Tough to say. It's tough to pinpoint what's different, really.
He looks real comfortable at center. He's anticipating a lot of plays, too, jumping at the right time and scoring great goals when he gets the opportunity to.
It's love of the game. He comes down to optional skates. On off days he comes down and rides the bike. He just loves the game.
A few weeks before the rosters came out, we were talking about it in the room a little bit, who is going to be picked and who is not going to be picked. You could tell he really wanted to play. He really wanted to be a part of the Olympics.
We had good breakouts coming with speed and good entry. Once we're set up we have great puck-movers. It doesn't have to be a big slap shot all the time because we're there for rebounds.
We're playing real strong in our own end. We're not giving up a lot of shots and Manny only has to make one save and we're clearing the rebound.
They're playing really strong defensively. We just have to be real careful and not turn the puck over in the neutral zone. That's what they're waiting for.
On the power play, I'm trying to take more shots. Even five-on-five, just getting more shots through, and try to get open, too.
I think it's great to have him back. Too bad we couldn't get Pavel, but we had to have one of the two guys back. We've got Hank signed for a number of years, and that's great.
Copyright © 2024 Electric Goat Media. All Rights Reserved.