Something to Read: A Leafs Cup Story that doesn’t reference 1967; The Science Behind “Choking”

 

While today did not bring much in the way of Leafs news, I managed to keep myself busy reading. If you’re looking to catch up on what you missed, or kill some time before the start of Game 4 of the Finals look no further.  

The above photo is taken from Ellen Etchingham’s story about the great comeback by the 1942 Maple Leafs. This is one of those trivia factoids that all hockey fans know: The 1942 Leafs are the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the finals. Most of us have no idea how it happened, thankfully we have Ellen to fill us in. The event that sparked the Leafs comeback? At the end of Game 3 Red Wing’s coach Jack Adams punched a ref in the face. link

 

Speaking of 3-0 deficits, the New Jersey Devils find themselves in one right now, neat! It would take a pretty big choke job from the LA Kings for them to comeback. While that seems unlikely, this story by Jonah Lehrer explains why atheletes choke. Basically the bigger a reward the more we consciously think about losing it and proceed to overthink everything which affects our performance. It’s unlikely to happen, but it’s something. link

The Winter Classic Schedule was released yesterday. Aside from the actual game on January 1st, I’m most excited for this:  "Dec. 31: Red Wings-Maple Leafs Alumni Showdown featuring legendary players from two of the National Hockey League’s most storied franchises going head-to-head." Check out the full schedule that includes a few OHL and AHL games over at PPP. link

Over at Canucks Army angus_j wrote about some of the cognitive biases that may be influencing some of those who would like to see Vigneault fired. I’d add in the outcome bias, this is where we only consider the outcome when judging a decision or person. Only looking at the results ignores the fact that Vigneault brought the Canucks to Game 7 of the Finals and to a Presiden’ts Trophy victory. link

 

We have four posts from today. Jonathan Willis and Cam Charron each looked at Igor Larionov’s curious statement that said Brian Burke was looking to move up in the first round of the draft. We also looked at Burke’s treatment in the local media, and Ryan Fancey stopped by with a good look at James Reimer and Ben Scrivens, whether the Leafs would prefer to keep one over the other.