Never Far from Home

Paul Novak was born and raised in Germany. His father was a sports fanatic, and Paul, along with his older brother Joe, both followed suit. Paul grew up in the rink community, and played hockey for y…

Matt Schoepflin was another guest born into hockey. His father played, and had a love of the game, and it bled over to Matt. He grew up in Colorado, played most of his youth hockey there, then ended …

Katie Mandigo was born into hockey. She was skating from a very young age, and found a passion for the game she knew she wanted to pursue as far as it would take her. She told me stories about growin…

Kush Sidhu grew up playing hockey in Montreal. He moved stateside, and continued to grow his love for the game, eventually finding himself working with Northeastern as a goalie, then a goalie coach f…

Alexis Pearson never played organized hockey. While she grew up in Minnesota, and skated in her early days, she never found herself in organized forms of the sport we love. Her father did, however, f…

Bill Mandigo grew up playing hockey, and had a great head start, as his father was a player himself. We delve into a few of his stories from his time spent playing, but things ramp up when the conver…

Bill Beaney Grew up in Lake Placid. He was skating from the age of two or three, and forged a love of the game in one of the most prolific sporting communities in America. He tells tales of his compe…

Jessi Pierce became fascinated with hockey, and the rink, at a young age. She grew up a fan, but became more heavily involved her senior year of high school, when she was the statistician for her hig…

Matt Billman got introduced to hockey in the roller rink, and found an immediate love for the game. He quickly realized he was destined for the ice, after an encounter with an olympic sized rink, and…

Brandon Enroth had his addiction to hockey begin when he started watching the game. He talks about going to his first Capitals game with his dad, and the love of the sport that was born from it. He p…

Harry Gehring began skating early in life, and played organized hockey starting around five. He spent most of his childhood in Minnesota, headed to St. Louis for college, and found himself in DC even…

Rugge Preto started playing hockey when he was an early teen. He grew up in Argentina, and talks about his experiences that lead to him falling in love with the game, and eventually taking it to the …

Heather Lorden got involved in the skating world at a very young age. She was instantly drawn to the rink, and quickly moved through the figure skating ladder. Her journey includes stops in Steamboat…

Patrick Spengler got involved in hockey as little later on than most, but found a passion for the community. He speaks on his love of improvement, personally challenging himself to get better each ti…

Sara Mortel was born into hockey and the rink. She loved the game right away, and has been in many different capacities, but most prominently was a player and coach. She tells many stories that span …

Meghan Koupal got involved with hockey a little later in life, but had a good basis of sport through her youth, playing both soccer and basketball in high school. She transitioned to a full-time socc…

Jake Berube has been playing hockey in one form or another since early childhood. He began with roller hockey, transitioned to ice hockey, and off the mic we talked about one of his more recent endea…

Brendan Selby began playing when he was four or five years old. While he is a younger guest on the pod, he has a history of playing, and now, has coached for multiple years. Enjoy the tales he shares…

Michael Lee began playing hockey in his mid-thirties, but was involved with the rink from his high school days when he was a skate guard. He tells of his childhood, growing up as the middle child of …

Thomas Larson got a later start in hockey than some. He began skating at 10, and playing at 11. He talks about his quick upward trajectory in the game, injuries in Juniors that began to take their to…