"When you play long enough, everybody goes through spells and streaks and slumps of some nature. I think it's just one of the those things where you have to play yourself out of it"
About this Quote
Messier’s line is locker-room realism dressed up as philosophy: the game is long, your ego is fragile, and the only way out is through. By stacking “spells and streaks and slumps,” he normalizes volatility as the basic weather system of a pro career. It’s not just reassurance; it’s a quiet power move. If slumps are inevitable, then panic is optional. You stop treating bad weeks as moral failure and start treating them as math.
The key phrase is “play yourself out of it.” That’s a rebuke to the modern impulse to overthink, overhaul, and outsource confidence. There’s no magic tweak, no motivational slogan, no pristine mental reset. Messier is arguing for reps as therapy: keep showing up, keep taking your shifts, let the rhythm of the sport sand down the rough patch. It’s accountability without melodrama. He’s not promising you’ll be fine; he’s saying you don’t get to hide.
Context matters: Messier’s authority comes from longevity and the NHL’s particular culture of stoicism. Hockey punishes hesitation, rewards routine, and publicly tracks your failures on the scoreboard. A slump isn’t private; it’s televised. His message protects teams from contagion, too. If one star spirals into self-doubt, the whole bench tightens up. Calling slumps “one of those things” is tactical understatement, a captain’s way of keeping the room steady: keep skating, keep shooting, keep the story small until the numbers turn.
The key phrase is “play yourself out of it.” That’s a rebuke to the modern impulse to overthink, overhaul, and outsource confidence. There’s no magic tweak, no motivational slogan, no pristine mental reset. Messier is arguing for reps as therapy: keep showing up, keep taking your shifts, let the rhythm of the sport sand down the rough patch. It’s accountability without melodrama. He’s not promising you’ll be fine; he’s saying you don’t get to hide.
Context matters: Messier’s authority comes from longevity and the NHL’s particular culture of stoicism. Hockey punishes hesitation, rewards routine, and publicly tracks your failures on the scoreboard. A slump isn’t private; it’s televised. His message protects teams from contagion, too. If one star spirals into self-doubt, the whole bench tightens up. Calling slumps “one of those things” is tactical understatement, a captain’s way of keeping the room steady: keep skating, keep shooting, keep the story small until the numbers turn.
Quote Details
| Topic | Perseverance |
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