One of the all-time greatest sporting highlights is that of a hurdler who struggles out of the gate, then just says EFF IT, and proceeds to plow straight through every obstacle with his damn chest. It’s a magical bit of defiance in the face of failure.
If you ignore the fact that the strategy actually fails in the end, it makes a nice metaphor for what Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has done to every hockey hurdle placed in his way from high school hockey on.
The thing is, if you simply went to a practice to evaluate his game, or caught a game on a night the puck didn’t find its way to him much, you’d never believe that to be possible.
Jake Guentzel exceeds expectations with a Mensa-level hockey IQ
