#66 - Liam Ham Joins The Lab | First-Year Contact, Puck Management & The Habits That Follow Kids To Junior

Your kid worked hard to get the puck back. Then threw it away. Sound familiar?

The Hockey Lab Podcast is back for the 2026-27 season with a new host. Coach A and Coach Gards are joined by Liam Ham — Player Development Coach with the Brampton Steelheads — for an honest look at what young players are getting wrong right now, and why the same mistakes show up at every level.

Gards and Liam are both behind the bench at York Simcoe this year, and the message from the minor hockey rink matches what Liam sees in the OHL every night.

We get into:

• First-year contact: running around vs playing the puck
• Puck management — blue lines, turnovers, and throwing away what you just earned
• Too much skill footage, not enough game footage
• The new skill set: smart, physical, in the way
• Creativity is a skill — but structure has to come first
• Why small area games used to open every practice
• The grade 8 brain: why some of it just takes time
• Holding your team to a higher standard — and where that starts
• Plus Liam's story: York Simcoe, Niagara, Mississauga, Guelph, now coaching in the OHL

If you're a player trying to level up… A parent navigating the minor hockey world… Or a coach balancing development with results…

This one's for you.

The Hosts

Coach Adrian (A) @championshiplifestyle Head Strength Coach at Gary Roberts Performance. Fun Fact – Fought professionally in MMA for nearly a decade.

Coach Ryan (Gards) On-Ice Coach at Gary Roberts Performance. Veteran of over 1000 NLA (Switzerland's Top League) games, 5 Spengler Cups, 3 World Championships, and 1 Olympics. Fun Fact – His grandfather Cal is a "Top 100 Leaf of All Time."

Coach Liam (Ham) Player Development Coach with the OHL's Brampton Steelheads and GRP On-Ice Coach. Drafted to the OHL by the Niagara IceDogs, played his overage year with the Mississauga Steelheads, attended multiple NHL camps, and played three seasons at the University of Guelph while earning his degree. Fun Fact – Played up with Robert Thomas for six years at York Simcoe Express.

Gary Roberts Performance hosts this podcast. If you're looking to take your game to the next level, GRP offers comprehensive training programs for elite hockey players.

 👉 Click the link below to Book a Call with a GR Coach.

IG: @garyrobertshpt

#TheHockeyLabPodcast #HockeyDevelopment #LiamHam #BramptonSteelheads #OHL #MinorHockey #HockeyTraining #EliteHockey #HockeyParents #GaryRobertsPerformance #HockeyLife #PlayerDevelopment #HockeyCoaching #PuckManagement #HockeyMindset