A hockey team is a process. This was the thing Kyle Dubas wasn't afraid to talk about, while most people involved in the sport just want to talk about confidence and work ethic and personality traits. And faceoffs, of course. What Dubas was getting at, and Sheldon Keefe, was that you don't just walk in on day one with your playoff game ready to go. Part of the purpose of the work ethic is getting there.

The Leafs, you may have noticed, aren't there. But you may also have noticed they have won a lot of games and have a lot of points, and those points are the cushion on which they can live through the process of becoming whatever team they are going to be now.

The intentionality model of hockey (or life) as I call it, says that whatever the outcome, that's what you set out to do. So if the Leafs are bad at offence, bad at having the puck, but have genuinely improved at in-zone offence, on the power play and in net, that's obviously what Craig Berube wants. The system is inferred from the results. And yet, if you listen to him, he'd like some good quality shots, the players who should know better to stay out of the box and the team to have the puck more.

It's a process. And it's only December. Tuck the worry beads in the drawer. Do, also stop saying "but they're good defensively". Because everyone knows, and that doesn't put the puck in the net. Also I find it personally annoying.

Some news:

Saw this (which is a screenshot not the real link):

And I want you to guess who wrote it. Yes, it's him, you are correct.. You can go find it if you want to read it.

A very long look at rink availability:

And that's about it for a Monday. Worry less, enjoy the games more (I know sometimes that just isn't possible) and trust the process.

Next game is tomorrow, the first of four games in six days.

From The Branches