Do you remember when Michael Jordan’s talent was taken away in “Space Jam” and then he got it back? Forward Cody Glass said he felt like his talent hasn’t been there much this season.
“It’s one of those things I keep saying to my brother it’s like “Space Jam” and it feels like someone took the powers away you know? I’m trying to gain it back but it’s all in my head,” Glass said. “Once I get my head figured out you feel more fluid.”
After suffering a lower-body injury in the fifth game of the season and then an upper-body injury on Nov. 20 against the Colorado Avalanche Glass hasn’t had much of a break to feel himself in game action.
He scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks with 12 seconds left in regulation as Nashville fell 5-2 but it was that kind of play Glass was missing until he went for it.
Then when going back to watching games from last season for comparison Glass said he noticed tendencies in his game that he’s not had this season.
“I played with guys like Matt Duchene who play on the outside so I knew I had to be in the slot in front of the net, that’s where all of my goals came from,” Glass said.
“Looking back on all of the shifts now I’m not even close to the net. I’m like “Why is that switched off?” Even the first goal I scored it was the first time I went to the net. I have to get back to the net and be hungry for pucks, that kind of thing. It’s frustrating, I don’t know how that switched off in my brain over the summer, ya know?”
Cody Glass takes a faceoff against Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares.
Glass isn’t happy with his game but at the same time said he has a lot of room to grow as a 24-year-old in the Predators organization. There have been instances in games where he’s playing more like himself but coming back from injury has hampered his mindset.
“It’s all mental, it starts in my head and if I’m not good there it leaks everywhere else,” Glass said. “Every human goes through mental struggles. Brunette has been really good to me coaching stuff to me and [team psychologist Vickie Woosley]. All of those types of people that have been in my corner have been really good.”
So, how does Glass get back to form to be a reliable asset in the lineup? So far this season he’s been scratched four times on top of being injured.
He pointed to a teammate as an example who scored twice in a game on Thursday night for the first time in his career. That forward is a young player like Glass in Philip Tomasino.
“A lot of it is just confidence and you can see it in people’s games,” Glass said. “You can see it in Tomasino’s game right now, it looks free and there’s so much flow in it. That’s how I’m used to playing. I’m stuck in that phase where it’s stiff and I’m almost forcing things, like I said it’s all in my head.”
Last year Glass wanted to make the team out of training camp and this time around he made it through training camp with more expectations on his mind.
“I had high expectations for myself this year but people go through things in life, and they face it at different times in their life and that’s what’s happening to me,” Glass said. “Not going into details but I just want to reiterate that I have so much support here and it helps a lot.”
At the end of the day Glass is in Nashville to help this team win and once he finds his game at a more consistent level it’ll be off to the races in his mind.
“Right now my games not there. I know that and they know that and it’s one of those things we’re working on and I just need to get out of my head,” Glass said.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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