In reality, they are two of the hardest working men in hockey right now. Christophersen and McDonough run The Breakout Sessions, a hockey-themed podcast that is not just locked into college hockey or the professional ranks, but instead sits down, week after week, with a guest from the larger hockey world and tells their story, from start to finish, over the course of an hour.

They have had conversations with the likes of Dave Hanson, Randy McKay, Kevin “Ducky” Maki, Scott Sandelin, Jon French, Joe Shawhan, Brian Lawton, Lou Nanne, Cami Kronish, Meghan Hunter, and many more over the course of their first two years on the air. Their guests range from youth-aged athletes to people, like Nanne, who work behind the scenes to make sure that hockey programs run as smoothly as possible.

According to Christophersen, a Houghton native, and McDonough, who hails from Minnesota, there is a wealth of hockey knowledge throughout Upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and that is who they are tapping into each week.

Of course, it all starts with the fact that both Christophersen and McDonough have grown up around the game they love.

John Christophersen and Mogey McDonough, hosts of The Breakout Sessions podcast, are both lifelong hockey players, which gave them the inspiration for their weekly show. (Photo courtesy of John Christophersen)

“We’re lifelong hockey players,” said McDonough. “I think that was the initial thing that got us in. I think once hockey gets in your blood, it’s something that stays in your blood forever.

“I had been a coach for many years. J.C. had been a coach, and a referee as well as playing for many years. We’ve played together on and off for over 30 years, on the same team mostly, except on Wednesday nights when we battle each other.”

McDonough said that the inspiration for starting the podcast actually came out of the COVID pandemic, when he had to make a choice about continuing to coach, or step away from that and be home more.

“I just finished a couple of years as a coach and then COVID hit,” McDonough said. “My wife just wasn’t interested in me going back to coaching, but I wanted to stay involved in the game. So, we were talking about it one night and she thought a podcast would be an interesting thing. She (actually) thought broadcasting first, and then I talked to her about how much travel that would be, and she was like, ‘OK, we’re not doing that.’ So, we decided on a podcast, and I knew that I didn’t want to do it alone. I’m not a real outgoing person. When I get to know people, and trust people, then I’m a lot more outgoing than I am typically.

“So we were looking at who would be a good person that would have some of the assets that I don’t have, and this knucklehead came to mind because he’s so shy. We went out to dinner together with our wives, and we talked about it. We jumped in with both feet, not really knowing how deep the water was, or what we were doing. We kind of learned along the way, but here we are. We’re in Northern Michigan, and today, we just finished our 91st episode.”

The Breakout Sessions is a hockey-themed podcast that can be found on most popular podcast sites. (Photo courtesy of John Christophersen)

For Christophersen, having a partner who knows more about the game than he ever will is part of what makes their partnership work.

“Mogey is the encyclopedia of the two of us,” Christophersen said. “He knows faces. He knows names. He knows statistics. I’m not afraid to go shake the hand. I’m not afraid to venture out, and meet and greet, you know, kiss the baby sort of thing. As Mogey said, we had no idea the amount of time it actually takes to run a good podcast.

The average podcast lasts seven episodes. We launched our first one in June of 2021. June of this year, it will be the two-year mark. We are already booked through into August with our guests right now.”

One of the most fascinating things that have come up over the course of the research McDonough and Christophersen have done as they built up their interview list was that the people they interviewed kept mentioning the Upper Peninsula, in particular Michigan Tech.

“We’ve had a lot of alumns. We’ve had Randy Mckay, Ducky Maki, Coach Shawhan, and Steve Coats, and the list goes on,” said Christophersen. “Aside from that, it’s amazing how many former players from Duluth, or coaches from Duluth, or players from Minnesota, talk about the big games here in Houghton, the old brawls down in Dee Stadium, or what it’s like to go into John MacInnes Arena with the fan base just going chaotic.

“So even though we don’t always interview people from the U.P., there’s always people talking about the U.P., which is kind of cool.”

While the college hockey history is a fun angle for the podcast to address, McDonough and Christophersen are cultivating a wide variety of hockey minds.

“We don’t limit ourselves on our guests,” Christophersen said. “We have players, coaches, GMs, scouts, authors, owners.

“Women, men, we want to be an all-encompassing podcast that focuses on everything,” said McDonough.

If they had to pick a favorite, they both agree that it is very difficult for either of them to. However, that gives them a chance to focus instead on letting their guests tell their stories, whether they are talking to a college coach about how the game has changed from their youth to now, or they are talking to a referee who could not advance beyond youth hockey, but has found a way forward by wearing the stripes.

“Here we are in our 60s, Mogey and I are retired, but we still want to show people you can be involved in the game,” Christophersen said. “Just because you’re not playing, or maybe you didn’t make the college team, there’s a way to be involved. We’re meeting all those people, interviewing them, and getting their insight. Then there’s the flip side of the story, of the people who are succeeding, and what it takes to get there. Every story is a little bit different.”

“That’s the beauty of storytelling,” said McDonough. “(It would) get boring if they were all the same, right? But they’re not, it’s just amazing. Some of the obstacles people have gone through.

“What we hear is how much support they’ve gotten. We listen to people talk about how parents worked all day, and then took them to hockey at night, and then, on the weekend, took them to the tournament out of state, hundreds of miles. They were there for them, got up at 4 a.m., so they could be at a 5 a.m. practice in the morning. The support system has to be huge for the sport.”

After they decided to start The Breakout Sessions, Christophersen and McDonough needed to decide on who they wanted to talk to, and what the format should be. They settled on hour-long interviews and also language that all ages could enjoy. Within that format, they ask a variety of questions, and often, once they finish with a guest, the guest will suggest someone else they should talk to.

“We interviewed Dan Cook, who was the assistant coach for the (Wisconsin) Badgers women’s hockey team,” said Christophersen. “He says, ‘yeah, you guys are laid back, easy. This is nothing. You should interview Meghan Hunter then.’ So he put us in touch with Meghan Hunter with the (Chicago) Blackhawks, and we were able to interview her because of a good word from her previous coach.”

Conversations like the ones with Cook and Hunter have led to others, including Nate LaPointe, who is the equipment manager of the Badgers. LaPointe did not have the chance to play NCAA Division I hockey, but he found his way to that level after his playing career ended. He joined his brother with North Dakota before eventually joining the Badgers.

Christophersen and McDonough have also sat down at a 12U hockey tournament and interviewed some of the players participating. The experience turned into one of their most memorable podcasts.

“Mogey and I did a podcast this last year, where we went to a peewee hockey tournament,” Christophersen said. “We just set up a table, grabbed our mics, and the kids just lined up and all we did was an all-kid podcast. (We) just talked about when they started to play hockey, how the tournament’s going. The feedback we got from parents were, ‘thanks for making my kid feel special. They lost their first game, but they came out on fire the second game, because they were pumped up to listen to the podcast,’ Just little incentives like that makes us feel good. That’s a blast when you get stuff like that and we want to put a smile on people’s faces.”

The Breakout Sessions updates with a new episode every Thursday. This week, their guest is former Huskies goaltender Geoff Sarjeant. In the next two months, they will also air conversations with current Huskies goaltender Blake Pietila, former Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs goaltender Alex Stalock, St. Norbert men’s hockey coach Tim Coghlin, and Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny.

To listen to the podcast, listeners can find it wherever they listen to their favorite podcasts, including YouTube, where they recently started streaming as well.