32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Connor Hellebuyck

Episode Date: January 25, 2023

He’s won the Vezina Trophy and is now a published author. Connor Hellebuyck joins Jeff and Elliotte in Toronto to talk about his mental wellness flipbook for kids, Weasel & Bucky, tells the guys why it was important to him to write the book, how he manages his mental health and books he read as a kid.They also get into his playing days in Odessa, the evolution of goalie gear, players that annoy him most, the Jets memorable run in 2017-18, the team under Rick Bowness, fishing with Dustin Byfuglien, how his goals have changed over the years, growing up a Red Wings fan and what he love most about Winnipeg.Check out Connor’s “Weasel & Bucky” book HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: Bamily - Little BrotherListen to the full track HEREThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Stu Barnes would have been on that team. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Watch the goalie. That's Coles in. That's him in the back. Watch the show. Oh my God. You can see the moment he realizes what happens, eh? Welcome to another 32 Thoughts the Podcast interview edition brought to you by GMC and the new Sierra AT4X. Today, Conor Hellebuck of the Winnipeg Jets.

Now look, we like talking to goalies. We probably don't do it as often as we should. They're on the ice all game. They see all. They think they know all. And if you ask them nicely, they'll tell all. And that's what we got with Hellebuck. A few things. He's written a mental health flip book for kids. It's really good. Called Weasel and Bucky. That's available at truenorthshop.com. We have a link for it in our show notes. He talks about why it was really important for him to write this book. Also talked about some of the hockey books he used to read as a notes. He talks about why it was really important for him to write this book. I also talked about some of the hockey books he used to read as a kid. He grew up a Red Wings fan,

so put those two things together. We talked about playing in Odessa. We talked about the evolution of hockey gear, which players annoy him the most in front of the net. Spoiler, the name Corey Perry does indeed come up. We talked about the 2017-18 Jets and their wonderful run. We talked about what the Jets look like this season from his point of view. A lot on Rick Bonas, his new head coach. We wonder about another Vesna trophy in Hellebuck's future. We talked about fishing with Dustin Bufflin. Man, do I miss Dustin Bufflin. And what he loves the most about playing in Winnipeg. Elliot and I sat down with Hellebuck last week at a downtown Toronto hotel.

This was a day in advance of the Jets taking on the Maple Leafs. Now, a special thanks to Scott Brown of the Winnipeg Jets communications team for making this interview possible. Thank you, Scott. Without further, here's Connor Hellebuck of the Winnipeg Jets on 32 Thoughts. I think you'll enjoy this one. Listen to 32 Thoughts, the podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Connor Hellebuck, goaltender, author, mental health flipbooks.

They're called Is Something Wrong With Weasel? And Bucky Beats the Blues, available online at True North Shop. Why do these? You know, it's important to continue the talks. When we first brought up this mental health, it hit me so close to home because I'd like to think I have a very strong mental game and when I was growing up I had to learn this and I didn't even know this was like something that needs its own like title to it I just figured I need to get better at hockey and this was part of

it but now we're all talking about mental health and it's got its own title and it's like there is a big ladder or a big tree that goes underneath this and when i learned it i had to go to multiple people um my bubble i had to go all my my parents had to go to everyone i trust my advisors and now i'm looking back at the youth and i'm raising family myself and i'm thinking let's continue these talks so let's help the parents get ahead of this and improve as parents and help the next generation. All right. Before I forget, pick up the book. Maybe read us a page that really matters to you. How about I will read the first page.

And this isn't even part of the story. This is just very important for kids to know that there's more help out there. It says it was probably supported by the True North Youth Foundation Project 11, which is, you know, I have to give them a plug. Rick Rippin. Yep. It says if you are a kid who needs a grown-up to talk to, you can call the kid's help phone, and it lists the number there.

So I think it's so important that the kids's help phone, and it lists the number there. So I think it's so important that the kids, I mean, they might not even know this is an option, but now they do. And then we'll flip to the other side where it says, Bucky beats the Blues. The two stories that come together and meet in the middle. And this side, the Bucky beats the Blues, is kind of a little bit about my story, about how I learned. And my ideas kind of went to this one really important as i was growing up and i'll just i'll read a page i said i'd like to tell you a little about my story when i was a boy i loved fishing sometimes i would go with my brother and sometimes with my grandfather but my favorite person to go fishing with was my friend joe and from then on it talks

about how i had to mentally get over something that happened with me and Joe. And along the way, it kind of says how I learned and then it passes it on to a next generation of a kid where I become the coach and a kid is feeling down and sad and how I knew how to help him. Joe was your GM and goalie coach, right? coach yes he's used differently in this book yes but yes he was okay and do you want to share that story at all like you can tell me if i'm probing too much here but do you want to share that story at all no it's fine um when i when i got to odessa he was a really big supporter of mine and um he was working in the office and he was always a goalie guy so he offered to help and become our goal the goalie coach of the team and right away I just could tell I could tell

he was one of those guys that had my back all the time and we get on the ice we do our thing you know goalie coaching but what I really learned from him was off ice after every game he'd pull me aside and we'd go over the good the bad bad, and the ugly. And it was so important to get that out because, I mean, they say don't let your highs get too high. Don't let your lows get too low. I'll argue sometimes you want those highs to be high. Feel it and then cherish that and chase it. But we'd go over that. So after every game, I'm not feeling down.

I'm not beating myself up for two, three days. Now I'm having five minutes. Okay, let's beat myself up. And then what do I do from there? Where do we go? How do I get better? And then the next day, I'm coming back with, like I was telling you earlier, that building that confidence. Okay, I have something to work on today. I'm going to get better today and I'm going to see improvement somewhere. So now I'm not just, oh, hanging my head. Today's going to be a bad day because of yesterday. Now I have a goal and something to work towards.

day because of yesterday. Now I have a goal and something to work towards. There's something you said that I think is very important for people to understand that, and I agree with you, that mental health can be taught. I think people, they go up and they go down and that's normal. I don't think anybody is a bad person or a weak person for having up days and down days. But I think myself in particular as a young person, I was very soft mentally. And I think I'm much stronger now, not perfect, but much stronger. But I think that's the key is because

I tried to evolve it as a skill or something that you can, like for lack of a better term, a muscle, something that you can work up. So my question to you is how did you learn? How did you develop that skill? Because I think there's going to be a lot of people listening who are going to want to know that. Yeah. Okay. So this is what makes my parents very crucial in this. When I was growing up, we didn't get coddled. If we needed some loving, we got our loving, but there

was also a little bit of tough love. You don't win a game or things don't go well well what are you gonna do about it can you get better where can you be better how did you feel and what's realistic and things like that and that kind of helped me develop how to deal with failure and it's so important to deal with failure because with failure comes success I don't think it's the other way around. You don't succeed without it. And let's just take my hockey side of it, just straight hockey side of it. I get to juniors and I was undrafted and I didn't even know the path until my brother tried when I was in high school. Had a really bad high school year. And from there on, what do I want to do about it? What am I going to do about it? I can sit here and complain all day, which that's good. I talked to my parents, I complain,

get it out. And then it's, what are you going to do about it? And watch my brother go through it, kind of learn through him. So that's another skill, like learning through other people, which is so important. Started working really hard at my game and taking that failure and trying to make it to success. And then when I got to juniors, I wasn't drafted. I got called right after the draft, which was devastating to me because I thought maybe that was my chance. I just needed a little window and I was going to take as far as I could. And when I didn't, I had my moment. I was sad and I got a call and said, you're going to main camp. I was like, well, I already know what to do. I'm going to go kill at main camp and I'm going to prepare really hard

for this. And without learning that before, I don't think I would have been as ready to go. And what eventually became of what I am now. You know, I think it's, um, and we all believe this, it's really healthy to check in with yourself mentally, no matter where you're at, how old you are, what you do for a living. For the purposes of this conversation, when it comes to, we'll focus on young hockey players specifically, is there something unique about the position of goaltending? We've talked on our podcast plenty of times about how we have the softest spot in our heart for goalie moms. You have not seen stress at an arena until you've sat next to a goalie mom when her son or daughter is starting.

But is there something unique about that position when you're growing up? Defensemen can make mistakes and that's okay. Forwards can make mistakes and that's okay. A goalie makes a mistake and a light goes off and on. One team celebrates and the other team goes to the bench. Anything unique that you've noticed about that position and checking in with yourself mentally?

Absolutely. I think it's so important to do that and be realistic with yourself because, let's be honest, not a whole lot of people understand goaltending. And until you are a goalie and go through the pressures of being a goalie, you don't know. And if you don't go through you're saying like that checklist by yourself you try to rely on other people that don't really know it's going to push you down the wrong street and get your mind wandering on things that shouldn't and this is

where being realistic is so important because you want to look at your game and you want to analyze where you failed and if you can then be realistic like okay i failed here and why then instead of it being oh i'm not good enough now it's oh now i have something to get better at and i think that's where you really become the next step and the next level is is you're not always knocking yourself down now you're starting to build a little confidence because then you see in your game where you failed and we're not no now you're not always knocking yourself down. Now you're starting to build a little confidence because then you see in your game where you failed and now you're no longer failing. And that's where you start to get a little confidence.

Like, okay, now I can do this and now I'm going to add this. And then you see your game kind of come together. And I mean, this happens every year from the start to the end. I mean, it's micro at the NHL level, but it makes a huge difference. You know, one of the interesting things about this position, normally in a lot of sports you want to be on the top team because that means you're the best player or best players. Goaltending is unique in that growing up,

you don't necessarily want to be on the top team. Sure, you're going to get 20 shutouts a year, but you're only going to face four or five shots in those games. You're not going to be in as many competitive games as someone who's in the middle of the pack on a middle of the pack team, or even a lower, uh, you know, down the hockey ladder type of team, the value of being in the middle when it comes to a goaltender is what for you? Cause I think that that means the world for a young kid. Yeah, absolutely. One, you have more fun when you're getting more shots and pucks on you. And two, I always, whenever I talk about other goalies,

I use this word, they have the knack for making saves. And I think that's where it gets developed. If you're on a really good team, you're not getting the amount of pressure, you might lose out on the knackack which is just reading the play differently or just having that natural instinct of oh i knew he was gonna go there or i thought he's gonna do there so i i did it and it worked and on the other side of that you have to learn where it doesn't work and that's what's so important you see all these goalies come up and they're so clean cut and their games are like perfect.

But then when it comes to that instinct, they give up a few extra goals here and there. And you can tell they're good goalies. They can do it. But they just haven't failed enough at that point to really know when they need to go and when they don't need to go, if that makes sense. What makes you angry now? Like one of your teammates told me that you have a look, and when you have that look, nobody wants to go anywhere near you. So what's that look and what brings it out?

I think I know the look. Do you want to give it for the camera? There's no way I can do it unless I actually felt it. I think it's when I have a practice and I'm a little tired and I'm trying to work on something and I just physically can't. I can't do it. I'm getting beat a few times. It's not I'm mad at everyone else. I'm mad at myself for failing a little bit.

You do get those sad and anger feelings when you fail a little bit, but I think at this point, when that happens, I can kind of sit back and be like, okay, today was bad, but what can I learn from it? So the look always comes with hopefully a smile in the future. Speaking of things that get you angry, I always love asking goaltenders this question. always love asking goaltenders this question on a scale of one to ten how much do you hate it when you hear guys like me and elliot say things on television like he'd like to have that one back yeah that's probably the worst thing you could say especially with a goaltending room um just because you never know what went through his head you never know i mean everything else in the game could have made him have a different read

or maybe there's a cross screen or a slightly tipped puck that we didn't pick up on tv like so many little things go into sometimes what a bad goal might look like is just sometimes that stuff happens this is the nhl and that's a good portion of it well when we watch uh like i was a goaltender until i was 16 and And then when I didn't get drafted, I quit. Like that was my hockey story. And by the way, I would like to say

if I could do it all over again, I would play goal. You would. I love, I did, I did it. I did it in university

for a team that was going to get disqualified from the league if they had one more goalie that missed a game. So I played a couple games and I loved it. It's fun.

I loved it. Did you like it and hit with the puck? Yes. Did it hurt? Yes. But you know what? I was, like I said, when I was younger,

I was not strong mentally and it didn't allow me to become as good a player as I could potentially have been. But at that point in my life, I was much more prepared for it and I loved it. I mean, there's some glory to it. The worst part is you're alone on an island. Thank God now we have goalie coaches and your goalie partner

that also knows exactly what you're in. But as they're making the gear smaller, that was really difficult because now the puck started hurting a little bit more, and the look that you have developed now looks insane. For me, I had just developed a really good structure. a little bit more and the look that you have developed now looks insane like for me i had just developed a really good structure i put that new chest pad on and my hands felt like they're alone there's no more arm into them and it was hard mentally to get over that because now i'm starting to re i'm trying new chest pads to try to make the pucks not hurt as bad and i'm trying

to re-gather that structure that I just developed. And it was tough. I heard you were very vocal about the changes. You were on the competition committee, correct? I am, yes. So you, and I heard you were very vocal. Can you take us through some of those conversations? Because I heard you were unafraid to give your opinion.

Yeah, well, I don't like just a bunch of complaining. If I'm going to complain, I might as well do something about it. And I saw that as my route to do something about it. And I understand why they made all these changes. What I was vocal about was give us some time with them. They gave it to one goalie. I think it was Schneider, Corey Schneider. And he was trying them, and it was okay for him.

But then all these other brands, they need time to develop theirs, and we need time to adjust. I thought it was pushed too fast. And I was just being vocal about how, and I know I'm not the only one that said the pucks are starting to hurt. Like, give us some time to work out the kinks. And Kay Whitmore was really good about okaying modifications, which I had to do on my chest pad.

I had to add a little bit of layer of air in between and that helped a lot but i think a lot of that could have been done before we were forced into it that makes sense how many goalies were calling you and saying connor don't back down don't back down don't back down you know the goal union you'd be surprised we don't we don't all talk but we all think alike so So I didn't need those calls. I kind of knew they were thinking it. Who is the biggest complainer goalie? Give it up.

Who is the biggest complainer goalie? On the ice? Or just maybe when it comes to this stuff, the equipment? I mean, I'd have to say myself just because I don't know everyone. But at least I'm doing something about it. You saw Jake Ottinger last week trying to pull the mask off. I saw that. What went through your mind?

I think it's important. But what stinks is because, A, you don't want to just pull it off and get that penalty. Some refs will realize how dangerous that is to have a clip off or even two clips off, which is even more dangerous. I think the refs need to see when it clips off. They need a chance to blow it dead. And then we'll know, leave it on

because the ref is looking for a whistle. That's what I think about that. Is there anything that can be done about the clips? Like we look at the technology of every piece of equipment. Can that be changed at all in your estimation? I mean, maybe a little bit, but I think the exploding off is part of the impact so when a helmet gets hit it takes the impact and then those explode

and the helmet comes up and away which helps take the uh the impact from one spot to just spreads it out over the area so i think it's important that they still come off but there could be a spot where that comes off and then something else holds them on so at least they're there and your helmet won't just tip off but then it still will shimmy around on your eyes and it's not good for goaltending who's the player that gives you the most trouble bumps you the most hacks you the most when you look at him you say i can't this SOB gets away with this stuff. It's probably two or three guys.

I'd say Corey Perry's one. Shocking. Shocking, yeah. Always around the net, just doing dumb stuff. To me. He's probably thinking it's great. Jamie Benton. He's good in front of the net.

He's always in there, too. Right on that edge. And Chuck. Both of them, I assume? Or Matthew, I guess. We'll throw both of them in there. A question about how you think about one thing and has it changed. When you're playing net and a puck hits the goalpost,

do you think in your mind, wow, that almost went in, or I have my position, that shot's wide? Usually when I get a post ring on me, right as the puck's going by me, I kind of know it's not on that. And when it hits the post, I'm kind of a little bit surprised because I kind of know where my frame is and if a puck's going to be me. I know before it gets by me that it's got a chance on net. So when that happens, it's just, I kind of know it's either not in the net

or just a perfect shot where you have to tip your cap. let's talk about the Jets a little bit this year I don't know what you expected but I think we all recognize this team is for real what did you expect that word expect or expectations last year we came in with some expectations. We made some moves and it killed us. And I'm at the point in my career I have learned the expectations are not good. So I come in with no expectations. My only thought is I'm going to come in and try to be the best I can possibly be and steal every game. Crazy unrealistic, but if I go in like that, I'll achieve some part of that. Yeah, we came in with a bunch of expectations and then things just weren't going well and it just crumbled us. Where this year, we were crumbled and we came in ready to prove ourselves, ready to fight.

And the new coaching staff, we were all so ready to buy in and i think everything has just been a perfect storm coming together when did you notice it was different that there was something that was going to work you know day one right when i showed up you could tell everyone was happy to be there excited about this year um ready to fight and ready to prove that what we did last year was wrong that it was just a fluke or an off year. And you could get the feel around the locker room. Everyone had a little chip on their shoulder for it. Further to that, we all wondered what the offseason was going to be like

for Winnipeg. And sure, there was a coaching change, but we wondered if this team was going to look radically different for this season. Did that go through your mind at the end of last year? A little bit. But I told this to our GM. I think sometimes when you do make some moves, it takes a little bit of time to adjust.

You see that around the league. Sometimes that does happen. And I could see it with our team because we knew we had talent. We all know. We talked about it all year. We have the talent. We were just missing a piece, and I think the new coaching staff helped bring that together.

Now we all wanted to play a certain way, and I think the new coaching staff is holding us to the level that we want to play at. What was the piece? Was it the coach, or do you think it was something else? It's got to be. I love our new coach. He protects his goal as coach. He's really,

he protects his goalies well. He cares about us a lot. He knows that we go through a lot of stress, but not only that, he holds us accountable to the way we want to be held accountable. And that's the big part about why our room's so good is we really want to be held accountable. And he does. And he puts in a system that we all were already ready to play. We all wanted to be held accountable and he does and he puts in a system that we all were already ready to play we all wanted to play and buy into and that's why i said i think it's kind of a perfect storm because he comes in and brings a message that we want to hear and now we're all on board and ready to do that how does he hold you accountable personally well goalie's different because i have my goalie coach and does he does w or does Rick do it? Wade does. What I like about Rick

is his open line conversation always. He'll always tell me, I like the way you battled tonight or tomorrow's going to be a better one. Then he leaves the goalie stuff to flats to Wade. At this point, we know how much we care about our game and how much we analyze and, and when to stop overanalyzing and when to work. And so we have a really good system down and we know how to bring my a game. And at that point,

you just don't want to get in the way. You ever think about the Vesna trophy? Yeah. Sometimes. What do you think? Well, I have one. I know, but you you know that's the thing

when you get you know to hold up books you have to have two right unless you use a wall well here's the thing with it i made an outrageous claim when i was younger saying i'm gonna win a vesna stanley cup and i truly believed it is it outrageous i don't think so but i'm sure other people thought it was at the time but now that i have it at this point it would just be another piece i have one goal left and that's the win at stanley cup would it be nice to win another best night yeah it'd be great if i don't it's not going to kill me i'm going after one thing and my focus is all on that what do you remember about 2018 like i remember the streets just like the games would start and there'd be people lined up a mile long on those streets outside the rink.

What do you remember about that run? I remember a few things. We had a really good bonding experience in Vegas, and that really helped our team take the next step. And then throughout that year, it was we played pretty much the same way every single night. And if the guys got tired, then I would have a really good night. And then they would get right back on the same system the same way.

And once we got on that flow, we felt like we couldn't be beat. And we got into playoffs and the streets were going crazy and the fans are going nuts. Like on the next level, I've never seen our crowd get like that. And you have a great crowd. And we have a great crowd. And they were on another level.

And we were rolling and then we got into Minnesota and we just steamrolled them. And it just felt like we could not be beat and we got in that Nashville series and that was just so exciting because there was two heavy hitting teams that both belonged going on and we were just back and forth comebacks left and right winning on the road constantly and getting their crowd their crowd's a good crowd too

so we go from our amazing crowd to their amazing crowd, and it was just every night it was relentless. And then we'd go to a game seven where we'd pull through and it was like a breath of release. Two days later, we're back at it against Vegas, and then we steamrolled them game one. And from that moment, I think every single person in that locker room was like, okay, we can win a cup here.

And then the unthinkable happened. You know, I want to talk about the good things about that. One of your teammates said that in the warm-up in game seven against Nashville, they were nervous. And they said there was one guy who wasn't nervous. And thank God for us, it was the guy in the net. And there were guys who said after warm-up that you were not going to let them lose that game no matter what happened what do you remember about that warm-up

i don't know if it was just the warm-up i think it was just the presence around the rink i felt really good in that series and i felt really good in that game going into that game and that that was built from the start of the year all the confidence and the structure and everything was built so i was in playoffs i was just no longer am i analyzing my game now i'm just showing up and giving it my all and battling so hard where i knew i wasn't gonna fail and i think the guys felt that on me They played that great system, and they just were relentless on it. And when you know what to expect, it makes your life so much easier. It makes your game so much easier.

Is that the way it is now? That is the way it is now. Granted, we're only halfway through the year, so we're still ironing out some minor details, but I kind of know what to expect now. And I can see it coming, and I can get ahead of it and it helps a ton it's awesome i get chills listening to this i'm ready for the playoffs to start now be an inspirational speaker but i think about that when the career you got a library here uh i i do and and before i get to the these books i want to get your thoughts on on hockey books growing up in in general whenever i'm asked, and Elliot and I have talked about this before, who do we wish was still in the NHL?

I always say Dustin Bufflin. I miss that guy. I miss watching him play. I mean, he's a former teammate. I'm sure you've got a million stories. When I say the name Dustin Bufflin to you, I mean, the relationship between goaltender and defenseman is a pretty big one and profound one, but when his name pops into your head, what goes through your mind? You know, I do miss the guy. I keep in touch with him. Oh yeah? How is he?

We both fish, so we're fish buddies. You're like the one guy he talks to. A little bit. Talks to a little bit. Talks to Bufflin. Yeah, yeah. He's doing well. He's doing well. His family's great, and he's enjoying himself, and he's happy. Did you ever ice fish with Dustin Bufflin? He got me into it.

You've got to tell us about this. Yeah, so I was always a bass fisherman, and when I first came to the league, I was young, and he knew I liked fishing. So he'd invite me out ice fishing, and he'd make me wake up at 5 a.m. and get out there, which, sure, I love it now. At the time, I didn't know that was a thing. For ice fishing, I just figured go whenever, it's the same thing. The fish don't see through the ice, but we'd get out there, and it would be so relaxed.

We'd just be hanging out over a hole out in nature, breathing in fresh air and watching the sun come up and something very calming about that and now i realized how important it was to us to get out there and just get away from hockey and and free our minds what would you guys talk about oh man a lot of fishing that's the best part about it. You go fishing. You talk fishing. You just park all the hockey talk? Just leave it? Yeah, just park it away. Maybe once in a while it pops up, but really just getting your mind off of it,

talking fishing. His buddies that he'd bring out, and we'd just chat with them and just make each other laugh and have a good time. What's the wildest thing you saw him do on the ice? We saw big things. That's the thingest thing you saw him do on the ice like we saw big things like that's the thing about dustin bufflin like everything he did was you know larger than life and big goals and rushes and checks and like all of it is there one that stands out for you yeah and you won't have any recollection of this because this was during a um a skills competition for the jets they just do their own skills competition every year.

And we went fishing that morning. We came back, went home, and then we went to the skills competition. It was around 7 o'clock. And we did a shootout, and we brought in two contestant-winning goalies. And they're younger kids, teenagers. And he comes down for a penalty shot, the puck forward puts his stick in one hand kind of uses his back as leverage and just one tease it with his one hand and it goes elbowing in and it was the greatest penalty shot i've ever seen of all time is there video of this somewhere

brown you think there is and it came out of nowhere. He was just nonchalant coming down and then pulls that out, and everyone's jaw just dropped. Wow. I miss Dustin Bufflin. All right, the book. So this is the first hockey book. We're talking about books here at Conner.

This is the first hockey book I ever got. It's a Peter Puck book, Love That Hockey Game with Brian McFarlane. I treasure this like crazy. This one is a book written by a goaltender and coach and manager. And I'm able to cat Francis who wrote this one interesting section about how to play goal. I remember reading this as a kid like crazy. Were there any hockey books that you remember growing up that like really? I mean, I'm dating myself here with, you know, Peter Puck and cat Francis. But any hockey books that you were drawn to as a kid maybe when you're first starting to play

goal yeah yeah there was um it's hard for me to remember all the books but there's one that sticks out and it was a recap of the 98 season and playoffs for the Detroit Red Wings yeah yeah it was when they beat Washington and there was also a video of the whole playoffs. And that was like a hype video, and it was awesome. I watched that all the time. But the book, you could actually open it up and read little things. And I don't think they do this enough these days. They documented some of the players of what they were saying

or a few interviews and how the season was going and how games were going. And it would give you a little piece of every game and a little piece of parts in the season where they were. And then they would just throw the team together and celebrations or goals. And it was just a really cool mix of pictures and you kind of knew what the team went through.

And I know they probably put what they wanted in there, but it was awesome to read that as a kid. So growing up, I was a big Mike Palma to your fan. Just like an enormous Mike Palma. I thought he was like the coolest goaltender in the world. I still think that, to be honest with you. Who was your guy when you were a kid? A young Connor Hallibuck.

Oh, this guy is the best. Who's that guy? It was Olaf Kolzik. You guys look like you could be brothers. Like I'm sitting here looking at you right now. kolesik kind of looked like you when he played i could see that we're same ish descent belgian descent ish around that area right the feathers in the beer exactly but yeah um watching that hype video i i got to see at the end where they talked about all of kolesik and how he got him there and I was like wow this is

awesome and then you start seeing more things about him and start collecting his hockey cards and I actually have a pad card of him and little things like that you just cherish so close when you're a kid right oh yeah and were there any other goalies that you were huge fans of all the Detroit goalies the Chris Osgood

the Dominic Hossick not so much Mike Vernon just because I didn't really follow him as much when he was there of oh all the detroit goalies the chris osgood the dominic hasik not so much mike vernon just because i didn't really follow him as much when he was there but the osgood and the and the hasik were and even a little bit of kujo we got a little bit of kujo in there and those three guys are just hard to not enjoy watching them so one of the stories i got told about you that made me laugh was how you were told you were going to quit tobacco did someone like take the can and like throw it out like grab it from you and like throw it over a wall or something like that and oh who'd you get this from i'm not telling you that i know exactly got this from um yeah yeah let's just leave it that just leave it that well i i was gonna say

like the story i got told was and like i'm not passing judgment or anything like that we all have our things we got a break and uh and uh someone saw you uh chewing tobacco one day and grabbed the can and threw it and said that's it you're done doing that not anymore is that the way it kind of went yeah a little bit but um he was one of the people i trust before he did it so yeah i mean you gotta have you gotta have a few people this goes back to mental health you gotta have a few people you trust and and you can bounce ideas and you're comfortable with calling them at any hour and any moment and just hey i need to talk and then from there you can kind of figure out what the next course of

action is this sort of circles back to a conversation we had 15, 20 minutes ago, and that is the nature of a goal. And people like Elliot and I watching a game or analysts on TV analyzing a game from an NHL goalies perspective, what's a good goal and what's a bad goal? Like, what is the goal where we should look at and go, ah, maybe that is one that he should have had. goal like what is the goal where we should look at and go ah maybe that is one that he should have had and what's one that's like no one's stopping that shot yeah that's tough it's tough from your shoes because you don't really know what we went through i could tell you as a goalie i know what's a bad goal it's a good goal i've seen no goalie likes getting a 99 of a puck and it still goes in does that happen? Yes.

But I think those are the ones where you're like, I should have had that one. That could be kind of a bad goal. It's like in baseball. If you can touch it, you can catch it. Exactly. But even, like, I still do this in my career. I'll let in a bad goal, and then we'll win the game 2-1 or 3-2.

Did my job. Yeah, I let in a bad goal, but I stopped all the ones that should have went in so when we say bad goal sometimes it's okay it's not bad it's just how do you respond what is your favorite kind of save to make what one are you like oh yeah toe up glove up toe up toe up glove up if you can get that heel planted in the ice, you got a good beat on that puck. And you're probably making a nice glove save with a windmill. How many times do you put a little extra on it for the cameras?

I don't like extra. I think it's a little cocky and that's when it bites in the butt. Maybe a little bit, though. It's got to be a goal. I've got to enjoy it a little bit. You were saying before we were talking that you used to chirp people but it always backfired on you give us an example well i don't really have exact examples because as i was growing up i would just say a little something here say something there or or if i ski with a guy in the summer i would

tell him i'm gonna own him and then what do you know he scores on me so now i kind of take the nice guy approach. Yeah, you're having a good game. And hopefully that karma comes back to me and I make a save that I shouldn't have. Finish this sentence. I hate when blank scores on me. Anyone. I hate when anyone scores on me.

There's not one player in the industry like, ah, this guy. No. At this point, I go into every game trying for a shutout. And I was like this in juniors too. And this is what Joe kind of helped me with. He's like, keep that, but be realistic with that. So I just hate when any time a goal goes in, period, and then when any time you give up three or four,

the odds aren't great in you winning that game. So three and four hurt a little bit more than one and two. I guess the last one I kind of wanted to ask you, Connor, was just about, you know, you said something very interesting before that this team reminds you of 2018 and you're playing a certain way and you know where everything's

coming from and you're very confident about this group. How much harder is it to win now in the NHL than when you first got here? Yeah, I think it's the power of analytics and video. And not only that, guys are just so much more keen on working on their game. I think the skill gap is so minimal. So any team, even a team with a bad record, is still a good team.

At this point, it becomes who's playing the right way and whose details are right and who's sacrificing a little more, blocking shots, sacrificing a good offensive play to make a good defensive play. I think little things like that pay huge dividends, and I think that has led to our success as we're giving up a little bit offense for defense. But by doing that, we're gaining some offense too. We're just focusing our end a little bit more,

and we're realizing that we can still get offense from that as well. Last one. The best thing about Winnipeg is the ice fishing. It's great ice fishing. Lake Winnipeg is well known for great greenback walleye, and it lives up to its name. That's awesome. That's great.

That's not what I would have expected, but that is a great answer. Thanks so much for this. Thanks a lot. Good luck with the book. Thanks, guys. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thanks, great. That's not what I would have expected, but that is a great answer. Thanks so much for this. Thanks a lot. Good luck with the book. Thanks, guys. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

Glad to be here. Really hope you enjoyed that interview with Connor Halibut. The full video of the interview will be available Thursday the 26th. You can look for that on our Sportsnet YouTube channel. And we'll continue with our 32 32 thoughts pop-up series with the Hellebuck interview. Those were a lot of fun. Taking us out are four beat makers from Brixton who aren't afraid to challenge

what pop music sounds like. Bamily has a DIY approach to their music making process and each of the producers brings their own skillset to the band from From their debut EP, Family with a B, here's Bamily with Little Brother on 32 Thoughts, the p-p-podcast. You are 12 You can

Kick, flip and grind You've got So many skills I didn't have when I was your age. You think I'm cool. Well, just you wait. You're gonna drop by tonight when you walk out of the playground. I turn out fine, I turn out fine, you know What I don't get now, I learn to feel now You're so young, you're so nice No one sees you get teary-eyed

The weather's changing, people fight We are both gonna be alright Little brother, you're doing fine Don't speed up, get left behind You've got kids and I've got mine We are both gonna be alright Sampai jumpa di video selanjutnya.