My Dads NHL Lesson 50 Years Later - Read Description

What I Learned Watching My Dad Play in the NHL — 50 Years Later (A Message for Hockey Parents)

This video is something I never thought I’d see.

After decades of searching, I finally found full game footage of my dad playing in the NHL in 1976, Colorado Rockies vs Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. My Dad is #8 Blue Jersey. I watched every shift. And what I saw changed everything.

Growing up, my dad (RIP) was a ‘Motivated’ hockey dad. He taught me Pro skills other kids didn’t learn, but he was also very critical of what he viewed as a non ‘perfect’ performance.

I would Score two goals — and hear about the mistakes.

“You could have had 5 goals if you Keep your effing stick on the ice.”
“Why were you offside?”

But watching this footage as a 50-year-old man, former JR player, coach, and dad myself, I saw the truth.

My dad made the same mistakes he used to yell at me for.
Stick up in the air.
Gliding by, instead of a hard stop.
Not Hustling off on line changes.

And that’s when it hit me:

There was never anything wrong with me.
There was never anything wrong with him either.

He was coached hard. He passed it down hard.
Lou Lamarillo, Don Cherry. Scotty Bowman. Old-school systems.

Pressure without explanation. Intensity without context.

And I did the same thing with my own son — until hockey stopped being fun.

That’s the part that hurts the most as a dad.

If you’re a hockey parent watching this, here’s the lesson:

Kids don’t need more pressure, your hard knocks life lessons, or AAA showcase skates
They need fun at shinny, a safe and encouraging environment to make mistakes and families to just sit and enjoy watching their kids play a sport, becuase it ends quickly, but the trauma can last generations.

Instead of yelling:
“Keep your f-ing stick on the ice!”

Try:
“I used to skate around with my stick in the air too — until my amazing coach laughingly told me that’s where the puck isn’t. Keep it down. That’s where goals happen.”

Same lesson.
Completely different impact.

Mental performance is what turns good players into great ones — and great players into masters of the game.

Tom Brady said it best:
You peak physically early.
You peak mentally much later — if you’re taught how.

This video is a public service message for hockey parents who are willing to listen — even if it’s just a small outlier group.

I made every hockey parent coach mistake.
And I don’t want you to.

If this resonates, I wrote a book called Muscles of the Mind — about building mental and physical strength, emotional regulation, and leadership in self, sport and family life.

📘 Get the book here:
👉 https://coachryan.systeme.io/47ad6254

Let hockey be challenging.
Let it build character.
But don’t let it cost your relationship with your kid.

— Ryan Shanahan
Shanahan Hockey School