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Goldman: What are one or two of the really important emotional or mental lessons that you’ve learned in life as a pro goalie? Bachman: “I think the one thing I’ve learned about being a pro is the importance of making sure you show up every day to compete. I’ve learned to really get a grasp of how lucky I am to be playing a sport for a living, to be having fun every day. I have learned to take advantage of it, because it may not last very long, and so I’ve learned to enjoy it while it’s here and have fun with it every day. Another thing I’ve learned is from my parents. They never put so much pressure on me to be good or to make it in hockey, they just wanted me to have fun and enjoy it. I think that was huge because if I had that external pressure to be so good all the time, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it and wanted to continue to play for as long as I have. So I think that was a really important lesson. The final thing I’d say I’ve learned as a pro is that you have to enjoy life. You can’t get so caught up in playing that you don’t enjoy family time. Say I have a bad game, I’m not going to come home and take it out on my wife. I’ll leave it at the rink and know I have work to do when I come back tomorrow. But for that time I step away from the rink, it’s family and friend time, and enjoying a life outside of hockey as well. Especially in college, I got so caught up in doing so many different little things that it was almost taking over most of my life, where I was always constantly thinking about it, and trying to remember to do all these things. Now I’ve learned over the years that you don’t have to do every little thing. I think it’s important to have aspects of your game and things you do there, but away from the rink, it’s important to have a life outside of hockey to enjoy.” Goldman: That’s one of the things I hear from a lot of different NHL goalies; guys that are a little older, they stress the importance of family life. Can you discuss that a little more? Balance is one of the main themes of our book. Bachman: “Yeah, for sure. I was talking to my wife the other day, and we were talking about different stuff, and how I am after games and stuff. One thing she said is that after I have a bad game, I’ll call her on the phone and we’ll talk about it briefly, for maybe three or four minutes. That gives me someone outside of the rink to use as an outlet to vent for a couple of minutes, and then I just get rid of it and I end that part of the conversation with her. Then we can go back and talk about other things and enjoy time together and do what we do without having anything held in. I think it’s important to have that support to vent on and know I have someone to be there for me. That definitely helps me achieve the peace and balance in my mind.” Goldman: Every goalie prepares differently for games. How do you mentally prepare for an NHL game? Bachman: “Preparing for games was something I started when I was a midget, so 15 or 16 years. That’s when I started to realize how important mental preparation is for playing the position. Like you said, everyone does it differently, so I think it’s important to have something to fall back onto. For me, I do a little bit of visualizing the night before a game. Then everything else I wait until prior to the game. I’ll do a little more visualizing, then some tennis ball routines just to get my focus and my hand-eye coordination working together. Then on the ice, I have those mental cues that I use. In between whistles, I’ll even sing a song in my head at random so that I’m not thinking about what the score is, or how much time is left. That’s one thing that has really helped me become mentally strong, is having those little cues to help keep me even-keeled during the game.” Goldman: I’m curious about how music has influenced you. Everyone is a big music fan, it’s a huge part of society today, and you can generate so much internal energy from it. Has music had an influence on your ability to get up for games, or a tool you use on a consistent basis? Bachman: “Yeah, you’re right, and yeah, it has. I think on my drive to the rink before every game, I’ll listen to one of like six artists on my iPod, but I only listen to them before a game. It gets you excited and feeling good, and I think that’s huge. And like I said earlier, I’ll just sing a song between whistles -- I think everyone has certain lyrics that can get stuck in their head, and I think it’s such a good way to stay focused while not being consumed with all the little details that go on around you. I think that helps you stay calm and lets your body do what it needs to do without your head getting in the way. So yeah, now that I think about it, I think music is a key part of my mental game. Even in summer skates or in practices, I’ll catch myself just singing along to a random song, but it’s better than worrying about what happens next, or how I did the night before. Music kind of helps you get all of that stuff out of your head and lets you do your job at a higher level.” Goldman: Worrying is such an easy thing for a goalie to do. There’s so much that can go wrong, but in the right state of mind, a lot can go right. I know that goalies of all levels fight with that negative body language. So besides the things you’ve mentioned above, how do you get the worrying or anxiety out of your mind? Bachman: “It all comes back to that routine. For me, the least amount of worrying I do, the better I play. One thing that helps me not worry came from a goalie coach named Joe Exter. One thing he said to me was that goals were going to be scored; it’s hockey. They’re going to score goals, it’s going to happen, it’s all about how you focus for the next shot. There could be games where you feel great, but you give up three goals that go off pants or skates. But once you realize goals like that will happen, it kind of takes the worry out of it, and lets you kind of do what you need to do, and let the chips kind of fall where they may. You work hard, you prepare, and your body will do what it needs to do. So the last thing you need to worry about is something out of your control. By realizing that goals will be scored and bad bounces may happen, it takes that worry away from my mind, and lets me focus on what I can control and what I can do to help the team win.” Goldman: Being in the zone is this really difficult concept to explain, but you know it when you’re in it. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that. Can you verbalize it? Bachman: “Being in the zone is a place you always want to be, but you can’t always be there. For me, it’s about getting rid of everything around me. There are times I can remember where every puck is hitting you, or there’s a back-door play and you get it with your stick. I think that’s when you realize you’re getting in the zone. I’ve had games where everything goes my way, everything is working, and you’re making good saves. When I think back on those games, you almost don’t even remember them, and you almost have no idea what was happening. You try to remember how your team scored goals, but all of that stuff leaves your mind because you’re only focused on the little black thing for 60 minutes. That’s how I would explain it, nothing else matters and it’s a pretty cool feeling that I don’t think most people will get to enjoy, but it’s pretty special when it happens.” Goldman: Is there anything else you feel makes you totally unique in your experience that helped you along the way, or helped you trust the process? Bachman: “I think one key and one lesson for goalies to understand is that everything happens for a reason. Did I want to go to the ECHL right away? No. But because I was there, I realized there was a reason for it, and there was going to be a good outcome. Secondly, you have to work hard at it every day. If you just work hard and you show that work ethic, I think that’s the key for me in how I was able to move up in levels of hockey. I just showed that I was working hard, trusted in my ability to work hard, and then when I get the opportunity, I took advantage of it, and good things eventually happen. I think it’s really important to just trust the process, then take advantage of each chance you get.”