The timeless hockey cliché excusing any loss goes, “the bounces just didn’t go our way tonight.” Hockey reigns as possibly the most opportunistic sport there is—ten people chase a zigzagging vulcanized rubber disc on some chilly water, after all—so naturally folks take some comfort in knowing their success or failure, to a certain extent, hinges on chance.
But recycling that phrase night after night totally undermines how much control hockey players have over putting themselves in positions that either convert or create the right bounces. Scoring opportunities do not automatically renew over and over regardless of their actors’ efforts—or lack thereof—to produce something of quality.