Episode 179 with Eric Comrie and CCM’s Axis 2.9 Source Exclusive
We are moving our way towards that sweet spot in the offseason where everybody’s jumping on the ice so there’s trickle happening but in the next couple of weeks everybody’s going to be uh head first into training for the upcoming season welcome to inle radio the podcast Darren Mard along with Kevin Woodley
Today David Hutcherson Is On Assignment looking forward to bringing you a couple of inside Scoops from the world of uh goalie schools coming up and what everybody’s doing to get ready in just a little bit today’s feature interview Eric comry of the Buffalo Sabers yeah
You heard me correctly and boy is this a fantastic conversation with Kevin Woodley uh up there in Colona and our gear segment with the Hockey Shop the hockey shop.com Source for Sports Sur dealing with the CCM AIS 2.9 line uh Woody as we get into to the secondary
Price point of CCM AIS 2 yeah last week we went with the bower M5 Pro this week the axis 2.9 and I think it’s important to note because a lot of people probably that are shopping in that range have already seen CCM AIS 2.9 maybe at your
Local store or online but when it comes to buying it from the Hockey Shop Source for Sports you actually get more this isn’t just a review of the axis 2.9 line it’s a review of The Source for Sports exclusive that you get when you buy the axis 2.9
Line from the Hockey Shop from Cam’s crew down there and it comes with lots of extras that not everybody else is going to have available so we’ll get into that in a little bit we’ll walk through some of those specifics that you get when you buy it from them versus
Anywhere else and I would suggest um you know if you’re a goalie that’s looking at purchasing it those extras are worth the difference of making that purchase from the Hockey Shop sorcer Sports rather than wherever ever you otherwise might because there there are some legit added benefits in there that uh that
I’ll leave to cam to explain a bit later now you’re planning uh Cam’s a planner uh when it comes to gear and making sure that it’s uh out and on the shelves and and ready months before the start of the season but if you’re a goenda now I mean you’re still in that
Window where you can get a hold of uh this gear from Cam and be ready for for training camp right yeah and this is the beauty of the second price Point lines too like we said before this stuff is you know um good enough to play beer
League for sure good enough like right up into bantom and we’ve had some major Bantam players actually wear these second price point uh lines for in some cases more than a year uh and had the pads especially last a little bit longer so um you know that is the best part
Like this is we’re sort of past that custom window for goalies where if you’re ordering custom and you get it at the start of the Season like if you’re looking now for custom uh um you’re not getting it by the time the season starts that’s the reality of most of the
Windows out there such a busy time of the year too uh we’re seeing you know companies are are going to be busy making gear for their NHL guys their AHL guys their junior guys so those custom windows tend to get stretched out a little bit um but that’s the beauty of a
Place like the Hockey Shop they’ve got all this stuff in stock not just at the second price point but even at the pro level where yeah okay you’re not ordering custom but you need a size you need a specific glove you need some features like we talked about with the
Axis 2.9 chances are the Hockey Shop has it in stock and they can get you fit properly and on your way out the door with the gear that day um so for those of you who are sort of shopping in that right before the season standpoint you
Want to wait till the end of the summer to make sure your kids done growing because if you buy it you know buy it back in June it might not fit by September which is a good thing in the world of goal tending and size mattering
More than more than it ever has before um but you don’t want to get caught in between sizes so you can wait right till the last minute and chances are the hockey shop and the hockey h Shop Source for Sports will have something in stock that can help you stop more pucks I
Can’t wait for everybody to hear your discussion with Eric comry I remember the first time that he was on the podcast and uh in Gold radio subscribers were treated to this uh great story of a a prospect a professional going out on public uh skating ice and doing his his
Own crease movements and that was an eye opener and today uh we’re going to get the same type of thing uh with Eric but the gear segment involves the CCM access 2.9 which is really like I know it’s the secondary price point of axess uh two
Point axis 2 but it’s really almost like 2.5 with the way the Hockey Shop does their buying and and serves it up and gives you the different options it’s pretty cool yeah no they’ve definitely and then like I said we’ll getting it why don’t we just let cam explain it to
Us cuz there are some extra options here like I said you won’t find anywhere else um so let’s have Cam walk us through exactly what those are and why if you’re looking at this line you should be looking at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports welcome back to the Hockey Shop
Source for Sports we’re down here in goalie Utopia of course you can check them out at the hockey shop.com at anytime it’s summer which means we have new product rolling in on a regular basis here at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports including the second price point options we’ve already talked to you
About the bower M5 Pro which is the tiar down from the mock line today we have the axis 2.9 which is the first tier down from the new axis tads and I got to say pleasantly surprised to see a lot of the exciting new features that we
Unveiled with the axis 2 both in the video here and our full Overview at Engle mag.com continue down to the second price point including a version of the KN that is similar if not a complete replica uh and identical in every way but more impressive is this man Cam matw and his
Ability through the source for sports buying power and the power of the hockey shop to get exclusive features on their CCM AIS 2. .9 that you can’t get anywhere else so this isn’t just an overview of CCM AIS 2.9 this is an overview of the features on 2.9 that you
Can only get through the source for sports and cam here at the hockey shop.com so cam let’s start with the overview of the pad similarities and differences on this lower price point compared to axis 2 and then let’s get into the source for sports exclusives that you manag to negotiate with CCM for
Your line including some custom colorways and some some exciting additions on the glove pad and blocker okay so for pad itself biggest thing is you’re going to see as a drop down between this and the axis 2 don’t have that Max core rebound so once again you
Are going to see a bit of a difference in terms of the overall core of the pad how it pops out those rebounds it’s almost just as stiff for sure but it won’t have that same rebound quality that you will find in the axess 2 propad
Well now when we say stiff I think we should just you know clarify stiff through especially above the knee and through the thigh still uh they’ve gone with unlike sort of previous Premier Line Products they’ve gone with that softer boot Flex which Echoes uh similar to the eflex line but you’re right
Certainly a stiff pad above the knee and this will that softer boot still will help you get over top of your yourself especially in a reverse VH situation anything like that you need that softer boot to be able to stop that pad from kicking up and riding up on you while
You’re moving around well I know I said we’d start specifically with the CCM features but I notice as we talk about Flex profile there is something that is unique to Source for Sports I see a break on the outer roll here is there an internal one as well so the first call
Out for the SDC or Source exclusive access 1.9 or 2.9 excuse me pads yes we went with single internal single external brake let’s carry a little bit more Flex to the pad itself so again below the knee you’re going to get a little more Flex not again not pretty stiff above the
Correct correct flipping the pad over onto the knee stack itself so one of the things that we wanted to upgrade as well uh We’ve added a uh stiffer HD foam to the actual knee stack itself uh this is something that you would see you know once again a bit of uh of subtraction
Once you’re going onto the regular 2.9 pad not something you can necessar see visually but you can definitely feel it when you drop down to the ice so that stiffer foam is going to give you once again more stability when you’re down in that butterfly itself so and a little
More of that that thud the patented thud that we were looking it’s like I feel like we need like the Batman and Robin videos from the 70s when they had the fight and it was like Flack and thud I really make that sound well with my teeth right now Flack and thud definitely
Makes and a thud when you hit the ice nothing like knowing you’ve hit the ice and have a good seal the DRS Pro System that’s in this CCM AIS 2.9 helps with that enhanced the HD po I’ll keep talking so you can collect yourself so
You can still see that we do get that integrated knee as you talked about earlier uh as we find down on the pro uh up on the propad itself so once again that stability um is there com with our KN stack um that really helps out in
Terms of your drive down to the butterfly continuing on with additional features so we have added some High um speed skin material actually in two areas where we find that the pad does commonly wear especially with knee pads velcro kind of catches so this is just giving you an additional wear coverage
On either side of the pad to help protect uh the pad itself moving on to the boot of the pad we have created our own bungee system that actually has a little bit more Flex to it than the standard one that you would find on the
Pad itself we are finding that just the CCM bungees were a little bit too taut so this one gives just a little bit more fleux would you like to hear me say taut to talk let’s bring up that glove axis 2.9 Source exclusive this is still the
591 brake so again no finger stalls big change for CCM um still has that same kind of foam design that is going to imprint your fingers into the glove as you’re wearing it and as the glove breaks in heat moldable heat moldable but not necessarily requiring a skate
Oven per se the natural heat of your hand will help establish those groups just by playing with so that’s all the standard now Source exclusive single te extra 1in depth to it so great overall cat surface skate lace coming standard on our source exus nice deep pocket why
Do we want skate laces in our pocket softer what causes a puck to come out of a glove spin rate things like this will help reduce that spin rate and keep it in the pocket longer potion sciency on you so now when we actually go to the
Palm of the glove we’ve also added an extra thick Palm with d3o so d3o for those that may not be familiar after all our years of reviews is a impact absorbent sort of call out by the orange color of it an impact absorbing foam that offers better protection than
Traditional Foams or sort of felt layers that we used to see in gloves usually only reserved for the high-end Pro level stuff but cams managed to get it in this second price point glove at a boy Camp so this will feel very very similar to a
Stock game ready 591 access to PR glove so you’re getting that similar level of protection and a similar level of feel so covers the glove last but not least the blocker major upgrade here we still get the D30 in the index finger so what you
Normally see in again the axis 2 Pro we have brought it down into the 2.9 in our source exclusive and then I talked about the D3 and the orange you can really see it prevalent there in the glove a nice little call out for that extra layer of
Protection that again buy this from anyone else this 2.9 line you’re not going to get that D30 protection in the finger for those pucks that ride up the stick you’ve got it here from the Hockey Shop Source for Sports correct so give us a call here at 60458 8299 or 1800 567
7790 lots of colorways there’s some more stuff coming in check it out all exclusive some color some some custom colors available only to you guys only available to you guys so make sure you check them out at atth hockey shop.com um some of the other features
That we didn’t really have a chance to get into that have changed in the axis 2 line and continue over to the 2.9 things like you know that wide open cff the ability to sort of manipulate how open it is make sure you go back and check
Out our initial review uh both here on the the videos on our YouTube channel hit like subscribe so you get these automatically they’ll give you a walkthrough of that original axis two pad and of course inol mag.com we”ve got a complete overview of it you can
Really dive into the details and as we see happily here at a second price point level how much on the pads retail check them out at the hockey shop.com hit that notification Bell Bing put them on the spot 1129 so more than $1,000 less than a propad a lot of those
Specs are carrying down to that second price point which is exciting for us even if Cam couldn’t remember how much it cost Oh I thought the video was already over I perfect near perfect buddy much like my smile cat C almost perfect cats awesome stuff told you plenty of options
And a couple of different uh abilities to have what’s on the axis 2 in the 2.9 which is cool are you a skate lace guy in the glove or are you the regular uh webbing if I if I’ve got an option I’m probably going skate lace like when we
Do custom sets uh our axis 2.0 has skate lace uh and that’s one of the features that they have on the CCM access customizer like you can not just get Skate lace but get multiple colors of skate lace so for example in our custom blue Set uh the skate lace actually
Matches so we got a double te and we use nylon lace in between the two T’s but in the outside of that pocket is Skate lace so I just find you know those heavy shots with lots of spin having skate lace and a bit of a softer pocket will
Take a little more of that spin-off and make it less likely to end up in a a popo Rebound in front of you so yeah I guess I I guess in a long-winded way which is my specialty I am a skate lace guy do you remember the first goalie you saw using skate
Lace oo chances are mine was Ron see chances are the first goalie I saw using it I wasn’t looking for it because it predated me being a goalie geek so um that’s a good question I’m like sort of looking over to see if like we used to
Have the loango glove up here in the corner of the office but we use that for a charity prize um yeah I honestly don’t know Darren I didn’t as far back as hex I love that yeah I and I’ll be honest it was a long time before I realized that
Goalies used the skate lace because it took spin-off and allowed some absorption in the glove because I always thought it was cool and that’s why guys did it and that’s why hex doll would would would put it on there because it looked way better and and that’s why I
Initially did it my dad freaked out on me back back in the day because I took all the uh the nylon lace out and and put the skate lace in because I want to look cool why not both that’s the beauty of go tending fashion and function is
There another position in sports where fashion and function crosses over to the the degree it does with golender whether it’s the masks features like that like look good feel good play good baby that’s all that matter kind of gets us into our feature interview brought to
You by sens Arina sensoren VR Eric comry of the Buffalo Sabers and there’s a guy that has transitioned and really grown along uh his skill set on the ice and off the ice and uh if you want to build off the ice censoring VR continues to
Get it done well I mean it’s a perfect tie-in because a large part of this interview with Eric is sort of along the themes of you know mental coaching and mental skills and some work he’s done in the past couple years with a sports psychologist that have really made a
Difference for him and and in some ways actually before we get into sens Arena just a quick shout out to Kimberly new uh from our last Edition which was so focused on the mental game and mindset we have got I listened to it twice okay I I admit I listened went back and
Listened to it a second time the whole hour and a half like that was one of our longest interviews ever and I I made some notes through it because there is so much that I know that uh go go into my head and then there’s another cool
Part and I forget about the the previous uh nugget so I went back and and took notes through it so much positive feedback we’ve had on that interview so if you if you skipped it folks if you missed it make sure you go back and listen uh because much like Darren based
On the feedback we’re getting you’ll probably listen twice and I think the same will be true in a much shorter format with Eric this week because a lot of the sort of steps he took this season to become a 920 guy you a really tough
Spot as a backup were tied to sort of that mental side of the game and some changes in terms of how he organized and managed and took control of the controllables in his life as a goenda bles that Eric has always taken advantage of is the ability to get on
The ice and he uses sens Arena to make maintain that as a controllable even when there isn’t ice available if anybody ever went back and watched um or if you saw it the first time remember when we did the video review of sens Arena and Eric came in and sat down and
Talked about how he uses it as a tool to get better like this is a guy who no longer has to worry about access to ice and he still uses it because he knows it helps him stop more pucks so for a guy who has come such a far away on the
Mental side of the game I don’t think it’s a coincidence uh that he’s also still using sens Arena as a training tool and is a big part of his game so if you haven’t yet make sure you go back and check out our review featuring Eric comry of sensor Arena and for more
Information make sure you check out sense Arena at their website as well as the app you don’t actually have to be a sense Arena user to benefit from their app uh but if you combine the power of those two worlds uh you’ve just got a fantastic tool for
Goenda com’s probably I would guess before this contract expires Devin Levi who we hope to have on the Pod here in the next couple of weeks I was actually supposed to go up to Colona to see him but missed him due to some family circumstances um I know he’s another guy
Who may be one of the greatest users of sense Arena so you know folks we talk about it is it great for beer Leaguers that can’t get on the ice will it make you better absolutely are there mental mental drills and eye and vision training drills you can do in there for
Goalies of all ages absolutely but this isn’t just a development tool for kids or for old guys legit Pros with access to coaching and access to ice some of the best in the world guys like Comer and Levi use sense Arena as part of their training so make sure you check it
Out as a tool you can add to your box and so now let’s turn it over to Eric cuz uh uh I’m excited to have everybody sort of listen to how he’s used some of these tools on the mental side of the game to make such a big jump in his game
You’re listening to the podcast because you’re a passionate enthusiastic or eager to learn golender or you have that connection to the go tender and you want to learn more about it get ready for one of the most uh bright enthusiastic captivating conversations that we’ve ever had with a goendale on location
With Eric comry brought to you by sensoren sensoren VR really excited to welcome back for his second appearance on the inle radio Podcast Eric com and this is going to sound weird for me of the Buffalo Sabers Eric how’s the summer going congratulations on the new contract new
Team new opportunity where’s the mindset as we hit mid July and and you look at that coming up in the next couple months first of all it sounds kind of weird to me as well it’s a it’s a fresh I’ve never gone to a different team training camp before I’ve always been Winnipeg
I’ve been I’ve bounced around a lot but I’ve only ever been to one team’s training camp and that’s Winnipeg so it’s gonna be fun to see what’s different around the league but I’m really excited for this opportunity this year I think it’s a good chance for
Myself to play a couple more games did last year and uh looking to go there and earn as many starts as I can and earn an opportunity to play as many games as I possibly can what’s that process like going through free agency um for the
First time and you know coming up to that deadline not knowing what the future holds different opportunities musical chairs we’ve talked to guys over the years some find it stressful some don’t how’ you approach it how was your mindset going through it well for myself
I really trust my agent a lot and I just trust I have a lot of trust in him I have a lot of I know what he’s going to do the best thing for me every single time so I understand that I think that’s a big thing is if you have trust in
Somebody you’re working with it and you have a good relationship with this person then it really helps you out a lot and helps you understand like how um gives you a lot of confidence in yourself lot of trust in yourself but for myself I’m a bit of a goalie nerd
Myself so I was watching all the moves watching the different trades watching the signings like oh that’s kind of cool that’s kind of cool and not really stressing out about it just because I’m kind of nering out about it like oh that’s kind of a cool move that’s kind
Of I mean I remember back in the days when I was like 12 10 years old playing NHL on Xbox and making all these signings and trades so I was like I have done that yeah maybe yeah so it’s was kind of fun for myself to think back at
That and um no for myself I was I I trusted I had a good season so I trusted myself I think things would be different if I had a different year if going into free agency and not knowing the opportunity you would have gotten but for myself I was very fortunate to work
Hard the past summer and have a good season and and the amount of starts I had and just so I had I had good confidence that no matter what was going to happen I was going to get an opportunity somewhere beyond the opportunity and then you’ll be paired
With Craig Anderson who we know really well and he’s a beauty you’re going to love him um what other things did you like about buffalo in the move for myself I just so talking to my agent because I didn’t have a chance to talk him a ton before I signed but talking to
My agent and I once again I really put a lot of trust and confidence into him and he how he was saying hey this team’s going the right direction like Kevin Adams these guys the head coach there Granado is just fantastic like they just they they’re building a culture in
Buffalo they’re building the right kind of mindset everything’s earned everything’s kind of De everyone they have guys that want want to be in Buffalo and that’s a big thing for me because I want to be around a team that’s that’s that’s growing and is building towards something and I want to
Be a part of that I want to jump on to jump on the board with them and battle it out every single night and earn opportunities myself and Craig and whoever else is there is just going to go there and battle for opportunities and earn as many wins as we can and I
Think that’s that’s that’s what we want we want to have that that that camaraderie and that that belief in ourselves and that uh and the the good people good organization just kind of Build It Forward okay so you like you said you’ve only ever been a camp with
The Jets but you have bounced around through waivers and stuff uh over the past couple of years lessons from starting fresh with the new team I know it’s not the same situation when you go midseason versus training camp but in terms of what that adjustment process is
Like for professional goalie to go to a different team a new voice a new goalie coach are there things you can take away from that where this maybe as much as it’s a new experience for you there are elements that you have experience with based on having done it through the
Waiver wire in the past 100% And I think the big one and I think you get dragged into this a lot is trying to impress your teammates too early and trying to make good Impressions and trying to be perfect right out of the gate and for myself i’
I’ve been in a habit of trying to do that too much trying to do too much too early instead of just going there and kind of playing my game and being me and just trusting myself and not kind of go all of a sudden ramp up for the next
That next practice that next game and just and then you you’re playing stiff out there because you’re trying to be perfect instead of just letting it happen just kind of letting the game kind of unfold and being you and really just enjoying that and being the person
That I am I enjoy hockey so just having fun out there almost like we were just on the ice here up in Colona for you’re up here for for a few days this week working with L Mast and his phrase is let it come in terms of letting the puck
Come to you through a tracking mentality you have to let it come in terms of a new team you can’t really force it no 100% golf you try yeah yeah honest it’s just like golf like more the harder you try the more you try and put in it the
Less happens the more you just kind of let things happen take it like golf shot by shot or hockey shot by shot and just kind of let let things unfold let it go let it play and just play your game be you and just go there and just I mean
The game’s the same if for myself ly and I actually talk about this a lot we say doesn’t matter who you’re playing you’re still playing against the puck doesn’t matter who the person is he’s still same siiz Puck same size net same size ice that doesn’t change so why would you try
And change your game you just keep the same keep playing it and you’ll adjust as time goes on and the making friends part I’m I’m pretty good at that I get along with guys pretty well so I’m really excited I there’s a couple guys in that team I know and they’re just
Amazing human beings so I’m really excited to see those guys again well as we’re fond of saying at Engel if you can’t be friends with Eric comry there’s something wrong with you um you talk about neck shot mentality and it’s so funny because I mean I used to used to
Do a little bit of PJ tour coverage and and write about Golf and that was that’s the whole thing right it’s all about like the next shot and that key focus and it’s so similar for goenda half that you started working with a mental skills coach and that neck
Shot mentality that in the- moment mentality which would have been difficult this year because you went through some long gaps between starts can you walk me through if you want to give a shout out to who you’ve been working with but also some advice that you might have for other young goalies
Listening to this that are trying to get to that next shot mentality because it is it’s really easy to say but sometimes it’s really tough it’s also so I’m I’m going to go back to your first thing we’re talking about golf there it’s funny because I actually started what
What actually made me a better golfer was I looked up a little bit this decade it’s called decade golf online it’s on Instagram it’s called decade Golf and it’s about it’s all about golf course management and how how guys win tournaments and and it’s funny what he
Says he says you don’t go out there trying to win a tournament you try and run your process better than anyone else and if you happen to win that tournament then that’s great but you don’t go there trying to win so you try to run your process so well through the whole thing
So it’s like okay what’s my strategy in this hole I’m hitting it here I’m hitting it there I’m putting it there so if you keep running your your strategy the whole time that’s what’s going to give you the results and that’s exactly what myself and my psychologist talked
My sport psychologist talked about it was just go out there kind of screw the results don’t worry about those go out there and really focus on what you can control in your process which is me for myself it’s my mantras my kind of my my three things I was going through which
Were um skate well because I can control skating well play positionally I can control that hit my marks kind of thing and be you play my game and not not worry about anything else so that’s my three things I worked on and I didn’t worry about the shot I didn’t worry
About anything I worried about getting into position because I could control that and skating well because I I looked at the game as so you play the game it’s an hour it’s a 16 60-minute game how much of that time are you actually making saves very very few maybe 1
Second a g or you’re actually executing save execution the rest of the time is just moving from position to position so that was a big one for me because I can control that I can control how well I got into position every single time so that was my main focus was just skate
Well and get into position and then let the results kind of take care of themselves okay so mantras we’ve seen guys over the years sort of sort of glom on to key phrases you know sometimes they’ll change from season to season we they honestly they change from game to
Game sometimes okay they do it’s it’s whatever whatever click it’s whatever you felt click because I’m also a big believer in practice so for me it’s about what’s clicking in practice right now so you and I like to practice as much as well as I like to play so for me
I’m like okay what’s clicking in practice this is what’s this is this is what’s getting my mindset right so I got to figure out okay this this is what’s clicking for me I’m in the zone this is what I’m going to use for the game kind
Of thing and I’m going to stick to it through that whole game though I’m not GNA that once that game starts you’re sticking to it and you’re sticking to that process as hard as you possibly can is that outside of those those are the first three sort of the foundation and
The fundamentals and then different things come and go can you give me an example that those three things worked all year for me all year every single practice every single game I I was pretty on it all year long I only had a stretch of about seven I remember I had
Seven practices this year I didn’t like like throughout the whole season where I was like okay I’m off it I got to get back on it and it was just kind of and I and I talked to Lyall I talked to my sports about those seven practices and I
Was like why why Wen these practices going right well then goes how much were you focus on how much were you deal to on the basics and he’s like okay you know what you’re right I kind of I kind of got away from a little bit I kind of
Got my mind got a little SLO here and it’s just about getting back to it getting back to it I know it sounds so simple but the more you refine those simple things and just get into the right mindset it’s going to put set you up for the right right foundation so one
Part of that sounds like is identifying when you aren’t on it when you’re not feeling good or moving well or those fundamentals have drifted into practice and then recognizing what had shifted is that is that right so you almost got to learn through your mistakes and actually be but at the same
Time you’re being cognizant of your thought process and mindset as you know looking back on those 100 well for me it’s like so practice and I don’t necessarily grade a practice by how many pucks I stop you got remember right it’s about how well I executed in my
Movements and my state of executions so if I’m executing my movements correctly I’m in position and my my safe executions aren’t taking me away from the puck then I categorize that as a s successful practice cuz practice are going to have more time and space to shoot they’re going to score a couple
The whole thought for me is just get into perfect position make them make the perfect shot and a lot of times you’re going to make a good reaction because you’re going to be able to see that Puck and see the release so in practice it’s a little bit harder to do that because
Guys have more time and more space can be a little bit more deceptive so that’s that was for me I was really dialed and I okay was after every practice I kind of think to myself okay was I doing what I had to do today to be successful the
Next day was I in the right mindset was I this and if the answer was yes then I kept going forward that the three keys like just just going back to those three that you talked about I love though because they make so much sense because like you said they’re they’re elements
You can control MH whereas especially in a practice there’s so much wide open especially with the skill you guys had on the Jets like that forward group with time and space in a practice environment if you’re focused just on the result that could spiral the wrong way pretty
Quick yeah when you got guys like Kyle Connor and all the skill there um did you write them down like are those like some guys will put it on a note on their sticker on their blocker or you just dialed in to the point where you didn’t
Need to I notebook all year I wrote I wrote notes before every game like a journaling Journal yeah I journal every night every before every single game kind of was this new yeah this was new and I kind of and it was night nights I just kind of write down what I was
Confident in that day and like just kind of say why should I be confidence the next day because I this is I’ve worked and I put it down write down this i’ confident because I work so hard I’m confident because I trained so hard today confident because I did this so I
Was like and I kind of created a checklist of things I had to do every single day to make sure that I could perform my best the next day workout nutrition sleep hydration on nice preparation warm up cool down just kind of things like that so I was like okay
Did I did I check all the boxes if I did then I controlled what I can control for that day I can’t do anything else I can’t worry about the next day because I’ve controlled what I I’ve put my work in for this day to achieve what I need
To for the next day and that’s kind of what I did every single day and then before games I’d kind of do my like my just write down my game plan for the game so okay I’d write down just a simple notes okay if if I’m just I get
Nervous for game that’s normal thing I just get I get nervous so I would write down um embrace the nerves because I’ve always played my best games when I am nervous so I just understand like every I’ve always been nervous before every single game so why would I why would it
Change anything but how I can play it’s not going to change anything so I kind of write down embrace the nerves they make you better and they kind of write down different things about like the just my keys for the game and my mantras and then I was kind of like
Okay kind of my key before every game was okay anytime I caught myself thinking about results go back to your mantras go back to your thoughts go back to what you’re go back to your think so every time i’ catch myself I just okay
Just go back to it that my that was my goal for the whole game pretty much just don’t worry about anything don’t worry about saves I worry about anything but just go back to my mantras was just the the goal for my game reminds me of uh a
Seminar we did with John Stevenson who’s work with Bron h and a bunch of other guys I think he actually works with your buddy Freddy Anderson a little bit too now it’s everybody’s Focus drifts yeah it’s about recognize when it drifts and having the mechanisms or the tools to a
Recog it and be pull it back sounds like you discovered a lot of that as well over the past year for sure it was not for me the if I went through a game and just say I let in 10 goals it doesn’t really matter just to give an
Example worst possible game you could play but I went through there you been watching me at beer league evidently and I went through there focused on my focused on my game plan and I was being me and playing my game I can live with myself and go to bed at night going say
You know what I played my game did my thing I did everything I possibly could could just didn’t work that night some days you don’t have it but if I went there and I was like oh man I’m thinking about results and all a sudden I’m
Trying to do so much I’m trying to make saves and trying to do all this different things I’m like whoa then it’s going to be hard for me I’m like why would you do that you didn’t you weren’t you you weren’t your game you didn’t
Play it so why would you be happy with that performance I’d always I told myself I don’t care what happens tonight as long as you play your game and stick to your game plan did it take you while to get to that like when you look back
At it I mean everything’s a process but do you wish you’d maybe engage to sports olist a little earlier like not that we’re telling every kid to run out and go hire a sportsite this game’s expensive enough already it’s not about hiring sport it’s honestly it’s about
Listening to people because I don’t know how many times you can hear this in interviews everyone says they do this and you’re like but for me the biggest thing that a sport sounds like you also have to have a tool the tools to know how to manifest it for me the biggest
Thing the sports psych did for me is I have a tendency of bouncing around I’d be like oh that sounds good oh that sounds good that sounds good then all of a sudden you’re doing 3,000 things and you’re like holy smokes I got to condense this into like a lot less
Things to really get the most out of it and that’s what really helped me was just organize it and develop a system and a plan instead of just Randomness random thousand things every single time we haven’t named him or her do you want to give a shout out to the sports site
Lenny is Lenny and his last name is really hard to pronounce so I’m not going to try to do it I’m sorry okay we’ll try and find a link from you so we can give some love there on the podcast in the show notes um another guy who’s
Been a big part of your career that we haven’t talked about yet and I imagine was a huge part of last year especially because of the gaps you went through I mean you you ripped off a 920 but the way you did it with I mean I think there
Was one where it was over a month between games so practice would have been huge for you and Wade flarity who were obviously big fans of here on the Pod maybe if we keep saying nice things he’ll actually come join us one of these days um but the relationship with Flats
I know you’re going to miss them this year but like how do you guys manage to stay sharp with so much time between starts there’s another thing that a lot of kids struggle with when they get stuck in that spot how’d you pull it off Flats was amazing for me he was
Absolutely incredible I think he’s one of the best goalie coaches in the world and what he can do is just unbelievable I mean he does what he did for me is every single day we worked we worked every single day just Basics skating I mean we were on the ice I think every
Day 30 to 45 minutes for every practice on the ice just him and I just skating and actually skating and Puck handing is what we did every single day then after practice we skated it was all about sticking to the routine just trusting it sticking to the routine sticking to the
Routine skating well skating well Puck handing same routine same routine we just did the same things over and over just building a good base making sure my habits were sharp in practice after practice we did a lot of work and that it’s it’s funny to say because you don’t
Ever do this but I was in Winnipeg we always do kind of group goalie video sessions which is kind of weird because a lot of teams don’t do that so I would go into hel’s video session and I’d learn from hel so I’d kind of get to like even though I
Didn’t play the game I’d still like get to I I get to watch the game and understand how he played it so it’s almost kind of mentally keeping me sharp as well and flats would go through some of the video extra with me just of even helier different goali and just say what
Do you think of this what do you think of that and it kind of kept me sharp as well just kind of going over because yes practice is great and what we did in practice was the detail is so important treating practice just like a game but also the mental work of
Watching watching video and going through the game stuff kind of helps your like your visualization your kind of stuff that you go through every single game I was going to say it sounds like visualization but you’re actually watching video so you’re sort of like it’s like you’re manifesting the game on
A TV screen in front of you and another thing that really helps me too is I and a lot of guys don’t do I prepare every single game as if I’m pretty much starting so I run through my routine every single game so even if you know
You’re not starting even if I know I’m not starting I run through my routine and that is just strictly based on the fact that and you know what I should have done this more as I was in the Amer league but I when I got to the NHL I’m
Like hey you get one shot at this you never know when you’re G to get the opportunity to go into a game you have to be ready to go if you’re not ready to go I will blame myself forever if I’m right if I did this stuff once again
This goes back to my preparation I controlling my control bolts if I go out there I don’t play a good game because I go in relief that happens you know what you’re coming in cold it’s tough to do but if I went through my routine my my pregame preparation everything the exact
Same and I went in there I can at least go to there say you know what I did everything I possibly could and I want to have that ability to do that every single time I step on the ice well now give me without giving me every single
Detail but like what like what’s that look like like two hours D I’m I’m a three hour guy you’re a three- hour guy I’m a three hour guy so even though there’s a chance you don’t play that night you’re going through the whole three-hour R there’s a good lesson there
For a lot of kids yeah for me it’s get there get there I usually have a little bit of chicken and rice at the rink um then I go play soccer with the guys for a little bit cuz I do that even when I play I started this this year cuz hel
Wanted me to join the soccer game so I’ve started playing soccer with him Super Bowl yeah a little bit early and then I go do my juggling routine I juggle juggle juggle it just do my hand eye routine my juggling my throwing Off the Wall kind of thing then I go do a
Breathing routine kind of get alone for a little bit kind of get into my own quiet space just do a little bit of a breathing routine just because I find that the I get the most nervous i’ get is right before te during team video like watching other team’s video is kind
Of like the most nervous like I don’t know why but I think watching other team on on the screen going oh man they look they look so good on video because like all you’re doing is watching their highlight yeah watching the goals yeah you’re like oh man this team looks so
Good it make me kind of nervous for games so I kind of do a breathing we set it up with like five minutes of them not scoring yeah yeah yeah so I kind of do go do we’ll do a breathing routine before that just kind of like okay so it
Calms me up before it then I go through that and then I’d go do my Dynamic warm-up which was pretty long I I actually would break a really good sweat I do a lot of stuff a lot of footwork stuff to get my feet going get my my my
My reaction like my foot speed and everything kind of going and I go visualize for at least 10 15 minutes and just kind of run through a bunch of different plays in the ice a bunch of different scenarios and then started getting dressed with about 20 minutes
Before warm up we hear visualization a lot young goalies hear it and a lot of them wonder what does it look like so are you sitting in a locker stall are you seeing your like through your own eyes as a play develops in front of you
Are you bird’s eye view like how does Eric comry visualize are you specific to the team that night I go on the bench just because it’s the I go close to ring because I can kind of start seeing the thing and no it’s usually the same exact plays almost every single time their
Team for sure if they have a certain power play plays I’ll run through those certain power play plays in my mind but I always start by me watching myself just just two reps just kind of get like the whole picture like to see the board see the fan see everything so I start
With two reps of me kind of just a chest shot where I see myself where I actually see myself from the outside making the save and then so you’re not seeing the puck come at you you’re actually watching yourself watching myself and then I start going from my own eye and
I’m trying to get I try and get as many sense I can sound feel U I’m holding a stick while I’m doing it to kind of get the feeling of holding a stick kind of thing so I’m I’m okay you’re sitting on the bench yeah okay and I’m feeling the
Puck hit my blocker I’m feeling the puck hit the glove I’m not just like not just sight but sound feel and sight hands are moving so like the hands are active a little bit a little bit I mean you’re not going windmill Wednesday out it’s funny because like you’re not trying to
But they kind of they kind of do move because you just because you’re trying to be so realistic that’s firing that that muscle as it is kind of thing well 100% when Buffalo visits this year I’m coming to the rink early just so I can capture this on video buddy um what like
What what what are some of the other things that allowed you to have this year I we talked about you know a couple big ones there in terms of adding a sports psychologist and sort of learning to understand your process a little better uh the practice habits um the
Foundations of your game anything changed there I mean the game’s gotten so fast laterally but then you’ve always like you said skating and movement has always been a found for you I got a lot stronger too though I did like during the pandemic year I went this is very
Counterproductive to what a lot of people say about like movement like that I lifted a lot of weight like I lifted a ton and a ton of weight and just because I kind of found out that my body is pretty naturally flexible and if I’m not strong enough I will break down
And I will not be able to move as quick as as powerful as I can so I was during the pandemic when we had that longer like that longer break I just lifted a ton I lifted a ton and a ton and a ton and try to get as strong as I possibly
Could I said my goal is to get as strong as I possibly could and it’s helping me a lot just like just to to maintain the rigors of a whole season that was a big one for me and then once again just playing my game I just sticking to it
And playing my game I know I mean Flats did a great job I mean look at the flat track r that Flats has last little bit he’s got Conor huk Lauren bris Anon forsberg and myself like those last five goali he’s had like it’s it’s it’s
Pretty good job he’s done and you wanna you want to know the funny part I used to do radio in Winnipeg sort of right before heli was coming up and they they would always ask me do they have the right goalie coach here and I always had
To say yes they do I I’ve got a chance to watch him work trust me it’s coming it’s coming um how do you go about building a relationship with a new guy like I know you know like you’re just brand new into a team like you’ve done this before with other goalie coaches
Now it’s it’s Mike Bales who uh we’ve had the pleasure of of talking to in the past big fans how do you build that relationship now do you do you have to sort of teach them what you like how does how does that back and forth go no
I I’ve I’ve lucky I’ve worked with a lot of goalie coaches I’ve liked every single one I’ve worked with they’re all fantastic I mean the goaly world’s such a good World we’re so lucky to live in such a great world where every human being is so good and we just care so
Much about the position we’re in the go world because we love the goaly world that’s why they’re there so it’s we’re it’s I I’m worried about that at all I mean we’re going to have a great relationship and the big thing for me is just we’re going to build that trust
We’re going to get along really well I’ve heard an amazing thing about Mike and I’m really excited to get to know him a lot better really excited to like uh just chat to him more I’ve talked to him a couple times and he seems like an awesome awesome human being and he’s
Been asking me about what the summer and he seems just top class I’m really excited to get to know him more I know you got to run and catch a plane so we’re going to keep this real quick I got two threads I want to pull on though
Real quick here one the nerves that you mentioned embracing did you not embrace them before and how did they manifest themselves like is it is it like stomach is it has it always been something you’ve dealt with and did you used to try and make them go away before you
Embrac them I’m kind of curious how you approached it in the past like did you think they were a bad thing so nurse so I get nured for AHL games like I get nured for every game but then you go to the NHL you called up and like holy
Smokes I can’t even I can’t eat I can’t sleep I can’t like I can’t even like function I can’t walk to the freaking game I’m so nervous so the point where it’s causing it’s not allowing you to do your rtin but you’re you’re going they’re like holy smokes like I’m so
Nervous I’m so nervous I’m so nervous I can’t get over this and all of a sudden you kind of getting to the point where they like hey just just play your game embrace it like Let It Be you like don’t don’t fight the more you fight him the
More you’re kind of like you’re like my sports he said your nerves are your friends let them be your friends you just kind of like the more you say and he kind of said like write down I am nervous period so every time you felt you’re nervous just say well I’m guess
I’m nervous because and you kind of go well okay what can you do about it I’m nervous I mean you could be mad I’m like oh I’m mad we’re not going to change it just the way you are like that’s you just notice your emotion so all you have
To do is just notice it and once you notice it your body’s just like oh okay that’s fine you’ve been there before just let it let it happen the other one and we’ll close it on this one you said at the beginning before you sign with Buffalo you’re watching all these moves
Going a little sort of you know NHL GM mode from the video games yeah which ones you like the most putting you on the spot there H I liked all of them they were all really good there were a lot of good go that went different places I
Mean oh man it’s all was a lot like it’s it funny because we didn’t have the free agency class I mean you you were part of that but there’s been years in recent history where it’s been more free agency but this year with the trade it was
Salary dumps and guys not getting qos like guys not getting qos yeah I me it was it was fun to watch I mean there’s it’s awesome I’m really excited I I think the the crazy like the villo one to Detroit was really cool just seeing that like cuz i’ I’ve actually grown up
With vuso and he’s an excellent goalie I’m really excited to watch what he can do like I play against him we’re both the same age so I went remember going I went to phin to watch him to play against him when I was young when I was
Like 12 years old would play against him in PH I was like wow this guy’s unbelievable this guy’s gonna be so good and sure enough however many years I mean what’s it we’re 27 years old so 15 years later now holy we’re old now holy smokes the Aging myself um is like seen
Him be there and get that contract I’m just so happy for him I really just wish him the best like he’s a really good and he’s he’s going to be so good there we saw offense bumped this year you played behind a team that like I said the
Practices like just so much skill so much talent that you were behind there shooting on you in practice what’s what do you see that’s changed in the game in front of goalies and what’s like what’s our count like what’s our next move here like what do
We have to do to or do you think it was just a year where no no it’s it’s it’s more skilled game you think it is more and you know what though I still to this day don’t think it was as much as a goalie change as it was a hockey systems change
Yes I think that goal got a lot of credit but I think coaches went from trying to in the 80s and 90s trying to win 76 to win one- nothing Oh you mean like it’s okay so in terms of what what came before this like the defense and
The stru and nowadays it’s not about defense and structure anymore it’s about how fast you can get the puck to offense and I think that’s great for the game and the rules are setting it up for the way that it’s not about defensive system anymore it’s about scoring goals and
Offensively and we’re getting back to that because I think for a while there was okay New Jersey Devil’s hockey let’s win one- nothing and that’s I mean I love the Devils growing up but it was not fun to watch all the time I think we’re getting to the P
Place where coaches are kind of like let’s but’s see instead of creating off defensive systems are worried about what they can do offensively and how they can score more goals I think that’s a great spot for hockey as a golender though uh is it just a matter if we just have to
Continue to be that much better when we’re seeing this type of dynamic offense 100% yeah 100% just you embrace it obviously but here’s the thing though once again it’s not about go tending that they put a bunch of things on stats and all stuff it’s yes it’s fantastic
But if you win 76 you still won 76 Grant Fury won a lot of games 76 and his names in the he’s an unbelievable golender with his name on the cup a couple times and that’s all you got to do if you I mean the ultimate goal for any single
Goalie is just get their name on the Stanley Cup and that’s what everyone wants to do and if you have to do it winning 76 and I would take it so I’m okay with if I got to win 76 winning Stanley Cup write me down for it I’ll do
It all day long sounds like a good plan yeah um we’re going to let you go back to California but first a quick shout out to the kids here because I understand like I’m watching you pack up your bags you got to go to the airport
Fly back down to C like multiple bags here and you admitted to me that in California you’re rolling wheel bags these days so for all the kids out there that take crap or all the beer Leaguers because I know a few buddies that take crap for wheeling in we got a lot of
Gear it’s okay so here’s the way I look at it so Justin pogy told me I SK with Justin poy in the summer fantastic human being one of the best guys you ever meet really good goalie by the way too unbelievable Puck handle you should see
This guy Puck handle the puck it’s like a third four like we play Two on Two it’s like three play against three forward it’s unbelievable so he’s he Wheels his bing one day I’m like man you’re you’re so smart like I’ve it’s from the parking lot to the lock room in
Our rink and Irvine it’s a 10-minute walk it’s a 10-minute walk from the parking lot to the to the rink and then from the rink to the locker room is another five minutes so it’s a 50-minute walk I’m putting my bag down six times in this walk because my gear weighs I
Think it was I think I took it a part it was 90 pounds when I got weighed both my bags in at the airport last time so 90 pounds I’m carrying this whole time so I’m like couple gloves lockers you got lot my back by the time I got to the
Locker room was toasted so I’m like this there’s got to be a better way like you’re the smart one here you’re Wheeling it in he was oh yeah my like I get into the rank my back F awful my hips fed awful I’m like I I’m just doing
This for my health now I got to be smarter here like it’s honestly it was a smart thing for me to do I’m a huge fan of it I just can’t do it on the airport because my bag would be heavy so I can’t
Do it that way so I’m doing the two bags here and carrying them at not as long as a walk as it is an irine yeah there are a lot of parents of kids right now that are so happy to hear you admit that hear you say that it’s okay folks to wheel
Your bag well once again big thing don’t don’t worry what people think about you just do your own thing and be happy being you control what you can control yeah there you go Eric thanks a lot for the time today buddy uh best of luck this season well we’re not going to see
You the rest of this summer but we’ll see you around once the year starts awesome thanks so much thank you every now and then you get involved in a conversation that is exactly that uh sometimes there’s interviews where you are asking questions of the the person the guest on inle radio the
Podcast brought to you by the Hockey Shop the Hockey Shop Source for Sports uh and sui but that was just two guys riffin and one of the great Parts about you having access to these guys uh in Colona and being able to be on location
With them as they they train yeah I know um it’s funny because my wife kind of scratched her head and was like you’re driving to Colona for two ice times with a couple different and then driving back the same day and for those that don’t know uh that drive
From Vancouver to Colona is about 4 hours so I basically drove eight hours that day um for basically two ice times the first one was with Eric and then we had that conversation afterwards and then the second ice time was Beck warm who just signed with the Rochester
Americans so uh Buffalo’s farm team is going to be a part of the organization as well uh and Klay Stevenson who another guy we hope to have on the podcast in the next little bit got to meet him for the the first time and uh he is recently signed with the
Washington Capitals had some slick new caps gear out there Bower mock uh pads and gloves had some conversations with them about the new gear and what they like about it uh but honestly eight hours in the car in a single day to get the catch up with Eric is worth it for
Me every single time because of the passion he brings to the position and because even though we we’d had like an hour plus conversation just a couple of years ago on the podcast with Eric you knew there’d be something new and something more and you knew when he
Shared it with us it wouldn’t just be surface level he’d get right into it and explain the nitty-gritty it’s why I love any chance I get to talk to Eric and uh I’m willing to hop in a car and make a 4-Hour drive to make that happen it was
It was a great day it was a bit of a long day by the end of it um I was a little tired getting home but it was uh well worth the trip up to Colona and just to catch up with Eric and catch up with Beck and catch up with clay and
Some more interviews that we hope to bring you in the near future as well as hey ingol mag.com folks premium subscribers uh I film drill drills with all three of those guys we’ll have the footage up they’re going to go over the drills with us uh ly Mast running the
Drills Eric comry walking us through them all part of that day up there so look for that at ingol mag.com for inol premium subscribers there’s nowhere else in the world that takes you on the ice with NHL Goldies like we do um and then into the locker room in Eric’s case to
Talk about it afterwards So Good Times well worth the trip and look forward to making a couple more trips up to Cola here in the next couple weeks that is outstanding what did you listen to in the in the car on the way up and did you
Listen to the interview with Eric on the way back no because I hadn’t mixed the interview I I wanted to get back on the road I needed to a haven’t mixed the interview yet yeah no I hadn’t uh well actually let’s be honest normally it’s Hutch that makes the interview so I
Hadn’t got I hadn’t got Hutch to do all the dirty work for me yet that’s the truth God we miss you Hut this week um but this so this is going to date me a little bit so have you seen are are you a Marvel guy Darren do you do you watch
The the Marvel movies okay so have you seen the new Thor no not yet oh so definitely when you see the new Thor what you’re going to notice is the soundtrack is decidedly like it’s from my youth it’s Guns and Roses there’s four different songs from Guns and Roses
So I had just seen that movie with my daughters who I’ve turned into a mass of Marvel Geeks and so 100% the first thing I did the night when I realized I was going to to drive up the next day I downloaded like the G&R Essentials off
Of like apple music and listen to that the whole way up it was just Guns and Roses for the whole 4-Hour drive and then you know again sort of Aging myself here on the way home rather than mix it up I went straight Beasty Boys I went I
Went into the archives and just just dug out like and and I in that case it wasn’t an Essentials list it was like I have their entire like everything I just hit Shuffle on every BC boys tune ever and rocked that on the way home it’s
That and a couple Red Bulls will get you uh we’ll get you through a 4-Hour drive that has a few mundane straightaways that can put you to sleep uh Beasty Boys that’s the new title or should be if we didn’t already have the gear segment with Cam and and Woody that that would
Be beasty boy with with you without your your tooth in these days I think wor a little bit that’s true but but but we we we we’re a Kindler gentler gear segment now there there’s less all this and yeah there’s Peace Love yeah it’s kind to
Each other I know I know I’ve developed a new appreciation for cam as much as I like chirping I I need him to know how much he’s loved here on the podcast at Engle radio yeah I don’t know whether we’ve I should crack myself I don’t know
Whether it’s love yet it’s just not picking prodding poking yeah there’s less there’s less disdain yeah exactly uh I love it uh we’ll we’ll see whether that returns next week got some really exciting stuff on the horizon can’t wait for the next episode of inle radio the podcast presented by the Hockey Shop
Source for Sports Surry the hockey Shop.com
Episode 179 of the InGoal Radio Podcast, presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports (https://www.thehockeyshop.com/collections/goalie-hockey-equipment) , features features new Buffalo Sabres goalie Eric Comrie.
In the feature interview, presented by Sense Arena (https://www.sensearena.com/for-goalies) , Comrie shares his experiences as part of the free agency goalie carousel, what led to his decision to sign with the Sabres and what it’s going to be like starting training camp with a team other than the Winnipeg Jets for the first time since he was drafted nine years ago. Comrie also shares some of the secrets behind a breakout last season that included a .920 save percentage in 19 games with the Jets, a career high, including the specifics of how his work with a sports psychologist contributed to his success and, along with Jets goalie coach Wade Flaherty, helped him manage several long breaks (some over a month) between starts.
All that, plus a trip to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports for a look at the new CCM AXIS 2.9 line, a second price point option with some pro-level features available only through Source for Sports.
