I’m still getting used to the “new NHL”, so I’ve been in observation mode thus far — Keeping my trap shut in the interest of seeing what happens.
That said, up until recently, my dear Colorado Avalanche have been nothing more than mediocre. The new head coach, Joel Quenneville went all psycho on the goaltending corps and nearly ruined all three candidates’ confidence and ability to play. Superstars like Rob Blake and Joe Sakic had been severe disappointments. Blake still doesn’t make the hits he’s supposed to and his cannon of a slap shot from the point hasn’t really been a factor as of yet. As for Sakic, he is consistently the shots-on-goal leader in each game, so you know he’s working out there, but to watch him earlier in the season, you’d think he was skating through molasses. The loss of Steve Konowalchuk was a punch to the gut. Milan Hejduk was in such a dark doldrum I was worried he’d never come out. The only bright spots in the first half of the season were really Alex Tanguay, rookie Marek Svatos, and a couple/few over-performing grinders like Ian Laperrier.
Now, though, the Avs have won eight straight games and things are looking more correct on the scoresheet:
Milan Hejduk scored a pair of power-play goals 34 seconds apart to lift the Avs to their eighth straight win, a 5-3 victory over Toronto on Tuesday night that pushed them into a tie for the Northwest Division lead.
Rookie Marek Svatos scored his 27th goal of the season, best in the Western Conference, to help Colorado match its longest winning streak since Oct. 10-28, 2000.
And now, thanks to that win over Toronto, the Avs share the number one spot in the Northwest Division! Granted, they share that lead with two other teams (the NW Div is tighter than my Spiderman Underoos these days).
Shootouts are terrible. It reminds me of the days I coached when we our ice rental time ran out and we had to get off for the next teams that rented. Seems amateurish. A better way to go would have been to play 3 minute over time periods, starting with four skaters a side, then three, then two, then singles. No goal yet? Begin again. Enforce the rules well during this, and power plays would become huge.
Being unable to touch a guy in front of the net is nuts. How many times have we seen the play slide into the goalie from that position? Under the old rules, that centre was being hassled too much to do more than deflect or get a rebound. I think the answer is to either extend the crease even more to include that area, and allow full contact on the player to get him out of there.
Part of the Avs success is that the Oilers are sucking. They’re up and down in the standings more than a co-ed junior on spring break.
I don’t know. I think I like the shootout for regular season play just fine. There are over eighty games in the season, just get it done with. The idea of a shootout deciding a playoff game is, of course, ludicrous — In fact, it’s the worst thing about international tourneys. Peter Forsberg, as much as I worship him, should never have been on that stamp.
I do think increasing the size of the goal crease would be a fair idea, however.
As for the Oilers, they enjoy the distinction of being one of only two teams NOT in first place in the NW Div!
Still, give the boys in maroon and blue some credit for stringing together eight wins (even though it has only really served to make up for lost ground).
I like the shootout, but I like Cal’s idea, too. I would love to see me some one on one hockey. All I know is that that ties suck no matter who you are.
I can’t stand the fact that a defenseman can’t throttle a guy camping out in front of his own net. You should be able to work the guy over (legally) until he can’t see straight. Used to be, you knew going in front of the net you’d be taking a beating and you accepted that. It took a special kind of intestinal fortitude to go in there knowing a fight for position was coming.
i have been busy the last couple years, i have only had the chance to catch a couple of games. what the heck is the trapazoid?
Yeah, that’s a super-silly goalie restriction: The goalie is not allowed to play the puck unless he is A) in front of the goal line or B) within the trapeziod behind the net. The area in the corners is verboten.
Personally, I feel it was a rule put in place to limit the effectiveness of certain goalies (Martin Brodeur is a prime example) who took the time to develop a specialty skill and were especially good at playing the puck and getting it ahead to their players — the proverbial “3rd Defenseman”.
f*ck the goalie, let him play where and how he wants. but anytime he leaves the crease he is fair game for checking and everything else.
silly indeed