Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Linktree

In episode 334 of the Glass and Out Podcast we welcome Wacey Rabbit, Assistant Coach of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

Rabbit was recently inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame. A proud member of the Kainai First Nation, also known as the Blood Tribe, located in Southern Alberta, he has been intentional in providing kids from Indigenous communities inspiration by using the game of hockey to teach life skills that will empower them away from the rink.

After a playing career that saw him capture the 2006 Memorial Cup with the Giants and a pro career that spanned 14 seasons and multiple continents, Rabbit started his coaching journey as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs.

That would be followed by a move back to his former junior team, the Saskatoon Blades, for three years, and finally this season a return to the Vancouver Giants.

Listen as he shares how he's using his Indigenous roots and sobriety to inspire the next generation, leadership lessons from growing up in a rodeo family, and what it takes to develop grit in a player's game.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 TCS app
• 0:40 Memorial Cup with Giants
• 6:30 Becoming a pro Providence
• 11:15 Hockey teaches life lessons
• 14:55 Demanding minutes
• 17:25 Adding grit to a player's game
• 21:10 Using video to develop scanning
• 23:40 Age challenge in Junior Hockey
• 26:30 Influences as a young player
• 31:00 Overcoming finances and racism
• 36:35 Rodeo influence/working with horses
• 42:15 Inspiration as a leader
• 46:35 Hockey camp
• 50:20 Hockey impacting life/sobriety
• 54:20 Sharing your story/mental health
• 59:50 Early coaching lessons
• 1:02:35 Building a positive foundation for next year
• 1:08:40 Goals for for practice