Young Blackhawks learning how to maintain confidence through bad games: 'You're not a loser'

Young Blackhawks forward Oliver Moore was watching YouTube on Sunday, decompressing after the Hawks’ tiring and frustrating opening road trip, when he stumbled upon a video of Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.

Mazzulla’s message in the video struck a chord in Moore’s brain. After practice Monday, the 21-year-old Minnesotan was still thinking about it.

“He was talking about [how] when you’re losing, you’re not a loser,” Moore said. “We’re not identified by our losses; we’re identified by our process. Even if we’re winning, we’re not winners. We’re here to get better, and we’re here to stay motivated.

“The challenge is, if you lose a game, coming in and acting the same way, being the same person. And if you’re winning, [the challenge is] the same. You always want to identify how you can get better, no matter what. And we have time to do that now.”

Moore added in that last comment himself, and he’s right: the Hawks still have almost an entire season — 80 out of 84 games — ahead of them to figure out how to get better. They finally slid a win under their belts Tuesday, too.

He and most of his teammates are at ages when development can happen quickly and suddenly. They have the talent necessary to become solid NHL players, too.

But one of the most difficult elements of developing at the pro level is navigating the inevitably frequent failures that occur along the bumpy ride. If that discourages you, you might never reach your potential, regardless of talent.

Most NHL franchises try to avoid completely bottoming out in the standings for that reason. The Hawks, however, have spent years in the basement while accumulating all of these talented youngsters.

Most franchises also keep plenty of veterans around to insulate and guide their kids. The Hawks, however, have almost entirely turned their roster over to youth.

For the Hawks to take a large step forward this season — and their rough first week revealed that step will need to be large indeed — the kids will have to collectively maintain confidence with aplomb, even through bad plays, bad shifts, bad periods and bad games.

Understandably, player confidence is something Hawks coach Jeff Blashill is monitoring closely. He was heartened that the opening trip seemingly didn’t dent it too much.

Blashill gives three pieces of advice. The first: “Control what you can control.” The second: “Focus on the process” more than on results. And the third: “Have fun.”

“You only get a chance to do this for so long, and you better enjoy it,” Blashill said. Watching Journey perform at the United Center on Monday reminded him that hockey players, unlike rock stars, don’t get to do what they love for their entire lives.

The Blackhawks tried to quickly forget about their blowout loss to the Mammoth last week.

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Defensemen Sam Rinzel, 22, and Alex Vlasic, 25, are two Hawks who Blashill has noticed getting less rattled by setbacks and demotions — such as Rinzel’s healthy scratch Saturday against the Sabres — than they used to.

“For anybody, when you’re playing at your best, you’re confident and not really thinking about, ‘What’s going to happen if I don’t make this play?’” Vlasic said during training camp.

“There were a couple points in the season last year where...I’d have a couple bad games [with] a couple turnovers, a couple goals [against], and then I’m in my head, I’m not playing at that same level of confidence. This year, if something bad happens, it’s in one ear, out the other.”

What does it take psychologically to operate like that? Fellow defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, who probably could’ve been a philosopher in another life, explains it better than anyone.

The speed of hockey and the frequency of shifts makes it relatively easy to move on from one bad play, Kaiser explains. You don’t have much time to dwell on it before hopping over the boards again.

It’s more difficult, though, to compartmentalize an entirely bad game, especially at home that night.

“You have time to sit there and think about it, right?” said Kaiser, 24. “Sometimes you feel so much pressure [because] this is all that’s going on in your life. Maybe not all that’s going on, but it’s very important, and you want to be good.

“To be honest, you kind of put into perspective: ‘OK, it’s a long season. Everybody’s going to make mistakes. It doesn’t matter who you are. The best players are going to have bad games.’ And also [you know] that doesn’t make you a bad player.”

The next morning, he shifts to a forward-looking mindset: reviewing video, recognizing mistakes and designing specific, actionable adjustments to avoid making the same mistakes again.

“You remember that it’s never going to be easy,” Kaiser added. “If you’re trying to be the best and trying to perform at the highest level, it is never going to be easy. You’re going to have to go through the process, and the process is hard.

“You go out every night with a chance you’re going to fail or succeed. There’s not really an in-between. ... And it’s human nature: you’re going to fail, you’re going to get knocked down. To be able to get back up and continue to put yourself out there and have confidence in yourself is a true winner.”