John Boruk: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on Raising A Champion, Episode 5. Before we bring in our guests, just want to remind you, make sure that you subscribe to us wherever you listen. We're available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google podcast. You'll be notified when new episodes become available. So we would thank you and appreciate it.

Very much if you subscribe to us wherever you listen. Our guest for this show a two time Stanley Cup champion. He's a five time All Star, a member of the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame. One of my personal favorites a guy who grew up in the tiny town of Smithers, British Columbia. We're gonna get into all of that.

Jimmy Watson defenseman, Jimmy Watson, welcome into the show. How are you, Jimmy? 

Jim Watson: Boy, it's always a pleasure to see you, John, and it's nice to talk to the hockey fans out there in the Delaware belly. Let's get at her. I love talking hockey and I just appreciate all our wonderful fans out there.

John Boruk: What makes you interesting. What I think you're really an ideal guest for this format [00:01:00] is because you've really been involved in youth development now for 25 years, and I wanna get into all that, I wanna get into your childhood because, you and your brother, together won Stanley Cup championships, but you've now been involved in youth development for almost 25 years when you made the conscious effort maybe even before that. 

Jim Watson: Yeah, that's, but long before that, John, But I'll get into that with you in a minute. Go ahead, finish your question

John Boruk: When you guys made the decision that you were going to build and start youth hockey here in the Delaware Valley. 

Jim Watson: It's a long story, but yeah. Going back first of all, 25 years, no, John, ever since I played, I've been involved with youth hockey.

I ran hockey camps when I was with the Flyers. You're talking, I'm going back 55 years, somewhere in that area. I've been really working with kids. But it really came to the front when I built the rink. With my partners, my wonderful partners over in Aston Delaware County. We built IceWorks in 1997, but it was just on a lark.[00:02:00] 

Our kids might, one of my partners, myself, our kids were playing a game over in Valley Forge in the Old Valley Forge ice Arena, and the water was dripping in from the leaks on the roof. There was big bumps on the ice. And I just said to my partner, I said Mick, what do you think? Why don't we build an ice rink?

And I happened to say it to the right guy who's a real doer, and he said, Yeah, Jim, let's do that. In fact, he says to me, I think he said, I think I said it to you first, Jim, but whatever. I and from that point now on, the game was on and we started looking for a. It took us over two years to find our current site, but we settled on six acres in Aston Delaware County, and that was where we decided to build IceWorks.

We built two rinks in 1997, John, and then it was so popular and such a demand for ice that we actually added two more ranks in Year 2. So we have four ice surfaces in the one location and it just tells you how popular the game is. [00:03:00] But I insisted that it being Delaware County because I had lived in Delaware County for quite a number of years and I coached my two boys in baseball and I would go through playing games and neighboring towns.

I lived over in Newtown Square, Delaware County, and we would go over to Aston and play. People all the middle of June, July, were talking hockey, and I'm at a baseball game and all they wanna do was talk hockey. So I knew there was a ton of hockey fans in that area. So when we decided to build the rink, I said, Let's try to get it in Aston.

And that's where we ended up settling in Aston. Yeah. 

John Boruk: But in this particular area, you need these sort of resources in these venues because where you grew up, you could go out on to the frozen lake and play for hours, among hours and hours for six months out of the year. Here, That's not really an option.

So it's for kids like my child to, to go out there and to play on a daily basis, you have to have one of these venues [00:04:00] because the, those sort of outdoor ponds and frozen ponds don't really exist like they do up in Canada. You're right, they, 

Jim Watson: They don't, all certain parts of the United States, of course they do.

Minnesota, they're, they get a lot more rice, right? Yeah. But, I remember the days building ponds in my backyard and just skating because we had the cold weather. But listen, it's changed also for the kids in the United States because of the advent of roller hockey. Roller Hockey's been a big plus for kids in the states in order for them to develop their skills and even their skating skills, because a lot of them start out as street hockey players.

Roller hockey and what have you, and then they graduated from there to ice, but once they've already handled the p a ball or a puck in roller hockey, when they get on the ice, it's so much easier to handle. So that's where you get all these kids that are just really skilled with the puck and are good skaters because they've done it through roller hockey.

So it's really. Added opportunity [00:05:00] for more kids to play hockey in the States. 

John Boruk: So my initial exposure to Jim was when my son Pierce was four. I wanted to enroll him into one of your camps, your summer camp, a week long camp. Now he was four. And this is, the bad father in me is, I was thinking that, who cares about naps?

He's gonna go through and he is gonna do these camps and hey. And I remember talking to him like at some point, he may need a nap here, may get worn out, but it's, it was an initiation for him to, to be around a coach and somebody. Like yourself, who's probably, I think would be self described as a little old school.

You got a good cadence to yourself to where, you’d have a certain you demand a respect, you demand that people follow your ways and fall in line. That there's a discipline. Yeah. And [00:06:00] maybe that's lost but that's something I thought was important at the time.

And I think that's something that. Is really important with you when you speak to these kids and you speak to their parents 

Jim Watson: Yeah. Listen I don't think I'm old school at all, John. I'm, Look at nobody, nobody wants to see players play with skill more than I do. Wants to see more offense in the game.

I promote that constantly. I, but I do believe that it I know that it all starts in the head, right? You have to get your hockey player thinking the right way. So it starts up in the head. And if a kid is mature, that's the big word, mature. So I'm gonna get into this with you a little bit.

When a kid is mature, then he is always gonna think properly. He's gonna know what he wants to do and he's gonna go out there and play hard because of it. It's the immaturity in a player or in any sport that maybe creates a inconsistency in his effort during practice. Okay? And that's the key is how hard do you practice.

So if you're immature, you're not gonna practice hard [00:07:00] all the time. You're always gonna find fault with something. But if you are mature, even at a younger age you're gonna know what you want and you're always gonna go out there and work hard because you love it. Letting anything get in the way of your, of your love of the game.

So there's no saying. It, lead with your head, think properly and the heart will follow. It will always work hard, , but it doesn't happen any other way. So you gotta be thinking straight. So that's where I really try to promote. So I talk about discipline, structure, stuff like that responsibility, all those things that parents want in their kids.

But we wanna see our kids succeed. And sometimes we forget that they almost have to fail before they succeed. They have to go through a process if you will, of just learning how to deal with different things, different situations. And if they're immature, they're not gonna know how.

So when I see parents wanna see there's a kid succeed, they wanna see 'em score goals and hockey, or they wanna see 'em win games and it's just not that important. [00:08:00] Look, it, I'll go to my basic foundation was when my parents, when I played, the two things they said to me when I left the door, when I went out to my games was, do your best and have.

That was all. And when I come home from the game, if they weren't watching it they wouldn't ask me. Did how many goals did you score or did you win? No, they just said did you have fun and did you play? That was it. And so that's what I try to teach you. 

John Boruk: When you have a kid that comes in for, and maybe they take a two week session or a three week session, you believe that you can take a kid that is immature, that may not be a good listener, that doesn't really have the focus that's not, a good recipient of what you're teaching, and can you make them more mature by the end of that camp?

Jim Watson: Yeah. Yes I can. Yes, I can. I do. And in fact I do. But, I'm more successful with some more than others. Oh, sure. So that's it. And any coach can do that provided, you just work at it.

So what I mean by that is [00:09:00] before you even get on the ice, it's all about the responsibility, getting from the car into the rink and getting dressed. But it even starts before that at. So I talk to parents about responsibility at home, making sure they're taking care of things around the house.

They got their little chores, whatever may be, They're always respectful to their parents of course, and they're respectful to their siblings and people in school. They gotta be doing good in school, even if they're not great students, as long as they're trying, right? So these are all things that start, and that helps out maturity once a kid matures, John.

When I get those kids, and maybe they are a little immature, first thing I see them come in to the rink and they're not carrying their own hockey back. The parents are carrying their hockey back. And I say look it no, you've gotta carry it in. The parents usually say geez, I'm so happy you're telling my kid to do that because, but it's this common sense for us.

So little things like that and then just how they behave during the day they're at with me when hockey camp runs from a Monday through Friday, And it's, they're there from eight in the [00:10:00] morning till five at night. And so how they conduct themselves around their peers and they’re good in all facets.

And that helps 'em grow up and mature. And then you'll like this. I just started because of the virus when it hit. I try to keep trying to figure ways to maintain my hockey. Because of the virus and encouraging parents to still send their kids. So I instituted a reading program. Yeah. So they weren't gonna be jumping all over each other, falling all over each other.

That other I actually discontinued dodge ball for a while. ? 

John Boruk: Yes. So kids loved that?  

Jim Watson:. The kids loved it. But I said we're gonna pull away for awhile and I'm gonna get you to read. So I had them bring their school books, their school reading, and I instituted three one half hour reading sessions throughout the day.

So that helps them to mature and grow up. Also, it gets 'em to calm down. Most kids that are good readers are generally mature. Not always, but [00:11:00] generally mature or are maturing or kids who want 

John Boruk: to read. 

Jim Watson: That's the key. But the other thing is the kids that don't read are like, again they're not really maturing like you'd like them to.

So if you get them and you make 'em read and you have to reinforce it, and you have to remind them constantly, but as the week goes on, they get better and better at it. It's wonderful to see. And then their hockey picks up cuz it's, it all comes down to the effort. So if you have a great effort, so as coaches and as a rank owner, we're always trying to get kids to love the game.

Not just play it, but to love it. And that's how you teach that love is by getting them too mature as early as possible. Then they're always gonna work hard. And boy, once you got them doing that, John, they're getting better, constantly getting better. They feel the process, they feel the.

Okay. And they know they're getting better. And of course when you're getting better at something, you love it even more. Yeah. 

John Boruk: The way I look at it is I want my hockey player to be [00:12:00] as self-dependent as possible. Now obviously they can't drive themselves to the rink, but once I get them there, Yeah.

It's on you. Yeah. And you talk about the bag. Yeah. Your sticks. Yeah. You know how all these kids, they'll leave their water bottles behind all the time. Happens all the time. Yeah. They leave it at home. I'm like, okay, that wasn't my responsibility. Now what you, what are you gonna do about that? And then a big thing with these younger kids is, skates aren't the easiest thing to tie, but they eventually have to learn about tying their skates.

That's a, there's a little, nobody really thinks about it, but when it comes to hockey, there's like just little things that they can do to really help in the maturation process. Yeah. And helping just their development to be a more responsible kid. 

Jim Watson: Perfect job. Perfect man. Good for you on all those things you said.That's exactly hasn't been easy. 

John Boruk: I'm think this is the first year where he is now tying the skates. Yeah, that's, and your boy I think is what, nine? He's alive. Just turned 11  

Jim Watson:. He's just 11 now Yeah. But look at, I've had kids tie their own [00:13:00] skates at six and seven. And the sooner they can do that, The better off they are and the better off the parents are now.

I always say to them, Look it the first time you do them they're not gonna be all that good. But each time you do it after that, what's gonna happen? And the kid will say I'll get better at it. Yes, that's exactly it. And then you become in more independent and your parents don't have to come into the locker with you and do up your skates.

And the kids like that. Most time they like it, but some of them. Some of it takes 'em a little longer to learn it. It takes 'em a little longer to figure it out. But that's, we really try to push that. So I tell the parents when they arrive on Monday morning to start the camp, Look at, I know some of you, they're looking at me, the parents are nervous.

Look at me, what's this guy gonna do to my kids? Look. But I say to them, Look at we are going to be there half counselors that help them. But I said, We're there to help you. But I said, You have to try to help yourself first. Okay? You gotta put your skates on, you gotta lace 'em up and you gotta try.

Then if it doesn't, if it needs a little bit of [00:14:00] adjustment, we'll help you. But I said, We want you to keep doing that. And when I say that to the parents, they're all in agreeance with it, but it's a battle they have with their kids and that they have to just keep working on themselves. Yeah. 

John Boruk: When you look and you, not only do you coach clinics and camps for the young youth, and it starts at an early age, but you've also coached 16 U teams, 18 U AA teams. What's the approach that you coach?

Jim Watson: Triple A also John in triple a. Juniors. Juniors. We had Little Flyers juniors, went out to the nationals out in Minnesota, we're coaching juniors, but we had Triple A mid 18 both cuz both of my boys, I coached both of them. They went through the whole process.

They played little flyer, AAA. So I, both of them. 

John Boruk: What has changed since you first started maybe going back to your boys to, to the way kids are now. 

Jim Watson: The first thing I would say is they're better. The kids are better players. I'd say overall the skill level is [00:15:00] getting more, improving all the time.

I would say that's number one. Other than that, John, the off-ice training, we're getting into that earlier, which I love. With me. I encourage just lifting your own body weight at a young age so you can do your lunges and squats, stuff like that with a stick over your shoulders and just lifting your own body weight, and doing a lot of stretching.

So these are all things that have changed. We didn't have that. Even when I was coaching my two boys that went on to play Division one College Hockey, they played, U S H L, North American League. They went out and did all. But we still weren't training like we are now. So the training methods are getting better and better.

Nutrition's getting better and better. So all these things we're adding to these kids becoming better athletes, better honky bear at younger age. The key, the one thing that doesn't change though, is the maturity, John. So that is the key for any hockey player. The maturity, even in the nutrition [00:16:00] that I'm very well versed in.

I watched it, watch it closely, played in it, coached it, scouted, the Flyers. The kids that invariably don't make it, if you, a lot of them are immature in the end and that, they find fault with everything. They don't take that responsibility, so something doesn't go well for 'em.

They think the coach is not fair to. My old coach, Fred Shero with the flyers said to us, he was very wise. He said, Look, there's only two rules in hockey. The first rule is the coach is always right. Okay? And the second rule is if there's any doubt and any other issue, you refer back to rule number one, right?

And that's it. So the player has to please the coach. It's not the other way around. Although it's changing a little bit with the communication, the coach still has to do a lot of really good things. Like he has to be a good communicator now. Much better, much more so than in my generation. [00:17:00] These young coaches were successful in the NHL, good communicators with their players.

It wasn't that way when I played. Okay. But just getting your people to be responsible. Like I, that's thing when I look back at my career, John, The reason I felt I was successful, I was mature at a young age, so I never laid fault on the coach. When things going weren't going well, I always looked inward, tried to figure out what the heck I was doing wrong.

Okay? And if it was something emotionally or mentally that I was having tough with time tough time with adjusting, I would. Maybe go to my coach and say, Coach, can I talk to you? And he would open up to me. We would talk about it. And you would deal with it. But the big thing is teaching responsibility.

And if you learn that. And that's what maturity gave me. Responsibility. Because I knew, hey, listen, in my era if you didn't play well, you didn't play and they sent, he maybe sent you down to the minors or you didn't make it. You didn't hang around for very long. Yeah. 

John Boruk: You mentioned how [00:18:00] you almost have to be a counselor to kids and really Yes. Inspect their psychological line of thinking. And do that on an individual basis. Where back when you played, that wasn't the case. If you weren't, you didn't catch onto the program. You’re out. Why has that changed?

Jim Watson: Because we've gotten wiser, we've just gotten wiser as a populace. We, we realize, hey, Because I, John, I will say this, going back to my first year I came to the Flyers, that was 19 70, 72, 73, I came and I ended up going down to the American League. Larry Wilson was my coach down there who I love.

Larry Wilson was great. And he was a good communicator, but I didn't like, he even, he expected me to. I didn't know a lot of stuff and I just had to figure it out. But we have gotten wiser and we realized, hey, we gotta talk [00:19:00] to these young athletes. We, and that's what struck me as odd.

Nobody's talking to me, Just, you gotta know it. So that's why it finally somebody came up with the idea, let's talk more to these kids. Let's counsel them. Remember talking to Craig Brew. Ex flyer who won a Stanley Cup out in St. Louis or three or four years ago. I said to him, We had a luncheon for him when he came back after he won the cup. And I said, Craig, I said, Just tell me like we had a nice chat. I said, What would you say was the main reason you had success in St. Louis? He said, Jim, I would just sit around with the guys even before and after practice, even in our underwear, just sit there and just BS back and forth about.

And I really was able to get in and get to know these kids and know that some of them needed more help than others. They needed more talking to more support more confidence build, confidence building, if you will. Other guys were well on their way, but yeah [00:20:00] and he said the players really appreciated it, so the players today are wiser.

They wanna know why. If you tell 'em you gotta do this they may say to you why do I have to do. And so that's good. There's nothing wrong. That's good thing. That's a good thing. You don't think there's anything wrong with that though? No, I don't think anything wrong with it at all. And I'd love to just come in and sit down and talk about it, but we didn't do that back in the day. That's 

John Boruk: Interesting about Craig Berube because he took over in mid-season. So he was learning on the fly, mean he had his experience with the flyers, but he is coming into a situation learning the kids and all of a sudden it just comes together. Yeah, and I think a lot of that is, is because he was more.

Jim Watson: Father, almost Father. Father. Father, like a second father to him. Yes, exactly John. And that that's a big issue. 

John Boruk: But it's interesting that you bring this up. And if, as a, as I've done my reading and research on you, there was a part in your junior career where you were. Somewhat unhappy.

Yeah. And you were homesick. Yeah. You're living out in British Columbia. You [00:21:00] played in Calgary, which is, if anybody knows their age, their Western Canada geography, that's like a thousand miles away. That's a thousand miles away. Yeah. But it was a point where you almost gave it up.   

Jim Watson: Yeah. Oh, I actually stopped playing for the, my second year junior. I was 17. And I just, I just, things weren't right. I just, I didn't feel like I wasn't making a total commitment. And I was, cuz I was uncertain whether I was gonna make it in hockey. And these are things were, these doubts were coming into my mind and I just felt I needed to get away from the game.

So I just, I left the team in January of that year and I went home and spent some time with my brothers and my mother and father and just reorganized my life, got my act together, thought things through and talked to my family, talked to some, and of course my brother Joe. Who was with the flyers at the time and just sorted it all out kind of thing and got recommitted.

And I came [00:22:00] back the next year and had two real good years and got drafted by the flyers. But I, so I understand all that stuff. I understand it. I went through it. And it's in life. Like in life, even if you think you got it all figured out, there's still things that come, can come up and grab you and hopefully you've got somebody you can talk to, that's, And somebody that's really wise, who can give you good.

John Boruk: I can tell that your personal life experiences really carry over into your coaching today. Yeah. That you remember some of that? 

Jim Watson: Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. Oh, totally. John, you absolutely take all that. I've continued to learn. I've even had talk talks with the flyers talking to even coach or with Mr. Snider, our owner about, how they can do things better. And he used to get upset maybe sometime, because I love to talk about. I think it's a way for us to continue to get better. But I do wanna go back to something you said earlier about the kids youth hockey. The other thing is talking to the parents, the coaches and [00:23:00] the parents, the coach has to have good communication with the parents because the parents don't know and you're coaching their child.

The coaches. I encourage always to have real good communication with parents and have an opportunity for them to come in and talk to you. Don't shut the parents. Something's not going well with a. Generally, maybe have a talk with a parent also, but in a, and I'm sure a lot of the coaches do, this is not earth shattering. I'm talking about this is being done, but I just reinforce, try to reinforce it.

John Boruk: It's not earth shattering, but you'll be surprised how many don't, how many coaches don't either believe in it or they don't want to engage in it, or. Look, some of, some, there's some overzealous parents who will constantly be in their ear and maybe they don't embrace it.

It's just another step. And a lot of these coaches are doing it on a volunteer basis. 

Jim Watson: Yeah. So I look, here's the deal with that. So I always give parents a voice though, right? [00:24:00] Give them an opportunity to talk to you. You may not agree, but long as they feel that you've listened to, and listen to their side of the story or whatever the issue may be.

And you have a little discussion back and forth. And then you say, Okay, thank you very much and I wanna do it this way, but thank you for your input. Hopefully I've given you some answers and you move on. You. So the coach still sticks to what he believes, but he gives a parent a chance to talk, which they should have of course.

And then there's a better understanding John? And then at the end of the year if it's not working, maybe you gotta move 'em and go play for somebody else, but. But that I believe in it. So there has to be real good communication, not between, not only between the coach and the player, but the coach and the.

But then you get the 

parents and they'll sit there and say little Timmy needs more power play time. Or little Timmy well should be on the top line with Mark over here. And there's always going to be an excuse instead of what I think is. Tell your son if you want more opportunity, you just gotta play a little [00:25:00] bit harder.

John Boruk: Yeah, you gotta listen to the coach a little bit more. All this, but there's some, there's, I guess my point is there's gonna be some parents you're never gonna satisfy. Your explanation is never gonna be enough. 

Jim Watson: Yeah yeah, that's true. But see, like now maybe yours and my philosophy differ a little bit.

So with the power play, that's key time, right? But I believe that everybody should be on the power play. I never single kids out. I, you know what? The next line up, you're on the power play. Learn how to play it. Listen, as coaches, we're there to teach all the players to learn all facets of the game.

In my opinion, the only league that should really be concerned with winning is the national hockey. Everybody else is striving to get there. So you teach these lessons and you teach everybody opportunities. Look at some of these young kids. They get on the par at young ages, then they start putting on errors.

They start thinking they're better than they are, and they start getting attitudes. And that's devastating to their development, okay? Because they're gonna go to a team eventually as they move up the ladder, and there's gonna be other kids better than them. [00:26:00] So now when the lower level, they were always playing on the power.

Or penalty killing. Now they get to the higher level and all of a sudden no they're been pushed back to the third or fourth line, if you wanna put it that way. And wow. They don't know how to deal with it, John. And a lot of times they end up blowing up and giving it to the coach and they end up coming home because they can't figure it out.

So this is why you gotta keep working on the whole picture here, teaching it all and making sure kids earn everything they. Don't just hand it to 'em, but I believe everybody should have an opportunity. So a lot of people disagree with me on. I'm, 

John Boruk: I'm in total agreement be to look power play, all that stuff is I just think you, you go out and earn it.

Jim Watson: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's it. That's perfect, John. So you just follow that and your boy will always.

John Boruk: And I've made my mistakes. I've made my, not with my boy, but is I have to. Pull back my reigns when it comes to some of these officials and referees who are doing this for $50 a game. And it's yeah.

You're you see the effort that's exerted out there and they're [00:27:00] trying so hard and they're down a goal and, and then they get called for penalty and you lose it. And it happens. And trust me, I've learned from myself to not be that sort of hockey period. Yeah, 

Jim Watson: yeah. It was Fred Shell used to have all kinds of sayings to us, knowledgeable quotes from other coaches and other sports.

And it was a great John Wooden, who is a great, it was a great basketball coach out at UCLA. And he said his definition of a winner, John Wooden, and this is very simple, right? His definition of a winner was I, regardless of what the score may be, at the end of the game, as long as you can say you gave it your best, you're a winner.

And just follow that. So that's why my parents never asked whether I want or lost. And you know what, John? I never want. I never want anything and youth hockey are in the pros until I got to the flyers and then I won it all. Yeah. As a rookie. That's interesting. So winning was not an important. It was, but really what's really important, John, is [00:28:00] how hard of a competitor are you?

How hard do you try? You would try your tail off, right? You do your best and you still lose. You are a winner because you've given it all you had, and those kids just keep doing. They just get better and better and keep cl keep climbing that ladder to excellence. Okay? Yeah. So that's the big one to teach you regardless whether you win or lose. It's, if you give it your best, you are a winner. 

John Boruk: You came from a family, you were one of six boys. Yeah. One of six boys. You and Joe made it to the NHL. Now Smithers, British Columbia. Beautiful. Town, although you're about, I think closer to Alaska than you are the US border. Yeah. Oh yeah. Much closer to Alaska.

Much closer. But did anybody ask you how coming from such a small town that had maybe when you were growing up, a little over a thousand people could produce two players that would play in the NHL and win Stanley Cup Championship?  

Jim Watson: [00:29:00] Yeah I think it goes back to my parents. If I look at it, I think about it, we had to, we came from a tough, it was tough back then.

It was, people didn't have much. And we  struggled for everything we got, but I was, you know what, there was an old saying, as long as you have a roof over your head, a warm bed and three square meals, and that was a question whether you got three square meals, then you're in hog heaven.

You, you got it made today. It's a lot different. We have we have so much more. So how I got there was. We were taught that, like you said earlier, anything you're gonna get, you're gonna have to work real hard for it and just work real hard. So it just happened that Joe was a, he was a real trailblazer, if you will.

He's nine years older than I was, and he went from a small town like that to the National Hockey League, and now I'm nine years younger than Joe. And I saw what he did and that certainly inspired. . And of course that's all I wanted to be was a professional athlete. It wasn't a hockey player. I [00:30:00] was gonna be a baseball player.

I loved baseball also, so I kept playing and playing. I played every opportunity I got. And I remember, John, I can remember back in the days when I was a little kid, we talked about ponds and lakes and outdoor ice, and I remember it beat 1520 below. My good friends, lot of 'em just, they didn't wanna go out and play.

Even up in Canada, a lot of Canadians just wanted to stay inside where was warm. And I said I'm going out to play in the pond or my backyard, and I would just go out there, even play by myself if I had to, and just shoot p, skate around, handle a puck, and things like that would go public skating.

Every opportunity I got, I loved it. So it really comes down to what's in your heart. What you really want to do with your life right now. 

John Boruk: is it true that sometimes you didn't have a puck, so you had to take a hunk of frozen horse manure. Is that right? That's a true story. That's a true story.

Jim Watson: Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yes. Okay. I lived in a small farm, . We had a little pond right there, a little pond a hundred feet from my door, my, my door to my house, so I could walk out to [00:31:00] that pond and skate. We didn't have much. My mother had bought me two p. Of course you shovel the snow off, right?

And of course you get the big snow banks around the pond and you start playing with a puck. You shoot at the boards, you got a little board there to shoot at. Of course you missed 

John Boruk: the board. And it goes, there it goes, You gone. It's gone. 

Jim Watson: You're not gonna find that until the spring. So now I'm like, What am I gonna do, mom?

I got no puck. Will you buying me a puck? She said, Jim, I'm not buying any more puck. I said, What am I gonna do? And she looks at me and said look at Jim. We don't have any pucks. You live on a farm and it's really cold outside and you got horses and cows out there, . So you figured it out.

John Boruk: And that's what you did? I did. You figured it out. I figured out. So yeah that's, And I think some of that just it stays with you. It's I can't ask. I've just gotta figure it out. Figure it out on your own. That's why I don't give pep talks. I don't go in the locker room i's I'm not gonna sit here and say, Go out there and skate and play hard.

Yeah. You figure it out. Yeah. You figure it out. Yeah. You've been playing this [00:32:00] game longer than I have. You figured out, And you and those little things I think, resonate. Yeah. As a kid, as you become a teenager into adult life. I'll just figure it out. 

Jim Watson: Yeah. Just figure it out, absolutely. You wanna do it bad enough, you'll get it done. I'll tell you what, that's the way it is. John, you know what? Going in the game, remember going into big games, playing with the flyers and I'm thinking, Holy guys, you know what? And I was, I remember that when we, it was like shift by shift, period by period.

You didn't go into the game saying, we gotta win the game. You never said that, but of course you knew you wanted to win and you had to win, but you never thought of it that way. It was just do one shift at a. Just go slowly forward, win every shift, and then win that period.

Okay? Now you get into the second period, same thing. Go and don't think too far ahead. Now you gotta a goal or two lead. Hey, let's not think about what's going next goal. Let's just keep making sure we keep playing the right way and it'll come our way. It's gonna, and in the end, we're gonna have a real good result.

And when that last shift was over and the clock ticked down the game's [00:33:00] over, we've won the game. There you go. Never get too far ahead of yourself. Just stay focused. Keep working real, real hard and one shift, one little battle at a time, and then it'll be really good at the. 

John Boruk: Yeah. You talked about your family, six brothers, your father, I know your parents split, but your father was one of those that really, he was a blue collar mentality.

He had a job as a butcher, right? That's correct. Yeah. And then he worked in lumber. Lumber, yes. Lumber. So you saw that, he was one of those that had to grind it out on a daily basis just to put food on the 

Jim Watson: table. Exactly right. And you. You witnessed it. And I went out, worked with him.

He, like, when we say butcher, he was like an independent butcher, John. He had his own little butcher shop. So he would go into the farms, buy a cow from a cow, a farmer, and we would go out and slaughter it right there. I would go out with him. He would shoot the cow right there, hook it up on his tripod skin the [00:34:00] cow, cut it in the big quarters, throw it in the back of his truck, take it into his butcher shop, cut it all up into sizes, steaks, and my hamburger and what have you.

And sell it. And that's what he did. But I would go out and help him on these jobs and I, I saw it firsthand and it was great stuff. It was great stuff. I didn't like doing it a lot of times, but it was very interesting too, to see this and what went on. But it instills work ethic. Absolutely. Things are not, you come to really appreciate everything you have and that's so important.

You never take anything for granted, John. And I would say today that there's still a lot of people do. But it's a challenge for more of a challenge maybe for parents to instill that in their kids than maybe it was back in my era. 

John Boruk: It is, and I think there's a lot more distractions. You probably see it during your camps.

Kids want to be on phones social media even your older teams. The, that, all of those little pressures and all of those 

Jim Watson: Parents love me. You know why Johnny? [00:35:00] I said, No phones. Yeah, No phones. Oh, you. So you come into the camp in the morning, eight o'clock in the morning, they arrive, put the phone away, put it in your bag.

I don't wanna see it. That's right. If I see it, I'm confiscating it for the day. And you would Oh, absolutely. You take it. Oh, you take home. Just take Oh yeah. No. And there was no problem. There was They were fine with it. And actually the kids enjoyed it. They didn't have to worry about their social media or looking online , they would try to cheat on me every now and then I would catch 'em.

But you know what? It took You took the owners off them. Yeah, they relaxed and enjoyed it. So I said, Look it, And during the day, during the camp, I would have social sessions where I'd just say, Okay, you know what? We're relaxing right now and I want you to sit around and just talk with each other. And they would get in groups of 2, 3, 4, make sure nobody's isolated and they would just chat, talk about it.

And that's a big thing too, learning how to communicate. And that's, 

John Boruk: It's so funny that you bring that up because to me that's just a huge part of hockey. It's communicating on the [00:36:00] ice and talking Telling where guys are gonna be at certain points. , because it really is, when you look at all the major sports the one sport where you have to be almost completely selfless.

There's very few Sidney Crosbys and Alex Ovechkins and guys who could singlehandedly take games over where. You have to learn to play within a system. You have to learn to play to each other's strengths. And the way I see it, the only way that you're successful offensively is to be selfless.

You got five selfless players out there. Yeah. You're gonna have a tremendous offensive hockey team. Yeah. Yeah. Ab 

Jim Watson: Totally. Absolutely. And so the biggest thing I emphasize in my camp is passing the puck. We talk about passing constantly. Constantly. And look, it, here's the way I look at it. If you're a good passer of the puck every coach is gonna want you on their team, and every player on the team is gonna wanna play with you when you pass the puck and move the puck. And it's just the opposite. On the other way, if you're not a passer and you're kinda a [00:37:00] little greedy with the puck, no. Essentially no coach is gonna eventually want you and nobody's gonna wanna play with you, and you're gonna lose the respect of your teammates.

Okay? So you just keep that in mind and you talk about that, you coach that and. You look at a guy like, or in the Philly region, you got a guy like Johnny Guro, right? Wonderful. Example for kids. He's been a real leader for this area, for kids and youth hockey, but Johnny's a big passer of the puck and he scores goals.

He can shoot the puck like, like just about more accurate maybe than anybody finds a ways to put it in the net. But Johnny is a tremendous playmaker and. I believe 

John Boruk: He had more assist five on five than any other player in the league last season, I believe. I'd have to. Wow. Double check it.

But isn't that wonderful? And his plus minus was I think, yeah, head and shoulders above everybody. 

Jim Watson:, And everybody wants to play with Johnny. Yeah. Everybody wants to play. You know what, Get ready cuz the puck’s coming to you. [00:38:00] He's gonna get you, he's gonna find you. Okay. But anyways, he's a great example.

Pass the puck pass pass. So you're talking about Crosby earlier and Ovechkin. . Crosby was, Hey, listen, he always passed the puck. That's what made him so good. He could score goals too, but he was a big playmaker and ovechkin. He was just a kind of, almost a freak of nature of Alexander. But he liked to pass the puck too.

He loved getting assists. He loved them probably as much as goals. But he had such a tremendous shot. Or still does. It's in all areas of the game learning, and I would, my advice to kids out there or listening to this or. Talk to your kids about passing the puck and worry. And if you do that, you write your own ticket, you're almost a guaranteed you're gonna go on and hockey up very high levels.

John Boruk: Yeah. Another thing that we have really seen, Start it's exploded over the last, I don't know, I would probably say 10, 15 years has now been women's hockey. Yes. And you get, I was surprised how many [00:39:00] girls at a young age that you get in some of your camps. Yes. And these are girls that they're better skaters than most of the boys out there.

I've got one on our peewee team. Okay. That's maybe one of the best skaters and best players on the entire team. But this is really starting to take off because. I think now parents see opportunity and they're embracing it for their girls, knowing that, hey, they can be pretty good at this.

And it wasn't 10, 15 years ago where it was frowned upon to play hockey. Now I think it's like I said, they're embracing it and they're creating these opportunities for these girls.   

Jim Watson: Yeah, I think a lot of it has to do with even figure skating. There's a number of reasons why this is becoming so successful.

But figure skating. A lot of the girls skate figure skating at an early age, and I think a lot of them eventually become like there's not quite enough in it for me. I wanna be able to do more of my arms, my hands, so I wanna get a hockey stick in my, So they've already got [00:40:00] that good skating background from figure skating, so they really become good hockey players.

A lot of them. The other thing is just the exposure to hockey from seeing the girls in the Olympics and whatnot and girls just taking up, they want, they love the action and even just going public skating and just, and then maybe going and watching a kid play and say, Geez, I wanna try to do that, mum or dad and Yeah, that's, go at it and just do it.

And then Title IX with all the opportunities now in college for girls. So there's opportunities in college to get scholarships And the girls have a great spirit. I love coaching the girls because I love their spirit. They, they just, they're so into the game. Sometimes maybe they become too too organized and you want 'em just to attack more, be a little more aggressive sometimes, but they figure it out too. Most of them. And it's wonderful to see. 

John Boruk: Do you see that they probably have that maturity aspect that some of the boys don't, You know that some of the boys a [00:41:00] little more raw, but where the girls are concerned that maturity's already kicked in a little bit early?   

Jim Watson: Yes. Yes. Just by their nature, I believe.

Yes, that's true. And they are, they don't do as many immature things that maybe boys. So they come to the practice, they come to the game, they're ready to go. They, but maybe they're not as aggressive, like I said earlier but they're they're there for the right reason and they wanna play and they can't wait to play.

Yeah. And they're not running around and being immature, they're getting focused on their competition. 

John Boruk: So you have the younger kids, everywhere from the might age to five, six, and in your camps. And then as you get into 16, and 18, new teams, when does the message start to change?

Because as you get older you start to hit puberty. They want to take it seriously and now it they want to incorporate hockey into their daily regimen and they want to, maybe they have aspirations of playing in the NA or they playing college or low level college or even [00:42:00] division one. Where, at what point does the message start to change a little bit?

Jim Watson: That that's a good question, John. It varies. It varies for kids. Some kids are like 13, 14, they know what they want to do. That's when I was like even 10, 11, 12, that's all I wanted to be was a professional athlete. So I'm going back to when I was 10 and I'm sure a lot of kids are that way.

Yeah, I would say they are cuz I've actually experienced it with kids. I had two boys of my own, that's all they wanted to be was athletes. Okay. So they took it as far as they could go and they went quite far. They didn't play pro hockey, but they one boy played a little bit of pro hockey, but they played division one college hockey and were very successful at it.

So it was really good. But it kicks in for different kids at different times. And I don't think you're ever too late. It's just at what point does it kick in? This is the key. How hard are you willing to work at it once it kicks? That's the key, right? Is once you want something, how much are you willing to sacrifice for it?

Okay? It has to become the most [00:43:00] important thing in your life if you really want it. In other words, for a hockey player, you gotta go out and shoot a couple hundred p a day, right? And you gotta go rollerblading, you gotta go public skating, you gotta get in the weight room, you gotta. You gotta go do your all your off ice training, learning, sprinting off the ice, getting quite faster, doing all your stretching.

These are all aspects of the game that you have to engage in if you want to become good at it and take it as far as you can. And then there's no limit to what you can accomplish it. This comes down to Johnny, how hard do you wanna work at it? Okay. And how big of a commitment do you wanna make? Yeah.

John Boruk: if you're not doing those things that you just listed, Somebody else is Absolutely. Somebody else is willing to do it. Yeah. Somebody's willing to put in the time, the effort, the resources, and look, you mentioned Johnny Gaudreau and the type of player that he is. I've spoken to his parents they'll tell you there was a lot of sacrifices that he had to [00:44:00] make along the way.

Yeah. School dances proms. Yeah. You name it. Yep. But how bad do you want it? Really, the flip side of that is how much are you willing 

Jim Watson: to give up? Yeah, exactly. Yeah that's all comes into it. And so you know what? It's in your heart, but once it gets in your heart, baby, it's there and it won't leave.

So that school dancer that. Prom or whatever. Hopefully you can still engage in it. Doesn't mean you have to miss that stuff, but generally you gotta sacrifice something in order to get something else. But it's, it tastes all the sweeter once you get it. John. Yeah. 

John Boruk: Real quickly, you got two boys, Chase and Brett.

You mentioned that they played hockey. Did as a father you were probably a little bit more. Yeah. Entrenched in their development and everything because they're your kids. Was it as easy as you thought it was gonna be or being a father and trying to guide them in the way [00:45:00] that you had the path?

Was it a little bit tougher than you expected? 

Jim Watson: No, I don't, I don't, it was easy. It was easy. It was easy because they were motivated. They were like, they were self-motivated. They wanted it. So I didn't really I just gave them the opportunity. I never forced them to do anything. I just exposed them to the game.

All right. And then they took it from there cuz they loved it. And they be they would shoot pucks, they would go skating, rollerblading, public skating. They would work in the weight room. John, they loved to train. Both of them loved to train. My one, my second boy, Brett was going to Melbourne Prep over here in Delaware County and.

He was gonna play baseball. And him and I talked a little bit and I said, Brett, you know what I told him a story about me when I played baseball. I used to sprint in the outfield. Back then, we didn't know much about this stuff, but a coach told me [00:46:00] in baseball, Why don't you sprint in the outfield, Jim, before or after practice?

That'll really help your fat, your quickness, and it'll help your arm so you don't get a sole arm because of the circulation. And when I stepped on the ice, when I was playing junior. When I started doing this, I stepped on the ice the following year. I just took off on the ice. I couldn't believe about how much faster I was on the ice.

So I told Brett this story. So when it came time to pick a spring sport at Melbourne, he said, Dad, instead of playing baseball, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go join the track club, track team and I'm gonna get on the sprinting and sprint. So he would go out every day and do a hundred meter sprint.

And as quickness just exploded. That's great. Yeah. And I tell kids all the time, that's in the training, I always incorporate a lot of sprinting. So for all you hockey parents out there, all you players out there listening, find an area where you can sprint and do your sprinting because it'll re, you're gonna get [00:47:00] major dividends from that.

John Boruk: And really that goes back to a common theme that we've talked about on this show before is don't just be sports specific. Play a number of them. It helps your footwork, it helps the way that you see the game. Yeah. Your mentality, all of those things is why it's important to not just stick to one specific sport.

Jim Watson: Yeah. We learn that from the Europeans, right? With soccer. They came over and they were like, Wow. Just incredible how good these athletes were over their footwork and how the balance and whatnot, and we didn't know about this. We took a page out of their playbook and we picked up on that, John.

That really helped us. So soccer, great game for people. And if you don't play the games, just take a soccer ball and, play with yourself, with every, your friend and just go and dribble it by yourself. You'll really help your footwork. 

John Boruk: In fact, covering the NHL for as long as I did, every team [00:48:00] before every game, they've got their little soccer circle. Yeah. And they take their ball and it's a little game. Yes. And right. And they sit there and footwork and all of that back and forth until if it touches the ground, that person's out.

Yes. And they just keep playing this game. But it's almost get a feeling they love that as much as they love playing the game. 

Jim Watson: Yeah. They really come to love it. They're all very competitive. Yeah. But yeah, it's just another way to get prepared and to get yourself better. And chasing bread are doing good now, but they're doing great.

But you know what you said earlier, if you're not doing it, somebody else is. So you, and you gotta compete. So just keep working at it. Stay healthy. The big thing on the sports, you right now the flyers, I just heard Couturier is his injuries. Come back to haunt him a little bit.

That's a shame. SSA may be same issue. Just take care of yourself. Even if you take care of yourself, sometimes you can't stop the injuries, but do everything you can to really get your body healthy and pliable. Flexible, Yeah, [00:49:00] elongated. It's not just about lifting the weights, it's all about the stretching and what have you.

John Boruk: It's interesting because you had a back injury at the age of 18. Yes. You continue to play through and play through it 12 years until it got to the point where it just, I guess it was degenerative or something. You had, you couldn't do it anymore. Couldn't do it anymore.  

Jim Watson: And it was very frustrating for me because actually I was in great shape otherwise, and I had to retire 30 years.

I had at least, I had at least down there, five or six, maybe more years than me. Yeah. But it just didn't enable me to do that. And I had made a mistake, I didn't know, and it was just as innocent, I was working in the summer, my back in my hometown where laying water line sewer lines and these big heavy pipe lifting them, and I just lifted incorrectly.

I was like a 17 year old. I lifted a pipe incorrectly and threw my back out John. And from that point on I dealt with it and it was, no, it wasn't very enjoyable. Yeah. 

John Boruk: Jimmy, it's been a pleasure. It has. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for your [00:50:00] 70th birthday. Big milestone in the life of Jimmy Watson. I don't know how you celebrated.

Jim Watson: No, it was low key, but we, nevertheless, we were at the rink and I had my grandkids over, John, my grandkids were there for the celebration. Ah. So I can't, That's perfect. Dad. Are you kidding me? So I got three kids. I, so you know it, it's coming back around. It's coming full circle here. Where my little five year old grandson will start playing hockey next year, and I can't wait for that.

John Boruk: Oh. It, That's a great time. I'm sure you're already thinking about that as we approaching like the 50 year reunion of the Broad Street bullies, winning the back to back Stanley cut 50 years. 

Jim Watson: 50 years. Hard to believe. Can you believe that, John? What year is that? Can that be, Huh? 

John Boruk: What year is that? 2020. Oh my God. 20, 24. It's 50 years. 50 year 

Jim Watson: years. You believe that? And John, I feel like I'm 35. Man. Do you ? 

John Boruk: Are you coach? Like you're 35 anyway, Jimmy. Let's do it again someday. Yeah. I appreciate our quote of the day. Comes from comes [00:51:00] from this, the weight room classroom and working hard in practice isn't for everyone.

Then again, neither is playing time and neither is winning. Anyway, the words to live by good stuff are quoted the day. Once again, make sure you subscribe to us wherever you listen. Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast and you'll be notified when new episodes are available. Thank you to you.

We gracely appreciate it. Thanks for listening to Raising a Champion.