HockeyRhetoric

Something noteworthy happened after the Sabres-Rangers game I want to mention. The first players to congratulate Jhonas Enroth were Paul Gaustad and Mike Weber. Next was Thomas Vanek. That’s significant for two reasons: (1) Vanek wasn’t even on the ice to close out the game and (2) the intensity Vanek showed when he reached Enroth. Watching Vanek grab Enroth by the head, pull him in close, and command Enroth’s attention was quite a sight. It was a powerful few seconds in a routine of gentle head-butts and smiles. Vanek was being a leader congratulating the young rookie goaltender on his first career shutout in a critical game for a team fighting for a playoff spot. That’s what real leaders do. » Read the rest of this entry «

In sports like hockey, winning is what observers use to measure success. Similar to most other competitive endeavors, winning in hockey is relative to its environment and every year the competition changes; players switch teams and grow older; managers and coaches get replaced. But the most volatile aspect of this business – not to mention the one that has perhaps has the greatest influence on success – is in the collective motivation of the players that make up individual teams. The sports industry is about as pure of a meritocracy as there is. Each team is saturated with talent and strong coaching. Eventually what separates the teams that win from the teams that lose is how motivated they are to win. It’s not that the losers don’t care so much as the winners want it so bad, they can’t even finish a bowl of Fruity Pebbles without thinking at least twenty times of their names being engraved on the hardware. » Read the rest of this entry «

I wrote this article last semester. It was never posted here but it generated a strong response elsewhere. » Read the rest of this entry «