On the Move! Wade Russell joins Behind the Gear from Fredericton, New Brunswick where he’s attending teachers college, finishing up his masters, working with minor hockey groups and helping out with the U Sport UNB Reds hockey team. Wade shares his hockey journey from minor hockey to Jr and how he realized that coaching and … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 150: Wade Russell – Moving to New Brunswick, Hockey Development, much more Read More »

Live Podcast! Tons of information for any player or parent looking at getting an edge during their off-season training. This was an awesome episode with 2 elite Speed, Strength and Conditioning coaches talking about off-season training, the importance of speed training and how to correctly incorporate it into your program. Josh is an Olympic athlete, … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 147: Live – Josh Kirkpatrick, Mitch Stewart – Speed, Power and Strength Read More »

Live Podcast! It was great to sit down with Mitch Stewart to discuss the NHL off-season during COVID, how players prepared to get back to playing and dealing with a strange off-season and hockey year all around. Wade Russell joins the podcast as well who always shares some great perspectives on development, teaching skills to … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 147: Live Podcast – Mitch Stewart, Wade Russell and Dwayne Blais Read More »

Another Great Live with Boone Jenner of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Strength Coach Mitch Stewart. We chatted about the NHL season and what is was like to play with the COVID restrictions. Boone discussed is off season training and we answered some questions from the audience. It was great to have some parents, coaches … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 146: Live Podcast – Columbus Blue Jackets Boone Jenner and Mitch Stewart Read More »

Live Pod! Great episode with Michael Houser of the Buffalo Sabres and Mitch Stewart of Total Package Speed Strength and Conditioning. This was a live discussion with some great questions from the audience. We talked to Houser about getting his first NHL start and earning back to back wins for the Sabres. We discussed how … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 145: Live Podcast – Buffalo Sabres Goalie Michael Houser and Mitch Stewart Read More »

A Meaningful Journey! It was awesome to catch up with Jukka Schotter, he’s a mature 20 year old who’s seen many parts of the world, played hockey in 3 different countries and just finished hiking all 900KM’s of the Bruce Trail from Niagara Falls to Tobermory in 25 days. In January 2021 Jukka’s mother Gabi … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 143: Jukka Schotter – Walked the 900KM Bruce Trail in Honour of his Mother Read More »

Passion! This was a blast to chat with film maker AJ Messier, he’s a creative gem and possess the long lost gift of communication or gift of gab! I loved chatting with AJ and hearing his authentic story of how he got in to photography (beers and class mixed well!!), he chatted about his work … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 142: AJ Messier – Pro Photographer, Writer, Co-Director of “The Cannons” Read More »

GM, Coach, Minor Hockey! This was a great episode with Rob Simpson the Associate GM of the London Knights. We chatted about drafting players through the pandemic, advice for players who may not have been drafted, developing young players and navigating minor hockey as a dad and coach. This is a great episode for any … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 141: Rob Simpson – Associate GM London Knights OHL – Talking Draft, Minor Hockey and NHL Playoffs Read More »

Mapping out Your Hockey Journey! This was a great conversation with Leevi Kinnunen an 18 year old hockey player from Finland who will stop at nothing to find ways, resources, coaches to help improve his game. Leevi has a goal of playing NCAA hockey and he shares what he’s learned over the past couple of … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 140: Leevi Kinnunen Jr aged player from Finland and Mitch Stewart of TPSSC Read More »

The Boys are Back! It was great to have Kevin and Wade back on the podcast to catch up and talk some hockey. We chatted about the NHL Playoffs, the winners, losers and our take on how some of the series have gone. We also added our picks to make it to the cup finals … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 139: Kevin Galerno and Wade Russell – NHL Playoffs, OHL Draft, Mental Skills Read More »

A Blast From The Past! This was a very personally awesome episode for me. Have you had anyone in your life who made a major impact but you never told them? I did and I told him and although I was nervous it was a great conversation. Ron was a.major influence in my life and … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 138: Ron Dubuc and Jean-Gille Larocque – High School, Coaching, Parenting… Read More »

Getting the Edge! Get out a pen and paper, Dr Callum Cowan shares some great insight into how we can optimize our performance by changing some of our daily habits. Dr Cowan is a Naturopathic Sports Medicine doctor who owns Phenom High Performance Medicine working with with professional, Olympic, MMA and many other high performers … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 137:Dr Callum Cowan and Mitch Stewart, optimizing health and performance Read More »

Gear Talk! It was a lot of fun to have Ryan Messier join me today to nerd out on hockey gear. Ryan is a CCM Sales and Pro Services Rep, with a ton of knowledge when it comes to hockey gear, performance and specs. We discuss how Ryan found his profession, his hockey beginnings and … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 136: Ryan Messier – CCM Sales Rep – Chatting Stick, Skates, Helmets and More Read More »

An Influencer in the Game of Hockey! It was great to have a good friend and a great hockey mind on this episode. Joe Birch has twice been recognized by the Hockey News as Top 100 People of Power and Influence. Joe played his way up from Jr B hockey to the OHL and used … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 135: Joe Birch – Working in the OHL, Player Agency to Leading an OHL Team Read More »

Hockey Bloodlines! It was a lot of fun to catch up with Griffin Luce and chat about his hockey journey. With a father who’s been a professional scout in the NHL for years, currently Scott is with the Vegas Golden Knights and a grandfather, Don Luce who played over 890 NHL games, Griffin has been … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 134: Griffin Luce – Hockey is in his Blood from Prep Hockey to Pro Read More »

You made the Show! Dan Pietens was a normal guy with a great career, a wife, things seemed to be going very well, but were they? Dan, like many of us found himself in a career that he didn’t love, long days at work and longer evenings complaining about it. So he made a change … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 133: Dan Pietens – Creating NHL Art by Putting Pencil to Paper Read More »

Follow your Dreams! It was an absolute pleasure to chat with Bulbul Kartanbay, she’s not only the first female hockey player from Kazakhstan to play in the National Women’s Hockey League, she’s an entrepreneur, a coach and a trailblazer for young female athletes worldwide, especially in her home country. Bulbul has an amazing hockey journey … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 132: Bulbul Kartanbay – First Women from Kazakhstan to Play in the NWHL Read More »

Hockey in Hong Kong! Jordan Laroche is an awesome young man with a ton of life experiences that he’s accomplished through his hockey journey. From growing up and starting to play hockey in Hong Kong, being a part of the Honk Kong National Team Program, moving to Canada and attending Stanstead College in Quebec to … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 131: Jordan Laroche – From Hockey in Hong Kong to Canada Read More »

Never say Never! It was a lot of fun to chat with former NHL player and Stanley Cup Champion Blake Sloan. He shares some great stories of his career from almost hanging up his skates after winning an NCAA National Championship with Michigan to playing 290 games in the NHL. Blake is a great example … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 130: Blake Sloan – NCAA and Stanley Cup Champion Read More »

Canada’s Captain! What an inspirational story from an awesome young man. I feel very fortunate to have Tyler McGregor on this episode today, a hockey player that at the age of 15 faced the fight of his life, being diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma (bone cancer). Through support from family, friends and his sure determination … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 129: TYLER MCGREGOR Captain of Team Canada’s Paralympic Sledge Hockey Team Read More »

Words of Wisdom from Coach JG! It was great to have Jean-Gilles Larocque on the podcast again, we talk some hockey, baseball and sport in general along with the lessons learned through athletics. Coach JG has a ton of knowledge in coaching, training, skill acquisition and mental performance. He founded The Baseball Academy in Sudbury … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 128: Coach JG Larocque – Coaching, Building a Culture, Mental Performance Read More »

To Hell and Back! WOW, what an amazing person tackling about some amazing initiatives with mental health and addiction. Brady Leavold has lived it all, from a young up and coming hockey star, playing in the WHL, signing a pro contract and playing in the AHL to struggling with mental health, using drugs and alcohol … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 127: Brady Leavold – Addiction, Mental Health, – From the Gutter to Recovery Read More »

Enjoy the Process! Great to get back in studio with Kevin and Wade, always fun to chat some hockey, skills, parenting (Kev sharing some dad stories), minor hockey, Walter Gretzky and his legacy and much more. Wade always offers a great academic perspective and Kevin’s weathered veteran skill coach approach is always appreciated. We share … BEHIND THE GEAR Episode 126: Kevin Galerno and Wade Russell – Some fun hockey talk! Read More »