Player Discussion: Neal Pionk Part 2

[Buffdog]

Agreed about the contract year thing. Way too much goes into being a professional athlete and maintaining that every day to think it comes down to contract status.

I don't think effort on a game to game basis would necessarily be influenced by a contract year. I think that once a guy is on the ice playing, that stuff isn't in their mind.

BUT I do think that it's possible for a guy going into a contract year to take his off season preparation more seriously and he could show up to camp in better shape and more prepared

With Pionk, I could see increased cardio helping him make better reads and decisions (it's easier to make simple mistakes in a hypoxic state)

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Some guys are definitely more driven by money. I was told a story by a guy who witnessed it first hand where Alexi Semin asked the locker room how much more money they got if they won the cup and when he was told, he said something along the lines of "well that doesn't seem like it's worth it for that amount"

Edit: sorry it was 2nd hand, but reliable source

Interesting/funny story. Have to take it with a grain of salt but it could be accurate. Wouldn't be too surprising if it was.

I don't know how the system for PO bonus money works in the NHL. I don't think the money is very big. Winning the Cup certainly pays for players renewing their contracts soon after though. At least for the top players. That is a contributing factor to the difficulty in building a dynasty these days. At any rate a Cup is always a good thing on a player's resume.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

But until actually proven this much more likely can be attributed to selective attention bias than actual fact.

It would be interesting to see an actual study on it. Not something I have the time for but it would be interesting to see.

 

[Adam da bomb]

I don't think effort on a game to game basis would necessarily be influenced by a contract year. I think that once a guy is on the ice playing, that stuff isn't in their mind.

BUT I do think that it's possible for a guy going into a contract year to take his off season preparation more seriously and he could show up to camp in better shape and more prepared

With Pionk, I could see increased cardio helping him make better reads and decisions (it's easier to make simple mistakes in a hypoxic state)

Not just off-season. I think during the season they spend that extra hour in the gym, video room or on ice instead of with their families. Everyone knows that it is only 1 out of potentially 7 years so everyone is on board, but, they are not willing to sacrifice any more of their child's childhood to be just a little better.

 

[Buffdog]

Interesting/funny story. Have to take it with a grain of salt but it could be accurate. Wouldn't be too surprising if it was.

I don't know how the system for PO bonus money works in the NHL. I don't think the money is very big. Winning the Cup certainly pays for players renewing their contracts soon after though. At least for the top players. That is a contributing factor to the difficulty in building a dynasty these days. At any rate a Cup is always a good thing on a player's resume.

The bonus to win a cup came last season was 3.75M last season, divided by the entire team. In the case of Semin, it would have been considerably lower in the early days of his career

 

[KingBogo]

Not just off-season. I think during the season they spend that extra hour in the gym, video room or on ice instead of with their families. Everyone knows that it is only 1 out of potentially 7 years so everyone is on board, but, they are not willing to sacrifice any more of their child's childhood to be just a little better.

Many players, probably the majority never get to play on contracts of more than a year or 2 at a time. So they are always in a contract year.