[GranteedEV]

Everything was simple for the players in 2014-15. As a forward you block a shot and off to the races you go. As a defenseman, you take the puck away and you fire the puck up the middle to a leaking forward. You need offense in the cycle, you default to the set plays knowing where your teammates will be. You skate hard and you get more minutes. You dog it and you're down the lineup before Bob could say "Adirondack". You lose a board battle or faceoff, you patiently wait for a turnover. The goalie lets in some bad goals, the backup is in the game for a different look. Your line isn't clicking, you'll have somebody else with you before the game is over.

Everything about that team, and the half a year before it, and the season after it, was about skating hard and trusting your hockey sense and skill.

Now the emphasis is on winning board battles, trusting in volume shooting, being patient and never reacting to larger issues, and hoping you win the 50/50 coin flip on the goals column. Your position on the roster probably won't change, but if it does, you won't know exactly why, because it won't be based on your recent play.

Completely different. Physically and mentally. It's easy to skate hard, even though it's hard skating. But if that's not the emphasis, and there's no reward for it, you're naturally not gonna do it. That reward isn't just coaching - it's on the ice. If you're on the forecheck and outnumbered while your buddies are peeling off for a line change, vs on the forecheck against one guy on a broken play with a winger flying up the ice to try and make it an outnumbered attack, you're naturally going to skate harder in the latter and go through the motions on the former.