by Anne
Thomas Vanek with a sun-kissed glow
I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I've always wondered what changed for Thomas Vanek after the All-Star Break that turned him into our very own goal-scoring machine.
If you don't know about it, Vanek has a personal website because he's a huge BFD in Austria and Buffalo.
Check it out.
Anyway, in his latest interview with the website, TV answered the above question for us, and it seems like it was what wasn't happening after the All-Star Break that turned things around.
You really got on fire after the All-Star-Break. Didn’t you care about your multi-million-dollar contract anymore?
Thomas: I never really cared. That’s what I said all season long. I had a discussion with coach Lindy Ruff after approximately 50 games and that was the real turning point. I wasn’t punished for every mistake or bad shift after that.How did the discussion go down like?
Thomas: I wanted to talk to Lindy, so we sat down and talked. I told him my point of view and obviously he accepted it. It’s very important for any player to have the full confidence of your coach.
So, apparently he told Lindy that what he thought he needed was for him to lay off on getting on his case every time something went wrong. Well, it must've worked. Even though he still had some bad games, the lack of outside criticism helped. We all hear hockey players talk about how a lot of them are their own harshest critics (Miller comes to mind). And in Miller's case, Lindy has gone on record to say that he doesn't harp on his mistakes because 1. He doesn't fully understand how to coach the position and 2. Miller is hard enough on himself. Therefore, it seems that, like Miller, Vanek doesn't need any one else telling him he isn't playing well enough, he knows it all on his own. Awwww, Britney was just going through some growing pains. He'll be a-ok next season. Wooooo!!
I'm making some spaghetti squash in my quest to eat healthier... let's see how this works out.
Also: Miller has started updating his blog on his official site (Link to his site under the blogroll on the left).
I love that Lindy is really willing to sit down with players, listen to what they have to say, and give something else a try if there's some validity in what the player is saying. That's what makes him such a good coach, I think.
ReplyDeleteThat's what makes him such a good coach, I think.
ReplyDeleteIt just reaffirms what we already knew about Lindy: He's got a knack for coaching young players. Vanek is obviously still young but he's making that transition from newbie to regular and its nice to see his relationship with Lindy can grow and change as he does.
I've been waiting to see if he would in fact update that blog.
ReplyDeleteDON'T YOU LOVE THOMAS?!!! IS HE IN YOUR HEART?!
DON'T YOU LOVE THOMAS?!!! IS HE IN YOUR HEART?!
ReplyDeleteDANI I'M JUST NOT READY! He was my perfect hockey man at the end of the season, working hard, making big goals without a lot of fanfare, but he's definitely on my shortlist for my new #5.