El proyecto Business Readiness Rating (BRR)

Within-team competition refers to teammates or potential teammates (e.g., blue-chip prospects, free-agents, traded players) that challenged participants for their roster spot. Such competition resonated mostly with rookie and sophomore NHL players. One retired participant confirmed the notion of experiencing limited playing opportunities as a prospect and sophomore when he stated: “In (city), I played with (names). These were Norris trophy candidates [(i.e., best defensemen)]. I wasn’t under any illusion that I was going to play a regular shift and I didn’t”

(Re1). Having All-Star teammates preventing one’s insertion into the NHL is relatively clear and easy to accept. However, some participants also received limited ice-time compared to similarly established teammates. One veteran cited “people in the way” as a reason for his difficulty staying in the NHL. When prompted for clarify, he added: “Every year, there are always new faces coming in. If you are not getting the job done, the manager makes trades and brings in new people. That’s what I mean by ‘people in the way’” (V2). There is always internal competition that prevents players from remaining on an NHL team. The competition is especially fierce among rookie and sophomore NHL players who feel vulnerable and expendable should they fail to contribute to the team’s on-ice success.

4.2.1.1.1 Self-driven focus

Self-driven focus was about players that held a roster spot and wanted to ensure that they could resist a challenge for the spot from another prospect. Two qualities associated with these individuals were high levels of motivation and concentration. A high level of motivation was expressed through the effort one exerted as noted by one veteran:

In my second year, I wanted to be an NHL player. You work hard in the off-season just like anybody else. If you work hard, there is always someone that is working harder. So you want to work even harder. Someone is going for your job and at the same time, you are going for somebody else’s. (V2)

The participant acknowledged the challenge from prospects and accepted it by willingly

engaging into the training necessary to keep his roster spot. By acknowledging that he was going for another player’s job, the veteran was motivated to not only maintain his roster spot but assume a higher profile within the team (e.g., scoring line instead of checking line). A second veteran similarly acknowledged the presence of prospects in the organization that could take his roster spot after his rookie year. However, he concentrated on his own performances and avoided worrying over the number of roster spots available and prospects vying for them. He said:

Other guys, you know them all because you played with them in the minors, they would be writing down the depth chart. But I didn’t really get into all of that. I just wanted to play to the best of my ability. It’s weird but you want to enjoy it a little bit because you never knew if it was going to be your last one. (V1)

By concentrating on his own performance, the veteran avoided obsessing over the team structure and where he fit. Regardless of whether he had a positive or negative performance, he enjoyed his experience and refrained from assessing his past performances at great lengths to the detriment of future performances.

4.2.1.1.2 NHL doubt

NHL doubt means that players were in the NHL yet expressed doubt over whether they would retain their roster spot while experiencing ongoing pressure from other prospects within the team. After a call-up, players live in hotels for the first 26 games of their NHL careers, which

allows them to be instantaneously sent back down to the minors without any prolonged logistical commitments, such as first and last month’s rent or a mortgage. While living in a hotel, it was common for players to express concern over whether a demotion was imminent. One rookie stated:

It is tough. You never know what’s going to happen from day to day. That’s the hardest thing. You are walking on eggshells even though you are happy to be where you are. It’s the best thing that ever happened. It’s definitely a hard situation. I guess you are really nervous about making mistakes and doing certain things because you don’t want that to be a cause to send you down. (R1)

In essence, the uncertainty surrounding their position within the team leads to feelings of stress and doubt over the longevity of their career in the NHL.

4.2.1.2 Opposition

Opposition refers to the opposing players and teams that outmatched the participants. One common quality possessed by the opposition in the NHL is their physical strength and

endurance. In junior or college hockey, players competed with less muscle mass and when the participants begun playing in the NHL, they immediately noticed the difference. One retired player explained: “[In the NHL,] I wasn’t playing against junior players anymore. I was playing against men. Even though I was a bigger guy, they had men muscle” (Re10). As junior, college, or minor league players, many of the participants were also renowned for their ability to score.

However, due to the quality of the opposition, scoring in the NHL became complicated with open space closed down quickly and scoring chances less common. One veteran goal-scorer elaborated: “At the NHL level, everyone is very skilled and you don’t have much time out there.

The open space closes really quickly. A lot of times, you aren’t scoring on your first shot, it’s the

second or third” (V2). From this description, scoring in the NHL is prevented by defensemen that are multi-talented (e.g., balanced, strong, agile), consistently aggressive, and superior tactically. The outcome is only achieved after a period of resilience, in which possession is gained in the offensive zone, scoring opportunities are sought, and quality shots are taken.

Should players experience a prolonged scoring slump or feel unable to handle the physical strength of opposing NHL players, questions could arise about their capacity to stay in the NHL.

4.2.1.2.1 Knowledge of opponent

Knowledge of opponent refers to understanding the tactical, technical, mental, and physical strengths and weaknesses of opposing players and their teams. The study of one’s opposition is frequent in the NHL and can serve to differentiate between those that stay in the NHL and those that are demoted. One retired player explained:

It’s understanding the game and how it’s played. You have to understand your opponents.

It’s not work hard and you will make the NHL. First of all, you have to have some talent to get you there. But more important is to know who you play against. For me, I knew all of the fighters. Who were the left-handed fighters? Who were the right-handed fighters?

Do they want to fight really close? I would prepare in that area. Those are the details I would pay attention to. This is how I had to prepare to play in the NHL. (Re6)

Regardless of experience in the NHL, the participants noted that they engaged in some analysis of their opponent with hopes of maximizing their chances of success. Without such information, NHL players risk being surprised by an opponent, forced into making a quick irrational decision, and have minimal time to execute leading to performance issues. While video analysis ensured that the participants were prepared for their opponents, the opposition had equal access to video.

One retired player explained:

Before, I could only watch one game but later in my career I could watch them all. That means that my opponents could watch them too. They knew what I was going to do so I had to ready to counter (R1).

The use of video analysis contributed greatly to the understanding of an opponent’s tendencies but also forced the participants find novel ways to generate scoring chances, win fights, and defend against an offensive attack among other situations.

4.2.1.2.2 Overwhelmed by NHL talent

Overwhelmed by NHL talent refers to the incompetent feeling among young players struggling to perform in an assigned role in the NHL. Many of the participants in the present study have had lengthy careers in the NHL while one rookie had been subjected to numerous call-ups and

demotions. When asked to explain his struggles in the NHL, he alluded to the elevated talent-level in the league: “I just think the talent-level of play was a big thing. You are playing against the best players in the world. The best goalies in the world are in that league” (R2). The opposition was indeed difficult to overcome and prevented the said player from scoring at pace resembling his junior and minor league career output. The remaining participants that realized this trend adjusted to become role players in the NHL instead of point producers. However, even in these cases, some players hesitated to make the transition and continued to be unproductive at the NHL level in the beginning. One retired player echoed the aforementioned participant’s quote by stating: “When I got there, the talent level, strength and the speed was overwhelming. I didn’t have a problem with the aggressiveness. I had a problem gaining enough space to produce”

(Re3). Quite clearly, the talented opposition in the NHL turned a player’s perceived strengths into average qualities and some players struggled to acknowledge the reality of playing against

the best players in the league, which is that they will prevent them from generating individual points and basic statistics.