Latest / College Hockey Mouth / Episode 2: FAU Goalie Rocco Bruno Joins the Pod!

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Episode 2: FAU Goalie Rocco Bruno Joins the Pod! · College Hockey Mouth

• speaker-0: Welcome back to the College Hockey Mouth Podcast, a College Hockey South podcast. My name is Devin Sarah, hosting alongside two new co hosts, Brendan Rubin and Gavin Coker today. Boys, welcome to College Hockey Mouth. How you doing? speaker-1: Glad to be here. I've been looking forward to it. You know, I just settled in at school, so I'm ready to go. speaker-0: Yeah, I'm ⁓ super excited to be here. School's getting underway. Hockey season's coming up soon, so a lot of exciting things going on. Fire it up boys. Why don't you ex kind of introduce yourselves to our audience? We've got a rotating crew coming up, but ⁓ we know you boys are heavily involved in the books right now. Tell us about where you go to school and what you're up to. speaker-1: Do so I'm ⁓ I'm up in school in northern Ontario. I go to ⁓ Laurentian University studying sports administration. So ⁓ you know, I have a little background in what we're talking about. And I'll be part of the ⁓ broadcast team this year for the lot for our tournament, so I'm excited. speaker-0: Yeah, and I'm a I'm a student at Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida, right outside Orlando. And ⁓ I do a little bit of everything. Writing, broadcast, photography. Basically if you can name it, I'm probably got my hand in it, so I'm excited. Canadian and a moccasin couldn't be more separate of people, ⁓ and mascots. You know, Brendan, I love the fact I can already tell you've got that Canadian accent going. You know Are you ⁓ are you ⁓ I forget when we talked the other day. I think you said you're a Canucks fancy. ⁓ speaker-1: we talking about? I'm from Montreal, you know, Canadians fan all my life through ⁓ trials and you know trip dations. So we're here and we're hey, next decade's ours. speaker-0: Really is though. I mean as a Red Wings fan, like you guys are farther in that rebuild than we were. But this is a this is a crucial year and we'll talk about ⁓ another Red Wings player coming up in this podcast, but ⁓ love to hear it, Canadian, ⁓ Gavin, you're introduced as our producer host, but now you're officially a host. Tell us about what you plan to do with the podcast, kinda your role. Yeah, we have a ⁓ a lot of exciting things we've got planned, a lot of great guests. I mean Obviously our first interview today's super excited about this one. And then maybe even trying to get some live ⁓ live podcast content. We'll see how the ⁓ season goes along. That's a teaser that a lot of people can be looking forward to. We're getting into that silly season pretty soon here, and the season is just around the corner. We've got a great interview lineup for you guys today with a member of the Florida Atlantic men's division two team. He's a two-time reigning goaltender of the year. And just recently crowned a national champion. Please welcome goaltender Rocco Bruno to the pod. speaker-2: What's up guys? Good afternoon gentlemen. How's everyone feeling today? speaker-0: Wonderful. Rocco, we've been anticipating getting you on this show since the moment we started it. I know from getting to know you at Florida Atlantic and seeing your personality, this was just a no brainer to get you going on College Hockey Mouth. So for those that don't know about you, tell us about yourself and your upbringing in hockey. speaker-2: Okay, so I mean ⁓ it starts way back when I was about six years old. My grandfather bought me my first pair of skates and ⁓ I grew up in this town in Pennsylvania called Springfield and I began on a rink that was, you know, it wasn't a full size hockey rink. It was about three quarters of a you know way full and then there was a league called the SHL. So ⁓ I learned the skate and then ⁓ eventually I started playing in the ⁓ SHL where my first year we ended up winning a championship, which was which was really cool, but ⁓ I fell in love with the game from there. Originally I was a forward, but we didn't have a goalie for our team. So a lot of the guys they would, you know, interchange. You know, some would some guy would be goalie for one game, some guy would be goalie for the next game, and you know I finally had my shot, so I ⁓ I strapped the pads on for the first time in my life. And it was just, you know, I I fell in love from there. The position was it was different. I think that's why I liked it so much. It wasn't I'm going back to the bench and then I'm sitting there then I'm getting back on I'm going back to the bench. It was a you know you're out there the whole time And, you know, i i it's a really it's a really cool position in my opinion. Some some may say that's, you know, a little bit psychopathic, but ⁓ you know, I enjoy it, but ⁓ I fell in love from there and then ⁓ you know I climbed up the ranks playing throughout, you know, my youth in triple A hockey ⁓ eventually. ⁓ that just led me down here to Florida Atlantic University and here we are. speaker-0: You talk about growing up in Springfield and a very much different environment than down in Florida. Can you tell us how you found your way to a place like South Florida? Very different atmosphere and definitely not what you'd expect somebody from Pennsylvania to find. Yes, so speaker-2: i it's a lot different of an atmosphere I would say in terms of everything. So a big part in when I was in high school was, you know, when I'm going off to college, where should I go? Do I wanna go close? Do I want to go far? And you know, the and honestly I I just wanted to go far. Not because of you know, I didn't like I didn't like the Philadelphia area and not because, you know, I didn't have friends or anything like that. But it was more of like an opportunity to, you know, expand my horizons, you know, see see a different part of the country and kinda just out of my comfort zone. I've always liked the I've always liked the warm weather. You know, I we came down for a hockey trip to Clearwater, Florida with my high school team where we played at ⁓ Clearwater Ice Arena. And I remember from that trip I was like, wow this place is you know this place is beautiful. Why don't I apply for schools here when you know I have that opportunity. So you know I did and then I got in and I was like okay so now I have a decision to make because you know I I I'm in a couple of schools still in the Philly area. All my friends are here, you know this is what I grew up around. Can't go to, you know, Eagles games and Phillies games as much as I used to. I understood all that. But the main thing was just not having home in my backyard. That that was the biggest thing for me, was just being able to go far enough away where ⁓ a lot of things if if they were to happen, you know, I'm forced to figure them out on my own. You know, just little things where, you know, at a time and point in everyone's life they kinda have to understand that, you know, you can't have a mommy and daddy holding your hand. So, you know, that was the reason for going so far away was just because, you know, I'm kinda technically not technically, but kinda on my own down here when, you know, things happen. So speaker-0: Yeah, and Rocco, obviously hockey's a little bit bigger up north, but how have you seen hockey change since you came to Florida Atlantic two years ago? speaker-2: Yeah, so hockey is huge up north. ⁓ you know, as everyone knows, I mean the you know, the Boston area, Massachusetts area, it's flooded. We used to go up there every single weekend for six to eight weeks ⁓ when we played in this ⁓ in this league called the Beast League. you know, Minnesota, Michigan, all these all these either Midwest or Northeast states, they're all flooded with hockey. Now you come down to Florida, there's two NHL teams in the state, right? But the state is not it's not a hockey state. But since I've been here I've been able to see the growth from different members of the community to you know the two NHL teams between Tampa and you know the Panthers finding success within their seasons. Hockey's starting to become you know allowed presence within not only Florida but within the South Florida community and being a part of that is just ⁓ it's phenomenal. I I you know I love I I love to see you know these young kids stepping up and and you know putting the skates on for the first time just just how I did. ⁓ You know growth of the game it's a beautiful thing. So I'm really Really enjoying the support as well from the community. It's just, you know, it's growing every year and it's fantastic. speaker-1: Yeah, I wanted to ask Rocco a bit more of a you know a personal question. ⁓ you know, growing up in in Pennsylvania in that area, obviously you have some some standout goalies to be watching as you grow up. ⁓ so I was kind of wondering what what was your biggest influence on goaltending style? Because up here in can ⁓ in Canada, especially eastern Canada, we're having a bit of of an epidemic of a lack of goalies because everybody saw Crosby. Growing up, so everyone was modeling their style after after him. So what what did you find influenced your style growing up? speaker-2: Okay, so growing up ⁓ you know, obviously I was a Flyers fan. Anyone who knows me, or more specifically has stood next to me, understands, you know, I'm not the tallest guy in the world. So i I kinda find it hard to relate to a lot of the goalies that six foot three, six foot seven, you know. Can't relate to that when you're ⁓ when you're not. So what I actually took a lot of inspiration from w was Jonathan Quick on the Kings. He you know, I I feel like I mimic his style in a sense in some sort. Where ⁓ you know, he's a very he's a very low to the ground goaltender. He's quick, he's fast. And and he makes up for he makes up for a lot of size with his speed. And I feel like that's ⁓ a pretty good relation to the way that I play. And so ⁓ that's that's mainly where I found my inspiration from. ⁓ along with, you know, Ron Hextahl, Bernie Perant, guys like that. ⁓ Ron Hextahl from playing the puck mostly, but That that's really that's really my inspiration when it came to goaltending. speaker-0: When I first watched you, first thing I thought of was more like a Dominic Hashik because you're a guy that's super active and you fly around in there and you're definitely not afraid to show your emotions when you make a good stop. I've seen you get PK keep a pretty even keel even when it's the back of your net, although it doesn't happen a whole lot. You had one heck of a national tournament. We're gonna get to that in a moment here. Tell us about when you first got into college hockey south, you were immediately Praised. We obviously know the goaltender of the year awards, but you got the chance to be a college hockey south All Star. You ended up traveling with the team. We know you went to Europe. Tell us about what that was like. speaker-2: That was just i an incredible experience. huge shout out to Kyle Nell and you know everyone that was involved in organizing that. When you get an opportunity like that, it's not something that you could just pass up, right? So believe it or not, that was that was my first time in Europe. and to be lucky to be lucky enough and and blessed enough to have experience that with, you know, teammates and, you know, guys from the league and that being, you know, my first time in Europe, I think that was it's It's honestly a blessing at the end of the day that ⁓ and and I'm extremely grateful that I was given that opportunity. Beautiful atmosphere, I'll tell you that. A large thing for me is ⁓ as we were talking about earlier, just you know, expanding my horizons and things like that, being able to see the culture and just the views and and a different type of lifestyle. It was really eye-opening, was really awesome to me. I'm big fan of techno music. I was able to hear some real authentic German techno while I was out there. It was just absolutely surreal experience. The teammates, you know, the guys that were around too, you know, they just made it all the better. And you know, we all we all had a very good time out there. speaker-0: Florida and ⁓ this place is known for having that house music and that ⁓ E D ⁓ scene. I know ⁓ club space is huge. Must have felt like that parts of ⁓ Europe. speaker-2: Not at all actually. It's a lot different out there. People out there they don't they don't put their phones up when someone's playing music. Down here out of that, I don't appreciate that. But when we were out in Germany, ⁓ you know, I kinda I slipped away from the group a little bit and I went to this underground techno bunker while I was there. And that was just an absolutely incredible experience. Just to add on to that, where you know, i i music is is one of my passions, right? It's more of a hobby though, I don't take it so serious as to a job or anything like that, but you know I grew up with music, you know, being played as loud as can be from you know from the time I can remember. My dad's actually a DJ, so you know from a young age I fell in love with music, all types of music. So you know that's something that I was really grateful to experience being there in a different culture, a different setting and hearing different, you know, music. So that was that was a very big highlight to me. speaker-0: And we got to see a lot of content, whether you were mic'd up and playing in some of the games, but how did playing internationally change or challenge your approach to the game? speaker-2: I'd say playing internationally was was a big change in terms of the way that the game's played, right? For example, one thing that I did notice ⁓ you know US Canada, ⁓ the game is very north to south, right? Out there it's it's a lot more east to west, right? So a lot more a lot more passing, you know, cross zones and things like that. So that was something that I did have to ⁓ kind of acknowledge and adjust to. It's something that you know I haven't really experienced, but it is it is much more east to west. speaker-0: And ⁓ was it a bigger ice you guys played on or was it NHL size? I guess Olympic versus NHL. speaker-2: I believe it was an Olympic rank that we played on, so a lot more room for that East to West game style. speaker-1: So has playing, you know, on that new area of ice, you know, having that experience, becoming the defending champs this year, and you know, trying to hit that three peat of goalie of the year, have your your personal and team goals ⁓ evolved and changed heading into the season? speaker-2: Absolutely. As a team, I think that you know we're all on the same page. We know what it takes to get there. We know what it takes to come out as champions and you know it it starts with the personalities in the room. So our largest thing I would say is just we're a family at the end of the day and that's what it takes is you know, the camaraderie, the brotherhood, and there's there's no finger pointing, there's no this, there's no that, helping each other get better at the end of the day. Now from a personal standpoint, I don't think I've wanted it more than I do right now, ever in my life. It's one thing it's one thing to something it's another thing to win it again and it's really awesome to win it a third time in a row. So I've been doing extensive, extensive amounts of training leading up to this season, and you know it's not gonna stop there. So you know this is this is gonna be the year where you know I put absolutely everything I have into into this season and you know just just the work I I fell in love with fell in love with the grind again and so you know it's there's really nothing out there I don't think this year that's gonna stop speaker-1: Any ⁓ any particular game you have circled this year or just taking it one at a time? speaker-2: Mm. You know, I don't I don't circle games, I don't look forward to things I I focus on today. So a large part about the person who I am is, you know, I focus on today. If I take care of everything I have to take care of today, then, you know, I just keep doing the same thing every single day. I don't think about tomorrow because then I get too distracted on what needs to be done today. So, you know, I take it one game at a time, I take it one day at a time, I take it one minute, one second at a time. So that's kinda where I lay in terms of, you know, the future of the season. So speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah, and you talked about changing your training regiment. What are some things that you've implemented this off season that maybe you didn't have your first two seasons? speaker-2: So something that I did implement is a new a new training environment as well as kind of trying things that I haven't tried in the past, right? So right now this is another thing, but ⁓ I'm doing a lot of cardio at the moment. I'm training for something coming up in June actually. But I've been doing a lot of cardio at the moment, which is you know really helping my online performance. But mostly I've been working with ⁓ with DJ Randall over at Barwis. So That that's a huge a huge improvement that I have seen since I've started training there. The camaraderie over there from, you know, not only the trainers but the other guys being trained. It's it's a it's a really great environment. And I'll tell you what, it's it's nothing's more motivating than working out around people who are also in that same kinda you know, mindset where where it's never enough. You know, you gotta keep going, you gotta keep going. Amazing environment over at Barwiss it. You know, I highly recommend anyone who's in in any type of athletic sport or anything, s if you if you want more out of it, that's that's the kind of place you go. That's what I've been re that's what I've been really implementing. A lot a lot of on ice stuff, you know. Just getting getting work in wherever I can. speaker-0: He loves the grind. He loves the process. And I think that's what gained some great insight into how you've established yourself as one of the best goaltenders in what was AAU and now the ACHA I think is gonna be put on notice pretty soon. Talk to us one cool thing we saw just recently, perhaps the coolest thing that I've seen out of this offseason was you were taking shootout attempts from Patrick Kane, forward for the Detroit Red Wings, one of the greatest American born players ever. How did that come about? speaker-2: That was a surreal experience just to start off. But ⁓ it came about from you know training with Barwis ⁓ and DJ. You know, they have a lot of hockey guys. They they do a lot of their ⁓ they do a lot of pro athletes, you know, they train a lot of pro athletes and ⁓ they were just looking for a goalie, I think, or DJ texted me one day, he goes, Hey, would you wanna hop on the ice, maybe take a couple of shots from a couple of guys? I'm like, Yeah, okay, sure, I'll you know, I'll go do that. It's great. I hi I get out there and you know, Patrick Kane is there and I'm like, My God, that's Patrick Kane. I've been watching you since I can even remember, right? I think the hardest part about that skate wasn't the shots, wasn't the you know, wasn't the work. I think the hardest part was keeping it together, right? Because those guys are out there, that's their job. They're there to work. They're there to, you know, to be better, right? So w when you got guys out there that are, you know, top draft picks in the NHL, you know, guys with ten plus years in the league and then, you know, Hall of Fame players like Patrick Kane, it's not It's not social hour out there for them. It's not fan zone. They're there to work, you know. So being there was just it was absolutely surreal and you know, having to contain myself I think was was the most difficult part, you know, knowing that I'm sharing the ice with an absolute legend in the in the hockey world. So that was was an absolutely incredible experience that ⁓ I don't think I'll ever forget that. That was awesome. speaker-0: You held your own. You looked pretty good in the one clip we saw. I think he was trying to pick your glove side and dangle around you a few times, but correction. speaker-2: I only posted the ones I saved. speaker-0: What was the what was the percentage over there with with with Kaner? speaker-2: I don't even want to say, honestly. It's it's Patrick King. He's you know it's Patrick King. You can't I was I was helpless. I was helpless out there, but I mean I look good doing it, tell ya that. Look good doing it. speaker-0: One of the coolest things I think we can all talk about Brendan Gavin, just reaction to I guess this level of commitment. I mean, we're about to start a season here and I don't know, some some players have their feeling out process and getting back into shape, but I mean, he's ready to go from day one. Yeah, and obviously you had ⁓ some time to celebrate coming off ⁓ winning the national championship last year. How long did it take you to get back into training? Was it right away? How long did you guys take to celebrate that one? speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-2: Well ⁓ I basically took two months to get fat. And then ⁓ after that I went on vacation, got back from vacation and ⁓ I looked in the mirror and I was like, Okay, well, gotta start now. So ⁓ that's basically when I started. So at the speaker-3: Beginning of June. speaker-2: is kinda w er middle of June I'd say. Middle of June is where I kinda locked in and I like, Okay, I gotta get you know, I gotta get back in shape. It's time to you know, it's time to go again. You you had your little bit of fun. Now it's time to it's time to get back into the the swing of things, get back in shape. But, you know, winning that and then speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-2: You know, just having a good time after that was that that was really awesome. And ⁓ you know, the guys worked so hard the whole season and just the team was just an absolute unit going into that tournament and just all throughout it too. I mean we we were really a family there and that's you know, that's what ultimately won it for us was was was that family. Was that was that family within the locker room that that won it. You know, picking each other up. It was you know, it was a really it was a really awesome experience. speaker-0: The tournament itself was simply dominant. Last week we pointed out a stat. You guys outscored your opponents thirty-five to five in that. You only up let up obviously single digit goals. Can you tell us about a moment that stood out and the confidence level that you guys were gonna go into that tournament after the heartbreak of last year and accomplish what you set out? speaker-2: Well, ⁓ I think the moment for for me, and I think a couple of guys can agree on this, was you know, coming so close to to winning it the year before, and then obviously coming up short now. That doesn't feel good. I can tell you that. That does not feel good whatsoever. So I think that being there and losing it honestly propelled everyone to just work that much harder. I think that I have the scores right here actually. Eleven to one, I believe, against Lynn. ⁓ five-nothing against Wake Forest, I believe was Where we kind of realize, like, hey, there's absolutely nothing that's gonna stop us, right? Because Lynn we knew when we played them that, you know, that was gonna be a warm-up game. ⁓ once we hit like teams that we were not prepared for, well we were prepared, I would say, but I'm saying, you know, teams we haven't seen before, things like that. You know, teams like teams like Farmingdale, you know, MTSU, we saw them, we saw them during the season, right? And you know, they're a tough opponent. We played them really close. ⁓ but you know, at the end of the day, speaker-1: Forest. Well obviously we talked about the season before. It was a heartbreaking end and obviously that fuels you throughout the summer. After such a dominant ⁓ you know, win this this past tournament, do you guys still feel that fire under you or is it something different, something kind of inside you? speaker-2: We all still feel it, I believe. I can't speak for, you know, how other guys are feeling at the moment. I just know that, you know, this team's ready for whatever whatever's thrown at us, right? And from a personal standpoint, that fire never goes out. Regardless just something about me, regardless whether it's hockey, whether it's anything in life, there's always there's always a new goal to accomplish, right? So it feels good when you when you finally achieve that goal, right? But then you look, what's next? Right? So that that fire never goes away in anything I do. So that's really my my viewpoint on it. You know, you gotta be relentless at the end of the day. There's nothing that that can make me contempt basically at the moment. There's always there's always a new goal to pursue. There's always there's always somewhere where I can be better. So I need to, you know, obviously go for it. And that has to do with, you know, not only hockey but just anything. speaker-1: It's like ⁓ you know, Kobe said, job's not finished. speaker-2: Job's not finished yep. I actually have the Battle at the Beach trophy. I took the I took the picture where he ⁓ he's got like the trophy. speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. speaker-2: Yeah yeah, that's on my Instagram. That's funny. That's funny. speaker-0: An essential Rocco Bruno there. So now we obviously know about the changes that happened suddenly with the league switch over to HCHA. We know Christian Long has your group ready to go. You know, I I think Brendan asked the right question, like how you feeling from based on your championship last year, but knowing how much change has happened, has that kind of shifted your guys' perspective? speaker-2: Absolutely not. ⁓ you know, a large part and I think keeping keeping a good mental capacity as an athlete is you don't worry about what else is going on out there. You don't worry about the outside noise. It's not it's not my job to, you know, worry about that. My job my job is to get in between pipes and stop the puck. So that's what I'm focused on. ⁓ however things go, I I know that that's my job at the end of the day, so I'm not necessarily worried about where we're going, how speaker-3: Okay. Yeah. speaker-2: we're gonna do it. I just you know I I know my purpose and you know I have to serve my purpose as best as I can so that's really what I'm most focused on. speaker-0: Yeah, and you talked about the mental fortitude of stopping pucks and obviously being a goalie's the hardest mental position in hockey 'cause a lot of the time you're out there, maybe you're by yourself, especially with the way your guys' offense rolls a lot of the time. I feel like you get a little breather. But how do you keep yourself in the game after letting up a goal? speaker-2: Books. Odd answer I know, let me explain. So ⁓ I've been doing a lot of reading and I've kinda ⁓ I've read a sports book here or there, but ⁓ you know, now as I get older, as I start to mature a little bit, ⁓ reading is has become an actual like pretty cool thing to me. ⁓ you know, I'm kinda just going over a bunch of different, not only sports but just life kinda mindset things, right? And I'm not like reading them because y I'm depressed or anything like that. I'm reading them because I take a little bit from everything. I'm always looking to like I said, always looking to expand my horizon. So if I c if I could read these books they give me something else to think about. What if like I thought about it this way? What if I took this route on, you know, whatever whatever it may be. That kinda allows me to, you know, keep my head in it back there, right? Because, you know, you see a lot of guys not only, you know, in the goaltending position, but just all across sports, right? Something doesn't go their way and ⁓ they they get frustrated, you know, and that's where that's where it all starts to go downhill because now you can't stop thinking about that thing, right? So, you know, I heard someone say this to me before, but have have have the mind of a goldfish back there. Right? Happens, forget. It happens, forget. And you just keep moving on. You know? It's just it's in your brain, it's out of your brain. Like something happened, okay. Can you change it? No. Don't worry about it. Move on. Like it's so th that's really how I just keep my head in it. speaker-0: Being a big ⁓ Eagles fan, any chance we see in our excellence on the back of the net sometime next to your water bottle this season? speaker-2: You know, I was thinking about putting a Eagle sticker on the back of my helmet this year, and I think I think I'm gonna do it, considering the recent Super Bowl win. I really want to get back to Philly for at least one game. That that would be something that's that's gonna be really on my bucket list for this year. Get back to Philly for ⁓ not only a tailgate but ⁓ but an Eagles game. But being down here has its perks and all sunny weather, palm trees. You know, I live a mile away from the beach, it's it's a beautiful environment, right? But at the end of the the day, ⁓ I I it's where it's where I'm from. I you know, I can't forget about things like that. You know I enjoy those kinds of things. You know, I can watch it on the TV as much as I want, but you know, it ain't the same as being back home. speaker-0: Rocco, you're living in like that image of the two dolphins jumping through the rainbow in the ocean. I mean, you've got your guys' championship, Eagles championship, you got invited out to a Panthers playoff game, they won the Stanley Cup. What was that experience like? It looked like they hooked the boys up, the Panthers. speaker-2: That softball right. It was it was an absolutely incredible experience. I mean, box seats for a playoff game right behind the goal. Like, are you kidding me? That's that's incredible. It's it's such a such an awesome, you know, thing, and and I'm so grateful that we were able to have that experience, not only you know, for myself, but for the guys as well. That that kind of kind of really showed me, like, hey, like this community actually, you know, it's they see us, you know, they you know, things like that. And whoever, you know, went into getting that going, Scott, ⁓ Christian, you know, any. anyone who you know put forth an effort to get that to happen, I I greatly appreciate it and it was it was it was an awesome experience to be there. That was ⁓ I don't know if I think that was my first playoff game I've ever been to. If I think about it. I think that was my first hockey playoff game I've ever been to actually. It was electric. Such a good time. speaker-1: Well, ⁓ I think we're gonna send you some rapid fire questions right now, kind of you know, you see what your brain comes up with and get to know the real you. Hiram. So first up we got what's your pre-game hype song? speaker-2: Pre game hype song. It's all over the place. Mostly it's like really hard techno music. speaker-1: Right, you're f following up on your father's DJing. speaker-2: Yeah, he don't like techno. He don't like techno. I do though. ⁓ you know, but it's really cool with the with with me and his aspect with the music. Like I'll send him songs and stuff like that and he'd be like, I played this back and it d like it's like, you know, it's it's like I know I got this on vinyl dude. It's you know, it's it's really cool. speaker-0: Are you making the ⁓ pre game mix this year? Who who usually ⁓ is in charge of getting the the warm up going? speaker-2: Yeah, sure, I'll make it. You know, honestly I think I think they just find a a SoundCloud link and they just, you know, throw it right up on the right up on the speakers. But I think I think that I think that this year maybe I should make it a little bit more personal to the team, you know, take aspects of, you know, songs that we've previously used like ⁓ It's That Time, Hey Baby, ⁓ blah blah blah or whatever that song's called. You know, the really ⁓ the core songs that this team has fallen behind. I think that maybe I should go ahead and incorporate all of those. songs I feel like that would be a really cool thing to do. speaker-0: And then what is your pregame or post game meal? speaker-2: Game meal kind of varies, honestly. Usually I don't eat before the game. ⁓ maybe like I'll have a breakfast, but I don't really eat before the game. I'll have like three or four rice crispy treats before I get out there though. ⁓ post-game, it depends, you know. There's been some nights where I come home from the game and you know I I make some pizza rolls, and there's been other nights where you know we're going out to dinner, we're having ⁓ a good time after like a Saturday night win or something like that. Tin Roofs bacon loaded chicken cheese fries are fantastic. speaker-1: Alright, and we we know goalies are weird, right? You have any weird superstitions? speaker-2: No, I'm not a superstitious person. I wanna like ⁓ more of like a prepared I I get dressed really early. That's like my only thing really. I get dressed really early, you know, I put my headphones on, I kinda just, you know, let you know all the outside noise do its thing and sh you know, I listen to the music, I get locked in and things like that, but I I wouldn't say I have any like or any type of ⁓ pre-game ritual besides just, you know, getting dressed early. Like it I don't have like a pattern or anything like that. speaker-3: Why would more call Superstitions or speaker-0: Yeah, and then obviously you have the opportunity with Patrick Kane, but what's another NHL player you'd want to face in a shootout or you think you could take and make a couple of saves in a shootout? Like Well, if you want to talk about some that you've had in the past and then one that you haven't faced before then. speaker-2: Good question. So I skated with Jason and Nick Robertson. Both of them guys are absolutely incredible players. They're professional hockey players. I mean they're they're they're absolutely incredible to skate with. ⁓ and that was like my first time skating with like professional NHL players where ⁓ it was more of like a private setting. So I thought that was really cool. Another person I got to skate with, Nikita Zodorov. That dude's big. That dude's really big. I was taking like clap bombs from him from the blue line for a little while and that speaker-3: It's a speaker-2: was ⁓ a little bit scary, but I made it through it. All good over here. Someone who I would like to skate with in the future, NHL guy. Can it be can it be can it does it have to be modern? What do you speaker-3: Previous NHLer. speaker-0: Yeah, it can be previous, it can be modern. speaker-2: This is a really good question because there's a few. Claudio. I would say Claude Giroux. Just because, you know, being a Flyers fan growing up, Claude Giroux was the man. You know, I think that would be a really cool that would be a really cool person to skate with. speaker-3: I would say clean speaker-0: you see him in Ottawa right now killing it and I remember watching him in Philly in twenty ten, so it's insane that he's still out there skiing. And then our one last question our one last question for you is what advice do you have for young hockey players who are trying to get into the game and don't really know how to get in speaker-3: I would say speaker-2: for all the young guys out there, if it's something that that you love, dive dive headfirst into it. hockey You know, I played baseball before, I played lacrosse, you know. Nothing's ever nothing's ever come close to the level I love the level of love I have for the game of hockey. You know, not only is it an escape for a lot of, you know, people, it's just it's something to look forward to. It's something to, you know, get your name out there, get involved, do things that do things that benefit you and your health and things like that. So I think that everyone should give it a try, right? 'Cause you might fall in love with it one day. Yeah. speaker-1: Absolutely. I think that's about all the time we have today. ⁓ but we just wanted to really thank you for coming on here, sharing ⁓ sharing your thoughts, you know. ⁓ the inaugural ⁓ interview for the podcast. ⁓ you know, you're going down in history. speaker-2: So awesome. It's such an honor to be here with you guys. I really do appreciate you guys contacting me about this. You know, and I'm very grateful for this opportunity and I'm very ⁓ very thankful for, you know, you guys putting this together and ⁓ you know, kinda just putting another aspect out there for the CHS community and ⁓ you know, the culture. I think it's I think it's a really cool thing that you guys do. And along with, you know, the broadcasts and things like that, like this is all stuff that we really do appreciate. And you know, another huge shout out to Kyle Nell and just, you know, everyone in the CHS. ⁓ Organization that you know keeps the ship keeps the ship running. It's you know it's it's an honor to be here, and I really do appreciate you guys. So thank you so much. speaker-0: Rocco, you're a beauty and you guys have one heck of a season coming up. The most important probably in FAU's history and we look forward to covering you starting September nineteenth against Florida. Thanks for your time, Rocco, and ⁓ we look forward to possibly having you on again down the line. speaker-2: Right, yep. I'm totally, I'm totally down to do that. Really, really huge thank you to you guys. I really appreciate it. Have a good night, guys. speaker-0: Great interview with Florida Atlantic University goaltender Rocco Bruno. He's one of the most charismatic personalities across the League of Fund anywhere. He's got a story and I'm sure a lot of other teams know about him pretty well from their rivalries. I think he was feeling some fire there when he was talking about Lynn in the beginning. We'll have to see how that school across for the Battle of Boca responds and ⁓ put out a challenge. But Rocco and FAU gonna do great things this year. in their inaugural season part of ACHA men's division two. So transitioning the show, we're gonna get to some of our headlines of the week. We talked a lot last week about the changes to College Hockey South and the ACHA. So we want to remind that we'll keep this one a lot to the actual teams and what's happening and we'll let you know if any updates that are happening. We're not even sure exactly which teams are going to be nationals eligible. We're not sure who's gonna be just going to conference tournaments. And you could see some more movement across the divisions. First thing we want to note is congratulations to the social media page for hitting ten thousand followers on Instagram. Really this thank you goes to all of you listening and supporting this platform. Guys, the College Hockey South Instagram has been one of the most intuitive and awesome brands to see across t college hockey. Club hockey college hockey, I guess. Did you guys expect this to come sooner or Is this just the right time for them to hit five digits? I think ⁓ it came at the right time, you know. You're seeing the growth as they move into the ACHA, and it's just it's honestly perfect timing. You know, they've been building towards this, working towards this, and as we're seeing club hockey gain more popularity, this this was just icing on the cake. speaker-1: I completely agree. I don't think it could have come at a better time. You know, we're just weeks out from the Columbus Classic. Right? So we're gaining that traction right now. And look, DHS is next up. You know, we got this quick to ten K. Next thing you know, we're gonna hit fifty and it's just gonna keep on growing. speaker-0: You're rivaling ⁓ some of the top pages in hockey at that point. I mean Bleacher Report, I'm not sure their exact metrics, but the sky's the limit right now. And congratulations to everybody involved, especially the new ⁓ interns and I know that Savannah Prefontaine, Danny Baum, Kyle Nell are leading a great crew there to grow the brand and its forty six team members. Speaking of that, Brendan, the Columbus Classic announced the other day that they will be hosting a girls try hockey, a free event encouraging New players and new skaters to the game to come out and try I guess a girls' day playing hockey. It's coincided with the Auburn women's program. Head coach Jack Rosenhammer is leading the charge there. This event will take place Sunday, September twenty first, at ten fifteen in the morning. It'll last for one hour and the staff will provide equipment including sticks, skates, helmets, Gloves. This is really cool to see, especially since we've already seen programs like Tennessee's women's division two program, which is new this year, already host their own Girls Day. And immediately after this event, the girls are gonna get to watch the championship game for the Columbus Classic. Probably one of the bigger events we've seen and most anticipated Columbus Classic in a while. speaker-1: Absolutely. And what a way to grow the game. You know, hockey's it's infamous for being the most expensive sport to get into. So especially for for girls who ⁓ may have been discouraged in the past from joining the sport, you know, having this time for them to go out and and potentially fall in love with the game, ⁓ there's there's no better way to to get new people into the sport because once they s they try out, maybe they start watching, you know, PWHL is one of the fastest growing leagues ever. So it's it's honestly just it's wonderful to see CHS being able to provide for the community. speaker-0: We're excited to Coach Rosenhammer and staff lead the charge there. And for more information, you can also go to the link in the bio for College Hockey South on Instagram to find out more about this upcoming event. Trials have been flying off the shelves, guys. We saw Middle Tennessee hosted trilots last week, Tampa men's wrapped up also, USF are this weekend, and the Auburn women's team were on August twenty fourth. This is that cool season where we get to see The rosters get filled out, the different division three squads, some have AC D C, a handful of Division Two teams. Was there anything that stood out to you guys that you saw on ⁓ socials? Yeah, I know ⁓ middle Tennessee had a couple of transfers come in that tried out for their team and cracked the roster. I think I saw one from ⁓ Buffalo State University, so seen a little ⁓ little movement, you know. I mean colleges become a lot about the transfer portal and obviously club hockey's a little different, but you do see some of these new guys coming in from a different university. Maybe they played against them at nationals and they were like, I wanna be a part of that, whatever the case is. I mean, you're just seeing one, like you said, rosters fill out and also players come from other teams and trying to make an immediate impact and go and win a national championship. speaker-1: And and what a great time for all this to be happening in the dog days of August, you know, middle of the off season. So it it was really exciting to see some quality hockey back on the timeline. speaker-0: Pulling up ⁓ something I saw the other day that was pretty cool. Something I saw the other day was a video that Middle Tennessee's social released where they mic'd up Justin Beachler, one of their prominent players on that roster. Justin's a guy who seems like a beauty. We gotta get him on the pod at some point. I loved it and part of that they were joking about ⁓ laying a shoulder and Justin introduced his or had his t while Justin was introducing his teammates, he had the boys shout out their parents, shout out their moms. So pretty cool. We love seeing content like that, especially when it's getting interactive and personal with the players. Another cool thing that happened this week was men's division three Austin P revealed their new sweaters, both home and the road. The governors released their home red with white stripes and their school name on the front. And then these white and sort of cream jerseys with the red stripes. Governors runs along the front with the number just. to the corner underneath the word mark. I'm a sucker for jerseys with word marks. That white jersey is insane and what's cool about this school is they actually won last year's for barrel jersey design competition with a black and red jersey that had the skating colonial or skating how do you say this boys, colonel? I'm gonna get flemmed on this for sure. The colonel yeah, colonel. ⁓ man. Well, yeah. Skating. I mean but they no. Those jerseys came out and I remember it being a reminiscent of the Arizona Coyotes. Kind of kinda kinda that same colorway, same design, just a cool little design for them to win that competition and the new jerseys look amazing. speaker-1: It's it's nice to have some simplicity in these new jerseys. People have been trying to do new things ⁓ all across leagues. So it's nice to see a team really just, you know, they know what their fans want and they went in with it. speaker-0: Yeah, it's awesome. And talking to ⁓ their ⁓ talking to their people, I learned that this jersey was designed by Jackson Smith and we're talking about the home reds here. It draws inspiration from the two thousand three to ⁓ four Austin P basketball team, men's basketball team. And it sort of correlates to the Boston University look, the Terriers, that iconic red with the Boston on the front. I also love the simplicity of it too and I think this one is gonna be up there, one of these two for jersey of the year when we get some competitions going and some debate sparks. But it's awesome to see teams are starting to do a little more of those jersey reveals as we get closer. So make sure to send college hockey south your new jerseys, your new sweater so we can ⁓ rate them here on the pod. Also, if you'd like to you can order one. With a limited stock, you can order them through the Verbero Team Store using the link in Governors Hockey's Club Store and their Instagram page at Governor's Hockey. Also, pretty cool, guys. College football is back. There's been a lot of buzz this week about the matchups, week one matchups. This could be a whole nother topic about just college football and games like Texas and Ohio State going on. Florida State versus Alabama is the only comparison we can draw in college hockey south. The last time those two teams played in a series was January nineteenth and twentieth in twenty twenty four. The frozen tide swept Florida State with consecutive shutouts, two nothing and one zero. We were just talking about sweaters, boys. So what is your dream sweater matchup between these two schools? I don't know. That's a tough one. I'm a b I'm a big classic Bama red jersey. So speaker-1: Yeah, it's a good question. speaker-0: That's my that's my classic pick. So I'm I like I said, I like simple, I like clean jerseys and that's just you know, you do too much you take away from what the jersey means and so I I'm a big classic jersey guy for both squads. speaker-1: Yeah, it's it's so hard to go wrong with Florida State's, you know, their burgundy and golden sweater. It's you know, it's one of those jerseys with the the colorway that's become so iconic. speaker-0: I'd have to agree. I think Florida State has one of the best tarps that I've ever seen in club hockey. They've got that Seminole riding the horse on the black jersey in that outline, and that's a really solid one. Alabama always has some clean looks, Gavin. You're right. Like they could probably do like that black versus all-white matchup. I think it would really fit the theme well of kind of that like light versus dark tone and We'll be talking as we go through the season more about these college football and club hockey crossovers. And it's not very uncommon for schools to plan their trips for the season around those college football games when the rivals play. Awesome to see there and talk about those schools. Still a little while before we see either of them in action, but like we said, the season is slowly approaching. Also about season approaching, we saw some schedule releases come out this week. Jacksonville University's A C D C team announced their inaugural schedule, led by head coach Derek Lodermeyer. And Jacksonville is a team that we're gonna have to learn a lot about this year, brand new still. And what a year to come in brand new, but we talked about the A C D C a little bit last week, Gavin. It's a really solid spot for a program that's gonna have a pretty competitive conference, it looks like, with as many as nine or ten teams. Yeah, and they're and they're jumping in pretty quick, you know. I mean, like I said, I go to Florida Southern, so they're coming up to Lakeland and they'll face off I think two times this season. So I'll get to see ⁓ in person. But I'm just really excited. It's a new squad, fresh faces, new coach. I mean, obviously every time a new school enters the conference, it's exciting. You know, they have a ⁓ former ECA HL player who used to play for the Jacksonville Iceman, so you know, gets to step back in on that rink but behind the bench instead of on the ice. So They've got an experienced coach, it's gonna be a fun season, and like I said, they're jumping right into the thick of it. speaker-1: It's also exciting with these new teams, right? Anything is possible, right? You haven't faced off against them, you don't know what the fan interaction's gonna be like, how the teams are gonna, you know, duel it out on the ice, so it's exciting to ⁓ to be coming up on that so quickly. speaker-0: It's coming at a rapid pace. And another new team, Florida Golf Coast, announced their schedule for their first season a part of College Hockey South. The Eagles have a mixed bag here. They're going to play a handful of Michigan teams to start the season against Ferris State, Drury, Grand Valley State. They're going to come back, take on some College Hockey South opponents, South Florida, Alabama, but then they go. with teams like Notre Dame and West Virginia, Purdue. This is a mixed bag Florida Golf Coast group and I think if anybody's gonna be a good benchmark for where your team is at nationally, Florida Golf Coast is up there. One of the more touted programs in the recent history in the ACHA. Yeah, and you typically don't see that mix of schedules in the CHS. Like a lot of times, you know, you'll see the US F, the Tampa matchups, Middle Tennessee thrown in there, you know. So it's it's interesting to see that their schedule is so spread out across the map. Well originally they were an independent team for the longest time, right? It also means that with a limited conference schedule like that, we could see them be an outlier when it comes to those conference standings and sort of what their eligibility is. Regardless, this program is one that has repeatedly gone to nationals, which will be in St. Louis this year in March. So we'll have to keep our eye on Florida Gulf Coast as we enter this new era for them. Also, the ACHA today announced the ⁓ or I guess the ACHA this week announced the official list of men's division two and men's division three teams, twenty-six in men's division two, thirty-three are entering men's division three. But boys, we guy we might have to put the ACHA on notice right now because They included Middle Tennessee in both the men's two and men's three graphic. Now, some people might think, well, they have two different teams here possibly, but we got confirmation that this is the same Middle Tennessee team, and that how it's gonna work for them is this year they're going to be men's division three and eligible for nationals, and next year they will be making the jump to men's division two. You guys think they could have maybe clarified that on the graphic a little bit. I definitely think with ⁓ MTSU and all the moves, obviously it's been a it's been an interesting season, you know. Obviously like teams are moving up maybe in ACHA to division two, while some who were in division two of College Hockey South and the NACHL and all that are moving back down to D three. So there's a lot of movement. I think it's everyone's learning as we go. Obviously like last week, there's a lot that's unknown, a lot that we're still navigating and figuring out leading up to the seasons. I think in terms of the graphic, it makes sense I just think they could have maybe asterisk that they were moving up next season. speaker-1: Exactly, you know, you look at it as a middle Tennessee fan, you're like, you know, who am I watching this year? So you have to think that, you know, removing that asterisk there has to be something that has to do with ⁓ you know, people interacting with the post. But it could have been nice to have that little that little marker to let you know the difference in this year and next year. speaker-0: Course, we still love the pages, and the ACHA is pretty cool. Like they created different Instagrams for each of the divisions. So we say that lightheartedly to the person that's running that social page. Obviously, some notables in men's division too are the Kauchaki South teams, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Tampa. That division will be a bit of a scatter, but they're gonna play each other pretty early in the year, at least Florida and Florida Atlantic will. So we have that to look forward to. We're getting very close to previewing some of these games. We don't really have anything on the slate very soon, at least immediately soon, to preview. But in next week's episode, we're gonna have stuff to talk about. We're gonna see a mixed bag of teams getting active. The College Hockey South teams getting active starting September fifth include Embry Riddle, Florida, Middle Tennessee, and South Carolina, as well as that entire weekend. Boys, the season is coming up here. Any final thoughts as we wrap up episode two here? Still the off season and I think we got a lot more to talk about when games start flying on the schedule. Yeah, I'm just ⁓ excited. We're in to go. ⁓ getting to hear Rocco Bruno talk about his process in the off season got me even more excited. I mean, you can't you can't get more excited when you hear a guy who's that passionate about his craft and loves the game that much. So it's just it's gonna be a great season. I'm excited for all the changes, everything that comes with this season, it's gonna be amazing. speaker-1: Absolutely, you know, listening to him talk about his off season and ⁓ you know his determination that hasn't left. It's got me a little fired up to start classes. So ⁓ I'm a little excited for that. But you know, just a little thing for the fans. You know, we've been waiting a long time for the season to start up, but you know, enjoy it because it goes by fast and before you know it we'll be down in ⁓ Coral Springs. So ⁓ you know, take it one game at a time. Enjoy. speaker-0: Fantashyre to be on the lookout for the start of a great season. Of course in the ACHA and we're gonna find out a lot about these teams early on. Who's up, who's down, we'll talk about all of that coming up in our following episodes. Great job, Brendan and Gavin, and we look forward to hearing both of you guys on the pod again, and Brendan especially. Welcome to College Halkey Mouth. You'll be on as a repeating host, for sure. Might have to interview though and get some of that Canadian background. I just know people will listen to this and immediately know that you've got hockey in your blood because of that accent. And we're excited to have you on the College Hockey South staff as well. With that, we thank you for listening to episode two of College Hockey Mouth sitting down with Rocco Bruno. We'll be back next week and get you ready for some of these college hockey self games starting in twenty twenty five. Thanks for listening. And have a good one.