I will admit that I have never played competitive hockey. I never said I did.

My point is that the coaching staff controls recruiting, trades, and other player transactions. Penalty shots (and the rest of the game, based on how we've been playing lately) are a crucial part of the game and the ability to make shots are therefore a crucial part of the hockey players' jobs.

If I couldn't perform my job consistently, my boss would show me the door. Yeah, everybody plays hot/cold once in awhile, but several of our players have played pretty poorly most of the season. If you look at the league transaction reports, other teams that aren't performing well are actively trading and trying to get better players/different personalities/etc. Our coaches barely even change up our lines.