Week 8: Giving Thanks for the Humanness of Hockey Players

This will be a shorter post since this week is the Thanksgiving Holiday in the States, and I have a bit less time for silly hobbies like this than I normally would. In any case, it is a good opportunity for me to reflect upon what I’m grateful for about hockey, and the thing I find myself coming back to is the fact that everyone involved in the NHL, but especially the players, are all humans.

It’s an obvious truth, and maybe one that doesn’t warrant a thanks-giving, but I think that what I mean is slightly more specific than just the sheer fact of their humanity.

What I’m really getting at is the emotion of hockey, the fact that feelings are a genuine and visible influence in how the games are played and how the results of the game turn out. The fact that seasons can be re-written without anything changing in the skill levels of the players on the ice or the personnel on teams’ rosters. It’s so changeable, so fragile, so reactive, on both the micro and macro scales — i.e. things can flip on a dime within a game, or a period, or a shift, but can also revolutionize within the course of a season or a span of years.

What has gotten me thinking about this — and truly what I may be most grateful for — is the resurgence of the Bruins after the firing of coach Jim Montgomery. I know I discussed this briefly in the post last week, but I think that at the time, the consensus judgement of the decision was that the situation wasn’t his fault, but at the same time, what else was there to do? Sweeney and Neely spent the offseason acquiring the players to fill out the roster, and — despite the wishes of many fans — they weren’t about to fire themselves, so the only option to make a difference was to swap out the coach. The hope — and admittedly it felt like a wisp of a hope at the time — was that this would be enough of a move to light a fire under the asses of the guys in the room. They clearly wanted to prioritize the stability of the players over a contract for Monty, but given the man’s remarkable success as a coach, it feels like a warning shot over the heads of the players too. Something along the lines of ‘If you don’t get yourselves together here you’ll be going the same way.’

Against all odds, it seems to have worked? The bruins are now 3-1 without Monty, and looking energized. Marchand potted 2 in the win over the Islanders last night, with Zacha also getting 2 goals and an assist, and Pastrnak and Lindholm notching 3 assists each. Its offensive production from the top guys that has felt missing entirely thus far this season — albeit including the the other three games they’ve played so far without Monty. And for the first time this season as well, the goaltending looks like it might be as lock-down as we expected it to be at the beginning of the year. In those four games, opposing teams have scored 0, 1, 2, and 3, goals — funnily enough in that order, so let’s hope it isn’t a continuing pattern — including a shutout and 2 wins for Korpisalo and only 2 goals against with a record of 1-1 and a save percentage at almost .940 for Swayman.

Okay, so it’s been a small sample size, and the Bruins are only holding onto a playoff berth because they’ve played more games than any of the other teams in the Atlantic, but still. This has been the most promising 4 game stretch of the season so far, and it seems to be because the guys in the room are feeling a different kind of way after Monty walked out the door. Especially since the interim coach is Joe Sacco, who’s been an associate coach with the bruins for over a decade, they’re the same team, playing the same systems, but they’re doing it all a little bit better. I still haven’t seen any evidence that would give me hopes for playoff run — they’ve only beaten lower-third teams by slim margins — but I sure am glad to see that something has finally worked for this team’s season.

I think this is true more broadly across the league too though. As someone who plays fantasy football religiously, I too easily get caught up in the mindset that management of a team is almost entirely transactional. Slotting guys into slots without any influence on what happens. You create your lineup, make deals with the other managers, and then you could go apple picking or for a long hike during the games and it doesn’t make a difference on how your team does.

Not so in real sports though. Coaching matters! I think it was almost as surprising as when Monty was released by the Bruins as when he signed with the Blues less than a week later. I know he’s familiar with the organization, and has good relationships there, but it seemed like a coach of his caliber could certainly be hunting for a job with a cup contender, right? And St. Louis should be going into a rebuild cycle soon. They might not be a legitimate contender for a decade. Right?

Who knows! Is the answer. The Blues have had 2 games with Monty at the helm, and they have played and absolutely dusted two of the teams that are likely to be in the hunt for the cup come June in the Rangers and the Devils. Although both of those teams have appeared to flag in the past couple of weeks, especially in comparison to how well the Hurricanes have played, and how well the Caps have borne the absence of Ovechkin, this is the reigning President’s Trophy winner we’re talking about and a team that seems to be the most popular “dark horse” pick for the cup — and for several years now, too. And the Blues have looked superb against both of these teams. Absolutely stellar. Again, this is an even more limited sample size than we have with the Bruins, but it’s just so fun to see humans react to change in human ways and for that to actually make a difference in the results of the sport.

The last example I want to give is a game I watched a few nights ago between Columbus and Carolina. I can’t explain exactly what it was that made the game so fun to watch other than say it looked like a college hockey game. It was erratic, it was clumsy, it had flashes of elegance and brilliance that are unfamiliar in NHL gameplay, and everyone seemed to be skating just a little bit harder than usual. Their crossovers were just that little bit deeper. Their hits were just a little bit harder, but also messier. Two guys on Carolina ran right into each other in the open ice and a third Carolina forward took advantage of the situation to take an excellent shot on goal. For whatever reason there was something in the air in that building, and everybody reacted to it, and joined in. I haven’t seen an NHL game that looked the way that one did in a long time and it was a lot of fun to watch them play like they were all teenagers.

Stay safe, eat well, and happy Thanksgiving.