The national hockey league season is about to begin.  This got me thinking about winning, is it skill or desire that drives the champion team.

Let’s take the Edmonton Oilers.    In the last six years they have had the worst record in of the league for four of those years and were a losing team in the other two.

In the last six years the Oilers have taken the first pick overall four times.  Few would argue that the skills of the player chosen as the first round – first pick  overall, are high.  So the Oilers have chosen at least four top tier highly skilled players, arguably all star material.

And I should note the 2014 pick was third overall while the 2014 was a respectable seven, still pretty high in the pecking order with lots of skilled players available at the time to choose from.

If talent were all that mattered these six players should make the Oilers a top tier team and a serious playoff contender (Even if they were traded it would be for good skills right).

The results from the 2015 pick are not in yet (we’ll see this season) but my prediction is the desire, that is the hunger for the title is still not there.

Psychology Matters

A colleague of mine once postulated if you can visualize the win, than you will (win that is),   All you need to do is see it, feel it and it is yours.  Skill matters of course but it is probably less than half the equation.   Your psychological state is a much a factor in success as ability.

Before I get a flood of comments about this statement it’s understood that the concept “if I think I can than I will” is not absolute.  But, it sure helps.

So What about those Oilers

As long as the fan’s fill the seats and the large salaries are paid out the Oilers drive to succeed, in a very competitive league will not be enough.

Were I making the first round picks none of them would be minor league or junior stars.  Selecting a player with unrecognized  potential and holding out the incentive of stardom and associated financial awards is far more likely to spark that drive and determination needed to win in the NHL.  That is, someone who is really hungry to prove their worth.

Most importantly is that success breeds success so all I need is one player to ignite the spark( that is with drive, desire and reasonable skill).  Everyone else on the team will step up.   Once the power of the team kicks in they become unstoppable.  Winning breeds winning.

The Oilers are trying the old formula – get the stars and and the rest will take care of itself.  Sadly, I don’t think that is true.

My prediction for this years Oiler’s – in the bottom four finishers.