And, if you think about a guy like Patrice Bergeron, one of hockey’s best play drivers, you’ll note that winning those races to the touch has consequences. When you look at him in playoffs last year - a broken rib, torn cartilage, a separated shoulder, and a pneumothorax – you understand there’s a cost for always having the stones to be the first guy on the puck. You get hit. You get hit, and you get hit, and you get hit. And getting hit hurts. It takes the wind out of you, it saps your energy, and you can get injured. It’s real easy to be the second guy in on a puck race, rattle the glass and get that crowd roaring. Nobody roars for the touch.
If you’re a hockey team that lacks toughness, you shouldn’t be looking to add raw size, or a fighter, or anything of the sort. You need players, no matter their size, who are tough enough to take those hits to make those plays. Hockey games are decided by five or ten plays that often come down to an inch, or a “barely.” The problem is, you rarely know when you’re in one of those moments. So all you can do is be first on the puck over, and over, and over again. The guys who commit to doing that are the league’s toughest players.
