I saw this interview with Chris Higgins where he was questioned about his personal slump. His answer was simple.
"I work hard on every shift and will keep doing so. At times like this it just seems like the pucks are bouncing the wrong way and nothing is going in the net. You start questioning your self too much and hold on to your stick too tight. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, and just go with my instinct more instead of triple analyzing every move. As soon as one puck goes the flood gates will open. I'm a second half of the season guy. I'll bounce back...you'll see"
This quote was encouraging in more ways than one. For one it reflects a clear calm state of mind, where the player knows his talents and understands the way the game goes. He's not looking for or worrying about major changes and neither is he panicking about the lack of production and falling in to a self destructive cycle (I believe Perezhogin would be familiar with that one).
Furthermore, this frame of mind seems to be reflected through out the majority of the locker room, and (based on how they have handled the situation so far) the management. Of course some people have to ask the questions "what if" and "will we have to". However, for the large part, the motto seems to be: "Keep working hard, try to relax and just put the puck on the net". I couldn’t think of a better and healthier frame of mind for a team when trying to get out of a major slump. Whether this is enough or not is up to you to speculate and Bob to decide.
On another note, as January is coming to an end, the end of the season begins to enter the radar screens. I don’t think I am the only one when I say I’ll feel a lot better if we can breach the 50 mark by Sunday night. Some wins and some help from the rest of the league, and I believe 49 is attainable.
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