Scott Bartlett Former Pro Hockey Player

This installment of “How they Made it” highlights former Pro hockey player Scott Bartlett. Scott has a great story and his experiences with Prep School, College and Pro hockey have giving him a great platform to succeed at his new career as a hockey agent.

 1.) Explain the amount of dedication that you have for the game of Hockey and the importance of practice. Making it to the top of any industry, whether it is business, acting, music, or pro sports takes dedicating yourself to the point that you will have to sacrifice other parts of your life (think weekends away from family/friends). I love hockey, so I was happy to spend all the time I needed with the team, at the gym, or working by myself on my game. I would say if you don’t have that passion and drive to be the best, and enjoy the process of working towards it, then it would be difficult to make it.

2.) What allows you to be confident while under pressure? I think that preparation leads to confidence. I’ve always felt that if you’ve put in the work before the game, there is no reason to think anyone will beat you during it. There has to be the thought that “I am the one” who is going to score the goal or block the shot because your work leads you to deserve the best. By expanding the time frame backwards and looking what got you to that point, it takes a lot of the pressure out of the immediate moment.

3.) What professional Hockey player did you look up to when you were growing up and why? I looked up to Randy Cunneyworth, who played 15 years in the NHL. He was a family friend of mine and I always admired how he would be the first one to jump into a game of road hockey or give me little tips as a kid how to be better. No one loves the game more than him and he made himself an NHL-er by working and staying positive.

4.) Have you always felt that you would make it to the Professional level? I definitely wasn’t sure I would make it to the professional level, even up until my senior year of college. Coming from a DIII school, you are never sure how much exposure you will get. I always knew it was a goal of mine, but that when/if an opportunity came I’d have to really perform to stick on a team.

5.) What is the most important lesson you have learned while playing Hockey? You are put in so many situations where you are challenged or where you have to learn to interact with teammates and get 30 guys on the same page. Those are all valuable lessons that no matter whether you ever play pro or not, will shape your personality. I’d say perseverance was a lesson for me. No one really gave me a shot to ever play pro, and I still never made the NHL, but I am proud of where I did end up.

6.) What influence have your parents had on you while playing hockey? Parents are everything when you are a hockey player! When you are young, they help you get to the rink and pay for all your gear – we all need to be forever thankful for that! Also, I think they can become a good support system later when hockey gets more competitive and frustrations arise.

7.) What Coach had the biggest impact on your career and why? My coach at Middlebury College – Bill Beaney. He is such a scholar of the game. He taught on-ice lessons about supporting puck, using change of pace, and other things that I really needed (and never had really understood). Also, he was a huge teacher when it came to the psychology of the game and specifically winning – which is why we all play the game!

8.) Was there ever a time in your career where you weren’t playing a lot or having success on the ice? How did you handle this and get back to playing at a high level? There were lots of times in my career where I didn’t play very much and it was difficult. For example, I was a healthy scratch in the National Championship game my freshman year at Middlebury. As excited as I was that we won, I promised myself I would work to improve so I couldn’t be scratched again. I rededicated myself and worked extremely hard over the summer to come back and play a bigger role. I was never a healthy scratch again in college and the next year when we won it, I played a leading role.

9.) What do you think is the most important factor that allowed you to be successful in the game of Hockey? I probably sound like all business with some of my answers above about working so hard and everything like that, but I think the most important factor that helped me be successful was that I was the guy who always had a lot of fun while working hard. I loved being out there in practice and competing in games. So I think again, it was my love of the game and being around my best friends everyday at the rink that was the most important.

10.) What drill would you like to pass on to Prodigy Hockey players to help develop their game? How does the drill work? I was a winger and until my pro career, never practiced picking the puck up off the half wall on the breakout as much as I should have. Whether you are a 100 point scorer or 4th liner, you need to be able to help your team breakout to win games. Basically all you have to do for the drill is have a defenseman wrap pucks behind the net along the wall to you for a few minutes after practice. Try to work on receiving the puck off the wall cleanly and getting your head up to make a play. Practice using your skates to receive the puck and using various body positions. Everyone does it a little differently but it is a really important part of the game.

 

We’d like to thank Scott Bartlett for taking the time to give some great insight into how he made it to pro hockey!

Comment below with any questions for Scott!