Fire & Ice Podcast – A Visit with Connor Carrick (December 7, 2023)
Greetings friends and Firebirds fans and welcome to the Fire and Ice podcast presented by Desert Willow Golf Resort Fire and Ice the official podcast of your Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League coming to you from Palm Desert California a mere Jessica Campbell sketched power play away from bird’s
Home ICE of Acure Arena I’m your host Jud Spicer along with this B monthly Endeavor also have uh privilege rather and the pleasure of again serving as your Firebirds Insider for this sophomore season an article a month you can find that and those online at cvf fireb birds.com that of course is your
Home for all things Coachella Valley Firebirds including but certainly not limited to team roster schedule merchandise information I’m also going to suggest that you download the CV Firebirds application great way to get tickets for your Firebirds games and everything happening Yonder way in Palm Desert at Acer arena for the presenting
Sponsor of this program the aforementioned Desert Willow Golf Resort right here in sunny Palm Desert California home to 36 holes the Mountain View and Firecliff courses respectively also the excellent and on-site Palm Desert Golf Academy can make it a phenomenal putt to Puck day just three miles separated from aasher arena is
Desert Willow Golf Resort and they have recently I should add added to their mantle many accolades and awards over the years in recent days acknowledged by the California Gulf uh course Owners Association as the 2023 course of the Year big back slaps to Desert Willow Golf Resort you can get your tea times
Online at Desert willow.com all right friends joining me in this December 7 2023 episode of Fire and Ice we got a great one for you Firebirds defenseman Connor Carrick and I got to give assist to my pal and colleague Shad powers of the Desert Sun for this one as I trust
Several if not most of you may have read in recent weeks Chad’s excellent article on Connor in the Desert Sun where he discussed not merely Connor’s 11-year Pro Hockey career but also his dual life his other his other Endeavor as host of the Curious competitor with Connor car
It’s a podcast that he has hosted for uh the last three years and a lot of fascinating subject matter much of it taking place off the ice really a lot of fascinating stuff and subject matters that Connor has delt into to date on his program including conversations with former teammates delving into
Performance mental health Wellness mind and body nutrition talking a lot about the brain really interested to have this visit with Connor on this episode we’ll also of course talk about his debut season with the Firebirds before we get to that conversation let’s take a moment here to delve into the Firebirds Freeze Frame
Segment of this program let’s start with this the interesting if not curious to borrow from uh Conor carrick’s title of his of his program the season itself is also curious uh the metric uh continues friends Firebirds uh overall 107 and one on the season that places them sixth in the Pacific
Division before mentioned curiosity comes from this number this is the headline 8 and one away from aasher Arena which is the top winning percentage in the American Hockey League however at home birds are just two six and one and that places them 31st out of the ahl’s 32 teams per home winning
Percentage as far as the schedule yeah no no no great segue from that although that’s certainly something else touch upon with this episode’s guest Connor Carrick let’s take a brief look at the schedule ahead as we delve further into the month of December Tick Tock to the
End of 2023 Firebird soon to hit the road Yonder abbottford where they have back toback on Friday the 8th and Saturday December 9th two games against abbotford then get a couple days off as they return here to the desert proper where again the birds will face abbottford that
Takes place at home that’s the next home game Wednesday December 13th abord by the way they’re tough they’re good 135 and one on the season to date so those games while we’re still earlyish in the season I mean we’ve now reached the quarter pole of this second year of
Firebirds hockey three games May mean something down the line come April in the firebird season we got three straight games again against abbottford couple days off and then another backtack both of these games taking place at home at Acer Arena that’s Saturday December 16th that’s a 6 PM
Puck drop versus Bakerfield follow that up directly on Sunday the 17th with a 5:00 pm home game versus Colorado another big fetting feature of this Firebirds season thus far talked about this in the most recent episode with the Firebirds play play-by-play voice Evan pivnick is the transactions and they
Continue Friends by my count by my Minnesota math it’s eight eight to date now while five of these gentlemen are now back with the Firebirds we had more guys called up that includes our captain can I still say our captain he’s now with Seattle but traditionally our captain and our leading scorer Max
McCormack good for Max got called up to the Kraken in recent days as did defenseman rker Evans that seemed an inevitability but kudos to Young rker on getting called up to the National Hockey League one other transaction worthy of note this comes by way of the ECHL up to
The Firebirds goalie Jack Le Fontaine he’s kind of had his own Shoots and Ladders this season going up and down between the two teams but with a recent injury this is freaky this is scary this took place on Saturday uh December 2nd in the overtime loss to Ontario we goalie
Aleska hope I pronounced that name right know that I butchered it before not a laughing matter certainly as a a freaky injury had to be helped off the ice Chris dger ultimately finished that game but I suspect this is why we’ve again seen goalie Jack Le Fontaine called back
Up to the birds that just happened yesterday the day before this program is being recorded a lot of transactions lot of up and down didn’t see much of that last year we’re amply seeing it this year something to keep track of as we continually assess the roster assess the
Lines and assess the Firebirds concurrent lineups far far as the leading scores on your Firebirds to date nobody in the American Hockey League in the top 20 the aforementioned Max McCormack again now up with Seattle leading scorer thus far into the year for the birds 17 total
Points that includes a team High tied eight goals coupled with nine assists Cole Lind right there with 16 total points Cameron Hughes 15 points on the year he has three goals match with a team best 12 assists Shane Wright 14 total points tied with McCormack for the
Birds lead with eight goals he’s got six assists and young Logan Morrison having a great rookie season in the AHL 13 total points he’s matching five goals with eight assists in the net Chris dger has had a really really strong season for the birds he is one of those
Call-ups by the way now of course back with CV 75 and one mark on the season his 2.24 goals against tracks third in the American Hockey League for net minders with double digit starts his save percentage of Point 916 ranks n in the AHL again for net minders with double double digit starts
Thus far into the season all right friends all that offered all that prefaced let’s get to this episode visit with firebridge defenseman Connor [Applause] Caren all right friends that’s prep of this episode of the Fire and Ice podcast my guest Bill scum Park Illinois St all that H land now is 11th year of professional hot resume me over 240 248 specific NHL games that in regular season and playoffs that CV is coupled
With 332 games in the American Hockey League the last 16 of which have this year debuting for the Coachella Valley Firebirds on the blue line uh along with his uh hockey career also the host of the very informative and very alliterative uh Curious competitor with Connor Carrick that preface offered I
Think you can probably guess friend said that my guest is Connor Carrick defenseman for the Firebirds Conor appreciate your time man Jo absolutely let’s start let’s start with this just a couple softballs and a couple of quick hitters we got about I think five off days in a row for the Firebirds this
Week before the travel to Yonder aberford uh let’s go chronologically if we will Monday was the Firebirds Invitational golf tournament I trust you played I did I did play and how’d you play I was pretty happy uh it’s a scramble so the pressure is you know always off until it isn’t until the
Three guys ahead of you you know don’t hit a good shot and then you you really got to come through but I was happy and then uh on the longest drive I was I was pretty jacked I might be looking at one of those uh long drive like monitor
Things okay uh my friend there uh had me at I think it was 124 swing speed and I was able to cook it like 330 yards so wow the drivers the drivers kind of the hit or miss on how my round goes and I was able to keep between the lines most
Uh most holes so I was happy with that and how’ your team finish I think we finished nine under I forget where that you know put us as soon as uh I realized we were not going to win I I stopped uh checking on the tally and was just you know getting
Ready to get out of there and get ready for the practice day that was that was the next day going again uh in linear fashion I think a fan a Firebirds fan may have posted this yesterday so let’s see the tournament was on Monday yesterday at aure Arena Stevie Nicks
Showed a picture of you with some fan there accurate yeah that was cool I’m a pretty big Stevie Nicks fan Landslide was my mom and I danced to that at my wedding so you know that song kind of gets me in the in the tears most times
And last night was no different and uh you it was cool it was cool to have a pocket my wife’s a big fan too so we had John Hayden came over and watched my son my my almost three-year-old and and did bedtime with him and we were able to go
To concert with was cool and get to practice today John Hayden Babys said your kid yeah him and his uh fiance Lauren uh were able to B uh they they babysit they basically play shinny for three hours with my son uh with a couple hockey games in the background um and then uh
Did bedtime and Charlie was pretty excited he had a new Christmas book so John uh had the luxury of of breaking that in for him always good to have a a y a guy that went to Yale who also really knows how to fight uh babysitting your
Kit yeah that’s a whole that’s a whole another Beast Charlie has a a pretty strong propensity for physicality and and John I think encourages that they bring out the best in each other that that way all right Conor let’s let’s take it on the ice we are now quarter
Pole we’re quarter quarter way through surprisingly it feels like kind of a blur but uh yeah we’ve played 18 games of the Firebirds second season how would you assess uh it’s a big broad question but how would you assess the Firebirds at 107 and one how would you assess the club to
Date I mean you you always want to have a club strong enough to outplay teams and I think we’ve been able to establish that a lot of nights um um you know the art of winning and making sure that you you know get the the full 60-minute
Effort and and and execute that is something we’ve talked about um and it’s something you build towards there’s a lot of turnover at this level um you know which every team goes through so there’s there’s you know no excuse but I think it’s continue to reinforce the the
Identity of what’s expected at each position all throughout our lineup the entirety of the game and then dragging you know when you’ve got your b game let’s say let the guys that have the aame kind of drag you into it instead of the other way around where uh you you
Bring the club down with a few you know decisions um that make the game just more difficult for the next guy and so you know that’s our conversation and uh I mean I’ve seen it both ways I’ve seen teams you know get off to to really hot
Starts it’s a dangerous thing to all sudden think you’re entitled to have a good year um and then at at the quarter you know I’d say we’re in a good spot launching wise I think we’ve wrapped our head around what what will bring a success um night and night out now it’s
Just about doing it after the uh 4-3 overtime loss to Ontario uh on December the 2nd this Saturday pass one of the uh uh uh folks in the postgame presser your teammate Cole Lind and I asked Cole I said you know you you had a great game man unfortunate loss in overtime scary
Injury also should should be noted but I said after your two goals a very emphatic response each time not not the kind of response might expect in the 18th game of the season but like playoff type responses and he said yeah there’s a little extra extra fire there was a
Little extra Wick that was lit and he said that was kind of preceded by the fact that you guys had a a team meeting a team meeting which uh ultimately involved kicking out the coaches those are I think his words not not not can you uh can you take us in can you
Pull back the curtain just a little bit Conor on that team meeting and uh what the Firebirds discussed well you want the good in your game to crowd out the bad so you it’s hockey’s not a game where you necessarily just stop doing bad things and stop making mistakes entirely you
Just want to increase the clip of of good decision and what it is exactly you bring um so we just had a conversation you know with with each guy like hey man what do you do here were you there’s a lot of guys in Pro Hockey why were you
Selected what what can this group you know expect from you and reminder that uh we see in practice a lot of times like we have a competitive group like we know what we can do um and uh so we just kind of solidified that and uh you know
Try to refocus for the weekend do you feel like whether this meeting let me ask this a different way you’re a hockey veteran you done it 11 years in your experience are meetings like this where you might need a little kick in the tush um are they are they genuinely or
Generally productive they result in good things when you have players meetings like this yeah I think it’s it’s easy when things kind of are going aride to start focusing on like where the holes in your boat are instead of focusing the conversation on where you want to go
Um directionally and and the goal is to like clarify and simplify this is what each individual does um within the goal of how our team plays and when you’re able to kind of create that Clarity um that’s you’re able to get you know confidence come to the rank before you
Even take warmup uh you become a lot clearer on like okay these are the few plays that kind of get me into the flow of the game these are the plays that kind of maintain the flow of the game and and what might be the Kryptonite um
That the other club really feeds off of uh and then all of a sudden your strengths as a player start to roll you know through you know all Five Guys on the ice all four lines um and that’s where a club starts to look like
A machine but you know a lot of I’m sure what you know the club saw last year I was with the Providence Bruns it was the same thing like we didn’t have a great start and uh you know we had to have a conversation around you know what each
Guy did within our our team structure and it just creates that Simplicity that’s what a win does that’s when you’re on a roll you’re like you just can’t even fathom losing there there’s there’s it’s just not going to happen um versus on the other side of the corner
When you you lose a few games where you kind of get into a r it happens in different areas of your game like we talked about the home record you know power plays go through it penalty kills go through it over the course of a season and uh you’re in much better
Shape when you you know kind of able to highlight the conversation show video of like hey guys Remer this is what it looks like going well right um and this is you doing it this is not some we’re not asking you for for anything you’re
Not capable of and uh just the timing of it we got we got to make sure it happens so I agree with Lindy in a lot of ways that uh the sentiment the intensity was getting at I think and this is perhaps just a guess but I hope an educated one
That part of the impetus for having such a meeting like that was certainly not based on the Firebirds away record which is an AHL best 8 and one inversely and quite curiously Connor the home record after Saturday’s overtime loss even though you get a point for it I think we
Can still say it fell to 26 and one which is second to last in the American Hockey League you were not here last year but I I gather you well informed you know of all the success and you may well know that during the regular season there were seven losses in regulation
All of last year uh we are already up to six and had the overtime loss how do you explain that man um I I mean you really can’t I think the coaching staff would even you know we have a lot of experience in our coaching staff I I’m genely curious we’ve talked
About it but you don’t want to create this uh you know pressing sensation where you’re you’re hyper focusing on it it’s like all right fine we can have the conversations we had at at you know home away but what literally are the plays going on that were not you know making
And I I think a little bit of what it is is just the Poise particularly at home to build your game like you don’t have to hit a home run every shift um and you’ve got to avoid certain mistakes where you just can’t make the game easy
For the other team you know where where you’re playing from behind and I think that’s been a big part of it is on the road we’ve been a little bit more patient building our game like we’re we’re we’re going to get into the game we’re going to execute some of our
Systems um and we’re not going to get bored with just doing it making the next right play if that makes sense it does and um you know you referenced the coaching staff I’m G to go back to that to that players meeting that seemingly started with the coaches
And ended without the coaches why is it meaningful why is it impactful to have the coaches leave the room at a time like that well I think it’s prompted and it was kind of prompted by the coaches it wasn’t like we said get out of here um but
At the end of the day we are the players on the ice the puck is on our stick whether the we want the puck to hit us on a block shot and the game’s on the lineer it’s it’s really is up to us they can apply whatever pressure they can
They can use rewards with ice time they can threaten guys like you know everyone’s played for a different array of coaches I think our staff recognizes the best clubs you want to empower your players you want leaders on the I set all throughout your lineup feel confident um feel like
Their I time and their play matters and I’d say that’s a huge strength of our coaching staff They Don’t Really Overlook anyone player any um it don’t make anyone feel like a a secondary or second rate sort of player and that’s always been my belief and what I witnessed in the really highend
Teams is there is a resiliency that emerges when the players are part of the conversation of what’s expected it’s player on player looking at each other it can be harp it can be you know warm support like it takes different shapes for different players at different times
Um and that’s what you hopefully find out through the course of the regular season and you you build I would say there’s a a say Pro like every 10 games the league is entirely different go through the 10 game Mark you know teams are at a certain clip 10 games later
There are plays being made and rhythms that are found that are that you didn’t see once in those first 10 games yeah um and that exists all the way through the playoffs where man when the playoffs roll around the teams that are humming best it is it is incredible the way that
They play hockey the the the breakout they’re they’re so consistent and then the one time they need to make a differ routed play they execute that the power plays um I’ll give you like I think our power plays kind of managed earlier in the season where we’ve had some hot
Stretches we’ve had some stretches where like man the Puck’s not going in maybe we got to score off the the breakout like like you got to manufacture a way to feel good it’s not the you know set up the perfect one-time bang banging in the
Open net um and so your team needs to be athletic and resilient that way and when your players are a part of the conversation not just a one-way conversation of the coach saying this is what I expect you better do this or else um I think it just kind of undermines
Players ability to you know re really take ownership of what they want to be as far as those uh coach player rapports for you specifically I’ll ask you this lastly for the on the ice conversation Conor uh not your first rodeo with Dan bilma in 2021 correct you were member of
Charlotte Checkers when he was assistant coach there before being named the head coach I trust that for you to play for him there and I’ll play for him here you two is a is a couple of veterans must have a nice report I mean he was a a big part of the reason
I wanted to sign here I I really appreciate his hockey mind I think he’s an absolute gift to this level I mean he’s clearly proven he’s can coach you know as as high a level as as this game can offer and with all his success in the National Hockey League and in
Charlotte um I think it was Mutual There Was You know I was in the NHL previously he was in NHL previously and you mope you can you can be upset about your current situation or you can play the ball as it lies and like hey man you know we’re still playing a fun
Game and his energy was very infectious in me at that time and I hope my energy was infectious on him and these conversations were had in in Charlotte it’s been a bit of a joke actually in cachell Valley about you know oh the good old days in Charlotte um but it was
A unique group there was a blend of you had Florida involved you had you know seel didn’t have a lot of prospects it was kind of a vagabond group that can really go Ary you know with the different Power struggles NH team we’re kind of left alone like it was pretty
Good meritocracy like the best players you know sort of played uh Dan had his element you know Jordy caner did a great job he was another strong head coach who I learned a lot from um and I was extremely confident you know really when I saw the roster and I knew who the
Staff was even last year I was like that team’s going to be the real deal which happened um you know it may have been unofficial kind of a part of the Coachella Valley Firebirds fan club after we were knocked out you know Max McCormack’s a best friend you know John
Hayden’s a best friend a lot of guys you know I played with Matt tenders for a while you know Joey dord Alex TRW a lot of these guys like I love play with these guys and um I was rooting them for them to have success and they had that
And then they roll around to this year like I I wanted to be on that on that train friends you’re tuning in to the Fire and Ice podcast presented by Desert Willow golfers my guest is Firebirds defenseman Connor Carr when he’s not on the ice I sense and know that Connor has
Many other endeavors that don’t involve skating at all among them serving as host of the Curious competitor podcast with Connor Carrick Conor this is an Endeavor you started approximately three years ago 74 episodes in the can take us back to the impetus for starting this endeavor three years
Back I trying to my reading habit I wanted to read more you know my wife was like you know I think he’s really been into these podcasts it seems like a form you drive a lot you know to train and things like that and that was hooked
Immediately um and I I just couldn’t believe the availability of of expert out there you know whether they were funny hockey stories or uh you know Neuroscience conversations um you know Peak Performance sort of conversations in in the business world and elsewhere and uh I I I realized just the the
Access that I might have as an athlete and and want to tap into some of these and and and meet some of these people and be able to ask questions that I might particularly have and it’s been fun it’s been a laboral love um you know
Over the last few years I enjoy doing it it’s as you know it’s sometimes difficult to to maintain a schedule with with Pro Hockey and and uh that’s definitely you know been my experience so we’ll see where I want to go with it um here in the next little while and
Assisting again as I mentioned at uh the outset of this program sh had powers the Desert Sun did a great article a couple weeks back on Conor talked a lot about his podcast the Curious competitor uh with Conor Carrick in that Desert Sun article G take a step back on this a
Little bit man I mean to hear you talk now and to listen to your shows listen to about eight or 10 of them in the last few days before this conversation I’m I’m not telling folks out there hey you got to go to college because you didn’t go to college but and
Listen to these shows man your vocabulary your intellect your style of communication it’s all very very sharp man have you have you always been this smart that’s that’s I don’t know um I I always identified as a good student um I would consider there there’s a bit of a chip
On my shoulder in terms of not going to college I always had an an ambition to be you know very well educated and I think if anything that’s sharpened that goal um you know not having sort of a solid degree to you know prove it and it it was education
Just always come naturally like I I have a hunger for it um and uh I think we live in a a golden age of of information know there there isn’t the you know gatekeeping of information that may have existed you know I don’t know in high level business and
Uh you know all sorts of different Realms you know hockey and I think about that early in my career like to to have access to the top coaches like it was a pretty demanding thing to to go sort out who these people are now with social media or different podcasts like you can
You can have a pretty good Network or uh you know sort of family tree of who’s who in a very short amount of time um and I’ve always found that very appealing and and I guess I I don’t know in terms of the information exchange side I’ve always
Considered uh you know what I do to be extremely physical and you’re it’s you’re in the world of marginal Gaines can I make just 1% more plays can I just be 1% faster um versus the ideation world like just a more creative it’s a little bit more exponential you don’t
Exactly always know what’s going to emerge uh you know specifically talk about the podcast there’s a lot of days I sit down I’m like um man I’m tired after to practice whatever I think a nap would be nice and then I have a a really you know page turning like interesting conversation that
Invigorates me that day they not all like that um but I appreciate you’re listening 8 to 8 to 10 I I know how much uh you know time research does takes up my day for the podcast and that’s that’s a hefty number it it comes through quite quickly and quite clearly that you
Personally have a thirst and a quest for knowledge by listening to your program and this goes deep some of this gets very technical very scientific subject matters including but certainly not limited to self- betterment uh spirituality nutrition uh neurosciences AI you’ve delved into that a little bit
Mindfulness is this for you is the the podcast Endeavors is it a way for you to more so educate yourself on a path toward self- betterment or is it a way way to educate entertain the listeners I’d say both and there’s a little bit of a kind of a showand tell
Like there there’s certain people and techniques that I found where oh my God I just I just can’t believe this has been this effective uh for me or I found this this person or this modality to be you know really lifechanging and uh a lot of the different phenomenon that we
Identify you know particularly in in highend sport like the smartest practitioners in the world whether they’re hockey coach neuros scien like it’s it’s not some it factor it’s not some X Factor like they know exactly what it is and can tell you how this is occurring they can’t always like you
Know gift it to someone who just doesn’t have it you know there’s a lot of this is in eight um and I’ve given this example like I work out um a lot of times in the summer for a while I did this last summer with Ian Mack he’s got
A a pretty good name you know Matthews was a client Roman Yosi and Patrick Kane and like Patrick Kane is known as this like extremely talented high-end Puck player right well when we train we would do these like heart rate sort of tasks or zones and uh it was as if it never
Happened to him like there was no recovery needed his heart was just able to clear the metabolites from exercise like so quickly that he came in like it was day one day after day after day after day and uh that allowed his town sort of shine through like there there
Was no hangover from the day before um and so that’s where it’s like when you really peel back the onion like players are excellent not by accident um and uh I guess for myself I’ve always been curious like what is beyond reach like what is just an eight
To that player and and what can I steal if anything to make myself better so you referenced uh getting better perhaps 1% better day by day that would be related to the Japanese I think you call it culture or practice or belief of Kaizen something I’ve been introduced to through uh my
Golf work and uh and golf writing that’s something uh in which uh you’re you’re a True Believer right you subscribe to the Kaizen I do I think there’s Beauty and in sort of the discipline of of structuring your day structuring your life uh to sort of achieve certain
Results and then you know kind of the piggyback off that uh I think I’ve always had a natural relationship with kaisen I think it’s a very Western philosophy like you you show up you brind it out you work even when it’s not working you have faith
That it will right this is very like Tony Robins esque right we’ve all heard this raah intensity and then it’s like on the other end it’s like maybe you’re sort of clearing space for you know the results to reveal themselves you know and you know players go through ruts
It’s like there’s you know players that uh we can both think of in the NH sh and each well like they worked out this summer they trained they they went to training camp did their best to the process on the other end sometimes like better results just sort of reveal themselves exactly point
To any one exact reason um it’s kind of that balance you know control what you can and understand that there’s there’s an upper limit to that you know where yeah I don’t know the way the world’s going to go the way it wants it um I also and and this may have been
Something that you mentioned in one of your episodes or perhaps it’s something I read about you I can’t recall meditation you’re a proponent of a daily meditation that accurate yeah either that or breath work I I kind of alternate I think they’re two sides of
The same coin um I think anytime you can it’s the human mind’s capable of tremendous distraction anytime you can take a break from that and just kind of recognize that some thoughts like wisest thoughts so prominent who put it there you know when did I first start
Having that thought what would it be like if I were to stop having that thought how much more comfortable might my life be um and I I also am a big believer in like you just listen to some people that are like if I identify I I
Think I’m a sharp guy but like there’s some really really smart people out there I was watching yesterday like Ray doio you know guy’s managed bazillions of dollars and he’s like two most important things in my life was like I started to understand what my principal were I wrote them down and
Meditation like what what would be Ray Delio’s consultation fee for an hour of his time probably be pretty high yeah um or I can just take him at face value and believe him you know he he doesn’t seem like he’s hiding the answer so and there’s there’s been other influences
But meditation has been important for me yeah how long can you go for with the meditation on an individual sitting or session you want to call it that that’s said longest I’ve probably done would be like a half hour 45 minutes I do a lot
Of times on the bus now I’m not I’m not saying I’m not thinking that whole time I mean the goal is just to kind of begin again right just that athleticism of I’m trying to notice what’s going on oh I got on the ride I got on the the
Roller coaster of thinking again you know jump off the ride again um kind of you know see it for what it is and it’s uh it’s a practice that’s tremendously helped me sleep it’s helped me tremendously in my my parenting um and my relationship and the
I mean these are all trying things it sucks when you can’t sleep it’s it’s really difficult when your partner looks you and goes you know you’ve been you’ve been a bear to be with or uh and no parent you know wants to be sure with their child you know but I tell Charlie
Like you know stop pulling my hair 10 times and he does at the 11th like that’s where the meditation comes in you know you gota reset you’ve uh been in pro hockey for for a long time I think I would say on my end I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing probably thousands of
Athletes over the last near quarter Century I’ll be honest and this is a compliment there’s not a lot of guys I’ve come across or women for that matter who necessarily talk like you who perhaps think like you Connor who Express themselves in the way that you
Do or who Endeavor some of the same practices that we’ve just been talking about do have you felt throughout your pro career that some of these things are in contrast to your teammates and what they believe and how they live their lives for sure I mean I don’t use a uh I
Don’t use a fire hose right like if they’re curious and they want to talk about some things like I’m I’m here I I know that there were people that maybe suggested certain modalities to help me at younger times in my life and it went way over my head and there’s a bit of
That um but I also relate to them in in in more way ways than not as well you know like our our lifestyle is very similar you know our challenges of whatever it is finding new homes or um you know maybe I don’t know it could be any array
Of things but I think I’ve always tried to sort of be there for my teammates um lead them if they if they want to be light up they just want a friend like I’ll do that and then on the other hand like you you mindfulness is important
But like there’s a there’s a physical mechanics component to the game like you still got to go out there and make plays you still got to go out there and be in tremendous shape there’s no substitute for some of the physical work and I I take great pride in that side too I
Would just guess I think I found a a bit closer to the end of the road in that realm than most I really went after it hard early in my career and just realized like your your nervous system needs a different stimulus here and uh you know more squatting or more
Running or more skating is just not going to do it you need to be a little bit more cre I’m try to ask this next question the nicest possible way it’s going to come across as a negative but rest assured it certainly isn’t not everybody likes the smartest guy in the
Room I’m sorry one more time I say not not not everybody always likes the smartest guy in the room um has your intell ever ever put you at odds uh with teammates well I mean I’ve played with some other smart guys too I mean you don’t want to be pompous and
Um you I’ve met arrogant people I’m sure I’ve had you know displays of arrogance in my life I’m not proud of them and I that’s part of what you’re trying to accomplish with the meditation like was I a prick like was I you know out of line with with what I said was
I you know why was I trying to protect myself in that moment whether it’s teammate triping each other or you’re you’re talking about a concept that kind of thing um I don’t know I would say I’m happy to talk about these topics with people when asked I would say we don’t
Go into these Waters most of time in the locker room and so you know maybe the contrast isn’t there I’m not uh I don’t know I play with guys for example like tremendous hockey players they go home and they play video games for 10 hours I
Have no judgment on that like I If that brings you great joy and your family structure like everyone’s cool with that agreement like hey man all for it like I think nothing I don’t think any less of you because you don’t know who Alan Watts is or you know whoever else that
You want to you know talk about um but if you’re like you know if you want to come up me go man Conor I just can’t sleep at night this my mind’s you know racing like what do you think we could all right man I’ve been there
I’ve had all sorts of insomia episodes like let’s let’s chew on some techniques man I think the favorite episode that I listened to Conor this was I believe from April of 22 a guy with a fascinating life story a former teammate of yours and a former NHL uh aaronville
Potti he’s got an incredible life story to tell and what I enjoyed most about that and I don’t know if you know this or not this is decidedly a compliment you did a great job as an interviewer in that particular ular episode because you shut up and sometimes as an interviewer and I
Hope that the listeners to this episode agree Sometimes the best thing to do is to just shut up and to let the guest or story subject tell their story and you did that so wonderfully in that episode he has an incredible life story to tell and you really let him tell it you
Conscious of being a podcast host like that of being a good listener and letting the guest just simply tell the story without constantly interrupting yeah absolutely I mean I mean being the oldest of three like I was always expected to be a leader you know decently extroverted like I I enjoy
Talking I enjoy expressing myself a pro athlete like I I don’t mind the Limelight it’s kind of comes with the job um so to play a support role and to bring the best out of people like I’ve I’ve witnessed in other people it’s not something I you know maybe was innately
Drawn to um but I’m willing to learn and and um you know similarly I try to listen to certain podcast hosts whether it’s you know Tim Ferris or Andrew hman like yeah I think they’re brilliant I’m interested in their two cents but that is kind of their their Mastery of
Identifying really interesting stories and bring them together and I was genuinely curious like I played with Aaron I played with him a long time ago like I’m so different than when I was when I was 19 and uh like our relationship just manto man being older
Was so much different and I was genely curious like I saw some of his burn marks and literally never asked him I just scared or you know if he wanted to bring it up I guess he could and I was like man I don’t I really didn’t know the
Story um so I I I I I to piggyback up like I genuinely was curious on what he was going through again for those that want to check out curious competitor that’s one that I might recommend is there one that you would personally recommend that sticks out for you
Something maybe that you’ve done in the recent past of these 74 episodes um I really like my doctor Andrew Hill one with Peak brain uh that one’s a little bit interesting just on like some of what they’re finding in terms of concussion research and like something to do about it like the
Million dollar question I had I have a son and you know hey Dr Hill would would you study the brain you have for you know 40 years or whatever would you let your kid play hockey and he was like yeah I I I would and so I have a lot of
Parent hockey listeners and and players themselves and it’s kind of nice to know like you’re you’re not made of glass you know concussions are definitely something to be afraid of but there’s something you can do um so I’ll go with that one that that one’s uh I did in the
Last few let me ask you lastly Connor uh 11 years of pro hockey still playing at an extremely high level as we’ve seen in your debut season for the Firebirds whenever eventually that day is that you opt to hang up the skates do you see yourself delving deeper into perhaps a
Broadcast world or maybe would you say you have greater interest in in learning more about the top ICS that you’ve covered on your program whether that be the brain whether that be meditation whether that be nutrition and spirituality you thought about that at all I me I think of the weight of the
Choice it’s just a shame in in human life like we are as small as we are and our life’s as short as it is like there’s going to be some things we don’t get to and I I think about that choice being heavy I’m confident whatever I
Choose like I I’ll kind of enjoy and love and I don’t know I kind of leave it open-ended like I played other sports but like hockey had me you know at a young age it was it was going to be hockey there was no other substitute and
So I’m kind of I guess just keeping my ear to the ground like I have an interest in human psychology or you know biomechanics or the the management of a great team or the coaching of a great team maybe that’s some might go into a broadcasting um but hockey chose me you
Know I met a lot of people in high school like my wife I just knew she was significant I you know I and and so I’m I’m kind of hoping uh whatever is to be presents itself and we’ll see what that day looks like when I get Conor so appreciative of your time
Certainly hope that uh you’ll get back to the podcast the last one I think was in September and now of course we bu into the season you got other things to do but certainly hope they get back to it man readily enjoyed listening to it I certainly intend to listen to more
Episodes all the best in abbotford and we’ll see you guys when you get back to the desert proper next Wednesday December 13th again against abidur three in a row against that Squad good luck man safe travels we’ll see you back back here soon Conor awesome job Thanks all right fireb clock thank you so much for your time your interest your ears your continued support enthusiasm for this endeavor to wrap it up with this December 7 2023 episode of the Fire and Ice podcast additional appreciation of course goes to this episode’s guest fascinating talk really interesting guy great hockey
Player FS defenseman Connor carot and of course powering this endeavor title sponsor Desert Willow Golf Resort right here in Palm Desert California that’s home to the Mountain View and Firecliff courses also the excellent and onsite pal Desert Golf Academy you can make it a terrific a
Terrific rather putt to putt F day go get in your cuts at Desert Willow Golf Resort and skate right on over just 3 miles away to the birds home ICE of Acure Arena as far as those tea times or your swing a tutelage you’re going to find all that online at Desert
Willow.com best of the birds for that double dip Yonder Abbotts bird again uh it’s a back to back on Friday December 8th and then this Saturday the 9th before the birds return back for the next home game at Aur Arena again against abbottsburg that is 700 p.m. puck drop on Wednesday December 13th
We’ll see you there at the Birds barn until then thanks again for tuning in and remember as always one Valley one team Rising together
Lace up the audio for a fascinating chat with Firebirds’ defenseman and podcast host, Connor Carrick.
