Recently I posed this question to my Twitter followers:
Here are some of the responses:
Unfortunately I am not aware of any real-life technology that could facilitate such a Frankenstein experiment.
In the replies above, Tom Burns does raises a good point about putting a rec player in a pro’s body being a significant safety hazard for everyone in the game.
In addition, having worked with university, ECHL, AHL and NHL players in the past three years, I can safely say that underachievers like early-career Blake Wheeler and Rob Schremp are still running vastly superior software at a much higher bandwidth than the best rec-league players.
In their cases it’s more about the transferability of the individual’s skillsets and patterns of play than their raw hockey IQ. (Read More: Developing Pro-Ready Offensive Players)
An Experiment With JrPens
The closest to the “beer leaguer mind, pro skills; NHL competition” analogy is having an average gamer take on a professional esport athlete, with both players playing familiar games using roughly equivalent assets.
I happen to be a run-of-the-mill, decent, online player in NHL21 (top-100 in Online Versus Casual, 550 Competitive Rating).
Meanwhile my Chel Guide co-author, David “JrPens91” Roebuck is one of the top NHL21 pros in the world.
So I sent him a text and arranged for a best-of-three series:
Him: 2020 Pittsburgh Penguins
Me: 2020 Toronto Maple Leafs
We shared the same background knowledge about the strategies and mechanics of the game (having written a book on the topic together).
The only difference: Our skill gap inside the game
I was ready to have my ass handed to me. In the name of science.
While our players had comparable skating, stickhandling and shooting skills, the gulf in our perceptual processes - the mind gap - was vast indeed.
I lost Game One 6-0 and dropped Game Two 6-2 after holding JrPens to a 1-1 tie until late in the second period.
Here is what I learned:
Mind Gap 1: Pace Control
Going into the series against a vastly superior opponent, I was consciously telling myself to calm down and play at a slower pace than usual.
JrPens’ first gear > my first gear
JrPens’ sixth gear > my sixth gear
So as the lesser player, my only chance to be competitive was to force JrPens to slow down, then try to keep up with him from there.
Starting the game on second gear, regrouping in my D-zone and turning back upon first sign of pressure from JrPens meant that I was essentially killing the clock and diminishing my already-infinitesimal chances of winning. But it also gave me a chance to get used to his style of play without giving up a touchdown in the first period.
Friend of the newsletter JFresh learned this lesson the hard way 24 hours later in his own best-of-three series against JrPens.
JFresh’s Calgary Flames maxed out their intensity from the opening whistle and tried to out-skate and out-retrieve JrPens’ PIT squad. The result was a 6-0 PIT lead after one period, en route to a 15-0 final score.
Mind Gap 2: Patterns vs. Execution
After being shut out in Game One, I get on the board with an early power-play goal in G2:
Off the faceoff I actually went with my least high-percentage option, which was to win it back to the point, instead of setting up a one-timer in the slot.
-JH
Players on the wrong side of the mind gap, as I was, tend to over-complicate and over-think.
JrPens and I have a similar tactical understanding of the game, but he holds a significant advantage in “thumb skills” and ability to execute under pressure.
As a result through the first four periods of play he was consistently able to take away my Plan A - the easiest, highest-percentage offensive play available to me in any given situation.
Consequently I was forced into going to Plan B and even Plan C, making lower-percentage, more difficult-to-execute plays as to throw him off my scent.
Meanwhile he was still able to set up and convert on his Plan As given his additional poise under pressure. With a delay or a late stickhandling move he was able to get open and sneak the cross-seam feed through, even if I was already sitting on the passing lane.
Players on the right side of the mind gap, therefore, are able to play their game and complete their usual high-percentage plays thanks to superior execution.
Mind Gap 3: Stamina & Consistency
In Game Two I scored first, then held JrPens to a 1-1 tie until 7:25 remaining in the second period:
I run a Plan C off the entry, make a surprise spin-o-rama move with TOR15, then pass to TOR24 in double coverage.
Somehow TOR24 keeps possession of the puck. I quickly stickhandle and slide the puck cross-crease to a wide-open TOR26 a sure goal.
Except the PIT goaltender sprawls out to save the initial shot and the rebound.
It was all over after that. JrPens draws a penalty on the ensuing counter-attack, then scores on the power-play. Within minutes he was up by two goals.
Instead of a 2-1 lead, a three-goal swing the other way.
I fight back to 3-2 with a clinical TOR19 finish on a 2v1, but run out of gas mentally and collapse to a 6-2 defeat.
While JrPens was lucky not to fall behind on the TOR26 chance, he earned his win.
I played as well as I could for a long stretch, but it was simply a matter of time before I fatigued and let up. As an established pro who is used to competing on the biggest stages, his mental stamina and consistency were far superior to mine, which made the difference.
Junior players moving to the professional ranks and depth NHLers looking to progress up the lineup face the same mental hurdle.
Playing often and well is easy against CHL competition when you’re too good for the league.
Executing with precision is a given when you play 10 minutes a night against dump-and-chasers.
But retaining the mental edge is easier said than done when one is asked to perform against the very best, all the time.
It all comes back to the mind gap.
What NHL players, coaches & GMs are reading:
If you enjoy this newsletter and want to see more free content, then join a select group of professional hockey players, coaches and managers and read Hockey Tactics 2020 & Chel Guide. Buy Now on Gumroad