Riley Cote Special

Pete 0:00

All right. Hey, and welcome to another episode of hempire np birnberg. I’m here with your co host and CEO of pure Well, Nick DeFrancesco. Nick, how’s it going today?

Nick 0:11

Good, good. How you doing?

Pete 0:13

I’m doing pretty well. We got a special guest today right in the house. We got we have NHL all star. We’re talking about x player Riley Cote. Riley, how’re you doing today, sir?

Riley 0:24

Doing well. Thanks. Appreciate you having excellent. We

Pete 0:27

appreciate you. That’s for sure.

Nick 0:29

I don’t know if Riley knows this, but I’m from Philadelphia. So I did play I played hockey since I was six played. Yeah, I played for I was like, really my main sport. I ended up going to school for football eventually. But hockey was, you know, being playing in the basement or on hockey playing ice hockey. I mean, that was our sport. So yeah, so but I know you played some big time hockey in Canada, of course in Philadelphia. What was it like adjusting from Canada, coming to Philadelphia, seeing the passionate fans added to make you feel?

Riley 1:03

Well, you know what I moved out of Canada and began playing in the USA I started off and in Memphis, Tennessee, believe it or not. So I did a year there and then spent some time in Dayton, Ohio, and then in the East Coast Hockey League. And then I found my way into Philly, which was almost a perfect marriage for me and the way I played the game and just you know, the city of Philadelphia and the way they’re wired. So in Philly was actually pretty smooth. My first year in Philly, it was the 2004 2005 lockout year, and we ended up winning a championship with the Philadelphia phantoms, which was the flyers Myrlie time with NHL. Yeah. So that was my first my first season in Philly and amazing season as a, you know, as a team as well as as an individual. So I couldn’t ask for a better start to my time in Philly. And yeah, it was it was it was just a perfect fit. Well,

Nick 2:01

one of the things that we were, you know, talking about, obviously, we’re on hempire. So Ham, cannabis, everything that we that we talked about, what I thought was interesting is something that you said that how the NHL tests for cannabis, right? But nothing really happens if you test positive. They don’t really care as much. So what have you learned in the fact of what the NHL or how they view it on how players are using it for for relief and things like that are? Well, you shocked that they didn’t really care about that,

Riley 2:28

you know, I retired in 2010. So I’ve been out of the game for 12 years. But going back to when I was still playing, I tested three, four times a year, and I definitely would have tested positive every time there’s no, there’s no question. It seems like a long time ago, it’s well here’s, you know, it’s not really, but it is in you know, in cannabis time where you know, back then really doing available products was traditional flour. And you might have found an edible or to, you know, you know, fast forward to, you know, the current day, and the amount of different cannabis based products and delivery systems and ratios and all, you know, perfectly dose products like it’s, it’s amazing for an athlete or not to mention just the common man, right? It’s just like, it’s very predictable, some of these products. So you know, that being said, the drug testing is still a part of hockey in the NHL, however, to your point, they turn a blind eye, they turn a blind eye for however long around cannabis. Because they I think they know deep down that cannabis isn’t an issue. I think it’s political, why they do test in the first place, you know, you still have that international border, where Canada has a full legal medical cannabis program as well as adult use program. And then you know, here in the US, it’s still a schedule one drug. So I think there’s politics, I think it just removes liability by not, you’re not telling the players to use cannabis, you know, if you don’t test, but I would like to see it go that way where you’re not testing because you’re sending the wrong message. But, you know, as we know, you know, it’s never really been about public health, you know, when it comes. It’s always been about, you know, pushing the agenda, pharmaceuticals and whatever else along the way. So, you know, we’re coming to a point here now where I would like to think in the next year or two, the federal government is going to roll out some sort of medical program so absorbed and, you know, maybe that is the, the catalyst to the NHL, removing the drug test, and, you know, whatever that is, however, that looked, it’s inevitable that’s going to come but, you know, again, it’s just it’s just, it’s still sending the wrong message when you talk about a culture of sport that’s ingrained in alcohol, right. I mean, hockey specifically. You know, there’s a large To a large culture around alcohol in hockey, and I’d like to see that shift to more cannabis, which it is, you know, in going back to your question, and you know, going from back in the day, a lot of alcohol and you know opioids to more mindful athletes using cannabis, different varieties of cannabis. He said 50% guys smoking, I would like to think it’s higher than that. That’s just you know, smoking cannabis, let alone using tinctures, capsules, transdermal patches, creams. And then different ratios. Some guys aren’t THC, guys, but a lot of guys are the guys that aren’t you know, there’s a place for CBD products, obviously. So the level of consciousness around these products has shifted tremendously. But we got a lot of work to do.

Nick 5:48

Just curious. I mean, obviously, in Canada and being here in the United States. I’m sure you weren’t new to cannabis just when it came to United States, but who turned you on to it? Or when did you say look, I don’t want to take these opiates. I don’t want to do this or I’m, I’m just my body’s getting beat up. And this is what I’m going to turn to if somebody told you about that. Is this something you found on your own? And what do you personally used or used when you were when you were playing?

Riley 6:14

Sure, yeah. So you know, I’m thankful I had a relationship with cannabis since I was 15 years old. I mean, Canada’s got a huge you know, like, like, like most parts of the world do have pockets of you know, cannabis culture. So, you know, I had been introduced to it at a young age, however, I was never introduced to it, you know, in a mindful manner. It was kind of like figured out yourself. All drugs are scheduling drugs, all drugs are the same. So, you know, he grew up with his drug culture of like, oh, you’re trying to discern the difference between cannabis and, and mushrooms and cannabis and alcohol and cannabis and coke and all these other drugs that have come along the way you know, in that in that drug culture. So just like you probably uh, you guys and everyone else growing up like you, there’s no manual, you know, my parents certainly weren’t endorsing it. The church certainly wasn’t the establishment certainly wasn’t. So it’s kind of figuring this thing out on your own, you know, so I use cannabis throughout my junior hockey career for my whole pro hockey career. But I also use you know, other drugs and alcohol heavily and you know, and misuse all that. So I never really had the full understanding of, you know, cannabis and how was really supposed to make you feel, you know, it did help me with anxiety did help me with pain management, you know, and those were things that obviously aware of enough to continue using for them. But you know, I never never connected the dots at the time around Holy shit. Like this is like a really medicinal plant. And this is very therapeutic and right not just medically, but like spiritually, right. There’s like this emotional and spiritual component that i i later identified, but it wasn’t until I retired, or that last year leading up to retirement 2010 20 years old, I know that you’re on my contract that was just banged up physically abused alcohol and abused opioids and sleeping pills. Along with still using cannabis, I think the cannabis really helped save my life or save my brain in the sense that like I was able to actually fit had the ability to figure that out because a lot of guys get swallowed up in that darkness and never come out of it. So 2010 I had two surgeries in the end of the year one on my finger, and then one on my nose or probably could use another one. But I made the decision to not use cannabis or not to not use the prescription drugs that I was that was prescribed and just use cannabis and prove to myself that I could use just cannabis to manage the pain and anxiety of this is post surgery. Now I’m talking which led me down this path of like holy, like, you know, like there’s this this world of, you know, holism herbalism you know, whatever which words you want to call it. That’s, that’s not the traditional model because of pain management and sleep management and essentially, recovery and regeneration so I read a couple of books hemp for health really kind of like jump started me on this world of you know, cannabis as an Industrial Resource, not just medicine. You know, the food, the fiber, you know, just industrial applications of the plant. And then it kind of broke down the different cannabinoids and their anti inflammatory properties and just healing therapeutic property. So I kind of had this aha moment when from years of experience we’re not really understanding the science that all of a sudden making sense of my experiences with the science it you know, and and a breakdown on this planet and kind of making sense of it all and say, Wow, shit, like, we’ve been fundamentally misled here and I feel like I need to speak for the trees and you know, and start kind of pounding the pavement and bang the drum a little bit and, and talking about cannabis and it’s, you know, in its entirety, not just like the medicinal components, which I’m a huge advocate for, obviously, but but, you know, cannabis is industrial resource as well.

Pete 10:10

It’s pretty wild and what it can do, and the fact that they pulled the back from everybody has information and like you said, you got to kind of find out on your own, you don’t really have manual. I mean, I had a man who well, but you know, he was telling me on the corner, and that was pretty much the direction he gave you it. You know, it really needs to be, you know, constantly hammered into these people on the benefits of the entire plant man and not, you know, like you said, keeping people going towards the direction of what, you know, this guy said, just pop this pill or take this, you know, drink and that’ll fix you, you kind of need a little bit of guide. So when people like you, people like us and trying to, you know, educate but really explain that, look, there’s a lot more to this plan, then, you know, sitting on the couch,

Nick 10:50

I don’t know if you’re talking to anybody now in the league. How do you feel about something like more education for the players? Like you said, I didn’t really know I’m kind of self taught. We’re all saying the same thing. I mean, do you think they would be open? I know, they’re, they’re turning a blind eye to cannabis, let’s say you know, of testing positive, but how about actually doing some education? Do you think they’d be open to something like that education on CBD, topical, something, you know, again, not going all the way to marijuana? But it’s something made up in its own right.

Riley 11:23

You know what, it’s interesting it’s a little bit of smoke and mirrors but the NHL and even like Health Canada around you know, it’s it’s it’s positioned around cannabis it’s almost like you have this legal program but they don’t really want to promote it in a real mindful and responsible manner which which trickles down into you know, the NHL is position on it and most pro sports so even if they believe that there’s, there’s this like political you know, barrier that’s it’s, it’s preventing them from like doing the right thing, right? I mean, I think yes, I would love to see that and we’ve tried to do that through the NHL Alumni Association as well as the Players Association. Again, there’s a lot of friction because it’s like you know, you said like to to your point is like we start at CBD right if you don’t want to talk about anything with THC just to like as a starting point, it just it just interferes with whatever political agenda there is. So you know, whether it’s sponsorship through pharma through alcohol, I’m not exactly sure where the where it stops because we’ve as we’ve even tried to do this with you know, the league I played it in junior the Canadian hockey league is like, Okay, well once once Canada rolled out its its its legal cannabis program, adult use, like guys were already using cannabis office, and now it’s legal. You know, I mean, you might want to help your players, maybe just trying to, like, guide them in a more responsible and more mindful manner, right. I mean, to me, my education that I do in this space is that everyone could figure how to smoke weed, right? I mean, that’s like, that’s easy, right? But no, I think where it needs to go is like, you know, precise dosing for you know, a certain goals and objectives right? I mean, there’s this element that healing obviously with cannabis. Right I think some of guys ultimately lean on it for regeneration recovery, right? It helps them sleep helps with anxiety. But again, like no manual, no no guidance, it’s just like, Okay, well, everyone just assumed that all cannabis use is the same right? Like 100 milligram edible is the same as a five milligram edible, you know, or you know, packing a bowl, a one gram bowl is the same as though as a one hitter and I think this is like where, like, the medicines in the dose type of medication. And this is where it needs to go with a youth, adults and everyone in between, because they’re going to get their hands on one way or another, but if they had some sort of guidance, it could, you know, they can use this in a more responsible or more predictable manner. So it’s, there’s the way I see it is like, two different lanes. One is like, you know, absolute healing, recovery Regeneration which is still you know, in the world of performance, right? Because if you heal quicker, you recover quicker and you’re generally quicker you’re able to perform better the next day whether an athlete or not, right, that’s just like you wake up feeling fresher, you’re more focused, and you’re less distracted, right? You’re less pain, less anxiety, all that good stuff. But I think there’s like this world you know, outside of that, like really that rule that that path of performance where you got martial artists micro dosing THC, you know, you have a hockey players micro dosing THC for that matter to right you kind of find that flow state same conversation around like psilocybin or dosing is like, it’s not enough to induce class To say psychedelic effects or in classic, you know, cannabis, you know, impairing, if you will. But it calms the nervous system enough to help you find that present moment where flow state lives, right, and then that the element helps performance in the moment, and in the future, right. It just it just the way it is. But I think there’s two different lanes here. But it’s all about education and how you dose appropriately. Right. And I think most people over consume cannabis, you know, whether they know it or not, or they think they are not. And, you know, it’s it’s always goes back to intention, like, what are you trying to accomplish here? Riley 15:43 And, you know, but I’m going on a little bit of a tangent, but that’s yeah, answer your question. That’s where it needs to go is like, it’s it’s leakdown type of education. It’s team down education, strength and conditioning, you know, team down education, this needs to be brought in internally, not just like, Okay, well, these products are available that the players go on their own and figure this out. This is where, yes, it’s certainly better than the old school model of like, you know, traditional pharmaceutical is being prescribed and, you know, dealing with that whole Dark Cloud, we’re now it’s like, you got the open up this can of worms, Pandora’s box of all these products, and then like, go figure it out yourself. I guess the beauty of it is that, like, you’re gonna wake up the next morning, whether you eat 200 milligrams of THC or five, like, the beauty of as you’re gonna wake up, you know what, you might have a little bit of weed hangover 200 milligrams, but hopefully you’ll learn from that, and you titrate back, and you know, but like, we can skip a lot of this because I went through this for years and years and years, misusing cannabis, you know, unhealthy relationship with it, to all of a sudden, like reeling it all in and understanding that what I done is almost like some sort of like lab experiment, you know, it’s like, holy shit, like, we can use these these products way more mindfully, way more respectfully. And we can teach people how to use these have these conversations with 75 year old women at my yoga studio to like, where it’s like, they just, they just think of using cannabis as a mean belly up on your coach, like teaching Trump or so. Okay, well, that could serve its purpose if you decide to go down that path. But it doesn’t need to be that, you know, my opinion is like, like, using cannabis and being productive. And also, you know, mitigating pain and anxiety and stress along the way is the goal. You don’t want to just like, be belly up, no, you’re mitigating all the pain, stress and anxiety, they can’t do anything because they can’t be productive, because I’ve over consumed cannabis now. So that’s, you know, whether you’re working nine to five, or an athlete, there’s this world of performance, and it’s precision dosing, in my opinion, comes with education.

Nick 17:49

You know, we’re just hearing the same narrative, I mean, and it’s just, it gets me more and more mad every week. Education 100% rally. And that’s, that’s what we do. And that’s a pure was about and, you know, custom formulations and using the cannabis the right way, along with other molecules to put on a specific disease state. But more importantly, what you’re saying is kind of what every athlete saying, they’re turning a blind eye to it. They know that it’s here to help. They know that they’re supposed to be doing something, but it’s all smoke and mirrors, no direct, all the athletes are saying, Please, like we’re using this because it’s helping us, please educate us, get us off opiates, get us off of this, get us off of that. I’m asking for something that will help my body down the line, not just for now. But for my future, right? Because you’re not always going to be in the league. And you actually have the life after the league, which no one ever thinks about because when the lights are on, they’re like, how’s he gonna perform today? Let’s just shoot them up with something. And, and, and, and get out there. Right? So, I mean, it’s just so important. And I know, you know, I was saying when you were working on because I was looking at some of your things that you do with the hemp heals Foundation. And you basically promote cannabis as a viable renewable source, so people can live a better quality life. So tell me a little bit about what you’re doing with that and trying to educate because, you know, obviously, we’re doing this show, we’re trying to get the word out there, but we feel it’s always fallen on deaf ears, you have a little bit more of a platform. So what are you doing with with your time and and and tell me a little bit more about this Hempfield foundation?

Riley 19:25

Sure, well since COVID, hit it kind of Penfield is kind of an idol. But you know, when I retired in 2010, I started a nonprofit called hemp peels foundation and it was really a music festival in Philly. relationship with the general manager of Live Nation so we put on these music festivals called the hemp Hills Music Festival and was really around showing the different faces of cannabis and really all the industrial applications all the stuff we talked about earlier the textiles and you know and the soaps and you know that the food and all this good stuff paper and just you kind of just showing the public eye a different perspective of what they think cannabis is, you know, that went on we you know, we all you know, the white boy reggae bands, even Marley sublime with Rome Cypress Hill, you know, we, you know, revolution slightly stupid all those kind of bands. So it was already that reggae feel five 6000 people. So smaller festivals, smaller shine,

Nick 20:19

really sounds fun now

Riley 20:23

definitely fun and serve this purpose, you know, again, it’s like you said fallen on deaf ears, you know, I think it’s like when the student is ready, the teacher appears like all you can really do is plant seeds, right? I mean, you’re not going to preach and change people’s mind overnight. Like, if they’re not ready for it. Again, it just goes over their head, but, you know, we just, you know, stayed persistent and consistent with the message and then no COVID hit, but even like leading up to COVID my efforts kind of transitioned into which, you know, you know, the nonprofit athletes for care was really more using my sports platform to you know, try and legitimize some of these things. I was realizing like, you know, it’s, it’s such a broad scope, talking about hemp, and like all these different things, it’s like maybe like reel it in and be a little more focused on what the narrative is. And I think that she started using my time a little bit more appropriately, appropriately, a little more specific in the sense of using your getting the sports platform and trying to stigmatize cannabis. And again, help guys transition out of the game. That just No, I was noticing, there’s a huge problem with guys. Again, having a relationship with alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs, retiring and then trying to use these to navigate their their transition, which is extremely difficult to begin with, right? I mean, you’re talking about an identity crisis now because that was a spiritual component to transition because your whole identity your whole ego had been invested in the sport you’ve played. So cannabis was a good conduit to helping guys heal. So that’s kind of how the athletes Procare kind of came around. He was the original my efforts were in heels didn’t really didn’t know what I was doing just standing for something larger than myself. And then another COVID hit at

Nick 22:10

least you’re doing something absolutely,

Riley 22:12

yeah. Right. I started speaking publicly around cannabis as a hockey player naturally running into football players and UFC fighters. And you know, guys have similar stories whose pain management anxiety management, stress, madmen, concussion related issues. And that was really the groundwork of athletes for care. It was like five athletes coming together and say, Okay, well, let’s just make this a thing. And formalize it turns your other question is that yeah, 100% like, once you start putting yourself out there, it’s some bit of a thought leader, or maybe just enough balls to actually stand up and be public about it, then all of a sudden, it could be guy, and maybe that could be like the catalyst to just making a guy be like, holy shit, you know, I’m kind of thinking this along these lines, but this guy is actually doing or this guy’s actually saying, and he’s actually got a collective group of people that are actually talking about as much must be a thing. This is not just like me thinking that this is medicine or, you know, whatever. Because there’s a lot of like, closet cannabis users, whether there’s like, there’s lacking the confidence to do even like not even just like publicly mockable everybody at work, it’s just like to keep it tight to the chest, because I understand why. Because it’s been a scheduling drug for 90 years. And it’s been demonized. And they’re worried about the social impact or the stigma that come along with it. So yes, I get hit up all the time.

Nick 23:36

I think that more athletes that do this step up and say, look, I mean, we know there’s a stigma, but this is helping so many of my friends, my co workers, on myself, you need to look into this, but you need to know what you’re taking, right? I mean, you can’t be just from bobbing animals, like you’re saying,

Pete 23:55

Actually, I think that stigma is going to end up changing who’s going to show that these people really don’t care, because we’ve got more and more athletes coming out saying, hey, we need help, either physically or mentally. And that that silent majority is going to be huge, I think and that’s going to start flipping the thing because eventually, you know, they’re going to this I think there might be real pushback and say, We’re tired of it, man, we’re tired of getting shot up and being thrown back out there and tired of not having any kind of care concern about my, you know, mental state for what’s going to come either today, tomorrow, or after, you know, the lights are off. So

Nick 24:26

and you’re talking about the same thing, the almighty dollar, right? They’re trying to still push pharmaceuticals, they’re trying trying to push all these other agendas on these athletes, as well as the public, let’s be real, but come on. I mean, like you said, you know, start small, know what you want to because what you might work for you. Riley is not going to work for the average person and not because you’re an athlete and they’re, you know, a normal person. It could be big, small, you know, age, gender, it doesn’t matter. It has your endocannabinoid system. It depends how it works in your body and your tolerance. results are really trying to achieve the results you’re trying to achieve. I mean, you said something specifically about micro dosing. I mean, that’s you normally heard in psilocybin and mushrooms and things like that. But it’s absolutely something in cannabis as well. The doctors know, and they’re not doing anything about it. And these guys are having to take it upon themselves to go out try to afford the narrative out there. And it’s falling on deaf ears, but not because we are making headway, right? We can’t just say all negatives, because the truth is, is that where we were five years ago, or, you know, when you retire to where we are now, come on, we’re completely different. We really are. I mean,

Pete 25:40

I got enough. It’s not enough. And it’s making headway but just not enough.

Nick 25:45

Right. And I do know that it’s making more of a push to marijuana, whereas there’s a look, there’s a lot of benefits for the hemp side, there’s a lot of medicinal benefits that you don’t even have to get high. Right. Yeah. I mean, you just you just want to have you know, pain relief and

Pete 25:59

a lake Farley said, everybody needs to have a manual. And now with Riley out there, he’s everybody’s men. Well.

Nick 26:05

Exactly.

Pete 26:07

You get out there regularly, just you know, throw one down, just, you know, make a point. I mean, it’s got I mean, I love playing hockey myself. I just, you know, amateur and you know, street hockey and stuff like that, but I love just getting out there and get that feeling. So you still still, you know, have a little bit of a, I don’t know, an itch to you know, get out there once in a while and just kind of throw down.

Nick 26:27

Yeah, I mean, you throw the states on, you still go out a little bit. I mean, that’s a hurts. Yeah, that’s a that’s a fight just

Pete 26:33

to get out there again.

Riley 26:35

Yeah, I do. I love hockey and will always love hockey, I play, you know, pick up in adult league whenever I can. I’m definitely not into fighting anymore. I’m gonna try and be a hockey player. And, you know, almost kind of reliving my childhood and playing back on the pond when the game was fun. It was, you know, creative. Well, you know, whether I understood that element or not at the time, but you know, hockey is a creative sport, read and react. So you get out there and you actually get to play hockey, you have some fun, you’re you’re fine in flow state. Again, micro dosing, cannabis micro dosing psilocybin.

Pete 27:13

See that puck a lot better?

Riley 27:16

A lot better. Yeah, exactly. things slow down a little bit. A little bit more. And you and I have a lot of fun with it. But as far as like the fighting and throwing down, it’s served this purpose for me. For it, it’s for me to live out my childhood dream and play in the NHL, because that was my dream growing up in Canada was to play the NHL, never thought to get my hands dirty and fight, you know, 3035 times a year to get there. But, you know, it’s just the nature of the beast and how things work sometimes. But, you know, I was, I was destined to find my way and did it the old fashioned way. And then that served this purpose, right, you know, between the pain, anxiety, substance abuse, and the TBI stuff, you know, pushed me along this path of plant medicine and mindfulness. So I’m grateful for all of it and how it’s all laid out. However, I would love to help people, avoid some unnecessary suffering or suffering along the way and avoid some unnecessary addiction and substance abuse. I feel like that’s my, you know, my, my role now is to try to be a conduit for change, drug diversion, and harm reduction. And just help people, I guess, navigate sport, life a little more skillfully with, you know, with the, with the information that’s available now, right, there’s a lot more information available and all around all this stuff. You know, we live in an age of information, right? It’s, it’s probably almost confusing. The amount of information that’s out there, and you know, polar opposite viewpoints on most stuff, but there’s enough information out there now where we can help help, you know, change the course of Humanity, if you will, right through, through through education, all the stuff you’re talking about, right? It’s mindful, it’s, uh, it’s deliberate, it’s precise, it’s, you know, it’s all these things back, you know, versus back in the day, it was just kind of like, US cannabis and, and just kind of figuring out the experience, right. And I think there’s so much, you know, precision and predictable dosing, now that we can really create that experience to help, you know, help people create that experience. They don’t have to go through the hardships of trial and error and 10 years of cannabis use before they figure out that sweet spot. Maybe we can reel that back into like, a month or two, you know, I mean, you save a lot of people’s lives, honestly,

Nick 29:37

for sure. For sure if that’s the case, saving a lot of people’s lives. I mean, right out of his mouth, because that’s the truth. And it’s just amazing that we have this platform to be able to speak to people and let them know the importance by you’re hearing it from somebody that that has first one experiences. Some of them will never be able to do this. I love to be an NHL professional hockey player. I mean, come on how you got there for Writing are not that long as of course, they got your narrative, but I was gonna say, just playing, I mean seeing the game differently, even though now you’re retired, do you think that if there wasn’t so much pressure, that the players would see it differently,

Riley 30:13

you play in a team sport, you know, and a team dynamic and you move up the ranks like there’s more structure that’s built up coaching staff, right. And it’s like, you have to have some sort of system like five man system, like where you guys know, somewhat what’s going to happen or some sort of predictable system. And that being said, that’s more on the defensive side of thing, pressuring the puck and trying to get the puck back. And then there’s times and places where you do tap into the element of creativity, you generally in the offensive zone, you know, from I did Coach the flyers minor league team for seven years. So I, you know, had that experience in coaching to not just playing, we’re now they’re younger, green light, to be creative, ultra creator, like try and make plays, try and use your creative faculties to attack the net and score goals. But then, you know, there’s a time and a place to not do that, you know, in the defensive zone, for example, right, and so you get the puck, and in a pressured situation, that now’s not the time to try and dangle the guy and be creative. And so to get the puck out, live to fight another day. So that’s a part of the structure of coaching, where it’s like, we have to have some sort of boundaries of when and when not to, you know, tap into those creative faculties, you know, it’s as long gone are the days, you know, once you become a pro upon hockey game, or it’s like, there’s no code reason, there’s no pressure, you’re not going to lose your paycheck, if you fuck up, you know, all that stuff doesn’t matter. So it’s just like, for the love of the game, the love of, you know, creative sport, you know, obviously changes when you get into the business of something, because there’s money and there’s pressure and you know, his jobs at risk and all this other stuff. So you have to kind of create a, a structured container for that creativity, and boundaries, right? Because if you know, Player A is is is turning the puck over because he’s trying to be ultra creative. Or maybe it’s selfish. At that time, well, we got to sit him down, and we can’t have that happen. Because it’s It’s taxing our goaltending our defense. So there’s a fine line of being gotta have some balance on that. You got to have some balance there for sure. But it is a creative sport. I mean, it’s

Pete 32:25

an exhibition. We’re all full of psilocybin puking.

Riley 32:30

kind of torn microdoses before games for sure.

Pete 32:33

I like it, man. I like it, Brian. I really appreciate the time man too. It’s been fun. I you know, I think you’re doing a great thing out there. You know, besides being an enforcer that you are on the ice and now you’re kind of enforcing out there in life man with the hem peels or you know, just really with the advocates for athletes and everything like that. So, I mean, it’s pretty amazing. And, you know, we really want to see you shine, just like you did with the spotlight out in the ice man. So it’s, it’s pretty awesome. Thanks.

Nick 33:00

We really do appreciate, obviously, as always, you know,

Pete 33:04

excellent man. Anytime you want to catch us. We are on cannabis radio. We are hempire You can catch us on Apple Music Spotify, Amazon, I Heart Radio. Don’t forget to give us a like, subscribe, follow us because that’s how you’re gonna get this narrative out. And that’s how more people are going to hear now. We just have to say but the likes of people like Riley, we do appreciate your time here cannabis radio and this is hempire Thank you for listening. Get educated everybody