It’s amazing how much confidence can do for a player.
For much of last season, Denis Gurianov did not look like a very confident player. His play on the ice for the Texas Stars was often hesitant, restrained. He put up decent numbers, with 19 goals and 34 points in 74 games, but given the tantalizing skill that he occasionally flashed, you just knew there was more he could offer.
Things came to a somewhat controversial head in the AHL’s Calder Cup Final, where Gurianov was healthy scratched after more than one such passive performance where he was simply too invisible and failed to make an impact.