December 3, 2025 • 38 mins
In this special informative episode, guest host Colin Ward from the OHL in 60 Podcast chats with Chris Whalen; Owner of Chris Whalen Hockey to discuss the purpose and ever-growing importance of individual player investment in 1on1 Hockey Player Development coaching, on top of just what they do with their club teams, to help them stand out from the rest with competitiveness/hockey sense, as they hope to take steps in their careers and aspirations to become professional hockey players.
Segments:
Intro: 0:00
Part 1 - Introduction & Importance of Personalized Development Coaching: 02:18
Part 2 - Practice & Patience in the Process, Going the Extra Mile: 18:22
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Segments:
Intro: 0:00
Part 1 - Introduction & Importance of Personalized Development Coaching: 02:18
Part 2 - Practice & Patience in the Process, Going the Extra Mile: 18:22
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Jim Joker's voice of the Cakes to bron Next,
you're listening to OHL Overtime, an in depth interview show
highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
OHL Championship Series, OHL Combine and more exclusively on the
(00:48):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Welcome into another edition of OHL Overtime right here on
the Armchair GM Sports Network. If you're watching us on
the video version, make sure to like subscribe and hit
that bell that stays up today with all of our
video episodes as well. Thank you to those listening on
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(01:21):
as well as on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok the whole
nine yards for all of our short reels our media content.
It's great over there. Check that thing out. I'm your host.
Today's program calling ward BC is in the clouds. For
those who listen to the OHL and sixty podcasts, you've
been getting the Clouds. We miss them on here for sure.
Big thanks BC for letting me let me host this
event tonight. We're pleased to be joined Chris Whalen with
(01:41):
Chris Whalen Hockey. He's going to join us tonight in
a couple of minutes. Chris has been great. I got
to meet Chris a few seasons ago. For the past
few seasons, that is with the Branford Bulldogs Hamilton Bulldogs.
In fun fact, twenty one to twenty two video coach
of the Bulldogs at OEHL championship team. He was a
video coach of that team. We're gonna learn a lot
tonight Chris Whaleen Hockey. He has great testimony. It's been great.
He's got a lot of pro hockey players Nick Lartis,
(02:03):
Jac O'Brien, there's a few guys, Patrick Thomas, Jamison Reese.
There's a lot of really good pro hockey players that
are with that have been with Chris Whalen. So after
the break you're hear from Chris Whalen on your podcast forums,
see him on YouTube. It's gonna be great. Can't wait
to chat with Chris. We'll be back in a few moments.
He's honest, he's hardworking and he's incredibly supportive. That's what
eighth overall the Seattle crack in this past draft, jac
(02:24):
O'Brien had to say about Chris Whaling, Chris Willie and
Chris Whaleen Hockey. Chris, welcome aboard and tell us all
about yourself. How thing's going? And I know I mentioned
about two three seasons back now with the Bulldogs. Started
as a video coach. Want an OHL championship. That's incredible
year one? How thing's going? And what's life been like
(02:46):
for Chris Whalen Hockey lately?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
The things would be great. Thank you for having me. Yeah, no,
it's it's been good. Like just a little bit about
me for the viewers. I started as an intern with
the Bulldogs when I was just a kid. I was
like seventeen, and worked there part time all through university.
As soon as I graduated, kind of started in management
role scouting and video coach, and then kind of graduated
(03:13):
it to a lot more player development, more on the
management side. I think the role we called it was
like special advisor of the GM and then yeah, I
spent a lot of time there and made a lot
of great friends there. Obviously with you being one of them.
Still love the staff and and so many lifelong connections
(03:33):
came from there, So it was it was it was
a pretty special time for sure. And then now I've
got no go ahead, no your gig just keep going perfect. Yeah.
So now I've got my own, my own venture going
on called Chris Whaleen Hockey where I work with a
lot of players one on one to help help grow
their game, teaching a lot of hockey sense and noticing
(03:58):
kind of some of the gaps and development these days,
and how I can help make players better and kind
of help them reach their goals. So that's kind of
what I've been focused on.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
What would you say your biggest takeaway Chris from video
development side of things with the front office, what are
your biggest takeaways from those moments and help do you
develop your program?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
A lot? A lot? So for me, I was really fortunate.
I learned from a lot of really smart people obviously
coming through that organization. There's so many that we can name,
you know, Steve Stealos, Matt Turk, j McKee, Andrea's Carlson,
and Andrew Campbell, like the list just it doesn't stop.
So for me, that really shaped how I see the
game and my ability to evaluate and and everything I
(04:46):
do now stems from what I learned from you know,
that staff and the people I worked with, So that
was a big part of it. The video understanding what
to look for. You know, Jay was the best coach
to work for, best head coach, he was awesome, So
that really helped a ton. And then I find with
(05:07):
the player development side, you get to put all of
those skills together. Because there's a little bit of the
video side, you definitely still have to evaluate and use
the scouting understanding and the ability to project upside and potential,
and then the player development side is more of like
the one on one coaching, where you have to find
out how every kid learns and each client and every
(05:27):
player you work with is different. They all have different
learning strategies, so you really have to connect with the
person and understand what you're dealing with in that way,
and then on top of that, you have to evaluate
their game, identify where they need to improve, and then
find a way to connect with them and have the
material kind of resonate with them in that way too.
(05:48):
So it's a little bit of everything, and that's I
think that's why I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And you know, we get into the development standpoint and
I know, Chris, you've done a fantastic job. I was
lucky enough to watch you guys go to work. I mean,
you guys do an incredible job all there in the world.
You guys, in your guys development. It's everything right, But
how do you what's the most crucial attribute? Would you say,
Chris in development? And uh, yeah, what's the most crucial
(06:13):
attribute for developing a player nowadays?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well, when I look at players that are successful at
every level, for me, there's there's two common themes, and
it's hockey sense and competitiveness. As you progress, like when
you get to the NHL, the baseline for the other
skills is so much higher. But for every player to
me that contributes at a high level, you're looking at
hockey sense and competitiveness, and I find there are some
(06:40):
other traits that people maybe value a little bit more,
but I find that's where the key components are. If
you can think the game, you'll be successful.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
And you have Jacobrian on the screen right now for
those watching on YouTube, Jacobrien is one of those guys.
He thinks the game faster than most. Is that something
that I know you were big in that draft class
when Jake came into Banford at the time their first
year there, is that one of those guys when Jake
came into the facility and you watched him, you did
your due diligence throughout the season on Jake. Is he
one of those guys who just exploded on the scene
(07:10):
for you? And what was most impressive part about jac
O'Brien that you saw then? I remember doing his first
interview at well first Ontarios in there at the time
and I'm interviewing him and it's like the kid's shaking.
Now you talk to him, it's like it's like nothing.
It's like a conversation like no MIC's there, which is awesome.
And is that something that you saw the maturity in
his game in his draft year? What made you think
(07:31):
Jacobrian's gonna be an eighth overall pick in the OHL
and in the NHL. Is that something that really stood
out to you with Jake?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah. So, Jake's He's obviously a special player, hockey senses
off the charts, and just being around him while he
played for our team. He comes to the rink every
day with such a professionalism. It's really special to watch
him work just because he's so dedicated, so driven. For me,
(08:00):
everything character wises off the charts like it's it's no
surprise to me that he's as successful as he is.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
When you're out scouting players, Chris, what's that number one
in tangible you look for in a player? When you're
out in an arena scouting a player, you're trying to
get them, Chris Willen Hockey, Is that a gat What
do you look for when you're scouting a guy? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
It honestly, it comes down to the same things. It's
hockey sets and compete And for me, I think that's
one of the benefits of what I do and my
ability to help players when I work with them now.
Is everything that I teach has to do with what
scouts look for when they're evaluating. It's no different for me,
(08:45):
like everything everything I want in a player is exactly
what I'm teaching, and it's you know, how do they
read the game, understanding how plays develop, pattern recognition, making
others around them better. There's all kinds of different and
hockey sense techniques that we look for. Anticipating plays, the
(09:05):
it keeps going on. So for me, that's definitely part
of it. Competitiveness too, just a willingness to to you know,
be competitive, win pock battles, you know, willingness to defend
and want to put yourself in positive positions on the
defensive side of the puck. Two. And then obviously there's
(09:27):
the skill and skating and then obviously physical upside and
growth that scouts look for as well. But for me
it was always hockey sense and compete and if we
can get those two to combine, then then you're looking
at a pretty solid player.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Development trends. I know, you get a guy in Chris
Willen Hockey, you're gonna follow him. You're there, right, it's
a counseling, it's everything you're gonna get from that program.
How important is it to follow the positive trends and
to be able to learn from you know, you got
to be in every day If you want to be
a pro hockey player, you got to be in every
day play. How how important is it to really be
(10:03):
there for the player and a positive mindset and hey,
things aren't going well and for me personally knowing yourself, Chris,
you're one of those guys that when things aren't going right,
you're a great guy to talk to. How important is
that to be a positive communicator, because, let's be honest,
you're gonna have B games. Games aren't gonna be great
all the time. But how important is it to treat
the B games like an A game and an A
game like a B game and keep that neutral.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Ground for sure? For sure? And and thank you for that.
I appreciate it. I try to be personable and that's
part of it with this too, is is the of
that ability to connect with the player. It's no different
than you know a teacher at school, right like you
have a bunch of students nowadays. Yeah, absolutely absolutely, and
(10:46):
all of your all of your players, if you whether
you're a coach, whether you're a teacher, it's it's students.
They all learn in different ways. Some of them you
can be really hard on and you can be honest
with some of them you have to handle a little delicately.
And part of it is understanding their personality, knowing where
they're coming from, having empathy with that, and then you
nailed it. Like throughout a season, there's a lot of
(11:08):
ups and downs, and part of that is is yeah,
and part of that's mentally too, like confidence, Like sometimes
players are playing really well, they're really confident everything's working.
A couple of games go by, you lose that confidence
things aren't working. And it's part of what I do too.
On top of obviously the development and giving advice on
how to improve your game in the long term, part
(11:31):
of it is helping kids work through the everyday ups
and downs of a season. And you know, if you
call it peaks and valleys, Like, part of my goal
is if you're up and you're doing really well and
your season you're having a peak, how can we extend that,
How can we keep that going, keep that momentum rolling.
(11:54):
And then on the other side, if you find you're
not playing well right now and you're not playing your
capabilities and it's maybe a valley, how can we simplify,
get back to the simple things that we need to
do to get you out of it. So with me,
there's definitely a lot of the long term picture and
(12:16):
understanding how to develop hockey sense and gearing everything towards
you know, the OHL and pro but there's also a
lot of the short term too, and it's like, okay,
if this is working, how can we make sure this
is continuing to work and if something isn't working, what
small changes can we make to get you out of
that for right now?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And you know, and I hate to put you on
the spot like this, Chris, Chris Whaler and Chris Whalen
Hockey follow Instagram, get on there on social media, the
website as it's on your screen on YouTube right now,
hit the link if you're on the podcast for follow along.
Sixteen year old in the Atario Hockey League. It is one.
It is the hardest jump, especially this season. You see
how many guys Matthew Schaeffer, another guy like you see
(12:57):
these guys go rate the NHL rate from the Interio
Hockey League. And you're seeing that jump come relatively I
know it's not easy, but you're seeing it come relatively
easier than it's ever been before for other players, and
the skill is better than it's ever been. Sixteen year
olds making their debut in the Antario Hockey League. I
know we talked about Jacobrian and you're not always gonna
be Jacobrien and win Rookie of the Year. That's only
(13:17):
one of one guys that come in at sixteen. It's
a hard league. You go from being a player on
your U sixteen team being the best player. You have
the pocket in every situation you're playing. But now you're
coming in the Antario Hockey League, your rookie, you're having
an eight hour bus ride to see Saint Marie on
a one off. We've been there before. You have these
fun trips, but you're playing maybe one in every five games.
(13:41):
It's hard to keep that confidence. Maybe, And I know
I've played with some guys before where things aren't going
right and you start to maybe not think the game
where you have been. How important is it to teach
iq and how do you do that? I guess is
a question because when you especially when you're sixteen years old,
and you come up like that, it's so hard because
like all of a sudden, you got to fight again
(14:01):
and you haven't had to fight your whole life.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, it's It's interesting, like the OHL is a
really hard league for young players, and I think a
lot of players misjudge that when they get into the
league because they're used to being the best player in
their minor hockey team all the way, you know, growing
up there. There's a couple factors for me, and the
one is understanding the mindset of a lot of young
(14:26):
players don't come in and get first line opportunity in
year one. Usually like there's five or six every year
that are really impactful in your one and then the
rest you're you're fighting for ice time and you know
you could find yourself on the fourth line, you can
find yourself as a healthy scratch and mentally working through
that as a young player who's never been in that
(14:48):
situation before, it's not easy. So that's part of it.
And then I find too, there's different points in the
season with a young player like I always found, and
let's say the first twenty games of a player's a
HL career, especially a sixteen year old, you're kind of
underwater a little bit, and you're just trying to survive.
(15:09):
The pace is really high. You have to make decisions
quicker than you've ever had to, you have to move
quicker than you've ever had to, and players are just
trying to keep up physically and mentally. After twenty games,
you see them start to settle in a little bit,
and then I find they're starting to get comfortable with
the league. And then usually in year two is when
(15:30):
you start to see, like, you know, this player's taking
a step or making a jump. So there's a little
bit of a process. It's interesting and you just have
to work with them. And part of it, too, is
just talking them through it and helping them feel confident,
and you know, having the player understand that, like, you're
drafted for a reason, you're here for a reason, and
(15:51):
we don't expect yeah, yeah, Like, part of it is
getting them to understand that we don't expect them to
be an elite player in the league. In your way,
it's very rare and every player wants to come in
and be at but that's not the expectation, right, Like,
it takes time, so getting them to understand it takes
time is half the battle.
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Speaker 6 (17:54):
Hi, this is learning the lot you're listening to ALWAYSHL
over time, especially.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
When you show up to practice and you're on the
fourth line. You're not you know, you used to be
in that shooter on the power play. Now you're you're
on the fourth line in practice, you're killing penalties against
your top or play unit, and you're almost not a
practice dummy, but you're one of those practice players who
have to prove himself play with a purpose and join
that purpose. How important is it to practice with a purpose, Chris?
(18:44):
Practice leads to transition in the game. It's how front
office members, It's how development staffs fine development. How important
is practicing with a purpose? And as from yourself, how
how in engaging is it is practice? And how are
you watching practice and really taking notes off players strive
(19:06):
to gain more positive in development?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Yeah, it's it's huge and and it's not just your
your practice on the ice, but for me, it's everything
that goes into it every day. It's like for for
an OHL player, like your your gym sessions, there has
to be a purpose and there has to be some
level of pushing yourself and we're trying to get better,
you know, hockey sense stuff too, like the stuff that
(19:31):
I do, Like when I have one on one with
a player, it's with a purpose and to me, I
love it the players I work with. Now, for players
to be working with me, they kind of have to
seek me out and it shows that drive and willingness
and wanting to do it. But there's purpose to that too.
The players that use my database product, there's a purpose
(19:52):
to that, Like if you're taking time out of your
day to go watch clips and learn and make yourself better.
To me, there there's tons of purpose that And the
game is getting global, like as you see especially in
the OL with that with the rule change with the NCAA.
Now absolutely it's becoming more global and it is becoming
(20:13):
more competitive than it ever has been. So to me,
whether you're a young player and you're I don't know
you twelve triple A player or you're an OHL player.
Everyone wants your spot. These extra things that we used
to do used to be a bonus on top, like, oh,
I'm doing a lot to make myself better and to
(20:34):
go above and beyond. But the way the game is
going right now, I feel like that's the minimum. Because
if you're a kid now and you're not doing these things,
you're not having purposeful gym sessions, you're not doing one
on one IQ training, you're not looking at clips every day.
If you aren't, there's a kid somewhere that is so
(20:55):
just to maintain your spot, to keep pace with your
own development, I think it's so important. And to me,
everything has has to be done with a purpose. And
that's why part of the one on one and the
work that I do with players is really beneficial because
there's a purpose to everything and it's guided in a
way where we can kind of make your development as
(21:16):
efficient as possible.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And Chris, let's say I'm a fourteen year old of
two years away from my draft year. What's the approach
I come to you. I want to be a part
of your company. I want to learn from you yourself.
What's the first thing that happens when I sign up
for your hockey. What's the first thing that happens in
the process.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Absolutely, So, how it usually works is we'll have our
one on one sessions and it's usually done to the
Microsoft teams, and it's really easy. We can pull up
your shifts, whether like for me, I use Instat personally.
If the players on Instat, it's really easy. If not,
if they aren't on Instat, they're responsible for sending me
their shifts. And what we'll do is we'll just share
(21:57):
our screen. I'll share my screen, pull up their shifts,
we'll watch it together and we break everything down so
it's easier for me to get an initial assessment of
their game. And we'll break down every decision, every puck touch,
every route play away from the puck. How can we
fix our timing that way we're working to space at
(22:19):
the right times, offensive strategies, defensive strategies, puck battle strategies.
For me, we'll break everything down and we'll evaluate all
the decisions in it and understand how this player processes
the game and how we can change it and understand
how plays developed to add to it. So that would
be step one, and then throughout these sessions. I always
(22:40):
find I have the most success with players when we
can do weekly, just because it allows me to monitor
progress every week and we can add other layers to
it and build on it, and then as we go
it allows me to hold them accountable to make sure
we're actually applying the lessons and the discussions. And then
(23:02):
I also have a database product I find And this
really started when I was doing a lot of player
development stuff with the team. I would be doing video
with the player and I'd be like, Hey, this play
looks like this game last night in the NHL. Did
you see it. Most players don't watch enough hockey these days,
(23:22):
so I would often get a blank look and they'd
look at you like, no, no, I didn't. So what
I started doing last year was I would pull clips
every night and then voice them all over, explaining what
players need to see in it. So it's a lot
of hockey sense concepts, everything that reinforces exactly what I teach.
(23:46):
Some of it is skilled mechanics, puck battle strategies, creating offense, competitiveness.
Anything I see in a game that I think young
players need to see and could apply for themselves, I
would pull and just voice it over. And then what
I started doing is I built out a database on
my site that I add to now every week, so
(24:07):
that way players can go in at the end of
the week and they can see the twenty or thirty
clips they need to see from the week that will
help make them better. For me, it just streamlines. I
know young players especially aren't really watching enough games. They're
not sitting down and watching a three hour hockey game
like they used to. So that was my exactly exactly,
(24:29):
and I joke ob about it because like for me,
I'm twenty seven and my age and younger, everyone is
geared towards Instagram and TikTok the thirty forty second detention
span and that's all they've got. So I tried to
gear it where the clips are about that length. That
way you can watch it, understand it, listen to the
voice over. And then the goal is they can go
(24:50):
in at the end of the week and there's thirty
clips there for them to see. You can spend a
half an hour. The clips are fairly intensive the way
they're broken down. Maybe if it's forty five minutes at
the end of the week and you can see all
the things you needed to see from that week in
the NHL. So that was the idea behind it.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Love it, you know, honestly. And I'm one of the
Let's say I'm one of those kids too, I'm in
your program. I'm starting to become successful and not to
get in a program and he gets successful. That's where
that confidence comes into any athlete, any sport. That's the
thing that's your heartbeat when you have confident and it's natural.
But let's say my routine, maybe I'm going to the
(25:32):
gym three times a week to five during the week,
I'm kind of getting lacks of digical my approach a
little bit. What's that mess like? And how important is
that structure and staying in a positive routine because routineing
for an athlete. I was a goalie and that's probably
the most routine freak you can be because I made
sure every single thing was exact same thing you start.
(25:54):
But when you get into those routines and you get
a little laxa diagical with it, how routine cress?
Speaker 4 (26:02):
Oh, it's everything, and it's it's hard to balance. And
and these kids at this age, like they have such
a complicated life and I don't lose that knowledge of
that as we go. But for them, like if they're
if they're really serious about being a hockey player, you
have your gym, you have your practices, you have your games,
(26:24):
you have your your hockey sense training like this, you
have what other power skating you do, you have your
skills training, and then on top of that you have school.
So for me, being able to manage your time and
understanding a routine and getting into that, it's it's everything.
So it's it's super important. And I do understand too,
(26:46):
like it's a lot for these kids. It's it's a
ton for them to be able to manage all that,
especially at the younger ages. So I do kind of
I get what they're going through because it's it's not easy.
But to me, these are all the things that are
important if you want to have a career in the
game and you want to be a pro. To me,
(27:07):
that's it's a really important skill to learn at an
early age.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Parents. I mean, I remember in baseball, I had an
indoor practice facility. I went as a trainer and I
remember I threw one ball and it was a group session.
Coach comes up and says, you're all, you're left handed.
Where's your parents? You know, do a talk. I was
like twelve years old. I'm a young kid, almost too
(27:34):
serious at the time for that. How can parents and
I didn't think it was the right situation, But how
can parents spend their money positively in development? Hard?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Right?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Because nowadays there's so many people and hard to find
that right person. Chris, How important is it to spend
their development wisely, especially nowadays in hockey development, if they're
serious in finding the right person.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
It's so important, and there's different avenues to spend that
money into, and it's important to invest in the right way.
For me, hockey sense is really important. Your strength and
conditioning is really important. The other one where I would say,
especially at a young age, would be like the skating.
(28:21):
The more skating you can do, the better power skating.
But again, it all has to be the right area
and you've got to be learning from the right people.
But those are the areas where I think you're going
to see the biggest return on your investment. But in
today's game, there are millions of different ways for parents
(28:43):
to spend money. And that's another part of what I
do is like I find that I'm able to help
navigate parents through these situations that have never been through
it before. A lot of them, you know, it's their
first kid going through the Triple A system. So for me,
I can kind of help them evaluate their options and
understand is this going to be a high return on
(29:04):
your investment? Is this going to be a low return
on your investment? And just because there's it may not
seem like a high return on your investment, your kid
might still have a great experience out of it, you know.
Like one of those for me is spring hockey. I'm
not a huge fan of spring hockey and I don't
think it really is going to make you better as
(29:24):
a player. But I'm never going to say no to
play in hockey with your buddies. So they all have
different kinds of value. But in terms of like purely
developing your game and making you a better player, there
are definitely certain avenues that are going to bring you
a higher return on your investment. For sure.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Can coaches get involve as well with their team teams
allowed to get involved, you know, like coach says, Hey, Chris,
I want you to do analysis on my team. Come
in for session, video session, maybe open up the whiteboard
the active board. Is that a possibility as well with
the coaches?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Absolutely absolutely, I'd be open to that. There is one
one team that I do work with right now, minor
hockey team that they bring me in every two weeks
to do video. It's a U fourteen team with the
Hamilton Steel and they're fantastic. They're great kids. Every time
I come in, they're so dialed in and they want
to see video and they want to get better. They
(30:20):
ask great questions, they work really hard. They're a great group,
and they have a fantastic coaching staff. So for me,
they're really fun to work with. So I would definitely
be open to that if other coaches are interested, and
for me, I would definitely welcome it.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Get to communities, you get to arenas. You see this
all the time if you want to be a scout
obviously on Twitter. It's one of those things on social
media in general, you see people, especially in the OHL
level Chris where every draft time in the Intario Hockey
that you see everybody's list and then you see a
team drafts a guy and it's like, wow, that's either
a steal or why you take them that early? It's
(30:57):
a reach. How important is it to get to arenas
and be on the pulse of the game on the
season and really be involved here with the development side
of things.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Oh, it's everything. It's everything, especially in scouting too. Like
I always found when you're scouting, part of it is
evaluating what you see on the ice and understanding what
their future potential is going to be and being able
to project that. But the most important thing is is
when you're drafting a player, you're you're drafting a person.
So I've always found getting to know the family, the
(31:30):
character of the kid that it's so important, and it's
so important in development too, just understanding for me, like
I want to know which kids are dedicated and want
to be players are going to and are going to
end up putting in the work to get themselves there.
I always say, even with my clients, like I can
give you all the tools and I can give you
(31:50):
all the direction, but how successful you're going to be
is ultimately on you, and it's how hard you want
to work, and it's how dedicated you are to this.
Like I can give you tons of information and I
can direct you in the right way and point you
in the right direction. But it ultimately it's up to them.
And the one thing too with my clients, all the
(32:14):
players that I work with on a regular basis have
gotten like incredibly better, which is amazing for me to see.
It's it's unbelievable and it's really special. It's a special feeling.
But I also know that that's not all me, like,
it's them. They're putting in the work and they're doing
the work, and they're applying the information and they're they're
(32:35):
putting in all this effort to make themselves better. It's
no different than when you draft a player and the
expectations and development in that way, when you work for
a team.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
A hundercent and nowadays with the player. We talked about
this earlier on in a segment where Guy, it's harder
to talk to players. It's not like how it used
to be. The game's changed a ton on the ice,
off the ice when you talk to a player, not
specially dragons. We see the testimonials come on the screen
now for those on YouTube, how important is it their
(33:06):
relationship with a player and be able to be thorough
with them. We used to have that term in Hamilton
with the Bulldogs, that dog mentality and not a bulldog
bulldog and that term was used so much around the
facility and it was from top to bottom. And when
you talk to a player nowadays, how important is it
(33:27):
that obviously the thoroughness is there, but to really Chris,
be straight to the point, but really be almost a
friend and to coach at the same time with the
player to get the best of their development.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
For sure. Yeah, it's it's everything and you touched on
it there. Players and people are different today than let's
say twenty five years ago. And the tactics we use
when we coach and we help make players better, they
have to change and evolve too. So a big one
for me is a lot of positive reinforcement. So when
(34:05):
I see the things that I want to we've got
to point it out. You gotta pat them on the back,
and then if they make a mistake, it's not about
getting mad at them or or yelling at them like
in that old school coach mentality.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
The worst feeling is when you get pulled and then
you get told how bad you wear that? And it
is a goalie's gonna happen, And yeah, you get told
how bad you wears a goalie? The next thing, you're
going out to the game, that's all you're thinking about,
not getting pulled.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
And I mentioned that, yeah, And so for me, it's
always been like if we're going through video with a
player and I see a mistake from them, I take
it as something on me too, and I'm like, okay,
like I need to teach and maybe maybe I didn't
teach this concept in the right way that resonated with them,
and I need to approach it differently. Like that's my
(34:52):
first mentality. When I see a play I don't really like,
or a bad read, I'm like, okay, Like it's it's
they messed they made a mistake. It happens, But it's
not about getting mad at them. It's about teaching and understanding, like, hey,
when we're in this situation next time, how can we
play it differently? And I find that approach works so
much better with players. There's a lot more respect when
(35:16):
you come at it that way from the player, Like
they don't want to be told, hey, you messed up here,
you did this wrong, you did this wrong. A lot
of the time they know, like if they make a
bad play and they turn the puck over, it lead
to a goal. Against they know, so they don't need
to be reamed out for it. For me, it's more of, Okay,
we didn't play this properly, what can we do next time?
(35:38):
And how can we play it differently? And it's about
teaching than more than anything.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Absolutely, And you have some impressive testimonials on your website
as well. Chris social media website, where can I register?
And what's your social media? What's your website?
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Absolutely? So my business Instagram is Chris Whalen Hockey and
my site is Whaleen Hockey dot com. There you can
reach out to me to schedule one on one. I
also have my development library product, which is a monthly subscription.
It's twenty five dollars a month, which I feel like
is very reasonable to get elite breakdowns. Yeah, so I've
(36:20):
had a lot of success with that there. So when
you go in you can access there's there's about three
hundred clips from last year. There's about one hundred and
twenty or so from this year already in there, and
I updated every week adding new clips. There's a school
style worksheet in there too, so you can download a
fillable PDF and create your own study notes to create
(36:42):
like a little study booklet for yourself. There's a lot
of content in there, and it's it's geared towards helping
players start to think the game like an OHL player,
like a pro. Everything in there is coming from my
experience of what OHL players need, And obviously I'm a
little biased because I put it together, but I feel like, yeah,
(37:04):
like I feel like there's not there's not one player
in the OHL that can't benefit from it in some way.
To me, and you know, younger ages as well, players
that aspire to be OHL players. To me, I'm at
the stage and I believe the way the game is
going now that something like this exists, I think players
(37:24):
are at a disadvantage if they don't have it and
they don't use it.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Absolutely well said. I think it's a great point to
end on. Chris of Chris Whalen Hockey, Thanks for joining us,
appreciate the time. Hope to have you on again. This
is something that I've been thinking about the last year
since you've launched. I've been always drilling about it in
Arena is one of the best people I've met with
the Bulldags. Looking forward to seeing Arena soon. Chris, thanks
for coming on.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Awesome thank you for having me, and I'd be happy
to come on anytime. I really enjoyed it. I had
a blast, so thanks again.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Well, maybe for BC in the Clouds. Maybe we'll start
I start a development pod here on the network. That'd
be pretty cool. Just chat about development weekly and get
your thoughts, pick your brain a little bit on that.
That'd be a great time. But Chris, thanks for coming on.
Chris Whaleenhockey dot com. It's on the internet. Look it up.
It's a great it's a great, great, great website. I'm
(38:15):
telling you right now. Follow him on Instagram Chris Whale
and Hockey. It's incredible, always always on there. Love the
little blogs he's doing, play by play watching games. It's
been great. Chris, keep up the good work. Thanks for
coming on. For bcing the Clouds. That'll do it for
this edition of Always shell Over time. I'm Colin Warden.
We will see you next edition.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Jim Joker's voice of the Cakes to bron Next,
you're listening to OHL Overtime, an in depth interview show
highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
OHL Championship Series, OHL Combine and more exclusively on the
(00:48):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Welcome into another edition of OHL Overtime right here on
the Armchair GM Sports Network. If you're watching us on
the video version, make sure to like subscribe and hit
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(01:21):
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It's great over there. Check that thing out. I'm your host.
Today's program calling ward BC is in the clouds. For
those who listen to the OHL and sixty podcasts, you've
been getting the Clouds. We miss them on here for sure.
Big thanks BC for letting me let me host this
event tonight. We're pleased to be joined Chris Whalen with
(01:41):
Chris Whalen Hockey. He's going to join us tonight in
a couple of minutes. Chris has been great. I got
to meet Chris a few seasons ago. For the past
few seasons, that is with the Branford Bulldogs Hamilton Bulldogs.
In fun fact, twenty one to twenty two video coach
of the Bulldogs at OEHL championship team. He was a
video coach of that team. We're gonna learn a lot
tonight Chris Whaleen Hockey. He has great testimony. It's been great.
He's got a lot of pro hockey players Nick Lartis,
(02:03):
Jac O'Brien, there's a few guys, Patrick Thomas, Jamison Reese.
There's a lot of really good pro hockey players that
are with that have been with Chris Whalen. So after
the break you're hear from Chris Whalen on your podcast forums,
see him on YouTube. It's gonna be great. Can't wait
to chat with Chris. We'll be back in a few moments.
He's honest, he's hardworking and he's incredibly supportive. That's what
eighth overall the Seattle crack in this past draft, jac
(02:24):
O'Brien had to say about Chris Whaling, Chris Willie and
Chris Whaleen Hockey. Chris, welcome aboard and tell us all
about yourself. How thing's going? And I know I mentioned
about two three seasons back now with the Bulldogs. Started
as a video coach. Want an OHL championship. That's incredible
year one? How thing's going? And what's life been like
(02:46):
for Chris Whalen Hockey lately?
Speaker 4 (02:48):
The things would be great. Thank you for having me. Yeah, no,
it's it's been good. Like just a little bit about
me for the viewers. I started as an intern with
the Bulldogs when I was just a kid. I was
like seventeen, and worked there part time all through university.
As soon as I graduated, kind of started in management
role scouting and video coach, and then kind of graduated
(03:13):
it to a lot more player development, more on the
management side. I think the role we called it was
like special advisor of the GM and then yeah, I
spent a lot of time there and made a lot
of great friends there. Obviously with you being one of them.
Still love the staff and and so many lifelong connections
(03:33):
came from there, So it was it was it was
a pretty special time for sure. And then now I've
got no go ahead, no your gig just keep going perfect. Yeah.
So now I've got my own, my own venture going
on called Chris Whaleen Hockey where I work with a
lot of players one on one to help help grow
their game, teaching a lot of hockey sense and noticing
(03:58):
kind of some of the gaps and development these days,
and how I can help make players better and kind
of help them reach their goals. So that's kind of
what I've been focused on.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
What would you say your biggest takeaway Chris from video
development side of things with the front office, what are
your biggest takeaways from those moments and help do you
develop your program?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
A lot? A lot? So for me, I was really fortunate.
I learned from a lot of really smart people obviously
coming through that organization. There's so many that we can name,
you know, Steve Stealos, Matt Turk, j McKee, Andrea's Carlson,
and Andrew Campbell, like the list just it doesn't stop.
So for me, that really shaped how I see the
game and my ability to evaluate and and everything I
(04:46):
do now stems from what I learned from you know,
that staff and the people I worked with, So that
was a big part of it. The video understanding what
to look for. You know, Jay was the best coach
to work for, best head coach, he was awesome, So
that really helped a ton. And then I find with
(05:07):
the player development side, you get to put all of
those skills together. Because there's a little bit of the
video side, you definitely still have to evaluate and use
the scouting understanding and the ability to project upside and potential,
and then the player development side is more of like
the one on one coaching, where you have to find
out how every kid learns and each client and every
(05:27):
player you work with is different. They all have different
learning strategies, so you really have to connect with the
person and understand what you're dealing with in that way,
and then on top of that, you have to evaluate
their game, identify where they need to improve, and then
find a way to connect with them and have the
material kind of resonate with them in that way too.
(05:48):
So it's a little bit of everything, and that's I
think that's why I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And you know, we get into the development standpoint and
I know, Chris, you've done a fantastic job. I was
lucky enough to watch you guys go to work. I mean,
you guys do an incredible job all there in the world.
You guys, in your guys development. It's everything right, But
how do you what's the most crucial attribute? Would you say,
Chris in development? And uh, yeah, what's the most crucial
(06:13):
attribute for developing a player nowadays?
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well, when I look at players that are successful at
every level, for me, there's there's two common themes, and
it's hockey sense and competitiveness. As you progress, like when
you get to the NHL, the baseline for the other
skills is so much higher. But for every player to
me that contributes at a high level, you're looking at
hockey sense and competitiveness, and I find there are some
(06:40):
other traits that people maybe value a little bit more,
but I find that's where the key components are. If
you can think the game, you'll be successful.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
And you have Jacobrian on the screen right now for
those watching on YouTube, Jacobrien is one of those guys.
He thinks the game faster than most. Is that something
that I know you were big in that draft class
when Jake came into Banford at the time their first
year there, is that one of those guys when Jake
came into the facility and you watched him, you did
your due diligence throughout the season on Jake. Is he
one of those guys who just exploded on the scene
(07:10):
for you? And what was most impressive part about jac
O'Brien that you saw then? I remember doing his first
interview at well first Ontarios in there at the time
and I'm interviewing him and it's like the kid's shaking.
Now you talk to him, it's like it's like nothing.
It's like a conversation like no MIC's there, which is awesome.
And is that something that you saw the maturity in
his game in his draft year? What made you think
(07:31):
Jacobrian's gonna be an eighth overall pick in the OHL
and in the NHL. Is that something that really stood
out to you with Jake?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah. So, Jake's He's obviously a special player, hockey senses
off the charts, and just being around him while he
played for our team. He comes to the rink every
day with such a professionalism. It's really special to watch
him work just because he's so dedicated, so driven. For me,
(08:00):
everything character wises off the charts like it's it's no
surprise to me that he's as successful as he is.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
When you're out scouting players, Chris, what's that number one
in tangible you look for in a player? When you're
out in an arena scouting a player, you're trying to
get them, Chris Willen Hockey, Is that a gat What
do you look for when you're scouting a guy? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
It honestly, it comes down to the same things. It's
hockey sets and compete And for me, I think that's
one of the benefits of what I do and my
ability to help players when I work with them now.
Is everything that I teach has to do with what
scouts look for when they're evaluating. It's no different for me,
(08:45):
like everything everything I want in a player is exactly
what I'm teaching, and it's you know, how do they
read the game, understanding how plays develop, pattern recognition, making
others around them better. There's all kinds of different and
hockey sense techniques that we look for. Anticipating plays, the
(09:05):
it keeps going on. So for me, that's definitely part
of it. Competitiveness too, just a willingness to to you know,
be competitive, win pock battles, you know, willingness to defend
and want to put yourself in positive positions on the
defensive side of the puck. Two. And then obviously there's
(09:27):
the skill and skating and then obviously physical upside and
growth that scouts look for as well. But for me
it was always hockey sense and compete and if we
can get those two to combine, then then you're looking
at a pretty solid player.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Development trends. I know, you get a guy in Chris
Willen Hockey, you're gonna follow him. You're there, right, it's
a counseling, it's everything you're gonna get from that program.
How important is it to follow the positive trends and
to be able to learn from you know, you got
to be in every day If you want to be
a pro hockey player, you got to be in every
day play. How how important is it to really be
(10:03):
there for the player and a positive mindset and hey,
things aren't going well and for me personally knowing yourself, Chris,
you're one of those guys that when things aren't going right,
you're a great guy to talk to. How important is
that to be a positive communicator, because, let's be honest,
you're gonna have B games. Games aren't gonna be great
all the time. But how important is it to treat
the B games like an A game and an A
game like a B game and keep that neutral.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Ground for sure? For sure? And and thank you for that.
I appreciate it. I try to be personable and that's
part of it with this too, is is the of
that ability to connect with the player. It's no different
than you know a teacher at school, right like you
have a bunch of students nowadays. Yeah, absolutely absolutely, and
(10:46):
all of your all of your players, if you whether
you're a coach, whether you're a teacher, it's it's students.
They all learn in different ways. Some of them you
can be really hard on and you can be honest
with some of them you have to handle a little delicately.
And part of it is understanding their personality, knowing where
they're coming from, having empathy with that, and then you
nailed it. Like throughout a season, there's a lot of
(11:08):
ups and downs, and part of that is is yeah,
and part of that's mentally too, like confidence, Like sometimes
players are playing really well, they're really confident everything's working.
A couple of games go by, you lose that confidence
things aren't working. And it's part of what I do too.
On top of obviously the development and giving advice on
how to improve your game in the long term, part
(11:31):
of it is helping kids work through the everyday ups
and downs of a season. And you know, if you
call it peaks and valleys, Like, part of my goal
is if you're up and you're doing really well and
your season you're having a peak, how can we extend that,
How can we keep that going, keep that momentum rolling.
(11:54):
And then on the other side, if you find you're
not playing well right now and you're not playing your
capabilities and it's maybe a valley, how can we simplify,
get back to the simple things that we need to
do to get you out of it. So with me,
there's definitely a lot of the long term picture and
(12:16):
understanding how to develop hockey sense and gearing everything towards
you know, the OHL and pro but there's also a
lot of the short term too, and it's like, okay,
if this is working, how can we make sure this
is continuing to work and if something isn't working, what
small changes can we make to get you out of
that for right now?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And you know, and I hate to put you on
the spot like this, Chris, Chris Whaler and Chris Whalen
Hockey follow Instagram, get on there on social media, the
website as it's on your screen on YouTube right now,
hit the link if you're on the podcast for follow along.
Sixteen year old in the Atario Hockey League. It is one.
It is the hardest jump, especially this season. You see
how many guys Matthew Schaeffer, another guy like you see
(12:57):
these guys go rate the NHL rate from the Interio
Hockey League. And you're seeing that jump come relatively I
know it's not easy, but you're seeing it come relatively
easier than it's ever been before for other players, and
the skill is better than it's ever been. Sixteen year
olds making their debut in the Antario Hockey League. I
know we talked about Jacobrian and you're not always gonna
be Jacobrien and win Rookie of the Year. That's only
(13:17):
one of one guys that come in at sixteen. It's
a hard league. You go from being a player on
your U sixteen team being the best player. You have
the pocket in every situation you're playing. But now you're
coming in the Antario Hockey League, your rookie, you're having
an eight hour bus ride to see Saint Marie on
a one off. We've been there before. You have these
fun trips, but you're playing maybe one in every five games.
(13:41):
It's hard to keep that confidence. Maybe, And I know
I've played with some guys before where things aren't going
right and you start to maybe not think the game
where you have been. How important is it to teach
iq and how do you do that? I guess is
a question because when you especially when you're sixteen years old,
and you come up like that, it's so hard because
like all of a sudden, you got to fight again
(14:01):
and you haven't had to fight your whole life.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Yeah, yeah, it's It's interesting, like the OHL is a
really hard league for young players, and I think a
lot of players misjudge that when they get into the
league because they're used to being the best player in
their minor hockey team all the way, you know, growing
up there. There's a couple factors for me, and the
one is understanding the mindset of a lot of young
(14:26):
players don't come in and get first line opportunity in
year one. Usually like there's five or six every year
that are really impactful in your one and then the
rest you're you're fighting for ice time and you know
you could find yourself on the fourth line, you can
find yourself as a healthy scratch and mentally working through
that as a young player who's never been in that
(14:48):
situation before, it's not easy. So that's part of it.
And then I find too, there's different points in the
season with a young player like I always found, and
let's say the first twenty games of a player's a
HL career, especially a sixteen year old, you're kind of
underwater a little bit, and you're just trying to survive.
(15:09):
The pace is really high. You have to make decisions
quicker than you've ever had to, you have to move
quicker than you've ever had to, and players are just
trying to keep up physically and mentally. After twenty games,
you see them start to settle in a little bit,
and then I find they're starting to get comfortable with
the league. And then usually in year two is when
(15:30):
you start to see, like, you know, this player's taking
a step or making a jump. So there's a little
bit of a process. It's interesting and you just have
to work with them. And part of it, too, is
just talking them through it and helping them feel confident,
and you know, having the player understand that, like, you're
drafted for a reason, you're here for a reason, and
(15:51):
we don't expect yeah, yeah, Like, part of it is
getting them to understand that we don't expect them to
be an elite player in the league. In your way,
it's very rare and every player wants to come in
and be at but that's not the expectation, right, Like,
it takes time, so getting them to understand it takes
time is half the battle.
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Speaker 6 (17:54):
Hi, this is learning the lot you're listening to ALWAYSHL
over time, especially.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
When you show up to practice and you're on the
fourth line. You're not you know, you used to be
in that shooter on the power play. Now you're you're
on the fourth line in practice, you're killing penalties against
your top or play unit, and you're almost not a
practice dummy, but you're one of those practice players who
have to prove himself play with a purpose and join
that purpose. How important is it to practice with a purpose, Chris?
(18:44):
Practice leads to transition in the game. It's how front
office members, It's how development staffs fine development. How important
is practicing with a purpose? And as from yourself, how
how in engaging is it is practice? And how are
you watching practice and really taking notes off players strive
(19:06):
to gain more positive in development?
Speaker 4 (19:09):
Yeah, it's it's huge and and it's not just your
your practice on the ice, but for me, it's everything
that goes into it every day. It's like for for
an OHL player, like your your gym sessions, there has
to be a purpose and there has to be some
level of pushing yourself and we're trying to get better,
you know, hockey sense stuff too, like the stuff that
(19:31):
I do, Like when I have one on one with
a player, it's with a purpose and to me, I
love it the players I work with. Now, for players
to be working with me, they kind of have to
seek me out and it shows that drive and willingness
and wanting to do it. But there's purpose to that too.
The players that use my database product, there's a purpose
(19:52):
to that, Like if you're taking time out of your
day to go watch clips and learn and make yourself better.
To me, there there's tons of purpose that And the
game is getting global, like as you see especially in
the OL with that with the rule change with the NCAA.
Now absolutely it's becoming more global and it is becoming
(20:13):
more competitive than it ever has been. So to me,
whether you're a young player and you're I don't know
you twelve triple A player or you're an OHL player.
Everyone wants your spot. These extra things that we used
to do used to be a bonus on top, like, oh,
I'm doing a lot to make myself better and to
(20:34):
go above and beyond. But the way the game is
going right now, I feel like that's the minimum. Because
if you're a kid now and you're not doing these things,
you're not having purposeful gym sessions, you're not doing one
on one IQ training, you're not looking at clips every day.
If you aren't, there's a kid somewhere that is so
(20:55):
just to maintain your spot, to keep pace with your
own development, I think it's so important. And to me,
everything has has to be done with a purpose. And
that's why part of the one on one and the
work that I do with players is really beneficial because
there's a purpose to everything and it's guided in a
way where we can kind of make your development as
(21:16):
efficient as possible.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And Chris, let's say I'm a fourteen year old of
two years away from my draft year. What's the approach
I come to you. I want to be a part
of your company. I want to learn from you yourself.
What's the first thing that happens when I sign up
for your hockey. What's the first thing that happens in
the process.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Absolutely, So, how it usually works is we'll have our
one on one sessions and it's usually done to the
Microsoft teams, and it's really easy. We can pull up
your shifts, whether like for me, I use Instat personally.
If the players on Instat, it's really easy. If not,
if they aren't on Instat, they're responsible for sending me
their shifts. And what we'll do is we'll just share
(21:57):
our screen. I'll share my screen, pull up their shifts,
we'll watch it together and we break everything down so
it's easier for me to get an initial assessment of
their game. And we'll break down every decision, every puck touch,
every route play away from the puck. How can we
fix our timing that way we're working to space at
(22:19):
the right times, offensive strategies, defensive strategies, puck battle strategies.
For me, we'll break everything down and we'll evaluate all
the decisions in it and understand how this player processes
the game and how we can change it and understand
how plays developed to add to it. So that would
be step one, and then throughout these sessions. I always
(22:40):
find I have the most success with players when we
can do weekly, just because it allows me to monitor
progress every week and we can add other layers to
it and build on it, and then as we go
it allows me to hold them accountable to make sure
we're actually applying the lessons and the discussions. And then
(23:02):
I also have a database product I find And this
really started when I was doing a lot of player
development stuff with the team. I would be doing video
with the player and I'd be like, Hey, this play
looks like this game last night in the NHL. Did
you see it. Most players don't watch enough hockey these days,
(23:22):
so I would often get a blank look and they'd
look at you like, no, no, I didn't. So what
I started doing last year was I would pull clips
every night and then voice them all over, explaining what
players need to see in it. So it's a lot
of hockey sense concepts, everything that reinforces exactly what I teach.
(23:46):
Some of it is skilled mechanics, puck battle strategies, creating offense, competitiveness.
Anything I see in a game that I think young
players need to see and could apply for themselves, I
would pull and just voice it over. And then what
I started doing is I built out a database on
my site that I add to now every week, so
(24:07):
that way players can go in at the end of
the week and they can see the twenty or thirty
clips they need to see from the week that will
help make them better. For me, it just streamlines. I
know young players especially aren't really watching enough games. They're
not sitting down and watching a three hour hockey game
like they used to. So that was my exactly exactly,
(24:29):
and I joke ob about it because like for me,
I'm twenty seven and my age and younger, everyone is
geared towards Instagram and TikTok the thirty forty second detention
span and that's all they've got. So I tried to
gear it where the clips are about that length. That
way you can watch it, understand it, listen to the
voice over. And then the goal is they can go
(24:50):
in at the end of the week and there's thirty
clips there for them to see. You can spend a
half an hour. The clips are fairly intensive the way
they're broken down. Maybe if it's forty five minutes at
the end of the week and you can see all
the things you needed to see from that week in
the NHL. So that was the idea behind it.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Love it, you know, honestly. And I'm one of the
Let's say I'm one of those kids too, I'm in
your program. I'm starting to become successful and not to
get in a program and he gets successful. That's where
that confidence comes into any athlete, any sport. That's the
thing that's your heartbeat when you have confident and it's natural.
But let's say my routine, maybe I'm going to the
(25:32):
gym three times a week to five during the week,
I'm kind of getting lacks of digical my approach a
little bit. What's that mess like? And how important is
that structure and staying in a positive routine because routineing
for an athlete. I was a goalie and that's probably
the most routine freak you can be because I made
sure every single thing was exact same thing you start.
(25:54):
But when you get into those routines and you get
a little laxa diagical with it, how routine cress?
Speaker 4 (26:02):
Oh, it's everything, and it's it's hard to balance. And
and these kids at this age, like they have such
a complicated life and I don't lose that knowledge of
that as we go. But for them, like if they're
if they're really serious about being a hockey player, you
have your gym, you have your practices, you have your games,
(26:24):
you have your your hockey sense training like this, you
have what other power skating you do, you have your
skills training, and then on top of that you have school.
So for me, being able to manage your time and
understanding a routine and getting into that, it's it's everything.
So it's it's super important. And I do understand too,
(26:46):
like it's a lot for these kids. It's it's a
ton for them to be able to manage all that,
especially at the younger ages. So I do kind of
I get what they're going through because it's it's not easy.
But to me, these are all the things that are
important if you want to have a career in the
game and you want to be a pro. To me,
(27:07):
that's it's a really important skill to learn at an
early age.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Parents. I mean, I remember in baseball, I had an
indoor practice facility. I went as a trainer and I
remember I threw one ball and it was a group session.
Coach comes up and says, you're all, you're left handed.
Where's your parents? You know, do a talk. I was
like twelve years old. I'm a young kid, almost too
(27:34):
serious at the time for that. How can parents and
I didn't think it was the right situation, But how
can parents spend their money positively in development? Hard?
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Right?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Because nowadays there's so many people and hard to find
that right person. Chris, How important is it to spend
their development wisely, especially nowadays in hockey development, if they're
serious in finding the right person.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
It's so important, and there's different avenues to spend that
money into, and it's important to invest in the right way.
For me, hockey sense is really important. Your strength and
conditioning is really important. The other one where I would say,
especially at a young age, would be like the skating.
(28:21):
The more skating you can do, the better power skating.
But again, it all has to be the right area
and you've got to be learning from the right people.
But those are the areas where I think you're going
to see the biggest return on your investment. But in
today's game, there are millions of different ways for parents
(28:43):
to spend money. And that's another part of what I
do is like I find that I'm able to help
navigate parents through these situations that have never been through
it before. A lot of them, you know, it's their
first kid going through the Triple A system. So for me,
I can kind of help them evaluate their options and
understand is this going to be a high return on
(29:04):
your investment? Is this going to be a low return
on your investment? And just because there's it may not
seem like a high return on your investment, your kid
might still have a great experience out of it, you know.
Like one of those for me is spring hockey. I'm
not a huge fan of spring hockey and I don't
think it really is going to make you better as
(29:24):
a player. But I'm never going to say no to
play in hockey with your buddies. So they all have
different kinds of value. But in terms of like purely
developing your game and making you a better player, there
are definitely certain avenues that are going to bring you
a higher return on your investment. For sure.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Can coaches get involve as well with their team teams
allowed to get involved, you know, like coach says, Hey, Chris,
I want you to do analysis on my team. Come
in for session, video session, maybe open up the whiteboard
the active board. Is that a possibility as well with
the coaches?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Absolutely absolutely, I'd be open to that. There is one
one team that I do work with right now, minor
hockey team that they bring me in every two weeks
to do video. It's a U fourteen team with the
Hamilton Steel and they're fantastic. They're great kids. Every time
I come in, they're so dialed in and they want
to see video and they want to get better. They
(30:20):
ask great questions, they work really hard. They're a great group,
and they have a fantastic coaching staff. So for me,
they're really fun to work with. So I would definitely
be open to that if other coaches are interested, and
for me, I would definitely welcome it.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Get to communities, you get to arenas. You see this
all the time if you want to be a scout
obviously on Twitter. It's one of those things on social
media in general, you see people, especially in the OHL
level Chris where every draft time in the Intario Hockey
that you see everybody's list and then you see a
team drafts a guy and it's like, wow, that's either
a steal or why you take them that early? It's
(30:57):
a reach. How important is it to get to arenas
and be on the pulse of the game on the
season and really be involved here with the development side
of things.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Oh, it's everything. It's everything, especially in scouting too. Like
I always found when you're scouting, part of it is
evaluating what you see on the ice and understanding what
their future potential is going to be and being able
to project that. But the most important thing is is
when you're drafting a player, you're you're drafting a person.
So I've always found getting to know the family, the
(31:30):
character of the kid that it's so important, and it's
so important in development too, just understanding for me, like
I want to know which kids are dedicated and want
to be players are going to and are going to
end up putting in the work to get themselves there.
I always say, even with my clients, like I can
give you all the tools and I can give you
(31:50):
all the direction, but how successful you're going to be
is ultimately on you, and it's how hard you want
to work, and it's how dedicated you are to this.
Like I can give you tons of information and I
can direct you in the right way and point you
in the right direction. But it ultimately it's up to them.
And the one thing too with my clients, all the
(32:14):
players that I work with on a regular basis have
gotten like incredibly better, which is amazing for me to see.
It's it's unbelievable and it's really special. It's a special feeling.
But I also know that that's not all me, like,
it's them. They're putting in the work and they're doing
the work, and they're applying the information and they're they're
(32:35):
putting in all this effort to make themselves better. It's
no different than when you draft a player and the
expectations and development in that way, when you work for
a team.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
A hundercent and nowadays with the player. We talked about
this earlier on in a segment where Guy, it's harder
to talk to players. It's not like how it used
to be. The game's changed a ton on the ice,
off the ice when you talk to a player, not
specially dragons. We see the testimonials come on the screen
now for those on YouTube, how important is it their
(33:06):
relationship with a player and be able to be thorough
with them. We used to have that term in Hamilton
with the Bulldogs, that dog mentality and not a bulldog
bulldog and that term was used so much around the
facility and it was from top to bottom. And when
you talk to a player nowadays, how important is it
(33:27):
that obviously the thoroughness is there, but to really Chris,
be straight to the point, but really be almost a
friend and to coach at the same time with the
player to get the best of their development.
Speaker 4 (33:40):
For sure. Yeah, it's it's everything and you touched on
it there. Players and people are different today than let's
say twenty five years ago. And the tactics we use
when we coach and we help make players better, they
have to change and evolve too. So a big one
for me is a lot of positive reinforcement. So when
(34:05):
I see the things that I want to we've got
to point it out. You gotta pat them on the back,
and then if they make a mistake, it's not about
getting mad at them or or yelling at them like
in that old school coach mentality.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
The worst feeling is when you get pulled and then
you get told how bad you wear that? And it
is a goalie's gonna happen, And yeah, you get told
how bad you wears a goalie? The next thing, you're
going out to the game, that's all you're thinking about,
not getting pulled.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
And I mentioned that, yeah, And so for me, it's
always been like if we're going through video with a
player and I see a mistake from them, I take
it as something on me too, and I'm like, okay,
like I need to teach and maybe maybe I didn't
teach this concept in the right way that resonated with them,
and I need to approach it differently. Like that's my
(34:52):
first mentality. When I see a play I don't really like,
or a bad read, I'm like, okay, Like it's it's
they messed they made a mistake. It happens, But it's
not about getting mad at them. It's about teaching and understanding, like, hey,
when we're in this situation next time, how can we
play it differently? And I find that approach works so
much better with players. There's a lot more respect when
(35:16):
you come at it that way from the player, Like
they don't want to be told, hey, you messed up here,
you did this wrong, you did this wrong. A lot
of the time they know, like if they make a
bad play and they turn the puck over, it lead
to a goal. Against they know, so they don't need
to be reamed out for it. For me, it's more of, Okay,
we didn't play this properly, what can we do next time?
(35:38):
And how can we play it differently? And it's about
teaching than more than anything.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Absolutely, And you have some impressive testimonials on your website
as well. Chris social media website, where can I register?
And what's your social media? What's your website?
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Absolutely? So my business Instagram is Chris Whalen Hockey and
my site is Whaleen Hockey dot com. There you can
reach out to me to schedule one on one. I
also have my development library product, which is a monthly subscription.
It's twenty five dollars a month, which I feel like
is very reasonable to get elite breakdowns. Yeah, so I've
(36:20):
had a lot of success with that there. So when
you go in you can access there's there's about three
hundred clips from last year. There's about one hundred and
twenty or so from this year already in there, and
I updated every week adding new clips. There's a school
style worksheet in there too, so you can download a
fillable PDF and create your own study notes to create
(36:42):
like a little study booklet for yourself. There's a lot
of content in there, and it's it's geared towards helping
players start to think the game like an OHL player,
like a pro. Everything in there is coming from my
experience of what OHL players need, And obviously I'm a
little biased because I put it together, but I feel like, yeah,
(37:04):
like I feel like there's not there's not one player
in the OHL that can't benefit from it in some way.
To me, and you know, younger ages as well, players
that aspire to be OHL players. To me, I'm at
the stage and I believe the way the game is
going now that something like this exists, I think players
(37:24):
are at a disadvantage if they don't have it and
they don't use it.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Absolutely well said. I think it's a great point to
end on. Chris of Chris Whalen Hockey, Thanks for joining us,
appreciate the time. Hope to have you on again. This
is something that I've been thinking about the last year
since you've launched. I've been always drilling about it in
Arena is one of the best people I've met with
the Bulldags. Looking forward to seeing Arena soon. Chris, thanks
for coming on.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
Awesome thank you for having me, and I'd be happy
to come on anytime. I really enjoyed it. I had
a blast, so thanks again.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Well, maybe for BC in the Clouds. Maybe we'll start
I start a development pod here on the network. That'd
be pretty cool. Just chat about development weekly and get
your thoughts, pick your brain a little bit on that.
That'd be a great time. But Chris, thanks for coming on.
Chris Whaleenhockey dot com. It's on the internet. Look it up.
It's a great it's a great, great, great website. I'm
(38:15):
telling you right now. Follow him on Instagram Chris Whale
and Hockey. It's incredible, always always on there. Love the
little blogs he's doing, play by play watching games. It's
been great. Chris, keep up the good work. Thanks for
coming on. For bcing the Clouds. That'll do it for
this edition of Always shell Over time. I'm Colin Warden.
We will see you next edition.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
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