Building a Brotherhood on Ice: Insights from Coach Mason Ralph

You.

This is Sharpening youg Edge with Chuck and Eric.

Today's guest is Mason Ralph, assistant coach for our lady of Good council ice hockey and assistant captain for the Washington Capital Warriors.

With nearly three decades of playing experience and four years behind the bench, Mason brings a rare blend of passion, discipline and leadership to the game.

Welcome to episode five of Sharpening youg Edge, presented by CV3 Hockey.

I'm Chuck Vertolino along with my co host Eric Malanson.

And today we welcome to the show Mason Ralph.

And we're going to dive into a bunch of different topics, including his playing coaching career, his military career, and a bit on nutrition.

So, Mason, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, guys.

Hey, Mason, great to have you on the show.

I've been super excited about this episode for, you know, basically since I asked you for the listeners out there, I met Mason a couple years ago.

We both were playing for the USA warriors ice hockey team.

If you don't know what that is, we're going to, we're going to dive into it at the end or midway through.

But we shared that.

We shared a lot of time on the ice and we've got the common bond of being Marines.

Mason, welcome.

And so we're going to get right into it because we got lots to unpack.

But when and where did your love for this incredible game of hockey really start?

You know, how old were you?

Where were you playing growing up?

Talk to us a little bit about that.

So this is kind of a fun little story here.

I was two and a half and I was with my mom going to pay a water bill at the Decatur Civic center, and I wandered off and at the same place was also the ice rink.

She lost track of me and found me on the ice with the high school team and I started skating when I was three.

That's amazing.

That is incredible.

She looked for me for about 30 to 45 minutes, could not locate me.

Check all the bathrooms, the offices to find me on the ice with a stick in my hand and the rest was it.

That's amazing.

That's hilarious, too.

That's very fitting for you.

So something that started a while ago and now you've been playing for nearly three decades.

What were those early years like after you got your first taste of the ice?

And how has your game evolved since then?

So I would say so Central Illinois hockey wasn't the greatest.

It was pretty slow.

That's when Chicago Blackhawks started to pick up and more people started to come into the Illinois region and competition started to get a lot more better.

And so at first it was kind of slow.

Had my uncles training me.

They both played for numerous years.

And so I was playing with people that were older than me, bigger than me, and then youth was essentially easy.

That's pretty awesome.

You played a lot of hockey.

I mean, you've played growing up, you played high school level, you played very.

Now you play for the warriors and you know, incredible opportunity to be around a lot of awesome coaches.

Probably a lot of not awesome coaches, teammates.

Has there been anyone in particular kind of in your life on the hockey side that's made a lasting impression on your.

Either your game or, you know, probably your game and, you know, you as a person.

Did it, did it kind of lead you to, you know, do you think it had any, any benefit or any, anything to any help to you choosing the Marine Corps?

So as far as Marine Corps, my family, they were all Navy.

And I think the person who pushed me the most was one of my teammates.

We were both forwards and competing in, you know, goals, assists and his den.

So name was Brock Oiler.

His dad was Brian Euler.

And I think that's a duo.

I am never going to forget the way that they were able to coach, lead, play.

And that's kind of what I'm leading my, my game after.

That's awesome.

Shout out.

Shout out to them.

Shout out to them.

So we talk about the connection to the Marine Corps.

So how did your experience on the ice influence your, your mindset and discipline as you transitioned into the Marine Corps?

So I would say with being in a leadership position from the start again, Brock and I, we were always in charge of, you know, making sure that the team was good.

Locker rooms are clean.

Big one for me now.

Even as, as a coach and a player, I feel like leaving a locker room cleaner than what you came into and just kind of bringing that leadership to also the two other teams that I play on currently, it's really important to kind of just leave that impression.

Yeah, I think that's something I know that, you know, as a coach, you know, with youth athletes, it's, it's very, it's a, it's a constant struggle on getting them to clean up the locker room.

And we always tie it back to leadership.

And, and you mentioned like, you know, leaving a place better than you found it.

I think that's something that, you know, I learned in, in the Marine Corps and I learned in life.

And I think that's something extremely positive that, you know, something small that goes a long way.

It's one of those things, right.

And so when you, you know, you, let's say your high school team, youth, youth teams, goes to a tournament and you leave that impression.

Let's say the tournament goes off and they are inviting 28, 32 teams.

You're going to be the first on that list.

Not trying to grasp his straws, trying to get the spot for that.

So having that good impression, not only on captains, the coaches, the rest of the players, just the whole organization, it all looks fantastic.

Absolutely.

Now, you played a lot, you know, and you've, you've had a ton of success recently with the Washington Capitals warriors, which I think is super cool.

So you've got a broad ranging career.

What, what part of it stands out the most for you?

Is it a particular season, a moment, like a turning point?

You know, is there one, one as a player, one as a coach that you want to.

You talk about?

Oh man.

So there's a few.

I think my real love for the game, for in a leadership position was my senior year of high school.

We won state in Missouri for the MOAM division because we couldn't find a whole lot of talent in Central Illinois and St. Louis was only a couple hours away from us.

So we're like, hey, we're going to jump in this league too, winning that.

And then we also did our Illinois State tournament and somehow end up making the championship game and just being a leader on, on that team and being so proud of what we've done from the years prior.

It's kind of stuck with me for a long time.

That's awesome.

Did you that one of those teams or you know that your, your core group of players that you played with grown ups or has there been anybody that's kind of made it on to, you know, an NHL roster, you know, an AHL roster somewhere that's gone on to success.

So a bunch of us did play junior hockey.

Didn't really go anywhere with that.

I played AAA with Clayton Keller.

That was a lot of fun just watching him grow up, especially in size.

Like he was really small and then he started to get a little bit bigger and quicker, but after that that was pretty much it.

That's.

That's.

I can't even imagine getting to play against somebody like him.

I mean, I, I grew up in Massachusetts, so I had my chance to play against a lot of pretty great players, some that have made it into the show.

But yeah, Clayton Keller, he's got to be something special to, to see and I'd imagine at that Level, it's just, wow, this guy's is actually so much better than everybody else.

Yeah, like, when you see a player like that, deep down, you know, you're like, hey, yeah, he's.

He's going somewhere with hockey.

That's awesome.

All right, so you, you mentioned earlier about your philosophy with leaving the locker room cleaner when you leave than when it was when you went in.

How has your time in the Marine Corps shaped other perspectives on teamwork, preparation, and performance?

So I feel like when the team is together and they have the same sort of leadership principles, it benefits the mission in general.

So when we go to other high schools around the area and everybody has that mentality of being professional, courteous, cleaning up after themselves, to my student athletes, it's such a small thing to do, to pick up, you know, your tape balls or a protein wrapper or something like that.

It means a lot more when coming from an organization.

And so I had that instilled in me when I was in the Marine Corps.

Always leave an area cleaner than when you got there.

That was something that's improved over the years.

And myself, and I'm starting to instill that within the high school team.

You know, when we.

Unfortunately, when a lot of us leave service, you know, that sense of brotherhood that we have there is.

Is really.

You can't, you know, I mean, we'll replicate that many other places.

And a lot of, you know, folks struggle with depression and they download spiral because they.

They don't have that.

Do you, you know, is that something that you struggled with when you transitioned out of the Marine Corps?

And, you know, if it was, was hockey something that, you know, gave you that.

That reconnection again?

Because I note that, you know, being obviously being a Marine and a hockey player, there's a huge similarities between the two, which, you know, I love.

But was there, you know, was there something that, you know, drew that once you started playing again for the warriors, you felt that sense of connection?

Yeah.

When you have those people that.

That close to you and it just gets wiped away.

You have your normal co workers and it.

It's.

It's not the same.

So when I discovered the USA Warriors, I came to a practice, and immediately that's when I know, like, I just knew, like, this is the place that I want to be, because we've all been through it.

We've all felt alone.

The mental struggles, the physical struggles, and no matter what you got going on, you have teammates there that are just a phone call away.

And I think that's why I fell in love with the team.

That's awesome.

Yeah, I mean, I, I will echo your sentiments.

And you know, I got injured.

I never knew that I was going to skate again, you know, and when I was figuring that out, I found USA warriors just like you did.

And I was like, well, if I can't, you know, skate on two legs, I'll be, at least I'll be able to try the sled thing.

But I think the sense of camaraderie is there.

And then as my rehab progressed, I was able to skate again.

So, yeah, same feelings as you.

As soon as I walked in that door, bam.

Insta brotherhood, you know, it was amazing.

It was life altering.

And I owe so much to that organization.

Probably just like you.

Absolutely.

So are there any parallels you see between your role or job in the Marine Corps and coaching a hockey team?

I wouldn't say it was necessarily my job, like my MOS in general, but being a leader, appointed as a fire team leader, a squad leader, platoon sergeant, it's just being in charge of everybody and making sure everyone's taken care of when we go on, you know, when we go to tournaments or exhibition games.

Right.

I have to make sure everyone's at said location at said time, make sure everyone is, has all their stuff, all their jerseys, their sticks.

We've had some embarrassing moments in the past, people leaving their sticks behind and.

But now I've taken a lot more, like sending out messages and hey, make sure you have this, this, this, this.

And it feels like, you know, I love them to death, but you gotta, you gotta check on them sometimes.

Now, you started coaching before you joined the Marine Corps and then you were in, you know, you were in, and then now you just picked it back up at Good Counsel a couple years ago.

What was it that drew you back to the bench?

What did you miss about it?

So back I was actually coaching the same team I played on a year later and just being around the guys, kind of being able to embrace that brotherhood because everyone knows, you know, their senior year, hockey, a lot of guys just hang up the skates and they never, they never touch them again.

I refuse to do that.

I'm like, I'm gonna help in some sort of way, making sure that I can put everything I have into the sport that I love.

Joined the Marine Corps, did my thing, I got out Had a lot more free time and I think I was playing a beer league game over at the Laurel Ice Gardens and one of the coaches came up to me and asked me if I'd be interested in doing some, some coaching there.

And I did not hesitate once.

I was like, absolutely.

And ever since I did, it has been an adventure in itself.

I bet that's awesome.

I mean that's a testament to your character and your love of leadership at the game for sure.

So Mason, you, you help lead Good Counsel to back to back championships.

We spoke to Jackson Cole on episode three, who's a Division 2 goaltender and they won the national championship recently and he spoke about the importance.

He didn't even really talk about anything they did on the ice, but he spoke how important it was for the team culture, the cohesiveness with the team culture off the ice.

So at Good Counsel, what, what changed within the team culture or approach to make that back to back championship happen?

So the year prior that I started, I think we won six, maybe seven games out of 28 and we didn't really do too hot, didn't even make the playoffs.

I came in obviously, Eric, you know me, I have a lot of intensity and I brought that to the team kind of to really like get these guys going, saying hey, like this might be some of your guys last years of playing hockey.

If you're going to do it, you need to do it fast, intense and like you care.

And so when I stepped in as skills we worked on everything from, from the edges, from basic stick handling, special teams, overall just I guess systems in, in general there was no systems really put into play.

And so I kind of mentioned a lot of there were things I was like, hey, high school hockey around the Maryland area isn't really practicing like you know, a high cycle.

Throw that in, see what can happen.

And with, with the power skating too, Power skating super important especially for young athletes.

Learning how to use their full edge, their full leg rather than just kind of cut and chop.

And with that our players were bigger, they were faster.

It got them into, into the weight room, worked out with them almost, you know, three, four times a week.

Teaching them how to lift properly without trying to hurt themselves and you know, teach them, you know, you don't need to go for a super high weight.

Sometimes a low weight, high rep is going to be more beneficial than you trying to throw £315 on the rack and try to squat it, possibly hurt yourself.

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I think that's something where I can absolutely see you making a positive impact.

And you know, I think in you've described yourself as the appointed hype man for the team.

Right.

Do you that infectious energy that you bring has the how's the team responded?

You know, do you have any like little masons on the team that are like now I can be a hype man too and, and start to pump up the rest of the team and get them going kind of on their own.

So funny you mentioned that there was actually a couple last year with the team last year we didn't have a whole lot of hope, but there was some hype men that really jumped in and kind of understood what I was trying to instill and saying, hey, no matter what, you could be winning 17 to nothing, losing 17 to nothing.

Pick your brothers and sisters up.

Win, lose, do not dog on each other and just kind of get hype before the game because when you go into a game high intensity, you're gonna have a better result rather than, you know, if you go into a game you're like, oh, this is the best team in the nation.

It doesn't matter.

Everyone puts on their gear the exact same way.

You can do it.

Now, you mentioned one thing that you said there was that I think is important for, for the folks to, to hear is you said your brothers and sisters.

So in a sport that's obviously become so historically male dominated, and I know, me personally, you know, I've seen some tremendous female hockey players that they are doing things that I couldn't even imagine doing on the ice.

You know, what have you seen from your female players and what do you think about the growth of, you know, the PWHL and stuff like that?

So I think having that PWHL is such a fantastic move within the professional hockey.

It gives these young girls something to work for.

And I've personally seen it within my own players.

Like, a lot of them take this sport a lot more serious because back in the day there was, you know, you got college hockey and that's pretty much it.

And.

But now there's like a professional league and so like, hey, I should probably start taking care of my body, watching the way I play, watch film, watch, and to watch some of the, of the girls hockey, especially around like the DMV area, it's blown up a lot more than I expected.

And how quick it happened.

Nothing short of impressed.

That's amazing.

Yeah, I completely agree.

Living in the DMV area, the hockey around here has gotten a tremendously increased level for females and males too, but females specifically.

Absolutely.

Shifting your focus back to coaching, there's a balance that a lot of coaches out there might struggle to find in development and how to push your players.

So how does Coach Mason strike that balance between pushing his players to help them develop while also keeping the game positive and fun?

So for me personally, when it comes to pushing my players, I will never look down on them, say anything down, say, hey, instead of doing what you did, I want you to try this next time.

And instead of, you know, feeling down on themselves.

But, hey, go do something positive.

Go lay a hit, Change the atmosphere on the rink.

Because it's a little bit different when you're on the bench.

You can see it, yes, looks cool.

But your teammates, after you see them make a bad play, you're gonna get looked at differently.

But when you either a, make a big hit, make a good play, score a goal, it Changes the entire atmosphere.

And that's kind of one thing that I have always instilled in my players.

If you make a mistake, bounce back.

Find a way to bounce back.

Show your teammates, hey, I'm still in this game after this mistake.

Everyone's allowed to make mistakes.

It's how you respond.

Yeah, I 100% agree with you.

We talked about it a couple episodes ago.

One of my philosophies with the youth hockey players today is to remind them that they're not Connor McDavid.

It's okay to fall down.

It's okay to make mistakes.

And.

And like you just mentioned, how do you respond to that?

Just get up and keep going.

That's one of the major things that separates junior players D1, D2, and even D3 players from people that don't make it is their ability to not get discouraged and get up and go out there and learn and do better the next time.

So.

Exactly.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

Yeah.

I think, you know, kind of tying it back to Warrior hockey now is.

Is that something that I have seen less of in the Warrior hockey community, where people, you know, down and feeling sorry for themselves.

And I obviously attribute that to the culture that Warrior hockey provides.

Right.

That means so much to me, if the listeners haven't been able to tell from my constant mention of it.

But what does it mean to you?

What does Warrior hockey mean to Mason, you know, and how has it kind of impacted your life?

You touched on it a little, but overall, yeah.

So with Warrior hockey, I have kind of dabbled in it a little bit with Veterans Hockey United, the Marine Corps team.

A lot of us were veterans, but still going on these active duty trips.

And once I found it and I started making friends all over the nation.

Right.

Even the shirt that you're wearing now, a good buddy of mine that plays for the Boston warriors, the captain and the president, Justin.

Him and I keep in contact all the time, and, you know, he gives me life Life updates.

I got friends in Colorado, up in Philly.

It's not necessarily about the competition.

Competition's great.

It's just kind of building these friendships and bringing home that brotherhood where it means the most of just keeping connected, keeping close again.

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head.

I mean, I just think back to, you know, you and I, you know, to the point where, you know, funny story, you know, my kids still talk about to this day and.

Cause, you know, they obviously have seen you play, and they're like, wow, he's really good.

But two, it was the lasting impact you made on them by giving them a Washington Capitals warriors autographed stick that they proudly display in the basement here.

And they talk about it all the time.

So, yeah, I completely agree that there's no other place like it.

It's a giant family.

Like, that's what it is.

There's nothing more important than just getting close with one another, and you don't know who's going through a bad.

Like a bad moment.

And so having those people that are close to you, and that's not just the players, but, you know, their families, too, making them.

Them also feel included because I know some girlfriends, fiance's wives, boyfriends, husbands.

We want everyone to feel involved, and I think that's what we're working towards, and we've made really good strides to get there.

You won back to back national championships with this group.

You talk about the family mentality.

Is that what makes this group so special on and off the ice?

So, yes, personally, my team with the USA warriors and the Washington Capitals warriors, it's a giant family.

Like, for instance, we have six people staying in a Airbnb, and we couldn't be more excited.

And we're trying to get, you know, the rest of them up.

And then just the closeness of everybody, you know, I think that transitions from off the ice to on the ice.

So we know, hey, I can trust you to make this.

This play.

Are you able to get me a pass or just dump it in?

Quick change.

Can you change fast?

And the off ice is, I would say, more important than on ice.

That's impressive, and I'm looking forward to seeing you guys play tomorrow.

I can't wait.

Not so much.

Ronnie.

Yeah, no, we're starting with that.

Now.

I know that it just.

In the last couple of years that I've been playing Warrior hockey, I've seen a, you know, it grow tremendously.

Right?

Like, I mean, look down.

I know our listeners can't see that, but, yeah, I'm wearing a shirt says Boston warriors because, yep, Boston born and raised.

So I got to support the home team as well.

But, you know, how have you seen it grow in the last couple years and then what do you kind of attribute that.

That momentum to?

New program.

There's new programs popping up everywhere.

Everyone needs that kind of leg up.

At first, you struggle a little bit.

You don't know where you're going to go, how you're going to start.

And so to have these connections and start to build your name, it really does help a team or an organization grow.

So with the USA warriors, we are in charge of numerous different teams all over the country and they've grown tremendously.

It's all about just helping one another up, get standing and then they can take off.

And I think that right there alone is the beautiful thing about Warrior hockey.

Yes.

You know, we get competitive, we get, we all want to win, we all want to win a tournament, a game, a national championship.

But in the end, it's all about, you know, bringing everyone together.

So win or lose, go to a tournament.

I'm still smiling.

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That'S awesome.

Yeah.

I mean, again, not to keep saying the same thing, but that has been my experience to a T. No matter win, lose or draw, you're gonna have a great time on the ice.

And the trips are going to be an absolute blast.

Absolutely.

It's always, it's always a great time.

So looking back, Mason, how have the lessons from your playing days, the Marine Corps and coaching, how has that all shaped your leadership style today?

That's a great question.

So, again, when I was younger, when I had Brian and Brock Oiler there, I really wanted to keep that coaching style of being, like, really involved.

And my previous coaches were never involved.

They were kind of just show up, say, hey, shoot the puck here, but not say anything else.

He would actually sit me down, explain, hey, if you're getting pressure here, cut back, look, look for a lane, look for a cycle.

Anything else.

Marine Corps has trained me to kind of not worry about myself as much and make sure that everyone else is taken care of and good.

And that alone has kind of put me in that coaching mentality of making sure that my players are taken care of, making sure that they have all their stuff.

I usually, again, the whole entire hype man thing, making sure everyone is pumped up, ready to go, make sure no one's injured, hiding an injury and just pulling off leadership in that direction.

I like it.

It's something I kind of pride myself on as well, and I know Chuck does.

So we've got tunnels to Towers tomorrow.

And I know this, this, this will be out after, hopefully after you guys win the whole thing.

But what is next for.

For you and the Washington Capitals or USA Warriors?

What's next?

Any goals on the horizon?

Any.

Any big things that you want to share?

So, as of right now, what we're aiming for, we have the Warrior Classic in Tampa, Florida, from November 6th to the 9th.

Obviously, this will be out afterwards, so hopefully we win that one.

We're getting bumped up to tier one for wcw, so that's pretty exciting.

Kind of be able to play at the highest skill level possible and then go back to Nationals.

We have a exhibition game with Philly in March up in Philly at their practice arena, and then we're all going to go to the Wells Fargo, which I'm really excited about.

Haven't been there in a long time.

Might do like a off tournament somewhere for the USA Warriors.

I am currently actually planning a pretty big tournament and I'm gonna kind of come up with a format.

So Eric, be ready.

I would love your opinion on some stuff.

So I'll be texting you.

Yeah.

Here in the near future.

I'm in.

I'm in, brother.

Other than that.

Yeah, just national championship and hopefully we can three peat.

That's awesome.

Yeah, you guys definitely have a special squad.

I can't, I can't wait to see you guys play tomorrow.

And my son Bodhi, he's looking forward to it as well and that's awesome.

I think it's long deserved that you guys are getting bumped up to tier one between, you know, yourself, some of the other folks of the team.

Definitely not Ronnie, but also your goal.

You got a pretty electric goaltender.

There's.

He makes some pretty incredible saves, obviously huge social media presence as well.

Dobsy, he is an absolute rock star and he did tell.

He did say to me before I came out to the car to, to say hi to you guys and hope you guys are doing well.

Awesome.

Yeah, good.

He's.

He's electric goaltender.

I mean, he is hilarious.

That's awesome.

Hopefully he keeps you guys in it tomorrow.

I sure hope so.

We talked about a lot on this podcast.

Your playing days, the Marine Corps coaching.

Is there anything we didn't ask during this podcast that, that you wanted to address or talk about?

I think probably just making sure that you're taking care of everybody.

And that's down to the fact of checking on one another.

Hockey is an extremely physical game.

The most important is the mental aspect.

And if one of your friends not doing well, probably not going to say anything.

But I promise you that mental aspect is going to be a massive influence on their game.

And if you're making sure that everyone's, you know, okay on the side, they're going to play better.

But if they're not, they got other things going on.

Then some conversations need to happen.

It's hugely important.

I think, you know, for those listening, they're, they're hockey players, right?

But they're people first.

Right?

We need to take care of each other.

And like, like you said, you take care of moth the ice.

They're gonna play better on the ice and they're just gonna be better people.

Hopefully there'll be, there'll be some social media posts from, from Your.

Your championship runs.

But is there is the best way to get in touch with Washington Capitals Warriors, USA warriors just, you know, following their social media pages.

I guess I even forgot that Coach Tiki is flying in for this weekend as well from Vegas.

So that's, that's phenomenal.

She's, she's obviously had a bit to do with your guys success.

She's awesome, awesome coach.

So shout out to her.

She's got social media as well.

But you know, what's the best way to get in touch with you guys?

It would definitely be social media.

We are still waiting to stand up our Instagram for the Washington Capitals warriors because we're still pretty new.

We started up last year for the capital's 50th year anniversary and so we're still kind of just ironing things out.

But I think we're good to start our own Instagram page.

But as right now it's going to be the USA warriors and getting contact with us that way.

Awesome.

Yeah, that's, that's great news.

Yeah.

And shout out to the Caps for finally, you know, sponsoring a, or you know, putting together a team just like Philly did in some of the other organizations.

So that's awesome.

I would say that alone with the NHL teams getting involved with Warrior hockey, it's only going up.

They're just being taken care of when it comes to either ice time, donations, sponsors and everyone has been spectacular.

They're really picking it up, showing that they do care and having these different veterans all over the place.

It's incredible.

Yeah, awesome.

Shout out to the Caps.

It's, it's great.

You're doing a lot of positive things.

So this is something we ask all our guests to close out our shows and episodes.

What is your definition of development, whether the mental side, physical or any other aspect of the word.

Oh, that's a fantastic question.

Okay.

Development, that's just going to be making yourself better in every aspect that you possibly can.

It could be from, you know, stick handling, shooting on the ice, stuff off the ice, making sure that for the student athletes, making sure that you're improving and developing your, your grades.

Schools look at that could be, you know, mental.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, learn when to take a break and yeah, I'll say that's pretty much it.

That's a, that's a great, great question.

Awesome.

Well, Mason, it's been a pleasure.

A lot of awesome insight.

You're a true leader, you know, on and off the ice and, and I commend you for that.

You're truly changing lives, impacting them for the better in the greatest Game on the Planet.

And then you know the even smaller greatest subset of the greatest game on the planet, Warrior Hockey.

So I appreciate it.

This was.

This was awesome.

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Thank you for listening to episode five of Sharpening your Edge, and we'll see you next time.