Fair enough! I do think you ignore stuff like mental toughness at your peril, though. If it wasn't a factor then you wouldn't see a guy like Fleury post sparkling save percentages throughout the regular season only to have his performance drop substantially in the playoffs.
It's absolutely a good point that assessing mental toughness is difficult
for outside observers. However, I'd argue that it's not nearly as difficult for decision makers. We (i.e. fans) may not put players on the couch, but coaches, scouts, and GMs certainly do. They interview the players regularly and have sports psychologists provide research-backed diagnoses and treatments to improve mental performance under pressure. It's not some pie-in-the-sky thing. When you have scout after scout praising Fucale for his exceptional calmness in net it means something, IMO.
Anyway, I imagine we're going agree to disagree on this, so I won't press the issue - for everyone's sake
---
I enjoyed TSN's WJC preview, though it was understandably thin on news given where we are in the process. I'm really excited to see what selection camp looks like this year compared to years previous given the massive changes in the selection process.
