Episode 26 Eric Comrie and CCM Jetspeed FT2 Skates

Episode 26 Eric Comrie and CCM Jetspeed FT2 Skates

Post note this episode of inle radio the podcast features an interview that is my favorite of all the episodes that we’ve published so far it’s not the biggest name does not have the most Awards or the most games played in the National Hockey League but it is honest it is

Truthful and there’s a difference between those two words and it is raw and emotional and fun and that’s the best part I’m Darren lard welcome to inle radio the podcast presented by the Hockey Shop Source for Sports Sur the hockey shop.com I am on Prince Edward Island in

A parking lot right now as I get ready to uh catch my flight back home and on the other side of the country is co-founder of inol magazine David Hutcherson on Vancouver Island we have the country covered right now from Island to Island and I think uh

Island to Island you uh being in a parking lot is a nice theme for this episode because the feature interview Uh Kevin recorded from his car and uh in his car sitting there with with our guest and and I have to agree with you Darren uh my favorite interview of what

Is now our and this is episode 26 our sixth month uh history at the podcast and what made Eric comry so appealing to you he’s just an incredibly engaging young man man and you can hear it in his voice and I think he’s sharing things

That a lot of folks would probably be a little bit reluctant to share I mean being able to tell us that yeah he skated out on the ice in Montreal in the world juniors and he was nervous and for him to say that getting these one game

Call-ups to the NHL puts a whole lot of pressure on him that’s honest um love to hear those things and he’s like I said he’s just so genuine and full of life we’ve been really lucky uh to meet him a few times I mean Kevin knows him quite

Well but I’ve been lucky to meet him a few times uh up in Colona when he’s training there and uh I mean just a small story we we got to spend uh I don’t know 10 15 minutes after a practice one day hanging out in the

Dressing room and chatting and uh I was there with with our son Maddie and and then a year later we walked into the dressing room again after a session uh he didn’t even know we were coming and uh and he walked right up to Maddie and

Said hey matd how how you doing good to see you again uh he hadn’t seen him in a year he met him for 15 minutes he’s got to meet thousands of people and there he remembers um an 11-year-old kid on his name right away uh for me that sort of

Sold me as a parent obviously but but that’s genuine that’s and that’s who he is uh and I I think it really comes through in the interview and he also comes from uh a very uh famous background both in Canadian business uh and and with his with his father and the the Brick

Furniture company which which he founded and the brick hockey tournament which which Woody gets into a story that I didn’t realize uh how that tournament came about but but Eric kind of spilled spilled the beans on on that but uh but his older brothers Paul who are quite a

Bit older Paul uh and Mike uh both played in the National Hockey League uh so he he he wasn’t one of these kids that that struggled for means and and uh and putting uh his his two cents together to to get equipment he he had a more lavish uh upbringing and and he

Still uh went through the ups and downs of uh of of trying to uh to make it to an elite level so uh a different sort of uh approach to uh to growing up and and being in the minor hockey system in two different countries both uh both in in

Canada Alberta and Edmonton and then in in Southern California so uh a really uh interesting uh conversation and how he went about it like this this is a kid that I don’t want to steal all of Woody Thunder uh who’s who’s in Colona doing these interviews and attending these

Camps but uh but how how Eric had to really well he didn’t have to uh scratch and Claw to financially take part in the game he had to get creative in how to find his ice time well yeah and and and that the two things about that that

Stand out for me is sure he had access to to to lots of opportunity um growing up but here’s a kid who basically willed himself to becoming a great golender uh hear the stories about the time that he’s put in not because Dad’s pushing him to put it in but but because he

Absolutely loves the game he is a rink ratted heart and uh and when you hear in the interview some of the things that he did Growing Up to become a a goal tender just really impressive uh we we would all be impressed by a kid who does this

And it’s like I said it’s not a parent uh driving this to happen it’s his own passion for the game and the the other story I I’ll just share is as you’re talking about his upbringing is you would never know it to meet Eric um Kevin was telling me a story uh about

Eddie laak going down to California to to train with Eric uh Eric just invited him to come and spend a little time at his house and and skate a bit together and Eddie arrived at the airport and he honest to God was expecting uh somebody

To roll up in an old Toyota Camry to pick him up because he just figured Eric was another kid who played hockey uh despite all the time that they’d spent together in the summmer training already he’d known him for for a long time and

He had no clue that uh uh what he was about to get into and I want you know I won’t get into all the details but he just had no idea um and and that tells you a lot about Eric as a person too uh we could talk about this interview uh

Forever uh but we want to make sure that you get a chance to listen to it the listeners of ing radio the podcast presented by the Hockey Shop Source for Sports surri the hockey shop.com uh before we get into that uh the gear segment it follows on your shoulders

This week uh uh what are you going to be talking about after the interview and then I would just want to touch on uh the hockey shop and their great service um Kevin and cam as you know have been doing all of our gear segments uh more

Or less up until now and we just decided to change it up a little bit this week because uh over at inol mag.com we released our review of the uh new CCM Jets speed ft2 skate uh do head over there you’ll get some different insights you’ll get some different views both in

Terms of both video and uh images uh Kevin’s Kevin’s feedback uh and I say Kevin’s feedback because it’s a full Custom Skate that uh we ordered so he’s the only one who’s able to go out and take it for a spin uh although we have had the opportunity to talk to a number

Of guys uh in the NHL who’ve used the custom CCM skates as well and added their opinions to the review uh anyway we having released that this week we thought it’d be interesting to hear right from the source and we uh we spoke to uh Frederick boner and Kaye danvy at

Uh CCM Frederick is the head of the skate department for for CCM and so he’s the guy who is in charge of the innovation in charge of the development of new product for skates and and this really was the biggest leap in skate technology for CCM and we wanted to hear

From them because really this is not folks just ccm’s version of a cing skate there’s a lot of new technology behind this that uh is unique to CCM and so we wanted to talk about not just what that technology is but want to hear a bit

About the process uh how long does it take to develop a skate like this how many people are behind that effort what sort of people are behind that effort what’s going on it’s uh for me fascinating to hear when we learned a bit about it on our visits uh to CCM and

And wanted to be able to bring that to our listeners the gear segment uh discusses CCM and its wheels so which is a perfect segue into our feature interview this week listen for it and how Eric comr disc discusses the length that he would go to to get the training

That he yearned for as he came up through the ranks as a minor hockey player and I dare say it is one of the most unique approaches you will ever hear from a professional athlete Eric hry goenda Jets and the manota moose in conversation with Kevin Woodley on Ino

Radio the podcast presented by the hockey shop.com we’ve just finished a nice round of golf uh thanks to golf BC the quail Golf Course up here in the beautiful Okanogan the Okanogan Golf Club Eric just absolutely crushes the ball so we’re going to talk about hockey rather than

How badly he crushed me at the game of golf um how’s it going it’s going really good just got done a good round of golf had a lot of fun Cole Kayer and yourself it was a lot of fun now you’re up here for a week getting a little skate is

This walk me through the offseason routine of a young professional goenda Pro uh back when I was in junior I would not take much time off the ice I pretty much started skating right away since maybe last summer I started working with Adam francilia my new trainer and he’s really dialed me back

On the ice a lot really making sure that I was really focusing on my off I stuff and just getting stronger in the gym so that went went on the ice I could achieve what I wanted to so this summer is then more a lot of off ice stuff a

Lot of getting stronger a lot of building muscle a lot of getting my core tight enough where I can get back on the ice and improve right away instead of kind of ease myself back onto the ice so first time on the ice was just in uh

Late June early July really for myself and normally when would you be when are you been back on in the past um I’ve done as short as a week or two oh wow yeah so definitely not what my trainer Adam Franc leer really wanted at all

Okay so we’re up in Colona so you’re up here CNA Fran um who a lot of people might recogniz we’ve written articles about the work he does uh the net 360 group and the net 360 camps uh are kind of where a lot of people might recognize

That name from but this isn’t H so homes in California hes in Newport Beach right so how you get nice in Newport like how often are you able to skate down there when in the Summers well actually we’re very blessed now we used to have to

Drive a long way for a ring we just built a brand new beautiful facility the Ducks built a brand new facility it’s amazing and it’s 15 minutes from my house it’s got four sheets and it’s absolutely stunning all the guys in California are so happy right now we

Have a great Pro Skate right now I rent ice also two days a week just do an hour of just just skating not even seeing pucks so just working on your movement patterns working on your skating working on your footwork just ex ex just skating

I haven’t touched a puck at all for my skating at all like with my goalie coach in the summer it’s just been purely skating do you think that would have surprised a lot of kids would it have surprised you if I told say 12 or 13-year-old Eric comy that hey guess

What the pros they haven’t seen a puck and it’s July 15th right now and and they’re out there skating twice a week with that have surpris the young you you know what probably not cuz I when I grew up like the way I became a goalie like I

Was never very good and for when I was younger until I got to 10 years old and the way I got good is I work with a goalie Coast named James J in California and we wouldn’t even go out for um like a private lesson we’ go out there during

Public skating so there’ be figure skaters going out and all this stuff and I would skate three days a week with him just an hour of public skating and just it was just skating we couldn’t we weren’t allowed to bring pucks on the ice and that’s what we did three days a

Week that’s literally how I got better right there okay Jenner so for those that don’t know Jenner James Jensen is now the goalie coach of the El Everett silver tips uh you’d probably recognize one of his other pupils Dustin wolf who was drafted this year as well um working

In California so you’re out there like are you in gear yeah are you are you have you got a are you making a crease are you doing crease movements in one end of the ice or the figure skaters like yelling at you to get out of the

Way what’s that like well Jenner was really good at spray painting lines too when he was younger and I would always we’d always work on the geometry I’d make sure it was exact because I was a bit of a stickler for making everything exact just kind of getting on his side a

Little bit but then we we would luck some days we get the crease and we’d always take advantage of that and we would just skate for our every single like every single chance we got just tea pushes crease movement just different things and he had me just some days we

Do do edges and it was just all this different movement crazy stuff and I I loved it like I love being on the ice and it was just a lot of fun for me too though okay so walk me through like when did you start in the game now

Obviously what were your your influences like family influences that got you into hockey like what what what made you love of first hockey and then secondly was it goal right away or did you play out as well well hockey was a given for me had

To be I mean my Mike and Paul my brothers both played the NHL they both played a lot of hockey it’s all I saw I my dad probably wouldn’t say he would say he’d never want like forced me to play hockey but I could you know he

Wanted me to play hockey that’s just what he wanted to do um and so so older brother obviously Mike comry yeah and and Paul yeah were you like we so many you know you wouldn’t believe how many NHL goalies yeah started because they were the little brother that got put in

That is that you so I am about four years old Mike and Paul are both in the National Hockey League and they’re shooting on me in aside a little gymnasium like a mini hockey thing using a foam puck and then whenever I’m not playing in net I’m wearing a Scott

Steven Jersey trying to block every single shot there is so they’re like this guy’s a goalie he has to be a goalie so I’m they pretty much forced me into and every time I played out I wanted to block every shot so it was

Kind of a given that I was going to be a goalie might as well put you in the big pads if you’re going to get in the way of the the hard black rubber and my brother Paul my greatest save to this day is still stopping brother Paul he

Told me in the gym he was playing in the national league at the time he had a concussion so he wasn’t in the lineup and he goes you will never ever stop me with a with a puck and I was about five years old and he just so happens to get

A back door pass and I make an unbelievable glove save and my brother Mike picked me up and carried me around the house and Paul was dejected went on the floor and I still think that might be the reason why I became a goalie right there that moment that’s save it’s

All it takes is one save it’s one save it’s all it need so other than the save what about like what other influences were like were you you know were you a gear we got a lot of people that are gear Geeks they fall in love with you

You and I have had conversations about the equipment picked each other’s brains on what works what doesn’t were you were you a geargeek growing up or did that come later I was never a geargeek growing up no I I was when I turned 11 I became a gear guy that’s when I became

When I was growing like young I love just so you know 11’s pretty young pretty young but I was a goway when I was like seven years old okay and I fell in love with Martin Brer like everything Mario Brer I would cut my hair just like

Mario BR I would do everything to emulate him as much as I could I’ve seen you with a mustache and now that I’ve recently we saw pictures of that you know that sort of bad stash that he had for the draft I’m starting to see it

Here I think I should go back to that bad stash maybe maybe the good luck will come there right there okay so you’re Marty bder guy um I’ll kick you out of the car if the answer isn’t yes Have you listened to the podcast with him from a

Couple weeks ago oh he’s in trouble I know I know it’s raining out there you need to listen I need to listen to I need to listen to it so what’ you love about Marty cuz uh you know I got to admit it’s funny um it really was an

Enlightening podcast he talked to us uh I think a lot of us thought he played so much on Instinct but just how much he studied other goalies certainly Shooters his own film there was a lot of thought process into it so as a young Eric comry what were you emulating when when Marty

Bder was your guy I I don’t know I think it’s just him I just love I love the New Jersey Devils first off like I don’t know why I love squat Stevens I love Mari but and where did that come from I don’t know where it came from and to be

Honest with you every time Mar be growing up in EM time Emmon every time Mario buter came to Emmon he get lit up my brother would scor two goals on him I think one score was like 81 and I was like kind of felt I was sad they that my

Brother scored two goals and he scored on my hero so it was like it was kind of strange and just just I don’t know what it was about him I just he was the best back then that’s who I thought was the best when he played I mean he won

Stanley Cups he did everything he you wanted a goalie to do and that’s played the puck extremely well won games doesn’t matter if he had 20 shots or 30 shots he’s going to win the game doesn’t matter how he’s going to get it done now see that’s in Edmonton walk me

Through for those so those who don’t know the transition from Edmonton growing up as a young guy to California and how that move played a role you mentioned Jenner and and I mean it would have been just a completely different environment in ter of terms of access to

Hockey the focus on hockey going from you know quote unquote Canada and and a hockey Mad City like Edmonton you know to California to Newport Beach where where hockey’s you know I mean I’ve seen it it’s popular but we’re not talking about edmont no I mean I remember uh

Well growing up in Edmonton I played a lot of hockey but I was never that good just young guy and then I moved to California I was always scared oh maybe I won’t be able to play hockey maybe I won’t be able to play like it’s no one

Plays here but making the move there I think well making the move there I went to like this house league there just a house league and my dad thought well I he’s going to be pretty good he played in amonton so he’s probably going to be

Like the best player so he try to move him up I think I let 15 goals my first game so it wasn’t California kids can play I was then he goes maybe hockey’s pretty good down here like it’s pretty good and then I remember trying to make

The I wanted to make the brick team really badly because that’s a big tournament I mean my dad started that tournament it’s your dad owned the by the way he started that tournament for my brother Mike if anybody’s wondering is that the true yeah the true story

Goes he started that tournament cuz Mike was so much better than everyone else at his AG Troup like he was so much better than everybody else in Emon that he just by really wanted to see he goes is he really that good so he tried to get all

The best kids his age in and he turns out Mike was that good so that’s that’s the that’s how the brick tournament how the brick tourament started it was for Mike that’s why the brick tournament wasn’t around from Brother Paul who was a great player but I guess Mike was just

So dominant wow so then story goes I’m in California playing the house but I want to make the brick team I think my dad wants me to make the brick team too cuz it’s his tournament it’s a big deal big deal for him so he it’s a big deal

For everyone still the brick team’s a big deal Hu huge deal I think I think it’s the best tournament you can play as a young kid by far it’s the most fun I’ve ever had maybe playing hockey this day still and I he wants me me the brick team so

He gets me I meet this goalie coach James Jensen who’s going to be the goalie coach of the brick team he goes okay why don’t we start working with him so maybe he can have a chance and it’s not looking good I’m not I’m not a very

Good goalie so we then we start skating three days a week on this the straight mve and stuff this is the public ska this is the public skating that’s all we did was just the public skating public skating just to build a foundation and I think in going in M I don’t know

If I would have had that opportunity because there’s not there’s so many kids playing hockey that it’s kind of like you got to run them through one after another being structured you never would have had that opportunity to just go out and skate no I would never had that

Chance to go out and skate with just the goalie coach just me and him for an hour every single day like and I I skated a lot as a kid I skated six to seven days a week a lot like and he Jenner was would just we’d skated every single day

And then slowly I started getting technique I started getting better and better and better I made the brick team I didn’t play much I maybe played one or two games the tournament I wasn’t the starter by any means I was okay at the tournament but I continued the process

Because I started getting better and better even the goalie in the team started no get better but I went to a different team because I wanted to be the starter and he was the other gu gonna be the starter right so I went to the wave and kept going and going and

Just I developed slowly through James Jensen skating wow okay so when at what point in all this I mean like you said you’ve been around the NHL yeah with your brothers you know what it’s like at what point did your like you said back up on the brick team at what point did

It become something where you’re like hey this is something this is something I could do I can be good enough to play this um was it was it going to Junior like when did that become something that that you thought about well my dad always says this to me he goes

People always asked him when he thought Mike was going to play in the NHL and he said I thought Mike was going to play in the NHL the first day he stepped in the NHL because you never know what’s going to happen along the ride and I kind of

Hold that true to myself I didn’t know if I was ever going to be good enough playing the HL until of my first game and you just you just don’t know so many different things can happen so many different things can go around you can

Get an injury just but it was a long road getting there I mean I remember from the time I was 11 years old to the time I was 16 years old I skated seven days a week two to three hours every single day all skating all no no no no

Now you’re now you’re progressing you’re at P okay yeah that’s like but that’s also like just like practices including practices of private sessions and just all this different things because California there’s there’s always just different camps going on we were always just there because there’s a bunch of

Retired hockey players love living in the sun in California not a bad place to live no so they would always run these private lessons and was Rick Kelly and it was it wasn’t goalie lessons it was just Shooters going around the net shooting pucks and that I’d face I don’t

Know a thousand pucks an hour just because it was so many shots and I’d do it three days a week then I had two days with Jenner and just tons and tons of skating I remember it was I was at the rink while I became friends with

Everyone at the rink because I was there every day wow so so this is just you’re not it’s not goalie specific all the time sometimes it is this is just you take basically becoming a rinkrat and taking it opportunity to get as many shots as many pucks as met many touches

And and times on the ice as possible and it was never my dad ever forced me to go to the ring I loved going I still to this day I love going to the ring if I ever got in trouble I didn’t know I was in really big trouble for my dad until

He threatened to take away hockey and then right away I would be like the most perfect human being because I did not want hockey taken away from me it’s the thing I love the most and to this day I still love it the most people ask me

Like why do I go on the ice Orly it’s not because I’m trying to like I’m like trying to show off anything it’s just because I love being on there I love skating I can skate around the MTS center and just like imagine playing there all the time just because I love

Being out there wow okay so we’ll take the next step so you go from from California back up at The Brick you progress your way up when like how do you end up in the WHL WHL that was still to this day the hardest de decision of my life I had to

Make I think okay and what was the what were the options I was either going to probably go to Denver University okay I got I was my brother went there both my older brothers went to college Mike and Paul were both NCAA players Mike left

NCAA to go to cotney at the end that’s right he was the first one to sort of open that loophole if I remember that was a loophole that was that he would have stay he loved Michigan he would have stayed there forever but there was a contract loophole that he could take

Advantage of and he put up 83 points in 30 games in the west Rocky league and he took advantage of not a big deal yeah and then uh so for myself it was between Denver or Tri City and I was I was pretty good at that point I

Was a good goalie I was drafted the first round in the Western Hockey League and I had a really good uh 15-year-old yearo hockey and I and my dad says what do you want to do and I was like well my idol now switched to car price and he

Was he was drafted by Tri City he played in Tri City and that was going to be a hard one for me to say no to and just talking to my goalie coaches and my dad it was just the amount of games I was going to see in college versus the

Amount of games I was going to see in the Western League was just not the same like college I would have seen if you’re lucky you maybe see seven games as a freshman and if you’re unbelievably good you play 20 right and I just I was going

To get that in the first two months of the West rocket league so it was just about ice just about I to be out there it just wanting to be out there wanting to play games I just Tri City seem like the right fit for me I I love this being

There I still love it to this day that organization was amazing and I think I made the right decision in my mind to where I went okay so he had some good years there now your draft year you decide this is about roughly when I met

You too actually um I think it was probably a Western Hockey League one of those Summit Series games where the Russians came through town would have been you and lb even it was myself and lb that’s right Loren bris actually we have a good story actually

There let’s tell it let’s hear it um so I’ve never met before and lb is notoriously a little bit running late always I hear now I didn’t know back then so before the F second Subway Series game we forget to set an alarm and both

Both of us forget to set alarm so it’s was my fault too we forget to set an alarm we sleep we nap right past the bus time we show up to the game about an hour before the game sweating before we play the Russians on live TV sports and

We never play on live TV in the Western League really this is like my first time ever ever playing on live was that the one at the Coliseum this was no not the one in the Coliseum okay that was later lb played amazing that game in the

Coliseum this is the one in Colona no no sorry sorry in Victoria that makes sense in Victoria and I actually end up going in that game halfway through the game I did not the plan I did not think I was going in the coach said he’ll try to get

Me in maybe I was 17 years old and I end up playing pretty well that game actually just off strictly adrenaline that was strictly adrenaline cuz you guys barely made it to the ring it’s funny like you just you get that emotional high after kind of being a

Little bit late and like oh man I better do something to fix that now yeah it’s like getting pulled over you get that you know like when you’re speeding you get that little rush not a good thing you know you did bad but it’s sort of that the adrenaline spikes yeah okay

So draft year the year before your draft year you decide probably could have played through the hips decided or I mean obviously ends up being the right decision but how tough was that like was there any inclination you decided to have surgery on both hips

We know now that this is I mean it’s almost a boutique surgery and I mean not that it’s a minor surgery it’s still a major procedure but um was there any thought to let’s just play through this get drafted and then get it taken care of or or was it just

Doesn’t matter I’m going to come out on the other side of this and team should know that yeah it was it was a tough one for me I mean I remember actually played really well right after the the subway series I played two games against Colona

Rockets at home and I played really well but I I wasn’t my hips were not feeling good at the time and I was really in a lot of pain and I remember going out to practices and like after like before practice I’d had to go on the ice and

Like pop my hips just to be able to go drown in the ice like I could not go drop in my butterfly if my hip did not pop in the right way that day that doesn’t that doesn’t sound like much fun especially our guy was on the ice as

Much as you so it was kind of like I was like this is not exactly what I want to go through every single day to play hockey this isn’t fun like not fun when you have to go on the ice and if your hip doesn’t pop correctly you’re in a

Lot of pain with everything you’re doing see get them cleaned up did you have it was it philipon and philipon yeah I went to philippon and Vil and he did an amazing job and I had a really went through I was rehabbing I think four to

Six hours every single day just to get over this this what I had done and I mean not many people went through the surgery I’ve gone through I had one hip done and then a week later had another one done it was the first time they’ve ever seen it I

Walked I went from my hip surgery and I walked in to get my second surgery and they say they’ve never ever seen anyone walking 5 days after their surgery so obviously it went really well it pretty good decision long term I had an amazing

Rehab thing set up where I was I was in the pool the next day after my hip surgery like doing stuff the very next day and I was I was doing a quarter squat four days after I had my hip surgery wow so obviously no regrets but

Was it tough to make that especially just I you know I mean ultimately you want to get fixed but were you did you worry at all about draft or how that might affect your draft position you end up going to the Winnipeg Jets but you’re

Worried but I had a good year that year I I posted a pretty good year I was I was trending the right direction I had a good Subway Series game missing the prospect game sucks cuz I was really I was really looking forward to that because I mean just the experience

Donerry absolutely that’s still to this day I mean probably one of the biggest things I miss is that prospect game would have been a lot of fun I did meet Don Cherry later in life so I’m happy about that there you go yeah um check

That box check that box which was I was really happy with that really thrilled about meting him and then I remember I went to hockey can I came back in time for Hockey Canada goalie can and it was my second week skating and I remember I

Had a really really good camp like and I was out kind of out of the blue like I was wasn’t sure I was going to do I wasn’t sure if I was G to be able to do it but I had a really good camp and it

Just so happened that Flats W FL the Jets guy was scouting that camp right Wade FL the goalie coach of the winnter pck Jets he was he to this day he says that’s why why I was drafted by win play jets was I can’t pretty much and then

And you’re you’re two you’re first basically just getting back on the ice right into that yeah and I was and I’m still I mean I’m the happiest man in the world that Jets trose me I couldn’t have gone to a better organization and better people like I I’ve loved every single

Minute of that organization too okay so what’s the jump now you move from from now actually we probably shouldn’t just gloss over the world juniors had a chance to represent little uh under the the pressure and Spotlight of Canada in Canada wherein the maple leave yeah end

Up winning a gold medal with Zach fali I believe you guys were Partners yeah I was actually Zach and I have a very good we are very good with hocky can we have a gold medal d alinka right8 right my apologies for not having that in and we

Have gold medal at World Junior so we’re two for two for gold medals with hockey Cano him and I and we had and we have a friendship that still to this day is really close we we’re really good friends we talk a lot I mean representing Canada World Juniors I said

That my favorite hockey man might be sof brother Paul in the gym I think world juniors might top that that was especially at home at home I played against Germany shutting out Germany was awesome and then playing against USA on New Year’s uh New Year’s

Eve or New Year yeah New Year’s Eve was still that’s you can’t ask for more than that like playing in Montreal New Year’s Eve you don’t you think you’re nerves for a game that that’s that’s a whole different thing right there that’s just and I remember Freddy telling me one

Thing that I kind of played with I played pretty well was go out there and pretend you’re playing like Pawn hockey or just back door hockey don’t even worry about the pressure just go out there like to play the game you love and play it like you’re playing with your

Friend’s back door I think I took that to heart and I I used that a lot and I just tried I honestly just tried to go out there and play like I was playing with my friends and that Freddy being Freddy brawood who was the Goen coach go tending consultant with Hockey Canada

Back then uh still does some work with them okay so from there Pro American Hockey League start um Pro American League is that is that what is that the biggest jump like like I’ve had guys say I’ve had some guys say WHL to AHL is a

Bigger jump than AHL to NHL I agree with that the biggest jump I made in hockey career is definitely still to Western League okay yeah it doesn’t matter what anyone says to me when you go from living at home to living on your own that’s the biggest jump you’ll make

In your career my 16 old year is the year that I struggled the most out of any year in my career and that was mostly off I just off ice I mean you just this is the first time you feel that you’re part of a business and not just playing for

Fun Western League I know you’re still it’s not getting paid but you have coaches that are trying not to get fired you have jams that are trying not to get fired a different layer of pressure it’s a different layer of pressure you have people paying for your tickets when you’re playing it when

hockey you have nothing it’s you’re just playing in front of your parents there might be a scout in the building there might not be you don’t know and no one’s paying for the no one’s paying that’s just all for it’s all for fun the coach is not going to

Get fired he’s going to get come back the next year Okay so how did you clearly you you I don’t want to say felt but you were aware of that everything changed did you feel that as pressure how did you manage to I felt deal with

It I felt for sure the pressure and I was a first round draft pick I was supposed to be really I was supposed to come in there and play right away and be unbelievable right away and I wasn’t I was not I wasn’t ready for that jump

Right away it was definitely a slower well not a lot of guys make it at that age not not a lot of people make it at 16 I was definitely I needed a year to get ready I was was a young 16-year-old I had never been away from home for a

Long time I just wasn’t ready for that and then moving away from home I had a great bill at family and they treat me great I had a great roommate Adam hughman still really good friends with him just it wasn’t it was a big jump and

It’s hard to explain what it’s like to move away at 16 a lot of people have done it but it’s still it’s a big thing and like it’s not as easy as people think I was homesick I was wanting to be home a lot of time and I just even the

Game like I was like I was frustrated with how I was playing I wanted to do and just I never cleared my mind and just said go out there and have fun and play hockey how’ you get back to that I think the next year I just came in more confidently I

Came in and I just said okay just go back to playing playing my game and going out and just doing what you know how to do you managed to clear mentally the all that other stuff clear clear mentally the other stuff and the the depression all that stuff just kind of

Went away after I just I had to get used to it I had to get used to being living away from home it takes a year to get used to that stuff and I think just being a year old or being used to where I was going to go and just knowing what

Was I was going to face was a big Advantage for me okay so from there to Pro you’ve lived on your own so the lifestyle is it I mean you’ve still got a Billet family in WHL is moving into Pro is that another step in terms of

Living on your own a a bigger step what’s the biggest difference there is it is it the shooters is it the off I what’s the biggest jump into Pro my first game in the American hocky League I was 18 years old not a lot people like not a lot of goalies played

18 I was not so this was the end of the WHL League season she went up for a little bit I went up and I had a really really good 18-year-old year in Western o League a really solid year like I posted still this still this day I still

Call it the best year I’ve ever had and it was the year after my hip surgery I had a great year I was really happy with how everything went that year I go to the American hocky League coming off great year I am as confident

As I could ever be I just got done I lost to clone of rockets in a series but I was lights out all series long I played amazingly well feeling good feeling really good and I went up there and played a game and I was blown away I

Was blown out of the water I couldn’t make a save like to the point where I was like oh my goodness I I told my goalie coach time ly Mast I was like Lyall I don’t know if I can play in the American League like I don’t know if I

Will ever be able to play in this league and he he was like no I I you’re just at 18 years old you have to get used to the speed like don’t worry you’re going to be fine I was like I was like I don’t know well I don’t know if I

Can do it this is an exact conversation we had and we eventually I got over it I was going to say you’ve been an American rocket League Allstar now so yeah so then the next next year I actually I went up again at the end of my season

But it was kind of like my 16-year-old year like it was like my 18-year-old when I played as an 18-year-old it was kind of like my 16-year-old Le in the western leag I wasn’t I was just moving away from from home wasn’t ready then

When I was 19 I go up there and I play the I play again I play one game and you know what two pucks hit the crossbar that probably should have went in but they went they didn’t go in and that right there changed everything for me

Because I got my confidence the next game I’m first star the next next game Sorry I’m second star the next game I’m first star so I play three games I’m two and one and that right there made a huge difference for me because I go from 19-year-old they didn’t make the

Playoffs that year I actually should go back 18-year-old year I’m up in the American League all year cuz they go all the way to the finals oh he stayed up through the playoffs stay up through the playoffs so I see practice after practice after practice of American League Shooters which made a big

Difference for me going there the next year as a 19-year-old and then I got those three games in two wins one loss their season’s over they missed playoffs I go back then the next year I know I’m going to make the they told me like you’re going to make the American

League team like you’re going to make don’t worry about where you go you’re going to be on the team I come back the next year just confident because I went two and one and I start off amazingly my American League year as a 20-year-old I start off as well as I could have

Started off also at that year 20-year-old I got really lucky not lucky but like maybe a fortunate bounce like I was slay to play behind Conor hellu all year but he’s the goalie pav actually chains an MCL strain so hel ends up up in ends up

In win you get a chance to play and as a 20-year-old in the American Hockey League I ended up playing at 1.20 straight games which is crazy for never happens that never as a 20-year-old that was there was still this day one of the biggest experien I could have had is

Going up there and playing that many games it was amazing for my development now what uh you Al do you also had a stint to the world championships the hockey Canada you got a chance to do that and so what you again didn’t play you were there cuz you were young at the

Time there is the third goalie but again on the ice was some of the best in practice facing guys like stand now stle Cup champion I remember we had this conversation Ryan O’Reilly with that little crazy tow hook and that crazy release you’re not the first guy that’s

Been eaten up by that thing oh yeah what what like where did that experience fit in terms of again getting comfortable with the next step and what the next step looks like well I remember going there I was just so thrilled to be part of that team they just there weren’t a

Lot of guys options that year a lot of guys didn’t want to go and I was just lucky enough where I got the call I was like okay and I remember it being the Olympic year so they didn’t know who they could bring to the Olympics because

The whole thing so they thought maybe they could bring American League goalies and I had pretty good back-to-back American League years so they were like okay maybe we could we could bring him in so I went there kind as a third guy just to learn and watch and just kind of

See and I had so much fun I remember going there and I still am friends with a lot of guys on that team I had so much fun there I practices I was out there early with the guys taking picker obviously picker and uh Johnson were definitely trying to the Chad John the

Guys trying to get ready for the game so I was just out there waiting he’ll start a pro I go out there and face breakaways and thepra I go there just break face breakaways and I I loved it I just love being out there with all the guys are

Unbelievable players the team was fantastic and we had a good team and unfortunately I came super close to winning a world championship gold medal and it would have been one of the coolest things to have is a gold medal World Championship because I would be

Part of a kind of a cool Club of Ivan alinka world junr and World Championship gold medal which would have been really really cool um it’s it’s still a dream of mine to be able to do that I don’t know but you don’t never know if it’s

Going to happen again and we lost in a shootout unfortunately in the last game to Henrik list yep and I remember that pick went toe-to-toe with him in that game he was unbelievable he was incredible like I still to this day he’s he is such a gamer it is unbelievable

When the game gets on the line you want to go to win a game it’s hard to choose another guy Calvin picker when he when he needs to play well he always plays well okay so where’s the where’s the mindset now you’ve been in the AA for

Four years like I said you’ve been in All-Star you’ve had good Seasons you played behind different level of teams and and quality of teams there um with different expectations that’s the nature of being in the a like where’s where’s the next step you’ve got a couple tastes

To the NHL like where do you feel you’re at and how do you like what’s the mental approach right now well for me it’s the same thing I I want to play the NAIC League I played it before it’s my goal it’s 100% where I want to be so when you

Get up there it always feels like every time you get up it’s like just one quick game yes it’s one quick game is it hard to handle the pressure of that when it’s when you know that’s what it is like do you is do you find yourself putting too

Much on it 100% 100 it’s the same thing and I’m trying to revert back to it the same thing that Freddy BR I think so last year I go up and I play against Minnesota I don’t play very well I remember I just put a lot of pressure on

Myself I put a ton and ton and ton of pressure on myself and flatz always tells me like he goes Eric you’re you can play like I’ve seen you you’re done in the America League I see you in practice every day you’re just you’re

Fine you can do this and I just go there and I put a ton of pressure on myself but I think that’s the way I am and I think going back to Manitoba after that game I kind of said hey I fought back to it’s funny fought back to the thing that

Freddy breath told me it’s the world juniors just play like you’re playing with your buddies in a backyard Rank and I haven’t done it for a long time and I went out and played an amazing game against Grand Rapids and I play a great game against Chicago the next night and

I’m like maybe you just got to take a little bit of a step back take a little pressure off you and just go out there and play it and just let the results take care of themselves and just go out there and enjoy what you’re doing

Instead of going out there and trying to be perfect all the time like that’s I have a tendency I’m a bit of a perfectionist with my game seen this and I’ve seen this on the ice and drills when fcks go in you don’t get too happy

No I’m a bit of a perfectionist like I want even if even if I get scored on if even I don’t sorry even if I don’t get scored on and I didn’t like the way I stopped I didn’t like the way my I tracked the puck into my body I didn’t

Like the way I was set up I still will not like it like even in practice if I give up just say I’m in position I make a save and hits me but I didn’t like the way I track it I’m stilling myself I’m critiquing myself you know that it

Wasn’t so I’m always hard on myself I’m trying to get rid of that and just trying to enjoy more still still be hard on myself because that’s what makes me who I am that’s what makes me practice that’s what makes me go hard in the drills but I’m trying to get to the

Point where I’m I’m just letting go and letting it happen on the ice instead of making it happen that sounds like pretty good advice now do you work with anyone to try and get there is this just all yourself um H I’ve more I’ve read a lot of books

About like just trying to trying to do it honestly it’s it’s funny to say but it’s about trying to find some alone time every single day and just trying to reflect on yourself and trying to like get almost into the Zone where you’re trying to play a hockey game in like

Every day and just kindy to almost in the zone where you’re just letting things happen and not trying to control things I have a very controlled of personality that’s the way I am so it’s hard for me to try to find time and just go okay completely relax and just be in

The moment completely and it’s I try and find time to do that every single day cuz you want to be in the moment when you’re on the ice well you have to be if you’re not you’re you’re constantly thinking about like I I’ll find myself

If I’m not playing well if the guy comes down and shoots a high blocker but he misses the net but I didn’t like the way I track it it’ll be in my mind a little bit running through the game and it shouldn’t be but like it it then I’m

Like I kind of thinking about that like I want to okay I got to fix that I got to fix that and I’m trying to fix things mid game instead of just going out there and playing and playing the game and I’ve I’ve done it Junior I was really

Bad at it I was I would do it like I would watch Henrik just say I watched Henrik lfus in a game I saw his glove positioning I go out there and try and emulate in a game instead of doing it in practice I go right into a game and do

It which is asking for disaster yeah but you could get away with it in Junior but now you’re going to Pro it’s kind of like you got to just kind of let everything you’ve learned in practice take over and go there and play I did a

Better job of that this year in the American League for sure I have to get to the point where I just completely Let It Go and just play and let it happen on the ice when you get up too yeah 100% yeah and easy to say I me

That’s staying in the Moment One Puck one shot one thing it’s the everyone says it easiest thing to say sometimes it’s the hardest thing it’s the easiest thing to say for sure it’s hard to do that and it’s harder for people with a person I likes to I like to control

Things that’s the way I am a kind of control freak everything I like to everything set up the way I like it to and then when you try and let go of that control because you have to as a goal you have you’re not in control of most

Things you’re mostly reacting to what’s going on we don’t we don’t get to dictate much of the game we’re not dictating anything we’re reacting to what’s in front of us so when you try and control what’s happening in front of you it’s not asking for a lot of

Success it sounds like pretty good advice but again easy to say yeah sometimes it takes a little experience to get there and it’s I I’ve talked to like a sport psychologist guy who said this he goes you will never so the only way to get

Over that is to just go out there and experience it you have to go get the experience and it’s hard to get that experience but you have to go there and just battle through the first steps and just get the experience and go say okay

I’ve been there I’ve done that I can do that now and you have to get to that point where you just say okay I’ve trusted the work I’ve put in I’ve been there I’ve been through it I can do it now do you feel like like sometimes it’s

A matter of opportunity right like 100% kind of like you said you got those 20 games while heli was up and there was no jeez I I got one game here this week I better make the most of it or I won’t get another one you just got to go out

And play yeah and those opportunities are a little tougher sometimes to come by in the NHL but you feel like if you got one of those there you go I mean that’s the goal that’s what I that’s what I want that’s what I feel like I I feel like if

I I mean I hate being like I feel like it’s cocky to talk about that but I I would love that Mas funny we talk about the moment I’m asking you to look at the future so right there you’re supposed to tell me no I’m just I’m worried about

One one one safe that’s what you want to say 100% you do just want to stay in the moment you want to stay in the moment and just let let the things take care of themselves to get you along that path it’s so true okay it’s so true best

Shooter you faced so far best shooter I’ve faced so far practice or games can be a can be a teammate in a practice situation or in a game like you get you’re up at Camp oo there’s a lot of good Shooters in the Jets wow I was

Gonna say I kind of where I was going what’s that pretty good he’s got a pretty good shot he scored a little goals to manelle he’s an RFA right now Patrick l he’s a he’s he’s a pretty good shooter what’s that shot like it’s it’s unbelievable I mean it’s something

Special it’s he comes across and it comes off his stick and it’s there’s different type of shots there’s heavy shots and there’s quick shots his shot I see it and then all a sudden I’m like okay I can stop that and then just gets on you really

Fast you’re like whoa that got on me a lot quicker than I thought it was going to get on me is that just velocity I I I don’t know it’s just the way he releases the puck I mean there’s certain guys who have really hard like 105 M slap shots

That you can face where’s where’s buff on that scale Buff’s got a heavy shot like hard shot but I’ve seen guys like his is also quick but I have guys who shoot heavy like in the American League stuff like that but it’s funny because

You you see it for a long way and it comes and hits you but it like it kind of like like oh it hurt me was hard but I saw it the whole way right right and then there’s shots where it’s like that that I never saw it that got

On me really quickly but it didn’t feel like anything it just came quick but it must been hard so there’s two different releases I don’t it’s just got to be the way the guys release it I’m not sure why that is but I come to realize that’s one

Of the biggest things his just it gets on it gets on you so quick and you don’t have time to move as just it’s a weird different release nice so but it benefit to facing those guys whether it’s when you’re up in practice or training camp like is that what you’re that’s the

Ultimate goal right I look I try and face every single time Patrick Lon is shooting a puck I try and be the net in practice doesn’t matter if he’s taking one time or what he’s doing I try and be in the net I’ve taken one t from the

Slot where Flats told me you’re insane for taking those shots and I’m like I just I think that him taking those shots from him is just going to make me so much better he’s one of the best Shooters in the NHL if I can face that

Shot and be able to see it react to it and stop it I you can do that with anyone in the NHL so I try and face it as much as I can all right Eric man I to kept you way too long we could probably keep going we’ll just save you for

Another day um let you get back to California couple more days up here in Colona maybe another chance to kick my ass on the golf course before we’re done um then back to California and then you’re back here in Colona for the summer you’re part of you’ve switched

Agents you’re working with Ray pet count now so you’re part of the net 360 camp with as you mentioned working with Adam francilia working with Dan boss um working with Ray so we’ll get to see you again I’m really looking forward to I love my time in Colona it’s not a bad

Place to be is it I I think I’m in the best places of California Colona Edmonton it’s all great Winnipeg is fantastic to I love all those cities I was going to say like the thing about Colona the only time I’ve actually been up here in raining is when we’re in the

Car doing this interview so that’s not a bad thing it’s the only time it’s ever rained is today there we go okay perfect thanks Eric I know we built that interview up but tell me you’re listening to it and was that not f fascinating cool and engaging and one of those ones where

Even though it’s a podcast and you can pause it you still sit in your car or or you go around the block another time uh walking the dog to to listen to the to the rest of the interview uh if if you weren’t uh finished it already it just

Just a fun cool uh discussion with with Eric comry and Kevin Woodley uh just your uh your post thoughts uh David fascinating that uh we had not discussed this you and I together um ahead of time and yet we both as we got on the line today said that that was the

Favorite interview we’ve had in in the six months of Engle radio uh so that tells you a whole lot and think about it we’ve had Carri price we’ve had maram bro dur arguably the best today and the best of all time in many Minds uh we’ve had Roberto Luongo driving the streets

Of Vancouver in Kevin’s car Clint malarchuk and his unbelievable story Stefan W weight showing us around the Canadians facility I mean we’ve had a lot of great guests on here in 6 months and both of us thought that Eric comry was the most interesting interview and

It for me it really was and I’m going to be listening to it again so is there anything that you uh grasp on to because part of what what draws me and makes me uh speak so highly of Eric is that he’s relatable and that’s not taking away

From from the other star guest but um I can’t I mean martan talked about things from b for’s game or hass’s game and and we all think that that that that that we would do that but but when Eric talked about uh playing in a game and being

Nervous and two pucks go off the crossbar and all of a sudden he’s like oh I’m getting I’m getting some breaks like that’s that’s me in in in a regular men’s league game or or when I was playing hockey or whatever those those little ones where you go that

Could have easily gone in didn’t and I turned this into into a great that that’s where a connection really occurred to me that part of the interview yeah absolutely in many ways he just sounds like another goenda drive and passion for the game uh

To hear him say that he SP was it 2 hours a day for seven days a week for five straight years as a kid on the ice not cuz Dad pushed him there but cuz he wanted to be there in fact they might take it away from him as a

Consequence um wow you can’t teach that passion there you can teach a lot in goal tending but you can’t teach that drive and passion and and I loved hearing that what about the public skating story going out there in his gear not facing pucks but but sharing

The ice with people uh twirling around uh as families or figure skaters or whoever but just finding your little uh 12et of ice and and doing the movements during a public skating session I’ve never in my life heard that yeah not just once but over and over and over

Drawing a crease on the ice so you could find just a a little slice to to do your work and that belief that skating drives everything and he’s even now I mean didn’t he say they were just getting into working with pucks now and he’s

Been been on the ice skating for a long time uh yeah incredible I once walked into a rink in Edmonton and it was one of these rinks that has one of those small little ponds for teaching kids how to skate um in between the two main

Sheets and I saw a age go tender in there doing crease movement drills and uh had to stop and have a chat with him I don’t know if he did it nearly as much as comry but uh yeah it’s incredible when you see things like that

Or that little internet clip we saw a few years ago about a kid in the in the parking lot where there happened to be about six square fet of ice and uh sliding around on it like it just love stories like that that’s that’s the

Heart of the game I’ll be honest if I showed up with uh with my gear and went out and did crease movements at the public skate in where where I live in in Markham I don’t know whether they’d let me on the ice like I Ser say that

Totally in in all honesty I don’t know whether that would be allowed well and how many people would even have the courage to go and do it I mean it would be embarrassing to stand out like that for most people but uh what but and I

Was thinking that too why why would that be embarrassing I would be I would be very self-conscious but then I’m also in the back of my mind going why would I be self-conscious uh the guy doing Crossovers and and listening to his iPod and and doing uh skating around like in

A different sort of casual skate uh uh and doing back Twirls and all this kind of stuff like he should be self-conscious what but he’s not so why can’t I go out and gear and do my movements I don’t know we’re not as strong as him no you’re right it would

Be fun if and uh let’s just get it in right now at podcast inol mag.com if we got a few emails at our uh address for sending in questions and stuff it would be fun to hear a few stories from people who have had the courage to step up at a

Public skate and do a little bit of crease movement well one final note uh the the one thing that uh that I will carry around with me from the interview was was Eric going on the ice early all the time at uh at B MTS place and skating around by himself and just

Thinking about playing a game and he plays all the time there uh with the Manitoba moose his home games are at that that Arena that they share with the with the Winnipeg Jets but going around there and just being in that that moment of an empty rink and and that’s one of

My Fascinations uh my little idiosyncrasy uh that I love an empty rink and I love the sound of of my blades on the ice all alone in a rink and that was that was cool that he that he thinks that way and he does that uh in CCM gear which is uh

Part of uh the the gear segment uh this week that that you are taking over uh for uh for Woody uh so I turn the uh the gear segment over to Hutch and to you with failing hands we passed the torch and uh before we do that let’s just

Remind everybody that this episode as always is sponsored by our friends at the Hockey Shop Source for Sports in Siri British Columbia uh you’ve gotten to know cam over the last few months in our weekly gear segments with Kevin and like cam all the staff in their goal Department are

Goenda they they wear the gear that we wear and they’ll treat you like kings when you visit them in that place that Kevin calls a little slice of goalie heaven and I have to agree um we’ve been down there we’ve had the they’ve had the patience to work through set after set

Of gear with us to be sure that we get it right why don’t you just try this why don’t you just try that they’re not pushing anything on us they’re making sure that that we’ve got the gear that’s the right for our game right for our

Needs and uh and you don’t need to be in British Columbia to take advantage of that expertise their website is the place to go for all your gear needs from the expert on Ice reviews of the latest equipment to an unbelievable selection uh end prices especially I should say

For both our Canadian and US listeners uh those American dollars are going to go a long way in Canada these days so check out the ho Hockey Shop Source for Sports at the hockey shop.com today and uh having shared that let’s uh just get into that gear segment where I sat down

With uh two of the minds behind the gold department and the skate department at CCM to learn a lot more about what’s behind the development of the new CCM Jets speed ft2 skate here we are one of the biggest goals of the in goal podcast is to bring

You inside the room so to speak uh we bring our listeners to some of the people that wouldn’t normally connect with like NHL goalies NHL coaches or in the case of today the people behind the gear uh both NHL and amateurs love to wear we’re uh in so many ways in a gear

Driven position and many that’s what brought so many of us uh to playing goal so today we’re here with uh Frederick Bono and kayy denovi from CCM uh Fred is the product manager uh for skates Kaylee is the assistant product manager for goalie and we’ve invited them to talk

Talk about the new Jets speed ft2 skates because last week uh we released our review at ingol mag.com uh of the full custom version of the skate and we thought it would be a good idea to bring the people behind the gear to our listeners we’ve given our view and now

We want to hear from the people behind them so this is really a huge step forward in skates for CCM and what I think uh most listeners don’t realize it isn’t just your version of a cowling lless skate you’ve made some big Innovations here uh ahead of some of the

Other companies and but first Fred I’m a guy who many years ago was sketching goalies in his notebook at school masks and all sorts of things like that I’m interested to know uh what brought you to your role at CCM were you like a whole bunch of other young Canadian and

Young quebecers Who were hockey obsessed were you dreaming of gear uh what what brought you to CCM actually that’s that’s a funny question because I was not exactly like you but I actually I grew I grew up playing hockey so from uh since I’m 6 years old so now I’m 32 just

Uh for the information so I’ve been uh surrounded by hockey my whole life for the past 26 years I’ve been for CCM for the past two years actually so um I had a bit of a 30 to when I I reached 30 years old I was not very happy with

Where I was and I was like you know when you you heard everyone tell you if you find a job you don’t feel like work uh you love it’s it’s like you you never work so uh that was kind of my mindset uh at 30 years old so I there was an

Opening at CCM and then uh I gave it I gave it my best and I got the I got the the position so I’ve been uh playing hockey since I’m six again and uh yeah I’ve always been uh surrounded by hockey in my life and I I love the sport so

This is why I ended up here fantastic it’s actually not that different from my story it’s uh it’s where Engle got started about 10 years ago um so we’ve made a big step forward in these skates I’d love to know what’s it look like to sit down and design the next generation

Of skate uh who are the people who are involved I know you’ve got different teams at CCM uh how many people are involved like what what’s it look like I we can sort of imagine sketching out that new skate on a cocktail napkin uh obviously there’s a ton of Technology

Involved but where where does it begin what does it look like exactly so the skate is uh one of the most complicated component in your ay gear actually for a player for goalie of course you have all all sort of other complex equipment but for the uh player it’s always uh the

Most technical one so um developing a product is a 16 to 20 months process so it’s a very very long process and actually it always starts with a brief so as a product manager you will brief your your team of Engineers of designers so we have a three three designers in

Our team we have uh uh four developers uh one product manager so we’re a team of about 10 people here working for in the in the skates department and uh the very first thing you need to do is actually you got to breach your team you

Got to tell them what you need uh for your skates uh how you want it to to look what features you want them to have and then uh a designer is a designer so we’ll take what what you’ll take what you said and then it’ll start to design

The skate but designning a skate is not only about the look of the skate it’s it’s also a lot about the components so how do you design the toe cap how do you design an older so how do you design actually a skate that has no cowling

We’ve always built skates with uh with cowling at CCM and then in 2019 we’re launching our very first gate without a calling so that’s that’s all the job of the designer so it doesn’t start on a napkin though uh it does start on a computer and then you gotta got to

Design all all all the components of this case so not only the look of it look is only one one part of it but then you gotta you got to design the tongue you got to build the tongue and then the engineers they got to make that tongue

Come to life so it starts with the design on the computer it’s and uh and then the engineers they got to make it happen so uh it’s very very complex process it’s a it’s a very long one also so you got to yeah you got to test the

Products on the ice you got to test the product on the on lab so you’re sure that when you’re putting the the skate to the market uh it’s the best product that uh that that that can be so uh it’s a very long process and uh there is not

A single step that is not being thought of for a long period of time I’m sure sure a lot of us have dreamed of building a pad or a glove or something in our in our garage or our basement over the years but but this is an incredibly advanced piece of technology

As as you mentioned um where does that brief come from are you getting feedback from just people internally I know you’ve obviously got the pro reps out there talking to the pros uh product obviously looking at other competition’s product how how do you put that together

To know where you going to take the Next Generation so the role of the product manager is to actually be the uh link of the uh feedback from the market to the uh design and engineering team so the brief is made from uh as you said the pro comments that we’re getting the

Retail comments that we’re getting so any of the feedback we’re getting uh every every single people that we’re talking to about what what needs to be done for goalie skate so what do you like for goalie skate so let’s say for an example now we’re uh in 2019 we’re

Launching three Mills uh Runners because that’s that’s what the market wants they want three millimeters for their Runner uh also Market didn’t want to es skate with a cing so we developed a uh a uh a skate with with no calling so we have our new xsg older we got a quick release

System on it so you can now uh change your Runner pretty easily uh very very quickly so all of these the specs that we’re building all of these Innovations they come from a request from the market and the the role of the product manager is to brief the team on what those those

Those Market needs are and then the designers and the uh development team the engineers they got to make it happen and then the factory for this is right there in Montreal this is a whole process that’s completed basically entirely in Montreal isn’t it yeah so we actually we have our Pro Factory in

Montreal so uh every single Pro Skate that you see at Pros whether it’s Sydney Crosby skates or Cory Crawford skates they all uh come from the uh a factory near Montreal so it’s in a small suburb of Montreal but we also use that factory to actually create prototypes and uh

Developed other products so yes this is where we build our Pro skates but we also use that Factory to uh develop new Engineering Process uh open new molds to uh to develop new uh new components and uh we use it as an RD Center also so

What’s that R&D look like I mean how many prototypes would you go through between concept to to final product and and how do you get feedback on the ice for how those prototypes are evolving since it’s a 16 to 16 to 20 months uh development period of course you got to

Run through a lot of prototypes so uh what’s funny is that you can can you can uh look into your old files and see what the very first prototype was and then when you look at what the final product that you’re put putting on the market

And you compare them like there’s a ton of differences uh for many reasons because uh you test them on the ice and then you realize they’re they’re not solid enough so you got to go back to the drawing boards and then you improve them and then you you make sure that the

New prototype is actually uh holding the uh the usage better so uh it it it’s a it’s a pretty long process but everything is tested on the ice everything is tested in lab also everything is focus grouped so if you’re is ating like should we go with that

Design that type of thing that type of thing then my role is to go and validate that also on the market so you can call uh stores you can call uh dealers that are influent you can uh go to peee tournaments and then show show stuff to

Some kids and then get their their feedback so uh there’s a lots of prototypes that are actually uh being done so just the one piece boot that we’re having on on this uh ft2 goalie skate actually the very first time we launched a one piece boot was for goalie

And for players as well was in 2016 but that one piece boot actually took five years uh to develop so it’s a very very long process of development uh same goes for the uh the goalie older so uh we had to test it multiple time to make sure

That we’re providing the best quick release system on the market so that that blade loock technology actually with old the uh the runner inside the uh the older uh is actually a a a uh a mechanic lock so it’s very it’s a very tight blade to older connection so all

Of those those stuff were tested on the ice were tested in lab just to make sure that we’re putting on the market uh the most optimized product so of course you got lots of variation between the initial breed that I’m giving and to the final product on the shelves uh lots of

Uh development have been made uh between those uh those two moments I can imagine the uh almost a Steve Jobs like scenario at Apple here where you might have a bit of a push and pull between the designers in terms of the look of the skate versus the engineers in terms of the

Performance and I mean it’s a beautiful skate we first got to see it a couple of years ago in the middle of that process fascinating to hear what’s going on what what’s the turnaround time uh between feedback and then that next model in the development process so you decide that

You need to make a bit of a tweak to the holder for example how long before you can get a new version out on the ice to test it so that’s the uh I would say the downside of uh having a long development process like that is that the the

Adaptability to the market reaction sometimes can be slow on some stuff because uh let’s say for the ft2 skate we’re just launching it uh like what three months ago now uh if we’re getting some some feedback about uh about it that something we should change uh it’s

It’s hard to implement that feedback to the very next model because the development process is long and if we want to change something we always got to make sure it’s validated on the ice and in lab so uh some some small tweaks are easy to be done but some bigger

Tweaks of course they take more time because everything needs to be tested everything needs to be long time tested also you don’t want to test that only for two weeks and then you realize that after three months of usage uh it’s breaking so you need to validate also

Longterm long-term use a lots of usage just to make sure that you got everything uh everything settled and everything figured out on the product so that’s that’s the the downside of product creation but it’s not only skates uh and it’s not only CCM it’s pretty much every single product that

That’s on the market that the feedback that you’re getting until the next Generation sometimes can be uh can be long to implement because of all the uh testing that are required to make sure that you’re putting on the market uh a quality product but as you say it’s putting a quality

Product in the market and one of the Hallmarks we’ve heard from both pros and amateurs about the CCM gear is that uh there’s consistency from from pad to pad you can you can bring a new one out after uh 6 months and and it’s going to

Feel the same as the the one that you were wearing earlier in the season so kudos to you for that uh so let’s look specifically at the jet speed skate and and as I said earlier it’s not just your version of a no cowling skate you’ve made some big Innovations here uh and

The one piece boot for starters and I want to talk about what’s different there because I know a lot of our listeners hear one piece Boot and they say nope there’s already been one out of there uh true had a one piece skate but there was really more that boot cowling

Combination wasn’t it your your one piece boot is different can you can you tell us what that is and and what makes it unique in the industry right now yeah so actually we use the lasest Technologies to make our one piece boot so it’s a very very light one so it’s

Very important to realize how light the uh the jet speed ft2 is and how light and how uh new this technology is so we’re using really new technologies new ways to build skate to be able to actually mold the skate 360 degrees so that means that uh you got a closer fit

To the older uh you get a closer fit also on the skate so the fact that there’s no outsole there’s no glue there’s no Nails actually it it helps you wrap better under your foot so you will you feel really connected to the skate with that uh one piece technology

So I would say that’s the biggest advantage of the one piece is how close you are on your on your on your feet uh and how perfect that fit is as well I was just gonna say like one thing that’s just crazy and I think it amazes every

Single person that you know is lucky enough to have an inside glimpse into our Factory is seeing all of the additional steps that’s required for a two-piece construction compared to a one piece all of the extra materials that need to go into into it all of the extra

Machinery to add those nails to add the extra resin the glue internally um and to see what the one piece product is compared to that without all of that excess material uh like it’s impressive when you get to actually see it in action yep okay I think we we have a

Vision here a little bit of what that one piece construction looks like but could we just walk it back a second and and tell us what that traditional two-piece construction looked like for you before you switched to the one piece construction just so people can really understand what’s

Changed so um when you build a traditional skate so let’s say two-piece skate you actually start with a it looks like a sheet of paper so it’s a very very flat uh piece of of skin and then you got to take the the two extremities

And then you try to wrap them so in order to actually connect both of these of that flat piece of sheet you need to actually uh use an outsole and something that’s going to be under the skate to actually connect both parts of the uh of that sheet of material that you’re using

To mold the skate so this is where the extra material and the extra actually steps in creating the skate uh comes from uh versus when you have a one piece boot that’s already a one piece so if you’re looking at the skate you can clearly see that’s a it’s a 360 degree

Uh boot actually so it already comes into a one piece it already comes shaped and all you got to do is actually even with our custom mold process so you can actually we can actually with our SC we can recreate your exact foot shape at the factory and then we can mold that

Skate to your your exact foot shape so that actually is another main advantage of having a one piece boot is how how close we can get in terms of fit and how precise we can get in terms of custom fit as well and yeah and we’ve seen the

Seen that molding process in in our review and and it really is uh impressive we can we can see Kevin’s bone spurs on the mold that you sent us a picture of even yeah uh yeah it’s impressive so Kaylee Fred’s the skate expert uh but you’re a you’re a goal

Tender it’s in your blood um you’ve you’ve tested these can you give us a little bit of an idea what the performance benefits are of the one piece boot yeah for sure so I think the biggest thing just looking at the skate as a whole and that includes the one

Piece and it includes the new holder system is that when you look at goalies and how they play and just the evolution of goalie training that you know you guys are experts in it’s evolved so much to focus on skating like it amazes me when I follow all of these different

Coaches and programs on Instagram and seeing some of the drills that these goalies are doing that you know I wasn’t doing 10 or 15 years ago um and so we look at our skate and what we were able to do to cater to that um I think the

Biggest thing is going to be with the one piece boot you’re not only getting such a great fit Advantage you’re also getting that explosive energy transfer by removing all of the extra materials that were underneath your foot it’s now a seamless connection so you think how especially for a goalie every

Millisecond counts so if you can just get that extra Advantage with every push that you make every attempt to go AC cross crease make a big save make an easy save you’re going to get that from this type of construction and I think that’s really huge for any

Goalie fantastic and in the feature interview that we have to go along with this uh edition of the podcast we’re talking to Eric comry and he began his career as a goenda young kid at public skates just skating for an hour without pucks and and today at this time of year

Um he’s just beginning to see pucks now he’s only been skating without pucks uh because it’s such a foundation uh to his game both as a youngster and as a pro so it’s an interesting tie in there so the the one piece boot obviously is is a big

Step forward for you um let’s let’s just talk a little bit more we touched on the custom process but you’ve got a few different levels of custom available uh what do those look like and and what’s a little bit different about your custom process yeah so we got actually two

Custom options to uh to please the uh the consumers so we have the first one that we call the 3D custom mold so what we’re doing actually is we’re taking a stock ft2 skate so uh you could be in store and then you try the ft2 skate and

Then uh you want it to be the close to your foot you want it to be perfectly molded to your foot so uh you can use our 3D fit scanner uh application on uh in in store we can scan your feet 360° so we really go get the the tip of the

Toes the ankle and that and what’s very important is that we’re capturing the ankles uh and that’s that’s very important because we’ve all seen people with pressure points at ankles uh bone spurs and Ankle so it’s very very important to use actually the ankle so when you’re when you’re molding a 2d

Skate and you’re using a last uh uh so the last is actually the material that you’re using to mold a skate it has no enkle at all so you cannot mold hold a skate without an ankle so what our process allows us to do is actually

Capture 360° and 100% of your foot so from the tip of the toes to your ankle so we really capture every single thing your arch and everything so then you submit that order to the factory and with the scan that you made on the iPad we can reproduce that exact foot shape

In our uh Factory where we build our our Pro skap so we take that that new mold of your foot that we’ve created and then we mold the ft2 the stock ft2 version uh to your exact foot shape and then we ship that we Shi that back in 10

Business 10 business days so in 10 business days you got perfectly fitted skates to your exact foot shape molded out of your exact foot shape Shi back to the store so that’s option number one and then option number two is actually total custom plus so we can create the

Skate from A to Z according to your needs so if you need extra stiffness uh if you want Advance facings because you really like your your skates when they wrap a lot around your your foot or you have a bigger foot volume and you need more uh more facing options so the

Facing options actually at the eyelet level so when you’re adding material on top of the eyelets so that actually when you’re you’re lacing your skates you have more material on top of your foot and then you feel more wrap uh so that’s the the facings uh you can add as I said

Uh stiffness layers uh around let’s say the a so you want them to be stiffer at the at certain area of your skate you can do that uh let’s say you want to oversize the toe cap so you like when you have more spaces at the toes at the

Toe level so you oversize your toe cap uh you can pick your tongue so we have three different tongue options so you really build the skate as you wish it to be built so uh and then again with that 3D fit scanner application same process

So we scan your foot just like we do with the pro actually it’s the exact same process as we do with uh with the pros you scan the feet and then we reproduce that uh exact foot shape at the uh Factory and then we mold the skates that we build according to your

Uh to your needs and according to your uh your requests and then we mold that skate to your exact foot shape and then we can ship that back in uh in four weeks so these are the two options so you have the 3D custom mold process

Where you take a stock ft2 skates so let’s say you try and the store the ft2 goalie skates love the fit love everything but you want it to mold it to your foot we can do that and then if you want to change some uh some things on

Your skate you want to change your thong you want to advance the facings you want more WP and stuff like that and you can as a you can do that as well uh with our toll custom plus options it’s basically like taking your eflex 4 customizer and

You finally get to apply it to a skate so what more could you want right there oh incredible I can uh the the number of hours we spend drooling over options with gear and you’ve just given us one more possib ility uh just before we we

Finish up here cuz we’ve been with you for a while here now uh the holder you you’ve made a bit of a change to the holder um I think one of the great Innovations is the removable blade uh that’s been around for a while now and

And your version of this though is a bit of a change because we’ve also seen them popping out on the ice and NHL games uh what have you done different with your holder to to try and deal with that situation and and also does it have a

Performance effect as well so as you mentioned um that’s in fact A system that we’ve seen uh for a couple of years now so we knew that by being second to the market with that type of older we had to come up with not only a great

Quick relase older but the best quick release older on the market and the reason uh and the way we did that actually is with our blade lock system so the blade lock system is actually what locks the blade inside the older so as you mentioned uh we’ve all seen blade

Pops out of the runner we’ve even witnessed that in the playoffs uh last not last year but two years ago uh goalie went mad crazy to a referee trying to throw his steel at him we all remember that scene and that scene actually will not happen with our new

Xsg older because we have that blade loock system and that blade loock system so whenever you put your hands on the ft2 just take a look at it so the dial system that you see at the at the eel of the uh of the of the older just undal it

And see how I quality and how rigid that’s Crew That’s locking the blade inside the older is and you’ll understand right away why it’s locking uh very very securely and very tightly inside the older so that blade lock system is actually that mechanical lock that’s crew that’s actually uh holding

The uh runner inside the older and that gives a a tight blade to older connection and Kelly talked about the uh energy transfer of the one piece boot which is the major benefit of the one piece boot but by having also the tight blade to older Connection by having that

Runner that’s very very securely inside your older you have you maximize your energy being transferred because your your Runner is not loose in your older so you’re not losing any any energy there so it’s very important to actually combine the best energy transfer boot to the best energy transfer older and then

With that you got you got a perfect uh got a perfect match and one thing that you know full credit to our team in our lab we have a ton of different testing options for impact um so what we can do for our masks you know we can now start

To apply to our skates as well so you know you can see those guns firing up to I don’t know red what are we testing at like 100 miles per hour yeah so 100 miles an hour firing off that holder over and over and over again so you know

I would hope that sha Weber is never winding up and shooting at the bottom of my foot from like six feet out but if it ever happens and I’m in that scenario I have the confidence to know that everything’s going to stay in one place

So um to to see that in action and you know we’re just a small part of it but even uh for our CCM morning hockey we get to try out the skates and the field testing team is always asking us you know take any pictures show us any Puck

Marks uh just to continue to validate on on it as well so it’s pretty cool yeah and you can take a look actually at CCM Instagram uh we showed a slow slow motion video of the box at 100 miles per hour eating the olders and you can see

How secur the uh the runner remains in the inside the older so that’s a that’s very cool you can see all the slow-mo slow-mo action of the testing at 100 miles per hour being done on our older and uh yeah great results nice we’ll we’ll we’ll get a link to those videos

Up in the show notes for this and I mean we we’ve had an opportunity to visit that lab and it really is uh impressive that the work that’s happening in there to to know all the different divisions in that building that are coming together to make the next generation of

Gear uh for all of us was fantastic we’ve gone over the design process we’ve gone over the build process uh some of the new Innovations in the in the jet speed ft2 is there anything we’re missing maybe the fact that that’s actually the first time we’re launching

A jet speed skate so that’s a so for 2019 if you’re looking at the goalie skate we’re launching it has a one piece boot it it has a new older without cowling it has a quick R older and that’s our new jet speed line so jet

Speed for uh player skates was very very appreciated that was one of our fastest growing line actually in the player skate so we transferred that all that momentum all that uh that light house family into our goalie skates that uh and for us jet speed is all about

Quickness it’s all about light skates and when you’re looking at light skates uh just by changing the uh the older we’re shaving 150 grams out of that skate And as as we as we talked about the uh development process of es skate we’re we’re always looking to ways to

Shed 3 to five grams on stuff here and there so when you can save 150 gram per scape in just one easy easy way actually by changing the older that’s huge so that’s a huge weight saving that we have right there so it’s 150 grams that you

Just shed just by snapping your fingers when when we’re always fighting about grams and then when you can shave that that much uh that much weight that’s huge for us so um yeah I would say 2019 Kate for for CCM the goalie is the toll package exciting year and when when I

Hear about that 150 Gams I don’t know I’m just thinking back to Childhood when we were doing skating drills with the entire team and of course the goalies are always coming up the rear so uh wish I had a pair of those skates on my feet

Way back then yeah thank you both uh very much listeners get a chance to check out the CCM jet speed ft2 we’ve got the review on our site uh we’ve actually got a little video there of that uh new holder mechanism working uh you can hear the sound of that

Ratcheting in there that keeps it so sec cure uh lots of fantastic Innovations of course as always you can also check uh it out with our friends at the hockey shop and Siri BC uh who kindly sponsor this podcast in this gear segment every week uh Fred Kaylee thank you so much

From everybody thanks Dave thank you Dave boy somebody’s going to be jealous as they listen to this episode well actually two people cam cam and Woody are are going to be sitting there going we have to we have to to raise our game because uh Hutch you did a great job

There you you’ve heard about this uh this skate and you’ve uh you’ve talked to Woody about its performance what fascinates you the most or what are you looking forward to the most uh when you get your wheels uh well sure yeah we we saw it actually early on in development

Uh more than a year ago uh in the middle of the process we’ve walked through that lab where they fire 100 mph pox at the skate to see how it how it holds up under development and I’ve I was there when Woody took his uh for his first

Skate and what fascinates me um the one piece boot technology I’m I’m curious to see how that’s uh going to be received and and what that feels like but got to be the fit I mean I I don’t know in my life that I’ve had a pair of skates that

Fit absolutely properly and uh to see that custom molding process that they go through uh would love to to do that um is it just a little weird that when I see that molded foot uh in the factory that I imagine I wish they’d send that

To me so I could keep that as well no because you and I are you know what you and I are hockey hoarders that’s what you and I are and we will we will take every little piece of uh of memorabilia or or experiences if they’re

Physical and and put them on our shelves I’ve I I see your bookshelf I see your man cave and and you you might be slightly more unique than I am yeah well there’s a there’s a couple of CCM pad core sitting behind me too not not the

Pads but that foam core at the heart of it that uh we used as part of a research project here and uh that’s just one piece going right back to my high school gear from Cooper as well yeah lots it’s fun to hoard those things and uh I love

The old stuff but I love technology too so I can’t wait to get my feet in a out of those skates too I will say I I have had the uh the the molded skate and I’ve been using it for a little bit mine’s uh

The the true the VH and and uh you will you will not believe the difference in just pure comfort and uh and I’ve always had had feet uh that are sore coming off uh off a practice or an ice session and uh or or a game and it it it it’s

Life-changing as as Colby Armstrong says he’s not a goalie but he but he uses that that same technology and he just says it’s like wearing slippers and I doubted that and it’s it’s true so I’m very excited for uh for when you get a chance to to put your feet in that and

I’m even more excited to uh to see your mold and uh and a signature of of Hutch and his and his the mold of his foot and we we there’s a Halloween thing that we can do during during that as well uh before we uh before we go uh this has

Been uh a lot of fun a lot of uh learning a lot of uh um exposure to to the Mind Game and do you think uh do you think Eric comry is is slightly uh more fr agile but open uh mentally or do you think he’s just bluntly honest and everybody else

Doesn’t share their true uh mental part of the game uh the the latter I think it’s I think it’s it’s unfair to call him fragile for being honest um you know I as I think I said to you earlier um when we met with uh John Stevenson and

Pete fry in Vancouver at their their goalie mindset Workshop uh John was recounting a story of Braden Hy not so much a story but but experiences with Braden Hy saying look Focus isn’t about being completely on for all 60 Minutes of the game uh the reality is that in a good game he’s

Going to lose focus 10 times and in a bad game he’s going to lose focus 45 times or 25 times what whatever the number it doesn’t matter um the reality is we all lose focus and and I think in a similar way I think Eric sharing that

He got nervous in certain times feels pressure in certain times I I think that’s real too um I I think maybe there’s the odd guy out there that really does never find himself nervous but but I’d be surprised uh if many NHL goal Enders could tell us that they

Didn’t feel nervous at all the first time they skated out onto an NHL rank um yeah I think it’s just open and honest and I and I love to hear it we need to hear more of that uh in the media and I think we need to to be a little easier

On guys when they do share things with us so that they will continue to be open so fragile may not be the right word but more vulnerable uh I’m not sure what the uh the best way to to describe it yeah I I I don’t know to to me like I said to

Me it was just honesty and and I think it’s uh what related him to us because we’re all going to feel the same thing gosh I felt nervous in a beer league game before not it’s crazy but the results matter to all of us I guess so

I’m sure Eric wouldn’t feel nervous in my beer league games though you felt nervous in a beer league game well yeah I mean come on it’s a championship game and a shootout it matters okay Hutch Hutch I I I do too so but I thought I

Was the I thought I was the only one no no I don’t know if Woody gets nervous but I know his team gets nervous when he plays yeah I I also there was one part of this podcast that uh that I wanted to mention um the fact that you were there

When Woody took his first stri rides in the uh in the jet speed and the skate that you talked about I think that’s such a wonderful uh just summary of your relationship and you was you you was the dad of the Ingle Radio podcast and and

And Woody and I as the as the kids I just think it’s beautiful that you were there for his first strides oh that’s yeah that’s funny that’s an interesting analogy uh is this the first time you and I have uh have hosted the entire show without the first time we’ve been

Solo yeah I think we should do it again yeah let’s shout them out just uh just uh Food For Thought uh thanks for doing this uh thanks for uh joining us as well you The Listener and uh and everybody at CCM for uh for taking the time and

Making the uh the skate and the uh the technology available for us to try out and uh pass along our thoughts and uh and our experiences uh to you the listener and uh also uh Eric comry for sharing his thoughts and being so so honest and it just makes you want to uh

Follow his career more we we root for him uh we we want go tenders to have the best possible experiences and uh and those people that come on here and and pass along their thoughts and uh and what they’ve been through is uh is just a great look behind the curtain uh he’s

Uh he’s making strides he’s always had that little stumble when he first goes up a level as you heard him say and uh and it’s got to make you think that that that he’s just ready to break through and become that brick wall that uh we’ve

All uh waited for him to become in the National Hockey League I’m Darren Mard and you’ve been listening to Ingle radio the podcast presented by Source for Sports Sur the hockey Shop.com I

In this episode presented by the Hockey Shop Source for Sports we sit down with Winnipeg Jets / Manitob Moose goaltender Eric Comrie. He may not be as well-known as some of our big guests like Carey Price and Martin Brodeur – but he was every bit as engaging and interesting a guest as we have had on the show. From an almost unbelievable amount of work he did to become a pro to an open and honest discussion of how he feels on the ice, this interview will leave you wanting more – we certainly can’t wait for the next opportunity.

In the gear segment Hutch speaks with the Manager of the Skate Division at CCM, Fred Beaunoyer who along with assistant manager of the Goal Department Kaylie Dankevy, helps us have a look at the process and technology behind the innovation in CCMs newest goal skate, the Jetspeed FT2.