“You can complicate it, but at the end of the day, it’s the most consistent teams that execute the details and play smart hockey that win. I mean, they cover up mistakes better than the other guys. Every team makes mistakes. It’s the guys that sense that danger and cover up for their teammates consistently and create multiple layers to go through all the time that win. It’s nothing fancy.”

“The competition in this league is so high now. Defensive systems are so tight, and players are so consistent and responsible that even if you’re pretty good at it, if you make five or 10 mistakes a game, there’s your one-goal [loss] – because the other team is making only four to six mistakes. That’s the way the league is, and you have to bring yourself up to that higher standard. It’s just the way it is.”

-Andrew Ference, captain of the Edmonton Oilers. Much more from and on Ference by Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail.