It’s a great way for teams to get information on players directly from the source.
Of course, we know that players are good at getting the tape out, so there’s a lot to take in.
Seeing a player say he’s good and could see himself playing in all 32 NHL markets isn’t exactly a revelation.
That’s one of the reasons why teams sometimes try to unsettle players a little in interviews… and the Colorado Avalanche seem to have found a pretty original way of doing it.
According to the hopefuls on hand, during their interview with the Avalanche, they had to… play board games.
So this is fun. A team during the interview process played board games with the prospect. Wasn’t just one game either. Two or three games. When asked which team did this, the prospect said it was the Colorado Avalanche. #NHLCombine
– Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) June 8, 2024
What we understand is that we’re not talking about just one game. The hopefuls seem to mention that they’ve played 2-3 games, and we’re not necessarily talking about very popular games.
The hopefuls referred to them as “new games”.
Lots of talk from players saying they played board games with the Colorado Avalanche this week.
When asked which ones, so far we’ve been told “new ones”. #NHLDraft
– Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) June 8, 2024
In reality, it’s arguably a strategy for evaluating how prospects can solve problems in action. To a lesser extent, it’s also a way of seeing how competitive the guys are.
Let’s just say that I’m pretty confident there’s at least one psychologist in the room at this point to analyze what the hopefuls are doing. It’s a good way to see them in action rather than spitting out premade answers.
Among the other, slightly more unusual techniques employed by the teams during the interviews, Utah’s team asked the hopefuls what their “passenger score” was on the Uber app, while one team (which again is possibly Utah’s) asked the hopefuls what their “score” was on the Snapchat app.
Prospects won’t say who, but a team has asked what a prospect’s Snapchat score was and what their Uber rating was. #NHLCombine
– Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) June 8, 2024
We’ll see if the board game technique will help the Avalanche and if the Uber question will help Utah’s roster for the next draft, and most importantly, we’ll see if these are techniques that will spread in the coming years.
Perhaps in a few years, board games and “Uber passenger scoring” will replace the famous pet question…
In a row
– We told you about it yesterday.
A special guest was at Camp Georges today in Brossard
ARBER! ARBER! ARBER!
A special guest was in attendance at @GeorgesLaraque‘s hockey clinic today in Brossard#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/HWbYnhf6yq
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) June 8, 2024
– I love it.
“I showed up here and they had 122 points. I managed to get them down to 92 in one year. Brilliance.”
Paul Maurice has delivered nothing but gems the entire playoffs pic.twitter.com/99o1sxG84p
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 8, 2024
– Will he stay in Vancouver?
The Vancouver Canucks are keen on Elias Lindholm
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 8, 2024
– Lane Hutson’s little brother sees himself as a narwhal.
Cole Hutson’s answer to the Habs question: “what animal would you describe yourself as?”
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) June 8, 2024
– Here are the results of the various physical tests at the Combine.
Full NHL Scouting Combine results (thread):
Aerobic (duration):
1. Cole Beaudoin: 13:45
2. Gabriel Eliasson: 13:14
3. Ollie Josephson: 13:05
T4. Herman Traff/Alfons Freij: 13:04
T6. Linus Eriksson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard, Eriks Mateiko, Dean Letourneau, Stian Solberg: 13:00– Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) June 8, 2024
– Really?
Makes you wonder if he’s mostly trying to distract the Celtics with comments like that.
– AlleyOop360 (@AlleyOop360) June 8, 2024
– Yankees want pitchers.
Jesus Luzardo’s name circulating in the Bronx.
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) June 8, 2024
#Playing #board #games #curious #technique #Avalanche #Combine