ECHL: Atlanta Gladiators: A Talk with Atlanta Gladiators’ Goalie Josh Boyko and Forward Spencer Kennedy

Goalie Josh Boyko and Forward Spencer Kennedy recently became integral members of the Atlanta Gladiators. I took some time to meet with them both to talk about their backgrounds as professional hockey players, to gain some valuable insights into their journey, the significance of joining the Gladiators’ team, and what the experience has been like for them. The questions focused on fostering a connection between the fans and their team, with feedback from their fanbase, and addressing some of those fan-submitted questions.

Zehner: One of the fans wanted to know what is the bus like. What kinds of things do you guys do to pass the time?

Boyko: I think that every bus, especially on road trips, has different sections. The front of the bus is your typical “sleepers”. Keep it pretty quiet. Kind of keep it as, as dark as possible. Guys put their headphones on and whatnot. In the middle, you have your sports watchers; NBA, NHL, etc. And then at the very back, there’s a lot of cards. Like, Snarps is a big thing. It’s typically a pretty quiet bus and everyone’s got their headphones on. It’s a pretty happy bus. Like you got a decent amount of guys playing snarfs, or just a bunch of guys either talking and hanging out or sleeping.

Zehner: Are you in the back of the bus?

Boyko: No, I’m kind of asleep. Sleep or kind of chill, depending on what’s kind of going on. Sometimes I like to play cards as well but it kind of varies depending on the mood.

Zehner: Do you have any pre-game routines? Rituals?

Boyko: I like to play sewer with a lot of the guys., I’ll tape my stick and then probably stretch for 20 minutes or so. And then we typically have team meetings. Once the team meeting’s done I’ll go play sewer for like probably 20-25 minutes. By the time Sewer’s done, I’ll go back and do a dynamic warm-up, and then it’s time to get ready for the game. I have to focus on that, and I try to keep things really light. I’m not someone that needs to be focused all the time. I don’t need to have my headphones in and only focus on that.

I find that if I do that I kind of get over-focused, and I don’t enjoy it, and I am so focused on specific, little things that it doesn’t work for me.

Zehner: Kind of like if you get hyper-focused on it, then you’ve got it all up in your headspace.

Boyko: Exactly. 100%. So, try to keep it as light as possible. Then, going out for warm-ups, that’s when, like, really everything totally is dialed in and it’s “go time”.

Zehner: What is your in-the-net ritual or routine?

Boyko: I would say in between whistles skating to whatever side I didn’t skate to that previous whistle, just to kind of relax, refocus, and just kind of, okay, that minutes or that segments gone now can only like focus on the next one. Then, always after I have a sip of water, I go back bar crossbar, go to the post, and skate to the corner. I don’t know. It just kind of started one day. It’s just, just like a, oh yeah, okay, this is, and I, yeah, and I just know that I do how to do that, and then I tap the right goal post, left goal post if the draw’s on my right side, and then if it’s on my left side, it’s left goal post, right goal post, set.

Zehner: Spencer, I know you talked during the recent team podcast that it’s not so much winning the fight, it’s more disrupting the opponent’s game and getting the team going. I know Liam always asks you this question, so I’m beating him to the punch but do you have anybody in mind for tonight?

Kennedy: Like I said in the podcast, kind of just being the sheriff out there. If anyone’s a willing combatant, then I go from there. I don’t like to premeditate. Putting someone on the spot. This is the guy or that is the guy.

Zehner: One of the fans had asked what were your thoughts on Daniel “Diamond Hands” Amesbury?

Kennedy: I love it for the game. It’s growing fighting in the game. It’s bringing it back. So yeah, anyone who’s willing to do it, show up, drop the gloves. I respect them a lot for it. Hopefully, we can get more of it back in the game.

Zehner: One fan asked this – When did you start playing? Did you ever play with girls on your teams?

Kennedy: Three years old. Typical Canadian.

Zehner: What was that like with that dynamic on the team with having both boys and girls?

Boyko: They were good enough to make the team and they deserve to be there. And she was so she was one of our better forwards, like one of the guys, just treated her like a teammate, like a brother, you know, she’s not a brother, but yeah, treat her like that.

Zehner: Unfortunately, some kids don’t always have the best experience when they’re in that kind of situation where you’re a girl on a team playing with boys. Some end up getting treated a little bit differently, or maybe not acknowledged the way that they should be. Have you guys ever seen that?

Boyko: Thankfully, I’ve never been a part of it. Which is good. I mean, you definitely hear about things like that, which is like super sad and it shouldn’t be that way. Like, there’s a reason why they’re there.

Zehner: What would you say to anybody that’s in that situation that may be facing that while playing on a team?

Boyko: There’s no reason to go out of your way to do something that’s inappropriate or to be a [jerk]. There’s no reason for it. They’re good enough. Treat them with respect. Treat them like how you would want to be treated because karma does come back around. And you don’t want to place that upon anybody else, or anyone else in your family, so treat others how you want to be treated.

Zehner: That’s probably the best answer I could ever ask for.

Zehner: What would you do if you saw a teammate struggling to learn something that you guys needed to do on the ice, like whether it be a play or a move?

Boyko: Just communicate and tell him, lead them in the right direction. I was talking to a kid the other day about that, because he’s a goalie as well, and said “If one of my players messes up, should I address it on the ice? Or should I wait?”. I said absolutely wait. Just going back on that play and saying you could have possibly done this, or “What were you thinking on this one?”

Just so that it shows that you care but at the same time too you want better for them and for the team. It’s never you attacking them, but pulling them aside and getting where their thought process was at and trying to figure out what can be better for them as well as the team.

Zehner: Being that you guys are both relatively new to the Gladiators, how has it been developing that team mindset?

Boyko: I think it’s been good. I mean, my position is gonna be a lot different than his. So, I mean, guys will kind of let goalies do what they need to do just because obviously we’re in a sense on an island and if we mess up, it’s in the back of the net most of the time. They’ve been really good about talking with me when I am playing the puck or if they see something and vice versa. If I need something, I’m not yelling at them, but definitely vocal and just saying hey look out for this or this is happening, be aware. Communication has been good on both sides and the same from the top down. Coaches have been open and honest and have been doing whatever they can to help, whether it’s video or just pulling one of us to the side and letting us know what’s going on or what they see. So, it’s been really good in terms of communication.

Kennedy: Yeah I’d say the older guys have helped me out a lot and then as well, as what Boyko just said, the coaches are really good here. They’re players’ coaches for sure and I love that for me. I’ve adapted well to it.

Zehner: Wednesday morning was Education Day for the team, what was that like for you all being in the arena, and having lots of kids yelling really, really loud for you?

Kennedy: Ours wasn’t that bad actually. The one in South Carolina was a lot worse.

Boyko: Yeah, just because, I don’t know, it just echoed really, really well in there. Also, at the same time, too, they love to put a game of it on, boys, let’s see who can scream louder, or girls, let’s see who can scream louder. It always makes the game a little more fun though. Games like tonight, where it should be sold out or very close to it.

Zehner: I looked at the tickets last night, and there was maybe a handful upstairs that were left. It’s gonna be awesome. I’m kind of excited for you guys.

Boyko: It’s gonna be a lot of fun to be down on the ice and be a part of it, that’s for sure.

Zehner: I know you both joined the team later in the season but I noticed that with where we are in the season now, I think those first eight games kind of put us in a pinch because we had such a great first run. You almost have two groups of fans now, the “we’re still in it and we’re gonna rock it out no matter what” group. Then you have these fans that are like, “Yeah, this is it. They’re done. That’s it. Who cares?” What, if anything, would you say to those types of fans?

Boyko: I mean, I think that it’s not just at this level. I think if you look even at the NHL. Look at Ottawa for example, like, they were a team that was supposed to be really good and they have players that can make the season really good. At the same time, things happen, you gotta stick with it. It sucks, and we’re no happier than they are. Trust us. We’re a lot more pissed off than they are, especially losing. But at the same time too, we’re not going to quit on each other.

We’re going to give it everything we have until the season is over but just know that it’s a process. It’s not like an overnight fix that, you’re not going to bring one guy in and everything’s going to change.

Zehner: Right. You can’t wave a wand and everything’s going to be perfect again.

Boyko: Yeah, so just hang in on it. Things will get better.

Kennedy: Just a shout-out to the fans who are still supporting us. It goes a long way and doesn’t go unnoticed for sure.