"You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you'll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit." And, "Losing a game is heartbreaking, losing your sense of excellence or worth is a tragedy." - Joe Paterno, Penn State Football Coach
Wranglers 0, Tri-City Titans 11. Wrangler shots on goal 32 (5-11-16). Titans' shots on goal 52 (13-21-18). Titans' hat tricks: Hollandsworth and Turley. Wranglers had a season high on shots of 32. Ok then, that about does it on last night's game analysis.
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Recently, I have rejected quite a few comments from fans because they blame the loss on this player, or that player is weak, or so and so is no good, blah, blah, blah. Many comment that I'm favoring the "D" or this player or that player. What I'm trying to do is pick out some positive - a bit of a glimmer - out of a worthless season. There is no blame on any one player that can account for the lack of production by the Wranglers. You might have your favorite player and that's great, but one player does not make a team; nor does one player make a losing season.
The players that make up the Wranglers - forwards, defensemen, goalies - all have varying levels of skill, talent, goals, and desires. Put ANY one or two players on another NorPac team and I believe they would not only play to their utmost, but exceed and excel and continue to get better. Again, I'm not being selective, pick ANY two or maybe three players and I firmly believe they would contribute success to their new team. However I believe the opposite is true too. Pick any two players from any other NorPac team, put them on the Wranglers bench and within time their success would be diminished and eventually they would be no better than any other Wrangler player.
A team is a group of people linked in a common purpose. The function of the team is to conduct complex tasks towards a goal. The more similar the members are, the more cohesive the team is. The success of every individual is bound to the success of the team. No hockey player, no matter how talented, ever won a game by themselves. "The Great One" Wayne Gretzky will tell you himself his success was a result of a team. Every team needs a leader, a boss, a manager, or perhaps in hockey a coach. The purpose of the leader is to ultimately create a way for people to contribute to make something extraordinary happen. A leader builds trust so people will follow them. Sounds so very simple, huh? Well, it's not.
My Wrangler game analysis isn't about players, it's about team and leadership. Clearly there is no concept of team. Players playing independently - doing what they want and when - and not playing cohesively - playing together. Can you fault a player for this? In the absence of leadership people still want to succeed. Since there is NO leadership, there cannot be a team other than a collection of players assembled to do one thing - play hockey. I would even go so far as to ask players, "What is the goal of tonight?" I bet you would get several varying answers, not a cohesive similar answer. Next if you were to ask a follow up question on "How are you going to accomplish that goal tonight?" The answers would even be more varied and dissimilar. No real common purpose other than to play hockey. No supreme confidence. Why the varying answers? Because there's no common unity or confidence. Why no unity or confidence? Because there is no leadership (coaching) and as a result there is no team. The ugly consequence will be that the Wranglers will continue to lose games; a "lose/lose" blame game will continue - "It's your fault, no your fault, blah, blah, blah"; and, players will lose their sense of excellence and worth. It's a vicious downward cycle to the end of the season - a tragedy.
Outside of being a hockey fan, I am a manager in business. Whenever somebody comes to me to complain, I listen, then I ask, "So, what can be done?" I whined above, and now ask myself "What can be done to stop this downward cycle?" It's going to take decisive and consequential action. To start, I would recommend getting the necessary leadership (coaching) now. Getting rid of, or acquiring new players is a temporary fix, the real fix is building the team through effective leadership. This will start to heal the tragedy of players by building their sense of excellence and worth. Wrangler Management, if you read this... stop the tragedy, fix the problem - NOW. The consequences if you do or don't will last longer than you think.
