The Farm Team

Guest: Karl Stollery @stolleryk Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by Olympian and retired professional hockey player, Karl Stollery. Karl recently posted about his retirement from the game, after an incredible 10-year pro career spanning the entire globe. Born and raised in the small hamlet of Armena, Alberta with a population of 47. Like most families living in the rural parts of Alberta there is a lot of sacrifice given by the parents to shuttle their kids around to rinks all over the provinces. The Stollery family was no different. With many brothers and sisters the Stollery family was all over the map, which proved to be a wise choice. Karl played his youth and minor hockey in the Rural Alberta Bantam and Midget Hockey Leagues before progressing to the junior ranks with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. While a Kodiak, Karl led the team to two consecutive Doyle Cup and the AJHL Championships. Karl and fellow Kodiak teammates Chris Barton and Jesse Todd went on the play for the NCAA Division 1 Merrimack College Warriors. During his 4 seasons with the Warriors, Karl helped turn the once dormant Warriors program into a national powerhouse. Meanwhile, setting every school record possible for a defenseman. After graduating from the Girard School of Business Karl continued his hockey journey and spent time in the AHL for 2 seasons with the Lake Erie Monsters before making his NHL debut with the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013-2014 season, and later spent time with the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils before taking his talent overseas to play in a number of top tier professional leagues. Needless to say, Karl has one of the most unique hockey careers highlighted by his time spent in the NHL and earning himself a spot on the 2018 Canadian Men’s Ice Hockey team, winning the Bronze Medal in the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea. It is with great honor to welcome Karl to the show today to talk about all things hockey and life. And with that, Karl welcome to the show!

Episode 46 - Ryan O’Donnell - Calling Games Guest: Ryan O’Donnell @chuckinnumbees Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by color commentator for the Western Hockey Leagues, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Ryan “Chuckin Numbees” O’Donnell. Ryan is entering into his 3rd season with his hometown Hurricanes and it will be his 9th season doing play-by-play announcing. In the 2013-2014 season Ryan started out his broadcasting career with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Men’s Ice hockey team and had been a staple in the program ever since. Due to unfortunate events and mis-guided decisions from the U of L administration they chose to drop the Ice Hockey program leaving players, staff, and fans looking for alternatives to stay in the game. The Southern Alberta Irishman was born and raised in Lethbridge, and has been a namestake in the development of amateur golfers from the area. Ryan grew up spending most of his time during the spring and summer months on the golf course at the Lethbridge Country Club where he learned the game from some of the best. Ryan’s vibrant and successful golf career was just highlighted by making the cut for the Canadian Mid-Amateurs at the Fort McMurray Golf Club a couple of weeks ago. Ryan has proven to be an instrumental member of the sports community in Lethbridge and surrounding area. His passion for sports and ability to effectively communicate have armed him with an incredible talent and can provide fans with the authentic game experience over the air waves. Ryan’s knowledge of the game and network of colleagues puts him on a promising path in the sports and entertainment industry. I look forward to our conversation today about all things hockey and golf.

Episode 45 - Kyle Singleton - Signing Checks Guest: Kyle Singleton @kylesingle10 Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by a former Merrimack College Warrior teammate, Kyle Singleton. Kyle is currently a Financial Consultant based in the Bay area of San Francisco, California. Kyle has been in Finance since graduating Merrimack College in 2015 and started out in the industry as an Anti-Money Laundering Analyst in Boston. Kyle’s hockey journey is nothing short of incredible and spanned North/East/South and West throughout North America. Born and raised in Los Gatos, CA Singleton played his minor hockey in Northern California before moving to Oregon and Pennsylvania where he finished his minor hockey playing for the Tier 1 U18 AAA Pittsburgh Hornets. After which the opportunity arose to take his talents North to the BCHL where he played 3 full seasons for the West Side Warriors in West Kelowna. Singleton's dogged effort and shot blocking capabilities earned him an athletic and academic scholarship and primed him to become one of the best penalty killers to ever don the Merrimack sweater. The Finance major went on to play 4 full seasons with the North Andover, Massachusetts based Merrimack College playing in 124 career games and chose to retire after his senior season to pursue his professional business career in the financial industry. Singleton joins us today to talk about his American and Canadian hockey experiences and to provide insight into his player development path that led him to many successful hockey programs across the continent.

Episode 44 - Brance Orban - Shoot from the Hip Guest: Brance Orban @borby.10 Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by a long-time friend and current member of the Gyergyoi Hockey Klub in the Hungary/Romania Erste Liga, Brance Orban. Brance recently departed back to his second home in the Eastern Bloc as he prepares to enter into his 9th professional hockey season & 4th season in the Erste Liga. Orbs hockey career has been nothing short of incredible and It’s a story of hard work and resiliency. This past season, the point-producing veteran forward finished 3rd in league scoring, with 22 goals and 31 assists in 36 games played. Born and raised a Golden Sun in Taber, Alberta, Brance followed in the footsteps of his father, the late Chris, ‘Pistol’ Orban, and quickly became a young hockey and golf prodigy. Along with his athletic ability, Brance developed the gift of gab, and a sense of hospitality that goes unmatched. As Brance continued his minor hockey journey the Orban family found themselves in both Calgary and Lethbridge playing for the Calgary Buffaloes Association, and the Lethbridge Athletic Association, respectively. After graduating from Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge Brance made the jump to the Alberta Junior Hockey League playing 3 full seasons with the Olds Grizzlys, a team familiar to the Orban family as his father Chris was a member of their inaugural 1981-82 season. During his time in Olds Brance earned and secured himself an academic and athletic scholarship to play for the NCAA Division 1 Bemidji State Beavers in Bemidji, Minnesota. Brance played 4 seasons for the Beavers totaling 106 career games played with 53 pts and 20 pims. After his senior season Orbs went on play in the ECHL before heading overseas to begin his European professional hockey career with stops in Germany, Sweden, Hungary, and Romania. Brance joins me today to talk about all things hockey and to learn more about his experience playing the game and how it has shaped him into the person he is today. This summer Brance also earned himself designation with the Professional Golfers Association of Canada by winning the tournament at the Highwood Golf Course in High River, Alberta granting him professional status in the incredibly difficult sport of golf.

Episode 43 - Mark Yates - GP - G - A - PIM Guest: Mark Yates @MarkYates4 Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am pleased to be joined by the COO of Instat - North America, Mark Yates. Instat is a stats, video, and analytics company that collects data to help organizations achieve results, and are primarily focused on professional and amateur hockey, soccer, and basketball. Mark joined the European headquartered company in June of 2019 when their division was a 2-man team. Since then, Mark has helped grow the Instat North America team to about 20 full-time employees and have secured multi-year deals with a variety of prominent leagues and teams across the US and Canada. Mark comes to Instat with a deep understanding of the game of hockey. Having played the game at the junior level. And has been a part of the hockey operations team in a variety of faucets including player development and scouting. Mark's hockey ops experience spans 4 leagues from the QMJHL, OHL, USHL, and most recently the National Hockey League. Mark joins us today to talk about his experiences with hockey operations, and how platforms like Instat are creating never-seen-before value for organizations and their personale. Mark is quickly becoming an industry leader in the sportstech world so it will be great to learn more about the path he took to break into the industry. I’m also excited to learn more about the origin story of InStat North America and how they have been able to position themselves as a front-runner in data collection and video analysis.

Guest: Matt Moulakelis @moulo25 Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by a great friend and former Merrimack College teammate, Matt Moulakelis. Matt is currently an Account Executive for a software vendor based in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Matt has been in software sales for the better part of a decade where he found a natural fit from the very start. His transition from a student-athlete to the business world was a seamless one from an outsider's perspective so I’m glad he is here today to shed some light on the preparation and determination that goes into making such a transition a successful one. Born and raised in the Land of Lincoln, Mouk played his minor hockey with Team Illinois before playing 3 seasons in the United States Hockey League split between the Omaha Lancers and the Chicago Steel. Where he ultimately caught the eye of the Merrimack College Warriors head coach Mark Dennehy. Matt went on to play 4 seasons with the NCAA Division 1 Warriors before retiring from hockey to blaze a trail on his professional career. Matt’s playing career at Merrimack was full of adversity stemming from numerous lower body injuries that kept him off the ice and on the IR. He was forced to adapt, but never to waiver, his role on the team. His calming, yet demanding presence helped create a winning atmosphere that resonated throughout the dressing room, and he had a significant impact on turning the Warriors program into what it is today. I was fortunate to play with Mouk for 3 years at Merrimack where I learned a lot about his leadership and character traits, and his ability to bring a team and community together. Bringing those tools with him everywhere he goes, it has been impressive to watch Mouk early on in his professional career. His entrepreneurial mindset and ability to adapt has positioned him to become an industry leader. Matt joins us today to talk about his hockey experience and what it was like to score the 3-1 goal against Boston University that helped propel the Warriors to a decisive 6-3 win over the national powerhouse to break a 15-game losing streak against Boston University that dated back to 2004. He also joins us to provide some insight into the uber competitive world of sales and marketing for software and big tech.

Episode 42 - Judd Blackwater - A Nation Builder Guest: Judd Blackwater @BlackwaterJudd Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by the C/LW for the Heilbronner Falken and the 2020 Paradise Canyon Men’s Club Champion, and Rodeo enthusiasts, Judd Blackwater. Judd recently signed a new deal with Heilbronner Falken, which will mark his 14th professional hockey season, and will achieve the milestone of having played in over 700 professional games in 7 different countries. Judd and his family are extremely well travelled and have been major contributors to his success from the very beginning. Born and raised in the Treaty 7 Territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy in the Kainai Nation. Judd played his minor hockey for the Lethbridge Athletic Association where he proved to be one of the best players early on. At the age of 16 Judd earned a roster spot to play for the Crowsnest Pass Timberwolves in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, which then propelled him into the Western Hockey League where history was made. He became WHL and Memorial Cup champion with the Spokane Chiefs in 2008. He finished with a career 171 games played and 114 points spanning 3 seasons in the WHL. On top of his incredible point production Judd is the first to stand up for himself, and his teammates and is ready to answer the bell whenever it rings. Naturally Judd made the jump to the professional ranks and spent the next 6 seasons split between the AHL, ECHL, and the CHL in North America before heading overseas to join the HK Nitra of the Sloviakian professional league. In his second of 5 seasons with HK Nitra ,Judd and the club celebrated with winning the 2016 Slovakian Extraliga Championship where he led the playoff scoring race. This past season Judd was able to play in the Hungary/Romania league where he won the league championship with fellow Canadian Colton Yellow Horn. Needless to say Judd has become a true professional of the sport and serves as a tremendous role model everywhere he goes. His athletic ability and his desire to win have provided him an incredible opportunity to pursue his passions and inspire the next generation of hockey players, golfers, and steer wrestling ropers. I’m excited to have him on the show today to talk about his hockey and life experiences and to learn more about his perspective on the development of an athlete.

Episode 40 - Brock Sheahan - Plan the Work. Work the Plan. Guest: Brock Sheahan | Head Coach | @ChicagoSteel Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by the Head Coach of the United States Hockey Leagues Chicago Steel, Brock Sheahan. Coach Brock and the Steel capped off the 2020-2021 USHL season as winners of both the Anderson Cup (Regular Season Champs) and the Clark Cup (Playoff champs). Beating the Fargo Force 3-1 in Game 4. In tandem with the team's success, the top 4 spots in the league scoring race were held by members of the Steel. A first for the USHL. Born and raised in Lethbridge, Alberta Brock played his minor hockey in the LAA system before heading west to join Kevin Higo and the Crowsnest Pass Timberwolves of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Brock played 1 season in the AJ where he earned an academic and athletic scholarship to play for the NCAA Division 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish of the CCHA. From 2004-2008 Brock played an incredible 161 career games and graduated from the program as the teams top-defensive player and has remained one of the best defensive players to ever don the clovered jersey. Brock went on to play 5 professional seasons with time split between the ECHL, AHL, and Germany before retiring as a member of the ECHL’s Ontario Reign in 2013. Immediately afterwards Brock jumped straight into coaching and joined his alma mater as a Volunteer Assistant Coach for a season and then was hired on by the NCAA Division 1 Holy Cross Crusaders where he spent 4 seasons as the Assistant, and Associate Head Coach. This year Brock will be entering into his 4th season with the Steel and just recently signed a 3-year extension to continue building and working towards being North America’s pinnacle junior hockey program. Coach Brock joins us today to share his hockey story and give us some insight into how he has proven to be a winner in his early coaching career.

Guest: Andy Oakes Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by the President of the Okanagan Hockey Group, Andy Oakes. Based in Penticton, British Columbia, OHG is divided into three areas including the Okanagan Hockey Academy, Okanagan Hockey Schools, and the Okanagan Hockey Combines. OHG has been operating in the Okanagan Valley since its inception in 1963. When you pair one of the nicest locations on Earth with the greatest game on Earth, combine that with hard work and perseverance you put yourself on a trajectory bound for success. In 2002, Andy founded the Okanagan Hockey Academy with the idea that education and athletics are one in the same and saw that there was a major opportunity to bridge the gap and start developing student-athletes at a younger age. Today, OHA is operating with programs in eastern and western Canada, the United Kingdom, and in Europe.  In 2009, Andy was a founding member of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, a league that shares the same vision and development goals with the likes of the US Prep-School Hockey League. Consisting of teams such as Phillips Andover and Shattuck St. Mary. Andy’s idea of providing educational opportunities paired with athletic development has proven to be wildly successful. The CSSHL will be entering into their 13th season this upcoming year and will be showcasing 26 programs across the country representing 94 teams in 8 different divisions. The CSSHL has become a major player in the development of Canadian athletes and has provided opportunities for thousands of athletes to hone their athletic abilities and develop life skills that they will carry with them, wherever they go next. The landscape for hockey in Canada has forever changed, and I look forward to our conversation today to learn more about what the impact those changes will have on reshaping, and overcoming the traditionalists mindset of how players develop and the opportunities available

Episode 38 - Mikyla Grant-Mentis - MVP Guest: Mikyla Grant-Mentis @buckey_13 Presented by: @hockey_ai Partnership: @Verberohockey Promo Code: SHEEN Link In Bio to Listen - Please remember to like, comment, rate, and subscribe. Your support is greatly appreciated! In today's episode of The Farm Team podcast I am honored to be joined by the reigning 2021 MVP of the National Women’s Hockey League and active member of the Toronto Six, Mikyla Grant-Mentis. Mikyla closed out her first professional season this past year with an incredible, 4-league awards and has since become the NWHL’s most decorated player in a single season. Born in Brampton, Ontario, Mikyla followed in the footsteps of her father and found a passion for the game of hockey at a young age. Mikyla’s father, James, played competitive ball hockey and was a member of Team Canada and Team West Indies. As with most hockey-crazed families the success you have on the ice is a by-product of what goes on behind the scenes. Mikyla has proven to be one of the most effective point-producing forwards in today’s game and she continues to leave her mark on the programs lucky enough to have her on their roster. In 2015, playing for the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs, Mikyla earned an athletic and academic scholarship to play for the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Ice Hockey team the Merrimack College Warriors. The Warriors were entering their second full season as a Division 1 program and Mikyla’s offensive prowess was perfectly suited to help propel the Warriors to the national stage. Throughout her time at Merrimack, Mikyla earned numerous individual and team awards and she graduated in 2020 with a degree in Criminology, and as the all-time leading points scorer with 56 goals and 61 assists during her four years with the Warriors. The game of hockey has seen an unprecedented increase in interest over the last few years and the appetite for professional women's ice hockey has garnered the attention of fans across the world. I’m excited to have Mikyla on the show today to talk about her story, and hockey journey and I look forward to learning more about what is on the horizon for women’s professional hockey.