Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Jaynki]

Another poster that pretends development is just fiction. Development paths and programs matter. You can’t stick a player anywhere and say “oh well, he’ll hit his potential regardless.” One thing Slafkovsky has exposed is the amount of casual fans that haven’t played competitive sports in their life at any level speaking out of their ass and trying to educate others.

You know what is fiction?

The idea that we can have a ultimate impact on a player career.

This guy should have been a star but we ruined him!

Wait, this guy was destined to bust but we made him a stellar player!

Pure utter bullshit and deresponsabilisation of a player who can't cut it.

I am all for having a development department. It has to be optimised. But it is what it is in the end. Optimisation of performance and environment.

It dont have a pronounced effect over a career.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I would have agreed with you for the first part of the season so far, but in the last 5-10 games, I think he's been much better. There's no need to send him down while he's playing well.

Exactly. There’s a big difference since he’s been moved up.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's been 56 games and now were pointing the finger at CC lol. The things ppl will say to cover their disbelief.

I’m not pointing the finger at anyone. Slump is a slump. And slumps are alway broken. Just takes patience.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I’m not pointing the finger at anyone. Slump is a slump. And slumps are alway broken. Just takes patience.

I can't wait until CC breaks his slump and starts scoring at 2ppg.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He can turn it on a dime.

But until its done, the trend is established with what we have now.

if he was playing he did earlier? Sure. But he’s played good hockey lately. Doesn’t make sense to demote him while he’s improving.

 

[Jaynki]

if he was playing he did earlier? Sure. But he’s played good hockey lately. Doesn’t make sense to demote him while he’s improving.

I see no point in demoting him. He is an obvious NHL talent.

I just hope he start to produce.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It’s not necessarily true though, right?

Andy SUCKS big time this season, but other than him? He even gets our best goal scorer right now, Dach for one game, Newhook plenty.

I mean, it’s kinda what we have available no?? Plus the PP time which he gets. I think MSL plays him with players above the scrub status.

Playing with Newhook and Anderson was a dumb idea. Newhook’s trying to find his game and Anderson isn’t going to bring anyone along.

Since being moved to CC they’ve played well for the most part. Picks haven’t gone in but that’s not a big deal. Just give it some time.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I can't wait until CC breaks his slump and starts scoring at 2ppg.

I’d settle for 40 goals. Honestly I’ll be disappointed if it’s less.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

You know what is fiction?

The idea that we can have a ultimate impact on a player career.

This guy should have been a star but we ruined him!

Wait, this guy was destined to bust but we made him a stellar player!

Pure utter bullshit and deresponsabilisation of a player who can't cut it.

I am all for having a development department. It has to be optimised. But it is what it is in the end. Optimisation of performance and environment.

It dont have a pronounced effect over a career.

I don’t agree with this at all. You can absolutely derail a players career with bad development. We just witnessed that for ten years.

Doug Wickenheiser’s a great example of agenda getting in the way of things. Look at what was happening with CC before he was rescued by MSL. The Rangers “developed” their two high picks on the third line… how’d that work out?

Years ago I predicted that Timmins’ late picks would pan out once MB was gone and that’s exactly what’s happening. If MB were here Joshua Roy would’ve been in our lineup last year playing on the fourth line. They had no idea what they were doing.

 

[nhlfan9191]

You know what is fiction?

The idea that we can have a ultimate impact on a player career.

This guy should have been a star but we ruined him!

Wait, this guy was destined to bust but we made him a stellar player!

Pure utter bullshit and deresponsabilisation of a player who can't cut it.

I am all for having a development department. It has to be optimised. But it is what it is in the end. Optimisation of performance and environment.

It dont have a pronounced effect over a career.

We absolutely do. What are you talking about?

 

[Jaynki]

We absolutely do. What are you talking about?

Who?

 

[Jaynki]

I don’t agree with this at all. You can absolutely derail a players career with bad development. We just witnessed that for ten years.

Who have we derailed?

Doug Wickenheiser’s a great example of agenda getting in the way of things. Look at what was happening with CC before he was rescued by MSL. The Rangers “developed” their two high picks on the third line… how’d that work out?

Im too young for Doug Wickenheiser.

As for CC, he would have blossomed elsewhere. We would not have derailed a talent like him in a permanent fashion.

That would have been a judgment problem. It was one since we sent him to the AHL weeks before he went to score 23 goals in 36 games. What a dumbf*** move.

Years ago I predicted that Timmins’ late picks would pan out once MB was gone and that’s exactly what’s happening. If MB were here Joshua Roy would’ve been in our lineup last year playing on the fourth line. They had no idea what they were doing.

I would rather we deal in fact than in what if.

 

[DAChampion]

Wait, this guy was destined to bust but we made him a stellar player!

There is no such thing as destiny.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Anyone would learn to some degree no matter the environment. It’s about putting the player in a situation to best be able to succeed, optimizing his success. We haven’t done that.

Improvements are marginal with no tangible results

This is what it really boils down to.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

It dont have a pronounced effect over a career.

Yes it does. Please go educate yourself on the matter.

Being factual has nothing to do with removing responsibility.

Instead of repeating my usual schpiel about brain development and yaddi yaddi yadda, I'll offer this insightful opening statement:

Oh, to be nineteen again! You with me, ladies and gentlemen? Do you remember nineteen? Let me tell you, the juices are flowing. The red corpuscles are corpuscling, the grass is green, and it's soft, and summer's gonna last forever. [chuckles; inhales sharply] Now, do you remember? Yeah, you do. [clears throat] But if you're being honest...I mean, well, really honest, you'll recall that you also had an underdeveloped nineteen-year-old brain. Me, personally, I...it...If I were held accountable for some of the stupid decisions I made when I was nineteen... [chuckling] Oh, boy, wow. And I bet if we were in church right now, I'd get a big "amen!"

 

[BehindTheTimes]

It does actually because it’s the whole point of what my cousin said. It can destroy some prospects. Often putting the puck in the net is a factor of easier competition. His point was that it was a topic that people who don’t play at that level say too often because they aren’t seeing the human side of the equation, like chess pieces.

This is nonsense imo. We aren’t doing anyone any favours by making them drown in the NHL so that their feelings don’t get hurt.

Scoring and dominating is what builds confidence. Even in your cited example, the player sent down ended up captaining his NHL team, so sounds like it didn’t hurt his confidence too bad.

I think your cousin has mistaken confidence with hurt feelings. If you’ve scored 12 points in 56 games your confidence is already broken.

 

[Miller Time]

I appreciated your content about learning. I also appreciate how we've turned this 19-year-old kid into a case study on development. NHL or AHL? Progress or stagnation? Future top-six or bust? We're all watching the same games, but none of us agree on what we're seeing.

You can point to the absence of goals and assists and say, "See?". You can also point to a vast future that's barely begun and say, "See?". Neither side is imagining what they see, so neither side is going to budge. This thread has become a must-read for anyone who enjoys a good philosophy conundrum. But as a respectful, constructive debate it kinda' sucks....

I'll fully own that I haven't been particularly constructive with some of my replies to some of the more strongly opiononated posters... There's really no excuse to sink to that & I should do better.

I think this situation is a fascinating case of athlete development. The approach being taken, imo, aligns with the best thinking I've had the privilege of being exposed to directly (top coaching & program leaders on several continents)...

This thread and the general concencus among many pseudo-experts highlights why it's a much harder approach for both the leadership & the player to take... Which I appreciate. Sticking to the hard thing one believes to be right is not easy in the spotlight of pro sports entertainment... Comes with serious job insecurity generally.

It would be probably surprising to most fans just how wide the spectrum of opinions are at the highest levels of sport when it comes to training & development. IMO, there are tangible similarities across sports among the very best, and they sit as outliers in their respective sports. The bell curve distribution finds most sitting in the comfortable middle, doing enough to stay in the arena/keep their job, but either too cautious, too proud or too oblivious to adapt their approach to chase real excellence.
The best do subtle, nuanced (don't tell BTT ) things with a level of rigour & discipline that withstands the inevitable ups & downs of short term performance outcome that fans & media are so quick to get emotional about.

There's a fine line btw ego driven stubborness and unwavering commitment. One is useless, the other is necessary. Very few get the distinction right, but it's that distinction that separates the best from the rest of the pack imo.

 

[Jaynki]

Yes it does. Please go educate yourself on the matter.

Being factual has nothing to do with removing responsibility.

Instead of repeating my usual schpiel about brain development and yaddi yaddi yadda, I'll offer this insightful opening statement:

I am still dubious about how your yaddi yaddi apply to a top prospect in hockey.

Smoking weed with an undeveloped brain is unrelated to hockey.

I do agree that development is important and can be optimised tho.

I don't believe we have the power to dictate a career. That would be too nice.

Scoring and dominating is what builds confidence. Even in your cited example, the player sent down ended up captaining his NHL team, so sounds like it didn’t hurt his confidence too bad.

I think your cousin has mistaken confidence with hurt feelings. If you’ve scored 12 points in 56 games your confidence is already broken.

You have it backward.

Production is the by-product of confidence.

Confidence comes before performance, not after.

 

[leVENTduNORD]

This is nonsense imo. We aren’t doing anyone any favours by making them drown in the NHL so that their feelings don’t get hurt.

Scoring and dominating is what builds confidence. Even in your cited example, the player sent down ended up captaining his NHL team, so sounds like it didn’t hurt his confidence too bad.

I think your cousin has mistaken confidence with hurt feelings. If you’ve scored 12 points in 56 games your confidence is already broken.

You will have a very hard time convincing people you ever watched pro sports after a post like this..

Wrong on every single thing. Crazy!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Who have we derailed?

Almost every player we produced over a ten year span underperformed. Go read Louis Leblanc’s letter. Look at how we played Desharnais over Galchenyuk… mindblowingly stupid.

Im too young for Doug Wickenheiser.

Read up on him. Read up on Claude Ruel. He was a can’t miss and we f***ed it up.

As for CC, he would have blossomed elsewhere. We would not have derailed a talent like him in a permanent fashion. That would have been a judgment problem. It was one since we sent him to the AHL weeks before he went to score 23 goals in 36 games. What a dumbf*** move.

Easy to say that but he was doing absolutely nothing under the old regime. He’d have drowned just like the others did. MSL arrived and he immediately produced. He saved his career.

I would rather we deal in fact than in what if.

The fact is that we couldn’t develop our way out of a paper bag for ten years.

We are already seeing some players doing well and others on the way. Make no mistake, Roy would’ve been up in the NHL already if MB were in charge and he’d be played in the 4th line.

 

[Scriptor]

I can't wait to read "Juraj Slafkovsky - Year 6" when he plays as a 23-yr-old.

2027-2028 should boast a much better, more mature Habs team. Slafkovsky should be better surrounded with a riper roster and better players.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I am still dubious about how your yaddi yaddi apply to a top prospect in hockey.

Smoking weed with an undeveloped brain is unrelated to hockey.

I do agree that development is important and can be optimised tho.

I don't believe we have the power to dictate a career. That would be too nice.



You have it backward.

Production is the by-product of confidence.

Confidence comes before performance, not after.

Wrong, goal setting and goal mapping and reaching those goals is what builds confidence.

If you think the goal was to get 12 points in 56 games than we will never have an example that hasn’t worked. Confidence needs to be built or even rebuilt in some athletes. Some athletes have it from the start and some don’t.

You will have a very hard time convincing people you ever watched pro sports after a post like this..

Wrong on every single thing. Crazy!

Sure it is lol.

 

[Heffyhoof]

Guy scored two goals with 7 min of ice time. You don’t think he earned a shot at 1 game with better players and better ice time? And that is supposed to be hate??

I do think he earned some more ice time. I just think the championing of that cause is best left for a Ylonen thread or even an MSL Sucks thread instead of using it to dunk on Slaf in his thread.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Man who gives a shit about confidence. People unironically care more about confidence than goals. What Montreal Canadiens fandom does to a mfer.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Man who gives a shit about confidence. People unironically care more about confidence than goals. What Montreal Canadiens fandom does to a mfer.

People care more about the person itself than the fact it's a sport game where the person earns millions to entertain us. We are here to watch hockey and be entertained. I find it hard people who are entertained right now watching him play as 1st OA in the biggest hockey league.

Feel like sometimes we are in a big therapy session where we gotta cuddle eachother to cope better.