WHOOP Podcast - Charlie Coyle, Boston Bruins center, on work ethic, sleep quality, and the connection between recovery and performing on the ice

Episode Date: June 2, 2021

Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle sits down with WHOOP VP of Performance Kristen Holmes for a wide ranging discussion about his journey to the NHL, the importance of work ethic, and the connection between recovery and performance on the ice. They discuss why he always dreamed of playing pro hockey (2:37), putting in the work (5:36), making sacrifices for hockey (8:38), sleep consistency and naps (14:20), how sleep debt affects performance (17:07), why elevated WHOOP recovery means better play on the ice (18:58), psychological factors and recovery (24:28), playing for his hometown team (27:54), learning from failure (37:19), giving 100% (41:58).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

What's up, folks? Welcome back to the WOOP podcast. I'm your host, Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WOOP, where we are on a mission to unlock human performance. You can learn more about WOOP at WOOP.com. Check out the W-W-P membership, which comes with hardware and software and analytics, and it's designed to help you improve your health. You can use the code Will Ahmed, W-I-L-L-H-M-E-D to get 15% off.

a WOOP membership. Okay, this week's guest is Boston Bruins Center, Charlie Coyle. It's a fitting time to welcome Charlie to the podcast. The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing, and the Bruins are in the middle of a tough second round series of the New York Islanders. Charlie sits down with WOOP VP of Performance, Kristen Holmes, for a wide-ranging discussion about his journey to the NHL, the importance of work ethic,

and the connection between recovery and performance on the. the ice. Kristen and Charlie dive deep on some fascinating whoop data that shows how elevated recovery leads to a remarkable increase in performance during NHL games. I think this is going to blow your minds, but we track the data of one all-star player for a full season and found that he saw a significant increase in shots, puck touches, passes, and goals on days where he woke up with an above-average recovery. You'll have to listen for the full breakdown, but imagine if an all-star player could score 12 more goals a year. That's what our data showed. So Charlie was pretty blown away by that and the whoop data. I think you'll find Charlie

to be extremely humble and down to earth. And if you've got a young athlete in your life, I think there's a lot to be able to take away from Charlie. He's a great message on following your dreams and not being derailed by outside influences. Without further ado, here are Kristen and Charlie, welcome to the Wooop podcast. Thanks. Appreciate you having me on. So funct to talk to you about your career and about the Stanley Cup playoffs. Round two, congrats. Thank you. Yeah, it's been it's been a lot of fun, hopefully a lot more to hockey to be had. I always feel like the best place to start is kind of at the beginning. I think, you know, especially when we talk to professional athletes. Like I, you know, it's always just a journey, right, to get to the point

where you're at right now. And I would love for you to talk a little bit about some of your earlier influences, coaches, teams you played on, you know, things that stand out that really kind of impacted your trajectory. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I started playing hockey and some other sports when I was younger. I had two old sisters who played. So they kind of, they played hockey a little bit, but also soccer, softball, basketball, that stuff. And we had a pretty athletic family and, and, you know, cousins and all that. And we had some pro hockey players in our family and extended family. So hockey was always my, my love, what I always, I think I was the, that was the best at. So I think it was, I was just more passionate in that. But my father,

he's the one who got me into it. He coached me all the way up from when I first started up until high school. And he just taught me everything, you know, up until that. And he's a great coach. He's a great guy. You know, looking back now and still friendly with all your friends who you grew up with playing since you're younger. And they all love my dad. They like my dad more than me. And they always just want to hang out with him. And just because of the guy he is and how he was as a coach and how he treated everyone. So you don't notice it at the time when you're younger. But to have people like that, especially your father, who was such a big influence in hockey in your life and what he taught you, the game and everything else in between was so huge.

So he's, when you talk about role models and guys who got me into the game and who I, I mean, he's still my coach today pretty much. He texts me after every game, gives me a pump up speech every time. So it's still, it's still ongoing, but he's, he's the one guy. But I've had a lot of great coaches over the years, but he's definitely, he was the first and the most important to me. very cool you mentioned cousins i heard i heard that you have a lot of cousins like north of 70 did i get there yeah it might be more i every day someone said i saw your cousin the other day i go

this is all your dad's side right pretty much so much procreating happening in the coil yeah it's it's just too much and but then you go my mom's my mom is one of um eight eight siblings so that's a whole other story but um mostly the hockey and You know, athletics is my dad's, and that's where we have a few pro hockey players on that side as well. I grew up in the Northeast, so I'm very much a Boston sports fan. So I remember Tony Amante, and that's a cousin, right? Right, right. So who would win knee hockey match right now, Tony or Charlie?

Knee hockey? Ooh, I like to think I have better knees than him, but I don't know. But he had some speed back in the day that I would. I had and so if he can travel fast on his knees as much as he can on his feet that I'm in trouble I can only imagine like your family must have kept like the plaster companies in business just I just think about my basement my son plays ice hockey so I you know it's just you know peppered with you know black puck marks yeah yeah it is the basement you know out front when you shoot pucks and I would pick apart our picket fence you know and that's just beep to crap too and but you look back you go back to your parents today and they're still in the

same house and you see those marks and those dense and it like brings back good memories and I know my parents feel the same way I think but at the time you're getting yelled at and this and that but now they're just good memories to have did you always know that you wanted to I mean I think most kids who play sports that you know any any you know at a competitive level have dreams of potentially playing professionally but when did it become a reality to you like wow I can actually maybe do this. I just, I don't know when. I never know how to answer the question. There wasn't like a point where I was like, oh, that's, that's what I'm going to be doing. It was just in my head from a start that that's what I want to do. And so I always just put all

my efforts and everything to that when I was early on, you know, just probably like most guys, I, you know, it wasn't like I was going out and hanging with girls or, you know, drinking or doing, you know, that stuff, I was pretty straight arrow all the way through, all the way in high school, even college. I didn't even drink in college. And half it, looking back now is like, you know, probably should have just to have a little fun and kind of fit in a little more. But at the same time, I just wanted to get where I wanted to get. And I just didn't want to screw anything up. And I didn't want anything to get in the way. So I just kind of stayed on that straight arrow and tried to work hard and do what I can.

But I didn't want to do anything else. It was really no plan B. The only plan B was to get in a good school and get a good education. So I guess you could say that was it. But in my head, it was hockey and I wanted to do that for as long as I could. Just as it relates to, I think, making some of those choices, you know, what would you say? Was it your upbringing? Was it just really this idea that you wanted to show up every day and be the best version of yourself?

You know, when you talk about, I mean, it's, you think about college, you know, as a collegiate athlete as well, and I made the choice not to drink in college also. And, you know, it's hard, right? You've got a lot of influences. There's a lot of peer pressure. You know, how did you deal with some of that peer pressure to, you know, kind of stay on the straight and narrow? Yeah, it could be tough. And I think it had a lot to do with my upbringing and my parents and how hard they work

and to provide for us. And it sinks in more and more as you get older and you realize what they do for your family and all that. but they're just they're just blue-collar hardworking people so you know you want to get to a certain point and you get to put in the work and you have to make sacrifices and i always you know i always hear from my dad and always asking questions and he knew where i wanted to go so he would just shed light on what he thought and it helped me out and and same with my mom too and my sisters and um it was i i just tried to do everything in my power to do that so i just you know if i have to

sacrifice, you know, not, you know, skipping junior prom or, you know, whatever to go shoot some pox or something. I mean, I used to get made fun of for doing that, but it was something I enjoyed doing and I knew it was helping me to get to that next level that I wanted to get to. And it was just little sacrifices like that that you would do, you know, go down the street and do do sprints on the field, you know, down there or, you know, while other kids are playing video games are doing this in the couch, go out, chupac stick handle, do these little things. And I just tried to do everything I could to gain that little edge and advantage, you know, because as you get to reach level, high school, yeah, you know, not everyone makes a team,

you know, and then you get to college, well, that's another separation of guys are going to get cut and then you want to play pros. Well, what's the percentage there? That's not very many people. So if you're not naturally gifted and not many people are, there's some out there, but you have to put in the work. And that was something my parents kind of stressed. And I think something I realized early on.

And then on top of you, you have a cousin or two who played in the league. It kind of feels like it's more attainable. Well, my cousin, my cousin did it. Why can't I do it, you know? I know someone who did it. So it's there for me if I want it. So I kind of just had those in my head and just tried to do everything I could. to make it, you know, happen.

You seem wise, very wise, especially at that age, to be able to recognize that there is this relationship, you know, between achieving your goals and just these many, you know, kind of these micro choices, you know, that happen across just even the day, you know. And I think they do add up, they accumulate and they either work to serve you or they don't. And I think, too, like there's no question, there's relationship between, you know, being a durable athlete and just the choices that you're making day in and day out. you, Charlie, are certainly. I think we can safely characterize you as an extraordinarily durable athlete. You haven't missed many games in your career. You spend a ton of time on the ice.

And obviously, you know, you play long enough. You're going to end up with some broken bones here or there and certainly have some missing teeth. I play field hockey, so I can relate to the missing teeth. Exactly. A couple of mine gone. Fun stuff. Yeah. It's always good. But what would you attribute, you know, kind of this durability to, you know, do you have anything specific that other than, you know, kind of really watching the alcohol, which sounds like you're very mindful of that. That's the crusher, as we know. Any other kind of things that you think about, you know,

that kind of keep you on the ice? Yeah, I mean, one big thing is I took a lot of pride early on when I was in high school. It's, you know, just stuff in the gym, working out, getting stronger, obviously, injury prevention in there, just in doing the right things. You know, a big foam roller. I like to just make sure you warm up properly, you cool down, you do those things. You know, you're not just going to the rink and you put on your equipment, you play, and then you're out and you go home.

You know, it's there's warmups to warmups to warmups to warm ups to warm ups and then the recovery. So there's so many different tools you can use. And I just, I tried to use the resources I've had over the years. And I think that's all help me. So there's the gym stuff. There's, you know, sleeping properly. that's something that's really grown with me over the years and especially through whoop too it's been it's been so crucial to see and and just to recovery that way and just

knowing how recovering sleep is so important to to growth and it's that's something I've learned a lot about and and the other thing is nutrition and then I know those those are probably the main points but you put in your body your fuel and you notice it as you get older I'm sure you know, too. You know, you have, you know, a McDonald's at the end of the year or whatever. And the next day, you're, you're hurting. You're like, oh, my gosh. And once you get off track a little bit, you really notice those things. And so switching your diet up and eating the right things, put the right things in your body to fuel them. And those are so huge. Just everything you put in your body is either going to add to your recovery or take away from it. And that's almost like,

you know, you need to look at it from that binary of a lens, frankly, you know, because the stakes are so high for you, you know, in terms of, you know, have to go out every night and produce at the level that you are. And, and it's true, you know, the stuff that you put in your body makes a massive difference. Just even the timing of your, of your sleep makes a massive difference, right? Like, are you to burn your resources toward recovery and, you know, rejuvenation during sleep or are you having to digest food? You know, these are the small things like, you know, I think once you start to learn it and can incorporate into your daily habits, you know, there is a moment where you start to really be able to control your recovery.

You know, when I consider, you know, where sport science has gone over the, you know, over the last five or six years, there certainly is a way more emphasis on recovery, but I think there's still opportunities to be had, you know, really thinking about how to manage player recovery more intentionally, you know, at a team level and then ensuring that players have the access to this information. Right. It sounds like you're, you know, really applying that in a very specific way, which is super cool. You talk a little bit about, you know, I just looking at your data that you shared before going on the podcast, it looks like your time and deeper stages of sleep has kind of decreased over the course of the last five weeks. You know, would you say

that it's travel, a bit of pressure, you know, what do you do to try to kind of get your, get to a point where you can really settle in and get, you know, quality sleep? Yeah, it's tough sometimes with our schedule because we're, you know, because our travel after games or back-to-back games and you're so wired up from playing and you can't get to bed at a certain time. And then you're behind the eight ball and you just exerted so much energy in one game. You got to play in one the next day or the day after. It makes it tough to try to go to bed consistently at the same time. And there's only so much you can control, right? Yeah, totally. So you got to do the best you can with it. I'm a big napper too. I love that. I was going to ask you. Yeah, you just try to catch up

on something and then feel a little better waking up. And yeah, especially on game days. I always nap on game days too. But just trying to just doing the best you can with that. And that's why just the whoop has been so, so great is getting to see your results. And you think you go to bed. Okay. If you had a practice day and you're playing the next day and you have a good chance to get good night sleep and all right i need my you know i need my eight hours right well i'm waking up at eight tomorrow i can go to bed at 12 right and that's how that's what you always think right oh i got eight hours well you didn't and and that's something that's so cool with this um to see that you know well no i was awake for how long during last night you know i i was disturbed this much

i was up i was only in uh you know this much deep sleep or whatever and to see that data written out and how it affects you and well you need more than that eight hour window to get eight hours you know and so I think that's been so crucial too to see that and just realize and understand that but through our travel and playing so many games we played I think our regular season we're playing we didn't have two days off in between games for about two months or so so we were going pretty non-stop and especially in that time you want to be the best you can you're playing that much hockey and in between that. You got to make sure you're eating the right things. You're getting a proper rest or as much rest as you can within this schedule. But sometimes it's tough, but you

just got to adjust to it. You do have, you know, the sleep variability. The sleep consistency is probably the biggest change of the course of the last, you know, four weeks for you. And that's definitely going to influence how much time you can spend in these deeper stages. But you are actually like buffering that with with naps, you know, kind of the stress in the system of not getting, you know, to bed at, you know, consistent times on the front and back end, you can kind of buffer that stress with, um, with that's what you're doing. And you have zero sleep debt, Charlie, which is unreal. And it's crazy because I think people don't always correlate sleeping and how that might relate to, um, our decision making. But we were actually we able to find that sleep debt,

the more sleep that you have, um, the, so basically we saw a relationship between sleep debt and executive functioning and working memory, um, and mental acuity. So, So people don't recognize, like, how critical sleep is, not just for the physical restoration, but for the mental restoration as well. Yeah. Obviously, be a good hockey player. You got to make decisions. You got to, you know, you got to just, you know, be able to react to what's happening

on the ice. Definitely. Yeah. So sleep is key. I like my nap, so. Those are the best. I know. That's amazing.

Any nap hits? Don't nap at four or five in the afternoon. Okay. Because then you won't sleep because I used to do that years ago. And then you get next. cycle where you know you have a bad sleep so then the next day you want to nap and maybe you have something going on during the day and you can't nap till till three or four and then you don't wake up till seven and now it's you got to eat and then go right to bed again you can't and then you're in

that vicious cycle you have a bad sleep so you're going to nap the next day and it's the same thing right so earlier naps are huge um make sure you can go to bed that night i found that out um but i always try to play with the length of the nap, you know, whether do a, you know, 20, 30 minute short one or, you know, a longer one. So I think that depends. And I still still kind of toy with them a little bit. Yeah. Just keep it one altruidian cycle, which is 90 minutes. So don't go over 90 minutes, but it's very impressive that you've been able to kind of keep your sleep performance so high with all the demands on the season. We rarely see that in professional athletes. So there's also a relationship between sleep debt and injury and illness burden.

So you're doing everything that you can to talk, which is awesome. Oh, thank you. I know you know this, Charlie, but you're going to want to try to get in, you know, get your recovery as good as it can be, ideally above your average. And I'm going to share some data to you that is like, it's actually like epic. And I did, I did this analysis. Like it was a couple years ago we did their original analysis. So it's one NHL player, really good player.

I'm not going to reveal who it is, but I got permission to share it on the podcast today. So we looked at the entire season. So we actually wore whoop every single game of the season. So, you know, roughly 70 games or so. I mean, I know the season's 82 games, but, you know, games here, there, just for load management purposes. But so an entire season of data. So we wore whoop. And when he was above his average recovery, okay?

So whoop recovery is on the scale of zero to 100, zero to 33. I'm just saying this for the audience, Charlie. Zero to 33 is you're in the red. That means your body's not really adapting very well to external stress. 34 to 66 means you're generally good to go. And anything above 66, 67, and to 100 is green, means your body is primed to adapt to external stressors, mental, physical, emotional. So when this guy was above his average recovery, he had five shots, 47 passes,

71 puck touches and 0.41 goals. When he was below his average recovery, he had three shots. Okay. So when he was above, he had five, below he had three. He had 38 passes. So 11 more passes when he was above his average recovery. And he had 60 puck touches when he was below his average recovery. Above his average recovery, he had 71.

So 11.3 more puck touches. touches when he was above his average recovery and goals 0.25 more goals. So if you look, if you think about that, I know it's insane, Charlie. So if you think about that over the course of the season, okay? So if he was above his average recovery over the course of the season, he'd have about 12 more goals on the season. And he would, right, he would have touched the puck 926 more times. he would have had 762 more passes, and he would have had 163 more shots.

Wow, that's insane stuff. Isn't that bananas? Like, when we were going through it this morning, I was like, holy shit. That makes you think. Right, it does. Like, if you, like we talk about this concept of recovery, and we think it's just, you know, just marginal gains. You know, the small, worthwhile percentage change gets thrown around.

I'm like, this is not, there's nothing marginal. about these data like this is insane right if you could actually be that much more effective and obviously there's a lot of variables like you know the the goalpost moves your average recovery line obviously would be would change would be higher and higher right so yeah you know keep that in consideration when we when we think about these data but i think the concept though about managing your day as a professional athlete so you can show up on the ice with as much capacity as possible. Right.

What does that whole process look like for you? That's just insane stuff. I'm still thinking I'll think I'll put that for the rest of the playoffs there. I know. Oh, gosh. That's why I sent those 17 whoop devices up to Toronto. I was like, we need to get these guys on the platform. Yeah, I know it.

I know it. That's crazy. But yeah, I mean, there's so much, so many things that apply to that. And we hit the basics, you know, the nutrition. and, you know, the gym work. And there's little stuff in between, though, and some, like I said, use your resources and different things. And whether it's, you know, an ice bath to recover or normal tech boots

or, you know, whatever the case is. But there's so many different little ones. And one thing that's been huge for me is going to sleep is limiting TV time. Because I finally, I never grew up with a TV in my room. now I'm an older guy. I've got my own place and got a TV in my room, right? You can afford it. Yes.

Finally. So that's one thing. And you go and put on the TV and you kind of just sit there and you lay down until you get tired. And sometimes you're like, why, I'm not getting tired. I'm just, you're stimulating your brain and all that. You don't know that. But so I've actually, my sister, Jess, actually gave me a pair of the blue light glasses there. Oh, Jess, love her.

Yeah. Yeah, so I'll, she said to say hi, by the way. Oh, yeah. Yeah, so I've been wearing those if I do, put my TV on and all that, but I'll also try to read a book. I've been trying to do the switch to read more than I watch TV and so I'm still trying hard to do that. But just little things kind of that you learn along the way that can just help you.

And like we said before, just give you that little advantage or edge, you know, to help your recovery and get you to go to sleep, especially after games. Because what do you do at the games? You look at your phone and you scroll through Twitter, Instagram, this and that, and you're just, and then you're laying in bed and, you know, you're just hurting yourself. You don't even realize it. So those are some little things that I've done to try to help cope with, you know, my recovery and things that I tend to do, you know.

So just trying to change your habits for the better, it's definitely helped me as a whole. We don't talk a ton about the psychological, implications on on recovery but they actually are just a strong estimator of whoop recovery as the physiological stuff right you know definitely when you're in a you know a kind of professional season you're going to have different type of physiological toll which is going to influence you know in terms of the weight is going to influence the your recovery but but you can you can buffer that with really having your head screwed on straight right and I don't want to over index on what good guy you are, Charlie, but you seem like a really, really good guy. I mean, I'm aware of just

your community outreach and just the things that you do. But I think that that plays into it, right? Like I think how we, you know, treat other people and what we spend our time thinking about and how we, you know, the connections that we have with our community and our family. I mean, all of these things have a huge impact, right, on how we show up tomorrow. And it sounds like, you know, that's something that you're thinking about. I know you've got a really strong core family bond and you know if you want to talk a little bit about how how you how you think about that day to day and kind of how that influences you yeah that's actually a really really good point kind of something you don't even realize that can affect you in a certain way but kind of like

i said that's i think the reason why i never really thought of it in that way is just because that's how it was brought up and so that's like all i know and i mean both my my whole families are great they're great people you know i don't mind boasting about them because i feel lucky to be a part of them and they're the one to raise me but my mom is like the most positive person in the world like she she helps out everyone she sees she'll she'll see this kid you know she'll see a kid walking down the street in the hometown waymuth and she was oh see that kid he walks down there every monday wednesday and friday and he has to walk from here to here i'm like how do you know that she was well i just you know i just passed by and i see it i notice things and she's like

i picked him up the other day to bring him over there i'm like what you picked up pooh she's like oh he was a nice kid i'm like you didn't know that but those are things she does she those those little things and she helps help people and so that's what she inspires me and i think i get a little bit of that from her too it makes it feel good you want to help people and that's what that's what it's all about and that's what life's all about is to help each other out and and as we go along this this journey together you know and um but that stuff does it makes you feel good and you and you get to go rest your head at night and think about your day and and what did you do with your day did you go help this person and do this made them feel good and

you feel good and it just it makes you feel like it feels good talking about it you know and and and you don't realize how it can affect you and if you're doing the other way if you weren't a good person you're negative and doing this and things start to go bad for you and then you you kind of attract that stuff and um it it it really plays a part so it's i'm really glad you brought that point and it sometimes you just forget it you do it but you forget what it's actually doing for you and that's not why you do it but it does help i guess if that makes sense I wanted to talk a little bit about coming to Boston. And I have to, in my role, I need to be semi-agnostic, you know, my preferences for sports

teams. But obviously, I'm, you know, a huge Boston fan. And, you know, when you were traded from the wild to ruins, obviously, so excited. Tell me a little bit about like that moment, you know, when you found out, because things were going well in Minnesota. I mean, tell us a little bit about the moment where you found out you were traded and you're going to get traded and what was that whole what was that like it was crazy i mean i love minnesota i was there for like six years so as you know it starts to become you know a second home and you get comfortable and but then that trade deadline always comes up my name's always involved and so you're always a little nervous but i this this one year i was i mean a little old a little more

mature so i wasn't too uh too nervous i was pretty pretty content and we were actually supposed to go from Minnesota to New York for a few days to play and so I got my suit on and I actually had an appointment somewhere before we flew out so I went to the appointment and then as I'm leaving the appointment to go to the plane I get a I had a miss call

from our GM and that's not good you know right around the trade deadline and so I called them back and he tells me hey just you know you don't have to go to the plane we're actually trading you and so then your head's spinning you know what where am I going what's why am I being traded you know what a whole bunch of different questions and and he's like i can't tell you where yet it's not

final but i just don't want to go on the plane to go to new york only to come back and go somewhere else so i'm like oh my you know uh now you tell me i'm traded so i'm texting my parents and my buddies and you know tell my girlfriend you know i'm getting traded everyone's going where i go i don't know and so it's just up in the air everyone's on twitter refers to twitter i'm on the nchel network on TV and just trying to, any sign, any, and you hear rumors of this, this place. And so I didn't want to like, I wanted to hear it straight from, you know, a reliable source. And finally, I forget who, but someone said, it's Boston. I hear Boston. And then there are the people saying Boston, but I'm like, I don't want to think it's Boston. And then it comes back and it's

somewhere else, you know. And totally. But, but then when I finally found out and we were pretty sure it was Boston, it was, it was so cool. And, yeah, I'm going to see my family more. I get to move back home. But on top of that, the team is awesome. They were on the middle of like a 19 game point streak or something. Like they were flying. So now at this point I'm like, well, I don't want to go in and mess anything up

because they're, they have already a great team going. But it was so cool. And I met the team. They were playing in Vegas actually at the time. And I remember I got a call. It must have been game day for them. I got a call from Patrice Bergeron. Dano Chower and two guys I watched since, you know, middle school, um, playing for the hometown,

Boston Bruins. And I'm like, these guys are on the phone with me right now. And so a pretty cool kind kind of kid moment there. You kind of go back a little bit. And they just said, well, oh, it's, yeah, they're the best, the best. And, and you notice it more. And I remember when I first, you know, got to, actually I walked right into rookie party. I was the first time I met the team and they were in Vegas and I remember we went to dinner and right away I'm like this these guys are the real you could just tell how close they are and what kind of team it was and from those guys and you know bursuranchara and beyond and just such good leadership and and how they keep that team so tight it's no wonder why they're always in contention every year so I was so fortunate and just

felt so good to be able to go home one but to be a part of a team and possibly make a cup run which we ended up going on. Yeah, yeah. It's incredible. Like, you know, you go from a place like Minnesota, you know, they obviously know their hockey there. They're, you know, super intelligent hockey community. I mean, you know, you get, you get spoiled, you know.

So it's to have that like moment of just uncertainty and be like, oh, man, where am I going to land? Because not every one is the same, you know, not every family is the same. You know, it's not all equal. And I mean, as tough as, you know, Boston can be, I think sometimes for professional athletes um you know it's just a tough place to play like we're pretty demanding as fans yeah but um but the bruin fan base is just i mean it's the best i i think um we might be a little more drunk than the than the minnesota fans that's when people always ask me what's the difference do

minnesota i'm like well they they both know their hockey their Minnesota's more like they're like in tune to the game sometimes it's quiet because they're like watching analyzing they go to boston i think they're just they're just drink more and they're just so into it and they're just yeah but it makes it fun. It's great to play here, you know. What was it like going from just the COVID playing in the bubble like in games like with no fans? I haven't been able to ask this question. I'm sure someone else has asked us plenty of times, but so curious about that. It sucked to be honest. It was bad, right? Yeah. I mean, but any chance you have to win a Stanley Cup, it's, you know, you gear up for it. And of course, but we need to compare. And you guys have so much momentum going into, like it was such a shame.

Yeah, we were, I think we were at, yeah, we were top of the league and then it all of a sudden it goes on a halt. And so, you know, it happened. I guess usually it doesn't happen, but it happens. And so you go to the bubble and there's no fans and everything's a little different. So we tried to prepare ourselves the best we could. Just, you know, there's going to be a lot of uncertainty and different things coming up. So, you know, just expect the unexpected pretty much. And things didn't work out.

We ran into, you know, Tampa Bay. lightning wound up winning and then played great but it just no having no fans there it was it just seemed like it was like a practice atmosphere you know and and and you know you don't want to make excuses you know everyone had like it's it's an opportunity to win a Stanley cup but um you just compare to how it usually is there's nothing better than playoff hockey it's because the fans um so to cut that out i mean everyone hated it but um everyone wished there were fans in there but it's there was a chance to win it and we came up short but it's it's nice to have uh these days kind of put that behind us and have the fans back in there and um it's it's been a long time

comment so we can't wait for that makes you appreciate the atmosphere and oh it does you know and how they actually contribute to the game yeah right oh it's huge you've had this extraordinary path um you know is there anything i i hate to ask you know is there anything you'd regret because I think as athletes, we always, like, reframe it in a way that's positive. But, you know, is there anything along the way that, you know, you kind of wish you had done a little bit differently or, you know, maybe even just advice you'd give, you know, younger athletes who are looking to, you know, maximize their potential? It doesn't mean to go pro necessarily, but, you know, if they're just looking to be the best

version of themselves, like any advice you'd offer. It's hard to think of just one thing to say, you know, advice because there's so many different things and all this and everyone has their own path to get the places. and so you try to figure out like what's what's the best one you want to bring up right now and how to and not saying i know everything because i don't but you get to learn a little along the way um yeah drop your wisdom don't yeah yeah one thing yeah i mean and you know there's always the cliche of you know you just you work hard you're to work hard and it's it's cliche but it's it's the truth and i know like everyone thinks, you know, there's this big secret out there. Well, how do that person

gets there? How do that person? But the secret is, is really no secret. It's just you get to put in the work and you put in the time. It doesn't matter what. A lot. Yeah. Yeah. And you just, it's just practice, practice, practice. You know, like I said, I was, I was outside of my house doing street hockey, shooting puck, stick. Like, just, I was doing it all the time. I was doing in my basement. I was doing it. And you just, that's how you gain that edge and that the advantage. and it all piles up those little things along the way. You know, for kids who really want to go be a professional baseball player, or hockey football, whatever you want to do, just spend your time doing that

and have fun with it along the way. That's, you can't get beat up. You know, it's not like I had a dad who was hounded over me, put me in this camp, this camp, this camp, and tell me go shoot pucks. Like, I wanted to do that because I had fun with it. That's the biggest thing is you want to have your kids have fun doing what they're doing and you want to enjoy life. and if they really like something and they want to do it and they ask you questions while

can I get better then guide them to that you know but don't force them down doors so now I'm getting into like parents will talk right now right but you know so that's so you're that qualifies you no yes exactly exactly I'm not even yeah but it's it's it's just having fun along the way as you put in that hard work and yeah making sure you really enjoy it and that's why I was talking about you know going back to college a lot didn't drink or anything It's still have fun. Yeah, it's still had fun because I was doing what I'd love to do and all that. So do I regret not drinking and do that.

Well, I don't know, not really. I mean, you can have fun and not drink. You can, you know, still hang out with your teammates and do that. And I like where I'm at right now. I think where, you know, you always want to be better. And I don't think going back and drinking in college is going to get me better here. You know, I, so there's little things you think about like that. it all kind of gets you to where you are.

And there's little things that you want to have back. But I think there's, you can't really pinpoint and focus on those and perfect everything because nothing's perfect, right? So your failures and all that, you know, you don't make a team. That's how you learn.

That's how you use as motivation and you move on and you take those failures and that helps you succeed later on. So I think that's another big thing too is staying positive through it all, not getting down on yourself. It'll happen, but uses motivation, get back out there, get up, and keep moving. Like, I tell little kids all the time, I do this app called Cameo, right? And you get to send videos to people and all that. And that's a big thing.

And there's little kids, a lot you're talking to. So I'm like, hey, I know you fall down, but get back out. Listen, if you watch me on TV, I fall down all the time, you know, get back up, get in the play, and you'll be good to go, you know. Yeah, if you want to be good, you get up in time. You know, I think there's no way, there's no shortcut around. that you know and I think you make a great point like if if it's just in your soul that you're going to be compelled to put in the time you know it's like you just can't help yourself but want to

get out there and touch the puck and and right the candling and you know and you know take shots and you know find different ways to to move your body and you know it happens I think just really organically when it's in your soul you know and the point of not forcing it you know is other really critical piece for parents you know because I think it's the way hockey is structured I think currently, I think it's easy to just go through the motions because there's so many opportunities to play. I think kids take it for granted and to a degree, you know, and you kind of lose, you forget why you're playing in some ways. So letting the kid be the driver is, is, uh, and being their support is really key. Right. You've obviously had some

sensational parents, you know, um, who have, have guided you really well. Yeah. So we need to, you need to maybe write a book. I'll tell me to get on that. All right. So last couple of thoughts. I'd love to just get your, you know, I think as, you know, I coached at the collegial level for a long time. And, you know, so I get asked a ton about winning and kind of have my own thesis and kind of thoughts around that. You know, how do you think about winning?

Kind of how do you think of it as a concept and into what degree does it influence kind of how you prepare and how you think? Yeah, well, I think, I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's what you want to do every night when you play. You want to win. You want to come out on top. You want to be the best. And that's the ultimate goal. That's what I've always been to do, want to win a Stanley Cop, you know, be the ultimate winner that year and, and put that thing over your head and, and you want to win. That's why you play. You just, you get a hate to lose and, you know, it's always the same. You love to win more, do you hate to lose? You know, it's, you know, and, it's, you know, and, it's, you know, And it stinks, and I've been, I've lost pretty much every, every league, every championship, you know, and.

Have you ever ended this season on a W? When I played junior, when I played juniors up in St. John in the Quebec League, we won our league. Like, we won our league, so we got a trophy, you know. But then you move on, you go to the moral top. Oh, yeah, no, no, I mean that, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, the, yeah, have you ever finished a season? When I was in might A's, so I was nine years old, we won the championship. It's crazy how you remember that, right?

Yeah, but like that's, I think that, I think that's it. And so it's hard to do. It doesn't happen a lot, you know, and it's so you always have that itch to do it. And it doesn't matter if you do it one time, you want to keep doing it and just keeps pulling you in that direction to work hard. and that's why you do it. You know, you go in the gym or you go on the ice in the summertime and you always get to remind yourself,

why are you in there? What am I doing? Why am I given 100% right now or if you start slack and wait, this is going to help me come third period, that championship game or, you know, next year when I'm, you know,

so it kind of reminds you and just that winning. It just pulls you and you want to be the best and you want to be there for your teammates and be the best you can. So that's why you put in all that work to do it. um and because you want to come out on top and there's how many other teams and guys doing the same thing so it's it's a tough road it is um but no matter no matter where you end up it's

you never uh you never get putting in 100% every day and getting up early and doing that stuff and because it helps you in life it does you know because i always you know you you see other people say it but you kind of think about it too like if you if you if you take you some you take a rep off or you you only go 50% of the gym or you know you're going to do that somewhere else too and you're going to keep doing it and it comes a habit right so you get into that rhythm where you're doing you're going 100% here you're 100% here you can't do anything less than that and you make your bed 100% you know you brush your teeth 100% and it sounds funny but that's you kind of you just train yourself to do that yeah and it's good to it's good

to have. And so I guess that's that's kind of winning in a way too, you know. When you're always doing that no matter what you're doing, no matter if you're in school, you're studying, you're brushing your teeth, whatever. You have that habit and that just knack to always give 100% to win. I love it. You've obviously been exposed to probably some great leaders. I mean, you yourself are a tremendous leader. So kind of two-part question, how do you lead? like what's your role with the Bruins because I would imagine everyone, you know, has some sort of role in leadership on the team and a good team worth their salt does. And then what are some of the attributes that that you've seen in the time,

in your time as a professional athlete and even college or high school? You know, what are, what are some of the key attributes in the leaders that you've come across? Well, for me, I've always, I'm usually not a big, a big talker. You know, that's something that's, that's kind of, grown with me a little bit and and you kind of get more confidence as you get older and and you know coming to the Bruins you're a new guy you don't want to see too much you know so it's it's something with being more comfortable and confident and saying and speaking up so that's kind of come a little bit but I think I'm more by example and just and how I try to work every day and and

you come in and as I kind of talked about before like not just coming into the rink for practice day and you show up late and you kind of go through the motions, you sit around, you kind of get your stuff on and go practice, get through it just to get through it. And no, you're there, you work, you're putting the time, you prepare yourself, you're there for a reason. You want to get better that day. And it might be, you're not going to get this much better, but it's that much better and you're focused and prepared. And so come next day when you play, you're ready to go. And I think when you do that, that trickles down to, you know, that next guy or who was maybe, you know, kind of going through the motions, but all of a sudden he sees you going

a million miles an hour. Well, I get a stamp to a speed, and that's how you bring people up, right? So I think it's more example by me, or that's how I do my thing. And we have a lot of those guys who do that. And we have a lot of guys who are better at speaking up and being vocal. And so there's a lot of different attributes to a leader, but it's, we've, I've gotten to know some pretty good ones, especially with the Bruins too and Zadano Chara and Patrice Bergeron and they've been, you know, they've been unbelievable.

And a couple of stories when people ask me about, you know, Charra and Bergeron, these guys. And Burjorn's like the nicest guy in the world. And he just, there's like nothing he does bad, like in life, in hockey and in life.

There's nothing that's bad. And you can talk to him no matter what, he'll always, how you're doing. He'll have a conversation with you and do this. And just include you, right? and and and and and but he's also a vocal leader he leads by example he like he like does everything well and then he go like a guy like zedano charo he played with for for a year and i remember i was kind of

a new guy on the team just got traded and it was a practice day i think we're in the mailroom getting getting food so i was kind of getting my food charas behind me he probably let me go first i couldn't get him to go first because usually the older guy goes he probably said no you go ahead you were here before me and uh i remember the coach came in and and was talking him hey i we're thinking about practice tomorrow. We're thinking about maybe this time or that time. What do you think? What practice time do you want?

So I'm just kind of listening, right? I'm not going to be in that conversation. And Charo goes, hmm, and he turns to me, goes, Charlie, what, when do you want to practice? And I was like, what? What does it matter? What do I care? Like, you're, you're 41 years old and you're talking to a coach and you're the captain,

and you guys, you're asking me, but that's how he was. He just wanted everyone's input. Everyone mattered. Didn't matter if you were a rookie, if you got traded there. If you're 40 years old, everyone had a say. And to be so, have someone, have everyone be so inclusive, you know, to new guys or everyone on the team just so everyone can be comfortable and confident and play up to their, like, it makes so much sense.

You know, and on the ice, too, with you guys. Like, you just, that manifests like in, on every, every shift you guys are out there, frankly. Like, it's, it's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, you see other teams and, um, or other. other people and, you know, they kind of, you know, a type of hazing or, you know, the

rookies got to do this. And there's, there's, it still plays a little part. And, but in, but in the right context, I think, but here it's like, everyone's included. Everyone is, you know, it just, it makes you feel so much better and it makes so much sense. And it's just crazy. And, um, but those are some things that just, just includes, you know, everyone, everyone on board and everyone's treated equal and um and just having your leaders be so easy to talk to to you know whether you're young guy and you're you know you've question on this or you're you're nervous of this

just be able to be approachable um but someone who sets the way sets the standard raises everyone else um their level whether it's you know practice and things are kind of dull and you know your passes are off the tape and someone to say hey let's go guys let's get it going here we need to do this and kind of set us back straight and we have guys who do that And I think those are some good characteristics of a leader and probably left them out. But some that come my head that I've seen, especially last couple of years since I've been in Boston. I can only imagine when you came to Boston with like all of your family. Did you get hit up for tickets like just crazy?

Right away, kind of. We need a public service. Like Charlie has two tickets people. Two tickets. That's it. I know. And not everyone knows. But everyone is pretty good about it.

at the start a little bit but then it got you know my family was one of like hey don't ask them you know tell my relatives this that yeah so the people who are close to you kind of know but it's like the outside people who are like you might have went to high school with or like you know they're the ones asking you and you're like I got my family I got I got 70 cousins I got my you know how are you going to swing in there before anyone you know but but it's been good it's been great I can't those are just little things that yeah you got to deal with but It makes it, it's so worth it to be here at home. Full capacity, baby.

Here we go. Yeah, it's going to be so fun. We're so excited. So thank you very much for having me. I really appreciate it. I had a blast talking. Yeah, this is really fun. Thanks so much, Charlie.

Where can they find you on, you know, Instagram or what's the best channel for people to follow you? So I'm, I'm Instagram, Twitter. I don't think I've changed my Instagram name since. Let me double check here. I think I'm at Charlie Coil underscore 3 because I used to be 3. I'm 13 now. So I haven't changed that. So Charlie Coil underscore 3, I'm on Instagram, Twitter.

And then like I said, I do my cameo videos. Go to cameo.com. You can find me, send a video to yourself, your kids, your parents, whoever you want. But I have a lot of fun doing that as well. Say hi to everyone. But that's where you can find me. All right. And I guess I just remember, you want to be above your average recovery line, right?

So that's what we're doing for here. Right. Oh, I'm going to be dreaming about that. I know. I was like crazy, right? Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, my pleasure.

All right, Charlie. You take care. Thanks. Thanks, Kristen. See you later. Thanks a lot to Charlie for coming on the Woodb podcast. We're wishing him luck right now in the playoffs. Remind you can use the code Will Amad, W-L-L-A-H-M-E-D.

to get 15% off the WOOP membership. Check us out on social at WOOP at Will Ahmed. Stay healthy, folks. Stay in the green.