The stakes have never been higher for the Winnipeg Jets but where there is pressure there is also power, according to a Winnipeg based sports psychologist.
“There are two teams on the ice tonight. Nashville has a tonne of pressure on themselves as well,” Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood said. “They went to the final last year. They’re expected to win. They’re the number one ranked team. They’re at home. So in some ways the pressure is off the Jets a little bit.”
“They now get to go in and just play and have fun and see what they can make happen.”
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Leslie-Toogood is the director of sports psychology for the Canadian Sport Centre in Winnipeg and said the Jets are surrounded by a a great team and staff who will have prepared the players both mentally and physically.
“A lot of these athletes embrace the science behind the game. Their bodies are fit and ready to go but so are their minds,” Leslie-Toogood said.
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“They know exactly who they want to be in these moments.”
Thursday night’s game seven against the Nashville Predators is a first for the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. Not only because this team has never played in a game seven together, but because it’s never gone this deep in the playoffs since the NHL’s return to Winnipeg in 2011.
“One of these teams is going to keep playing…and the other is not.”
Leslie-Toogood has worked for years with high-performance athletes and said she’s watched coaches use pressure, like the time she was in Kelowna with Hockey Canada, as a positive.
“The model coaches had was ‘pressure is power’,” Leslie-Toogood said. “There is a lot of good things that come from pressure as well.”
She said the athletes will have worked hard since Monday night’s game six loss to the Predators to recognize where they are mentally so that by the time they hit the ice tonight, they’re ready to go.
“The last game they played, is not how they want to feel afterwards,” she said. “Both teams are going to come out playing.”
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While there is stress in any game seven, there is also room for fun.
“As much as it’s their job, these are all people that absolutely love what they do,” Leslie-Toogood said.
“This is an opportunity that they grew up dreaming about.”
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