Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Linden Vey: Bounce Back

Found an Interesting Read from TSN reporter Frank Seravalli on Former Tiger Linden Vey.
http://www.tsn.ca/vey-hopes-off-season-work-leads-to-bounce-back-year-1.332448

Vey's 4th year as a pro was his first full season as an "NHL'er" He signed with Vancouver for a 1 year deal for this upcoming season. He cracked the NHL is his 3rd year with 18 games with LA.

Article Excerpts

Vey said his biggest issue last season had nothing to do with adjusting to the NHL’s pace of play, a hurdle many young players struggle with. Instead, it was that his game lacked consistency. Vey was nearly a point-per-game player in his last two AHL seasons with the Manchester Monarchs.


“I’ve always been a fairly skilled guy wherever I’ve played. I could afford to take nights off in other leagues and maybe still put up numbers,” Vey admitted.

“In this league, you need to be willing to bring your ‘A’ game every night, or at least nine out of 10 nights. You look at our team in Vancouver; we bring it every day, in practice and in games. That’s why they’ve been able to be successful for so long.”
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So to sum up his comments: 
1.  " The NHL is hard" if you don't bring your "A" game every game, you're not going to have a good year. 

2. He could take nights off in the minors/junior because he was good enough to do so.

Here was Vey's numbers in junior. He was amassing a 1 ppg total by his 17 year old season, in which he was drafted in round 4, 96th overall by LA. In his last year here for those that remember, he went from sound defensively to taking quite a few defensive shortcuts.
GP  G     A     PTS
48--8-----9---17
71--24---48---72
72--24---51---75
69--46---70 --116

An interesting take that he "manned up" and recognized that he will need to work harder if he wants to keep his job in the NHL. Hopefully the Vets returning for the Tigers this season can heed his advice and recognize that taking nights off (while it may be easier for some than others) can develop bad habits later on in their career.

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