Mindset May John Craighead Emotional Before 1st NHL Game

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 John Craighead. We're still doing the mindset may and I'm really happy to have John here with us. We go way back. John, great to have you here with us today.

Oh well Mike, it's nice catching up with you. It's been a long time in such a small hockey world. Even though the generations pass us by, we seem to have this common ground that lifers stay in the game. And it's just so nice to hear your voice again and good to see you're doing fantastic things.

Well, the same with you. I always knew you as a very well spoken, I mean we hope most hockey players or athletes are, but you're very well spoken, smart guy, hard working guy, but damn tough as nails, man. I remember playing with you in the minors when we had the lockout year, the year and I played with the Vipers and I remember Rick Dudley telling me, you're going to love this kid and man, not only were you tough, you could skate. So that's such a great attribute to have.

Well, I appreciate that but you know, I mean the only reason I could skate because I was running from all those big guys.

I wouldn't say that. In fact, the funny thing is. Yeah, the funny thing is, I don't know if you remember but then I played in Orlando and you took it easy on me, I'm a little bit older and you and I went at it and I remember we had a little scuffle. I don't know if Rick Dudley, you know, sent you off the bench to get me. And I said, oh no, here he comes. But man, I enjoyed playing with you. That was for sure.

Yeah, for sure. I remember Orlando Solar, but Kirk Fraser I think was coaching out there at the time. They had Barry Dragger, I think they had. Geez, they had a couple of you guys had actually a really good team back then. But yeah, no Rick going back. Rick Dudley, geez, what a great name. That is a guy that's just a journeyman in the sport and just as true as they come. You want to hear the truth? You know, sometimes as hard as it is to hear, you know, he's a guy that could send that message for sure. But no, I don't think he sent me out after the. After that, I think I just went up, probably bear hugged you because I knew you weren't going to hurt me.

Yeah, well, the funny. Yeah, you know the funny thing. And I love Rick Dudley. I had him in Buffalo and then I went to the Vipers and had him a little bit. I. He's one guy that. He'll tell you it how it is. He played tough, so he understands and respects the guys that plays physical. So I know he liked you. I think he liked me. And going back, he was just a fun guy to play for.

Yeah, for sure.

So. So just to tell a little bit about your story, because I remember when I first met you, I mean, this is how many years ago we go back. I think it was 1998 somewhere. No, a little bit before 1995. Sorry. And I remember you shared your story. You didn't have it easy growing up in Vancouver. Can you share that story with us?

Well, you know, just like any successful person, you know, that deals with a little bit of adversity earlier on in life, it kind of sets you up for the challenges of the outside world once you leave the nest. And for me, I'm no different. You know, as a young teenager, I figured that I kind of knew it all and figured that I could make it on my own at 17. And looking back, having kids now, they would have a chance to make it at all. So I, you know, I struggled a little bit and, you know, made some bad choices like as teenagers do, and got my, you know, my break through junior hockey, which was nice. You know, I was given an opportunity to get myself off the street by getting billeted at a junior A level, which is kind of tier two, I guess it would be considered for you guys down there because the WHL being tier one, and then fell in the hands of some good hockey minds that really kind of laid it out for me and told me I had some choices to make, whether I wanted to actually make a go at this, because I actually only played 52 games of junior hockey or junior hockey in four years. So I was really undeveloped. But they obviously saw talent in me and a hunger and a willingness to do what it took to, on and off the ice to make it work. So, you know, the choices that you make when you're younger definitely are a contributing factor to how your future lays out. And all I remember growing up is my dad telling me that hard work will always set you free and Whether that was, you know, on the farm where I grew up or at school with my grades or in a job or in a sport. And so I always kept that in my mind that just don't get out worked. Just simply just don't get out worked. And that's a choice that someone makes, you know what I mean? Giving up is a choice. And if you just never give up and you're true to the game, the game will be true to you.

Well, that's why I really wanted to have you, because it's called mindset May and you had that mindset. I remember you sharing with me that you said, you know what, I'm going to make it no matter whatever it takes. And you didn't have a lot of junior experience. Playing 50 some odd games is not a lot of experience. That's a development league where you're supposed to develop. So as you got to pro, you know, you definitely were a late developer, that's for sure. Late bloomer.

Yeah, you know, I started a little bit behind the eight ball, but I played every sport. You know, I played football, basketball, baseball. I had a black belt before I graduated from high school. I was a Greco Roman freestyle wrestler for five years. I boxed since I was a young kid. My uncle was a golden glove champion. So I was really athletic and I loved combat sports and I loved the fact the challenge of something new and skating was what was that determining factor? Like unless you grew up on a pair of skates, it's not something that you could pick up in your teens and go on to have a success, successful pro career. So the challenge was there and you know, and I just took it on head on and was fortunate enough and blessed enough for the hockey gods to give me an opportunity to play 13 years.

Yeah, you played 13 years. You played over in Europe.

But I want to talk with you.

Because a lot of players, there's first round draft picks that never played a game in the NHL and you ended up, you know, being the late bloomer, having that mindset to get ahead and do whatever it took. You actually put on an NHL jersey, played in league games and tell us that feeling.

Well, it was definitely a dream come true. Like, you know, looking back on it was pretty surreal in the moment. You know, it was kind of. It just happened so fast. I remember we were playing in Hamilton. I was playing for the Saint John Baby Leafs and we went in to play George Laroque and Dennis Bomvy in Hamilton and I remember Greg Smythe, bless his soul, Bird Dog took On, you know, George Larocque in the game. And I ended up fighting Dennis Bomby and luckily just got the upper hand on him. And it was a good clean, you know, combat tilt for me. And I showed well. And it was like my seventh fight in eight games or something like that, or my sixth fight in seven games. So I was kind of battered up and we ended up winning the game. And I remember walking down the hall towards the bus after we showered, and the trainer grabbed me and he says, hey. He says, you need to grab your bag. I said, well, what do you mean? He goes, you're going to the show. And it didn't actually register. And I said, well, what do you mean? He goes, yeah, the. The Leafs are calling you and Kelly Fairchild up. They've got a big Greyhound bus chartered bus outside for you too. And we got to get your gear on the bus. You got, you know, you're playing in Boston tomorrow or. Sorry, in Buffalo. In Buffalo tomorrow. And I'm like, you got to be kidding me. And I was just. I just started vibrating. I, you know, I was nervous. I. I knew I was a bit hurt, you know, I mean, because my hands were a mess, my face was bad. I think one of my eyes were, you know, just about, you know, swollen shut. So anyways, I get up there and that was the night that the clock had fell in Buffalo. The night before, they had a home and home against Buffalo in Buffalo. And do you remember the big jumbotron falling in the middle of the ice? It didn't.

I remember that.

Yeah, that was the next day, was my first NHL game. It was Nick Kyprios. He had actually broke his ankle the night before when that clock fell. And they had just a mayhem in there with Barnaby and the Boog and Ray. It was just a big mess that night that Kyprs broke his ankle. So they needed a little bit more meat in the lineup. So I got my first sniff and there I was, you know, playing in the minors, playing minor hockey in the interior sicamous in Western Canada as a young kid growing up, loving the game as a Western Canadian boy. And here I find myself at 25 years old, you know, dressing for the blue and white. So it was definitely a dream come true.

Yeah, Playing for an original six team. And I think that's the best way to find out that you're getting called up is like spontaneously like, hey, by the way, you're going to the show. Oh, great. You don't have time to get nervous. You get yourself ready. It's a short 30 minute trip to Buffalo. You probably got there at one in the morning or so after the game or you go to sleep and next thing you know you're playing against the Buffalo Sabres. And you finally made it. Did it? Did you have that feeling when you went out and warm up and you looked around and you don't have your helmet on or maybe you had your helmet on? They told me to take my helmet on, helmet off the first time. But did you look around and say holy cow, I finally did it?

You know what, to be honest with you, I didn't even get on the ice before that happened. I remember the trainer talking to me in the pregame skate and he says, listen, we got to get a number for you. And I said, yeah, sure, you know, you know, whatever you have, I'm totally happy with. You know, when you're a rookie, you're just, you couldn't care that you'll do anything, you know what I mean? Like. And he says no, no, no, you know, give me your number. Like, you know, what number do you wear? And I said well I wear actually 44 in the minors. And he says are you kidding me? And I said no, no, that's my number. He goes, you can't wear 44 in the minors. Only superstars wear double digit numbers in NHL. And I'm like, oh well, no, no, no, no, no, any number will do. That's just what I wear in the minors. And he says, oh well, I'll find you something. I said, oh no, no, no, no problem. So I'm thinking, oh God, now he thinks I, that I think I'm a superstar and this and that. Well, whatever. We get to the, the ring for game time. I get there extra early. I know I was one of those guys like good old Daniel Shank. I remember you. I'm sure you remember him. I used to like to get to the rinka two and a half hours early and I walk in and of course I'm nervous. There's nobody really around other than the trainers and so forth. And I walk in the dressroom and there was my jersey. Craig had number 44 in between Sedine and Gilmore. And I, I just, my, my heart, I tell you, I felt like I just drank six Red Bulls. My heart was just absolutely pounding out of my chest and I hear, I am trying to maintain my cool because here I am coming in 6, 197 pounds, thinking that, you know, I'm expected to, you know, bring some muscle to this lineup. And they had Some big guys back in the day, like that. That era was with pop band Wendell, Clark, Murphy, Gilmore, Sundin, Domi. Like, it was just an incredible team of superstars that I actually, you know, watched growing up. And so here I am in the dressing room and I'm just. It's just surreal for me. You know, we get dressed, go through the whole pattern. I finally take the jersey off the hanger and I put it on, and I'm just dying to see what it looks like. So I pretend I have to go to the bathroom and I go into the bathroom stall or into the bathroom and I'm standing in the mirror. And I swear, like, you know, as a tough guy, you're supposed to, like, have it all together and give everybody confidence. I literally just broke out in tears. My eyes welled up. My whole life just like, just swooshed by. For all those people that told me that I was never going to be a hockey player, that I'm wasting my time. And, you know, it just. Everything just kind of just come all at once. And it was just such an incredible emotion because it was all about me believing in myself. It was getting back to the mindset me. It was just all about believing in yourself. You know, train your mind to see the good in everything, because you're always going to have scenarios in your life, regardless whether it's sport or work, that are going to be challenging and you're going to get challenged on a daily basis. There's always a positive spin to it. And if you could train your mind to look at the positive in every situation, your outcome is going to be that much better. I'm not saying that you're going to make it. I'm not saying that you're going to be successful in your job, your business or your sport. I just know that you'll have a better opportunity of being successful. You just train your mind to look at the positive.

Yeah, and that's so true. If you look back too now, you played with Glenn Healey, said this best. I don't know if you played with him that year or not, but Glenn Healey would say, well, it doesn't matter if you had a cup of coffee in the NHL or it doesn't matter if you had a pot of coffee. Some people have a pot of coffee. Like the two guys you sat between. Right? You sat between Sundin and Gilmore. Those guys were around forever. Then you have other guys like Kyprios. I know Nick. He was one of my really good friends. He played almost 400 games in the NHL or somewhere around there.

Yeah.

And then you. And then you have guys that play, you know, you played. I. Not sure how many. If you played 50 games or four. I don't. I didn't even want to look it up because I was excited just to have, you know, John Craig Hegg, the hockey player and friend, come on. But you played. You played in the National Hockey League. You were there. And I feel. I don't know if I feel bad, but sometimes I meet a lot of players that were drafted, players that should have made it. They never played a game, and I think some of them carry that grudge. Today I. I've talked to those guys. I've been around it that you can go to bed every night saying, you know what? I did it, and I don't care what anybody says. And you had a lot going against you to do it.

Well, for sure. But that just goes with. I honestly, I got to credit my stepdad up in the interior and my mom for the. For the whole mindset of being able to achieve anything that you put your mindset to, you manifest it, you nurture it, you take care of it. It will grow just like a plant. You know what I mean? If you. You have a plant, you water it daily, you pluck the dead leaves and you look after it, make sure it's in the. Make sure it doesn't get too cold, it's going to blossom. You have a plant, you leave it outside 24 7, regardless what the weather is. You know, the chances of it being, you know, successful and reaching its maximum potential is, you know, very unlikely. You know, I mean, so sometimes you need, you know, bad things to happen in your life to inspire you, you know, to change and grow as well. And that's getting back to, you know, the. The challenges that I faced when I was earlier. I don't think. Well, I haven't had that experience or been where I can interview a lot of guys to find out if they actually changed their mindset as they got older. You mentioned these draft picks and so forth that are drafted high and have all these expectations on them and these pressures and especially in this younger generation, this sense of entitlement. I think that they think that they've already made it once they're drafted. Like, you know, looking back as an older player now, looking at the younger guys and their mindset, I think that they feel that, you know, they're going to play the National Hockey League no matter what. But that doesn't necessarily mean just because you're drafted, you're going to play the National Hockey League because there's just so much work that needs to be done from the time that you're drafted to actually putting on that first jersey. And then you're going to have run into challenges of journeymen like myself that live the same dream as you that might have had, you know, some a little bit of a harder road that has actually groomed them and paved, you know, my life. I can only speak for myself, like, prepared me for those tough times later in life, which I did not feel that were tough. Where we're playing in the palace of Auburn Hills, 22,000 fans, standing room only, and you got to go out and, you know, and fight. You know, Cliff Fletcher, you know, I mean, 6, 4, 6, 5, 250 pounds, outweighed me by 50 pounds. And, you know, I looked at that challenge like, you know, this guy's not going to hurt me. You know, I mean, I'm here. I'm going to stand up for my team. He's not going to hurt me. I've been through way worse in my life, and I think the adversity is a huge key and a lesson and a mindset to understand when you're younger, you need to face some of these challenges early and have these coaches challenge you and maybe not tell you that you're the best thing since sliced bread and be a Rick Dudley and speak the truth. Right. Or Mark Hardy. Mark Hardy was unbelievable for me. He just told me exactly where my game was and what I needed to do to improve on and off the ice. It's not just performing on the ice. You need to be a good standout journeyman or athlete off the ice as well. Like, I remember doing it when we were in Detroit, Stu Grimson and I, doing, you know, charity events for abused women and children. And just listening to him speak like, you know, he was Harvard Law. You know, everybody thinks that just because you can fight that, you know, you got this reputation of being a goon, that you're uneducated. Where they got that from, I have no idea. But just listening to him talk about life in general, you know, hockey is just a sport, and it's a. We're in a form of entertainment. In my case, I was, you know, as violence as a form of entertainment, because there's obviously different roles that you know of. Like, you play both. Like, you know, I mean, you hardly ever back down from a fight, whether or not you knew you were going in under the gun or not. But you just, you know, you actually did Those little things that were fantastic. There might have been guys bigger than you, stronger than you, tougher than you, more skilled than you, but you had the full package, you know, and that. That mindset is off the ice as well. You need to be able to, you know, be a part of a family. And I learned this, you know, I mean, later on in my career, like, you know, you're a family. You need to be able to adapt and mold and help people and understand the feeling of when someone's down or the team's down or when to step up and when not to step up and when to shut up and, you know, when to come to the forefront. And I think that's a learning curve that I learned as a journeyman growing up in the sport, playing with guys like yourself, guys like Mark Hardy, guys that have been in the show, guys that have actually been there. And in sharing their experiences, it's up to you whether or not you take that and interpret it into your own mindset and make it part of your own if you really want to be there. And I think that's all that's part of being a tremendous athlete is the mindset of being able to adapt and understand the messages that you are given from, you know, successful players like yourself. And a lot of guys that I've played with that played the National Hockey League and use that to your advantage to get to where you want to be.

Yeah, very well said. And you mentioned Stu Grimson. I mean, that guy was, you know, six foot five, tough. And I remember when I played against him, you know, he would. He would fight the heavyweight, but he'd come at me. But when I went to the Detroit Red Wings training camp, I went there as a tryout. In fact, I was just about done with hockey. I was going to go play in the. In Europe and Germany, which I did later playing the Del. But I was going to go right away, and the Red Wings called and said, we'd like you to come to camp. And I said, sure. I was right in Detroit, and I ended up going to camp, and Stu Grimson pulled me aside and said, play your game. Don't worry. I'm not going to fight you. And that was nice. He said, just play your stuff. And he didn't do it because he was scared, believe me. He did it because he was such a good guy. He said, go out there and play. It's always good to have another person like you around. And that made me feel really good, like. Like, who does that? And that's what I miss about life. I miss the John Craigheads, the Stu Grimson's, the people like the Alan Mays that you might remember. And players like that were just really good guys and good people to be around. And I miss that. My everyday life today.

Well, I couldn't agree with you more, you know, and I had that same feeling when I went to trading camp. When I signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I thought, oh God. I studied Tai Domi all summer long and I trained to fight Domi. I knew that he had an incredible VO2, so I made sure that my VO2 Max was just off the chart. And all I had to do is make sure I didn't get knocked down. And I was going the distance with him that year. 96. I come in and won the NHL physical at 200. Well, I was 197 pounds. So when I come to camp and my whole focus was looking at the inter squad scrimmages, finding out who I'm playing against and finding out what I'm playing against Tony, I couldn't think about anything else. I just knew that I had to be able to prove myself to the guys that this is your guy and I'm coming in here to help him. It's an unwritten rule. I know we're going to be teammates. I just need to get my respect from him and my teammates to show them that, hey, listen, I can help pull on this rope. And sure enough, just like you and Stu, I seen Tai Domi in the hallway. We were walking down, he's obviously a little shorter. Me, he was 5, 10, I was 6 1. I had just won the NHL physical with the Maple Leafs and he come up to me and I guess he had heard about it. He said, fantastic young guy. Like, you know, it's, it's so nice to have you here and I'm glad you come in shape. And I said, listen, you know, I mean, you and I aren't going anywhere. You're already signed. You know, we're not going to be doing anything stupid in training camp. We're not. I'm not going to embarrass you, you're not going to embarrass me. We're gonna save and go to war in exhibition. And just the professionalism. I knew he wasn't scared of me. You kidding me? The guy was fighting probie on any given night. It was just the fact that he just understood the system, understood the game, understood that I was, you know, part of the family and wanted to put my mind at ease to make sure that I didn't go out there and do anything stupid where he'd have to, you know, come and do something stupid and hurt one of your own teammates. So that whole feeling of understanding and how to be a professional is just so key. And you learn that from, like I said, going back to guys that have been there, older guys, older veterans. I see it. One of my good buddies that I was, I played the minors with on two different teams and we were roommates. JARED BENDER COACHING COLORADO AVALANCHE I went down to see my boy playing in Carolina. Well, that's where he played. He played the Stingrays, then he coached the Stingrays and then worked his way up to the National Hockey League. Well, I was just down, you know, a couple of months ago, watching my son's first pro game and he hadn't left for Colorado yet. So we got together and started talking and I started talking to him about the superstars these days in the McKinnon's and the Macar's. And, you know, and he says, it's just so different now, John. He says, like the whole mental part of the game now is so sensitive that you just really almost have to be a psychologist in sports psychology to be able to coach nowadays where the old time, the old school, yelling, screaming, kicking garbage cans and going up, you know, that falls on deaf ears after a couple of times. You really got to be able to be able to connect to these, this younger generation because of how important the mindset is now. The minds are so sensitive. The business is so huge now, the, the dollars are so large now, the contracts are so big now that you really got to sit down and talk to some of these guys and be able to connect to them mentally and find out where they are in their minds and what their mindset is to be able to get the best out of them. And so I found that very exciting because I like that. I like the depths of the sports psychology and the mindset that you need to have to be a professional athlete in any sport, not just hockey, even in individual sports, where you don't have anybody else to rely on that you got to rely on yourself. I love golf, of course, I'm addicted to, to do it, but it just goes back to your attitude, you know what I mean? It's the little things that make the big difference. And I learned that later on in my career. If I, like you said, if I know, if I knew back then what I know now, oh my goodness, I would have played a lot more in a handful of games. In the National Hockey League. And that just goes back to mindset. So I hope this, when this airs, or anybody that's listening, if they want to take something away from it, and you're a young, inspiring athlete, regardless of any sport, it's check yourself. You're in control of your own mind.

John, well said again, because I 100% agree with you. And let's keep in mind that listeners should know you can play, so you just can't fight because there were a lot of big guys that played in that Southern professional league or whatever it was, the Sunshine League or whatever it was. But you were a guy that was smart, you could hit, you could play, but your job was to play physical. And you did whatever it took to make it, whether you played one game or a thousand games. So I agree. So now tell us a little bit about today. What are you doing today?

Well, these days I actually live in Western Canada. I own a local junior hockey team that I played in the league 30 years ago, which is kind of ironic. There's still a few owners in the league that were coaching when I actually played in the league back when I was a young teenager. And I'm in a local community where there's a lot of diversity and we focus on equality and sharing our experiences and our wealth of experience in the game, outside and inside the game. Our team is very, very involved in the community and involved in charity work for underprivileged kids that would never, ever get an opportunity. The inner city kids, kids with disabilities. Like I said, we're in a brand new $60 million arena that's an all inclusive facility. Obviously. I'm a member of the Vancouver Canuck alumni, signing with the Vancouver Canuck alumni or Vancouver Canucks in O2. I'm on the board, executive governor's board for the golf committee, of course, but we also, I host the Vancouver Canuck alumni team. We obviously play charity games throughout the year and so forth. And our home base is my junior rink, which I, you know, share with my junior team and the Vancouver Canuck alumni. So we're doing a lot of good things in the community. We're doing a lot of good charity, taking advantage, of course, of all the great weather in the summertime here, golfing and helping raise money and having a good time skating every Monday night with the Canuck alumni and we go out and do our charity events all over BC. We have just over 50 members in the alumni and on any given night we have at least 25 guys come out guys that I used to Grow up watching, which is just so fantastic to know that they're coming to my dressing room, to my rink, something that I built and painted and put my stalls together by hand and then have these guys come in and just love it and hang out and have a few beers and tell stories and just, and listen. I'm going to be 50 this year and I feel like a 50 year old rookie. Like I come into that dressing room and I just, I just well up with gratitude just for the simple fact that, you know, I've been so blessed by the hockey gods. I've just put my heart and soul into it, this game and having the opportunity to stay in the game, owner, junior team, be a part of the Vancouver Canuck alumni, do good things in the community, follow my kids careers and so forth, you know, and once again it's not just all Cinderella, you know, it's a lot of hard work. You know what I mean? You've really got to pay, pound the pavement and have the right attitude because attitude is altitude. You know what I mean?

Right?

However high you want to go, you know, fix your altitude, fix yourself. Do you, you know, bring the best of you every, every scenario. Understand that you're gonna have good days, bad days, you're gonna fall. And it's not what you do when you fall, it's what you do after you fall. Just get back up, get yourself back into the, into the grind. Be true to the game and the game will be true to you. And that's not just the game of sports, that's the game of education, work, relationships. You get out of it what you put into it. And it. I know a lot of these are cliches, but if you really actually take a step back and look at how successful a lot of these guys are, there's a handful of guys that are just born to be successful and a lot of them have bad attitudes, right? They just rely on pure talent. Then there's the other 99% that are basically fighting for that spot. You look, there's 750 guys in the National Hockey League. 400 of those contracts aren't going to come up for grabbing during your whole era, whether you play for 10 years, five years, whatever. Those are guys that have just guaranteed their contracts and they're, they're, they're going to stay healthy and they're going to have those, those deals for that amount of time. So you're left with 3, 400 deals or 3 or 400 contracts for the rest of the world to compete against. So your Chances have to be the same as winning the lotto. You have to be able to do the little things to make the difference. Like why you, why pick Mike Hartman to be on this team when I can pick a hundred thousand Johnny's. What is it about you that makes yourself different? And that's your mindset, that's your attitude. That's what you bring to the table every single day. You know, you know just as well as I do, like when you're having a bad day, you can't come in and just dump yourself, you know, on your team and bring the morale down on the team. You've got to just suppress that, that, that negativity and try to find the positive in it and know that there's going to be a better day, whether it's tomorrow, the next day or the next day. You know how guys are when they get in ruts, they go on these scoring ruts, like all these goal scorers that, you know, they don't like, look at McKinnon, you know, even in last night's game, you know what I mean? Held the one shot, minus one, and, and got shut out. Like, you know, you just got to know that there's going to be another, another day. And it's what you do with that day that is gonna just turn things around for you. So you can't stress it enough. You know, I'm so blessed out here out west. Getting back to your question, things are fantastic. It's just so nice to catch up with you. You know, I followed you and when I seen you putting your podcast together, I follow your talks and your live videos online with your good looking face, walking through the park and speaking your mind and speaking your truth and, and that resonates with a lot of people because a lot of people have a hard time speaking their truth. And I think that with all the health awareness and mind awareness and mind sickness that's going on these days, that people are being able to talk about it more and more and more. It's guys like yourself that are making that effort to do podcasts, reach out to guys that, you know, have been there and done it and fell on hard times and have succeeded just to help those guys that, you know, they're suffering in silence and that you, you can, you know, it's all in your mind. If you can just train your mind to say something or talk to somebody or. It doesn't always have to be on an elite level. I know we talk about athletes and successful people. We get ourselves wrapped up in guys careers and what they've done with themselves and get starstruck. But there's everyday people out there that live in their minds, too, and struggle and have these demons. And sometimes all it takes is them to hear a podcast like this to find out that we're normal, too, just because we did something really cool in our lives and something that's really unique in being a professional athlete. We are human, too, and we go through our daily struggles just like everybody else. It's not all roses, and we understand that. But with the right attitude, there's always a positive that you could pull out of a bad situation. So, you know, if I could leave you with anything, as far as the mindset May goes, is just, you know, be true to yourself. Don't be afraid to speak up and talk and confide in somebody if things aren't going well in your mind and just know you're not alone.

That was. That was great. And this is going to touch so many people. I get a lot of emails from different people that listen to our show and says, oh, I love this part. I love that part.

And.

And this was great. I'm not just saying that. This is. I mean, I had a few questions to ask you, but you even answered them. And we think alike and thank you for the nice compliments, by the way, but we think alike. I always said, okay, there's a million and a half hockey players, youth hockey players in the United States. What's going to make you different than everybody? So when parents ask, I'll so go listen to, you know, John Craighead's interview. I mean, this is what it takes. Go listen to Alan May. Go listen to Nick Krios. Go listen to Dave McIlwain or Todd Ellick that was never drafted. These guys weren't just tough guys, they could play. But John, it was so great to have you. I know. You know, in this day and age. I read something recently. Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been around since 1920. Well, I know the Rangers 1924, and I know the Toronto Maple Leafs have been around somewhere maybe a little bit before then. If they had, when they. They might have been, you know, I don't know. That's when the original stick. Yeah. So there's only been a few black players on the. Because I just read that in Facebook the other day. There's. Are you one of five that has ever. Or eight? I don't know that number, but it's. Come on, it's.

That.

That's crazy.

Yeah, I'm one of eight. I do believe at the time that I was the fourth African American ever put on the blue and white. And what an honor to meet Val James and, you know, a couple of these other young guys that, you know, that were younger than us, and we just talked, you know, they talked about the Black History Month and everything that's going on with the BLM in the States and the world and everything right now, and equality and, you know, it's. It's something that I've kind of dealt with all my life. My mom's white, my. My biological father is black. And, you know, just naturally looking back, you know, it seems easy to talk about now because, you know, I'm on the other side and know that there's so many beautiful people in all colors of the world. And, you know, to be honest with you, if we couldn't see, we wouldn't have the problem other than language and not being able to understand each other, because we judge people because of our eyes, whether they're large, they're different color, or they speak a different language or how they look, or disabled, or they weren't born with all their limbs or it seems just to be an uncomfortable scenario to put certain people in. And I just think that that's just due to being uneducated. And as much as a lot of people are just really sick of hearing about the BLM and, you know, Black History Month and so forth, and I kind of am too, in a way. But it's important because these are uncomfortable talks that need to be had to just understand where we've come from and to make sure that we never go back there and that we move strides to move forward for equality and diversity and all inclusive inclusivity with everybody. Like, there is no superior race. We're all human. We all bleed red. We all need water, we all need oxygen. Regardless of where you come from doesn't make you more superior than somebody else. You're just more fortunate and given an opportunity. And this goes back to your mindset. Be grateful and have some gratitude for your successes are your accessors or your ancestors that put you in this situation. So, yeah, you know, it was really neat. I've been doing a lot of cool things in the hockey business, you know, interview. I think this has got to be my 10th or 11th interview during this whole, you know, last three or four months. But what an honor, like, you know, for them just to come out of their way and want to do an interview and do a podcast. The one breaking down barriers was done about three months ago. But the one that we just did with Val James and Fraser and actually Mrs. Nurse, she was on there, she was hosting the interview, hasn't come out yet, which is really fantastic. But it just goes to show you, you know, that it doesn't matter what background you come from. We all know that African American genes, the DNA genes, are very athletic. You just look at the World Olympics. Hockey being a very expensive sport and not having rinks in rural areas in the United States was probably very difficult in the 70s and 80s and 90s, you know, for African American to play hockey. And it's no different when, you know, it's not just hockey. Look at golf, you know what I mean? Tiger woods, he, growing up, wasn't allowed to play on certain golf courses, and yet now one of the best players in the world and still, you know, wasn't too long ago that he wasn't welcome in the clubhouse at Augusta. So, you know, I think it's just a matter of time where, you know, we just need to continue to educate people in a digestible way. You cannot force feed people to change their mindset of what they believe from their great grandparents, their grandparents, their parents, that they've been, how they've been raised, what they've been told. It just has to be an experience on their own to be able to change their mindset of the negativity on color and racism and all these kind of things. So I experienced a lot of it growing up, of course. But I don't blame the person that is necessarily being vulgar or making these racial comments. I just blame the education system and the fact that they're just not. Haven't been educated. Educated on it because we're all the same. Like, you talk on the phone, you talk to me on the phone. You would never know I was black. I don't talk with black slang. I was raised in a white Scottish family. I graduated student council president of my high school. I'm very well educated. I traveled the world. German's my second language. I just, you know, I don't take it personally. I've run into a lot of controversy and stuff. And even as being a black owner in my league, I ran into some issues as well from some uneducated owners that have been around for a long time, setting their ways. And, you know, I just continue to try to do my part and educate, be accepted, be a good person, have a good mindset, know that there's a positive spin on every negative situation. And it seems to work for me. You know, it takes a lot of patience. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't always like this, you know, I mean, you know me. I have a really fighting background and I got a Scottish temper. But God knows there's sometimes you're left with no choice other than to physically educate somebody that just doesn't know how to get rid of their ignorance.

Well, you said the magic word. There's a lot of ignorant people in the world. I grew up in Detroit. My grandmother grew up by eight Mile Road. And people would always say certain things and say, boy, are you scared in that neighborhood that my grandmother. What are you talking about? We didn't grow up that way. But there's ignorant people. I hear ignorant things. I'm in the South. I better shut up before I really get myself in trouble, because I'm one that probably will. But I hear you. John, it was so great having you on the show. It was fantastic. You've educated a lot of people. We talked about Mindset May and what does it take? Thank you so much for being here.

Well, I appreciate it, Mike, and to all the listeners, thanks for taking the time to listen. And if you have any comments or any questions, you can always get ahold of me online or whatever. Through social media. We do talks all the time. We're always open for discussion and open especially for mental awareness. Like, you know, people that are finding it at a hard time out there that just want to talk to somebody that I'm not a doctor. I don't know. I have all the answers. I can only share the experiences that I have. And, you know, through my troubling times, I always had a strong listening ear from whether it's an ex athlete or someone like yourself, Mike, that actually just truly cares about somebody. It's not all about reviews. It's not all about making money. Sometimes it's just about being a good guy.

Sean, thank you.

Thanks, Mike.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Mike Hartman Show. If you're enjoying what you've heard so far, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review on your preferred podcast listening platform. We really appreciate, appreciate that effort. We'll catch you in the next episode of the Mike Hartman Show.