Lindy Ruff, like Plato before him, has a very political adventure ahead of him. When balancing the harmony of a community, the principles that bind them happen through the reconciliation of freedom and solidarity. Every player has their own voice, rhythm, and demeanor. Together these elements either maximize a team’s efficiency, or subverts it. How, then, do you prevent a hockey team from becoming a society of strangers?
I know. I’m trying too hard to compete with Mike Heika’s brilliantly placed inclusion of Immanuel Kant into hockey writing. But competing with Heika isn’t the only categorical imperative at work here.