A Coffee with Noah Welch, President of The Dome Red Deer

Join us for a coffee and chat with Noah Welch, President of The Dome Red Deer! This Boston native grew up with big dreams of playing in the NHL and Olympics (his backup plan? A professional meatball judge!).

Noah's journey began with high school hockey and a pivotal decision to attend Harvard University, where his team won two ECAC championships. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins while still in high school, he signed with them after graduating, beginning his pro career. He shares memories of getting an assist in his first NHL game and being a rookie alongside Sidney Crosby.

After two years with the Penguins organization, Noah's career took him through trades to Florida (where an injury sidelined him) and Tampa Bay. A move to Chicago proved serendipitous, as he met his future wife, a Red Deer native. Shortly after their wedding, a deal to play in Sweden reignited his love for hockey, leading to seven more years in Europe and a career highlight: playing in the 2018 Olympics before retiring.

In retirement, Noah debated his next move until a friend inspired an idea for a Dome. Driven by the philosophy of using "sport to positively impact kids' lives," he connected with Bo Jackson, who owns similar domes in the U.S. Today, Noah uses his vast professional sports experience to guide youth, with The Dome Red Deer embodying that very motto.

Get ready to hear Noah's incredible journey, from his childhood dreams in Boston and his academic success at Harvard, through the highs and lows of a professional hockey career that saw him play in the NHL and the Olympics. Discover how his love for the game, combined with a desire to give back, led him to establish The Dome Red Deer, a place where his vast knowledge and experience are now channeled into positively impacting the lives of young athletes through the power of sport. His story is a powerful testament to resilience, adapting to new opportunities, and finding purpose beyond professional play. 

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Transcript

0:12

Well, hello, everybody. It's Cam Milliken here, ABA Coffee In The Park podcast, and I am here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association. Hello, Jennifer. Hello, Cam, on this beautiful, sunny summer day. Can you believe this? The sun is shining, the sky is kind of blue, but hey, I'm looking out the window. It's a tad gray. Here in... We're coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right, condos for sale starting next week. Just kidding. I'm totally kidding about that. There's no condos because the last time we said that, somebody looked for them, where the condos were. They drove through and looked for the for sale sign on MLS. There were none. There's no condos in Acheson. Maybe someday. I know. But anyway, that's who we are and that's where we're coming from. So we are coming live from the coffee shop. So if you hear some noises in the background, a little busy today. Yeah. People talking, kids screaming. I don't see any kids. So I think we're okay with that. Coffee machines whirring, all that kind of stuff. It's because we're live from the coffee shop. Where we love to do this podcast from. Absolutely. In our normal spot right here. And Jennifer, tell us about some very important people. Well, Cam, we would like to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak Group of Companies, Genics, Parkland County, and Bow Valley Credit Union. That's right. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do. So thank you all very much for your support. I'm very excited about today. Cam, we have a fabulous guest today. I know. Do you want to get right into it? I sure do. Let's get right into it. Let's go for it. Okay. Our guest today is Noah Welch. And he is currently the president of, am I going to say this right Noah? Just The Dome? The Dome Red Deer. The Dome Red Deer. The Dome in Red Deer. So welcome, Noah. Yeah, good to have you, man. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. This is so exciting. When you hear this story, you're all going to be just like majorly excited. I know, right? I know what you're going to do. When you hear this story, you're all going to phone your local politician if you live in or near beautiful downtown Acheson and say, build a dome, but we'll get to that in just a minute. So take it away. So we're going to kick it off like we do all our guests. That's right. Noah, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where were you born and where did you grow up? Sounds good. Thanks for that intro. It kind of set me up to fail. I hope it's as interesting as you guys made it out to be. So yeah, I am from Boston, Massachusetts. I'm an American. Come on. Like the real live Boston. The real Boston. How many fake Bostons are there? Well, I don't know. I've been to Boston once. I was there once. I liked it. It was cool. Well, Bostonians are pretty proud to be from Boston. And then, if you live outside of Boston, guys that grew up inside of Boston will kind of call you out and say, hey, Worcester is not Boston, right? So I grew up in Boston, in a section of Boston called Brighton, and loved it. Kid that loves sports. I grew up kind of right in the middle of Boston College, BU and Harvard, you know, short train rides to Fenway. Oh, come on. Now I live in just East of Red Deer on an acreage. So we'll get to that. I'm a city slicker. That's like Boston to Red Deer. We'll get to that in just a minute. So we always ask. Yes. Where did you go? You obviously grew up in Boston. You went to school in... high school. Yeah. Boston. Boston. What high school did you go to? Cam always wants to know this. What was your high school mascot? Yes. What was your high school mascot? He has an obsession with high school mascots. So I graduated from St. Sebastian's High School in Meadham, Massachusetts, and we were the St. Sebastian Arrows. Arrows. I love that. I was an arrow. We've never had an arrow on. This is the first arrow. That's pretty cool. Well, okay. So St. Sebastian, I can't even say that properly, in Boston, and then from there where? From there, I went to Harvard, graduated. Harvard? Like the real Harvard? Well, not the fake. You're really shocked by like the real Boston, the real Harvard. He's like, Harvard, now he's boston, now he's Harvard, Boston? This is amazing. Continue. Sorry. Okay. Yeah, went there in 2001, graduated 2005, and then I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, my senior in high school, so then I signed with them after graduating from Harvard. Why are you looking at me like, I know he played for Pittsburgh. Well, no, I know, but it's something he said, because I want to talk a little bit about this, Noah. High school hockey in the US, especially in that part of the US is huge. It doesn't exist up here, high school hockey like it does down in the US. No, it's sad, actually. Yeah. Right? Yeah. So tell us a little bit about that. Obviously, you played, did you play from a young age hockey or did you grow into just loving the game? I mean, Boston is a very sports-oriented community. It is, yeah. Yes, very. Yeah. So I grew up with a bunch of neighbor kids. We played outside all day long, played all different sports. I was one of the few guys that actually played hockey in my crew. We played a lot of baseball, basketball, a bit of everything. But yeah, my older brother played high school hockey for Brighton High. Mascot Bangles. Bangles. He was a bangle. That's even better. But, and then yeah, just a young brother. I wanted to be like him. He wore number five. That's been my number forever. And so I played hockey, baseball growing up. And did you know then that, did you want to like be a professional athlete? Like I did. Yeah. At a really young age, I wanted to basically, I wanted to play the NHL and play in the Olympics. I think I was around eight. That was my big dream. I work with a lot of kids now and that's one of the first things I ask them. What's your dream? Yeah. What's your big goal? I have one, so I'm a huge advocate of that. If I didn't do that, I wanted to be like a professional meatball judge. Right. Just travel, no, I'm serious. Just travel the world and like judge meatballs. That's the first, a professional meatball. And I was a pretty chunky kid growing up. I love food, yeah. Still do. You were going to be the Dave Courtney of meatball instead of pizza and do meatball reviews. And how did that go? Was that, no? That one didn't take off, but the hockey thing. The hockey thing superseded that. Okay, that's too bad actually, because that could have been, it might have been a tad ahead of its time, but I have to say that would have been pretty cool. Meatball guy. So I do know a little bit about you because we've had the chance to spend some time together. Tell me, you grew up in Boston, your mom, single parent? Single mom, my parents got divorced when I was eight or nine. Right. And I think, you know, and so yeah, and obviously very supportive of what you were doing. Loved hockey, loved you playing hockey, loved you playing baseball. Yeah, knew nothing about hockey or baseball. Is that right? Yeah, yeah. But she was, she was great. She had three and a half jobs. Wow. Just did, did a great job as a single mom. She's a, she's a true mama bear. Yeah. Did the best she could. And, and, and, and I had a, a lot of coaches, you know, that's why I'm such a big advocate of sports, but I had a lot of men coaches, male coaches that kind of took me under their wing and my mom. Yeah. And families that really helped us out. And so, yeah, that's neat what I do now. And I'll probably get into that later. But this is such an opportunity for coaches to, to just impact kids. And some of my favorite coaches I've had didn't really teach me much about hockey at all. Yeah. Right. My first coach was a Boston Cop. Yeah. He did teach me a little bit about hockey, but it, you know, I've had way better, quote, hockey knowledgeable coaches since then, but he was, had a huge impact on my life. And so I could totally relate. I was raised by a single parent. My dad died when I was two. And I concur with you a hundred percent. A lot of the men who came into my life taught me, they were the ones who taught me some amazing things about life, not just like, you're right about sports or whatever, but about how to live life. And that was awesome. Yeah. How to shake a hand. Yeah. Exactly. How to tee up a golf ball. Important life school. That's right. That's right. Not to treat a woman like, you know, like to treat her right and all that kind of stuff. Hold the door, yeah. So that's really cool. So you went to Harvard. You played hockey at Harvard. I did. Played hockey at Harvard. We had a good team. We won two ECAC championships, which is a big deal. We went to the NCAA tournament all four years, which is a big deal. Yeah. It was a good run. And then I signed when I graduated. Right. So were you like scouted? They were looking for you. And Pittsburgh came along and said, we'll take you. Yeah. So I got drafted by Pittsburgh in high school. Really? In high school? Yeah. Because depends on your age. Yeah. Yeah. And recruited. Got letters from almost every D1 college, which was really cool experience. I wanted to stay local. I wanted to play in a tournament called The Beanpot. The Beanpot. I grew up watching The Beanpot. I didn't miss one as a kid. So that's kind of the mecca of tournaments for a Boston boy. And so really, my choices came down to BCBU, Harvard or Northeastern. There was a fifth one that I considered at the time. I'd be interested if you could guess what that one was. Think outside the box. But when I got a letter from the school, I was actually, it was an honor to get a letter from the school. Yeah, University of Alberta. No. I did not even know. Clare Drake. Clare Drake. One of the most amazing college coaches of all time. Yeah. OK. Just like, a lot of people say Harvard or Princeton, the two most prestigious schools in the world. I would disagree. I think there's one that's ahead of both of them. Oh. Oh. West Point. No. West Point. But you would have to join the military. So we talked. And at the time, West Point did not have the best hockey program. Right. I was a second round draft pick in the NHL. That was my dream. And I just, wherever I went to school, I wanted to keep developing. I wanted to play in the NHL, so I wouldn't have gone to Harvard if I didn't think I could. Right. We had great coaches that recruited me, but that's why ultimately I didn't go to West Point. It was because I didn't think I could develop the way I needed to as a hockey player. Yes. But it was just... what an honor to get that letter. Yeah. No kidding. But if you had gone to West Point, would you have had to spend time in the military after that? 100% Yup. For how long? Like four years or whatever? I believe. Yeah. I forget what the term was. I know Trump changed that you still have to serve, but if you have, say, like a professional career in sports, he would allow you to do that and then do your time after. Oh, go back. Oh, okay. But I think at the time, I don't think that was allowed. Right. I'd have to check on that. Yeah. Wow. So you go, you're playing for Pittsburgh. What's that like? Because how old were you? I was 22 when I graduated. 21? 22? So it was, yeah, it was in a way a dream come true. Signs, we didn't grow up with money, and so to sign and to get a signing bonus, it was just like, whoa. And then to play pro hockey was really cool. I started in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which is their farm team, the Baby Pens. Awesome, awesome American League organization. Fans are incredible, almost sold out every night. I had some veteran guys on the team that really taught me how to be a pro. Something that's missing in the American League right now, there's a veteran rule, and so it's just a younger and younger league. I was so grateful that it wasn't that way when I was there, because those are the guys that teach you how to be a pro. Right. And yeah, it was great. I got what we call the call. Late in the season, and that's when your agent calls you and tells you you're getting called up. How was that? That must have been just amazing. Yeah. This is what you dreamed of. This is it right here. It was. This might be where the story takes a turn a bit, but it is a part of my story. But so I got the call. I was freaking out. My agent at the time was Bobby Orr. Like Bobby Orr? Like the Bobby Orr? Bobby. Great guy. Yeah. Yeah. And then another guy from Boston, Paul Kripelka, who now works for the Panthers. So right. And I love those guys. They were my family advisors when I was in high school, helped me and my mom out, and then they became my agents when I had signed. Right. And they were like, you're playing against the Islanders tomorrow night. Pack up, go. You're probably going to finish the season with the Penguins. They only had five games left. Right. And they were out of the playoffs. So it was cool that the management, you know, I was a prospect. They wanted me to get my... Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, I played my first NHL game, got an assist. We won. But I do remember sitting in the parking lot after I was sitting in my CL 600 Mercedes. It was a lemon, by the way. I bought a used, it was terrible. Yeah. If any of my buddies, listen to this from Boston, they'll be laughing because this thing was an absolute lemon. But it was a Mercedes. It was a Benz. It was a spaceship, V12 is no joke. But I remember sitting there and it was a life-changing moment. As cool as it was to play my first NHL game, I do remember thinking to myself in the parking lot, oh crap, because, and I didn't understand it at the time, but my whole, like I said, I was seven, eight, nine, right around that age, I wanted to play in the NHL. I literally, that's what I wanted to do. That was my dream. It was your dream. And then I got there and it really was cool. Don't get me wrong. It's really cool. But there was something still missing. And I tell that story a lot. And now I'm 42 years old. I turned 43 next month, which is wild, by the way. Time flies. What was missing for me was the faith aspect. I'm a Christian man. And I can truly say that. I checked off a lot of worldly boxes. Harvard degree, fame, so to speak, you know, kind of the rags to riches story. And there was still something missing. And to me, I know what that is. And that's where my faith. But so yeah, it was a cool playing for the Penguins. Unbelievable. Sidney Crosby and I were rookies the same year. Mario Lemieux was the owner at the time. In fact, my first two-on-one as a pro was Lemieux and Crosby coming down on me, which was really scary. This is just too much. I mean, you know, obviously I'm a hockey fan. Obviously, we talk about it on the podcast. We're hockey fans. This is incredible. It's just like amazing. This is incredible. Cool story. So you played for Pittsburgh for how long? So I played in the Pittsburgh organization. So the first year I played in Wilkes-Barre and then I got called up for five games. Okay. Second year, I was up and down. I think there was five or six transactions. Right. So I played, I don't know, 20-something games, up and down, sometimes. Yeah. And then I was traded at the deadline straight up for Gary Roberts. Oh, okay. They were making a run. I was a young prospect. He was an established veteran. They were making a playoff run. And so it was a big trade. Kind of sad in a way, because the team that drafts you is a special team. Yeah, obviously. And obviously with Sid being there and Malkin and Flurry and Ryan Whitney, who I grew up with, they just had a really good young core guys. And so I was a bit sad, but Florida really liked me, really wanted me. Right. Ended up signing me to a two year one way contract. Okay. In hockey terms, you know, essentially it's like you've kind of made it. A team's not going to sell me to NHL. You're not going anywhere. Yeah, that's right. So that was a big deal. I think I had only played 20 games or so and got a two year one way. Right. So I went to Florida, had a great training camp. The GM was Jacques Martin at the time. He was also the head coach. Jacques Martin, yes. He really liked me. They were looking for leadership. I had always been captains in high school, college and just always kind of been a leader. And so they like that. And yeah, in the fifth game of my first season with Florida, we're in Montreal. When you grew up in Boston, it's like in the curriculum that you hate the Canadiens. Of course, it's the huge rivalry. Well, yeah, the New York Yankees. Those were the two teams that we... Yeah, exactly. Boston, yeah, the major rivalry. You learn about the Pilgrims, the Mayflower. And then you're taught to hate. And your hatred for... Exactly. Yeah, so we're playing against the Canadiens. You know, it's actually, it's not that much different here in Edmonton. It's like, I'm just saying, it's not that much different. So yeah. Except for the Pilgrim and the Mayflower. But yeah, fifth game of the season. We're in Montreal. Best rink to play in, I think, in my opinion. The Canadiens fans are, they get the game of hockey and it's awesome. And yeah, one guy in the team ran over our captain. And back in the day, if your captain got run over, someone's got to answer the bell. I wasn't a fighter, it's not my job, but anyways, I wanted to, you know, earn my spot on the team. So I challenged the guy to fight, center ice, buckets off, heart was pounding. Wasn't much of a fight, you can YouTube it, but it's either on the way down or something happened, my shoulder, I dislocated my shoulder, tore my labrum and was out for the season. That's it, whole season. That's it, biggest opportunity of my hockey career. And it was just... So tell us about that. Like what, I mean, you're done. They tell you you're done. I actually, the reason I ask, because I was just watching a show the other night when they had to tell a well-known football player he had hurt his ankle or tore his Achilles and he was done. And the emotion he went through, you're done for the season. What was the emotion there? What was the, you're done. Yeah, we tried to, you know, we were going back and forth on surgery or rehabbing it. And then ultimately it was like, you know, you need surgery. Let's just get this done so that you can be healthy for next year. That was tough. I still had another year in my contract. But yeah, at that time hockey was, I mean, it was pretty much my god. Yeah, everything was your life. It was your life, your entire life, yeah. That was tough. Again, looking back, it was actually a huge blessing because, you know, again, as a man of faith, like hockey's a great game, but anything that comes before God's an idol, right? And it's always gonna let you down. Helps you put things into perspective. And so if hockey's gonna be your God, well, it's gonna let you down. It's not gonna fulfill you. Hockey's, being a pro hockey player is one of the coolest jobs ever. But that's the right perspective on it, right? And it can't be, you know, your 100% identity because if you have a bad game or you go through a cold streak or whatever it is, right? You get traded, you're gonna beat you up and down. And that's how I actually lived for a long time. So hard, very hard at the time. It was actually that year where I ended up coming to faith. And so looking back, huge blessing, not how I would have written that script, but thankful for it. Life writes the script for us. So yeah. Okay, so Florida, then what happened? Then traded to Tampa the following year. Tampa Bay? Yep. Lightning. My second year with Florida, we had a new coach, Pete DeBoer came in, Jacques Martin, stepped back from head coach and he was the GM. I had a hard time with Pete DeBoer, just getting in the line up. I was healthy scratched and he was a great coach, obviously still coaching today, but for whatever reason, I just had a hard time. So I mean, if we had time, there's a, that's a story. I mean, people don't, I don't think realize even professional athletes, it's, you got to, there's got to be synergies there. And if there's not sometimes it's really difficult. Like it's really tough. And people don't realize that. That'd be a great podcast right there to talk about some of those things. But okay, so didn't work out there or didn't. So get traded and by the time I got traded, I was kind of like a beaten dog to be honest. I wish I was a little mentally tougher at the time looking back. But so I go to Tampa Bay, Rick Tuckett's head coach. Sully's the assistant coach from Boston. Yeah. I mean, great combo, right? I went from being like total time on ice that season, six minutes, I was, I didn't play much. Yeah. My first game, Sully, I think I had 26 minutes. I almost had a heart attack. I literally couldn't breathe. Six minutes to 26 minutes. I love it. He was like "We're going to see what you got" right? Yeah. That's right. And so that was cool, but I did not take advantage. I looked back, that was on me. I had a 22 game, basically tryout for the entire league. But I just brought that baggage in from Florida. I had some injuries, the shoulder. Other things in and out of the line up. And instead of just being like, you know what, here's a great opportunity. Right. Yeah, it was tough. I couldn't wait for the season to be over, to be honest. Right. So that's... Did you feel your career was over or you still wanted to play? I wanted to play. I was too prideful. I assumed that the one way contract would keep coming, right? But it's the best league in the world and there's always players coming up. That's it, right? So that was a... Yeah. I didn't take advantage of that. I went back to a two-way deal. I signed with the Atlanta Thrashers. Rick Dudley had been watching me for a long time. Awesome GM, called me. And it wasn't until I was around 25, 26 as a D-man. Finally, Rick Dudley told me, he asked me one time, he says, Welch, what do you think scouts are looking for when they come to watch you play? And I was like, you know, like good first pass, big hits, you know, scoring goals, killing penalties, and just name, he's like, no. And I'm like, what do you mean no? He was like if you did that, you'd win the Norris Trophy. Yeah, for sure. That's not you. And I'm like, okay, that's fair. But the funny thing is I did that in the American League. I was an All-Star in the American League. So I always tell people and younger athletes now, like know your identity as a player. First know your identity as a human. But then from a specific standpoint, know your identity as a player and be great at that. I had an identity crisis as a player in high school, college and even in the American League, I played all different. I was power play, penalty kill and I was just out there. I was the dude. At the NHL level, I wasn't good enough to play that way. Now, I mean, you haven't been out for a long time, but do you think that's changing a little bit within, say, the NHL or professional athletes? When you talk about, know your identity, do you think, are they working or is that? I feel like every kid now wants to be like Cale. Makar. Yeah, that's right. No one wants to be Rob Scuderi. I don't think kids even know who Rob Scuderi is. No, no, no, yeah. He's won three Stanley Cups and played, I don't know, over probably 2,000 NHL games, I think, or over 1,000. One of the top. Stay at home D man, killed penalties and he had a great career. And so it's like, I'll tell my son, be a Rob Scuderi. Yeah, that's, yeah, right. Like, so yeah, that's just a bit, went there, signed a two way. That's when I wanted to quit because I had a few concussions. I had elbow surgery or knee surgery, I forget which one I had. And I couldn't pass my physical in Atlanta. And I was ready to just be like, you know what, I'm done. Yeah. I had just come to faith. I don't know why people that become Christians think they need to like move to Africa and be a missionary, but I'm like, I'm done with hockey, I'm going to Africa. Thankfully, I had someone in my life that's like, hey Noah, the last thing Africa needs is you. That's right. You don't know anything. There's not a lot of ice in Africa. I just tell, I've been to Africa, there's not a lot of ice there. Although we took lacrosse, we took lacrosse sticks with us, they loved that. Yeah, and soccer. Yeah, and soccer. But yeah, and they picked up on lacrosse really fast. We're not running any hockey. But the funny thing is, can I just say, because in Africa, this is kind of funny actually, because people like to send their used clothing to charities that send clothing to Africa, and there'd be kids, I'm not lying, there'd be kids walking around in Africa wearing like Boston t-shirt. And you're looking at the kid, do you know what that is? No, no idea. Anyway, that was kind of funny. St. Sebastian Arrows. You know how you always wonder how like after the Super Bowl game, they have the t-shirts of the winning team already. It's because they print up thousands of t-shirts for both teams in case one wins. Well, you go to Africa and you see kids walking around wearing Super Bowl winner t-shirts of teams that never won the Super Bowl. That's right. That's where all the leftovers went. Anyway, we digress, but nonetheless. Yeah. So I did it and I had, you know, it was my uncle at the time was like, no, you're not going there. You signed a contract, honour your contract. Yeah. Thankfully said that because I did get sent down to Chicago and that's where I met my wife. So I met my wife literally a month later. So again, there was a plan, right? Yeah. I was like, I'm done. It would have been quitting. It wouldn't have been retiring. I would have been quitting. I'm glad I didn't because I met my wife and that's how I got to Red Deer. Okay. Your wife was from Red Deer? Yes. But she was in? Chicago. Chicago. Yeah. Visiting her brother, Paul Postma. He played a while in the NHL, Bruins, Winnipeg Jets. And so Paul and I were teammates. Yeah. And then he introduced me to his sister. Had you ever been to Red Deer? I never heard. So I did. I was going to say. I'm sure he's probably never even heard of Red Deer. I never even heard about it, but I actually. I heard about it without knowing I heard about it because Red Deer Randy Moller. Yeah. Was the radio guy in Florida. Yes. But I just thought he was like a hunter. I had no idea. I didn't know that was named after where he was from. I mean, obviously you'd been to Canada. Well, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, the major cities, right? Yeah. So, did you think, so did your wife say, I want to live in Red Deer, and you were just saying, yeah, I'll go live there, or how did that work? Yeah. Like, I'm going to let you guys in on a big secret that might amaze you. Americans are pretty ignorant on Canada. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. No, listen. I don't know if you guys realize that. No, I lived in California for three years, and when they asked me how big was your igloo, it was like, pardon me. Seriously. Listen, I know we have American listeners. I know, we do, and we love you. I am American, I am American. And my birthday is on July 4th. I'm just saying, it really is. But you're right, they have no idea. It is wild. So I was pretty ignorant, and now I just shake my head when my buddies and my family are talking to me, and I'm just like, you guys. You were probably worried you had to buy a skidoo to drive and get the family around. We literally, in our curriculum, we don't learn about Canada. Canada is above us. But we learn everything about you. We know all about you. Oh, don't we, though? I know we do. I know. We know more about you than we know about ourselves. Yeah. So anyway, yeah. So we were still playing hockey. We got married. I met my wife that night. I called my buddy, Brendan Byrne, Bunzo, is what we call him. I'm like, Bunzo, I just met my wife. Yeah. And we were engaged six months later. And then, yeah, the rest is history. But right after we got married, we went to Sweden. So I was kind of just not enjoying hockey. Yeah. I had a Harvard degree. I had a bunch of buddies that were working in Wall Street that were like, dude, come on, what are you doing? Right? Like if you're not enjoying this. Don't do it. And so I had, so I was like, you know what? I told my wife, I'm like, I'm gonna sign a one year deal in Sweden. Let's just go see how it is. And I just want to go play. Like just go play. It was awesome. Yeah. What a great opportunity. I felt like I was in a way, even though it's pro hockey there and Swedish hockey league is probably the third best league in the world. It's right behind NHL and Russia. Oh, some amazing players. Absolutely. Yeah. It felt like I was back in college, right? When you sign on a team there, you're there, right? And it just, I loved it. So I ended up signing six more after that year. So I played 13 years pro and actually seven of them were in Sweden. Okay, I have a question. You were in Sweden. Did you go to the original Ikea? Do you know what? I'm allergic to Ikea. What? I break out in hives. When I drive by Ikea in Calgary, I literally- You begin to shake or what? I cannot stand. My wife loves Ikea. Yeah. This is, yeah. I just thought you're in Sweden. That's where it started. We did go to Ikea in Sweden. Yeah. The original Ikea was Sweden. Okay. All right. I can't believe this. We're running out of time. So you played in Sweden. What brought you back to Red Deer? I retired. I played in the Olympics 2018, that's right. And then retired. 2018? Because you didn't, South Korea, did you guys? Don't ask. No, I know. Yeah, can't talk about it. Moving on. We won't say anything about Canada. Anyway, yeah. Okay. Yeah. And then, I had this idea in 2016 about a dome. Yeah. Tell us about the dome. What is a dome? For people listening, what do you mean when you say a dome? Domes are probably driven by one, especially if you live in Edmonton. The largest dome in North America is in Edmonton. It's a Scottish dome. That's right. Soccer dome. So it's a bit it's a big white bubbles. Yeah. See, right. And basically, a dome is an air supported structure. So when you walk into it, it's wide open. There's no support beams in there. So air, it's like you're essentially in a big balloon. Right. So we were looking at life after hockey and we were looking at buying a gym in town that all the pro guys trained at. Decided to pass on that. But a soccer buddy of mine at the time was like, man, we need indoor turf. Yeah. And I was like, I knew I wanted to stick around sports. And that's kind of, you know, he mentioned that. And then I did some research on domes. And then I got linked up to Bo Jackson and his crew. Bo has four domes in the US. The Bo Jackson. The Bo. Baseball, football, Bo Jackson. Greatest athlete of all time. Bo knows domes. He was amazing. Yeah. Okay. So I got linked up to his partner, who's a really good friend of mine. He was a founding board member of The Dome Red Deer. His name is Jim Thompson. Awesome, awesome guy. He's been a mentor to me in many different ways. And then I got linked up with Bo through him. Right. And their business model is similar to what we do in Red Deer. And it's essentially what we do is we use sport to positively impact kids' lives. And that's kind of my rally cry, to be honest. I love it. As a former pro athlete. Yeah. You know, as I said earlier in the meeting today, I'm 42. I turned 43 next month. And to use golf terms, you know, statistically speaking, I'm at the turn right now, about to enter onto the back nine of my life. And you kind of, you know, it's like, The best nine. What am I going to do? Back nine's the best nine. Where do you want me, Lord? What do you know? And so for me, it's like, all right, let's invest in young adults. Yes. And in kids. If you want to impact the world, you change the youth, you change the world. Yeah. So get them off their iPads, get them out of their phones. 100%. Get them, get them playing. I do need to ask Noah this question because of who he is and what he does. Because again, I live in the sports world too with my son and I see... a lot. And you, I'm sure, see a lot. What's your best advice? Like, what are parents, what are people doing wrong in today's sports world? Like, I just feel it's become this whole... Yeah, parents focus on the trophies and not the character of... the character that's being produced in their child. So I actually do mindset, you know, I work with kids on just their mindset at the dome. But we also have a mindset class for parents. And I tell parents, I go, we all know time flies. We can't slow it down. Yeah, we know that. So these are going to be some of the best years, you watching your kids play sports, right? They're going to be out of the house tomorrow, right? And if you focus on Johnny becoming an NHL player, and Johnny doing this, A, you're not going to enjoy this process. What percentage of kids actually make it? Less than 1%, right? I think it's 0.01. Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, if that's your focus, A, you're not going to enjoy it, B, it's going to be miserable for your son. And C, you're missing the point. What's more important to you? And I say this, his trophy case when it's all said and done, or if he's a man of integrity, the husband or the father, he's going to become, right? And that's when it hits them right between. And I have to say that to myself, too. I get a boy and three girls, my son just like his dad loves sports, he's got big dreams just like his dad did, but I'm watching sport and the failures that come with it, which that's the other thing. Parents do everything they can to avoid their children from failing. I look like a, I don't know, people might think I'm whacked out, but like when my son got cut from a hockey team two years ago, it was the best thing that's happened to him in sports. I agree with you 100%. He got cut, he set a goal, I'm going to make this team next year, we went after it. This whole theory that everybody wins all the time, it's horrible. It doesn't build character. And you're right, losing is hard, getting cut is hard, it's hard, failing is hard. But it teaches you life lessons. Cause that's life. That's it, wow. That's amazing. Okay, we're almost done. I know, we're going to have to do part two. We'll have to do part two. We will do part two. We'll have that opportunity. The Wall, I love this place, I'm coming here. Okay, last question we ask all of our guests. Noah, what's the best piece of advice you have been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? I know the professionally one, which is hilarious. One of our shareholders at The Dome was a successful business man, started out with two trucks in his company and built it. He looked at me and he goes, I'm going to give you some advice. He goes, it doesn't matter what the business is. He goes, it's never the business, it's always the people. It's never the job, it's always the people. Basically, what he meant by that is that's what's going to probably drive you nuts, is the people. But that's also what's most important about business. Exactly. Good word, good word. What was the other? The personally or professionally. Yeah, personally. Yeah, this wasn't really advice, but there were two different men in my life that said this at two different points in my life, and it hit me right between the eyes, and I'm so thankful they did it. This is another problem, I think, with the world, is that we just want to make people feel good, and sometimes we steer away from what truth is and how to share that. And I had two different guys sit down with me, and they both looked at me and said, hey Noah, you're not as good as you think you are. And it felt like they kicked me right in the stomach. I was full of pride, full of, and oh, did that ever hurt? But was that ever loving for them? And there's a lot more attached to that, but so that's the first thing that came to my mind. I'm so thankful they did it. It didn't feel good at the time, but then did that help? I learned very early on, same sort of thing. No matter how good you are, you're always replaceable, always. And when you think you're really great at something you did and you leave and you think nobody will ever be able to replace me, somebody comes along. And that's okay, because it just makes you want to be better at the next thing you go to, so it's awesome. This has been great. We will need to do a part two. Somehow I have a feeling that opportunity will come up. Can I just say, Noah, it has been an honour, a pleasure, and I think, I want to call you a friend, because I think we're going down that road, and I appreciate it very much. And it's been amazing. Amazing. Absolutely. But before we leave, Noah, tell us where The Dome is in Red Deer. Yeah, tell us where it is. The Dome, if you drive through Red Deer, if you're on your way to Calgary, please stop in, but The Dome is right across from basically Costco and Gasoline Alley. You can't miss it. It's a big white bubble. Close to Pete's? Right across from Pete's. Yeah. Close to the Donut Mill The Donut Mill. Right across from the Donut Mill. Okay. That's even better. Grab a dozen donuts and head over to The Dome, the sports dome and do a little working out or whatever. www.thedomereddeer.com. thedomereddeer.com. Perfect. Here's the thing, folks. One of these days, and I believe this very soon, there's going to be lots of wwws, this is the dome dot and you insert your city, your town, wherever, because that's what's going to happen. Just saying that right here. Thank you, Noah. That's the goal. It's been amazing. You're awesome. And hey folks, listen, you heard it here. Hey, tell everybody about the podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell the people you work with. If you don't have any friends, make a friend to tell them about the podcast. Tell your enemies or go to www.achesonbusiness.com. Right on everybody, thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.