Nikulin Blog November 22: They even brought in a psychiatrist
November 22, 2007
From ThirtyFive
I don’t even know what’s happening with us. We’ve lost five of the last six games. Interestingly, there hasn’t been much cause for the hard luck. We didn’t become softer, didn’t start playing worse. But the puck is not going in the net, and all the problems are because of that. Because of that we’ve lost confidence. We make too many mistakes in our zone.
It’s hard to fault anyone. The goalies make the saves and give us a chance, but still the opposition’s scoring percentage is much higher. I don’t even know how to explain it. At least we beat Pittsburgh’s farm team in the last game. It’s likely that the opponent, a very capable group, didn’t prepare for us. Just looked at our stats.
There are meetings without the coaches and with them, a psychiatrist even came to us. Obviously, I didn’t really understand him, but the guys said he didn’t say any magic words. Only saying that we need to believe in our strengths, keep the spirits up. Interestingly, after this we lost another two games.
Our coach even cancelled one practice. The whole team went bowling. Unlike with golf, where I couldn’t find any bearings, here I was in my element. Ilja Zubov got the first place in the team championship, and I placed second.
The schedule is rather dense here, even in the NHL it’s not so difficult. We had four games in a week. And on the road, too. It’s not really a big distance to travel, but you still need to recover. In Russia I’d gotten used to the sauna and a cold pool. There’s a reason they use these methods during our season. But in my present club there’s nothing like that. In Ottawa, though, they had all of this.
My injury’s healed, there are no problems, although I’m not very happy with my game. In one game I scored two goals, but had many more opportunities. I certainly have to work on the execution.
There are also purely tactical problems. I haven’t fully adapted to the AHL, haven’t fully grasped the strategy, and make mistakes in certain situations. For example, on defense. Sometimes I would skate somewhere where I’m not supposed to be.
In light of this I don’t even want to recall my goals. Although the second one was pretty good. This is my best goal across the ocean yet. I don’t celebrate the goals somehow distinctively. Don’t jump on the glass, don’t imitate a swimmer. Just like always, I raise the hands, the guys skate up, congratulate me, and then I high-five those that were on the bench.
Speaking about my stats, I don’t really pay too much attention to them. But I know I’m second in scoring. Though, like I said, could be better. Not too satisfied with my plus/minus, which is even.
All coaches mix lines when a team is losing. We’re no exception. I’ve spent a few games with Nick Foligno, who was sent down from Ottawa. But then we went back to the original lines.
P.S.: I have been called up to the Ottawa Senators. All the details later. Thank you all for believing in me.
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