask a follow up on
that, do you think is thelesson, is the lesson maybe to,
in what you experienced to haveyour own process with it and,
and take the time or, I mean, doyou think it was like the, the
reaching out or both?
I mean it, what, I'm surethere's people who are listening
(17:56):
or will listen to this who havelost people or will ask, lose
someone they love and careabout?
Like what do you think?
I mean, what do you think issome, some comfort in that
process that you've just gonethrough of?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
I think for me it was twothings.
It was one learning how to beemotional and like feel my feels
, which is like kind of cliche.
The first time I heard it.
Um, my wife was like, you don'tfeel your feelings and I didn't
know what that meant, but likereally like sitting and like
feeling like, like, I like feelthis type of way in
(18:31):
understanding what that means,but then also being comfortable,
being selfish, which, you know,when everything happened, I
jumped in my car, I drove to NewYork and I never looked back.
And I, I had a wife with a fourmonth old in, uh, Connecticut.
And I went to Brooklyn for like10 days and just, or, or
Manhattan for like 10 days andjust went into overdrive and,
(18:53):
and, um, I wouldn't have lookingback.
I wouldn't have done it anydifferently, but I never stopped
to consider what that would,what that would do to me and how
that would impact me.
And I was afraid of beingselfish.
I was afraid of not being therefor my friend and having her go
through these things alone.
Um, but I learned in the processthat I, I hate the term selfish.
(19:16):
I think that we need to be selffirst in a lot of ways, because
most, almost no one else isgonna put you first.
And when you're going throughsomething like that, you have to
be comfortable settingboundaries and you have to be
comfortable knowing that someoneelse might be in play a, in
their process, but you're inplace B and it's okay to say,
Hey, I'm just not there yet.
(19:36):
And that's not being selfish.
That's putting you in a positionto continue to be supportive to
the other person.
That's going through it withyou.
But recognizing that you haveboundaries and you need to
respect that because that's apart of your process.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah.
Wow.
Has it made you a betterteammate, do you think, kinda
knowing how to be more, I guess,um, aware of, of where maybe
different players are at, on theice as well?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Yeah, I think it's made me a more empathetic
person, like in general, justrecognizing that there were a
lot of days where I just hadhorrible days, even like out of
the blue, I just was sad and wasjust like, Ugh, like didn't feel
like myself, but I was goingabout my normal life.
So it just gave me a differentperspective on like, you, you go
(20:24):
to the supermarket, you canclearly tell when someone's
having a bad day.
Like maybe that person is reallygoing through something.
Right.
So just having more empathytowards those people and taking
life a little less seriously,like there's so many other
things going on.
Um, so yeah.
Yeah.
That's
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Awesome.
Yeah.
No, I think that's great.
I think, you know, that probablymakes you a better, obviously
your captain, right.
Um, of, of the Rives.
So I think as a, as a captain,being able to, to look out for
your other teammates, um, beingable to understand that like not
every, every game or everypractice, like, you know,
everyone's going through allthese different things.
And so being able to, you know,be there for your teammates, but
(21:00):
then, you know, also understandlike, Hey, everyone goes through
things differently and, and, butyou're, you're always gonna be
there to support them, I thinkis probably, you know, just one
of the greatest things that youcan do for people.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Yeah.
So, um, if going off that, ifyou had, um, to choose one
person in your life, who'simpacted you the most, who would
it be and why?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yeah, my, these are kind of topics are kind of
related.
Um, mine would be my mom.
Um, my mom is incredible.
Uh, she had me when she wasabout 20.
So at a young age, at least,then that's a pretty young mom
even still.
Um, and she had four kids underfour by the time she was 22.
(21:46):
So my mom mom was in school andshe, uh, found out she was
having me, she left college andshe became a mom as her job.
And my mom always gives herselfa hard time because she's like,
I never had a career.
And I'm like, you raised fourpretty successful kids.
You all turned out a half.
Okay.
And we're all full time
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Job.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
We're all like exactly 12 months apart.
So you had your handful.
Oh my God.
She, yeah, but she just, um,when she found out she was
having me and then raised therest of us, she just never
really looked back and justbecame a mom.
And, um, in a lot of ways wekind of grew up together because
(22:23):
like, she was a young momfiguring it out as she went and
she had all these young kids.
And then by the time I was toohad, my mom was the same age as
I am now 30.
And so we had this like coolyoung mom who was running
around, taking us on fieldtrips, doing all the fun stuff.
Oh yeah.
Um, and then as I continued toget older and get more serious
about sports, my mom is aphenomenal athlete, like in her
(22:44):
own.
Right.
She was a, a set state recordsin Michigan for power lifting,
like incredible runners andmarathons Ironman races.
And so when I was training forthe national team or I was
training to go to college, likemy mom was my training buddy,
like I'd grabbed 20 pounddumbbell, she'd grabbed 20
fives.
Like it was, she pushed mealways to be better.
And it was a competition.
(23:04):
And like, because she was soathletic, it was a true
competition.
And I think it's unique thatlike, while parents, you know,
they all say, oh, we put ourkids first.
Like it becomes about the kids.
Like not all parents adapt tothat.
Well, and right away.
And my mom had four kids whowere all, all American athletes,
(23:25):
all stars.
And my mom was that too, but shegave that up so that we could
have have that.
Um, and I think that probablyhad to be hard at times, like
when she looked back at what shecould have had and what that
could have looked like for her,but seeing her kids live in this
spotlight and without my mom, Inever would've gotten to where I
(23:45):
did because my mom, I mean,truly she, she took me to the
Olympics so I could see what itwas like.
She drove on 15 hour bus rideswith me when I was the only girl
on an all boys team and sat onthe bus when all the other
parents flew.
Like she just did things thatother parents didn't.
And it was always because shejust, as much as I did in the
(24:05):
pursuit of my dream and therewas nothing in it for her,
except for she wanted me toachieve something that she
didn't.
And, um, I just hope that, youknow, when my kids are at that
point, that I can be even asmall, like mirror of what my
mom was for me, because shetruly is one of the biggest
reasons why I end it up beingable to chase my dream and, and
(24:27):
have it, the career that I'vehad.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Hmm.
Fantastic.
What's her name?
First name?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Laura
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Packer.
All right, Laura, she's
Speaker 3 (24:34):
All over my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
All right.
Okay.
Yeah, I didn't, yeah, I didn'twanna, I didn't know, like maybe
that shouldn't have said that,but all right, Laura.
Well, thank you Laura, for beinga great mom.
Um, yep.
I mean, anything about familyban you wanna share about?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
No, I, I mean, I, I think parents are, you know,
such a important, you know,piece to our lives and, and
obviously everyone's story isdifferent, but, you know,
personally speaking for me, likemy parents were always like my
biggest cheerleaders, you know,whenever I was, you know,
playing baseball or soccer, um,even, even like my grandparents,
like when I was playing baseball, uh, as a high schooler and
(25:11):
stuff, like my grandpa went toevery single baseball game.
It didn't matter if it was 30degrees windy, cold, and he was
always out there.
And, and I think, you know, justlike you, how, how your mom like
made such an impact.
Like, I'll never forget thatabout my grand.
Like, I will never forget thosemoments because, um, it just
like, it's inspiring, you know,I, I always look at other, you
(25:34):
know, parents that were thereand just how much they supported
their kids, um, and were therefor, for their kids.
And I think it, it just makessuch an impact as an athlete to,
to see that support, cuzespecially like when you're on
the big stage, like I think alot of athletes, you know, they
look at like where they camefrom and who supported them and,
and it all started, you know, asa, at a young age, your mom like
(25:54):
helping you, supporting you, um,you know, doing training drills
to make sure like you were thebest athletes.
So, um, channel to all theparents out there, grandparents
who are just rock stars, youknow, and, and helping their
kids.
Cause it makes a huge, hugedifference.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So yeah, we thank you all.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Well, okay.
Well, so Madison, I have onemore question.
If you could change one thing inour world, what would it be and
why
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I've kind of already answered this one in my last
answer, but, um, I think, um,the empathy we sh we show
towards one another.
I think that the last coupleyears, uh, the world has looked
very different and it's beenreally, really hard.
And I think it's easy to, uh,lose perspective when like
things are going well and you'vegot it all.
(26:45):
But, um, I think we, as humanbeings were kind of like clicked
back a notch when we all had togo into our homes and the future
was kind of uncertain.
And, and I don't say that inlike a good way.
Like we, we needed that.
Right.
But it just changes.
What's important, I think.
And it also makes you recognizeis that, um, life is hard and
like we, you know, while wemight disagree with people or
(27:08):
whatever, like we're kind of allin this thing together.
And, um, like I said before,like you don't ever know what
someone's going through.
And at the end of the day, likelife's too short to, to be
anything other than a goodperson, which is like so cliche
to say, but it really is.
And I think that for me in thelast couple years, like, I've
just, I've become a parent.
I've gone through a really hardloss.
(27:30):
I've had a lot of things changefor me that have changed my
perspective on life and just thethings that are important.
And, um, you know, my, my, thevalue of my teammates, I used to
just, you know, oh, you're partof a team and whatever now it's
like, I really wanna get to knowall of those people and their
stories and how I can help them,even if we don't ever play
together again, like how can Iconnect with this person?
(27:52):
And, and I think for me, it wasnot having access to those
people.
Like I'm the kind of person thatused to just like when my wife
is out of town for work, I'dlike drive up to the cheesecake
factory instead of the bar andtalk straight
Speaker 5 (28:04):
Because
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I just like crave human interaction.
Right.
For sure.
And so for me, like the parts ofit that I missed the most in, in
being separate from people waslike the compassion that people
show one another, the storiesthat you hear from people like
getting to meet people from alldifferent walks of life.
And I think far too many of usjust don't have be for other
(28:25):
people's stories.
And I think if we showed moreempathy, a lot of thing, like a
lot of the big problems, right?
Like you think world hunger andlike water, clean water and
things like that.
Like those are huge monstrousissues.
Absolutely.
But if we all change the levelof empathy and humanity that we
showed just on a daily basis,some of those bigger of problems
(28:45):
would begin to solve themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Hmm.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Well, wow.
Wise and really, really, reallygood at hockey.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Well that was, that was not easy.
Someone would've done italready, so right.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
For sure.
I mean, but it takes all of us,right.
Like you're saying it reallydoes.
And I think you've, you've, um,you've reminded me and Ben of
how to be in how to think aboutgoing to the grocery store
differently, at least, you know,like it, it is, it is the day to
day thing.
And, and, um, so thank you forreminding us of that.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah.
I got into it with a guy at thegrocery store over a chicken pop
pie.
Like three months ago, there wasone laugh.
I was there with my son who wasless than a year old at the
time.
And I put it in my car and thisguy just went bananas.
Cause you took the last pie andI'm like,
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Did you keep it?
Speaker 3 (29:34):
No, I was like, dude, you can have it, my son and I
don't need to eat tonight.
It's fine.
We'll just,
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Oh,
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We'll just go over to the frozen section.
Find something over there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Oh, we got, yeah.
It's it's I think, yeah.
You, you really got it.
Like I said before, just justunderstand that everyone's, you
know, coming from like, probablymy biggest like pet peeve is, is
when I'm driving my car and, andsomeone's whipping by me.
And you know, the first thingthat I want to do is, is judge
them and, and be like, man, whatare you doing on the road
driving like that?
But at the same time, it's like,you don't know, like maybe, you
(30:06):
know, maybe he's rushing to thehospital.
Maybe he's, you know, late forsomething super, super
important.
And so it's so easy to like, tojudge people quickly like that
and, and or whether you'reshopping or whatever, but you
just have to like take deepbreath and then realize like,
you know what, like life is tooshort to worry about this.
Like let him have his, you know,pop pie and, and
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He need
Speaker 2 (30:29):
It too, you know, and just, just go with the flow, you
know?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah.
Um, where can our listenersfollow you and learn more about
you and what you're interestedin?
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Yeah, so I am on, on Twitter.
Uh, my handle is Madisonunderscore packer underscore I'm
on Instagram.
My handle is M packer 14.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It's it's been awesome.
Just to get to know you moreMadison, just, just to get to
know a, about your career andjust some of your passions and,
um, what makes you, um, so yeah,I mean, it's, it's been a super
fun episode.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Thank you guys.
This was fun.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Hey, thanks for listening to, we're not blowing
hot air host by Lauren Carlstromand me Ben Johnson today's
episode was produced by HeidiNorman and was edited and
engineered by Scott Deming.
Do us a solid and sharesubscribe, rate, and review
wherever you podcast and followoxygen, plus on all social media
platforms for the latest andgreatest happenings.
(31:32):
ATUs.
Welcome to the word app blowing hot air podcast,
powered by oxygen plus featuringamazing athletes and wellness
minded individuals who share howthey elevate their everyday
lives.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
On this episode, we talk shop with Matt packer, a
hockey player from the nationalwomen's hockey league with
reputation for her work ethic onand off the ice.
Get ready to be inspired by thisfearless athlete, friend, wife,
mom, and mental health advocate.
Hey everyone.
Uh, welcome to we're not blowinghot air, uh, season two, episode
(00:36):
one.
I'm Ben Johnson.
Um, today we have Madison packerhere with us.
Um, I'm with my co-host LaurenCarlstrom.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It's great to have you Ben, and hi Madison.
Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Thanks for having me guys.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
How, how are you doing on this Friday?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Good.
We got warm weather here inConnecticut, so we're happy.
We're hopefully gonna go to thepark after we pick our set up
from daycare.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Oh, that's
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Awesome.
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Um, yeah, it's, it's gonna warm up here next week.
So we're, we're, we're crossingour fingers.
Uh, well, yeah, once again, justthank you so much for, um, for,
for joining us.
Uh, Lauren and I are superexcited, um, to get to know you
a little bit more and to haveyou on this podcast.
So, um, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, let's do this thing.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, let's go.
All right.
So kind of first question.
Um, how, how do you owe plus?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, so I use oxygen plus mostly when I'm training in
the gym and out on the ice.
My primary area focus is hockeyobviously, but it's been a huge
tool for me in the gym.
When I'm lifting, doing quick,hit workout, it's just between
sets.
Um, I've actually turned myteammates onto it a little bit
out on the ice.
We use this skinny as easy touse through a face mask.
So I got all my teammates hooks.
(01:52):
Now.
They were actually bugging me atpractice yesterday to make sure
I bring some to the ringtomorrow for the game.
So I use it mostly, uh, in thegym on the ice, like I said, but
, uh, I'm also just bought a newbike.
So I'm looking forward to givenit a tryout on the bike, uh,
this spring and the off season.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Oh, that's fantastic.
I mean, we, we actually just,there was an independent study
done on our product, um, in theUK it's it's on our website.
If you wanna check it out or anyof our listeners wanna check it
out, it, it reduces, uh, I think24%, it, it helps to the build
up of lactic acid and, and speedup recovery.
So it's pretty awesome that, um,using it and it was a cycle, um,
(02:32):
test that was done.
And, um, so really cool to hearyou say that you're using it for
training to help like performbetter and, and train longer,
cuz that's definitely somethingthat happens and works with our
products.
So very cool.
And um, as a hockey player, Imean, wow, you so need it on the
ice.
Like you're going out there aquick sprint back in.
(02:54):
That's like how you need it.
It's
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, I, I can imagine, I mean, after a couple
of shifts on the ice or whateverit is, I mean, I bet, I bet I
would be absolutely gas.
I mean, even when I'm playingpick up hockey, I'm like, holy
smokes.
I don't know how these proplayers do it, but um, I'm, I'm
sure you probably notice it alot.
Um, you know, maybe mid gamewhen you're, um, can go to the
bench and, and just get a energyrecovery on that.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yeah.
It's hugely beneficial betweenshifts or like if you've been
out on the ice for a shift andthen we got a powerplay or
something coming up and thecoach wants to send the same
people back out, um, it's hugelybeneficial.
You touched on the lactic acid.
Like that's something that wefocus on, always in recovery,
obviously with hockey being sucha leg heavy sport.
So it's been great for me.
I'm, I'm, I'm happy to havepartnered with you guys.
And um, like I said, I got someof my teammates, a little
(03:43):
jealous.
I've been having to share mytanks at the ring, so
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Well, that's kinda you to share.
You gotta gotta help yourteammates out though, right?
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Um, well share more about whoyou are, Madison, where you
play, what you do and youalready said you're in
Connecticut, but I wanna knowwhere you're from as well.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah.
So I'm, uh, you guys are inMinnesota, I'm a Midwesterner
two from just outside Detroit.
I was born and raised, um, grewup playing hockey in the Detroit
area.
I'm one of four kids.
So I'm sandwich between twobrothers.
So I always had to do what theywere doing, uh, and got involved
in hockey at a young age, knewfrom that age that I wanted to
(04:24):
play hockey in some form growingup, uh, slowly that picture
became more clear.
I ended up going to theuniversity of Wisconsin to play
for four years, uh, won anational championship there.
And then when I was about tograduate there wasn't a pro
league yet.
And it kind of, the timing allkind of fell into place for
perfectly.
So I started playing in the NHL,which is now the PHF premier
(04:45):
hockey Federation, uh, going onour seventh season.
So I'm a professional hockeyplayer.
And can you
Speaker 1 (04:51):
See, what does the acronym stand for?
Can you share that
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Premier hockey Federation and we were the NHL,
the national women's hockeyleague.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Okay, got it.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So I am, uh, the teams are mostly located on the
east coast.
There's one team in Minnesota.
We just put a team in Toronto inthe off season.
They're adding a team inMontreal and one other mystery
market that we don't know aboutyet.
So that's kind of how I ended upout in Connecticut was I, uh,
signed with the New York teamand ended up liking it out here.
And so I settled out here forthe time
Speaker 1 (05:22):
The New York Riveters .
Yes.
Yeah.
And wow.
What, what are the what's the,or, uh, the origination or
origin, is that how, just to sayit normally of, of that team,
the name,
Speaker 3 (05:34):
So it's kind of cool.
Cuz the Riveter has a Detroittie too.
So Rives were the women thatworked during world war II and
the factories.
Um, and so there's a connectionthere to Brooklyn.
There's a strong connection toDetroit where a lot of those
women worked in the automotiveindustry during world war II, uh
, which is kind of cool for mebeing from Detroit.
Um, we have a pretty iconicmascot that banner with a woman
(05:57):
flexing her arm saying you cando it.
Uh, Rosie, the Riveter is ourteam mascot.
So we started as the New YorkRiveters and then we kind of
spread out into New Jersey.
So we are now the metropolitanRS.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Oh, all right.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah.
And you're, you're in your sevenseason, is that right?
Even playing for were like five,five to seven years.
And you wanna do probably fiveto seven more or what, tell us
about your, your career andwhere you're at in it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah.
So this is my seventh season.
Uh, we had a condensed seasonlast year cuz of COVID.
Um, so there were only a couplegames last season, but we played
up in a bubble.
Uh, the league started in 2015.
We started with four teams.
Uh, we've slowly expanded everyyear.
So hopefully next season we'llhave eight teams and yeah, this
is my, we, we have playoffsstarting next week.
(06:46):
This is my seventh season.
And like you said, I'm hoping toplay for, we'll see, I say five
to seven, three to five, oneyear at a time kind of changes.
So, um, next year's the firstyear that they can offer
multi-year contracts and I thinkthey can offer two year
contracts.
So we're not quite where the menare with offering like longer
(07:06):
deals and things like that.
But hopefully I can get a, get atwo year contract and see how
things go after that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
That's awesome.
Well, O plus can, you know, takeyou further.
So yeah.
Um, well that's awesome.
Um, you know, it's, it's reallycool to just see your, your
hockey career and just kind ofsee where it goes.
What is typically like thelength for someone in, you know,
in your league?
Like how long do peopletypically play?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, so it's kind of a task cuz the league is so new,
right?
I've been in it for sevenseasons and we're going, this is
our seventh season, we're goingon the eighth year.
So there are, you know, I'd sayfive or six of us.
I think that have been therefrom the beginning outside of
that.
Um, the average career length isprobably between two and four
seasons depending what marketyou're in and who you are.
(07:56):
Uh, the, the goal is to see thatgrow, obviously on the men's
side, you see players playingfor a lot longer.
So as we are able to offerhigher salaries and more
permanent living situations and,and benefits and things like
that, all these things that haverolled out in the last couple
seasons, I think you'll seeplayers coming in right after
college and staying for longerbecause they don't have to worry
about what they're gonna donext.
(08:18):
Um, right now there's thatconcern right?
Where we're not making a hugewage.
So how do you only focus onhockey when you have a career
outside of that is, is the,where we've been stuck kind of.
And so now next season salariesare going up, the cap has
increased.
And so over time I think thehope is that you'll see players
with a little longer careers inthe, you know, seven to 10 even
longer range.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Good.
Good to hear that.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
That's, that's awesome to hear it's it seems
like, um, uh, the sport ofhockey, um, for women, it seems
like it's, it's growing andgrowing a lot more.
Um, you know, what probably, um,you know, has been like the
biggest, um, challenge in termsof like growth for this league.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think visibility,right.
Um, oxygen plus is the greatestexample of a company that
invests in women.
Um, for a long time, women havebeen viewed as a risk and in
some area has a liability whenit comes to sports, right.
Companies wanna see a return ontheir investment.
And how does that look?
You look at the w N B a andthey're crushing it, but even
(09:23):
the w w N B a right now, whenthey get a deal, 80% of that
deal has to go to the NBA.
Wow.
Which is maybe something thatnot everybody knows, but so
these women are like, Hey, wewanna branch off.
And like, we, we can stay in onour own.
We've been partnered with theNBA for 25 years now, I think 26
now, how do we, what more do weneed to do to prove that we can
make it?
(09:44):
I mean, I've been to thosegames, they sell out buildings,
they've got their faces are allover billboards in big towns.
And so we're, we're lucky inhockey that we've had so many
powerful women before for us inother, you know, avenues.
If you look at the us nationalsoccer team on the women's side,
the, just even the, the nationalwomen's soccer league, the w N B
(10:05):
a, we have a lot of women whohave worked really, really hard
for, for decades to try andcreate change.
And, um, it's finally coming tofruition for them.
And while we on the hockey sidehave worked really hard as we,
well, we're just a baby incomparison.
I mean, we're on our seventhseason and we've already more
than tripled our salary cap inseven years.
That's just is unheard of insports.
(10:25):
And it's because we've had somany other women before us to
kind of model ourselves after,and they've done the work.
They've proven that the productis worth investing in.
And it's, you know, someone justsaid the other day, I don't like
the phrase bet on women.
I like invest in women becausethat is a gamble and women have
proven themselves to be valuablein the workplace.
Um, and I think that's so true.
So we just have to keep pluggingaway and you're gonna get a
(10:47):
hundred no's before you get ayes, but that's kind of how it's
always been.
And hopefully the nextgeneration has it a little bit
easier and, um, just keepworking for more
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Well done.
I mean that, I know it takes alot of work, so congrats to you
and everyone that you've beenworking with and leading that
change and that effort.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah.
I mean, you know, all that, allthat success, um, you know, what
do you think is the single mostimportant action you took to
elevate your life to reach your,your current level of success?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Yeah, I think for me it was, um, I, I was stopped
being afraid of to fail.
And in that, like when I was akid, I knew I wanted to play
hockey and I had everything laidout for me.
And I didn't really have, Imean, I had choices here and
there, but it was, you go topractice, you come home, you
have a game, you go to bed, youget up, you do the same thing.
And I was on a very clear pathto play in college.
(11:41):
I wanted to be an Olympian.
I had all the tools, all I hadto do was show up.
And then you fast forward to theend of my college career.
And I'm thinking about, okay, Ineed to get a job.
Well, there are billions of jobsin the world.
Like, which one do I pick?
You know, where do I move?
Am I do I go home with mom anddad where it's safe?
And, and like, I know I havesomething to fall back on.
And so that's what I did becauseI didn't have anywhere else to
(12:04):
go.
And then the league came aboutand I remember laying in bed
thinking to myself, like, isthis a good idea?
What if I fail?
And I didn't know what failurelooked like, because I hadn't
really like taken much risk inmy life to that point.
I knew exactly what I wanted todo.
And the more I thought about it,the more I was like worst case
scenario, I fail.
And I end up back at home,living with my mom and dad
(12:26):
working at Lululemon best casescenario.
I'm part of this thing thattotally takes off.
And like, I live my dream or Igo for a year and it doesn't
work out.
And then what, but what I, whatwas like the scariest to me was
not making that change at alland thinking in 15 years, wow.
I could have been a part of thishuge thing.
(12:48):
And like, it was kind oftormenting to sit there and
decide, okay, do I take a riskor do, do I stay in my comfort
zone?
And so I decided to move toBrooklyn.
I was gonna do it for one yearand see where it went.
And I ended up sticking it outthrough a lot of the, a lot of
the muck.
And, uh, there were a lot oftimes where I wanted to quit,
but I just kind of went back tothat moment where I was like, I
(13:11):
took a chance on something thatwas uncertain and, and it's
finally started to pay off yearslater.
Um, but my life could have beentotally different if I hadn't
made that decision.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Well, that's, I mean, that's awesome.
I think, I think a lot of peoplecan relate, um, to that story,
especially even in the pastcouple of years, I think a lot
of people have just been like,you know, I don't wanna, I don't
wanna stay where I'm at.
I want to go do something new.
And I think a lot of people arefinding new avenues and new new
spaces that they want to enter.
And, um, just kind of not beingafraid to fail, which is, you
(13:46):
know, it's bigger than itsounds, you know?
And it's, um, but no, that's,that's really awesome to hear
that you kind of went with yourdreams and, and you follow
those.
So,
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah.
And, and knowing like failingwill teach you the lesson,
right.
Like you're always gonna getsomething out of trying
something and
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah,
Speaker 1 (14:02):
For sure.
But yeah, so it's like a bit,bit of FOMO and, or like not
wanting to ever like regrethaving any regrets, you know?
Um, well, that's amazing what,you know, so that's some, you've
had some great opportunityyou've seized.
Is there anything in your lifeMadison that like maybe even the
(14:23):
one hardest single mostdifficult thing to face?
Could you share about that?
What that was and, and, um, andwhat that meant to, or means to
you?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, so about a year ago, my bad friend's brother
passed away suddenly, and it wasworld shattering.
Um, you know, the, the pandemichas been hard for a lot of
people and kind of leading up tothat.
And through that, like, I'velost a lot of people close to
me, but, um, this was right atthe end of the hockey season.
(14:55):
So we had just come from beingon like the highest of highs,
where we were in a bubble, wewere on NBC sports.
We were doing all these liketrail blazing things and you
come home and you're excited tocelebrate that.
And the day after we got home,we, we found out that Brandon
died and
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I'm sorry, I didn't
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Didn't I didn't know.
Yeah.
I didn't know, like, what do youdo with that?
And so it was, it was kind of adouble edged sword for me
because I lost this person thatI loved and cared about.
It was my best, friend's onlysibling, but also he was my
skills coach.
He was someone that I connectedto connected with, through a
game that I was still playing agame that I, and, um, you know,
(15:32):
over through the spring and overthe summer, like, I didn't know
if I was gonna play hockey againbecause I was hurt.
And I was reminded constantlywhen I went to the rink, like by
my friend, by my teammates.
Like this thing that I loved waskind of like poisoned in a way
by the, the memories that I hadwith, with him.
And just with my friend, Becca,like seeing her every day was
(15:53):
hard.
Um, excuse me.
So I, like, I also was like thetypical athlete who doesn't ask
for help and I'm just like, oh,I'm fine.
Like, I'll get through it.
Like, I didn't break my leg.
I can't see something's wrong.
It'll all work out.
And I finally asked for helpand, you know, I'm, I'm in my
life, I'm a big advocate formental health and, and things
(16:15):
like that.
And I realized that I was sowilling to help other people and
talk about it for them.
And I wasn't willing to sit downand be like, okay, like, there's
something going on here.
I don't know how to fix it.
I don't know what's going on.
Let's talk about it.
And in that I learned that I wasgoing through two things, right.
I was grieving my, and, and thatloss, but I was also kind of
grieving the loss of a part of asport that I loved and how do I
(16:38):
get that passion back?
And it was really hard.
It took a long time to love thegame.
Again, it took a long time toreconnect with my teammates, cuz
it felt kind of like, you know,the team was gone when all this
was happening.
So it was just her and I goingthrough this thing together and
trying to F figure out which waywas up.
Um, and it was really hard.
And honestly only in the lastcouple weeks, have I been able
(17:01):
to really talk about it again?
Have I been able to really feelwhat those emotions meant and if
there's a learning curve in anyof it, like take, take some
things away from it and reallyenjoy playing hockey again, I
think, think last weekend weplayed some games that was the
first time in a long time that Ireally had fun playing.
Um, and it's just because I'velearned to kind of cope with it,
(17:23):
but it was hard.
It, it affected every aspect ofmy life and it was also going
through it during a time when weweren't, we couldn't be together
because of so many differentthings.
So,
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So Madison, if I could just ask a follow up on
that, do you think is thelesson, is the lesson maybe to,
in what you experienced to haveyour own process with it and,
and take the time or, I mean, doyou think it was like the, the
reaching out or both?
I mean it, what, I'm surethere's people who are listening
(17:56):
or will listen to this who havelost people or will ask, lose
someone they love and careabout?
Like what do you think?
I mean, what do you think issome, some comfort in that
process that you've just gonethrough of?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
I think for me it was twothings.
It was one learning how to beemotional and like feel my feels
, which is like kind of cliche.
The first time I heard it.
Um, my wife was like, you don'tfeel your feelings and I didn't
know what that meant, but likereally like sitting and like
feeling like, like, I like feelthis type of way in
(18:31):
understanding what that means,but then also being comfortable,
being selfish, which, you know,when everything happened, I
jumped in my car, I drove to NewYork and I never looked back.
And I, I had a wife with a fourmonth old in, uh, Connecticut.
And I went to Brooklyn for like10 days and just, or, or
Manhattan for like 10 days andjust went into overdrive and,
(18:53):
and, um, I wouldn't have lookingback.
I wouldn't have done it anydifferently, but I never stopped
to consider what that would,what that would do to me and how
that would impact me.
And I was afraid of beingselfish.
I was afraid of not being therefor my friend and having her go
through these things alone.
Um, but I learned in the processthat I, I hate the term selfish.
(19:16):
I think that we need to be selffirst in a lot of ways, because
most, almost no one else isgonna put you first.
And when you're going throughsomething like that, you have to
be comfortable settingboundaries and you have to be
comfortable knowing that someoneelse might be in play a, in
their process, but you're inplace B and it's okay to say,
Hey, I'm just not there yet.
(19:36):
And that's not being selfish.
That's putting you in a positionto continue to be supportive to
the other person.
That's going through it withyou.
But recognizing that you haveboundaries and you need to
respect that because that's apart of your process.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yeah.
Wow.
Has it made you a betterteammate, do you think, kinda
knowing how to be more, I guess,um, aware of, of where maybe
different players are at, on theice as well?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Yeah, I think it's made me a more empathetic
person, like in general, justrecognizing that there were a
lot of days where I just hadhorrible days, even like out of
the blue, I just was sad and wasjust like, Ugh, like didn't feel
like myself, but I was goingabout my normal life.
So it just gave me a differentperspective on like, you, you go
(20:24):
to the supermarket, you canclearly tell when someone's
having a bad day.
Like maybe that person is reallygoing through something.
Right.
So just having more empathytowards those people and taking
life a little less seriously,like there's so many other
things going on.
Um, so yeah.
Yeah.
That's
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Awesome.
Yeah.
No, I think that's great.
I think, you know, that probablymakes you a better, obviously
your captain, right.
Um, of, of the Rives.
So I think as a, as a captain,being able to, to look out for
your other teammates, um, beingable to understand that like not
every, every game or everypractice, like, you know,
everyone's going through allthese different things.
And so being able to, you know,be there for your teammates, but
(21:00):
then, you know, also understandlike, Hey, everyone goes through
things differently and, and, butyou're, you're always gonna be
there to support them, I thinkis probably, you know, just one
of the greatest things that youcan do for people.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Yeah.
So, um, if going off that, ifyou had, um, to choose one
person in your life, who'simpacted you the most, who would
it be and why?
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Yeah, my, these are kind of topics are kind of
related.
Um, mine would be my mom.
Um, my mom is incredible.
Uh, she had me when she wasabout 20.
So at a young age, at least,then that's a pretty young mom
even still.
Um, and she had four kids underfour by the time she was 22.
(21:46):
So my mom mom was in school andshe, uh, found out she was
having me, she left college andshe became a mom as her job.
And my mom always gives herselfa hard time because she's like,
I never had a career.
And I'm like, you raised fourpretty successful kids.
You all turned out a half.
Okay.
And we're all full time
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Job.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
We're all like exactly 12 months apart.
So you had your handful.
Oh my God.
She, yeah, but she just, um,when she found out she was
having me and then raised therest of us, she just never
really looked back and justbecame a mom.
And, um, in a lot of ways wekind of grew up together because
(22:23):
like, she was a young momfiguring it out as she went and
she had all these young kids.
And then by the time I was toohad, my mom was the same age as
I am now 30.
And so we had this like coolyoung mom who was running
around, taking us on fieldtrips, doing all the fun stuff.
Oh yeah.
Um, and then as I continued toget older and get more serious
about sports, my mom is aphenomenal athlete, like in her
(22:44):
own.
Right.
She was a, a set state recordsin Michigan for power lifting,
like incredible runners andmarathons Ironman races.
And so when I was training forthe national team or I was
training to go to college, likemy mom was my training buddy,
like I'd grabbed 20 pounddumbbell, she'd grabbed 20
fives.
Like it was, she pushed mealways to be better.
And it was a competition.
(23:04):
And like, because she was soathletic, it was a true
competition.
And I think it's unique thatlike, while parents, you know,
they all say, oh, we put ourkids first.
Like it becomes about the kids.
Like not all parents adapt tothat.
Well, and right away.
And my mom had four kids whowere all, all American athletes,
(23:25):
all stars.
And my mom was that too, but shegave that up so that we could
have have that.
Um, and I think that probablyhad to be hard at times, like
when she looked back at what shecould have had and what that
could have looked like for her,but seeing her kids live in this
spotlight and without my mom, Inever would've gotten to where I
(23:45):
did because my mom, I mean,truly she, she took me to the
Olympics so I could see what itwas like.
She drove on 15 hour bus rideswith me when I was the only girl
on an all boys team and sat onthe bus when all the other
parents flew.
Like she just did things thatother parents didn't.
And it was always because shejust, as much as I did in the
(24:05):
pursuit of my dream and therewas nothing in it for her,
except for she wanted me toachieve something that she
didn't.
And, um, I just hope that, youknow, when my kids are at that
point, that I can be even asmall, like mirror of what my
mom was for me, because shetruly is one of the biggest
reasons why I end it up beingable to chase my dream and, and
(24:27):
have it, the career that I'vehad.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Hmm.
Fantastic.
What's her name?
First name?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Laura
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Packer.
All right, Laura, she's
Speaker 3 (24:34):
All over my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
All right.
Okay.
Yeah, I didn't, yeah, I didn'twanna, I didn't know, like maybe
that shouldn't have said that,but all right, Laura.
Well, thank you Laura, for beinga great mom.
Um, yep.
I mean, anything about familyban you wanna share about?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
No, I, I mean, I, I think parents are, you know,
such a important, you know,piece to our lives and, and
obviously everyone's story isdifferent, but, you know,
personally speaking for me, likemy parents were always like my
biggest cheerleaders, you know,whenever I was, you know,
playing baseball or soccer, um,even, even like my grandparents,
like when I was playing baseball, uh, as a high schooler and
(25:11):
stuff, like my grandpa went toevery single baseball game.
It didn't matter if it was 30degrees windy, cold, and he was
always out there.
And, and I think, you know, justlike you, how, how your mom like
made such an impact.
Like, I'll never forget thatabout my grand.
Like, I will never forget thosemoments because, um, it just
like, it's inspiring, you know,I, I always look at other, you
(25:34):
know, parents that were thereand just how much they supported
their kids, um, and were therefor, for their kids.
And I think it, it just makessuch an impact as an athlete to,
to see that support, cuzespecially like when you're on
the big stage, like I think alot of athletes, you know, they
look at like where they camefrom and who supported them and,
and it all started, you know, asa, at a young age, your mom like
(25:54):
helping you, supporting you, um,you know, doing training drills
to make sure like you were thebest athletes.
So, um, channel to all theparents out there, grandparents
who are just rock stars, youknow, and, and helping their
kids.
Cause it makes a huge, hugedifference.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So yeah, we thank you all.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Well, okay.
Well, so Madison, I have onemore question.
If you could change one thing inour world, what would it be and
why
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I've kind of already answered this one in my last
answer, but, um, I think, um,the empathy we sh we show
towards one another.
I think that the last coupleyears, uh, the world has looked
very different and it's beenreally, really hard.
And I think it's easy to, uh,lose perspective when like
things are going well and you'vegot it all.
(26:45):
But, um, I think we, as humanbeings were kind of like clicked
back a notch when we all had togo into our homes and the future
was kind of uncertain.
And, and I don't say that inlike a good way.
Like we, we needed that.
Right.
But it just changes.
What's important, I think.
And it also makes you recognizeis that, um, life is hard and
like we, you know, while wemight disagree with people or
(27:08):
whatever, like we're kind of allin this thing together.
And, um, like I said before,like you don't ever know what
someone's going through.
And at the end of the day, likelife's too short to, to be
anything other than a goodperson, which is like so cliche
to say, but it really is.
And I think that for me in thelast couple years, like, I've
just, I've become a parent.
I've gone through a really hardloss.
(27:30):
I've had a lot of things changefor me that have changed my
perspective on life and just thethings that are important.
And, um, you know, my, my, thevalue of my teammates, I used to
just, you know, oh, you're partof a team and whatever now it's
like, I really wanna get to knowall of those people and their
stories and how I can help them,even if we don't ever play
together again, like how can Iconnect with this person?
(27:52):
And, and I think for me, it wasnot having access to those
people.
Like I'm the kind of person thatused to just like when my wife
is out of town for work, I'dlike drive up to the cheesecake
factory instead of the bar andtalk straight
Speaker 5 (28:04):
Because
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I just like crave human interaction.
Right.
For sure.
And so for me, like the parts ofit that I missed the most in, in
being separate from people waslike the compassion that people
show one another, the storiesthat you hear from people like
getting to meet people from alldifferent walks of life.
And I think far too many of usjust don't have be for other
(28:25):
people's stories.
And I think if we showed moreempathy, a lot of thing, like a
lot of the big problems, right?
Like you think world hunger andlike water, clean water and
things like that.
Like those are huge monstrousissues.
Absolutely.
But if we all change the levelof empathy and humanity that we
showed just on a daily basis,some of those bigger of problems
(28:45):
would begin to solve themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Hmm.
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Well, wow.
Wise and really, really, reallygood at hockey.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Well that was, that was not easy.
Someone would've done italready, so right.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
For sure.
I mean, but it takes all of us,right.
Like you're saying it reallydoes.
And I think you've, you've, um,you've reminded me and Ben of
how to be in how to think aboutgoing to the grocery store
differently, at least, you know,like it, it is, it is the day to
day thing.
And, and, um, so thank you forreminding us of that.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Yeah.
I got into it with a guy at thegrocery store over a chicken pop
pie.
Like three months ago, there wasone laugh.
I was there with my son who wasless than a year old at the
time.
And I put it in my car and thisguy just went bananas.
Cause you took the last pie andI'm like,
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Did you keep it?
Speaker 3 (29:34):
No, I was like, dude, you can have it, my son and I
don't need to eat tonight.
It's fine.
We'll just,
Speaker 5 (29:39):
Oh,
Speaker 3 (29:39):
We'll just go over to the frozen section.
Find something over there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Oh, we got, yeah.
It's it's I think, yeah.
You, you really got it.
Like I said before, just justunderstand that everyone's, you
know, coming from like, probablymy biggest like pet peeve is, is
when I'm driving my car and, andsomeone's whipping by me.
And you know, the first thingthat I want to do is, is judge
them and, and be like, man, whatare you doing on the road
driving like that?
But at the same time, it's like,you don't know, like maybe, you
(30:06):
know, maybe he's rushing to thehospital.
Maybe he's, you know, late forsomething super, super
important.
And so it's so easy to like, tojudge people quickly like that
and, and or whether you'reshopping or whatever, but you
just have to like take deepbreath and then realize like,
you know what, like life is tooshort to worry about this.
Like let him have his, you know,pop pie and, and
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He need
Speaker 2 (30:29):
It too, you know, and just, just go with the flow, you
know?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah.
Um, where can our listenersfollow you and learn more about
you and what you're interestedin?
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Yeah, so I am on, on Twitter.
Uh, my handle is Madisonunderscore packer underscore I'm
on Instagram.
My handle is M packer 14.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
It's it's been awesome.
Just to get to know you moreMadison, just, just to get to
know a, about your career andjust some of your passions and,
um, what makes you, um, so yeah,I mean, it's, it's been a super
fun episode.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Thank you guys.
This was fun.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Hey, thanks for listening to, we're not blowing
hot air host by Lauren Carlstromand me Ben Johnson today's
episode was produced by HeidiNorman and was edited and
engineered by Scott Deming.
Do us a solid and sharesubscribe, rate, and review
wherever you podcast and followoxygen, plus on all social media
platforms for the latest andgreatest happenings.
(31:32):
ATUs.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.