Hockey is a tough game played by tough people. There is a machismo to it all, from the courage to block a frozen piece of vulcanized rubber traveling 100-plus mph to dropping the gloves with a 6-foot-5, 230-pound guy from Saskatchewan.
A different kind of toughness, but one no less admirable, popped up from a rather unlikely source on Monday. Rickard Rakell is, on the surface, hardly the epitome of toughness. The Pittsburgh Penguins winger is a goal-scorer and not particularly rugged. He’s also so soft-spoken that you have to listen intently to hear him.
What he said Monday was worth a listen.
If you think being vulnerable about your occupation is a tough attribute, Rakell is your guy.
The 2023-24 season was a nightmare for Rakell, who entered the season fresh off of a 28-goal campaign.
“I feel like what happened last year and what is happening this season are two different worlds,” Rakell said.
They are.
Last season, in a skid that remains inexplicable to Rakell, he failed to score a goal in his first 19 games. He fired 50 shots on goal before he finally scored. A brief hot streak — five goals in eight games — was followed by another 15-game skid without a goal.
“Personally, what happened last season was a huge struggle for me,” he said. “This year is a different kind of struggle because the team is off to a slow start. But what happened to me last season, that was a tough experience. I learned that you have to handle those times a certain kind of way, and you have to be strong mentally.”
The 2023-24 season was Rakell’s first in his 30s.
Maybe age is just a number, but when your other numbers are as poor as his were for stretches of last season, you start thinking about it.
Athletes rarely admit this, but Rakell is different.
“For sure, I wondered,” Rakell said. “I’m 31. You hear it. That’s what you start to hear. I came in last season and thought I was in great shape, better shape than the year before, when I was good. So, it didn’t start well. Then I heard people talking about my age. Maybe I’m getting too old.”
Having thick skin is tough for anyone these days, let alone a professional athlete, who is likely to be dehumanized the moment he or she struggles.
Rakell heard everything, and his skin was not thick enough on some occasions.
“It was so tough because when you start hearing it enough times, you get affected by it,” he said. “Then I found myself questioning myself. Questioning my game. What you’re good at, how good you still are, if you are still good. Am I getting old? And am I still a good hockey player? You ask all of those questions, and I started doing that last season. It’s not good for anyone when that happens.”
Rakell needed to get his mind right after last season. He also needed to get faster.
At some point during his summer in Stockholm, both began to happen.
Jesse Green, the Penguins’ director of performance and sports science, spent a week with Rakell early last summer, setting him up with a training regimen that was geared toward increasing his speed and agility.
“It worked,” Rakell said. “Gave me a great plan.”
Then, there was the mental aspect. Finding self-belief. Realizing that his skills hadn’t eroded.
There was no life coach. It was just Rakell alone in his thoughts, every day, working in Sweden.
Something started to click for Rakell, who has scored six goals in the first 13 games of this season, looking nothing like the player who struggled so much 12 months ago.
“I’ll tell you about my mindset over the summer,” he said matter-of-factly. “My mindset was just to come back to Pittsburgh and make the team. That was it. That was the mindset. Making the team, nothing else. And along the way, learning to trust myself and my game again. Do the things I’m good at.”
There was one other important facet of that mindset.
“I decided to stop listening to people around me,” he said. “Make the team. Be the best player I can be. You know, when I have good confidence like I do right now, I’m a much different hockey player. I have it now. It’s an amazing feeling at the moment.”
Another thing happened along the way for Rakell. He realized he doesn’t feel old.
Starting with the Penguins’ regular-season opener against the New York Rangers, which was an otherwise forgettable evening for the Penguins, Rakell very clearly had an extra jump in his step, one that wasn’t there the year before.
His hands have never looked better, as Rakell has formed a very important role playing alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the Penguins’ top line.
Then, there’s his shot, the greatest weapon in Rakell’s arsenal.
“I don’t feel any different now compared to when I was 23,” Rakell said. “I really don’t.”
His play indicates that.
Given the Penguins’ lack of depth in their top six and how reliant they will be on Rakell moving forward, this resurgence is just what they needed.
It’s just what he needed, too.
“Confidence is a funny thing,” he said. “You can lose it so fast in this game. But I just had to start believing in myself again, to take a deep breath and really believe in myself. It’s what I did. And I like where I am. I just want to keep going.”
Notes
• Bryan Rust skated before practice on Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and will travel with the team on its upcoming three-game road trip.
• Matt Nieto, injured since early last season, practiced with the Penguins and will also take part in the trip.
• Mike Sullivan said the Penguins coaching staff is hearing excellent things about the progress of goaltender Tristan Jarry, who is 3-0 in his current Wilkes-Barre stint.
(Photo of Rickard Rakell: Justin Berl / Getty Images)
