[Music] all right jocks and jills episode 25 happy summer everyone happy 4th of July to all of our American friends who just celebrated oh look Tessa's got the USA gear going today I don't uh we're recording this no USA gear Julia none well I'm I'm I just like roped in Ohio with just being American that's fair you know what that's why America I also have a USA Hockey blanket so wow from where uh women's worlds 2017 it was freezing in Plymouth and um there was this really kind worker uh Arena worker that came over and handed me the USA Hockey blanket and I literally was like yeah I need that I need that I took it home it's like Theo's favorite blankets so here we are desperate times you know call for desperate measures um anyways happy 4th of July to all of our American friends we're recording this on the 4th of July I'm in Thunder Bay right now I'm going to Grand marray tonight for some fireworks and some pizza with the great little I love small town America small town America more pizza yeah oh I'm in on Pizza the pizza spot in Grand Mar is called Sven andoli in case you guys were wondering it is people drive hours for the pizza test it's unreal it's one of the gems ofse they s froz they don't sell frozen pizza it's like the best it's the cutest little town ever it's like 2 hours maybe from duth right between Del and Thunder Bay it's great little tourist town um I have to tell you though that like a lot of my time in Thunder Bay at night has been spent with my family on the couch first we go to the garage yeah me and my dad and my boyfriend do what we do in the garage and then we come in and watch an absurd amount of shy do you what season you with it we're honestly we started from the beginning well in the past couple days that I've been here so we've been ripping through and then this was the craziest thing imagine the trip that this was we're watching shy here last night and then we go out into the garage to finish off the night we flick on the garage TV and the season 3 finale is like replaying on television as we watch not I was like come on I I just no spoilers spoilers spoilers everywhere yeah so you have been present in my Thunder Bay visit even if you're not here phys story to infil just when you're trying to get away from me you can't escape no I can't and I like it um Ed is actually in a couple Seasons he's number seven on the Sue hunt Landry is his name he had like that's when he GRE his hair yeah he grew his hair along and had like a gnarly beard he looked homeless mostly um but he's in it he's in a couple was sharper yeah number seven Landry okay I'll have my head on the for that tonight did Enzo make the tri trip Enzo did make the trip and he's he's he's with Li and my dad right now he's been excellent Tess like we've just me and Li's big thing with getting a dog was like we're getting a small dog because we want to bring him everywhere so he's got to be chill yeah and he was good on the flight he sat I sent you a picture we sat yeah right behind this cute little family this young girl her name was Tessa and I was so worried about the dog because like there the possibility was there that he was going to be loud and bark like he yeah he never obviously been on a plane before a little guy's 10 weeks old and he sat on my lap and this girl named Tessa was like obsessed with him and she was so funny she had the funniest things to say uh I really she wasn't a big hockey fan so I was hoping that I could get her with the hockey thing she's like no I like gymnastics and I like softball so cool showed it to Tessa she was the best she gave Enzo lots of little pets and he was really good on the plane so it's been all good and he has a Nona like he's being spoiled my poor grandchild mother is really we're trying to keep him away from the meatballs but it's not going overly well he seems to like the pups eating good this week that's for damn sure yes he is yes he is Tessa was never a popular name like I grew up just begging to find another Tessa out there I ran into one person at science North up in SRE she was old that's the other thing you can never find s for Teresa brutal and then my sister was Georgia she never found hers I always found mine was like a whole battle or childhood I feel her pain but then Oceans 11 came out and Julia Robert's name was Tess and all of a sudden Tessa became popular the wave started Julia you inspired a lot of tesas across the country not as much as Julia Roberts I'll say that I mean I'll take a second place may not as many as Julia Roberts but I I'm sure like it was like the Connor effect has happened there was a Tessa effect happening around 2010 that's okay I'll accept that maybe there's probably like five or six out there I like it I like it um should we move on a little bit of news this week not a ton have one more piece of news from my family the we put him in a a bike camp kids riding on two wheels I know there was a camp no yes can you sent me the video yesterday dude he's looking like he's flying around he so he um has the attention span of a squirrel so like he'll be riding and then he'll just like look around so obviously the bike's wobbling everywhere and then he kicks his feet out wide we're like dude just your hands are your steering wheel you know you're you got to keep pedaling to keep the momentum and then instead of like he's got one of those bikes which I Loved These bikes by the way where when you push backwards it stops like how you to like push back you could like slide out on the side all cool and um yeah he uh he drags his toes instead and ruins the shoes that I buy him oh so I actually saw him do that in the video now that you mention it yeah dragging his feet but that's how you slow down I get it yeah those are my headlines all right I like it those are good headlines me spending my week watching shy you spending your week attending bike camp um pwhl League office is officially on a break this week for us Canada Day Break much deserved shout out to all the leak staff taking some time off this week hope you guys are all well um but we missed one signing last week test because we recorded our podcast on I forget if it was Thursday or Friday but we had clocked out already for Canada Day when pwl Montreal announced that they extended Michael Grant men for another year yeah and um I don't want to say a surprising one I think when I had talked to Danielle Soo when they signed her um I was like so you know what was the determining factor and she was like all we see is potential and we feel like we are a good enough I I don't want to call it a franchise but a good enough team um that can offer her the proper support to do to to have her reach that potential and potentially pass it and she was committed enough to it wasn't guaranteed that she was going to play she was on the reserve list remember and she was committed enough to move to Montreal and train with them and prove to them that she was ready and willing to do all of the things um that she needs to do to be a a successful Pro and look paid off so anyone who's listening out there sometimes just got to buy in bite the bullet and and you know I call it an investment a deposit into the experience bank if you will that you can withdraw later and right now that's her withdrawal so congratul ations uh to her and to monreal yeah what what a good story this year like she went to ottawa's training camp invite made that team kind of looked like she got their first goal in franchise history the that whole crazy building went wild and it didn't end up counting such a weird moment but interesting year for her when it comes to being let go from that team then joining Montreal and as a reserve player like you mention test but ultimately like by playoff she was playing alongside Marie P so I know you love see that Stories We want all of that stuff the the Feelgood stuff of course she was the phf league MVP back in 2021 so we'll see what she could bring to the table next year for Montreal uh New York adds an assistant coach Josh skeba to their staff spent the last year's at Union uh him and Greg Fargo go all the way back so New York uh beefing up their bansch Tess yeah I feel like um I'm excited to see the year that New York has and uh I I don't know fully what their potential is going to be or what their roster will end up looking like but regardless I'm excited to see um the change from last year to this year it just felt like by the end of the year the girls were a little defeated um you know lacked a little bit of that spark um then they went on that little bit of a heater um so they got excited to end their season which was nice and then obviously this coaching changeed so um change is hard but sometimes it's good and I think that this is going to benefit them um exponentially and I'm pumped to see what comes of it because you know Karine schroers dialed um you know that you know uh Abby Rock and Company are going to be just chomping at the bit to get going this year and proved everybody that last year was just a one-off and that's not who they are yeah I got to interview uh Philly during free agent frenzy this year her and rata came into to TS little chat and we got to sit down and you know how things are that that day specifically like trade deadline of free agent frenzy lots of it was just like me Philly and rata sitting in a green room waiting to for it to be our turn to talk for a couple minutes so we got to chat a lot about hockey and man uh Phila seems fired up to to go to New York and be a part of that team and make an impact and man I can't wait to see what she does in this league so many people have her just kind of circled as a goal scorer and you were able to talk about it in in your interview interview with her like she's fired up for the physical part of this league 100 she doesn't shy away from it not for one freaking bit that look she we talked about how she's a sensitive person and how like she cried her whole First National Camp I actually found out after remember how she's like yeah I actually right before the draft like at I don't know 2 o'clock she went and met with the New York coaches to do like a little bit of an interview I was like well that's stressful she's like yeah was pretty stressful but it went well I found out she cried in that one too but anyways in talking with PRI to Sarah like literally don't worry yeah it's fair it's just an overwhelming it's just your body's response to an overwhelming part of emotion because she cares um but my our makeup artist Jenna had asked she's like oh well how come she's so Fierce out there you guys are all so kind and sweet and then like I watch you play and you guys are like part-time murderers out there I'm like well it's the competitive drive that we can't turn off like yes we're kind Souls but we hate losing so much that like we will sacrifice our entire being just to have a chance to win and that is Sarah filer that's why she's number one yeah 100% uh and coaching news we might have buried the lead here Tess this one's so exciting Jessica Campbell first full-time female assistant coach in the NHL I know it's not pwl news but uh Jessica spent time with a national team obviously real real uh important figure in women's hockey in Canada and now she gets to be behind the bench in the NHL and there's been a lot of women tests that have kind of helped lead up to this point I think of yeah I think of Carla McLoud who we're going to talk to in the next couple minutes I think of Mel Davidson who you played under uh I even think of like Corey Chevy who I got to cover with rers she was the first person she was the first woman I saw behind the bench um coaching at Elite level in men's hockey and I just remember being 19 and so taken back by the way that not the way I hate saying the way that the guys on the team respected her and like went to her for everything but that's the way that it was as someone who was just coming into covering H I'd never seen that before it had such a big impact on me she Chev is such a student of the game I played with her and then obviously she went to coaching even when she played I I'd said this before in one our episodes she was such a student of the game constantly learning she had questions all the time like I'd come off huffing and puffing from kin peny she's like she'd come with like three questions about what they were doing on their power play and how we could defend it better and she's such a brilliant mind and same goes for supie um I can't be more proud of somebody than um Jessica Campbell we got to get her on the pod I'm sorry we got to get her on and what people don't know about her is she if if we put a curtain and you didn't know who was behind it and she sang Shakira you would think it was Shakira back there you're joking she's hilarious such a good underrated skill oh buddy she is a ton of fun and like I said just another great hockey mind um I love her confidence in her knowledge and um in herself and Seattle Kraken kudos to you you hired a good one she will not disappoint I cannot wait to watch her flourish it's like yesterday I texted her right away I was like we have to have you on the podcast and I know she's probably getting pulled in a million in one directions but like I like I'm blushing right now because I'm just so happy and proud of her for what she's been able to accomplished so far in a very young career like this is just the start for her so many great things to come I'm I'm stoked yeah congratulations Jess uh congratulations to the Kraken and you know just it feels like such a big moment for it was on everybody's story yesterday like it was it was everything it's a really big deal what's happened there's there's been so much progression forward for women in sports over the past couple years but man having a woman in in that role particularly feels feels really big um and it makes sense that we're talking coaching so much this week Tess because we have one of the true Legends of coaching coming on the podcast with us today [Music] okay I just mentioned so much news around coaching in hockey and women's hockey this week Tessa and we've been talking about having this person on the podcast for quite a while because she might be the most interesting person in hockey I I would feel very comfortable calling her that in fact and maybe the most inspiring and best public speaker as well in hockey like just one of my favorite people to listen to one of everybody in women's hockey favorite people to listen to uh she was a legend as a player and she's grown that Legend in her time a coach ladies and gentlemen welcome to the joobs and JS podcast Miss Carla McLoud woo I just want to start this off Jia Julia I got to start this off just by saying I taught her most of what she knows so we can just start there I want to spend a lot of time talking about you guys as a Dearing because that just seems like the most entertaining thing that's ever happened Julia I know you wrote that intro and not Tessa so thank you for doing that Tess I didn't I just let it flow like it's true really kind you're the best so where are you at right now update us is not showing us her well no Carla's not showing us her background on purpose she doesn't want to rub this in Julia for all the right reasons where are you Carla and what time is it uh well I'm just really lucky that I've been able to to sneak away on a quick little vacation here and uh I might I might be on the the Hawaiian Islands right now so it's uh I'm I'm really fortunate getting a little bit of a a refresher obviously still getting the opportunity to do things like this and and still work the time change actually helps a little bit I can get do my work in the morning and and then uh have some fun in the afternoon so yeah it's nice I'm lucky it's 5 am there oh what are you doing thank you for doing this so nice of you of course she hasn't gone to bed yet right no that's that's not true that would have been your day's test mine yeah uh let's start Carl I want to talk a little bit about um not only your mom and and your parents and your upbringing you got some Wicked awesome parents we've talked about them on this podcast before how that your mom smuggled in Starbucks to us almost every day in the bubble at um our savior the Calgary yeah the Calgary worlds um but just growing up playing hockey as Carla McLoud I mean obviously you you have been and and were a fantastic hockey player but I feel like you've always had like that brilliant hockey mind where coaching was always in the back of your head or did that kind of change at some point in your career well it's hard to really pinpoint like how sort of the coaching Evolution started I I think it was a little bit later I think it was probably in University maybe a little bit before that uh when I was playing with the oval extreme but you know like I guess what's maybe the neatest part of of my story and a lot of us that are you know were able to get to the level that we got to as players is we didn't know anything other than playing and that's not because there were so many girls playing or there was that many opportunities there weren't we just had parents that allowed us to play hockey and let it be normal and uh and that's that's where I come from like I lived in h Spruce Grove for the first six years of my life spr SC Alberta we lived in a culde saac and I don't know they like eight 10 12 of us kids all around the same age like if we weren't ripping it up downstairs in the floor hockey event we're in the culdesac doing something or we're out back on the the Pond uh in the winter so it's like I think the the greatest thing I can say for my parents is it just gave me the freedom to chase whatever it is I wanted to do and um you know so I didn't I really didn't know anything other than playing hockey I had a stick in my hand from the time I was two and they never once told me I I shouldn't or I couldn't so um you know that's where I think I was really lucky and I think that that allowed my passion for the game to grow and allowed my desire to learn the game to grow which probably at some point you know has clicked into the coaching gear for me but uh yeah like Tess you know him and and Julia you met him briefly there as they're passing the the Cuffs off but they're pretty cool parents and uh and they've been supportive my whole way through I love Edna love jar too they're the best me too yeah so how did you P Carla I'm always curious to ask um players from like the previous generation because so many people kind of in your neck of the woods age-wise ended up going Canadian University ruds I don't know how to ask this Tess is already laughing her ass off at me that was the most respectful age-based question anyone has ever asked a strong strong age undertone there though Julia strong age under how did you pick was godon dude uh to your point Julia it was rare uh or it was becoming more common it wasn't as common yet uh for Canadian players to go down to the NCAA so uh there were definitely a a generation before us or a group for us I think you know going down in the late 90s I know Dana anel was one and a few people that I p with but you know I was really fortunate I was playing on the the development national team at the time so I I had enough packages coming in because that's what they did they sent you packages in the mail and then they'd follow up with phone calls and was able to go on a couple visits to to some really incredible universities and I think maybe the funniest story I've got with Wisconsin was when I was down there on my visit I called home on a pay phone in the hotel lobby probably collect and I said to to my folks they said hey I'm having a great time but I I don't want to leave home I don't want to go down here and they're like that's fine just enjoy the rest of your trip and uh and then I returned home to Calgary and I was chatting with some of the other players I played with and one of my teammates in Calgary Kathy Debo had also visited Wisconsin and she had said to me at one point hey crib that's that's my nickname obviously Tess probably calls me that on this but hey crib I'm gonna I'm gonna go to Wisconsin and I was like oh you are so I think there was just that fear of moving away on my own uh that was sort of hanging me up but once I knew Dev was going like well darn I'm gonna go too that place was great so really by luck um really by luck and I'm so grateful because that was such a formative point of my My Life um and I love being a badger and uh had I know I was doing this podcast I'd make sure my my for McLoud Jersey was behind me but uh I love my time there yeah um and you got to play under a fantastic coach and Mark Johnson let's be honest and I remember Deo man she was tough to play against what a heavy forward like as a defenseman there are players where you're like God they're in town tonight I mean it was essentially your entire team the whole time we were playing you guys because you were like Natty Champs and and you guys were always just a Powerhouse and whatever but um yeah I remember actually Julie you might not know this but I visited Wisconsin and um it was actually it came down to Ohio State and Wisconsin when I was making my decision and my host uh when I went to on my official visit was kber was Carla Carla McLoud sorry when I say crib everybody I'm referring to Carla okay crib's her nickname we'll get to that in a minute um and Carla unfortunately had suffered a you broke your ankle right that's right yeah and so she was on crutches and she hosted me the entire time and I was just like we hit it off like we had so much fun Krab I felt like um our our comedic type or style if you will is very similar uh lots of sarcasm um and so literally I was like Mark Johnson had said you would have the opportunity to play with great defend like this if you came here and that hung me up the whole way to on making my decision um and I was like I'll end up you know running into at some point sure enough we ended up being deep Partners in 2010 which we had been begging for for years but it inevitably happened at the right time for I think myself you came into my my career as my deep partner at the right time but um I want to go back to the sarcasm because Julia this is how great Carla is so Carla had to do an interview I forget with what what I it might have been a newspaper or a magazine or something and they we were like oh what's it like playing with Tessa we want to interview about you know playing with Tessa and Carla did the entire interview full of sarcasm she was like it's awful and like literally went off and it was the best article I had ever read I was like crying laughing only to find out Danielle Goyette was livid and she like pulled Carla aside and gave her crap about it because did the take it just completely literally like in that wouldn't he knew exactly he knew exactly what was going on and you know he was just building this young firsttime Olympian Tessa benam how great is she she's a Patty Cass nominee I was like who isn't in this room you know and I just had fun with it because the last thing I wanted to do was to pump her up before those Olympics I had to make sure she knew what was going on uh but you know what he he he wrote it so well tongue and cheek he said all the time and and I just knew Tess and and obviously she knows me and I just I it just felt so natural in that moment and you know obviously was a little bit lost on some but I was glad you chuckled because I thought it was hilarious too but oh man it was so he was a good reporter yeah I have that somewhere I have that article somewhere in one of the 37 boxes that my mom dropped off to me if you could find it of that oh yeah I'll pull it up somewhere when I have two days to go through it all would you say that your coaching career got started when you were at Wisconsin when Mark Johnson um allowed you to be an associate coach and breakdown video with him and it was yourself and Molly and from being associate coaches like how did that come about did he approach you about it or did it just kind of happen naturally well that that moment like we were that was post 2006 Olympics and we we were both needed to to finish our our schooling and so it was really kind of the for Mark and staff to allow us to be a grad assistants and uh and so that was certainly a neat sort of first glance at the behind the scenes like what coaches somewhat do we weren't fully immersed in the staff by any means but uh you know they're very inclusive and allowing us to to learn a little bit but I would back my story up a little bit before that like I've been exposed to incredible coaches you know I played Canada games in '95 and you know Mel Davidson Shirley Cameron and Kathy Berg were my coaches so you know when you start to be exposed to great coaches and then you you move that forward a couple years and you know Wally kak's my coach and then Thomas Pina comes into the fold like I was I was inspired by a lot of great people and a lot of great coaches uh I I would say that Wall-E taught me the game Wall-E through video showed me how the game worked and how the game moves and why pieces of the the chessboard move the way they do in certain scenarios and and that was really beneficial to me and and still to this day uh you know Wally's that for me uh we had him in Ottawa this last season and you know we're we're talking hockey because he just sees it so so nicely um so I've had really great mentors throughout the whole my whole career that really did shape me as a coach and you know I got to Wisconsin I got to work with Mark and Dan and Tracy like you know the ex's and O's were were incredibly strong there as well but I thought for Me Maybe was the next step for me was just learning how to make players really comfortable uh and allowing them to perform so you know you kind of take nuggets from each of them you know I was think of Mel's detail and like she didn't leave a stone unturn like that's something that you know I I think about in the back of my brain like have I have I looked at this from all the right angles are we as prepared as we need need to be so just such incredible coaches in my world that you know for me to step into this this coaching world and knowing they all still surround me to support me uh is pretty incredible so at what point did you um I guess develop your coaching style because and any player that we've had on here I mean we had Lexi jio when she was with Ottawa talk about um you know your first meeting with her and you know she said your first question to her was what kind of player do you want to be and like where did you develop that kind of coaching style because I feel like you and I grew up in a time where it was like you're on the bubble you're not playing good you did this wrong and you know did that kind of shape you a little bit in terms of like well that's not how I like to be coached and that's not the best way to get stuff out of people or or what was it yeah I think that's a little bit of of everything I think as a player you're always sort of you know gauging what what do I like what do I not like um and and you're gaining from all your experiences uh from either side of that and I think that was a big part of me when I went into coaching was like okay what what what do I believe to be best practices and oh it's still trial and air like I my first couple years coaching I was still you know uh really focused on the systematic side of it and you know how many times can you talk about F1 F2 F3 and you know those variables and it's key important piece of course um but I found you know probably for me my most uh the opportunity that gave me the most air space to sort of figure out who I was as a coach was when I I started at Edge School I had a great mentor before that I I was I started my coaching career at Mount Royal University in Calgary was with Scott rivet and he was awesome like just gave me full Reign to try things and run things and he really valued my experience as a player and and wanted to me Infuse that in the group so it was incredible but you know he was obviously the head coach so Edge was the first time I became head coach and it was there my first year or two I was still quite systematic and then I was like this isn't something's not working it wasn't clicking it wasn't working for me I don't think it was benefiting the players to the level I I could have and I just shifted a little bit more to a principle based a little bit more hey play to who you are and you know under the guidelines of what what's going to make us successful and you know you're always evolving it's not like you you figure it out for one group and it's like yep I've got this sorted every every team is a different challenge um but I think my root system is is now uh based in in that philosophy and you know some like it some don't it's the reality like everyone's wiring is a little a little bit different um but I I certainly enjoy going to the rink every day and the objectives to ensure that our players do as well you want to talk about challenge I mean going and coaching team Japan and not knowing a lick of Japanese I mean how do you even how the heck do you even get your point across and like you're sarcastic so I like did you have to put that in the back seat with some stuff or like how did that even come to be like how do you even get to know the players and Implement that style of coach well you need a good translator in all honesty you know and I had two great translators in my time with Japan that had a good sens of humor so they knew uh they knew when I was joking and they could they would chuckle I would speak they would chuckle they would translate so you know they kind of gave a a preview of what was coming up and so a great translators made a massive difference uh it was a big Challenge and kind of when I sit here in this moment think back how did I even get on that plane like what was I thinking um but I'm so glad I did cuz they were they were blast that group's incredible and you know language is just one vehicle it's an important one um but you really can draw off people's energy and you know they they're now known as smile Japan and that comes from the era that we were together and that was a big thing for us it's just you know when you see them you just smile has have fun I had a joke with each of them I had a little bit of a ribbing with each of them that you know in six to eight words they knew what I was doing and they they tease me and you know so we we were able to forge it that way and uh and gosh was it special I I love those girls to this day I I look at them and I just smile ear to ear yeah and you've left your impact on that uh on that country on that organization Carla because like every time there's very few players on Japan that I can interview but sometimes just the mention of your name will get a really good response out of those players like you've clearly left your mark there oh they're just fun uh you know obviously my crew from 2014 many of them have uh have retired and they're all sprting families now so I've got all these little cute little Japanese babies on my social media feeds uh which is incredible but yeah there was a connection there uh I don't know how it came to be as as strong as it is but it's a mutual feeling I can assure you that uh and I'm just so proud of uh how far that program has come along and how those women have continued to drive it and promote the game in Japan like it's pretty darn special you mentioned about picking up nuggets from your former coaches Carla and it made me think I don't think I heard this from you I feel like I heard it from somebody else did you have a book going for like a lot of your career where you were writing down things that you liked and didn't like from allar coaches like you had a little car McLoud burn book going on no I didn't have a burn book going um I always joke with my players I'm gonna write a book and I'll be like chapter two goal scoring you know and then someone be like are you actually writing a book I'm like no I'm not writing a book that's way too much effort but uh yes uh no you know you're always observing and taking in little notes and you know there there are certain moments you're just like oh man that was incredible I got to I got to remember how to do that someday you know whoever whoever delivered it was impressive or oh I didn't like how that made me feel but no I didn't have I didn't have an extensive book going by any means um but I was I was paying attention I think a little bit yeah right we want the burn book Carla give it to us I want the book I want the content picture fil so so with that all you had like amazing um relationships built you brought them to the Olympics um they performed pretty well that you guys were so close and then how hard was it for you to jump ship because I remember in 20 uh the Calgary Worlds the Bubble Worlds when we had your mom be our Smuggler you're on the panel with me and Thomas pacina um was coaching czechia and we're like wow they're really coming along like you and I were incredibly impressed with you know the the stall of hockey um Thomas had them playing um and we like there's a lot more potential there we could see so was it hard for you to then be like I'm going to check yet you know this is it I'm moving on or was it like I've already done Japan this is probably going to be easy well there was some time in that too right like I I stepped away from Japan after the Sochi Olympics and it was a really hard decision but I just you know I wasn't I wasn't making any money and I was just the man and I I needed a couple things to happen for me to stay with the group even though I truly wanted to uh but it was I wasn't able to come to terms with the Federation and and make that scenario what I was hoping it would be uh but really again so thrilled for that group that they continued that momentum and and had done so well um you know then I I'd spent some time back with Hockey Canada and the development team and and you know I've always had my sort of foot in the door with some of the international game I've just loved the international game as well I just I just find it incredible but to your point like there we were in Calgary watching cck and obviously I'd played for Thomas and had the utmost respect for him still do I think he's phenomenal coach and their style of play was so impressive and I love that we you know we were legitimately talking about it and uh so after the the 2022 Olympics uh when when Teresa our our team manager and Czech reached out saying you know they they were looking for a new coaches Thomas had pursued a new opportunity um like what like how does this happen because after that world I'd said to a few people if I could coach internationally again I'd love to coach Czech so the fact that it came to be uh is incredible and then you know this experience has been also second To None like this group of of staff and athletes like it has been so neat to be a part of them and and just try to help them obviously get to that next level and and you know we're not done yet we're still we're still growing we're still learning but uh they're they're a blast like legitimately they're hilarious their energy is contagious they work hard so skilled you know we've been able to fuse a few pieces in the game to help us be a little bit more successful internationally like I love it it's it's a it's a challenge but it's a joy you guys are right there you're knocking on the door too which is awesome to see yeah we're going to keep pushing I wanted to ask you a little bit about your game against Canada at the last World Championship when you guys came out playing the right way as far as I'm concerned pwhl Style full physical against Canada and you guys were getting everything called against you and it was like come on like we just you know and then the the Canadian and American game gets played a day or two later and they're 12 times more physical than you guys you know how how did you approach that as a coach in the locker room you know like to me that felt very unfair I was like please if there's any team that can handle this type of physicality it's Canada and here's this team taking it to him who is coming up the ranks like crazy over the past couple years and here they are really putting it to a top team they want it that bad if anything you should encourage it or at least say okay we're drawing a line here ladies here's your warning whatever how how is that for you in terms of like maybe the disappointment in the locker room after or like a couple of ladies scratching their head because we were we were scratching our head I was like this isn't fair that's how I felt yeah and and you mentioned it and you said it which you know was appreciative because I think it's just going to push the game and uh and Elevate the entire level of play worlds uh and I think everyone's doing their best I think the communication we have with the referees now and through the referee officials um is is stronger than it's ever been so I think it's just a bit of it's still such a great area but you know to your point uh you know if if the gap between North America and the rest of the world's going to close you have to allow the rest of the world to play the way that everyone's playing at that level and the physicality is such a component of it like you know if we're trying to negate Canada to the US from scoring a goal we can't let them Buzz around the whole time we've got to disrupt them we've got to make contact um and and to your point that's what they do against each other and that's why the game's so exciting so you know I think for for us in our dress room we just never lose s of we know our right way to play and and we always deliver that we never we never change who we are for any opponent doesn't matter if it's a North American team or or somebody else in the world uh and and that's how you build consistency in your style of playing that's how you you you end up you know Finding confidence and and ways to potentially uh win if not just be in those big games and you know for us to have played in three bronze medal games uh having never finished higher than six prior to that H is is pretty incredible and and not lost on us sort of what that style has brought um I always said to them let's with the puck I'll try to stay out of the way we'll keep we'll keep the check way going but without the puck we need to sprinkle in a little a little Canadian is what I I negotiated with them and and they've they've uh bought in so nicely and they believe so it's pretty cool yeah that's awesome so how fired up does it get the group for the potential to play at home next year like that tournament on home soil and and bring the group over there it's going to be amazing and I I'm so thrilled for the group and you know we've got a camp coming up next or later this month actually and it's just like okay we got to start thinking about okay what's the pressure playing at home like Tess and I had that obviously and you know how do you manage the pressure in family and friends because it's just bigger it's so exciting but there's more to manage but you know for for where the game is in check and and what this opportunity is going to do to to bolster that um it's going to be incredible we had a we had a European uh week in February where we hosted that in check as well and we had about uh you know 5 to 8,000 fans at at any given game so like it's building and and for us to have a home world is going to be second to none and I'm thrilled to I'm thrilled for our team a thrill for the Federation and obviously just coming off the men's World is pretty incredible too so you know there's momentum to be had in check right now and and hopefully we'll continue that wave I like that I feel like if it's going to be Rock Us in there when we were working in uica we had a couple of hups in the Czech Federation stop by and see our set and they were like ooh we could do something good like this and I was like do it like we're here for it but yeah only two hours away from Prague so on an off day when there's a couple days off we can just jump on a train zip to PR oh yeah there's already always so many of those during the World Championships days off yeah but I want to talk about your time with the national team at big kber and um just your demeanor as a player I felt like matched mine where like I am hyper competitive and I hate losing out there um but like when we were on the bench it was really anything but hockey I mean we were people watching and stuff and H I'll never forget do you remember this when we were in Vancouver at the Olympics we were playing against Finland it was a TV timeout and we were um waiting for a face off to happen and there was a F flying around I love this one you batted it right out of the air yes didn't didn't stand a chance I got it yeah they should have handed you guys the medals that moment Carla basically like whisks it towards the linesmen and everyone's like did you see that I was like Wow first time I've ever been impressed with Carla yeah I knew I knew the bar was high yeah how funny is that but that's we did that all the time yeah we just had fun like it's so interesting that you you your your intro into that is I am still competitive how we think you can't have fun and be competitive on the same scales they're they're their own entities right we're super competitive um and highly focused and detailed like that's how we get to that level Tot but man to play with to play with you and and especially in those games where there was a little bit added pressure like I Al remember the one time I don't remember what game it was but all of a the crowd roared and we're like what's going on nothing was happening in the game and uh we looked on the Jumbotron and Michael J fox was at our game and we're okay first one to find him go you know and now we're playing where's Waldo where's Michael J fox in the stands like we just found ways to just be idiots but in the best way possible totally I um we actually had Julia um so Mel's big thing when she coached was like the power play should have no defenseman on it so it would be like all six of us D crammed on the bench sitting at the back just watching the forwards do their thing and then Mel randomly decided to put together uh Mel Davidson decided to put together what we called the sixth power play we were incredibly successful I would like to say it consisted of uh myself um Jillian apps Gina Kingsbury and Sher Piper and Carla wowp secret weapon our secret weapon was the knuckle ball and that's Carla's Slap Shot from the point and we joked about it cuz Carla and I always joke like we were just smaller defenseman and like we would do Flex off and we'd measure how small our our pipes were and we would do like push-ups before our measurements to try and get the bigger we'd compete anyways and we'd be like who's got the worst muffin Carla or Tessa like whatever anyways so Carla would be at the top I'd be high slot absy would be in front so the goalie could see a damn thing Gina was on the flank and pipes was on the side just ready to let a cannon go whenever she got it but the way we worked was Carla would flutter in a shot and it would like take a while to get to the net and get deflected a couple times and we would score like honestly I felt like we were functioning at an 80% rate we were freaking good and Mel would randomly when she was mad at like power play one and power play two she be like car get your muted out there and we'd go out there and we'd score and in my head I'm thinking this is so great why why isn't she using us more we should be power one am I right I don't know if you're right or wrong uh but I know we I know you know your depiction of my shot is accurate that I can confirm holy Diner did I shoot a lot of Pucks in my day to be really bad at shooting pucks I don't know what happened no it's not fair like they they've got so many jacked up Twigs now like your shots would look so good if you guys had the the kick that they have now we'd like to I well I don't have the muscle n it's no good Julia it's just no good and Tess is not wrong like that thing didn't hurt a soul ever like I would love like often it was caught Tess like my shot would be caught and like nobody shook a hand or anything you know it was like it had nothing impact but um but I appreciate that you continually bring that up because it's well known now that that shot was what it was yeah the old knuckle ball knuckle ball specialist car McLoud sometimes a slider you weren't quite sure what you're were getting that was that was the real prick of it there's no doubt about it gave absy and I confidence to stand in front of the net like we were like well we're not moving I don't care if it hits us but then then Tessy in the uh in the gold medal game for whatever reason go figure this one I decide I should take a one timer yeah so you know how this yeah you know how this one ends it's a five five player power play back check drill now because that that wasn't going to work so anyway I thought I knew I was done after that game so I thought I'd give it a try but still no good no good which still pisses me off I was so bad you're like Tessy I'm done I'm retiring I was like who the hell am I gonna play with now like my career is over I got no one to play with and Joselyn The Rock emerged and I was like I could play with Jos because now Josh could like we call her Josh but Carla and I we always had a joke Carla uh we would I would like pressure hard in the corners and Carl would be in front of that and the puck would go to the other side and Carl would be like no no Tessa you keep going and I'd be like why yeah oh yeah I'd chase the Pug to the other Corner car would be in front we'd go to the bench and I'd be like huffing and puffing and she'd be smirking and smiling like not out of breath at all she's like hey great workout there dude come on man I I was building up the youngsters Julia see what I was doing I was paying it forward I learned that tactic from Judy dict back in my day so I was just paying paying forward my Judy dict style oh man and literally in my head I was like dude literally in my head I'm like I could get Josh to do that totally could get J The Rock to do that I'm going to play with Jos and she wears number three too so it's like the same same so we would have a drill that melow doer two defenseman she dump the puck in we'd have to go get it and it would just be us two against three four Checkers right and the the point was the 2D had to themselves find a way to get the puck out of the Zone break it out together without any forward support and Carla and I I'm just going to just say it outright kber we were the best at it because do you remember Controlled Chaos do you remember that mhm we dubbed at that yeah and we were the best at just creating creating chaos skating everywhere passing it everywhere drop passing it to each other and forwards would be like what the hell are they doing we didn't know but we got it out every time and like there were some shifts I feel like where we would come to the bench we be like Controlled Chaos bump in a real game I feel like I feel like Tess's actually back to my coaching style like that's the coaching style I like like yeah don't worry about the problem just find the solution and if you work together usually you can find it and it's actually really fun and pretty hawky if I'm being honest like with the puck yeah you can't control chaos without the puck that's a disaster but I think you know I actually like to run that drill too I I've run a version of that multiple different ways just to get de Partners to start to work together because I think that was you know one of the things I really appreciate about when we played together and you know other partners along the way as well like I I was always the D partner that needed a good D partner there's some D out there that are so talented skilled that really can work themselves out of an an issue I I didn't I needed to exit the pock out of the issue or or pass my concern over to my D partner so they could have the concern for the while um you know but I feel like you know when I when I think about the style of play I try to um encourage my players to play with it's a little bit of that Controlled Chaos where hey don't don't worry about the problem we got the pck we're going to be okay and if we work together we're gonna we're going to find some Outlets so uh it's funny that you bring it up and and that's kind of what clicked with me when I was listening to it controll chaos I like it it's like my life's motto in general yeah that's right so talk about that later Julia we'll get we'll get to that one later yeah okay so we talked all about your playing career uh coaching internationally and we we haven't even gone to your time with pwhl Ottawa um what a group you have there like it seems like you have a really fun crowd with that team as well but I think the first thing I want to ask Carla like it does it feel like you have your dream job now when it comes to like being able to coach professional women's hockey yeah like the whole scenario is the dream right like the fact that we have this league and we have the exposure from you know your perspective from the media's perspective like the access to women's hockey has finally been given a stage that it can Thrive and it's so incredible that it's thriving so you know I was asked to sort of summarize you know my take on this Year from the whole every angle like what's one word I'd use to describe and I just the word I chose was investment I just feel like you know from the Walters Group through Billy Jean King through the media everyone's invested in this league and for me to have a small role within it is is incredible and you know it was it was a year like year one was a year um you got to think like it's a startup and you're a startup and I went from having a staff of three to now there's you know 20-some of us H you've got new players that you have no history with like the the first year sort of jump in was incredible um but I couldn't be more pleased to to be a part of I couldn't be more pleased to be in Ottawa uh I really loved working with our group uh this year and obviously fell a little bit short from a results perspective just missing playoffs but I I honestly couldn't be more more proud of where we started where we got to and maybe more exciting where we're going and uh and it's yeah to your to your point to like this whole this whole venture has been a dream come true for not only obviously me but all of us that have been involved in the game for so long yeah I honestly it's been so cool to watch and I remember when uh the list of coaches came out I remember being like holy smokes this is going to be a good League because did you hire Haley Irwin as your assistant coach or was that uh your GM no that that was you know Mike and I we Mike and I worked so well together um so collaborative but you know really thrilled with the with the group we brought together for year one yeah and Irwin just so we know we all played together kber and myself and Irwin so you've known Irwin as Irwin was incredibly skilled did not shy away from physicality at all but ran her mouth like crazy so I don't even know I'm like when I watch it game sometimes I'm kind of like peeking for Irwin on the bench yeah like is she chirping like is she able to keep quiet back there because she's so witty yeah no she uh she puts on a good face back there she's steady yeah yeah we'll unleash her one day we'll let her go um but she she's she's so good like again she just walked in the shoes you know she's just has even look at like her investment in faceoffs and her experience in faceoffs she has such a knowledge that and she's a really smart hockey player like when we play with her really really bright and um you know she's she's really done a nice job in her her coaching career too because it's it's you know she's relatively new uh in a lot of ways but she's really been able to to articulate what she knows from her playing days and and impart it on the players and you know that's a really neat uh skill to have and and she's she's awesome yeah she had this she had this face off Julia so it would be Rebecca Johnson who's incredibly fast she's got like the fastest three steps in hockey ever I'm quite sure and she had this face off where Johnny would line up on the boards if we were in the ozone and she would turn around to us us and say loss and she would purposely lose the draw she didn't care about her faceof percentage she'd purposely lose the draw to go in the corner so Johnny would get the puck first and feed her and it like worked 100% of the time I was like what an incredible play like no coach would go to their Center and be like lose this draw right and here inan was like I'm gonna lose this man good times I just want to share one more story before we wrap up here Carla and I think it depicts just you as a person and as a coach and as a player we were in I think Winnipeg and we hadn't been playing together yet but I think I was benched for whatever reason I was the grocery stick in the middle but I think I was benched yeah and uh Mel Davidson never smiled on the bench ever like if that maybe after we won the Olympics and we Carla had come off and she was up next sitting next to me and um it was a TV time out and they were like kind of panning around the rink or might not even been it might have been in between a whistle and um had the Jumbotron up and it went to Mel so I Mel Davidson on the Jumbotron and Carla looks at me and goes watch this and I'm like what and she takes her stick flips it over and all you see on the Jumbotron is this blade come in front of Mel's face and start waving up and down and round and round and Mel's like kind of reacting to the stick and then bats it away and then looks up at the Jumbotron and sees herself up there and she's like Carla and I remember being like if we and I'm dying laughing and I was like if there was ever a chance that we were going to play together we end did it like right there it's over every be like that's who I want to play with man let me play with her please God anyways I remember just dying and being like I don't know let's sprinklin the right amount of respect for melt because that's not full I didn't put it in front of her face I just creeped it up to her shoulder and then when she did notice she actually chuckled too because she's like you're just the two of us are just such numb nuts and she knew that and you know what like to to give her hot of credit cuz she deserves nothing less than that like she really let us be who we were do you remember like we were playing the boys teams heading into the Olympics and we decided for long hopefully it wasn't too long of a phase for everyone but we decided to sing the national anthem to the best of our ability before every game like just like we were such donkeys test would just look over and she would she always let us be us that way yeah because we were we were Goofy um so even that jumbo she she looked she looked down and she laughed you know and then we would remember we would get into a shootout and we'd turn our backs to her and we look over our shoulder because just in case she wanted us to shoot she'd always she'd always look at us and just shake her head and be like you dummies like shooting yeah then but then you developed that really good shot on the on penalty shots and then you were regular and I was like the [ __ ] I'm stuck back here allone no just practice right not in a game yeah that's fair but yeah I give I give a lot of credit to M because I think she she saw our our chemistry as partners I think she saw the decor as just our own little world uh yeah she was a part of a 2002 because she coached the D so she understands how the D sort of formulate their own worlds um yeah but I think yeah we had a lot of those little moments and and she chuckled along the way which I was really appreciative of and hey she started Us in the gold medal game in 2010 and actually if you I had a buddy um print off the game sheet and gift it to me and he he highlighted our ice time we had the most ice time of everybody did you know that no uh I didn't and that's when I realized I should have retired after 2010 yeah Peak peaked peaked early buddy uh damn it no it's great but you know what's you know what's interesting like uh speaking of Mel like Mel actually coached me my entire Elite career so when I made the can game my first time I was 12 years old in 1995 at Grand prey and Mel was the head coach and then you know so for for my path to we with her is as often as it has and you know to this day like I'll call Mel you know if I'm not sure about something or I'm trying to figure out how to learn a variable that I haven't been exposed to before you know she's easily my my first phone call in this industry and you know what she answers her phone when I call like how cool is that so I owe a lot to Mel and uh and I learned a lot from her and uh you know I think the fact that she put up with me for as long as she did uh I probably should send her some some M Hard Lemonade here just to say thank you but is that the drink of choice yeah it was back in the day oh I'm so glad to know that information thank you for that yeah if you ever see her by Mel Mike's heart you'll be Pals yeah it's good so anyway I owe a lot to Mel I owe a lot as a player and a lot as a coach and um for her to let us be as dorky as we were test we were pretty lucky yeah that's special I feel like that is a perfect way to end off this podcast uh with one of the legendary coaches of the women's game and a week when coaching has been kind of at the Forefront of of the news in women's hockey so kber thank you so much for coming on with us at 5 in the morning from Hawaii please go to the beach now and have a panina Cola and enjoy yourself I will thanks so much both you I really I've always obviously working with the two of you it's been nothing short of a treat and uh I appreciate this opportunity too so thank you and if you ever need anything just taller thank you thanks ladies have a good one ah Carla McLoud Tessa so Calgary 2021 we've said this a couple times but that was my first women's world championship and getting to hang with you and with Carla and with pounds and that was Kenzie's first worlds too I think like that was such a that was such a fun time like anytime that group gets together what a time to be alive it was remember the pogos in the lobby of that hotel it was only Us in that hotel and every night there'd be like this snack Buffet when we got back and one night it was pogos and we all just lost our damn Minds it was a pogo party and that is exactly what it sounded like we all just ate pogos and I think Cheryl pounder hid one in a vase in the hotel kind of displayed the middle of the table anyways I don't want to expose her yeah yeah the Pogo was on display for a while I love that um listen Carla's on vacation right now the league office is on vacation right now Tess and I have teased maybe taking a break from the podcast for a little bit in the summer we haven't decided like 100% to be honest with you guys if we are going to do that officially or when it could be next week depending on kind of where our schedules lie um but if that's the case it won't be a super long Hiatus like we'll be back and and follow our Instagram at jock and jills to stay up to date because we'll post updates there as to when exactly um episodes are dropping and when we are going to take that Hiatus but we want to stay as consistently as we can with you guys uh feel like there's some good stories to tell during the summer test yeah I feel like sometimes a breather is nice but um yeah I feel like there's still a lot of great players out there to talk to and they're on vacation too so we don't really want to bug everybody while they're in their downtown in their training season right yeah so we'll let you know we'll let you know but in the meantime uh again happy 4th to the Americans hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend hope our Canadians are recovered from the 1st of July which was a party as always and and thank you guys as always for listening thank you to our sponsors see c m for always putting this on some fun stuff coming with them uh later on this summer going on with CCM uh Nobis thank you as well and we'll talk to you soon all right all right all right [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]