2025 Year in Review: Top Episodes, Global Reach, and What’s Next

We’re closing the book on 2025 with our annual Year in Review—and the numbers are WILD. From 156 episodes (yep—3 per week) to 4,454 minutes of content (74+ hours) and listeners in 100 countries, this show continues to grow because of one thing: the hockey community sharing it.

We also count down the Top 5 episodes of 2025 (plus an honorable mention), talk through the topics parents are clearly searching for most (tryouts, development, myths, and expectations), and pull back the curtain on what happens after we hit “end recording”—including how titles, transcripts, and social clips help families actually find the episodes they need.

And if you’ve ever wondered whether the show is still growing… November + December 2025 were the two biggest months we’ve ever had. Hockey-stick chart. Straight up.

Key Takeaways

• Consistency wins: 156 episodes in 2025 and no missed weeks in 6 years
• Global reach: listeners in 100 countries and 3,853 cities in 2025
• Top cities: Toronto #1, followed by Minneapolis and Chicago
• Top 10% on Buzzsprout: driven by listens per episode + community sharing
• The search effect is real: the episodes that rank highest are the ones parents need answers to (tryouts, benchmarks, myths)

The Top 5 Episodes of 2025 (Countdown)

• #5: Do Early Hockey Stars Stay Ahead? (Ep. 399)
• #4: What Skills Should My Kid Have at Their Age? (Ep. 390)
• #3: 3 Pieces of Advice Hockey Parents Ask For… and Ignore (Ep. 376)
• #2: Debunking Youth Hockey Myths w/ Bruins Performance Coach Kevin Neal (Ep. 358)
• #1: The Truth About Tryouts and Evaluations (Ep. 355)

Honorable Mention: The Underappreciated Defenseman (Ep. 343)

Practical Tips for Parents (takeaways from this discussion)

• Don’t panic over a 2–3 day tryout window—evaluation happens all season
• Use benchmarks as guardrails, not pressure—kids develop at different speeds
• When you’re stuck at the rink… search the website + share the episode
• Send questions in—some of the best episodes start with a listener email

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