Posts Tagged ‘hockey’

Pregame: Phoenix Coyotes @ Anaheim Ducks

Posted: 04/27/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Tonight’s game is like the last day at work or school before vacation or spring break. All you want to do is get past it.

Even Coach set practice to optional.

For us fans it’s a good game to bring out our measuring sticks. Our Ducks are about to meet their toughest challenge of the season. Themselves. Tonight our Ducks will fight the temptation to watch the scoreboard. They also must motivate themselves to play in a meaningless game.

Even the Ducks Official website is calling this game a “playoff tune-up.” If I’m Coyotes coach Dave Tippett that’s on the white board. Along with a chat about how the Ducks and the City of Anaheim have no respect for these Phoenix Coyotes.

In a game like this though the ‘Yotes really aren’t the challenge. We are the challenge. Can we raise our intensity, compete and play the disciplined brand hockey that earned our Ducks a 30-11-6 season record?

The ‘Yotes are playing their third game in four nights and second of back to back games. Even casual fans know that’s a rough road.

The only key to this game is will.

Note: I don’t care who will become our first round playoff opponent. Each of Detroit, Columbus and Minnesota present a unique challenge. Right now Minnesota looks to be the easy out. That could change by the time the puck drops next week.

Quick camp, short season primer

Posted: 01/06/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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One way to look at this is the whole league is returning from injury that kept them out for 34 games. Here are a few things you can expect to see in camp and in the early going:

1. Guys who played in Europe and the ‘A’ will be noticeably ahead of players who hung out at scrimmages and/or skated on their own.

2. Adjusting to the ice. It’s much harder for goalies because the angles are all different. The primary and secondary high percentage shooting areas cover more space on the larger European ice surface. For skaters, it’s mostly adapting to the feeling of being hurried on the smaller NA ice.

3. Teams with little roster turnover will have a jump over teams breaking in new players at key positions. Count our Ducks among the latter.

4. Expect 35 or fewer players invited to camp. Maybe fewer than 30 for teams without many roster questions. You will also see a more tryout contracts offered  to the many UFA’s available by teams with unanswered roster questions.

5. Sloppy play! When you come back after a long layoff the hardest thing to get back is your timing and coordination. Give it 5 weeks and a dozen or so in season games before becoming overly judgmental.

Overall, this is quite different from the start of season where everyone is starting even. You’ve got guys coming in from the ‘A’ and Europe who are in game shape playing with and against guys trying to find their legs. Goalies adjusting to angles.

And maybe most of all will be the Refs. Let’s hope there’s an improvement on the uneven and unpredictability of the officiating. Consistency in penalty calling will do more than anything else in returning the game to the players and fans.

 

First Quarter Report: The Suits

Posted: 11/23/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Note: This blog is organized into 3 sections, management, coaching and players. Publishing the management and coaching section now. Player section to follow. (more…)

Foligno, The Details & Those Little Intangibles

Posted: 11/10/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Note: Indulge a long set up and intro. This piece does address the headline, eventually and hopefully thoroughly;

Eric Stephens of the OCR has a well worth reading blog about resiliency. Check out this ADHN video and compare Carlyle’s answers to the same question.

With Ice, Elmer is hedging his bet. On the video he’s adamant.

Randy Carlyle’s supporters just don’t get why so many of us find him confusing. Jeez coach, where the heck is that resiliency widget? Do they have it? Or is it outside, in the parking lot maybe?

During recent games… (more…)

PostGame PostUp: Anaheim 5 Nashville 4

Posted: 11/07/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Okay, who put the stupid pills in the team meal? Ahlers, Hayward, Koivu and I’m certain Randy Carlyle will echo them and talk about turnovers. it’s true, we did turn it over often. What amazed me was how we turned it over.

How many times do you have to skate into a trap before you make the East/West or drop pass sooner? Where’s the coaching, when that happens consistently? Where’s the chatter about connecting to the outlet guy sooner?

In the past few games I’ve noticed that as the period wears on our guys having difficulty head manning the puck out of our zone. That’s the ice folks. When you can make those 15-25 foot passes early in each period but don’t later, it’s because snow has built up on the ice. The puck slows down. (more…)

PreGame PostUp: Nashville @ Anaheim

Posted: 11/07/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Look no further than the injury report to know why Nashville has lost 4 straight after opening the season 5-0-3. Predators are missing #1 center Matthew Lombardi, slick winger Martin Erat and #2 D-man Ryan Suter.

That’s a whole lot of speed, playmaking, puck moving and sniping ability on the IR. Lombardi is Predators best two-way forward. Too bad, so sad Preds.

If ever there was a time for one of the Preds great goaltenders, Pekka Rinne or  Anders Lindback to steal one, this would be a good time. Goal coach Mitch Korn has earned quite an impressive reputation having also coached, Tomas Vokoun, Chris Mason and Dan Ellis.

(more…)

PreGame PostUp: Pittsburgh @ Anaheim

Posted: 11/04/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Penguins and our Ducks are each 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.

Ducks make their 5th attempt this season to win 2 games in a row. Our Ducks have won consecutive periods three times this season though. The 2nd & 3rd of the Vancouver game, 2nd & 3rd against Dallas. Most importantly, after beating San Jose 2-0 in the 3rd period of the 5-2 loss, our Ducks showed some carryover by edging Tampa Bay 1-0 in the 1st period last night.

After a disastrous 0-3 start our Ducks season has been marred by speed bumps. Our guys have won one lost one 3 consecutive times. Followed by a won one lost two prior to last nights win.

The Penguins have been either hot cold. Four of their six wins came in a consecutive game win streak while they’ve lost two straight twice. The Pens are currently 1-4 in their last 5 games. (more…)

Backof the InterNet: Hockey Moms are Awesome; Scoring down? Tootoo’s hit on Colaiacovo; Brian Burke and more…

Posted: 11/04/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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From our Hockey Moms are Awesome Dept.:

“According to local lore, when the snow got too deep to play hockey outside, Madame Lemieux transported shovels of snow into the house. She threw the snow on the carpet and pounded it down to a smooth surface that glistened like ice. With the heat in the house turned off and the doors opened to let the cold blow in, she had her boys, just past toddler age then, practice hockey on the rug.”

After he turned pro and became famous, Mario admitted he actually learned to skate in his living room. His mom added, “They really did quite a job on my rug. But it was good for strengthening their ankles.”

Every kid in Canada is going to want an indoor rink for Christmas.

Want more goal scoring? Former Ref Andy Van Hellemond says shrink the stinkin’ goalie pads Adam Proteau of THN has the rest. (more…)

Hockey Stats and Why I Hate Them

Posted: 11/04/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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Well not all stats, final score of a game is good to know. Perhaps the best way for me to explain my detest for hockey stats is to adapt an insightful quote from Robert F. Kennedy given at the University of Kansas on March 18, 1968.

He was felled by an assassin’s bullet less than 3 months later. His exact words can be found by continuing beyond the break.

Too much and too long we seem to have surrendered the grace and elegance of our game in the mere accumulation of numerical expression. Statistics, if we are to judge our game by that, counts the visual pollution of players mouthing F-bombs and James Wisniewski mime of a sexual act and stretchers to clear our rinks of carnage. Statistics count the minor and major penalties, the suspensions and inherent financial costs. Statistics count man games lost to injury and brilliant careers cut short by concussions. Statistics count stick penalties and produces television programs that glorify the violence in order to sell products to our children. Statistics measure who’s best at what. Yet statistics don’t count the health of our athletes, the quality of these talented people and the joy of their play. Statistics don’t show the electrifying thrill of Teemu Selanne bursting through the neutral zone and foiling a trap or the power of a Ovechkin end to end rush or the integrity of Lady Byng Trophy winner Pavol Demitra or the artistry of Wayne Gretzky. Statistics measure neither our understanding of the game’s geometry, the intelligence witnessed and exhibited in the flow of the game and those who mastered it who give the game both its structure and creativity.  Statistics measure neither our humility or the courage required to know and play the game, neither the wisdom or our learning, neither our compassion or our devotion to hockey. Statistics measure everything in short except that which makes hockey worthwhile. Statistics can tell us everything about hockey except why we are proud, why we revel in our camaraderie and why we share in the sport.

If you’re interested in knowing what RFK was really talking about and a word of advice he left us regarding extremists (more…)

Carlyle’s Shortcomings Exposed by Guy Boucher

Posted: 11/04/2010 by bc in Uncategorized
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czhokej posted this on the OCR’s Blog How They Match Up: Ducks-Lightning

Guy Boucher is one of the best young coaches in the game today. He has a charisma and sincerity, he is humble and players listen to him!!! Lecavalier said: “…. the way he communicates with players, and how positive he is behind the bench, players like to follow his instructions. When a player makes a mistake, he is not there screaming at him. He turns it around to be positive. Guys like that and respond to it.”
And there is no need to introduce Steve Yzerman, Tampa Bay GM. They have knowledge there, they know how to motivate people.
Humility is important to success, said Mr. Boucher, who has a degree in sport psychology

During the game Ducks analyst Brian Hayward echoed cz’s pregame post making the point about how Boucher is always talking about what fine people his players are.

Hazy took it to the next level and compared Boucher’s approach to Randy Carlyle. It was not favorable to Carlyle. (more…)

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