About this episode

Mike Vilardo discusses his unique athletic journey from hockey to Ivy League baseball and the lessons learned along the way.

NTDP, USHL, Ivy League baseball and a path that was anything but straightforward. Scott and Jamie sit down with Subject founder Mike Vilardo to talk about a unique athletic journey that took him through AAA hockey, the U.S. National Team Development Program, the USHL, and Division I baseball at Penn and Purdue. Mike talks candidly about struggling when he went from a top-line player to a fourth-line role, walking away from hockey, coming back to the USHL, and the decisions he’d make differently today. He also gets into why his dad prioritized ice time and puck touches over chasing the best team, and the value of letting kids work through adversity themselves. The conversation also gets into playing multiple sports, navigating seven schools in five years , and how Mike’s experience as a student-athlete eventually helped shape Subject and its work in education. In this episode: Making the jump to the NTDP Going from a top player to a fourth-line role Choosing ice time over the “best” team The value of playing multiple sports How Mike’s athletic and academic path helped shape Subject This one is about adversity, second chances, and realizing there’s rarely one right path. Subject…

People in this episode

Hosts: Scott, Jamie

Guest: Mike Vilardo

Topics covered

• athletic journey
• adversity
• multiple sports
• student-athlete experience
• hockey
• baseball
• personal growth

Keywords

• NTDP
• USHL
• Ivy League baseball
• adversity
• student-athlete
• hockey
• multiple sports
• ice time
• puck touches
• athletic path

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NTDP, USHL, Penn, Purdue, Subject, Mo's Smile, CHD/MSK, Pacific Rink, Big John Dangles, Hockey Training

More episodes of Crazy Hockey Dads Podcast

• Episode 82: From Shattuck to North Dakota to Pro Hockey w/ Brad Miller of Turtlebox · September 2, 2026 · 2h 24m
• Episode 81: Hockey’s Most Overlooked Piece of Equipment (w/ Pacific Rink CEO Brad Serkin) · August 26, 2026 · 1h 50m
• Episode 80: “Winning the Stanley Cup Was the Emptiest Feeling” (w/ Brent Sopel) · August 19, 2026 · 2h 24m
• Episode 79: I Never Had One-on-One's (w/ Princeton’s Chris Reiniger) · August 12, 2026 · 2h 4m
• Episode 78: “We Don't Want Good Kids. We Want Great Kids.” (w/ Princeton's Shane Talarico) · August 5, 2026 · 2h 2m
• Episode 77: Hockey Is Bigger Than the Game | Live from Mo's Smile · July 29, 2026 · 2h 47m

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