Defenseman Samuel Girard was the first to express his dissatisfaction with his level of play in the early months of the National Hockey League calendar, and to get back on track he made the big strides…or rather, the small ones.
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After scoring just five points in his first 25 games of the season, the Quebecer has struggled to get the machine off to a good start in 2022-2023. Sometimes certain details, no matter how insignificant, can transform an athlete’s performance and it seems the back of the Colorado Avalanche has taken notice. In fact, his head coach Jared Bednar has already mentioned the connection between the player and his equipment to explain individual successes and problems.
However, a change to Girard’s stick had a magical effect on the Roberval hockey player. In December he switched to implements that were about 5-6 inches longer than the previous ones. The result: The defender has collected 23 points in his last 31 games. Then, during a streak of seven wins in eleven Avs games, he averaged one point per duel. Since the beginning of the calendar year, the left-handed shooter has one point less than Cale Makar overall.
“Nothing happened and it was difficult mentally,” the 24-year-old athlete, who initially believed in the ill effects of a fractured sternum that kept him sidelined during the playoffs, recently told the Denver Post 2022 about Trying Something New. It’s a longer stick, it helps me with my throw and I can find the shooting lanes easily too. I’m very glad about that.”
Further examples
The 5’10” player, using a racquet that better suited his height, wanted to defy logic a bit and it all paid off. “Yes, G uses a ministick. Let’s hope they keep getting longer,” Makar laughed at his teammates.
Some, like forward Evan Rodrigues, like to experiment with equipment. The reasons for action are often very different from case to case.
“It doesn’t bother me too much, I’m not picky. But yes, I switched from a Bauer Supreme to a Bauer Nexus [pendant une année]. Then, the following season, I changed my skate blades when I returned to Supreme. Every summer I take a new model. I’m trying something. If I like, I start using. Sometimes when it doesn’t work I just want to mix up the combination [pour que les performances soient meilleures]. On certain occasions, it allows me to get out of a bad sequence, “he specified.