Mindset May David Ling Professional Hockey The How & Why!

Welcome to the Mike Hartman Show. Mike is a performance coach and former Stanley cup champion with the New York Rangers. Topics on this show are focused around stories, mindset and champions. Mike will also go into details about helping you with your pain points and struggles and finding motivational solutions on how to have the mindset of a champion. Now, here's your host, Mike Hartman.

Welcome to another episode. Today, my guest is David Lang. David is a former National Hockey League player, played a long time in professional hockey. We are still on the topic. Mindset may. David played for the Montreal Canadiens. He had a game there, played for the Columbus Blue Jackets. And we're going to talk about this. He played over, I think, 23 years, if I did my math correctly. David, great to have you here today.

Thanks, Mike. Glad to be here. How's it going?

Things are great. I always like bringing on people that I call underdogs or people that have, you know, had a really work their way there. People that have never given up. And you're definitely one that has done that.

Yeah. You know, being five, nine back in the, back in the 90s, the early 2000s, it was a big man's game and I'm a small guy and, you know, I had to keep proving people wrong all the way through.

Yeah, but not only that. You played physical. I saw, you know, because obviously, you know, us players, we always like to look and say, hey, who did this guy fight? And I remember you. I remember you being tough and I remember your brother as well. And you played a chippy game and it got you a chance to play in the NHL.

Yeah, I kind of, you know, I was, I kind of knew where my weakness was, and one of it was being shorter. And I knew that, you know, I had a coach who was, when I was 14, 15, who was Forby Kennedy, who used to play in the NHL back in the 50s and 60s. And he said, you know, if you're, if you want to play in the NHL right now, you're going to have to be able to fight. And, you know, my brother wasn't really eager to fight. He was more skilled and more skilled than I was. And I think that the drive that I had, I knew that, you know, even though I didn't like fighting, which I ended up actually liking it for a while, and, you know, I knew if I didn't drop my gloves, I wouldn't have made it.

Right. But you weren't really a fighter. It's like they look at us and I'm not much bigger than you. They have me Listed at six one and I'm just about six foot. But it's not that that you were a fighter that you, but you were willing to change the tempo of a game. And that's what I try to explain to people. It's not about why do people fight? They asked me. Well, it's more about bringing energy. And I knew like for sure that David Lang brought a lot of energy to everything that, that he did.

Yeah, you know, it not necessarily was a fight, but it could have been a big hit. But you, you know, I never, I, I never, I don't think I was ever in a staged fight. It was always sticking up for my teammates or a game where you, you know, they scored two goals quick and you needed to, like you said, change the momentum of the game. And I think that, you know, it, it, it isn't in the game as much anymore as I still love watching the, watching the game and how skilled it is. But I think that back then there was more of, it was more of a part of the, the game plan and when you got down to nothing and you know, there was guys that every team had and I was just one of those guys that, you know, it was time to either throw a big hit or, or get, to get the momentum, try and swing your way.

Well, I have to ask because it's all about people talk. This buzzword has been around for a long time, especially when we played, but you hear these coaches, or they call themselves performance coaches, life coaches, they talk about mindset, mindset. But how did you play 23 years of hockey? I mean, and pro hockey, forget the junior hockey and all the years prior to that. How did you do it?

Well, you know, it's funny because I still get excited to go play noon hour hockey with the, with, you know, rec league. I love the game. I think that, you know, a lot of guys would keep playing if it wasn't injuries or the style. And I think that I wasn't an overly speedy guy. I didn't skate real well. My, my hockey sense was my, was my big, my big, big talent. And I think that because I didn't have to, the game didn't. I knew how to play the game slow even though the game was going, getting faster and faster. And I think that a lot of guys that I played with started off being really fast and they got older or had a knee injury and then they slowed down and they didn't know how to play at the game at that high level, being slower. And I think that I never had to change my game to the speed of the game because I never was that fast guy that turned slow. So I think that's one, one, one reason I played so long. The other was like I always kept my body in good shape. I always did cardio. And I think that, you know, some trainers don't like the cardio. And my body. I knew that my body reacted best to 30 minutes of cardio every day. And I still do it five, six days a week now. And I think that that's what's kept my, my body that was able to play that long and be able to put up with the level of activity that had to be there.

Yeah. Isn't that the truth? We do everything we can. I mean, you were a little guy. So somebody once told me, well, if you're a little guy, you're going to go up against a 6 foot 5 guy. Are you going to try to go body on body or, you know, you're going to go for their hands? And I said, why would you go for their hands? I said, well, the weakest part of the human body is the hand, is the hands. You take anybody, I don't care if you're a, you know, Joey Kosher that had the biggest hands in the league or you had, you know, somebody that was small. But if, if you try to put their hands like out right, and you try to push it down, it moves no matter how big you are. You could do it to Mike Tyson if you want. So I realized that the hands are the weakest part of the body. So when you go for the hands, that puck's gonna pop loose. So as a player, did you do different to, you know, you mentioned it earlier, a little bit. But is there anything else? Like some of the little things and details we talk about. Is there anything you did special?

Well, I think, I think that, you know, that I got, I knew I was smaller. The bigger guys, I think that I did use my lower center of gravity to, to get in and under so that their, their power position like was at their hands and not at their, at their elbows. And then they push their elbows out. They had no more their arms because you're, you're lower. They had to be lower. It's just like I'm going to use a fight, a hockey fight. It's way easier to punch up than it is to punch down. And I think that the tall guys didn't like fighting the smaller guys because it is harder, I find to punch harder to get more power in your punch, punching down than you are punching up.

Yeah. But even playing even like things throughout a game or doing something different, sometimes being little, little er is an advantage because you can do, you can do certain things. And they're always looking for the bigger guys, especially the referees. Except they got, the referees got to know you a little bit. So I don't know if it was to your advantage, but even in those days, if you're, you know, a little bit smaller and a big guy runs at you and most likely the big guy is going to get the, the penalty for tripping or something else where if you go with a big guy and he falls, it may not be the same call.

Yeah. And it, and it there the refs did do give you a little bit of advantage. I think not, not me, but the smaller guy and I even, even in the corners, if you, if you turn, you can, you can turn quicker at a lower, at a lower center of gravity. And I think it's hard for a taller guy. And not only do I do I think I know I, you know, talking to the taller guys that you either played against or played with, they do find it harder for, for them to get their power into power position on a smaller guy. So those are things that you know, you, you learn. And I think it comes with experience. I think you can't really teach someone. It's. It's learning where you're getting pushed from by the defender or where you're getting, getting, getting bumped and learning how to lower your center of gravity or to turn at certain times. And I think it's like you said back before, it's. It's a mindset, but it's a mindset of knowing your opponent too as well.

Well, we talk about the mindset main. Somebody said, what is that? I said, well, I'm bringing on many different people. I've, I've had some ladies that were in the WNBA that made it the hard way or I've had so many different great people. One of your good friends, I think John Craighead was just on. But we've had a lot of different people that they just, they, I don't like with no pun intended, they fought their way there whether no matter what sport it was or in your life. And you have to have that mindset in everything you do, even business. And that where it's going to take me now. Now tell us your background a little bit because you might not. It's not like you're going to surprise everybody. But tell us a little bit about like your schooling, your background, love to hear it.

Well, you know, I, I, I grew up, I grew up in the east coast of Canada in Prince Edward Island. My dad was a orthopedic surgeon and my mom was a nurse. And so we, school in my household was very important. Even though that we knew that we wanted to play hockey, we knew that they had leverage by, if we didn't have, if we didn't keep our marks up, we, we didn't get to go play hockey. So that, that followed through. And I ended up turning pro at 20. Didn't have much time to go to university. Didn't go to university. And in a realm of my 17th, 18th year pro, I got an opportunity to take my MBA in England. And I jumped at it and took my mba and it opened up a lot of doors for me after the game. And my brother's in the financial industry in the United States, and it's something that I always wanted to do. And I got into working with IG Wealth Management in Ontario. And I really, I really enjoy it because again, I'm helping, helping families get to a better position and helping people get to a better position. And in the last couple months during COVID you know, I want to get back to hockey. And I love hockey. I love watching. So I've, I've also started analyzing some, some games with, with a little thing that I put together for, for players that are looking for a little extra, you know, coaching during a game.

That's awesome. That's such a great tool too. I know you're doing a lot of that, but you have a background in leadership, correct? And isn't that what you studied in school?

Yeah, my mba, I have a leadership diploma that came with the MBA that we had three courses, and I concentrated on the leadership part of it. And I think that growing up as an athlete and becoming a hockey player, that leadership and in athletes and leadership in the school part, and leadership and work and leadership in life, it's all interconnected and it's all through the same skills that the individual brings. And I think that hockey helped me become a better leader off the ice in the real world.

Yeah. And that's what I tell people within business. So we work with a lot of businesses. We work with like Fortune 50, Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, individuals and coaches. And, and I tell them that what we learned in hockey could translate into, you know, within your career and also, and even for somebody like yourself that has that leadership background, now you have both sides of it. I think it's amazing that you have that so I'm gonna ask you a couple questions. So did you have an idol as a kid growing up?

I did. I did. It was my. You know, everyone says that their dad, but mine, mine was my dad outside. My dad in the hockey world idolized Stevie Eisenhower. Why? Because he, he was the captain, the best player with the Detroit Red Wings. So there was. My dad was ideally my. My, My idol. And next to him was steviezeman.

Awesome. Okay, how about the definition of compete? Because we talk about mindset, but you have to have that mindset to compete. Give me your definition of the word compete. Because you were the one that did. You were, you were a heck of a competitor.

And I think it. My, My definition would be never give up. Go, go, go to the end. Even when you're, when you're told. Told that, you know you're on. You're on a worse team than the other to compete and to compete at a level where you're going to win and have confidence that, that that's going to happen.

You know, we talk a lot about preparation, and you prepare in business and not just five minutes before you prepare sometimes as an athlete. The night before, how did you prepare for games?

You know, I prepared a little bit differently. Not as professionally as a lot of guys. And sometimes the coaches look down on me. You know, I prepared at home. I visualize the game, I visualize the opponent. I visualized the outcome of the game. But when I got to the rink, there's a lot of guys that didn't. That, that started right then and I was a little bit. You know, I've already done my visualization, I've already prepared, and now I'm kind of trying to get loose. I think it's part of being, being nervous is, is having some of the, the loose and, and, and, and being the guy that, that talks a lot and jokes around in the, in in the dressing room. And I think that, because I think it's. Nerves are a bit. A good part of, of, of competition. And, and, and I think that if you don't have them, I don't think you can you compete at the highest level. But I think that, you know, got me in trouble sometimes in the rink. As, as, as, as you probably know, because I was that guy that liked to joke around sometimes right before the game that, just to loosen guys up and keep myself loose and be there so I'm ready for the game right at the puck drop. But I did it. It was a consistent thing. I wasn't it. I had a consistent Plan. I had my own, My own way of getting ready, and everyone does, and I think that. But a big part of mine was visualizing the, the whole process of the game.

Yeah, so you kept loose. And coaches love guys like that. Some do it. That all depends who you are. Some do.

And they do. And they do. But you, you, you walk a fine line at certain, certain times in a season, whether it's if you're in a slump as a team or you're a slumping individual and you're, you know, you're caught joking around. And even though you've been doing it for 40, 50, 60 games that year, you do walk the line with, with, with some of the coaches and, and, but that's part of it. But they, overall, they, they do like, they do like you, and they do respect you. It's just that you walk a fine line certain parts of the season.

Well, how hard was it to flip the switch then? Because now you're, you're relaxed, you're. You're joking. I'm not saying team clown. That's not the, I don't like that, that type of verbiage. But you're, you're out there and you know, or you're in the dressing room, you're getting the guys going, you're laughing. Then you have to flip the switch. Now it's time. And then right away something could happen. The first, like, you know, you go for warmups, you come in, now we're serious, and next thing you know, you can get in a fight the first three minutes of a game. How hard was that to do, flipping the switch?

Well, I think you just learn. You learn what your body and what your mind. Mind could do. And, you know, I, I joked around. I even joked around on the face of the opening, face off with the other team. But as soon as the puck drop game on, and, and you knew what you had to do, whether it was, you know, dump it in and, and get an early check to get in the game, or whether it was, you know, depending on, on the situation or a quick fight or whatnot. So it's, I think it came with, with experience and knowing your own body. I think everyone, Everyone delivers differently. And I knew after a while that the way that my body was that I, that I could joke around and still perform at my 110best. And still, you know, I, I had emotion during the game, whether it was angry or, you know, I laughed and had fun on the ice. And so it wasn't that it was 100% serious. But my work ethic and my compete was at 110% and knew that it had to be there consistently or someone else was going to take your job.

Okay, resiliency, your definition.

Resiliency is the old line of get knocked down and get back up. And I think that it means a lot. You could write a whole thesis on just that one sentence. And I think that, you know, even during negative times of a year, negative times in a game, knowing. Knowing that if you, if you keep to a game plan and you keep to your. To the way that you play, that things are going to change and things are going to turn out well.

That's so true because I tell people you're not a failure if you fall, but if you, if you fall and you don't get up, you know, then you might not care. Then, Then. Then you failed. But, but like you said, resiliency, you keep getting up, you keep pushing through it because you did all those years to, to finally get the call to play in the NHL, especially in Montreal. That original six, what was that like?

Oh, it was awesome. You know, I get. It's hockey night in Canada, in Montreal, Saturday night against the Boston Bruins. Ray Bourque, you know, you're coming from the East Coast, a lot of Bruins fans, a lot of leaf fans, a lot of Canadian fans. And, and you get that opportunity to play in. Not only in, in the Mecca of Canada, but you also get to do it on national tv. And so all your, all your buddies and all your teammates are able to watch. You know, it's. It's something that you don't realize is, or you take for granted until you look back and reflect on how big of a stage it is and how big of a accomplishment it is as an individual. At the time, you're thinking, wow, I deserve to be here. Why should I feel like this is where I supposed to be? But when you look back and you reflect, it's a big accomplishment. And you really get the understanding of, Of. Of how, how big a stage it was.

Yeah. And it's amazing. You. You finally get there, but it seems like sometimes it takes forever. But what was it that drove you through the tough times?

Well, I, I think that I, I had confidence that I thought that I could play. Like you get a linemate or a teammate that gets called up. You're. You're happy for them, but you're pissed off because, you know, you're, You're. You're better than them. And you, you should be the guy going up. But I think Part of it was confidence and mindset knowing that, you know, I am good enough to be there and I'm going to get there. That's my dream and I'm going to get there. No one's going to get in my way and I'm going to get there and you know, again, I'm going to come back to fighting. When I went to Major Junior, you know, I lost my first 30 fights, but you know, I learned how to win them and then turned it around and became someone that people didn't want to fight. So I think it's, I think it was one, it was confidence and two, it was, you know, I wasn't going to put my, let my dream get, get, get put on hold thinking that I wasn't good enough and, and I wanted to be there.

I think every player that plays junior hockey or even before that they played midget triple A or they're, they're working their way up and trying to be a National Hockey League player and they have that dream. But all those years, how many years did you play in the minors, like straight years before you got called up?

Well, I think it was my third year. I got, I got one game and then the next year I got two games. But then it was seven years between those three games and then the next 90 in Columbus. And you know, I could, I could have went to Europe at 26, 27 for more money and for, you know, a lot more money that I was making in the minors. But I didn't want to give up that dream and I didn't want to put myself in a position where I was letting someone else dictate that I wasn't going to play in the NHL. And I thought I still could. And it took, you know, between my third game and my fourth game, I think it was seven years.

Wow. So then, well, how important it is, how important is it to set realistic goals? Because sometimes we set these goals, okay, I want to make it, and then you're up for a cup of coffee, then, then they, they send you down. And did you have realistic goals that you were setting for yourself?

Yeah, you know, I was always a goal setter. I was always one that would, would set goals individual team time, time wise. And, and, and I think one of the, the big reset them. I think that you have to go back and reflect on what goals you've set and then whether it's quarterly, half a year, yearly, or, or whatnot is to reset your goals and to, to focus on because you might have reached some of your goals. And now the goals have changed and are different. And I think that having goals to strive for, I think makes. Not only. I'll use an athlete term, I think. I think it makes an athlete better. It makes them. We all want to strive for goals. Coaches use it. You know, our goal this year is to. To win the Stanley cup or to win the ahl, the Calder cup, whether we all set goals. And I think that if you don't, I think that you're. You're leaving. You're leaving yourself short. And I think that in. In the business world and in life, I think that, that, that it makes us better humans when we do. When we do set goals, in my opinion, and resetting them is big in. In the way that I focus on. On my go long term.

You said something earlier that I really liked and admired, that you love it. Like, even today at lunchtime, we. You just. We have. We're a lot in common. You and I have a lot in common. I used to love putting my skates on. I used to skate with the police officers and firefighters when I. When I moved back to the New York City area. And I look forward to it. And one of the guys said, ugh, do you like playing with us? I said, I love it. I just like being out here having fun. We're not going to play the same way, but I love that you have that passion to do it. And that probably is. What's the big thing with you that drove you to making it because you had to love it to do. To play all those years.

Yeah. Like, even, you know, when I'm, you know, I'm 40, 41, still playing in the East Coast League, older than my coaches, the young guys would. Would. Would be. It would admire how much I did love the game, love being at the rink. I love playing the game and the compete. I think, you know, I want to win. I want to compete. And, you know, it doesn't matter if it's cards or hockey. I want. I want that compete, and I want to. I want to strive to win. I think that if, you know, like my mother sometimes would say, it's not important to win if you always win. I'm like, well, why do we keep score? Like, why If. If don't keep score, if you don't want to win? And I think that I really love. I love hockey, but I really love the competition.

Well, I know you. You know this well. Explain to our listeners within business, within sports, whatever they do, how important is that discipline?

Well, I think that discipline Is, is, is it keeps you in line with, with the goal setting. So it's all, it's all a process. So I think that if you don't, if you don't set goals, you don't need discipline. I think that when, when you set goals and you're striving for something to have discipline, whether it's not, not going to see your friends the night before a hockey game or not, not alcoholic beverage in the, in the summer to get in better shape or, but, or discipline in, in the business world where, you know, you set your goals and you stick with them and you do Your, you give 110%, whether it's sales and you reach out to the people and, and sell a product. And I think that discipline is part of reaching your goals. You have to have the discipline there. It's all a process.

Well, the hardest thing too is I talk to people a lot and someone asked me, well, why is it hard for athletes to stop doing what they're doing? I was watching Drew Brees retirement and people didn't understand, well, he's going to make lots of money. People have no idea. Like, if it's something that this is embedded in us, we loved it. We've been doing it since we were five years old. So it's always hard to stop. Like, I knew I was never going to put that jersey on again. It's tough. But life after hockey, how was the transition for you?

Well, it was tough. I was a little different because I did, I did in my mind. It took me about five years to realize that I was retired. You know, I play, I'd get picked up in January and play another half a year. So I was, there was a five year process of it wasn't just an injury that cold turkey, the next day I retired. So there was a process. But I mentally, I did struggle a little bit with the identity part and missing the competition and the guys at the rink. And I reached out to some, some people that I looked up to. You know, I, I went into Brendan Shanahan's office in Toronto and, and talked to him and he, he, he was open arms and, and, and we discussed and we were just sitting there and he says, you know, it's, it's funny he goes, because when, when Gretzky, when Gretzky retired, he went through the same feelings and, and it's not that. It's not the money and it's not the, the position in life that you're in, it's the leaving where what you're Leaving behind. And I think that that really put, put it in, in perspective when the, the best hockey player in the world had the same feelings as all of us that when we leave the game.

Yeah. Isn't that the truth? People always talk money and I just like, look at them and I shake my head because it wasn't. I mean, yes, we made a good living and yes, you hear people holding out because it's such a short career. And you try to get all you can, whether you're playing in the minors and you played the minors for a long time, whether you're going to Europe or in the NHL, you try to get all you can. But in the beginning, it. Passion, it's, it's the drive, it's everything you said. And the greatest part was that, you know, David, you had that mindset of a champion and you had that mindset to, to, to be a winner. And you lasted a long time and you have a lot to give to others. Is there anywhere that, where people can get in touch with you today if they love that? I know in Canada you do financial work. I don't know if it's, if it's. I don't know the right word because I know. So you're allowed to only say so much as a financial planner without being reviewed. But is there anywhere people can get in touch with you?

Yeah, I'm all over social media with David Lingon and you can find me on social media. But if you're in Canada and you're looking for some financial advice or a second opinion, I work with IG Wealth Management, which is one of the top financial companies in Canada. And I think that if you go to the website, it's easy to find me there too. And I think that some people say, oh, why do I need a financial advisor? Why do I need. Why this? And sometimes I already have one. Sometimes a free second opinion just to give a different outlook on where you are and where you got to be is good.

Well, I thought it was important to have you. We've had a lot of great, many, many phone conversations and talks and, you know, you're a straight shooter and I just enjoyed just our conversations. And, you know, when it comes to mindset, again, this whole purpose is helping them. How do you have a better mindset? Like somebody asked me, well, how do you teach it? Well, it's not the easiest to teach, but why don't I bring some really great people on that had to have that mindset to fight through it? People don't realize when you're sitting on a bus for 10 hours and you're playing three games in three nights and you can barely walk and you have to play and you have to have that mindset to survive. And you did it for 23 plus years. And thank you for coming on, David.

I appreciate Mike in any time. I, I really do like I really do believe in, in, in the mindset and how it affects every one of us in, in day to day, in day to day living. And I think that for, for you to be talking and, and, and, and basically coaching people into it is, is like you said, you can't really teach it but you can learn it. And I think it's through experiences and through people conversations like this one. It helps other people. Just like the conversation I had with Shanahan. It helped me.

That is great. David, thanks so much.

Thanks Mike.

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