Monday Morning Podcast Rick Middleton | Thursday Afternoon Monday Morning Podcast 3-5-26
6 snips
Mar 5, 2026 
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Get Ice Time To Translate Skill Into Goals
- Increase ice time to increase scoring output; performance and opportunity matter more than raw talent.
- Middleton notes third-line/penalty-killing roles limit minutes, so getting trust and moves up the lineup produced higher goal totals.
Hat Trick Debut Then Earned Trust
- Middleton described arriving in Boston and immediately scoring a hat trick when paired with Jean Ratelle and Johnny Bucyk under Don Cherry.
- Don Cherry then limited his deployment while developing trust, illustrating gradual coach trust-building.
Concussions Were Ignored Then
- Middleton recalled being hit with a stick butt by Claude Lemieux (or similar incident) and not remembering much, yet returning to play and score that night.
- He highlights absence of concussion protocol then: he came back and played two periods and scored despite not remembering the event.