The question seemed simple, wondering how Ondrej Kase had managed to maintain his belief in himself while he was shuttling back and forth between the American Hockey League and the Ducks, but the Czech-born forward was puzzled by one unfamiliar word.
“I don’t know what is ‘confidence.’ What is ‘confidence’?” he said.
Confidence is self-assurance, he was told. Thinking you can get the job done before you finally get results, as Kase did Sunday in scoring his first NHL playoff goal. “Oh,” he said, his mystified expression dissolving as he stored that information away in his memory.