3. The Svech™
Ok, hear me out on this one. Hockey is an incredibly physical game. We all know that, right? But, what if I told you that hockey has a mental aspect to it that far outweighs the physical, especially under certain circumstances?
Having been a goaltender for the better part of two decades, I can tell you that getting scored on is incredibly demoralizing, but most of us have short-term memories and can shake off a bad goal or two.
Something that I (and goalies everywhere) have never been able to shake off is getting scored on via an own goal or by a move so incredibly difficult to pull off, that only one (19 year-old) man has ever been able to pull off at the NHL level: The Svech™.
Name any particular way of scoring on a goalie that is more demoralizing to the goalie in question than The Svech™. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
Every single time Andrei Svechnikov has tried (and scored on) that play, the wind vanishes out of the other team’s sails, and their morale seems to tank. This move is the perfect move to try because 1) Svech can do it, and 2) it more often than not propels the Carolina Hurricanes right to victory.
Tonight’s matchup in Colorado is sure to be a heated one, especially considering the social media camaraderie the Canes and the Avs share. Avs fans are particularly friendly, and I’m sure we won’t see too many of them screaming in our mentions tonight. Let’s try and return the favor if things don’t go our way tonight, eh?