The Flames Goalie Dads

The Flames Goalie Dads

All right, I’m joined by the goalie dads here in San Jose, California, which I imagine is a fun stop for both of you considering uh your families are from the area. Uh Scott, maybe I’ll start with you. Just some early memories of your son getting into hockey and what it was like to be a goalie dad. Well, it it was a lot of work and because of his other brothers were also on the ice at the same time. So San Jose has four sheets of ice for practice. So my biggest memories was sitting in the ranks every single night of the week for years and years as they and sometimes they’d all three be playing a game at the same time on different sheets of ice. So I felt like I literally moved in. I wanted to build an apartment in the hockey rink and uh you know but it was just it’s a lot of hours and a lot of time and a lot of effort and work and then we had to fly when they were a little older in high school age we had to fly someplace to play a game. I mean imagine having a kid in a sport and you got to get on an airplane just to play a game. Yeah, it was crazy. It’s a lot of work. Mike, what about for you? What what do you remember back in those early years? Oh, from a area that’s not hockey related. Uh family that was never hockey was never part of it. It was always farming. Um I was into music and band and and stuff. And uh then the Sharks came along. I had some friends that knew people and we got tickets and uh Dustin was born right before a playoff game started for the Sharks. and after that uh at 3 months he had a season ticket holder seat. So um and you know take uh a little bit more of Scott’s thing. Um it was interesting because in the north rink of of the facility over there they have a restaurant up top and there’s a corner that overlooks the north rink and I remember seeing them watching Devin play in that in that corner. I mean, but then you kind of lose track of people over the years cuz Dustin’s a few years younger, so they were never really ever competed. So, it was it it’s kind of strange to have it all roll back and and they come back and and my family will be here tonight um that still live here and it’ll be good. I think the location was what’s really interesting because the Sharks didn’t exist until the ‘9s. Devin and his son were really the first generation to uh play in the Junior Sharks. And so we would go anywhere else in the country because we had to fly somewhere to play a game. And they were like, “You’re from where?” Like Northern California Northern There’s no hockey in Northern California. We literally would get laughed at. And that was it was the funniest thing cuz everybody would like hockey California and everyone in Devon’s high school no idea what hockey was. like nobody plays hockey here. None of them play. It’s football and soccer and all the other normal sports. And so Devin was the oddball that way too. And um but we had to build our own hockey rink in our backyard just so he could practice. And then all the kids started showing up. And yeah, here you are. Here we are. Yeah. So both of your sons, as most goalies are, calm, cool, and collected. Does that trait run in the family or where do they get that from? I don’t know. common goal would be uh oh uh he’ll say I’m a little stressed all the time. Um not it’s tough being a goalie dad watching, right? Not so much of is he going to mess up? Is what’s going to happen in front of him? Is somebody’s going to make a mistake? Is he going to, you know, all of a sudden be by himself? Um more of that. You put so much money and effort and everything you can to train them and then you have to trust that they got the right training and and they’re on their own. And Devin is pretty pretty relaxed guy. He is he’s very chill. He’s had to learn that. And yet he’s I hear that well I’ve been told the reporters love him because he he can get on mic and get on camera talk. Everybody loves the the stuff he comes up with, right? And uh and he’s funny and he’s and and that’s how I was a public speaker and so I always of course promoted that and wanted them to be able to have confidence and speak eloquently and and all that. I think that’s came out and he’s been able to like psychology is a big part of being a goalie and you have to be able to take the punches cuz you get a lot of them and I like to say like you know a normal player makes a mistake and everyone oh I think they made a mistake but goalie makes a mistake it goes up on the big board right and everybody knows right away. Um it’s tough. It’s a it’s a hard spot to be in. Yeah. Last one just for both of you. Just what it’s been like uh on this dad’s trip and maybe what stood out to you about life on the road for these guys. You definitely get a real understanding cuz we’ll call, oh, what’s going on? Well, you know, and he won’t really say. It doesn’t say how much they do off the ice and they do for charities and and how we know he gets home late from trips, but you know, now we get to feel it. Yes. that other night. Yeah, I needed to go to bed early yesterday cuz I’m still exhausted and you know we don’t get to see him that much you know in the offseason otherwise you know we have to drive to Calgary to see them cuz they just don’t get a break. So it’s been nice spending the time. Yeah. No, this has been a long time coming. Awesome. I think for me what really stood out is what it means to be a hockey family because again San Jose, California, we don’t have hockey families. I have no concept what that means. But being here with the dads who know the history of hockey going back to like the 20s and it’s like it’s crazy. you know, every single player and everything that goes on and they have all their strategies and how to get ahead and that like what they did for their kids and you know and then the battles they talk about in the politics in their own town about what kids going to make it to the NHL. I’m like we just went and played. We didn’t know what we were doing and we’d show up not knowing what we were doing. We’re always the ones that lost at every single new rink that we get go to. And uh these guys are serious. I mean, they’re really they know their stuff and so I’m envious that how how well they really understand hockey, the whole sport and I feel like I’m the newbie all the time even though it’s now been 20 years or what have you. But yeah, um so yeah. So you’re learning a lot. Love it. I’m learning a lot. Yeah. You were doing trivia on the bus and and I’m working on the hockey respect uh scale. All right. The veterans, rookies, there’s a whole Right. Oh, I think you’re higher than you think. Probably. Okay. We appreciate the time, uh, both of you. And dads are one and0 so far. So, good luck tomorrow night, right? Thank you. All right. Thank you.

Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley’s fathers talk about their unique hockey journeys in California