I came across this article and found it interesting.
I think compete level is a huge part of what Bill Peters has brought to the team and has helped in purging their psychological fragility from under Gulutzam.
I think Bob Hartley brought some of this as well. I believe it’s a component of their 3rd period resilience both now and under Hartley. I believe Bob attributed the resilience it to fitness, showing he wasn’t really conscious of what he was doing. Maybe he was correct and being in shape enabled a high compete level. But he was ignorant of the law of diminishing returns of being a hard ass. A high compete level enabled them to be competitive and make the playoffs in 2014-15 if luck was with them, once the good fortune ended their compete level mattered less than their skill or lack there of.
It’s kind of like exercise & diet.
Eat well - no exercise... middling results
Compete - no skill... middling results
Exercise - eat like crap... middling results
Skill out the wazoo - no compete... middling results,
Exercise & eat well - maximize potential
Compete with skill - maximize potential
Peters seems to be conscious of this, as he stresses the importance of faceoffs in winning 50/50 puck battles. You win the puck battles you win your shift, if you win the majority of the shifts you have a great chance at winning the game. But Peters does this while being cognizant of other mental & physical components important in managing a game.
https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/light...the-lightning/
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To coach Jon Cooper, a high compete level is about being a hard player to play against, not just because of skill level but because he will make you work.
"When you have the other team worried about you, that's compete," he said.
Assistant coach Derek Lalonde pointed to 50-50 puck battles as a way of specifically measuring compete level. When two players go after a loose puck, which one comes up with it? That's something the Lightning tracks, along with where the puck comes from and how the battle is generated: Did someone dump it in and then chase it down? Was it jarred loose on a hit or poked away?
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Compete can't always be seen in statistics. Sometimes it's in the "eye test." Sometimes it's tying up a player to clear space for a teammate or something as seemingly small as making a good move to the keep the puck in the offensive zone and continue a play. Maybe that leads to a goal or forces the opponent into a longer shift that creates a breakdown.
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