This is something I've been thinking about all offseason really.
It's early of course, but I think we could be seeing the downside of "always earned never given" mantra.
Organizations where everybody is constantly worried about their job tend to underperform as a rule. It's a well studied phenomenon, and I see no reason why it wouldn't apply to hockey teams.
The constant stress wears people out mentally. It makes people stop work for themselves rather than each other. Making people compete against each other creates envy and distrust and generally is a very reliable way of souring the overall mood in a workplace.
This offseason was pretty crazy in terms of competition for spots. I feel exhausted just watching from the sidelines. It was also pretty much all that was talked about, at least publicly, that competition for spots. Not for example "finding form" or "fitting in new guys", or adjusting the way they play to a more puck-control game.
Now that the team is losing I'm sure many players are still stuck in that preseason mode, constantly watching over their shoulders at the other guys, worried about their jobs instead of just focusing on winning hockey games.
There's nothing wrong with internal competition as such, and it's always a part of professional hockey. But making it the central mantra of your organization might not be the best idea after all.
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