Confidence is important in life. It allows you to think quicker and more reliably when you’re not constantly second guessing yourself. That ability to think quickly is important in most sports, especially hockey . The Sabres came into the season with a question mark hanging over them with no way of knowing if this essentially new team would mesh. That’s not exactly a confidence builder. Lose seven games in a row, and that confidence will essentially disappear.
After Monday’s game against Minnesota, Girgensons mentioned that the young guys were afraid to make plays, my guess was that’s because of a lack in confidence. I was able to make that game Monday night and the team looked horrible. They were lacking basic skills, most notably passing, simply because they were second guessing every move they made. Just about every time Vanek came off the ice he would slam the door or bash his stick against the boards, pure frustration which kills confidence. Scoring one goal a game, on average, doesn’t seem to help either.
With that said, last night was different. They looked like they remembered how to pass from their pee-wee hockey days and not only netted three goals but earned their first win of the season in come-back style. If that doesn’t build confidence I don’t know what will.
Is this new found confidence going to win a cup? Probably not. It might not even make them a good hockey team. I do think it might help with the lack of scoring and basic fundamentals that seemed to be missing, allowing this team to mesh like they need to in order to build this team into something better.
The Sabres have a tough week coming up facing the Sedin twins on the 4-3 Canucks, the surprisingly unbeaten Avalanche, and the always physical Bruins. Those three games are a good opportunity to continue building that needed confidence. Of course, it’s an easy way to crush it also.