Here’s a simple message I bet you aren’t hearing very often lately: everything is going just right!

But wait, we’ve lost four straight, we can’t seem to score, we’ve got some big injuries, the frustration is mounting, players are sniping at one another, and everyone wants to know: What’s wrong with our captain?

Things may seem bleak as we approach Christmas 2015. I’d like to put a different, more positive spin on things. An argument can be made that things are right where they should be. More importantly, some of the things people are trying to fix will actually make them get worse and worse. This leads to a rather strange prescription, one that the players may get something from. Here goes.

Hockey is a very cyclical game. There are up cycles and down cycles. During an upswing, it seems like things are easy, like you can’t be beaten and that scoring comes naturally. During down cycles, everything seems to go wrong. You get in your heads. The harder you try, the more illusive becomes the puck luck.

The cycles in hockey cannot be eliminated. They are woven into the psychophysics of the game. If we pretend the ups can last forever, and overreact to the downs, we have lost a great truth about this game we love.

What’s more, there are cycles within cycles. There are small-scale cycles, ups and downs within the flow of a given game. Those we all know well. One period, there is nitro in the legs and the puck seems to fly tape-to-tape as if by magnets. The next period, we’re all skating in mud and that same puck tumbles haphazardly with a mind of its own. Next, there are cycles within a season: periods when scoring and winning are easy and the mood in the room is light and fun. Then, of course, there are those stretches where the opposing goalies seem to be standing on their heads, referees have it out for us, and the mood in the room is tense or worse. Finally, there are even bigger cycles spanning entire seasons. All three kinds of cycles are co-evolving. They crisscross and intersect in complicated ways. One season, you gain 100 points with little hardship, then collapse in the playoffs for reasons that no one understands.

Cycles.

Another season, it’s the reverse. Hardship starts early, and settles in for a long unwanted cohabitation. Does this mean it will never end? Does this mean the playoffs are a bust? Nope, it does not.

Cycles upon cycles.

The Penguins have had a fairly stable season cycle for the last three years: strong start, top spot in the division, 100 points, crippling midseason injuries, disappointing performance in the playoffs, angry coaches and fans. This season is clearly different. The start was jolting. The goals didn’t come. Magic fixes failed. Lines didn’t congeal. Easy wins against weak teams were not certain. Moments of brilliance didn’t turn into big momentum shifts. Long road trips failed to produce deeper team bonds. All of this break from past cycles has led to finger pointing, heated team meetings, firing of coaches, crushing injuries, and an early onset to deep frustration.

So what’s the problem?

In short, consider the words of that great philosopher, Yoda. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is trying to use the Force to get his ship out of the swamp and is having no luck. His ship is hopelessly stuck and won’t budge. Yoda tells him: “Always with you it cannot be done…” Luke sighs and assures his master that he will try. At this Yoda becomes stern and delivers a great and simple truth:

“No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”

Paradoxically, the harder we try to do certain things, the more impossible they become. That is why hard work and effort don’t fix this problem. The truth is, as a team you are trying too hard. Hockey has stopped being fun. You have forgotten the law of hockey cycles. The downturn will be followed by an upturn if you are patient, relax and, just do. There is no try. Trust the Force.

Coaches, analytics guys, and the general manager don’t understand or tolerate cycles. The truth is that even if the same players with the same talents play on the same team for a long time, the cycles will still happen. The NHL game happens so fast, so organically, that thinking stops being a very useful tool. Trying and thinking just get in the way of doing and being. As players, you know this. But you can’t explain it to civilians or to your front office.

When you lose faith in the cycles of the game, then a losing streak gets deeper and harder to exit. The team does sensible things to correct the cycle, most of which involve more thinking, more trying, and more frustration. Then, tempers flair, fingers point, and everyone starts worrying about their jobs. This leads to more thinking, more trying and a downward spiral. Coaches don’t understand how it works, how the intuition works, how the Force operates on the ice. They have to justify their paychecks so they bark orders, try new systems and juggle the personnel. They feel the heat and transfer that to the players. Result: more try, less do.

Consider the case of the Bruins (to whom we just lost). Their start was much worse than ours. They looked like a team out of answers. Did the B’s start firing people, change coaches, and revise the system? Nope. Claude Julien kept a steady hand on the tiller and slowly helped their core of players get past the cycle. No panic, no drastic changes, no exporting older, stabilizing depth players. What kind of December have the Bruins had?

So, what is wrong with Sid the Kid? Absolutely nothing is wrong with Eight Seven. Yin follows yang. Long yin follows long yang. Lead the league for a few seasons in points, and guess what is going to happen? Cycles. What to do? Relax. Try not. Do… or do not.

Trust the Force, Sid.

The lights will pop back on when you least expect it. The harder you try to make that happen, the more crossbars you will hit, the more bad penalties you will take, and the more the frustration will knock you further and further away from where you need to be.

And by the way, trying hard and overthinking increases the odds of season-ending injury. Look around at the people who are on injured reserve right now: hard tryers. Hard trying narrows the range of on-ice vision, leads to tightened muscles, broken sticks, and less fluidity against the half wall. Too much try slows down the stick speed when clearing pucks and cuts the chances that the blade will be right where it needs to be in the blue paint.

In conclusion, it may seem now like this season is a bust. We don’t know what is going to happen. For me, after a run of seasons in which we glide to the playoffs by beating bad teams, only to face real hardship in the first round of the playoffs, and find ourselves with no place to hide, I for one am looking forward to a new pattern. In years past, playing great hockey in November and December hasn’t translated to easy playoff wins. This year, this cycle, the hardship and turmoil come early. That’s the best thing that could happen. The darkness of this cycle do not tell the story of how bright April and May will be.

Trust the Force, boys. It’s in the room, has been all the time.

And stop trying so hard.

Sincerely,

A Devoted Fan