34. Hannah Clark, Goaltender with the University of Minnesota

welcome to the ringside rundown podcast showcasing the incredible women's hockey players from around the world through compelling interviews and discussions alongside your host Chris Sinclair hello and welcome back to the rinkside rundown podcast today I'm joined by Hannah Clark the Osa Ontario native is a goenda Hannah welcome to the show how are you doing thank you for having me I'm doing pretty good how are you I'm doing great thanks this is uh you know we talked a little bit off air there but uh really been looking forward to this conversation it's been uh it's been a great time connecting with you prior to you being on the episode so I'm excited to learn a little bit more about you here you ready yeah I'm ready all right let's do it I love that okay so um a natural starting point for any one of these conversations especially the first time you're on the show won't be the last but the first time you're on the show um let's get to know like what was it about hockey like just not even just goenda that you loved so much right from the start so my dad kind like my dad's side of the family played hockey growing up so my brother and I like got into skating like three or four years old like pretty much as early as you could and then I think it was around like four or five years old I started playing like poost League hockey and then I started playing goalie well I tried goalie when I was really young and I just hated it and then my mom was like no like just try it again CU my dad was a goalie so six or seven like I tried it again I loved it and I I really just wanted to be like my dad so that's kind of why I started hockey and ghy so what was it though that like what weren't you a big fan of was it was it like were you a big fan of hockey in general but not a big fan of goal tending and then what was it about goal tending that you didn't like specifically at least at that moment in that at that point in your life like I don't remember personally but from like what my mom has told me when we've talked about it she said that I was kind of bored apparently it was like a pretty boring game like wasn't getting much action so I was kind of just like sitting on like my butt in the net but then I guess the next time I tried it I was a little bit older it was a little bit more action and I just I just love the like the aspect of competing and like you can be the backbone of a team yeah I guess that's uh that's actually a really unique uh perspective right when you think about go ending you go from nothing at all to everything and all the pressure is on you to make sure make those saves so early on I could see why it's like you know what I'm I'm standing around here like I'm not doing anything and then all of a sudden it's like oh there's oh it's gone again is that kind of maybe part of like like kind of what you were saying about uh your your kind of perspective on goal tending early on yeah I think I was just so young and I just wanted to be because when you're young there's so much energy right if you want to be doing stuff like 247 so I was probably wishing that I was like skating around the ring but then when I got older I kind of realized like hey like this is kind of cool like it's different and there's only one of you right well there's two like per team but especially at that age is when you're in the net like you're the only goalie so it's just kind of special so did you um it was it sounds like it was goal tender or a bust for you I mean at the end of the day like you didn't necessarily like it early on which is fine and I get that but um it sounds like do you ever think back and say like maybe you know as much as you wanted to be like your dad do do you ever kind of think about you know maybe I would have loved it even more if I had played a different position or like do you regret or maybe wish that you had focused more on another position than gending that's a good question because like I have thought about it before and like I actually played like ball hockey earlier this summer and I was like out and it just felt so just felt so weird even though it wasn't ice hockey but I don't think I would have loved being like a d or forward like any more than I do Bing and I think just a connection I kind of had with my dad and he like coached Me growing up I think it was just like kind of natural like how it all happened and so I'm actually still like pretty close like good family friends with the coach that coached me in that first like game I played as goalie not like when I was super young but the one where I actually realized like hey I like this and so it was kind of him who was like Hey like she did pretty good like if she loves it like she can just do it for the rest of the year and I did it for the rest of the year and I still have like it's like this gold stick signed by like everybody on that team and I it was like the MVP sitick and I got it that year like my first year goalie and still like hung up in my room so that's kind of like when it all started when you you know we're going to get into a bunch of different things and I can't wait for that but when you look at that stick what does that mean to you I think it just makes me think back to like when I first started cuz like a lot of the time I think especially like older you start to think of everything going on right now and you don't think about like everything you've kind of done or like where you started like why you started playing hockey in the first place so I just think like when I look at it I'm thankful for like the opportunity that coach gave me because it's house right like they usually want everybody to try being buly but this guy who's like family friends still plays hockey with my dad like deer leag he like gave me the opportunity and he said like listen you can just keep doing it if you love it so I I think if I never got that opportunity then like maybe I wouldn't be where I am today yeah I was just goingon to ask like do you still use that stick as motivation now for like remembering especially going from I'll play goal but I'm not I'm not happy about it to now being obviously as successful as you've been do you still use that stick as some sort of me I I was going to say measuring stick not to be cliched but do you use it to kind of motivate you to you know when you're when you have those obstacles when you have a bad game when you maybe you know don't feel like you're where you want to be in terms of your own performance do you kind of use that stick as to as a reminder of what was not necessarily the stick but I actually like I work with a sports psychologist who's also like a hockey goalie and he always trying to kind of tells me like just think of why you started playing in the first place so I try to think back to like obviously like the time that I got that stick and just like how much I love just being with people at the rank like kind of being like the backbone for my teammates and just like enjoying the game so I try to think a lot about that that's fair yeah and and obviously as you've shared a few times here um family has been especially your dad has been a real impact on on your career um could you just talk a little bit I think one of the things that you know and I'll say this until I'm blue in the face but one of the things that people may not realize is that it really does take a village in terms of I mean any sport for sure but especially when we're looking at a sport like hockey where it's you know it's expensive to get into especially as a goal tender too right like yeah exactly right like that's a uh that's a that's a significantly more expensive position to be playing but it's already a really expensive sport that's a barrier to entry um there's also the commitment to driving you to and from the rink and that's just your home rink another barrier to entry and then also having to figure out how to get you to and from away games another barrier to entry could you you know maybe share a little bit about the impact that your family had on you um and then you know what that's Meant For You especially now that you're starting this exciting new yeah honestly like they've done so much for me like I probably like I probably don't thank them enough like I should probably thank them a lot more especially like the past three years like driving back and forth from a tobaco it's like an hour from Asha off or sometimes more so they definitely sacrificed so much and just obviously the money spent on this equipment and everything like I'm I'm so like grateful that I've never had to really worry about not having the right equipment or not having like just anything like not having anything that's not perfect for me to perform at my best um I don't know it's like I got like emotional talking about it because like I'm so close with my family like even my little brother he comes to watch me a lot so like I love having him there and then just at like all the international competitions like my parents took the time off work to come and be there so they just they mean a lot to me and I'm so thankful that they've just kind of always been there well uh consider this at least one step in the right in the in that in the in the direction of saying a big thank you because I think um again like you said the fact that you kind of got a little emotional there I think is like as indicative of just how much of an impact they made on you and obviously the relationship that you had with your dad in terms of the in you know inspiration that he was for you um but it's it's it like I said it really does take a village right and i' I've been I've been lucky enough to see you play Live which was an incredible opportunity for me um surprised I was actually at one of your games um didn't drop that little nugget before uh before filming here so um remember what game it was uh yeah it was oh uh it was in Ottawa it was one of your games in Ottawa yeah yeah um yeah it was uh um blown away and this actually is a great segue into the tooba go Dolphins program because watching the aoba go Dolphins play uh they play in the owl which is a league many may not know a lot about but many need to learn a lot more about because there are tremendous you know and it goes from coaching uh we're going to get into Joe bukovic who um I'm forunate enough to know as well is obviously you um who has had a tremendous impact as a coach uh for a number of players but just the level of play the level of compete the level of professionalism within uh the uto like the the owl in general but especially specifically the utoba go dolphins and I wanted to know you know again as someone who's seen them play and it was I I it was not a close game and it was it was it was very dominant performance by the aoboco Dolphins and that's something that is um indicative of that kind of program um who speaking of that program like just being a part of that program what was it like for you and like both let's talk about both on and off the ice just being a part of such a successful such a um an impactful program what does that meant what does that meant for for you I think like just playing there like I was fortunate enough to play there for three years so it definitely like helped me grow as a person an athlete like tremendously like I don't think I would have gotten that type of growth anywhere else and just like learned what I have and like gotten the opportunities that I have like without playing there and just having like the resources we do like our physio like she's like family now to me like our assistant coach like coach like Joe and Blake they're awesome like it just there's just no other team or like program that kind of Compares even with like sponsorships and like the golf tournament we do like there's just so much that like comes with playing there and like not to mention just the compete level and the people like there's just so much talent like all on one team I think like every single year I was there there wasn't like one player who wasn't like an incredible hockey player so which is like so special as a goalie because it's just pra sometimes practices actually most of the time the practices would be where I got like my best work in to help me become a better goalie so what went into like what went into that what went into um that that um you know you kind of mentioned that you know being around those players being around that program obviously it I mean I can only assume I'm not an elite ath aete like yourself so I can only assume but um being around people like that people like not even just on the ice but off the ice just these Incredible Minds around uh hockey what do that meant for you um let's talk about because we're going to talk a lot about your on Ice stuff but let's talk about you off I like what is that meant for you off ice in terms of that sort of elevated um experience and you know from the the people around you what does that meant for you I think especially my first year is kind of when I started to learn a lot cuz I was like fortunate enough like Joe gave me the opportunity to come play Junior a year early which is like my goal for a few years before that so I was playing with I think the oldest girl on our team was an 03 and then the rest of them were mostly 04s and there was like five like kind of like OG sixes who we play together for three years but just being around like the older girls like you just kind of saw like leadership like we had phenomenal leadership in that first year which kind of like like they passed the torch in a way that was like really special and I remember like all the 06s got really close with a lot of the 04s and I think like our captain McKenna van gelder she plays at Cornell now she was just a phenomenal Captain just someone who would always like work so hard like on and off the ace just like a great person I've actually got to skate with her this summer but I haven't seen her in a while so it was just kind of cool like you keep those connections and you just remember like hey she was such a great leader and you just kind of kind of carry the stuff that you see that makes people good leaders and good teammates and it helps you grow as an athlete so I think that was the like most special thing about playing there for like all three years and and and just kind of quickly here as well um what does it also mean to you now obviously you're moving on from the program uh as ID mentioned you're going to Minnesota um what does it mean for you to also be looking around and saying like hey that teammate went there that teammate went there and like just kind of knowing that all of these incredible players that you you know you became so close with are now continuing their hockey career collegiately and and are just are either waiting uh in this coming season to be successful or you know that you're also looking at players that you've played with previously who have already entered their collegiate career started their collegiate career and are being successful what does that mean to you to kind of like does that what like does that like light a fire in yet yeah like well I I obviously I I want nothing but the best for like all my former teammates like whether I played with them on poo or like onario Canada like whatever um like two girls I played uh on Team Canada with or coming to Minnesota with me this year both from like BC so I can't wait like we're well living together so it's going to be so fun so I'm like and we we've been talking like we like oh like let's go like let's get fired up like it's one a championship so kind of just have like those former teammates like I know we kind of have the same mindset and we're so excited to come like that gets me super fired up and then knowing that I get to play against some old teammates like pretty much like almost every school I think I know at least one person or have like skated with one person so I think it's really cool how it's kind of like like there's so many hockey players but it's also such like a small world so it's definitely exciting yeah absolutely and uh if you couldn't tell um Hannah has the biggest smile on her face as she's uh you know describing her excitement about um both obviously um playing with but also against her former teammates and I think that's incredible and you know when you look back on your career with the dolphins you had an ABS like I mean the numbers I don't want to focus too much on the numbers but I do want to say you had and not because I don't want to but I know that it's about the team it's not necessarily about your own results but I do think there is a moment that we need to celebrate and recognize just how incredible you've played you had an absolute monster year um with the dolphins it is I looked at the stats and I was like I got to refresh that because that there must be a typo there because those that those are incredible numbers and again I know it isn't about the numbers it isn't about the stats obviously that helps you progress in your career but um that's not something necessarily but just look up Hannah Clark's stats because um they're next level um but I I do want to say um you know as you um you know sort of approached this season this past season rather like did you approach it differently in terms of you know when when you look at your stats like you just continue to build um and continue to have successful Seasons season over season how do you approach those how do you approach or how do you rather approach this past season in order to see the success that you did I think it kind of hits a little different because you know it's like your last season of minor hockey so I definitely try to keep that in the back of my head like don't let a game go to waste like try to just give it your all every single game like obviously you want to do that like throughout your whole career but like just knowing like I'd be going to college after that like I obviously wanted it to be a special season and then something my dad told me like since I was so young like probably like five or six and I've just always like kept it in my head like I'll say it to myself and then that is just give your team a chance to win so that's something that I always try to do every game so I didn't really I didn't really change anything I think from like prior Seasons I think I just want to go out and like make the most of every single game knowing it was like my last year minor hockey okay and what did you um learn about yourself especially as you've mentioned the impact of this being your last season in minor hockey like what did you learn about yourself throughout this process and you can even you can look at it as a micro in terms of this past season or as a macro in terms of just your your time with the dolphins like what did you learn about yourself that you're going to look to you know translate to your time at Minnesota I think there always like kind of like good and bad experiences so like there's times where I would get like not I'd never get like too nervous playing or anything but I'd get I'd get kind of like freaked out with like just other stuff going on that didn't really have like too much to do with hockey like in the game like kind of just like the outside stuff and like sometimes I'd get so focused on that that like I wouldn't play my best hockey or I just like wouldn't feel like myself like on and off the ice so I think just like whether it's practice game lift like I just want to go have fun next year like not worry about any external stuff like it doesn't matter like what kind of skate it is or if it's like if it's a big game like just a league game like it doesn't matter I kind of just need to just treat everything the same and just go compete and not let like when I'm in the net I'm in the net I'm playing hockey it's fun and just not care about anything else I think that's kind of just my biggest thing like just like kind of simple y everything and not get worked up over anything else do you and this is actually thanks for for setting me up for this one uh nice assist you got there um but um what kind of impact do you think um having a head coach like Joe bucov has had on you and I want to hear obviously on ice is the I think probably default um that everyone would be expecting but I think also off the ice because my conversations with Joe have been very like it isn't just about the on Ice performance it's about really connecting with you could you talk a little bit about what it meant to you to have a coach like uh like Buck fit yeah I think just from the beginning like I had so much like just respect and like gratefulness for him because like I wouldn't have been playing Junior the year early if he didn't believe in me so just from the start like I just wanted to prove to him like Hey like you made the right choice like like I'm going to win you some stuff right now like I was just so excited to be a part of the program and playing for him and like his pregame postgame speeches just like the things he'd say like they kind of stick with you like there's coaches that'll say like the same things and it's like okay whatever they've heard that before but there's a few things like he said that kind of stick with me like the one was like never too high never too low so like if you win a big game or you Championship like yes celebrate it but don't let yourself or your ego get so high that if something happens you don't play like your best you don't like crumble just kind of just like find that middle ground and like stay there and then you just talks a lot about like being humble and just like thanking the people around you like he's always telling people to make sure you like thank the staff like thank our trainers or physio or photographers so just kind of a special person who like cares a lot about others and like we've bought heads a lot like we like through the three years like we were there we had like some pretty big arguments and stuff but I I always just had so much respect for him as a coach and like I just always wanted to win for the team and for him so he's just a really good person and like I still talk to him like today even though I'm not playing for him anymore like this summer like he cares about he cares about people like not just as has like kids that like play for him he like he always would be like oh you guys are like my daughters and like I don't know some people doesn't think don't think like he means that but like I texted him this summer I was like Hey like I got the opportunity to do like these skates and it was with like the top like ol draft picks from this year he was like and I was like yeah like come watch but I was like joking it's like an hour away from where he lives then he just showed up and like watched like two hour skate with my dad so it was just like it was just really cool for him to do that and like whenever I tell him about stuff like that he just gets so excited for me so I'm happy I can still like like he's still a coach I can kind of reach out to if I need something I just want to tell him something so I like thankful that I got to play for him for sure yeah uh a lot of um it's always great to hear those stories of you know it's not just on the ice it's off the ice as well right where it's the impact that they had on you as a person um and the relationship that you end up building especially with a coach like you said sometimes you're going to butt heads but it's like when you have a great relationship there's nothing better than like you can butt heads but you can also come back and say like Hey listen I value you you had a hug impact on me right so um and speaking of impacts you know as you looked at your career as you've progressed through your career you've also had the opportunity to rep represent Canada which is absolutely incredible and I just wanted to hear a little bit more about what that experience was like for you and I I always default to like what was it like on the ice but I also really want to hear like just for you personally like what was it like getting that call and like what was it like to to like just be there it doesn't necessarily just have to be the the on I stuff is the on I stuff which is great but it's like it's also like what did what what did this mean this experience mean for you and how do you think it shaped you as a goenda so the first time like I actually like officially made a team was two summers ago I think it was like my minor year and like I thought like I thought I had an awful camp like I was I was stressing I like the night before like so one of my teammates like ree Logan she's going to UMD next year like we were both at the camp and we were both like oh my gosh like like we had awful camps like we were like so scared for the next day cuz we were were going to get told if we made a team or not and then long story short we both ended up making the team and it was nice cuz she was like one of my best friends we played it on tobaco for three years together but um yeah I was so nervous I've never been so scared in my life and then once you like they tell you you made the team like just like so much relief and just like do just thankful that they believe in you right like even if you felt like you didn't perform your best I feel like I did fine in like this the skates but then the games I felt like I didn't do like the greatest but yeah just from that like I was kind of so thankful that they just like gave me a shot and then from there like I just wanted to prove like hey like I deserve to be there like I'm going to show you and then fast forward like we we played in the so it's kind of like a story to it is like I was the third goalie as like the there was two 05s and then I was 06 and then so I was like younger one like I I was kind of just there for experience and I got to play an exhibition game against Finland which was really cool and I think we won like I don't know how much we won we won but I don't really remember but I ended up getting a shut out that game which was like I was so happy I just got the opportunity to play and then we were going to play like a series against the US and then they said they were like okay like listen like let you play Finland but you're probably not going to play against the us but you will get to back up a game so I was like I was fine like I was just so happy to be there like I did not I did not care and I still got to skate with the goalie coach like in the mornings and stuff who I also like really like a lot his name's gour he's a great guy but that was another thing too is that you just meet so many great people like when you get to do stuff stuff with the national team like so many coaches and people but what happened was I got to go in it was like the second game no the first first or second game of the series I got to go in and play part of the third period we went into overtime then we went to a shootout we ended up winning in the shootout and then they gave me the third game after that so I kind of like kind of earned a SP thought to play and then when I got back with the tobico like after all that was done I just had a really good year and then I got the opportunity to be like one of the goalies that played at Worlds which was like two years ago in Sweden so yeah that's kind of like the story of like kind of how all that like went down and how it all started so and how do you feel uh like those experiences have translated to your game and and again you know we're going to get into it in just a moment but um heading to Minnesota like how do you take what you've learned both on and off the ice because off the ice I think is just as valuable as on the ice um how do you take those experiences and translate them now as you are looking to start your collegiate career well I think especially like from two years ago in the summer like I'm kind of put back in that position right like my goal part next as a senior so kind have to earn like if I want to play I have to show like hey like I deserve this I'm put back in like that kind of Underdog position so I think I can just think that hey like I've been there before I was there with Canada I was there with a tobico and like my first couple years my go partner was also a lot older than me so I kind of just take what I learned from those and just like compete as hard as I can try to earn my spot yes and you will and speaking of Minnesota you chose to go to Minnesota which is fantastic um could you like walk us through for the the rest of us who have never had to experience the opportunity to select your University or your you know your collegiate career what went into your decision to go there as opposed to anywhere else but also I always like to throw this especially for Canadians like why NCAA as a to what is now known as us Sports so NCAA in general I think like it just became a dream when I was like really young and one of my mentors her name is Cassidy so she played at Ohio State for four years and then Clarkson for her fifth year um like we have the same goalie coach now so we've and I've known her for I think like five or six years my dad told me this so I never like knew it but she played whiy J Junior and I I like grew up playing in whippy until I switched to a tobico so apparently when she was playing whippi junor my dad like lifted me up until the glass and was like look at this goalie like she's going to Ohio State and I was kind of like what like I want to be like that so I think that's kind of where the NC came from and then as for Minnesota like I always wanted to go to like a big 10 or like like a bigger school where like kind of the Athletics or just like hockey in general was like the sport and my biggest thing was like I wanted to go somewhere where a lot of Canadians or like kind of people in general don't really get the opportunity to go so that's kind of what made me pick it like gu it's far away from home but it's like it's kind of a special opportunity and like hockey's huge there like it is like here in Ontario so that was like kind of the biggest thing for me yeah and that's what I was going to say is that it might be easy easier for you to transition um to from from uh you know a very hockey enthusiastic Market to another very hockey enthusiastic Market just to kind of wrap up your collegiate career um sorry you're just starting it but this part of the segment rather um do you like what are you most um looking forward to in your time at uh at Minnesota and what are you looking like how are you looking to kind of of um maybe challenge yourself or push yourself or Elevate yourself um as you look at this next stage of your career I in general like I'm just kind of excited for a fresh start like I played for the same team for three years and I learned a lot it was great but now I'm like kind of ready for the next step um like new Shooters New Coaches kind of just like new everything new gear I'm so excited to get so my gear is so beat up right now but General like obviously have like goals I talk to like the girls in my year about were like hey like we want to win a championship so I want to obviously strive for that and like help my team do that in any way we can um that's why I take the Big Goal I think for like every College hockey player like you want to win a championship but I just want to grow as a goalie like mentally physically as best I can and then just like off the ice like I am pretty interested in like medicine so and there's also like hospitals on campus that I can volunteer at and things like that so I'm excited to see where like the education part takes me when it comes to that but hockey I'm kind of just excited for everything and now a word from our sponsor this episode is sponsored by Sports nutritionist Melissa ponos of MB performance nutrition as a former competitive hockey player turn nutritionist Melissa's mission is to help the next generation of hockey players optimize their diets and health so they can perform their best both on and off the ice ready to dominate on the ice Melissa's new course the hockey nutrition blueprint is available now if you're serious about learning how nutrition can impact performance and building actionable nutrition strategies based on your unique needs as an elite hockey player learn more and sign up at melissab bos.com course that's m e l i SSA b o u f n.com course and make sure to use code rinkside to save $50 off the regular price thank you to Melissa buffos for sponsoring this episode and now back to the show I love I love that it's it isn't just about hockey for you right it's about the office stuff it's about you know doing something that you're also passionate about you're you know obviously hockey runs through your your blood and and and you're really enthusiastic about it but it's nice to have that sort of um you know that passion off the ice and and speaking of of that and kind of tying it in here um thanks again for the assist on the segue here but um uh you know now that we have the pwl right we have this Professional Women's Hockey League that has seen tremendous success in its inaugural season there's a lot of Buzz going into the second season knowing that you have that to look forward to and I bring this up because traditionally women unfortunately um when you looked at what was next for you what was next for you after college was I guess I'm going overseas or I'm falling back on the degree that I have but now knowing that you have this professional League um yes it's only it's it's only going into its second year but we again we've seen so much success and enthusiasm around it what does that mean to you as a player knowing that there's another Avenue for you that doesn't involve you having to go overseas not to take away from that but to be at the the like the top tier the best of the best what does that mean for you um personally and as you look to continue your your hockey career I think it means a lot too because like growing up like you want to have something to look up to but there was really only the NHL for me like when I was like really young so I think it's special that a lot of girls can look up to that now and think like wow like I can actually like be a professional hockey player in like a big league kind of like the NHL and for me like it obiously just makes me want to work like even harder like I I obviously want to play there one day I think like most hockey players do now like females that see like the success like I've gotten to go to a few games in Toronto and it's just been awesome like the atmosphere is crazy and I've actually gotten to do some scrimmage skates and then like just skill skates with a lot of the pwhl Toronto girls this summer and like the talent especially in like those scrimmages is just awesome and I just I just love being kind of like in that circle like with the best so kind of just something like I want to work towards like I want to be around that all the time okay so I'm not going to let that little tidbit uh Fall by the wayside you had the opportunity to to to do some scrimmages what was that what was it like especially again is like someone who unfortunately has spent the majority of your hockey career thinking like there's nothing necessarily that would be next for me after this but I'm going to I'm I'm going to put in everything I have but it's probably going to end after college or you know I'd have to overseas again what was it like for you to to like you're skating with pwl players like what is what does that mean to you like how exciting was that opportunity it was so cool like so the guy who runs it his name is Ray he does like his H company is called speed it's in Toronto so he kind of runs it he calls it like the speed cup so there's two teams teams like the teams switch kind of like every week and it's it's like three on three or four on four so both times I've gone it's been three on three so it's like it's tough when you're goalie and you're playing three on three but it just means like it's a ton of work a ton of shots which is just awesome and they like compete like it's not like three on three where you just like kind of dilly dally like do whatever like they compete like it's a real game so it's it's awesome all right well um we're as we wind down here um once again Hannah thank you so much for taking the time I know you have an offseason you're I say you have an offseason let's be honest you don't really ever have an offseason um it's just you're not playing games all the time necessarily but there's still a lot of things that you have to be doing so I just want to say thank you once again but we're going to move into what I have called or dubbed the um and it's kind of become a a tradition here at the the ringside rundown podcast and it's a scientifically proven test to get to really know Hannah Clark and I always say this test was put together by the crack team here at the ringside rundown podcast which is really just my dog Isaac and myself we go over these we spend a lot of time we we Maul over what's the best kind of question so we have um you know probably eight or nine questions for you to really get to know Hannah Clark are you ready to take that test yeah I'm ready okay perfect I'm super stoked about this um what we're going to start off and this is going to go like up and down this is going to be like super serious this is going to be super fun um we're going to start off with something a little bit maybe more serious and I want to know what are you most proud of from this past season that's a tough one I one of the things anyways I think just the first the first two tournament like we won the first two tournaments of the year so the Stony Creek one and then the kiter waterl but the ston creek W probably because it was like z z in the semifinal and it went all the way to a shootout and I had like 50 shots that game like it was just crazy game and then we ended so we ended up winning that one nothing then we went to the final and we won that game one nothing so it was just like kind of a gritty tournament team win and it's kind of when our like a tobico team like first really came together so I'm really proud of that I mean that's definitely something to be proud of for sure absolutely um you've obviously you know I've mentioned just how especially this over your career in a to with a toico your your game has progressed and your game has elevated and you've become in even even more uh incredible than the previous season which is all already an an amazing bar to hit um so you've had a lot of success uh personally but could you talk a little bit about what like how would you describe your style of play for for fans who haven't yet seen you play but Absolut absolutely should be paying attention to you moving uh throughout your collegiate career and then into the pwl I'll just say that I think I I moved well and I'm really positionally sound but a lot of the time I can be like very athletic and quick when I need to so it's kind of like kind of hybrid like I can do kind of like a little bit of both like when it comes to like like being technical but then also being athletic so kind of a mix okay fair um we had mentioned the so-called offseason that you're part of what does your offseason look like just like lifting and skating every day pretty much um I also like volunteer at like a nursing home so I do like stuff outside of hockey but I make sure like almost every day except for weekends sometimes um just skating as much as I can like I go down to Toronto a lot like now that I can drive myself I don't have to ask my parents all the time but I go to Toronto a lot for skates and then just my gym fitness garage is in Whitby back home so just kind of those two and then work with like my sports psychologist like kind of every other week all right um and what would be your goto pregame meal I just like simple like pasta pasta chicken that sort of thing or just straight up pasta and what kind of straight up straight up pasta I think just like gets the job done like fine all right get gets the job done she says gets the job done I love that I love that um okay so during the season who owned the dressing room music and what was played most often do you remember the girl I mentioned earlier Reese Logan so she she was kind of like the DJ the whole year and I think like most of the time like kind of getting down then like it'd be like a lot of rap and then like some country every now and then for more like practices okay um and speaking of music if you could listen to only one song for the rest of your life what would it be and I again I always put this caveat you do not have to like it doesn't have to be playing all the time but if you're like ah yeah I could go for a jam right now like this has to be the song that's played like I thought about this question because like I thought you were G to ask this question but like I don't have I don't have one but like Throwbacks just got get me fired up all the time like whether it's like pregame where I'm just like driving like like I just love like Throwbacks like kind of like 2000s like anything like that do you have one that you kind of like fall like do you have like is it just a playlist that you play or do you have one where that's the one like like there's a playlist but that's the one I'm looking forward to most on that playlist yeah I'd say I'd say just like a playlist I you just Shuffle it like anything kind of like hype like Throwbacks I just love that all right all right Throwbacks are good um okay what is uh something that Still Remains on your bucket list I want to travel like I ever since Co like I haven't been able to travel too much except for like obviously like the big hockey tournaments I've gone to but there's like a couple places I want to go like Greece like Paris um Italy like I love food so I think like those would be some places with some really like good food but yeah definitely just travel um I like though that you uh you had mentioned that your pregame your go-to pregame meal was pasta and like Italy is on that list so it only makes sense that would be a place that you'd want to go right where where better could you get the most amazing pasta in the entire world than where it was made right so I guess I shouldn't be surprised it was on your list um so um what's something that people may not know about Hannah Clark um I play guitar so I've played guitar since like well I don't even maybe like grade six or seven is when I started and I kind of like taught myself off of YouTube and they got pretty good at it so that's something I like to do kind of my free time okay do you have a like a you know speaking of go goto pregame meals do you have like a favorite song that you play like just on guitar like yeah yeah I like playing Fast Car by like Tracy Chapman or like Luke Holmes Luke Colmes has a version of that's really good but that's that was like one of the first like kind of finger picking songs that I learned to play and it's like pretty easy but it kind of like impresses people a little bit so I definitely like that one yeah you say it's pretty easy but I look at the tabs and I'm like I'm out I'm not gonna do that one that's fantastic and lastly what is something that motivates you and inspires you and you can look at that either either or um uh Prof professionally and personally um I think just kind of growing up and like watching like how my parents have been like kind just watch them with like other people and like how they like kind of raise me and my brother like they're always just talking about just like kind of being a good person and like being kind in the same I think just goes throughout like our whole family so I think I always just want to try to be a good person like when it comes to sports and like other things like I know it's kind of basic but I don't know I think that's something that I kind of keep close to me because it's something I've always been kind of told growing up so it doesn't matter if people like don't treat you the best just kind of say let them do what they want and just always try to be a good person uh I think we need more of that so that is not maybe a more basic answer I think that's something that we all should aspire to and and speaking once again about being a great person is that again you took the time out of your busy schedule to make some time for me and I just want to say as we wrap up today how much I appreciate you coming on the podcast uh I can't wait for people to hear more about you I can't wait to cheer you on in Minnesota I can't wait to have you back on the podcast um a as soon as we can possibly make it happen I can't wait for that so uh Hannah thank you so much for this it's meant everything so thank you oh thank you it's been really cool for me so I really appreciate the opportunity absolutely and there you have it folks for Hannah Clark I'm Chris Sinclair and this has been the rinkside rundown podcast cheers [Music]