Happy Friday! I hope you’re gearing up for a great hockey weekend — let’s get into this week’s Playbook.

I came across a line recently that I haven’t really stopped thinking about all week:

“The score changes. Your habits don’t.”

I think there’s a lot of truth in that, particularly in our sport, because outcomes in hockey are constantly changing.

It can take less than 2 seconds to score in hockey and so game state is always fragile.  Even with a 2 or 3 goal lead, once the momentum shifts you can be level or behind in the blink of an eye.

Sometimes you’re winning comfortably. Sometimes you’re chasing the game. Sometimes everything feels sharp and easy. Other days, nothing quite comes off the way you want it to.

Confidence rises and falls. Momentum swings. Performances fluctuate.

But underneath all of that, your playing habits are usually telling the real story.

And over time, those habits tend to travel with you far longer than any individual result does.

Players often change their behavior depending on the score

This is something you see all the time once you start looking for it.

Some players communicate brilliantly when things are going well, then go completely quiet when the game becomes difficult.

Some players work incredibly hard when the score is close, but switch off defensively once the game feels “safe.”

Others stop leading aggressively after making a mistake, because they become more focused on avoiding another error than continuing to play positively.

And sometimes the opposite happens too.

Players lose discipline when they are comfortably ahead. They stop scanning. Stop moving properly. Stop competing for details that mattered earlier in the game.

But the problem is that your brain does not separate those moments as neatly as you think.

Every repetition is teaching something.

Every action is reinforcing a pattern.

That is why habits matter so much.

The score is temporary. Your standards are not.

One thing I think younger players sometimes misunderstand is that development is not really built on isolated moments.

It is built on repeated behaviors. How you train when you’re tired. How you react after mistakes.

How consistently you scan. How seriously you take your basics.

How hard you defend when the game appears decided.

How willing you are to communicate when things are not going well.

Those things become patterns.

And eventually, patterns become identity.

That is why great players often look so “consistent” from the outside. It is usually not because they feel confident all the time or because every game is going perfectly.

More often, it is because their habits are stable enough that they can still execute under pressure, frustration, fatigue, or even when they are comfortable and not being challenged by the opposition.

The score changes.

Their habits don’t.

Hockey exposes your real habits very quickly

One of the reasons hockey is such a challenging sport is that pressure and competition quickly expose whatever habits are already there.

Under pressure, players rarely rise to some completely new level they have never practiced at before.

More often, they fall back on what is familiar.

That is why habits built in training matter so much.

If a player switches off in drills, they will usually switch off in games.

If a player avoids difficult decisions in training, they will often avoid them under pressure too.

If a player consistently scans, communicates, competes, and stays engaged — even in small moments — those habits usually appear when the game gets chaotic as well.

Your previous repetitions can save you.

Or they can betray you.

This matters just as much after losses as wins

One of the easiest traps in sport is allowing the result to completely dictate how you evaluate performance.

Win the game and everything feels positive.  Lose the game and suddenly everything feels terrible.

But good results can hide poor habits.

And difficult results can still contain really valuable performances and progress.

A player can lose a game but show excellent composure, communication, work rate, and decision-making throughout.

Another player can win comfortably while building habits that will hurt them later against stronger opposition.

That is why the best players and teams try to evaluate deeper than the scoreboard alone.

Because the scoreboard resets next game.

The habits usually don’t.

The takeaway

Every game eventually ends.

The score disappears surprisingly quickly.

But the habits you reinforce during those moments — especially under pressure, frustration, fatigue, or emotion — tend to stay with you much longer.

That is why standards matter (and why I’m writing about them so often ;-).

And that is why the best players try to execute the right habits whether they are winning 5-0 or losing 5-0.

Not because the score does not matter.

But because the score is not the only thing they are building.

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Until next week,

Adam Falla

Co-Founder, Leap Hockey

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