Find out more about the mind behind the mindset, Jakub Dobes's mindset coach, Pete Fry.
In one of the latest episodes of The Sick Podcast, Tony Marinaro hosted Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jakub Dobes’s goalie mindset coach, Pete Fry, and asked him a variety of questions during the 55-minute chat.
It was a particularly interesting interview, especially given how much was made of Dobes’ emotivity after a regular-season loss against the New Jersey Devils. This topic was, of course, covered in the chat, but let’s just say that Dobes’ emotive reaction did not worry Fry at all, because people who succeed have high standards and they take responsibility. Which is what he did there, and they were both laughing about it the next day.
Interestingly, it was goaltending coach Marco Marciano who recommended Fry to Dobes back when they were both with the Laval Rocket. At first, the netminder agreed to meet him remotely, but he didn’t want to pay him. In other words, he didn’t believe that Fry could make a difference for him, but after an initial meeting, the Czech masked man realized just how much he could help him.
Fry also explained that during the playoffs, he had regular meetings with Dobes and told an anecdote about how they handled the first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After a loss, he spoke to Dobes. He asked him to visualize himself in the handshake line at the end of the series and to see, in his mind, Andrei Vasilevskiy congratulating him on winning the series and wishing him the best for the second round, which he did.
Fry is a firm believer that you have better odds of something happening if you write it down, so he had Dobes write his number next to Vasilevskiy’s one and draw the greater-than symbol, to illustrate that the Canadiens’ netminder was better than the Bolts’. He then had him cross out Vasilevsky’s number as well, and, obviously, it worked like a charm.
The mindset specialist also firmly believes that an athlete must be in the right mindset, an athlete's mindset to succeed and not in a fan’s mindset. To illustrate this, he explains that when his team has the puck in their own end, the fan wants them to get it out of the zone as quickly as possible. But as a goaltender, to perform at your best, you have to crave the turnover, to tell yourself that if they turn the puck over, you’ll have the opportunity to shine and make a difference. He also mentions that Dobes loves it when the Canadiens take penalties because it gives him a chance to shine.
Another interesting part of the interview was about how it’s easier to stay in the right mindset if you look up to the ceiling and you smile. Anyone who has watched the Canadiens this season will tell you that it’s something Dobes has done a lot, but especially in the playoffs and in particular in one game, when his gaze stopped on the Jumbotron as it was showing one of his saves and his face was just illuminated by a huge grin, which was then shown on the giant screen. The crowd absolutely loved it and started cheering even louder, which made the goalie smile even more. It was a wonderful moment at the Bell Centre.
Interestingly, his meetings with Fry are not always one-on-one. They are group sessions, and in those, the goalies have to introduce themselves, and there he was introducing himself amongst other goalies, some of whom were kids. The mindset specialist explained just how impressed he was by two things: how committed Dobes was, but also how he wasn’t a diva; he’s humble and doesn’t think he deserves special treatment because he’s in the NHL.
Those are just a few things that stood out to me in the interview, but I recommend listening to the whole interview; it’s worth it. Not only to learn more about Dobes and how he’s coached, but also because it might just come in handy in your life down the line.
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