Leadership and Poise: The FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Attributes

[dstevensonjr 402]

We see them every day. When teammates ask for help with their builds, we tell them "don't worry about leadership and poise, they don't help anything". We tell them to focus on things like scoring, defense, and puck handling. All of these things that supposedly "help you win" by putting the puck in the net.

 

But what about the intangibles? What about the things that can't be quantified on the ice? Certainly there must be room in the game for Leadership and Poise!

 

An analysis of the top players in the VHL will show you just how FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY these attributes have been. Of the top 20 skaters in the league (as listed by TPE), only 4 players have invested any of their large amounts of TPE into Leadership (3 of which have 1, 7, and 9 TPE in that category, and 1 of which I'll get into later). The Poise rating has seen a slightly larger investment, although it still does not even represent half of the top 20. 8 players have put points into Poise (7 of which have 1, 6, 8, 10, 21, 39, and 50 TPE, and 1 of which I'll get into later). 12 of the 20 players have not invested at all in Poise, while 16 haven't invested in Leadership. How can it be that players have made it this deep into their careers, and yet still don't have a need for these attributes?

 

It has become clear that most veterans in the league have been ignoring these key intangibles that are imperative to being a complete player on the ice. Save for one player, the people's champ when it comes to the most important characteristics that a player can have. I'm talking about a veteran Defense for the Chicago Phoenix, who has increased their ratings to 51 in the Leadership category, and 71 in the Poise department.

 

I'm talking about Bo Johansson.

 

In a league where players have insisted on bypassing the requisite characteristics to fully round out their player, Bo Johansson has taken the extra step to make sure that they've built a player who is made to lead. Even with depreciation running for multiple seasons, Bo has still managed to not sacrifice offense while pursuing the kind of attributes that coaches love. Bo is looking at a likely 7th season in the VHL at over a point per game while being a mainstay on the Chicago blueline, proving that contributing to these vital categories to build a player can still result in on ice success and production.

 

It has become clear that this snubbing of these attributes is a league problem. Maybe it's because they don't really help you score goals. Maybe it's because they're not the "sexy" categories to put points into. Maybe it's because the sim engine doesn't value these intangibles like it truly should. But one thing has become clear: these categories can not, and must not be ignored any more! It's time for the rise of the intangibles! It's time to make our players fully rounded! It's time for Leadership and Poise to become part of a well rounded build!

Or put points into scoring, who cares.

 

Go Brats!

[dstevensonjr 402]

Theme Week PT - Bonus