IV XIV XCI
Registered User
I chose these words - Regaining Confidence- as a title for this thread because it describes two things i often wonder about.
The first is about struggling when you transition to a higher level of play. The second is about overall team and fan confidence and how it can help sustain elevated play - but how is it attained?
Have you ever played a consistent level of hockey where you found a niche that suits you, whether it's beer league, drop-in or competitive/organized play and all of a sudden you are invited to play in a game that is quite a bit faster/more skilled? It can be a bit demoralizing. Having studied a bit of sports psychology I know that how individuals deal with this type of change varies. For some it is viewed as an eye opening experience and they commit to improving so that they can eventually keep up/exceed at that level - essentially an opportunity to face adversity and overcome.
On the flipside you have people who don't handle the realization very well and start to question how good they believed they actually were at the sport. It's not quite that binary, but those are the polar sides of the ledger.
It makes me wonder, at the NHL level, how much can a loss of confidence impact a first year player and whether or not it has the ability to actually become a useful catalyst for reaching their full potential.
The obvious example of this would be Stamkos who had serious rookie woes but came back, eventually, a better player and most likely in part due to that early failure. (My fingers are crossed that we can retrospectively say the same about Yak)
But it's not really fair to use Stamkos (or Yak) as an example because blue chip prospects are afforded the time to take a step back and focus on things and fix aspects of their game. But, say, a 5th rounder, when he gets hot for a stretch and moves up the ranks, the day he's lucky enough to see the lights of the show, it may very well be his "one shot".
How he responds in a call up could make or break his career. Nowadays, with all the trainers, assistant coaches, and shrinks on board, I'm sure these players come in prepared but still, each person is different.
I think the point I am trying to make is, if a player fails or struggles early on in their call up, they should not be judged on this performance but rather on how they respond in the subsequent games - after they've had time to gather themselves and improve in areas that needed help.
So in Oiler terms, maybe we're being a bit quick on some of the analysis of whether or not this team has been to swift with bringing guys in too soon. Perhaps some of them will actually become the players our scouts assumed they could be. I think of a guy like Pitlick here.
I have more to say on this subject but I'd rather move on to the second part of what "regaining confidence" makes me think of: the fan base.
I miss the days where I would watch Oilers and Eskimos games and have the mental swagger that not only would we win, but we'd win with some flare and class. We'd show the world that our team was built like a champion and the way the players played shone through on the fanbase. I think that success in this manner carries over through the years and you wind up with a team that finds ways to win rather than lose. Detroit and their 20+ years in the playoffs has what we had in the 80's.
When we (eventually/hopefully) regain that swagger and collective confidence, let's remember these times and be sure to do whatever it is we can to sustain it for as long as possible. The only remedy for losing is winning. It may take some time yet, but if we can learn to find ways to win (this season), especially early on, that momentum can carries us as we take steps to transform into a team that finds ways to win instead of lose.
The first is about struggling when you transition to a higher level of play. The second is about overall team and fan confidence and how it can help sustain elevated play - but how is it attained?
Have you ever played a consistent level of hockey where you found a niche that suits you, whether it's beer league, drop-in or competitive/organized play and all of a sudden you are invited to play in a game that is quite a bit faster/more skilled? It can be a bit demoralizing. Having studied a bit of sports psychology I know that how individuals deal with this type of change varies. For some it is viewed as an eye opening experience and they commit to improving so that they can eventually keep up/exceed at that level - essentially an opportunity to face adversity and overcome.
On the flipside you have people who don't handle the realization very well and start to question how good they believed they actually were at the sport. It's not quite that binary, but those are the polar sides of the ledger.
It makes me wonder, at the NHL level, how much can a loss of confidence impact a first year player and whether or not it has the ability to actually become a useful catalyst for reaching their full potential.
The obvious example of this would be Stamkos who had serious rookie woes but came back, eventually, a better player and most likely in part due to that early failure. (My fingers are crossed that we can retrospectively say the same about Yak)
But it's not really fair to use Stamkos (or Yak) as an example because blue chip prospects are afforded the time to take a step back and focus on things and fix aspects of their game. But, say, a 5th rounder, when he gets hot for a stretch and moves up the ranks, the day he's lucky enough to see the lights of the show, it may very well be his "one shot".
How he responds in a call up could make or break his career. Nowadays, with all the trainers, assistant coaches, and shrinks on board, I'm sure these players come in prepared but still, each person is different.
I think the point I am trying to make is, if a player fails or struggles early on in their call up, they should not be judged on this performance but rather on how they respond in the subsequent games - after they've had time to gather themselves and improve in areas that needed help.
So in Oiler terms, maybe we're being a bit quick on some of the analysis of whether or not this team has been to swift with bringing guys in too soon. Perhaps some of them will actually become the players our scouts assumed they could be. I think of a guy like Pitlick here.
I have more to say on this subject but I'd rather move on to the second part of what "regaining confidence" makes me think of: the fan base.
I miss the days where I would watch Oilers and Eskimos games and have the mental swagger that not only would we win, but we'd win with some flare and class. We'd show the world that our team was built like a champion and the way the players played shone through on the fanbase. I think that success in this manner carries over through the years and you wind up with a team that finds ways to win rather than lose. Detroit and their 20+ years in the playoffs has what we had in the 80's.
When we (eventually/hopefully) regain that swagger and collective confidence, let's remember these times and be sure to do whatever it is we can to sustain it for as long as possible. The only remedy for losing is winning. It may take some time yet, but if we can learn to find ways to win (this season), especially early on, that momentum can carries us as we take steps to transform into a team that finds ways to win instead of lose.
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