Well the Russians took it to Team Canada Juniors pretty good yesterday six zip! It was the second game in a row that Team Canada started flat. I was in the minority after game one. I thought the goaltending was suspect and the overall team play was not that strong. The USA took their foot off the gas and let us back into the game and we took advantage. We are very fortunate to have a 1-1 record.
What does concern me was how the team started both games. It seems to be a common theme in all the interviews that were done after games one and two. So, it lead me to look back at some material I had read by Dr. Bhrett McCabe on the five types of competitive personality types: the Amp Up player, the Tactical player, the Bubble player, the Worrier, and finally the Chosen One. Each of these personality types has a different psychological fingerprint and prepares for competition in their own unique way. A coach cannot walk into a dressing room and speak to 21 players 15 minutes before game time and expect them to be ready to play. This type of preparation must be done hours before. If these players were not ready from the start, it makes you wonder if in the Hockey Canada Elite Coaching program this was a part of the player profile. With starts against two very good opponents your preparation was one of your key controllable and it looks like Hockey Canada management team dropped the ball again.
The result of two poor starts puts Team Canada into fix mode, instead of how do we raise our level of play for our next opponent. It also hurts the trust factor. This a group of talented players that were put together two weeks ago and are being asked to be a team. Trust one another when adversity hits. Well, guess what, adversity has arrived. I just hope that the management team has given these players the tools to deal with adversity, because tomorrow’s game against Germany who has given the Russians and Team USA all they could handle has huge implications for Team Canada. When adversity hits, how you react shows how well prepared you are. We will find out tomorrow how prepared they are.
“Success does not come from pie in the sky thinking. It is a result of doing something every day that adds to excellence” Nick Saban
Until next time!
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