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Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Removing the trapezoid would also lead to less defensemen getting pulverized on the forecheck which is always good. They really ought to do away with it.

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Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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One thing I would add about the trap - wasn't it used by those great Canadiens teams in the 70's? I wasn't alive then so I don't know but I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that those teams trapped too and that plus their absurd roster was a big part of why they did so well.



e: And the trap is far from gone today as well. Every single team in the NHL employs the trap at least part of the time. T-Bone is pretty much 100% right in that the only thing separating an exciting trapping team from a boring one is how offensively talented each team is.

Ginette Reno fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Aug 29, 2011

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Dr. Kyle Farnsworth posted:

Hi hockey goons. I'm one of your hoops refugees. Multi-sport posters may remember me for rooting for such assholes as The New York Yankees and The LA Lakers. My entire qualification for being a hockey fan is winning my fantasy hockey league a few years back despite never watching a game or knowing anything about hockey, thus infuriating the Canadian that ran the league. I haven't picked a hockey team yet, but I bought Gamecenter and NHL '12 and have been getting into the swing of things. And I watched Caps-Preds tonight and it was pretty rad.

Since I don't have a team yet, what teams have good announcers/broadcasting teams? I use sports for background noise and I like having a good announcer on.

New York Rangers: Great play-by-play guy in Sam Rosen. Joe Michelletti is the commentator and he's just ok.

Dallas Stars: I forget the name of their PBP guy but he's good and they have Darrel Rheaugh aka Razor as their color guy and he is the best color guy in the league and completely awesome.

Carolina Hurricanes: Their PBP guy is John Forslund and he's great. Their color guy is not very good though.

San Jose: Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda. They have great chemistry and can be pretty funny sometimes. Sometimes they get a little on the homer side and that can get annoying if you care about the team the Sharks are playing.


And uhh yeah I'm having trouble thinking of any other broadcasts which I think almost anyone would like. Well there are these four teams, though listen to these broadcasts only if you want to laugh (though Buffalo's can be amusing and a good broadcast because RJ calls games well):

Buffalo Sabres: RJ has a great voice for play by play and does a great job capturing the excitement of a good game. A lot of people hate him though for his ridiculously over dramatic calls of Buffalo's goals.

Colorado Avalanche: Their announcers get ridiculously excited over even minor good plays. It's very amusing. They sound like a couple of people who are seeing hockey for the first time.

Pittsburgh Penguins: They are utterly terrible and homer as gently caress but they are so bad that they can sometimes be funny because of the constant stream of stupid rear end poo poo they say. If you want to hear a color guy who sounds like he's constantly high as gently caress and mentally disabled then listen to these guys.

Boston Bruins: Also homer as gently caress like the Pens announcers. Jack Edwards is completely insane and shamefully homerish. He once compared a Bruins win to a revolutionary war battle victory. Seriously. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjMDOxefHck


And that's all I got.

Ginette Reno fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Nov 16, 2011

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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It's really just like basketball or soccer. Offenses try and find an open man with the puck so that that guy can shoot it in a good scoring area and hopefully generate a chance. There are wrinkles, of course. Sometimes players take shots from terrible angles and these shots have little chance of going in. In those situations, the player is taking the shot either because he feels he lacks options and doesn't want to turn the puck over, or because he is hoping the goalie will bobble the shot and give up a rebound opportunity. This is different from soccer where you would almost never see a player shoot from a bad angle if they can avoid it because in soccer it's so much harder to get possession back. Hockey has a much smaller playing surface and less players. It's less of a risk to shoot from a bad spot.

Other times teams will cycle the puck and it will be confusing because it looks like they don't even care about generating a shot but the cycle is all designed to get the other team's defenses moving and hopefully to cause a player on the other team to make a mistake and miss coverage, which will lead to a passing lane opening up and/or a shooting lane opening up for the offensive team. The one caveat to cycling is that hockey teams often have defensive lines as well. Usually these are the third and fourth lines on a hockey team. These players will cycle the puck but sometimes will be more concerned with simply maintaining possession of the puck than creating a scoring opportunity, as these lines are not focused on scoring goals as they generally lack the offensive skill and creativity to do so. Their goal is simply to prevent their own team from getting scored on, and possessing the puck for long periods helps them do that.

On the powerplay, things are different. Powerplays pass the puck around with the extra open space with the goal of two things: either to create an odd man situation, preferably a two on one down low, or to get the puck to another offensive player in order to take a quick one-timer which if executed properly will result in a quality shot on net.

Hockey is all about passing lanes, or seams as you will sometimes hear them called. Almost everything done offensively is with the goal in mind of opening up these lanes in order to get the puck to other teammates in good scoring spots.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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There can be other reasons, too. For example, if you score a lot of goals off the rush, well you're kinda hosed when you get on the powerplay because it's very difficult to score rush goals off the powerplay since teams stack up at their blueline and go into a defensive shell since they are short handed.

Sometimes the chemistry is off on a powerplay unit, even if they have a ton of talent. One problem the Penguins have when Crosby and Malkin are healthy is that both Crosby and Malkin love to play the right side half wall in the offensive zone on the powerplay, and so when both are out there at the same time on the powerplay one of them has to play in a spot where they aren't as comfortable since only one guy can play the right side half wall. That's not a problem they have at even strength.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Wolfy posted:

If someone fights during OT and still has time on their penalty when OT ends, can they participate in the shootout?

Yes. The only time a player can't participate in a shootout is if:

-They have received a game misconduct (thrown out of the game)

-They are serving a 10 minute misconduct

-They have received a match penalty (thrown out of the game for deliberately attempting to injure another player.)

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Jordan Staal is really good defensively and probably would have scored 30+ goals this year had he been healthy for a full season. He's pretty darn good at hockey.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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myron cope posted:

The biggest adjustment for someone like Radulov (i.e., not an old dude) is the rink size right? They use the bigger international-sized rinks in the KHL (I'm assuming) so that's usually an adjustment.

The biggest adjustment is that the NHL is a flat out better league than the KHL.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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a false posted:

a lot of people hate puck daddy i guess, but it covers the broadest number of teams, updates very frequently, and if something worth knowing about happened in the league it's probably going to be mentioned there. the writing's not the greatest but it's way better than a lot of the individual team blogs out there.

Puckdaddy is good for it's ability to gather together in one place a bunch of links to quality hockey sites/news, etc, just don't bother reading any of their opinion articles, as they are almost universally bad.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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It at least seems like guys hold back less. In the regular season sometimes players seem to give less than 100%. In the playoffs every game is so meaningful that every player is busting their rear end all the time.

That's the theory anyways. I'm not sure if I buy it or not. My eyes tell me that it does look like players expend more effort in the playoffs than the regular season (look at the way Malkin played defense in the Cup finals when the Pens beat Detroit. I've never before or since seen him put the effort into defense that he did there), but I have no statistical proof that this is the case.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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a false posted:

I would be inclined to agree with that. players are more likely to put their bodies on the line and bust their asses like crazy in the playoffs - every dude who deserves to be in the league plays like someone's going to shoot his family if his team loses in the playoffs. this sometimes results in players returning to games with injuries they have no business playing through - see stamkos getting the puck to the face last year, or the crazy story from when brent gilchrist was on the wings in the 90s and literally had his groin muscle pinned to his hipbone during a game because it tore clean off and still loving played

playoff hockey really is that intense. if you want to watch hockey that convinces you the game is worth watching, the playoffs are the time to do it.

Atmospherically it's so ridiculously awesome too. Playoff crowds in hockey are so awesome. There's really nothing like it. And yeah a guy playing like his family is going to get murdered if his team loses is a pretty damned good descriptor of playoff hockey and how hard guys play.

I'm convinced if you take someone who has never been to a hockey game before to a playoff game they will be hooked. Playoff hockey is that fun.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Overwined posted:

I bet they are drafting Russian or European rights to that player. Meaning that if Crosby every decides to gently caress off to Russia (please do this), he'd have to negotiate with whomever "drafted" him.

Come on now, the Pittsburgh doctors can't even treat him properly and you want him to go play on a team with Russian doctors? I know you hate Crosby as a Rangers fan but do you want him to actually die?

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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ThinkTank posted:

I can't think of a single example where a team hasn't instantly matched an offer sheet.

Dustin Penner

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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a false posted:

historically there have been loads of players who are just there to fight - every team used to have at least a couple of them. back when the game was (arguably) dirtier, they would be counted on to protect star players (see dave semenko and marty mcsorley's role when playing with wayne gretzky). in the "new NHL" however you can't really get by if you can't skate somewhat competently, so the one-dimensional fighter (or "goon") is a dying breed at this point. that said, a lot of teams still carry around a guy or two who can't do anything but fight, though they're usually an extra forward who only gets dressed when the coach feels he needs to "inject some toughness." some guys who fit that bill:

John Scott (although for some reason coaches seem to think he's somewhat useful by virtue of being 500000 ft. tall. he's not.)
Eric Boulton
Cam Janssen
Tom Sestito (he scored a couple goals in a game at one point but he sucks)

some others that i remember from fairly recently that aren't in the nhl anymore:

David Koci
Raitis Ivanans
DJ King
Derek Boogaard (RIP :( )

Yeah some examples of the new breed of tough guy would be Daryk Engelland and Brandon Prust. Deryk Engelland is basically the Pens' enforcer, but he's also a good player in his own right. He can skate and play the game. Brandon Prust is another example- he's the Habs' tough guy but he's a good player too.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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myron cope posted:

Do GMs consult with the coaching staff before making trades? I mean, they have to...but how much? I mean, does Ray Shero call up Byslma and be all like "hope u enjoy Douglas Murray"? Does it vary by team?

How much are owners involved? I remember there was a story about how the Pens had some kind of 5 year plan but they saw an opportunity to accelerate it and then Burkle ponied up the extra cash needed.

GMs talk to their coaches about where a potential player might fit, and what his acquisition might mean for other players on the roster, locker room chemistry, etc. So if you're Shero and getting Doug Murray you probably ask Bylsma do you see this guy fitting in, could he help us, if I get him that obviously pushes other guys out of a role and if I do that will that gently caress everything up for you?

An owners main involvement when it comes to making a deal is signing off on taking on additional salary. Obviously the Pens are taking on salary with Morrow and Murray. They can't do that unless Burkle and Mario say it's ok to add to the team's payroll.

Owners aren't usually that involved aside from that unless you're talking a huge impact trade. As a GM you can't just go and trade Sidney Crosby, for instance. If you want to do that you have to talk to the owners and be like hey I'm thinking of doing this is it ok. The owner will sign off on it or not and then usually let the GM handle the intimate details of a deal. An example of that right now is the potential Iginla trade. Feaster can't just go and trade Iginla for five ham sandwiches he's got to talk to ownership before he moves out a big name like that. Obviously though these things can vary. Some owners are more involved with hockey operations than others.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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It's probably worth noting that if you're going to ref professionally at even a lower level of pro hockey you're going to need to be a pretty good skater. NHL refs are extremely talented skaters who are also in tip top physical shape for the most part.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Can someone explain to me what a starting goalie is and what it does

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Shoeonhead22 posted:

What's odd is switching a LD to a RD fucks a player up much, much more then switching a LW to a RW, even though there's no distinction between a LD and a RD (they're both just D). There's a lot of players who switch between LW and RW, and there's a lot of centers who suck at faceoffs and get moved to wing. This usually happens before the age of 30, though, unless the player is used to being swapped around or sucks anyways.

Dude switching from LD to RD can make all the difference in the world. I'm a righty and if I play the left side when I go into the corner in my own end I have to make plays on my backhand in order to break the puck out on my same side which is a much more difficult play for a defenseman to make. Forehand passes are more difficult from the left side for a righty than the right side. Forwards are taught to forecheck so as to force the opposing defenseman into making plays on their backhand as that is always a more difficult play to make.

Granted, the difference between me and an NHL defenseman is loving vast, but in some ways it's worse for them as at the NHL level every player is a ridiculously good skater so good luck beating a forecheck making plays on your backhand. Playing your off side isn't entirely without benefits. Obviously it's easier to one time a puck playing the left side as a right handed defenseman.

e: Forwards that play their off wing suffer from some of the same problems. Iginla looked extremely uncomfortable having to make plays on his backhand all the time. Some goalscorers seem to prefer it for one timers and being able to more easily cut to the middle and snipe off the rush, though. Classic examples: Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, though both played the right side this year iirc. Historically both had great success as LW's though.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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ElwoodCuse posted:

I myself blame it on playing baseball and golf for so long before playing hockey. The first stick I ever played with was a street hockey stick with no curve at all, it just felt right to shoot right.

I'm pretty sure Mario Lemieux is right handed and he shoots right so you know I think Canada might not be entirely correct on this one.

Or Mario would have been even better if he shot left. :stare:

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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You should know that Mike Yeo, the Wild head coach, really sucks at running powerplays. And everything that ever went wrong with the Penguins is probably at least tangentially related to him. Yeo :argh:.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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The Duke of Avon posted:

I've gotten into hockey really recently and just read through this whole thread. Still wondering a few things...

1) Does the amount of guys on the ice make a big difference with how easy it is to score? I haven't really watched enough games to get accurate impressions of anything but so far it seems like teams hardly ever score on power plays, but they usually do in 4-on-4 overtime. Is that even true though?

2) Do I need a really thorough knowledge of everything hockey to enjoy it properly? Like, I have no idea what's going on with all this trade stuff and the whole financial side of things. And I don't really understand what counts as a penalty since everyone is constantly disagreeing over them anyway.

3) Is there anyone I should hate a lot? :v: Apparently I like the Penguins and my family would be mad if I hated the Blackhawks, so not them.

Also just want to say thanks to whoever linked to that backhand shelf blog, I definitely wanted something like that to read.

1) Yes it makes a big difference. Powerplays make it much easier to score. Powerplays are easier to score on than 4 on 4. On a powerplay one team is out numbered and therefore cannot cover every opposing player. That means a passing lane is always open for the team with the man advantage. If they move the puck smartly enough they'll generate a chance even against the most stifling penalty kill. 4 on 4 is easier to score on than 5 on 5 because there's more room on the ice to maneuver but a powerplay is still a preferable situation for a team. After all 5v4 or 5v3 > 4v4.

2) No, not really. As long as you know the basic rules you can enjoy it just fine. I don't know that much about football players but I can still watch an NFL game and enjoy it. As for penalties, you can always read this http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=27011. But you'll understand the rules better over time. The best way to learn is just keep watching and understand that as with all sports referees are quite fallible and not every game is called the same way. What is a hooking penalty in one game might not be in another. Sometimes refs call a really tight game with few penalties, and sometimes they call a penalty fest. Even experienced fans have no idea what type of refereeing to expect game to game.

3) If you like the Penguins (hi bud, I do too!) then know that their natural rival is the Philadelphia Flyers. That's the only team Penguins fans are legally obligated to hate. The Pens also have semi rivalries with the Islanders, Rangers, Canadiens, Red Wings, Senators, and Capitals. The Flyers are the only true rival the Pens have, though. All those other teams are only rivals by circumstance such as the Pens/Isles being a rivalry because of the playoff series last year and the fight night a few years before that, the Wings because of the two matchups in the Cup finals, etc.

But Pens/Flyers is geographical and an eternal hatred which has existed as long as those two teams have.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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HELLO LADIES posted:

Reaves
Price
Jordan Nolan
Setoguchi
Gomez
Ribeiro
Nieto
Smith-Pelly
Yakupov
Dumba

I'm still probably forgetting some. There's a bunch of dudes who are multi/bi-racial or mixed, too.

e: And Bork!

You forgot Cam Ward

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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rrrrrrrrrrrt posted:

I have really, really dumb questions:

1) How on earth do people keep track of which players are currently on the ice? How on earth do I know which line is on the ice? Do I just have to memorize people's numbers and track them that way. It's pretty much the only unique characteristic I can discern while watching a game. Am I just retarded?

2) What makes a good defenceman? The position really mystifies me. Hell, the nuance of positions like defence, center, winger, etc. escapes me in general. Is there a good breakdown of what each position should be doing, not doing, good at, etc.?

1) Watch a lot of games is the only answer, really. If you watch your team play enough you will know who is on the ice. Memorizing numbers would help but you'll also know by play style, how they look, etc. I don't need to see the back of Sidney Crosby's jersey to know he's on the ice because he plays a certain way, and looks a certain way.

I don't always immediately know who is on the ice for other teams, though, and I watch a ton of games. But for my team? I don't need numbers, I've watched enough to know who is who.

2) You can be effective playing defense in different ways, so this isn't an easy question to answer. Generally defensemen break into these types:

Puck Movers: These guys are usually great skaters, stickhandlers, and passers. They have excellent vision. Their brand of defense involves being skilled with their stick, using pokechecks to dislodge the puck from opposing forwards in their own zone and then using their speed, mobility, and vision to quickly and smartly move the puck up to their forwards, or else skate it out of danger. They tend to be somewhat soft physically and aren't usually the best at battling for loose pucks in the corners, but are excellent with the puck. For them, the best defense tends to be a good offense. They excel defensively by moving the puck smartly and they usually are the best in the offensive zone at creating scoring chances via passes or smart shots. Examples of this type of player would be Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, Drew Doughty of the LA Kings, or Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Physical Dmen: These guys tend to have very limited skills with the puck. They can usually make a pass if they have plenty of time, but under pressure they tend to just throw the puck up the boards or off the glass. Their strength as players comes in their ability to dominate the opposition physically in the corners and in front of their own net. Their job is to punish opposing forwards with hits and in general make life miserable for the other team's skill players. They also tend to be excellent at blocking shots and removing opposing players from the front of the net. Examples- Brooks Orpik, PIttsburgh Penguins, Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens.

Positional stay at home: Similar to physical dmen except that the physical aspect of the game is less emphasized with them and more emphasis is on good stickwork and positional play. These guys play a very safe game. They rarely pinch in the offensive zone and they always try to make the safest plays possible with the puck. You'll almost never see them make a risky play. Examples- Dan Girardi, New York Rangers, Nicklas Grossman, Philadelphia Flyers.


Some guys blend both or even all types. Zdeno Chara of the Bruins for example can move the puck as well as any puck mover, but he's also extremely physical and smart positionally.

Positional responsibilities:

Center - The center's job is to act a roamer in all three zones. In the defensive zone, the center's responsibility is to help out his defensemen either in front of the net or in the corners. He does this by offering them short passing options, and helping them in corner battles or in front of the net. The main thing about the center's game is that it's fluid. He doesn't necessarily have a set place to go in any of the three zones. His job is to basically always be around the puck as either a passing option or to help battle for it. The exception to this rule is in the offensive zone- if two players are already forechecking, then it is always the third forward to enter the offensive zone's job to be the third man high, which means they position themselves high in the offensive zone. What's the purpose of the third man high? It's to make sure that if the two forechecking forwards don't get the puck back, that the other team doesn't get an odd man rush with a quick zone clear.

Centers tend to be excellent skaters with high hockey acumen. They also tend to be excellent playmakers as due to their nature as roamers they have the puck a lot and therefore need to be good at distributing it to their wingers.

Wing - The wing's job tends to be very north/south. In the defensive zone their job is to stay high near the opposing team's pointmen and cover them and also act as a passing option should their own team have the puck. You will very rarely see them go down deep into their own defensive zone as doing so leaves the opposing team's defensivemen wide open for point shots. In the offensive zone they are usually the first forecheckers on their side of the ice. If they're not the first forechecker, then they are either the third man high that I described above, or they are the second forechecker. The first forechecker's job is to cause havoc and try to pin the other team's defenseman, or else be the first onto the puck and retrive it outright. The second forechecker's job is to help out the first forechecker, usually by retrieving the puck while the first forechecker has the opposing team's defenseman and/or forwards pinned down. Whereas the center can go anywhere in any zone, you usually won't see a winger leave their own side of the ice. A left winger for example will stay on their left side of the ice, or at most end up at times in the middle of the ice. Very rarely will they go all the way to the other winger's side of the ice.

Wingers come in all kinds of types. Some are bangers who focus on hitting to get and hold onto pucks. Some are power forwards who use great strength to keep and hold the puck in the offensive zone. Some are snipers who try to find soft areas of the ice in the offensive zone and use soft hands and wicked shots to score goals.

Defensemen - The first job of the defenseman is to keep opposing teams from scoring goals. To that end, it's the job of the defenseman to have a good gap on opposing forwards. A gap is basically how close the defenseman is when he's trying to cover the opposing team's forwards. A good gap is tight so that the other team's forwards have no time and space to make plays when they receive the puck. In the defensive zone, it is the defenseman's job to retrieve the puck and exit it as quickly and cleanly as possible from their own zone. If the defenseman does not have the puck, it is his job to get it back as soon as he can. Since there are two defensemen on the ice at all times, one of the two defensemen's job is always always always to be in front of their own net covering opposing forwards and protecting their goaltender. But how do the two defensemen know which should be in front of the net and which should be in the corners battling for the puck? It's quite simple. If it's on your side of the ice, you're the guy in the corner battling for the puck. If it's not on your side of the ice, you're in front of the net taking away passing options for the other team and making life miserable for any forwards who dare to post up there.

In the offensive zone it is the job of the defenseman to stay up high near the blueline so that they are there as a last line of defense in case the other team retrieves the puck. If their team has control of the puck, the dman is also available at the blueline as a passing option or for one-timer shots. Occasionally you will see defensemen pinch in to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone. Pinching means skating down low into the offensive zone to either take control of a loose puck or whack it back into the zone. Pinching is dangerous because if you miss the puck or it gets knocked by you then the other team can get an odd man rush as you were supposed to be the last line of defense. Because of that, it is the job of the team's forwards (and other defensemen) to recognize when a defenseman is pinching and drop back to cover for him just in case the pinch doesn't work.


That's all I've got for now. If I missed something, feel free to add to it. I tried to cover the bare minimum of what each position is supposed to do. In reality there is a massive amount of nuances to each position that you can only learn by watching, playing, and/or listening to commentators and experienced players/fans talk. The positional responsibilities of each player can for example change depending on what system the coach runs. The Penguins for example like to send both of their defensemen into the corner on pucks that are dumped in. It is the job of the first defenseman to take the hit/pass the puck off to the second defenseman under that system. That is very different than what a traditional system would call for. Lots of teams have different wrinkles like that which you have to watch for and may be confusing as it can contradict what I talked about above. The best way to learn is to watch, and even better, to play.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Babcock is the best coach in the NHL, or at least right up there. I'm not sure who I'd take over him. I think Darryl Sutter deserves some consideration when you take into account his success with the Kings and also how he dragged a middling Flames team to game 7 of the cup finals. Trotz' consistent success with low budget teams deserves accolades as well, though he's never had success in the playoffs. But that's hard to do with a low budget.

I'm not at all sold on Julien or Quenneville. I think they're both decent coaches but they have outrageously good teams that any coach with a brain could do good things with.

I dunno I can't think of a coach right now I'd rather have than Babcock.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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a false posted:

i think the goaltending has more to do with it than anything. how many times did you see gretzky score from the loving blue line through the wickets of a standing goalie?

Well yes but at the same time Gretzky and Lemieux were still on a level far beyond what any player is capable of now. They'd put up less points now for sure if they were playing but they'd still be way better even than Crosby.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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Lawnie posted:

Except it's absurd to even consider comparing Crosby to those players. There were a lot of bad players in the NHL back then. There are a lot fewer now. That alone should make you think twice about any sweeping claims about who is better all time, especially when points per game is your metric. Hell, if the NHL tracked this back then, you all might be interested to see how shot totals and shooting percentages compare between two completely different eras. Just "goals per team per game" and points per game doesn't tell you a dang thing about who is better among top 20 all time players.

You can look at dominance compared to their peer group. Gretzky and Lemieux dominated their peers in scoring far beyond what anyone does now. It's not just raw point totals but point totals compared to their peers.

Like if Crosby were Gretzky or Lemieux good he'd be winning scoring titles by like 30 points over second place, and he's not.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

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fits posted:

An example of just how far ahead of the pack Gretzky was from everyone else in his prime:

Kinda interesting though how impressive Crosby's season this year looks even if 104 points doesn't seem particularly dominant. A 20% lead over the next nearest scorer is very good though.

In fairness if Malkin and Stamkos were healthy the whole year it probably looks a lot closer, but you could likely say that about a bunch of such scoring race leads throughout history.

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

How Doers get more done
Fun Shoe

Levitate posted:

I swear I've seen a game where the starter was pulled, then the backup gave up a ton of goals so the starter went back in, but I can't remember the details

Wikipedia posted:

In game 4 of the first round of the 1987 playoffs, Keenan pulled his goalies, Ron Hextall and Glenn Resch, a total of five times in a single game (the 5th time to gain a man-advantage in the last minute of play).

Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

How Doers get more done
Fun Shoe
I think there's a fair argument to be made for Bobby Orr being the best player of all time. What he did was absolutely ridiculous.

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Ginette Reno
Nov 18, 2006

How Doers get more done
Fun Shoe

xzzy posted:

Paradoxically when good players are traded to a fan's favorite team, they suck too.

This is actually true for the Rangers though

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