Dylan Cozens: Hamilton's Take

[That Aud Smell]

I was listening to WGR the other morning. Hamilton was on. He said something that surprised me about Cozens: That he hopes the young man consults with a sports psychologist this offseason. Hamilton related his impression that Cozens' game suffered because he cared too much and that he became despondent over letting the fans down. (I think it was Bulldog who chimed in: Plus, you might lose your "I'm a bad ass" swagger when you get your face broken.) Hamilton then referenced Ryan Miller and the great success he had in consulting with a sports psychologist.

My understanding of Hamilton's main point: Too much emotion can evolve into worrying. Worrying turns into doubt. And doubt is a killer of confidence.

It was all very interesting.

Here's wishing the Workhorse a restorative offseason. I think he's going to be a very good NHLer for a long time.

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I was listening to WGR the other morning. Hamilton was on. He said something that surprised me about Cozens: That he hopes the young man consults with a sports psychologist this offseason. Hamilton related his impression that Cozens' game suffered because he cared too much and that he became despondent over letting the fans down. (I think it was Bulldog who chimed in: Plus, you might lose your "I'm a bad ass" swagger when you get your face broken.) Hamilton then referenced Ryan Miller and the great success he had in consulting with a sports psychologist.

My understanding of Hamilton's main point: Too much emotion can evolve into worrying. Worrying turns into doubt. And doubt is a killer of confidence.

It was all very interesting.

Here's wishing the Workhorse a restorative offseason. I think he's going to be a very good NHLer for a long time.

With the possible exception of his rookie year, it may have been the 1st time in Dylan's athletic life he's failed to meet expectations, never mind regressed.

[Buffalonill]

I like cozens but give me a break he went to Cancuin with his boys.

Who was the one that stayed behind and practiced? Mittelstadt

These players can get the smallest violin .

[Pimlach]

You could see Cozens getting unglued by the booing and the losing in the very game he stupidly took on Hathaway.  

The kid wants to earn his paycheck and he wants to win.  

Maturity and experience will fix things 

Adams provided the big contract, and Adams needs to get some veteran help for the younger players before he ruins them (refer to the Trotz comments).  

Adams should go to a sports psychologist.  

Edited April 19 by Pimlach

[JohninMinn.]

I'm willing to bet Pantera is not on Dylan's playlist.

[bob_sauve28]

There is no way in the world I could of handled what Dylan, Zack and the rest of these kids are going through at such a young age. I'm sure it simply must get overwhelming at times. Hope they have good support groups of families and friends. 

This is just part of them being young and having the world demand so much of them. 

[Buffalonill]

And how people listen to Hamilton is beyond me especially with his Sam Reinhart takes 

I hope Reinhart wins the cup and sends a nice tweet to hamilton

[Thorny]

7 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

There is no way in the world I could of handled what Dylan, Zack and the rest of these kids are going through at such a young age. I'm sure it simply must get overwhelming at times. Hope they have good support groups of families and friends. 

This is just part of them being young and having the world demand so much of them. 

The first world, sure 

Come on now 

[JohnC]

57 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I was listening to WGR the other morning. Hamilton was on. He said something that surprised me about Cozens: That he hopes the young man consults with a sports psychologist this offseason. Hamilton related his impression that Cozens' game suffered because he cared too much and that he became despondent over letting the fans down. (I think it was Bulldog who chimed in: Plus, you might lose your "I'm a bad ass" swagger when you get your face broken.) Hamilton then referenced Ryan Miller and the great success he had in consulting with a sports psychologist.

My understanding of Hamilton's main point: Too much emotion can evolve into worrying. Worrying turns into doubt. And doubt is a killer of confidence.

It was all very interesting.

Here's wishing the Workhorse a restorative offseason. I think he's going to be a very good NHLer for a long time.

I listened to the WGR segment with Hamilton that you are referring to. Your comments about Cozens's ability to handle the pressure of higher expectations reflected what was said on that particular segment.  Hamilton also speculated that he observed that Cozens was not the same for a long time after he instigated a fight to arouse his teammates. He seemed to suggest (not know for sure) that there were lingering effects (concussion) from that fight that affected his play. Hamilton pointed out that he once had a concussion that it took him a long time before those effects were finally gone. 

[bob_sauve28]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

The first world, sure 

Come on now 

Ya, no pressure on him, sure. Everyone handles it different...or doesn't 

[Buffalonill]

18 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

There is no way in the world I could of handled what Dylan, Zack and the rest of these kids are going through at such a young age. I'm sure it simply must get overwhelming at times. Hope they have good support groups of families and friends. 

This is just part of them being young and having the world demand so much of them. 

Ok when are we going to stop calling them kids ? Zack is a kid the rest are adults 

[Thorny]

Just now, bob_sauve28 said:

Ya, no pressure on him, sure. Everyone handles it different...or doesn't 

He’s got pressure but it’s his personal career choice for which he is paid incredibly handsomely. And that job happens to be what layman and children do for a game, to pass the time, for fun. The world isn’t demanding he pursue this career path. I of course have sympathy for his mental state, but to the same level I have for everyone, which is a lot, mental health is a very serious issue and I have no problem saying im speaking from experience.

no need to belabour this further I just thought the “there’s no way I could have” from your post sort of elevated their troubles and stresses above that of that of the average person - but obviously you were just speaking personally so whatever. But ya, no, I don’t see the “world” “demanding” more of them than the dude who works 60 hours a week at McDonald’s

[dudacek]

24 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I listened to the WGR segment with Hamilton that you are referring to. Your comments about Cozens's ability to handle the pressure of higher expectations reflected what was said on that particular segment.  Hamilton also speculated that he observed that Cozens was not the same for a long time after he instigated a fight to arouse his teammates. He seemed to suggest (not know for sure) that there were lingering effects (concussion) from that fight that affected his play. Hamilton pointed out that he once had a concussion that it took him a long time before those effects were finally gone. 

Before the myth of Dylan Cozens bad numbers being a result of the fight and resulting concussion takes root, let us remember:

• He was 3/4/7/ -1 in 11 games leading up to the fight.
• He was 2/4/6 -5 in the 20 games to finish up the season prior to the 3-point Tampa finale.
• He was 11/20/31 -1 in the 47 games in between, you know the period 'where it took a long time to shake off lingering effects'.

The was no correlation between his injury and his ***** production

Edited April 18 by dudacek

[Night Train]

I thought he was a head case 2 years back with long stretches of struggles. Last year looked like he was turning the corner. Then major regression this year. Was it no Quinn for most of the year ? The fight ?  He needs a new coach more than anyone. 

[Thorny]

23 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Before the myth of Dylan Cozens bad numbers being a result of the fight and resulting concussion takes root, let us remember:

• He was 3/4/7/ -1 in 11 games leading up to the fight.
• He was 2/4/6 -5 in the 20 games to finish up the season prior to the 3-point Tampa finale.
• He was 11/20/31 -1 in the 47 games in between, you know the period 'where it took a long time to shake off lingering effects'.

The was no correlation between his injury and his ***** production

You are correct. Good post. 

The only potential caveat would be those rarer cases where concussion symptoms manifest weeks after the fact: but I think we can reasonably rule this out as surely if he was dealing with the type of emergence I’m referring to he wouldn’t be playing at all

actually what’s the timeframe there like several months? It would be that anyways 

Edited April 18 by Thorny

[Second Line Center]

Is there a link to his exit interview anywhere?

[mjd1001]

Maybe someone who is really REALLY into analytics can analyze Cozens a bit more, but to me everything I see comes down to last year him having a higher shooting percentage, this year it reverted to mean (his career average)

His ice time, his shots per game....similar.  When you look at the NHL edge metrics over the last 3 years...His top skating speed, speed bursts and average skating distance are his strengths and the pretty much the same each year. His offensive zone time is below average and the same each year. Even where he TAKES his shots from is the same each year (compared to the rest of the league he REALLY likes shooting between the faceoff dots and over to the right boards 10-15 feet out),  One of the biggest differences in their metrics is shooting percentage. THAT is the one thing that is different.

My worry, and my continued worry with him is he really IS playing the same game he always has. This year. Last year, The year before. There is really only one thing that was different than stands out...his shooting percentage JUST last year. 

When he has ONE very good year, but that one year he has a shooting percentage of almost 15.....while his rookie year was about 7, his 2nd year about 8, this year 9...its hard for me to not think that maybe the 6-9% range is the type of player he really is...and he is a guy that consistently looks to get 200 shots a year for his ice time....200 shots times even 9% gives you 18 goals.

He is still young.  He can get better in other areas of his game. But every year (including this year and last year) he looks to be a 200 shot guy, EVERY year he takes shots from the same spots on the ice.  Unless he goes back to that nearly 15% shooting percentage, hes not going to be a consistent 30 goal guy for you.

The only SMALL thing supporting the concussion idea is his shooting percentage was 14.3% (in a small sample size), continuing last years trend, leading up to his concussion.  It was after the concussion that it went down to 8.4% for the rest of the year.

Edited April 18 by mjd1001

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Before the myth of Dylan Cozens bad numbers being a result of the fight and resulting concussion takes root, let us remember:

• He was 3/4/7/ -1 in 11 games leading up to the fight.
• He was 2/4/6 -5 in the 20 games to finish up the season prior to the 3-point Tampa finale.
• He was 11/20/31 -1 in the 47 games in between, you know the period 'where it took a long time to shake off lingering effects'.

The was no correlation between his injury and his ***** production

I pointed out Hamilton's observation that was a conjecture of his.  My observation was that for a period of time after the fight he was not the same player. I'm not saying that his sluggish play was a lingering effect from the fight. But after that fight there was something off about his play for a spell. 

[Sabre The Cup]

Out of curiosity, are there any HOFers in any sport that credit a sports psychologist for their success? Genuinely asking. 

[oddoublee]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

Maybe someone who is really REALLY into analytics can analyze Cozens a bit more, but to me everything I see comes down to last year him having a higher shooting percentage, this year it reverted to mean (his career average)

His ice time, his shots per game....similar.  When you look at the NHL edge metrics over the last 3 years...His top skating speed, speed bursts and average skating distance are his strengths and the pretty much the same each year. His offensive zone time is below average and the same each year. Even where he TAKES his shots from is the same each year (compared to the rest of the league he REALLY likes shooting between the faceoff dots and over to the right boards 10-15 feet out),  One of the biggest differences in their metrics is shooting percentage. THAT is the one thing that is different.

My worry, and my continued worry with him is he really IS playing the same game he always has. This year. Last year, The year before. There is really only one thing that was different than stands out...his shooting percentage JUST last year. 

When he has ONE very good year, but that one year he has a shooting percentage of almost 15.....while his rookie year was about 7, his 2nd year about 8, this year 9...its hard for me to not think that maybe the 6-9% range is the type of player he really is...and he is a guy that consistently looks to get 200 shots a year for his ice time....200 shots times even 9% gives you 18 goals.

He is still young.  He can get better in other areas of his game. But every year (including this year and last year) he looks to be a 200 shot guy, EVERY year he takes shots from the same spots on the ice.  Unless he goes back to that nearly 15% shooting percentage, hes not going to be a consistent 30 goal guy for you.

The only SMALL thing supporting the concussion idea is his shooting percentage was 14.3% (in a small sample size), continuing last years trend, leading up to his concussion.  It was after the concussion that it went down to 8.4% for the rest of the year.

Good write up. He could very well be a 15-20 goal a year player. If that's your 3rd line, or d zone center; gravy. 

I root for him. But everything I have sse to date tells me he is best served as a top 9 who can slide into the top 6 when required.

Not a bad thing. Can make a great career out of that.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Night Train said:

I thought he was a head case 2 years back with long stretches of struggles. Last year looked like he was turning the corner. Then major regression this year. Was it no Quinn for most of the year ? The fight ?  He needs a new coach more than anyone. 

You thought he was a head case when he was a 20-21 year old second year player whose rookie year was the shortened by the messy Covid season? 

Last year he was very good, 31 goals and 68 points at 21-22 years old is very good production.  He centered two rookies,  

You are a tough audience.  

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Sabre The Cup said:

Out of curiosity, are there any HOFers in any sport that credit a sports psychologist for their success? Genuinely asking. 

Just asking questions, as the saying goes.

I recall both Jordan and Kobe working with the same guy — I could Google his name, but won’t.

[Second Line Center]

I’d be slightly worried about Cozens if not for the entire team offense disappearing this year and everyone stunk.   
 

It just stinks of a team that made excuses and quit on its coach.  
 

Why did they make excuses?  Because they felt the pressure and heard the outside noise.  
 

This means they are embracing that it’s been 13 years despite what Okposo said.  
 

So the optimist in me will just say at least they care.  Now they need to find out who the leader behind the bench will be and the leaders on the ice.  
 

My votes:

HC:  Peca (I know; it sounds like Gallant.). But I’m hiring Peca if it’s me.  
 

Captain: Dahlin

A: Tage

A: Tuch 

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, Second Line Center said:

HC:  Peca (I know; it sounds like Gallant.). But I’m hiring Peca if it’s me.  

Why? No one can even provide any rational answer. Adams literally isn't hiring Peca based on his criteria. 

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, Second Line Center said:

Is there a link to his exit interview anywhere?