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Consistency: The Forgotten Skill |
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FOLLOW BRAD ON TWITTER: @BRADMARSHNHL
With the season almost at the halfway point and the Christmas break upon us, as a hockey fan I wonder what is in store for us in the 2nd season. It won’t be long until we are talking about the playoff races and the potential first round playoff opponents.
In reading a few team / player articles from around the league it is real easy to establish how they’re season is going.
“There is a lot of hockey left and...” means the team is under .500 and struggling.
“We haven’t had much luck, we’ve lost a number of 1 goal games...” means their team is in the middle of the pack and fighting for a wild card playoff spot.
“So far things have gone well, hopefully we can stay injury free in the 2nd half...” means their team is firmly in control of their division. Because of the mediocrity below them, they are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot.
Most of the articles talk about what teams need – top 6 forward, puck moving defenseman or in some cases better goal tending. Some articles point out the obvious that many of the teams need more from certain players – especially the big contract guys. The players quite often talk about staying together as a team, working hard and staying focused down the stretch.
The one word that is very rarely mentioned in any article nowadays in the team-wide context is the word CONSISTENCY. You hear it for players, yes, but not often for entire teams. To me, that is probably the most important word when evaluating any team or player.
The dictionary defines consistency as “the quality of achieving a level of performance which does not vary greatly in quality over time.”
Translated into hockey terms: “Show up and play the fricking game, boys!” In sports, you cannot flip a light switch and decide when to play, you have to “bring” it each and every night.
Consistency, I say, is a skill, a skill that has to be evaluated, ranked and discussed just like the other skills. I think it is so important in the overall makeup of any player. The focus for most evaluators and fans as far as skill goes, is always on the big 3: skating, shooting and passing. Of course, these different skills are all broken down into many different sub-categories.
While I will agree that the skills above are critical but how important are they if a player does not do them on a consistent basis? Not very good!
Throughout my hockey career, I always strived to be consistent. I was never a flashy player but I was very consistent. I knew what I had to do and I went out and just “did it” game in and game out. I realized very early on in my NHL career what I had to do each game to help my team win. Clear the front of the net (yes this used to be important), win the battles in the corners, block shots, be strong along the boards (hey, Corsi folks, non-shot/ puck-skill related things like board pins ARE a valuable skill for defensemen) and get the puck out!
I know it was a little more involved than that but that was basically it. If I did those simple things, I’d have a good game. Those simple things quite often got me ice time against the opposition’s top lines and ice time in the final minutes of a game when protecting a lead. This to me as a defenseman was the biggest compliment one could get.
If you look at any great leader, any successful business man or athlete the one thing that they all have in common is consistency. They all understand that no matter how talented or skilled that they are – they have to be consistent in their everyday actions.
So, in my opinion, if a team or player wants to improve in the 2nd season, they all should be focusing on being consistent. Being consistent in everything that they do, from their workouts, to everyday practice, their diet and the games that they have remaining consistency will help them
reach all reach their goals.