Does a higher-level team always mean better development? Should your child leave home for hockey? And could fewer games create more opportunities to improve?
USA Hockey’s Bob Mancini joins Coach Drew and Coach Jared to explain the thinking behind the new USA Hockey Development League—and why the conversation matters beyond the players selected for it.
Bob breaks down the roles of 15U and 17U hockey, how Tier I fits into the development pathway, and why players need room to progress at different speeds. We discuss the pressure to chase AAA labels, the value of developing closer to home, and what coaches can accomplish when weekends include time for teaching, recovery and individual attention.
The conversation also explores USA Hockey’s grassroots coaching initiatives and a question every hockey family should keep asking: Is our child still enjoying the game?
Then, Jeff Gross takes us back to Sioux Falls, where his father and a determined group of families helped build a hockey rink. Parents put their homes on the line. Kids picked up shovels. Together, they helped create opportunities that reached far beyond their own teams.
Two conversations connected by one idea: growing hockey starts with giving kids a place to play, a chance to improve and a reason to keep coming back.
Plus, hear about our new partnership with One Hockey Tournaments.
Follow 2 Many Men on the Mic wherever you listen, share this episode with another hockey family, and watch the show on YouTube.
Learn more about the USA Hockey Development League:
https://www.usahockey.com/developmentleague
Presented by Vantage Credit Union. A Netfront LLC production.
With thanks to Afterlight Recovery and Five B Designs.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

Does tough coaching actually create tougher hockey players?
Following last week's discussion of the incident involving St. Louis Blues prospect Matthew Mayock at Arizona State, Drew and Jared turn from what happened to a bigger question facing hockey: Are we teaching mental toughness the right way?
Therapist and hockey mom Jenny Hoffman of Therapy & Wellness Collective joins the show to discuss fear of failure, confidence, self-advocacy and how coaches can challenge young athletes without creating a culture where players are afraid to speak up.
Then Jeff Brown of Mindful Hockey Club returns with the perspective of a former professional player and mental performance coach. Jeff breaks down the important difference between high standards and shame-based coaching, why fear doesn't equal mental toughness, and how accountability, communication and even fun can help produce more confident, resilient players.
🏒 When does "tough coaching" go too far?
🧠 What actually builds mental toughness?
💪 Can you demand more from players without coaching through fear?
🗣️ How do we teach athletes to say when something isn't right?
👥 Who should determine a team's culture — coaches or players?
🔥 Why sometimes the answer to a struggling team isn't pushing harder.
And because this is still 2 Many Men on the Mic, things eventually deteriorate into Drew and Jared challenging producer Grant to determine who actually knows more about their sport — hockey guys or the Mizzou football guy.
The result is far more competitive than anyone expected.
🎙️ 2 Many Men on the Mic — Presented by Vantage Credit Union
Hockey is more fun the better you get at it.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

Youth hockey season is officially back — which means parents everywhere have once again become unpaid Uber drivers with very expensive passengers.
This week, hockey moms Nicole Zellweger and Angel Milne join Coach Jared and Coach Drew to talk about the reality of raising high school hockey players.
We get into balancing school and hockey, homecoming conflicts, sleep, homework, club vs. high school hockey, player advocacy, off-ice development and how parents can help without managing every decision for their kids.
And then comes the big one:
💃 Homecoming or hockey game?
The coaches weigh in — and this might be one of those rare moments where hockey doesn't automatically win.
Also this week:
💰 NHL teams are handing out 8-year contracts like Halloween candy
🥅 Why goalies — and goalie parents — are just a little different
💪 Jared unveils the highly sophisticated homemade training device known as “The Brett Hull”
🧠 We introduce the coaching philosophy of “agency and advocacy”
🏖️ Jared apparently wants everyone to “soften the beaches”
🧓 Grant's Trivia Time reminds Jared and Drew exactly how old they are
🏆 And Coach Drew attempts the three-peat
Plus, we're getting ready to hit the porch at PorchFest STL!
🎙️ Too Many Men on the Mic — hockey talk for the families actually living it.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

🏒 What makes a team dangerous down the middle: two superstar centers or four lines you can trust?
Coach Drew and Coach Jared debate NHL center depth, revisit some of hockey’s greatest center tandems, and break down what separates a scorer from a complete, 200-foot player.
📋 For coaches and players, the conversation turns practical: conditioning, backchecking, supporting the puck, and building a team where everyone can take responsibility down the middle.
🥅 Plus, we walk through a 3-on-3 Royal Road game designed to get players moving, communicating, and creating scoring opportunities.
🧠 There’s also NHL contract talk, hockey trivia, and a little undefeated-pickleball swagger.
🔗 Find free drills in Coach’s Corner: [Coach’s Corner link]
⭐ Follow the podcast, leave a rating, and share this episode with a coach, player, or hockey fan who loves a good debate.
Presented by Vantage Credit Union. A Netfront LLC production.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

How does a group of college hockey players messing around on TikTok during COVID turn into a hockey brand with more than 1.5 million followers?
This week, Austin Friesen from The Hockey Guys joins Drew and Jared to tell the story.
Austin takes us from growing up playing hockey in Winnipeg to junior hockey in Johnstown — home of the rink where Slap Shot was filmed — and eventually the University of Wisconsin-Superior, where a group of teammates started making videos during COVID. What started organically became The Hockey Guys and, eventually, a real business.
We talk about the coaches and parents who shaped Austin’s hockey journey, what The Hockey Guys learned about building an authentic community online, the transition from college teammates to business partners, and why young players should absolutely use social media — without being dumb about it.
Austin also introduces AfterLight, his new hydration brand and the newest partner of 2 Many Men on the Mic.
Then we put him to work.
Austin enters the Drill Draw and gives coaches a new early-practice flow drill featuring puck retrievals, transitions, passing, shooting, net-front traffic and plenty of movement.
Plus: rink popcorn, Afton breakfast sandwiches, bad rink coffee, early NHL predictions and the countdown to another real hockey season.
2 Many Men on the Mic is presented by Vantage Credit Union.
Follow, rate and share the show — and visit 2ManyMenontheMic.com for our growing library of downloadable coaching drills.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

Why are hockey players — including NHLers — getting hooked on Padel and pickleball? Ryan explains how hand-eye coordination, quick-twitch movement, communication, control, reaction time and rapid transitions between offense and defense make these sports a surprisingly natural complement to hockey.
Then Grant “The Killer” Salsman puts Drew and Jared through Blues vs. Red Wings Hockey Trivia — complete with questionable answers, an official challenge, some ChatGPT slander, overtime and, finally, a long-awaited victory.
With September around the corner, the guys also talk about building a team identity, defining what a “good shift” actually means, making practices competitive without forgetting the fun, and why sometimes good coaching means hiding the vegetables in the ice cream.
Plus, we tease next week’s guests: The Hockey Guys — and a big new sponsorship announcement aimed squarely at hockey families.
Thanks to Vantage Credit Union, Five B Designs and Drift Hockey for supporting 2 Many Men on the Mic.
👍 Like. Subscribe. Follow. Rate. Review.
🏒 And don't forget to enter Vantage Credit Union's monthly drawing for a $100 Pure Hockey gift card.
Hockey is more fun the better you get at it.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

USA Hockey's new Development League is coming in 2027–28, with 32 programs, 15U and 17U teams and an emphasis on development, training and creating additional pathways toward junior and college hockey.
But Drew and Jared want to look at it from a different perspective: What could it mean for the 90% of youth hockey players competing at the A, B and C levels?
Could fewer games and a greater emphasis on development eventually trickle down throughout youth hockey? Could it reduce some of the pressure to chase letters, tournaments and exposure at younger ages? Or are we simply creating another rung on the youth hockey ladder — and another reason for parents to worry that their kid is falling behind?
We don't pretend to have all the answers. That's why we're excited to welcome USA Hockey's Bob Mancini next monthto explain the Development League, its goals and what USA Hockey hopes it can accomplish.
Then it's Drill Draw presented by Drift Hockey, featuring a 4v2/4v3 power-play concepts game, followed by something considerably less educational: Stupid Hockey Tricks — Pickleball Edition!
A huge thank you to our presenting sponsor, Vantage Credit Union, including their monthly chance to win a $100 Pure Hockey gift card.
If you enjoy the show, follow the podcast, leave us a rating, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow 2 Many Men on the Mic on Instagram. Every like, follow and subscription helps us continue bringing youth hockey conversations, coaches and guests to the show.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic

What should a hockey parent actually say on the ride home from the rink?
This week, Drew and Jared welcome Ken Martell, USA Hockey Senior Director of Player and Coach Development, for a conversation about one of the most important—and sometimes complicated—relationships in youth hockey: the player, the parent and the coach.
Ken talks about avoiding “car coaching,” helping kids learn to advocate for themselves, why coaches should overcommunicate, the pressure created by the cost of youth hockey, and why the best youth coaches aren't necessarily the ones teaching the fanciest systems—they're the ones helping kids fall in love with the game.
One of our favorite takeaways from Ken:
“Learning is done by the learner, not to the learner.”
We also put Ken on the whiteboard for a new Drill Draw featuring puck retrieval, pressure, awareness and decision-making—quickly dubbed “Martell’s Mayhem.”
Plus: Olympic goalie trivia, Patrick Kane and JVR, Drew's looming mountains, and our upcoming live acoustic gig at Fallon’s.
And don't forget: Vantage Credit Union is giving away a $100 Pure Hockey gift card every month! Listen for details on how to enter.
Follow, subscribe and rate 2 Many Men on the Mic, and visit 2ManyMenOnTheMic.com for more episodes, drills and hockey content.

Support the show

Stay connected with 2 Many Men on the Mic:

📸 Follow us on Instagram
@twomanymenpodcast

🌐 Download coaching resources, drills, and practice plans
www.2manymenonthemic.com

▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes, clips, and coaching content
http://www.youtube.com/@2ManyMenontheMic