Glass & Out

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sXhNxazZXN4 In episode 338 of the Glass and Out Podcast, Coachella Valley Firebirds assistant coach Stu Bickel stops by to chat. Bickel is a great example of a coach who has taken all the information he was fed as a player, evolved it, and made it his own as he has embarked on his coaching journey. Bickel grew up just outside of Minneapolis and would go on to star for Eden Prairie High School. After two seasons in the USHL, he joined his hometown University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, but after one season, as an undrafted free agent, he decided to bet on himself and make the jump into professional hockey. The move paid off, as in his fourth season, he appeared in 69 games with the New York Rangers. While not formally a coach at this stage, we sense that the first player he ever coached was himself. He needed to define his strengths and weaknesses and evolve his game into one that would enable him to contribute on a nightly basis in the National Hockey League. That is now a