Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Meet new Lindenwood coach Max Gavin

Transcript

Meet new Lindenwood coach Max Gavin · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hi and welcome to another preseason edition of the podcast.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: I'm Todd Molesky here with Nicole Haase.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: We are going through the new head coaches in NCAA
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: women's hockey this season and we're especially grateful to be
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: with Max Gavin from Lindenwood here today. Max, thank you
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: for joining us.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much for having me.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Well, let's talk a little bit about the situation you've
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: come into. You're not unfamiliar with women's college hockey. Obviously,
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: you've been at many different schools for more than a decade.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: Is that around the right time frame now? I guess,
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: how has that prepared you to take over a head
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: coaching position at Lynn Inwood?
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: No, it's a great question. I think it's a mix
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: of experience. So I think this is year 11 now
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: of coaching altogether. Different stops just with different ideas on,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: you know, it's like anyone in a career, you start
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: off one way, I want to do this. And then
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: as it progresses, opportunities present themselves and sometimes ones that
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: you weren't sure about. And so I transitioned over to
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: the the women's side Dartmouth. That was my first job
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: on the women's side, working for Liz Keady there, who
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: was amazing. And she gave me my first shot and
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: I've loved being on this side of the game. The
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: growth that's happened and to be a part of that
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: and try to help out has been great. So this
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: will be year five on the women's side, but I
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: think you're 11 total on the coaching side. So, you know,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: funny going through this process that as you start to
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: have conversations and people ask those questions you start to
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: realize that some of the things you were like is
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: this putting it all together for me where I want
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: to go and then all of a sudden you you
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: realize that you were learning the skills you needed to
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: for when this position finally you know presented itself if
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: it did right so I feel very grateful that I
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: was able to get this opportunity I know they're very
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: very hard to come by and it's not something I
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: take lightly so very excited and I feel like the
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: all of the stops I've had in the different roles
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and different size of schools and different resources, different things have,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: have well prepared me to, you know, take on this, uh,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: this opportunity as well.
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: The program is coming off, you know, one of the best, uh,
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: records that they had since going moving to, um, and
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: I just one of those programs that I feel like
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: just really needs like has been on the verge and
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: just really like I'm excited to see what you can
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: do because I feel like I want so much better
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: for them than what some of the players have gone
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: through with you know single digit winning seasons and things
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: and so how do you build on what was there
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: before but still sort of put in you know what
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: you want to do as a head coach and sort
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: of really make this program you know sort of what
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: it's capable.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Of No, that's a wonderful question, Nicole. And I appreciate
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: the support. We hope so too. So I think, you know,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: the one thing that I really, and I've written it
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: down in a, you know, in my notebook and I
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: try to remind myself is learn first. So that's been
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: my motto is coming into a program because there are
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: things that led to success here that the players know
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: and understand and want. So it's really trying to get
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: to know them, especially with so many players from so
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: many different backgrounds, countries, um, dialects, all those different things.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: So really it's about learning, um, and learning what works
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: and what is right. And then trying to pair that with,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: you know, not just my, but our vision as a
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: staff as well, you know, in terms of where we
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: want to take this. Um, I can definitely, you know,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: what resonated with me and why, what led me to
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: be here was, you know, when I came on campus
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: for the interview, um, admittedly, I didn't know a lot
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: about the campus. And when I walked around, you see
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: the facilities, you see everything we have, like you can
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: see that it's all there. And I think it just
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: takes that, you know, that group to say like, we're
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: going to do it, you know, like we can. So
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: I think to your point, I think they've done a
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: great job and the players are hungry. They want to
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: be great. You know, it's been very fun to, you know,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: get to know them, but definitely a try to learn
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: and not overdo it in the first year as someone
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: coming in. So trying to learn, take in what's there,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: what we should keep, and then pair it with the
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: vision and try to kind of blend it all together.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: How difficult do you think that's going to be though?
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Because you want to see things happen right away. You
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: feel like you can put your imprint on things right
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: away and they'll go, but you have to give yourself
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: the time and let everything else kind of work in
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: tandem with the vision you have. Is patience one of
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: the toughest things to come by in your first year
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: with a program that you're leading?
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Well, thank God for my wife, because she's the one
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: that definitely teaches me patience. I'm definitely a go, go, go,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: want to get things done type of person. And yes,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: to answer your question, absolutely. You want to do everything.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: You want to put your, you know, put everything together
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: in a day, but like you really, you do have
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: to be patient. And I've had to definitely just remind
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: myself of that, of like the long-term vision. And again,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: it's okay. What are the micro things that we can
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: implement now that pair and don't disrupt too much with
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: making sure that we're on the right track to take
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: that next step, right. To continue that growth. So it
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: is a balance and I'm sure throughout the year, I'll
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: probably try something and go up. That was maybe a
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: little too quick. So, I think it's about being vulnerable too.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: You know, like one thing we talk about is here
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: is just giving a hundred percent of what you have
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: that day. So, you know, Hey, there's days like, you know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: you come into at work and, you know, you might
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: have 80%. Well, I'm, you know, let's give it 80%.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: You know, let's give a hundred of 80, you know?
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: So those, those type of things are kind of what
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: we're trying to talk about here in terms of those things.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: It's like, okay, let's focus on the little details, the habits,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the process. And then if we can, you know, make
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: sure our process is good. those results and those other
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: things we talked about, the success should follow.
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: One thing that, I mean, it's very difficult to transition from,
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: you know, from club to, to NCAA, but one of
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: the things that I think from an outsider watching you
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: all is seeing success on the men's side and not
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: having seen that carry through on the women's side at Lindenwood.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: So I guess, is that something you've thought about and
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: what are the things that maybe you've seen just in
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: your short time that you can help kind of put
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: a some attention on that and make sure that the
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: women's team is getting, you know, sort of the support
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: they need and can push to see and do some
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: of the things that the men have done is on
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: their end.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: No, and I think everywhere I've been, that's been the
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: constant is how can we grow, right? How can we
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: get more fans? How can we, you know, bring in
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: more to the program? How can we get the alumni
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: more connected, right? Like how can we help create the
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: best student athlete experience possible? for our women's players.
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: So everywhere I've been, that's been a very constant and I've,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: you know, no matter the size of school, you know,
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: what's perceived on the outside, you know, whether it's, you know,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: bigger name or a smaller name, whatever it is, like,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: I think that's in, I think that's everywhere across the
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: board in our sport.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: So to answer your question, I think, you know, one
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: thing that I've been grateful for here and what got
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: me excited about the opportunity is like, you know, our
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: athletic director, our sports supervisor, everybody here throughout the process,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: you know, and I have not heard this everywhere and
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: you don't is like women's hockey is a priority here,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: you know, and, and they have said that to me.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: So like, you know, for us to know that for
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: our players to know that and feel that, you know,
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: I think we've been given every resource here to, you know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: be successful. And now it's, you know, some of the
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: pride I take is now to take this and over
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  Speaker 2: the next course of the My time here, try to
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: grow the support, try to connect with the alums, try
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: to bring people back, get people excited about the program.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: Like that really falls on us as head coaches and
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: our and our players and getting out in the community
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: and all those different things. So, you know, I think
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: it's a very common conversation across the board in our world,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: you know, no matter what level. We all want more, right?
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: I think if you gave me everything on my list,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: I'd go a week and then I'd be like, well,
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: what if we get, you know, you always want more. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I take a tremendous amount of responsibility to,
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: if there are things that we need to do, like
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: go find them. You know, like I gotta go find
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: a way to provide the best student athlete experience for
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: our players. But I've been very grateful, you know, from
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: our department so far that we've had a ton of
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: support Um, you know, they're, they're around their, their rank,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: they're around campus. They want to be involved. They want
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: to help. You know, they've been checking in. It's been,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: it's been wonderful, at least from a new coach's perspective
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: coming in. I've definitely felt that support.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: One of the things that has stood out as we've
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: done this series, talking with new head coaches, um, has
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: been that there's no one path to that role. Uh, there's, uh,
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: you know, a lot of different ways you can get
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: there and, you know, from a playing career to, you know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: assistant coaching, All those kind of things build up different
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: ways to get to a head coaching job. Can you
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: just maybe share with everyone what your path was and
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: how maybe that helped form you and form what you
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: feel is important and the kind of things that you value?
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Wow, that's a great question. I think from my perspective,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: at least looking at it, I think there's lots of
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: different ways. I think you either... you gain that notoriety
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: and that credibility through playing. Like you said, you know,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: there are players that will get those because they've earned
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: that right through their play.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: And you see that in the PWHL, the NHL, anything
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Olympic level, anything like that you do, you know, like
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Marty St. Louis is a great example, right? Like, you know,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: his playing background and his hockey knowledge allowed him to
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: get into coaching at the NHL level because of that
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: respect he commanded. from a playing standpoint, whereas a John
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Cooper had to start from the bottom and work his
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: way up and win.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: So from transitioning that to my experience, I think I
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: was definitely one that at first I, I always knew
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I wanted to coach or be involved in, in hockey
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: after I was done playing. So it was like, at
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: first you're just looking for a foot in the door.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: You don't care where I was fortunate enough to go
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: back to my alma mater and start there, which was amazing.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: And then, you know, originally it was like, OK, well,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: I want to originally it was I want to go
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: coach in the OHL. That was my original goal. And
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: then I spent time as a head coach up in
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: northern Ontario. But it was, you know, that opportunity presented
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: itself when it was supposed to. And then COVID hit
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: and it was like, I want to get back to
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: college hockey. That was always my my passion. Right. So
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: then just by chance, the University of Vermont job opens
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: and it's an operations job, you know, and it's. it
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: was an opportunity at the division one level. So I
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: was like, I'm just going to take it. You know,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I don't care about anything else other than the opportunity.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: And so then that led to Dartmouth and then Dartmouth
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: led to Boston college and then Boston college led to here. So,
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: you know, in my perspective, I knew as somebody who had,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: you know, an okay playing background, but not a deep
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: playing background that I was going to have to take
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: that next opportunity when it came and I was going
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: to have to do my best to try to kick
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: the door down. So, you know, I think some people
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: would look at it and be like, wow, like he's,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: he's moved around or he's tried to do different things,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: but you know, I kind of had to have a
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: chip on my shoulder and outwork people. Sorry, I have
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: the automatic lights in here. Um, but the, um, you know,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: I had to, I had to know that my hard
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: work and effort and I couldn't turn down opportunities. Right.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: And I, I think I always had the goal of
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: being a head coach, but you know, I also believe
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: that if I did the best work I could where
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: I was, that would get me to the opportunity that
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I wanted. So, you know, it kind of presented itself
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: and that's what kind of led me to here. So
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: my path is definitely probably a little more untraditional, but,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: you know, I think for people, any advice I would give,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I think that was part of the question or just
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: like from my background is just like, you got to
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: take a chance.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: And that's what I've been telling our players. Like, you
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: can't be afraid. to go after something. Like, even if
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: it's the, you know, the biggest thing you can think of, like,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: go for it. Like, what's the worst that happens? You
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: just get to know, you know? So that's been my advice.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: And you know, what, what drives me, like, I just
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: believe in having like a hunt mentality and what you do, like,
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: you know, you're honest, you want to be part of
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: a team, you're unified, you know, you're nonstop in your pursuit,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: like in everything you do, you just have a relentless
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: work ethic and you take ownership of your stuff, right?
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Like we have to take ownership of this program. I
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: have to take ownership of the student athletes, wellness and
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: experience and make sure it's the best possible and make
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: sure that they're coached, you know, and get life skills
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: on ice skills, all those things. So, you know, you'll
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: see a lot about on social media about like hunt
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: and those different things. And that's part of what I've
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: tried to implement, you know, here as part of the culture,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: just like taking those, those core values and trying to
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: meld it into what we're, you know, what was already
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: done that was successful. Hopefully that answers your question.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: It feels like that. It feels like that melds really
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: well with... Obviously, you didn't have a hand in building
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: this roster, but you guys have players from so many countries.
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: I feel like we're used to seeing, but there's France, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Russia, China.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, you guys... Hungary. But many of those.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Now women, but girls probably left home as young teenagers
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: to go to prep things. And generally the European players
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: are a little bit older as well. But that same
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: mentality of like you have to take the opportunity that's
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: there and they're all, you know, trying to better themselves.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: But also like they take what they learn here in
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: the NCAA and take it back to their programs and help.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: We've seen, you know, like we know that Czechia grew
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: from a similar prospect where a couple of players came here.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: And so I guess I just, that's interesting that, and
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: probably like serendipitous that you have that approach. And then
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: you have this team that is likely very built on
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: a similar thing where these girls had to make that
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: decision early on and leave home and do things to
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: be able to put themselves in a position to be
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: playing D1 now.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It amazes me every day. Like I think about it
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: all the time. Like, man, if I went to Slovakia
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: right now as a player and tried to learn Slovak
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: and then understand Slovak you know, the, the drills, like
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: I just like all of it. And they are so
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: incredible at they're managing school. They're away from home. They're,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: you know, a lot of them are playing for their
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: national team already. So they have that pride and that
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: pressure to perform and be ready for those opportunities. You know,
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: like it's been incredible to see, but it has been
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: a fun transition because some of the, the camps that
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: I may have attended in the past, like when I
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: wasn't here or never had a thought of being here,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: I actually ran into a lot of the players at
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: those camps. So, you know, it was kind of fun
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: when I got the opportunity to come here. I actually
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: have a little bit of a base relationship with some
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: of them, which has been nice, but for them, it's,
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: it's been incredible to see the growth of the women's game.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: It's been incredible to see players from, you know, different
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: countries all over our league too. You know, like our
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: league is full of players from, you know, non-traditional, if
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: you'd call them that now, I, I don't even know
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: when we stopped saying non-traditional because it's starting to just
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: be a worldwide game, which I think says a lot about,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: you know, what everybody's doing from the grassroots level to
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: the prep level to even what, you know, both of
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: you are doing to promote and, you know, get the
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: attention on social media and different outlets like doing this.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: You know, I think it might just take this podcast
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: for some player in, you know, any country to see
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: and they might be like, oh, I can do that. Like,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: so I think it's been amazing to see that and
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: it's been fun. to see the buy-in uh from them.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: Just a little follow-up on that what is it like
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: to have sort of that really multinational locker room and
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: in terms of how that i i imagine um they're
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: all very adaptable right and so um i just curious
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: what it's been like to sort of see your team
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: come together um with the new players and all those
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: players from across the.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: World yeah i think you know from a transitioning standpoint
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: as a head coach to have two great assistants like
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: um you know, Arielle has been here for a while now.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: And so she knows a lot of the returning girls. So,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: you know, those, those relationships are there, which has been
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: very helpful in terms of like that initial trust. And
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: then Trey, obviously coming in from Mercyhurst, they were very,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: you know, traditionally what we could traditionally non-traditional, I guess, from,
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: from being in those different markets. So, you know, even
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: little things like, you know, re-explaining a drill, making sure
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: that you're following up, making sure that you're getting the
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: information to them that they need. Um, so, you know,
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: like I've been very grateful to have some great support too,
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: in this initial transition, because obviously it's a quick ramp
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: up from when we start to when we play next week. So, um,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: that's been a huge help too, is just having them and,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: you know, they've been, you know, helping me, you know,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: transition into the role as well. So I've been very
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: grateful for that.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: This is kind of a two-parter, but you might be
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: able to combine it into, into one. Who have, or
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: first of all, how will players see your coaching style?
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: What will they say is the Max Gavin coaching style?
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: And in that perspective, who have been the important people
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: in helping form that for you, the mentors, the people
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: who have left fingerprints on you in becoming a coach?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Well, that's a great, another great question. Thank you. I
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: really hope that when let's say a player is here,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: I hope they feel supported. I hope they always knew
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: that we spoke honestly to them. You know, I, we
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: talk about it a lot, like kitchen table accountability. Like
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: sometimes when we talk to our family, it's not always easy,
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: but it's always honest. It's always supportive.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: So I hope they leave here and they feel like
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: they got better, you know, and I hope they know
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: that it's from a place of support and they felt
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: safe to grow and, and, you know, that ability on
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: or off the ice. Like, I think for me, I
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: just hope that 10 years from now, like they're calling
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: and asking how things are going or they're connected to
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: our program. We have a relationship. Like I would hope
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: that they felt that we were honest. You know, I
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: hope that we felt that they were pushed and, you know,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: got better and, you know, supported. Those are, I think
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: the three things that, for me as a coach that
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: I just want to create an environment that people love
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: being at the rink. I love it. What's better than
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: being at the rink in the morning, right? Like, or
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: in the afternoon, you know, there's nothing better. So to me,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: it's providing an environment where people are getting better held accountable,
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: but you know, from a supportive place and they know
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: it's from a place of care, you know? So I
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: think those are the big things for me. And that's
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: what goes back to that, you know, that hunt mentality thing.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: You know, you, you be honest with them, you make
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: sure they're unified in the pursuit. We're all connected. you know,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: we're having that relentless work ethic and that goes on
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: to like, Hey, you want to stay out and shoot pucks,
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: I'll feed pucks. You know, if you want to drop
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: pucks and work on your face, whatever it is, video, anything,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: you know, that's that nonstop, we're going to give you
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: everything we got. And then, you know, we're going to
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: take ownership of that too.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: And your development, your growth, you know, for the parents
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: sending their players over, you know, it's like, you want
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: them to feel safe and know that they're taken care of.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: So that would be my hope from like a, you know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: an entire program, holistic perspective. And, you know, I think
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: from the rest of it, I think it all falls
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: into place after that.
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: Hi. We don't have time, but you were talking about
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: you were at Adrian and at the men's program. And
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: I feel like we're going to I'm going to put
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: you on the spot and tell you, you've got to
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: come back and talk to us about women's college hockey
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: in Michigan at some point, because I feel like you've
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: got an interesting perspective and you've got a couple of players.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: that you were able to recruit, which led me to
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: think about one thing that Todd and I have talked about,
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: and I don't know I've ever gotten a chance to
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: ask anybody from Lindenwood about, is that you all are
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: a bit on an island where you are. You are
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: quite removed from the rest of your conference, but even,
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: you know, quite removed from Wisconsin and Minnesota, too, where
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: you end up doing a lot of your non-conference games
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: for ease of transport. But it is it puts a
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: little extra pressure on you all in terms of how
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: much travel you have to do, but also gives you
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: access to some growing, but non-traditional or not like the
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: main markets we think about with hockey in terms of
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: Nashville or Michigan or Texas or St. Louis and stuff.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: So you are in an interesting location just in terms
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: of having access to, to players or to prospective recruits
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: that aren't necessarily as close to other programs. I was
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: just curious about sort of that uniqueness of where you
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: all are and how that not affects the program, but
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: I just, I think it's, it's an obvious part of
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: the program that maybe people don't think about, but it
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: just has to weigh into sort of everything you do
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: in terms of travel and all of that. Um, and I,
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: I think it's interesting to talk about just because of,
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: of the fact that nobody is quite like how you are.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: No, it's, it's a great point. And, um, I think
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: for us, like it's something where, you know, like all
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: of us, right. I think the day you are honest
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: with yourself and you're able to be yourself as the
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: day you feel free and you just go for it.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: So I think for us, it's like, you know, embrace it.
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: We embrace the fact that we get to, you know,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: travel and be at the airport together and spend that time,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: you know, like we embrace those things. It's a, it's
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: a different thing, but I think it's also something that
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: is fun and unique. Um, you know, it's, it's unique
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: to have, you know, the weather we have and those
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: different things, you know, in, in terms of, you know,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: being warmer and all those things. So, Yes, you can
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: look at it and maybe people are like, huh, like,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: you know, okay. But that's also part of our job to,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: you know, educate, right? And let people know what we're
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: about and what we're going to be doing. And, you know,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I think to your point of, yes, we are on
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: an island, but also no one else has what we have,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: you know? So you can flip that narrative as well.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: So that's our job here, right? Is to create a
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: culture that people want to be a part of and,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: you know, that draws people to us. And I think
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: there's also a unique opportunity, too, as you're seeing markets
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: around us really start to pick up and grow. You know,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: like there are great players from those markets there. They just,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: you know, sometimes need a little extra viewing to find them.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: So that's our job to make sure that we're connected
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: in those markets and knowing what's going on. So it's
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: it's a valid question. And I think it's something that
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: we lean into. You know, we talk about that. You know,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: we lean into what's around here. I think we lean
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: into those different relationships. We lean into the travel. It's fun. So,
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: you know, I think it, it's, it can be seen
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: as one, but I think for us, we embrace that
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: uniqueness and it's what makes us us. Right. And I
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: think that's the best part of anything in life. So
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: I would like to touch on Tata cause I didn't
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: answer your part two of your, your previous question. I
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: realized when I was responding, but people who were influential
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: you know, I think, it's easy to the, the one
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: that goes to me is like, obviously you go to
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: my wife is, you know, been my rock and, you know,
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: we just, uh, welcomed our, our first son Brooks to
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: the world three months ago. So, you know, to have that,
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: thank you. And my, my wife is, uh, is an
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: alum of the league. Um, I can't say where, cause
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: it's not here. Um, but, uh, the, uh, but you know,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: to have somebody that allows you to, you know, pick
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: up a move across the country that supports you like that.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, she's my rock. She's the one that is
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: allows me to do what I do. And, you know,
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be here without her and her support through
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: our moves. So, um, you know, that's definitely number one,
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: you know, she's one I lean on a lot. Um,
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: I guess we're having a good conversation. This thing keeps
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: going off. Um, but, uh, but that would be one.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, my, my parents both were athletes and, you know,
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: learned a lot from them about hard work and, you know,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: sacrifice and what you got to do. Um, you know,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: from a coaching perspective, there's so many people, um, I've
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: worked for so many great people and had so many
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: people that have helped me. Um, you know, that I
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: think it'd be unfair if I started listing off people
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: cause I'm going to forget somebody, but, um, I am
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: very grateful for the people I've worked for, for the
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: people that have helped me along the way. And, you know,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: sometimes it's funny that people you don't even realize, um,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: are they connected to you or the ones that help
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: you out the most when you need it.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: So, yeah.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: I've been very fortunate to be around great people. And
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: I think to go back to the previous question about,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: you know, experience and what led you here, like if
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: I wasn't given a safe space to make the mistakes
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: I needed to make when I was first starting out
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: and learn from them, um, I wouldn't be here. So
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: I'm so grateful to everybody that has been a part
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: of the journey. Um, and it's, it's been fun to
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: sit here and then think back on it and, you know,
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: be very grateful. And those people that I've reached out
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: to saying, thank you.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: So.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: That's great. And I think we all can kind of
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: take a little bit out of that and appreciate that
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: in our own lives, whether it's coaching or just being
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: part of a family or whatever we do, that all
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: really makes a lot of sense. So thanks for those words.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: And it's been great talking with you and getting to
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: know you and getting to know a little bit more
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: about what you're going to bring to Lindenwood. So Max,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: thanks so much for your time and best of luck
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: getting it all going this season.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you both for your time and thank you
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: for everything you're doing for women's hockey and the growth.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: So appreciate it.