I think this is a good post but theres always been goalies from Glenn Hall to Carey Price that seem to suffer immensely from the stress of the position but still perform like gold when they are between the pipes. Hall used to throw up before games and be sick all day on occasion. Maybe it would have been less tenable for Hall in 82 game seasons to be that way.
But the flip side of your comment is that how many players get to this level without considerable amounts of mental toughness. Its not that they don't possess it, maybe not enough. The stress of pro sports is enormous. When you take the few spots in sports where that pressure gets focus of a giant magnifying glass like Goalie in hockey or pitcher in baseball it occasionally fries anybody up. Its why these positions seem to have players suffering from the most mental effects, superstitions, weird oddities. The goalies are truly the space cadets in hockey because the position is unlike anything else. Doesn't help that their job is stopping rubber pucks that often don't behave according to normal physics and wobble, drop, and don't always move in straight lines and get deflected. Close to 100MPH speeding small objects that move unpredictably. Its your job to stop those. It would make most people lose it at the pro level.
Absolutely.
I think though that how an athlete processes adversity is a useful marker to see how mentally resilient they are. That IMO is where Campbell primarily fails...between the ears.
His very unorthodox style aside....
He seems to have the requisite courage needed to stand in front of a vulcanized rubber disk traveling at 100mph. No issue there but as we know courage is only part of the deal.
Fuhr was a perfect example of a goalie that could let bad goals (and bad games) go. These things simply didnt linger at all. He would acknowledge that he wasnt good enough and that was it.
He was on to the next challenge. he and other successful goalies didnt stay in the negativity.
He and others knew that bad shit was going to happen...acknowledge it and move on quickly.
Do not stay in that place mentally and that starts with the self talk.
To maintain a high level of play for long stretches of time it is an absolute requirement to be able to move on very quickly from the bad shit.
That IMO is a large part of Campbells issue. He gets consumed by the bad shit.
I have never seen a goalie that beats himself up to the level that Campbell does and stays in that place. The pressure and expectations of being an NHL starter is difficult enough without adding to the weight of that by embracing such a negative disposition.
Now all that being said there is little to no historical evidence that Campbell can be a legit starter BUT if he can work with someone to clean up the lack of self discipline around how he processes the bad shit then I see no reason why he cant be a solid tandem goalie.
The bottom line is that Campbell is 31 years old and after multiple years in the NHL this is STILL an issue....that is a red flag and for some its enough to cut bait.
I understand that completely. Thats primarily why I do not understand signing this player for a $5M long term contract.
A mistake of that magnitude is not something good management does IMO.
