Ron Berteling on Building Dutch Hockey, Lake Placid ‘80, and Coaching Kids the Right Way 🇳🇱
In this episode, Brock sits down with Dutch hockey legend Ron Berteling—longtime Netherlands captain, 1980 Olympian (Lake Placid), coach, mentor, and champion for youth development. Ron shares how he fell in love with hockey in 1964, what the sport looked like in the Netherlands through the 70s/80s, unforgettable A-pool stories (Guy Lafleur, Team USA, the “Miracle on Ice” era), and why simple habits, discipline, and fun will always beat flashy skills on social media.
You’ll hear practical coaching wisdom for mixed-level teams, how to grow a club the right way, why kids should “dream big but do the boring work,” and the magic of crisp outdoor sessions that keep us all in love with the game.
#AskAProPodcast #RonBerteling #DutchHockey #LakePlacid1980 #YouthHockey #HockeyCoaching
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Chapters
00:00 – Intro: Why Ron Berteling matters
00:18 – Hellos & how this convo finally happened
01:00 – Ron’s first skate (1964) & three-team Dutch landscape
03:00 – Idols then vs. now: Cruyff, Howe, and learning from books
05:00 – Coaching kids into good people (not just good players)
06:30 – Climbing from C-pool to A-pool & qualifying for Lake Placid
08:40 – Canary Islands Worlds, youth team, and loving the grind
10:05 – A-pool memories: Canada, Lafleur, and media attention in NL
12:30 – Why hockey boomed—and what we didn’t build for the future
14:10 – NL vs. Canada training challenge: big skill gaps, one sheet
16:20 – Practice design for mixed levels: push the top, include the rest
18:00 – Ice-time scarcity, tournaments, and maximizing puck touches
20:10 – Coaching philosophy: standards, roles, and “reach your level”
22:50 – Stats for kids? Why development > leaderboard
24:20 – Keep games close: what 16–2 scores teach (nothing)
26:30 – Club-hopping, systems, and teaching real game discipline
29:00 – Simple hockey: exits, entries, no blind passes, be the high guy
31:40 – Lake Placid: mindset, Red Army hours, and Herb Brooks’ ask
34:00 – Why USA beat the USSR (work rate, panic, and moments)
36:10 – Format reminder: US still had to beat Finland for gold
37:10 – Career highlights: 200+ caps, captaining NL, line with his son
39:20 – Motivation & longevity: friends, fun, and showing the standard
40:40 – Sticks & shots: from wood to Bedard, Ovi’s “old-school” snipe
43:10 – Social media skills vs. game sense—and coaching fixes
46:30 – Advice for 12–14s: be coachable, disciplined, team-first
49:10 – Going abroad (DE/AT/SE): pros, cons, and what actually helps
53:00 – Boring is good: sacrifice, offseason work, and no excuses
57:00 – Gratitude talk: parents, fees, and doing your best
59:10 – Outdoor rink magic: why crisp nights keep us in love with hockey
1:02:00 – Language, culture, and making the rink feel like home
1:04:30 – Wrap-up & what’s next