Hockey is a Game of Calculated Risks and Mistakes

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[folatre]

Thanks for sharing, Dis. That is a good read. From a developmental perspective, I believe it is tremendously positive to instill in the kids that taking chances and making mistakes are part of growth. I wish I could get them out of my mind, but I cannot help but shake my head and think of Therrien and Julien.

[Willie Dog]

Tganks for posting Dis...

What I liked from the story was when Harris said "Everything we do is with such a purpose and you don’t want to throw the puck away.”... how many times in the past number of years have our D just thrown the puck away

[Cranky]

ABSOLUTELY

Going back to Komisarek which I had the chance to watch very closely over 4 games.

He had a problem with getting beaten on the outside like a rented mule. The obvious solution was to increase his backskating ability and more importantly, where to position his body so he doesn't get turned. Time after time, he never got it. Ever. He was stuck on trying to force players on the boards, but they simply stayed 20 feet from the boards and just picked up speed on his outside.

Why couldn't he learn? Why didn't he improve his foot speed?

Too stupid? Didn't care? Regardless, he was out of the NHL before 30.

On the opposite end is our current pack of kids who WANT to learn and fix their problems. They will make plenty of mistakes, X made three in the same game of letting players get behind him. He fixed that.

I have so much hope in the current crop that I would trade vets.

[habsorbed]

Oct 29, 2022 0:03:42 GMT -5 Cranky said:

ABSOLUTELY

Going back to Komisarek which I had the chance to watch very closely over 4 games.

He had a problem with getting beaten on the outside like a rented mule. The obvious solution was to increase his backskating ability and more importantly, where to position his body so he doesn't get turned. Time after time, he never got it. Ever. He was stuck on trying to force players on the boards, but they simply stayed 20 feet from the boards and just picked up speed on his outside.

Why couldn't he learn? Why didn't he improve his foot speed?

Too stupid? Didn't care? Regardless, he was out of the NHL before 30.

On the opposite end is our current pack of kids who WANT to learn and fix their problems. They will make plenty of mistakes, X made three in the same game of letting players get behind him. He fixed that.

I have so much hope in the current crop that I would trade vets.

I agree. Except I would add that regardless of my hope in the current crop, I'm trading most of the vets.

[seventeen]

What is that story line?....that Edison failed about 1000 times before finally getting the light bulb right. I'll bet he didn't try the same thing 1000 times either. I really like that MSL is explaining the 'why' to the kids. I keep shaking my head at that clip of Therrien yelling at PK about some play, but not EVER explaining why he didn't like it. Just as well he didn't because he would have been wrong anyway. There was zero risk in Therrien's profile. No risk, no gain, ever. As MSL says, the risk has to be calculated. You decided whether to call, raise or fold based on the probabilities of certain cards coming up. Therrien, Julien and Bergevin folded every time.

Showing kids why not only helps them get better at that play, but it gets them thinking about other plays that either worked out or didn't and helps them process the game better in the future. Makes you wonder about coaching, huh? A guy who didn't coach a single game of pro hockey at any level is getting his point across so well.

On the devil's advocate side, there's been no pressure to win yet, just develop. They're tied together of course, but MSL's true value is yet to be determined. It seems to be mostly about offense right now, but it's defense that wins Cups (together with an adequate amount of offense). I haven't seen or heard a lot about defensive thinking at this point. Xhekaj is an example. He's made some excellent offensive plays but we haven't had many defensive successes to celebrate. Early days.