Articles

[hockeygod]

Sleep doctor has Canucks peaking at right time

Matthew Sekeres – Boston – From Tuesday's Globe and Mail – Published Monday, Jun. 06, 2011

The Vancouver Canucks’ sleep doctor doesn’t yet know if he’ll be given a Stanley Cup ring, but if the team beats the Boston Bruins for the NHL championship, than he will have a strong claim to some jewelry.

Pat Byrne, a vice-president and co-founder of Hawaii-based Fatigue Science, has been working with the Canucks since 2008, when Mike Gillis took over as general manager and became determined to solve the team’s persistent travel woes. As the only NHL team based on Canada’s West Coast, the Canucks travel longer distances than any other club, and it was affecting the performance of players.

So Byrne, a health and safety expert with a masters degree in biochemistry from Western Washington University, was commissioned to fix the problem, and reduce fatigue levels across the bench. Beginning in the 2008-09 season, Byrne got Canucks players to wear ReadiBand bracelets for one- to two-week periods early in the season, and developed sleep profiles for every player.

The ReadiBands monitor wrist motion, and are accurate between 92 and 94 per cent of the time, according to Byrne. They were able to shed light on how long players slept, how many times they awoke during the night, whether they slept on charter flights after games, or on buses to and from the airport, and how long it took players to get to sleep after games.

With profiles on every player, Byrne entered the data into a program developed by the U.S. military called Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool, or FAST. Byrne said that Fatigue Science bought the commercial rights to FAST, which was developed roughly 15 years ago.

“It turns sleep data into performance data,” he said. “It shows how their reaction times change during games.”

The FAST program allowed the Canucks and their players to see when their concentration levels were high or low, based on fatigue. It also identified which games would be problematic, and when the team should stay behind in a road city – rather than flying out immediately after the game and arriving home in the wee hours of the night – to maximize rest. It also allowed head coach Alain Vigneault to schedule practices at times when he would have an attentive group of employees, rather than players with wandering attention spans.

The goal, Mr. Byrne said, was to get the players eight to nine hours of sleep per night.

“We feel fresh,” winger Daniel Sedin said prior to Game 3 Monday at the TD Garden in Boston. “We know [the organization] has done everything it can to put us in a good position with sleep. … We know we’re going to have an advantage over other teams.”

The results have spoken for themselves.

Four years ago, before turning to sleep consultants, the Canucks were a mediocre team (18-18-5) away from Rogers Arena. This season, Vancouver had the best road record in the league for the first time, winning 27 of 41 games.

The Canucks scored more third-period goals (100) than any other team in the NHL, and have outscored foes 25-18 in the third period and overtime during the playoffs.

They were also excellent when playing their first home game after a long road swing, which had been a problem in previous seasons. After coming back from trips of at least three games, the Canucks won five of seven games this season, and lost only once in regulation time.

“Because we travel the most in the NHL, that’s one of the reasons why we try and get a scientific approach to where our guys would have the utmost energy,” Vigneault said. “I do know that, obviously, our record is better.

“It certainly seems to be beneficial, and if you look at our third periods, we seem to have the energy to keep pushing forward.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Friend continues battle for Mandi Schwartz

ALLAN MAKI
Globe and Mail Update
Posted on Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Brennan Turner has lost his friend but he hasn’t lost the desire to fight for her.

The 24-year-old defenceman who befriended the late Mandi Schwartz, of Wilcox, Sask., is continuing to lead a bone marrow drive that could save the lives of others. Schwartz was diagnosed in 2008 with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive cancer that attacks the bone marrow, and had undergone several treatments, including chemotherapy. She was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant this August after a donor was found but she died April 3 at the age of 23 after her cancer returned.

Turner, who like Schwartz played hockey at Yale University, is part of the OneMatch stem cell and marrow search operated by the Canadian Blood Services. There are several donation drives planned for Western Canada, including one in Regina this weekend and one in Calgary and Saskatoon on June 18-19.

“They’re looking for a specific age group, 17 to 39, and especially people of Black, Latin and Aboriginal descent,” said Turner. “It takes 15 minutes and (the collectors) do a cheek swab and the results are on (the CSB’s) reporting for 30 years.”

Turner had helped lead the charge to find a suitable donor for Schwartz. Schwartz’s teammates at Yale also held bone marrows drives and, according to Turner, five samples collected have produced matches for people in need.

“It wasn’t all for naught,” said Turner, who has remained in close contact with the Schwartz family. “We didn’t get the result everyone was hoping for Mandi, but there’s hope for others. I talked to Rick (Schwartz, Mandi’s dad) the other day and he doesn’t wish this on any family.”

Turner remains under contract to the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Time for NHL to take off the blinkers

Jeff Blair | Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011

If Aaron Rome’s four-game suspension is some kind of seminal disciplinary moment for the NHL, then it speaks volumes about the degree to which the league remains a mom-and-pop operation.

Bad enough that Mike Murphy sought advice from a general manager with a vested interest in the outcome of the series before swallowing hard and ridding the game of the kind of minimally talented player so often at the core of on-ice assaults.

Equally telling was Murphy equating Rome having to miss the rest of the playoffs for delivering a late hit, to the absence of Nathan Horton due to that hit.

“Guys play all their lives to get to this series, and you might never get back,” Murphy said. “I wish I wasn’t sitting here. I wish Aaron was playing, and I wish Nathan was playing.”

Translation: “It pains me to have to do my job. I feel as bad for the perpetrator as I do for the victim. It’s a bitch what happened to Horty, but, geez, poor Romer. ’Cause he’s a good guy – no, a great guy.”

Now, I’m not going to hop on board the Canucks’ lunatic conspiracy bandwagon. I will take the NHL at its word that outgoing chief of discipline Colin Campbell, whose son plays for Boston, really has turned in his BlackBerry to retire about three years too late – not realizing he was in a conflict-of-interest situation until young Gregory made his way to the Stanley Cup final, and well after he was caught sending messages to referees about his son’s opponents. And I won’t sit here and tell you that it was anything other than a tone-deaf and, frankly, unnecessary revelation by Murphy that before rendering judgment, he had consulted Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, who filled the role of chief NHL disciplinarian in a previous life but was also:

1) Fired by the Canucks.

2) Fined by the NHL for tampering with the Canucks’Daniel and Henrik Sedin just before they became free agents.

A conspiracy? No. Burke’s too smart for that. I’ll accept without question Burke’s e-mail response to various reporters that his input was “procedural.” If anything, Burke would err on the side of being too-principled. If it was me, I would have told Murphy to throw out the Sedins and Kesler, too.

The NHL had this coming, of course, because it’s turned the asylum over to the ex-inmates. It has wrung its collective hands and furrowed its brow over every single disciplinary issue all season. It is telling that so many of the leagues apologists tut-tutted over the four-game suspension – they thought it would only be two – even as the Canucks predictably babbled on about north-south hits. Because that’s how the NHL does business: it sees events through the eyes of the perpetrator.

Because deep down all the ex-players making these decisions think everybody’s a good guy. We are under the tyranny of sorts of ex-players, and if you think Brendan Shanahan’s going to bring any other sensibility to the equation, you are sadly mistaken. His first instinct will be: ‘Well, I remember being in the same situation and I hit a guy the same way …’ What else do you expect? What other pool of knowledge do these guys have?

The NHL isn’t the only sport that loads up on ex-players in its front office – although none are as blatant in using it as a labour weapon, creating make-work projects to suck in players who might otherwise spend their retirement helping the NHL Players’ Association – but it is one of the few leagues that puts them in positions to make decisions on life-and-death issues; on matters of medical importance that also have quasi-legal overtones. This is a sport that is marching slowly towards producing a generation of cripples who will be ingesting food through a straw, yet is all too willing to hand over decisions to guys named Colie, Murph and now Shanny.

Here’s something: how about putting the decision in the hands of people with medical and legal training, who aren’t part owner of teams or used to work for teams or are golf buddies with Gary Bettman or have kids who play with teams? How about putting the decision in the hands of somebody who can analyze a play without remembering what it was like to run a guy into the boards after the other player turns his back? How about the suits at the board of governors level saying no shot to the head will be tolerated, imposing draconian financial and service-time fines on players and coaches and teams and instituting a system where teams lose draft picks for repeated transgressions? How about hiring people who can look at a video and say: “We don’t allow shots to the head or blind-side hits or hitting players without the puck or late hits. Hmm … that’s a head-shot. See ya, big fellow – you’re gone for 15 games.”

That Murphy called Burke before rendering judgment is a sign of a guy who panicked under pressure, who turtled in a big moment. That Murphy felt any sense of remorse at all at in suspending Rome for an unnecessary hit on a player who didn’t have the puck – one that sent the player to hospital – is more telling. Time to put some smart people in the saddle, Gary. Time to look outside the game.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

NHL GMs support broader penalties for head hits

ERIC DUHATSCHEK
BOSTON— Globe and Mail Update
Published Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011

To the surprise of virtually no one, a special blue ribbon committee asked to re-examine the NHL’s controversial head shot rule – aka Rule 48 -recommended that its scope be broadened and clarified for the start of the 2011-12 season.

The committee, which features Brendan Shanahan and Rob Blake of the NHL’s hockey operations staff and general managers Steve Yzerman (Tampa) and Joe Nieuwendyk (Dallas) made its report to NHL GMs Wednesday, the first step in getting it put into place for the start of next season.

Rule 48, which was introduced last year to eliminate blindside and lateral hits to the head, has resulted in a great deal of confusion, as the debate over head injuries dominated the league’s off-ice agenda this year.

Members of the committee didn’t specify exactly how the wording had changed, other than to acknowledge that the term “blindside” had been dropped. But it’s intentions are clear.

“With the broadening of the rule, it’ll incorporate more hits – and there’ll be stiffer penalties,” said Nieuwendyk. “The real teeth of it will be in supplemental discipline with Shanny – he’ll have the job to do that. It’s like any rule change. The players take time to adapt, but eventually, they figure it out.”

Hits to the head that featured “north-south” contact – such as the one delivered by the Vancouver Canucks’ Aaron Rome on the Boston Bruins’ Nathan Horton in Monday’s third game of the Stanley Cup final – do not contravene Rule 48 because the check was delivered in a head-on matter.

The reworked rule is supposed to clarify interpretations for all the interested parties – primarily coaches, players and managers, but also for the public at large, which has been perplexed by its seemingly uneven application over the course of the 2010-11 season.

Shanahan’s group will also present their findings to the competition committee and to the board of governors before it can be formally adopted.

Nieuwendyk retired in 2006 and says that the game has become so much faster in the short time that he’s been away – and that has been a contributing factor to the increase in head injuries.

“I marvel at the speed of it now,” said Nieuwendyk. “The rule changes that were implemented coming out of the lockout really opened up the game, but with that, bad things can happen – and I think that’s what we’ve been finding. Those rules were put in to make the game a certain way, but now we have to look at it again and say, ‘how do we make it safer?’”

Leafs’ general manager Brian Burke, who was the NHL’s chief disciplinarian before Colin Campbell, said his advice to Shanahan, who will get the job starting next year is “to have real thick skin and real small ears.”

“We want to continue the crackdown on head shots,” said Burke, who then repeated a familiar mantra – that hockey is a physical game and that the league cannot make it completely safe for all its players.

“I think people watch these interviews and say, ‘I don’t think these guys care about head shots.’ The tightrope we walk is, this is a full contact sport. It has always has been since we opened our doors for business – and we don’t want to change that.

“We want to eliminate the really dangerous plays, but this is a game where you’re going to get hit and there’s going to be injuries and we have to start with that basic understanding.”

Blake, who recently joined the NHL’s hockey operations staff after retiring last year, said: “Each year, you try to do something to improve it, and this year, it’s the safety of the players and expanding the head-hit rule.”

However, Blake said there was no appetite among GMs for a full ban of head hits – yet. “I don’t think it’s there by any means,” said Blake. “There are steps to that process. If that needs to be (adopted) down the road, someday maybe, but …”

Blake left the sentence unfinished, but the answer was clearly: Not now.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Confusion in all directions on head-shot rule

ROY MacGREGOR | Boston— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011

They did not seem eager to disclose much of what was discussed during the NHL general managers’ meeting at The Langham, a posh downtown hotel here.

So let us presume each player will be outfitted with a GPS by next season.

It is the only way we will ever sort out this north-south and east-west lunacy that is sadly at the core of the endless head-shot controversy.

Rule 48, which was created a year ago to deal with Matt Cooke and other headhunters, makes a profound distinction between north-south hits and east-west hits. For those unfamiliar with hockey’s often silly nomenclature – half-boards, stretch pass, puck support, quick stick, etc. – north-south is considered to be one player coming down the ice and being checked head on. East-west, on the other hand, is a hit coming from the side, laterally, and if deemed blind side it is likely to be punished further by suspension.

It matters squat whether the rink in question faces north, west, south or east – north is always one goal, south always the other.

Follow?

In the current raging battle over a hit delivered by Vancouver Canucks defenceman Aaron Rome on Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton – a hit that sent Horton to hospital with concussion and Rome to the penalty box, then to the sidelines with a four-game suspension – Rule 48 was said not to come into play because the play was north-south.

In fact, it was really a southwest-northeast hit, but no matter. The league decided to use the interference penalty as the basis for the supplementary punishment given Rome.

Wait, though: It gets more complicated still. In Vancouver’s earlier series with the Chicago Blackhawks, Canucks forward Raffi Torres levelled Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook with a hit to the head that most thought would surely lead to suspension. Not so, the league ruled, saying there was a hitting zone behind the net where space is so confined that players cannot truly go north-south and so east-west will be considered north-south in that zone for purposes of punishment. The league said this had been the case all along; no player has since been found who knew about this peculiar exception.

Rule 48, therefore, can be said to have a notwithstanding clause.

“If you’re a player,” Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said this week, “confusion is obviously part of your vocabulary.”

So confused has Rule 48 become that no one seems certain of anything any longer. The rule was brought in to deal with earlier career-threatening headshots to Florida Panthers forward David Booth by Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers and to Boston forward Marc Savard by Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Neither hit led to supplemental discipline by the league.

The rule is now its own raging controversy.

“It’s too convoluted,” TSN and NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said.

“If you’re David Booth or Marc Savard, your reaction has to be, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s four games? What about what happened to me?’”

Similarly, what about the Torres hit on Seabrook? Former NHL referee Dan Marouelli, who retired last year, told CBC Wednesday that “had somebody suspended Torres” – perhaps by interpreting the rules differently – a message would have been sent and “Nathan Horton still might be playing.”

All the same, the four-game suspension handed Rome by Mike Murphy, the league’s senior vice-president of hockey operations, gives people like McGuire some hope that the fog is lifting off the ice in the NHL.

“What this is,” said McGuire, “is an indication that sands are shifting. They’re getting it right. It’s taking a while, but they’re getting it right.”

And so, on a hot afternoon in Boston the 30 league GMs gathered at The Langham to talk about Rule 48 and to hear a presentation from the NHL’s so-called blue-ribbon panel on player safety: former players Steve Yzerman and Joe Nieuwendyk, both now GMs, and Brendan Shanahan and Rob Blake, who joined league offices when they retired from playing.

That nothing was truly resolved was apparent the moment the meeting lifted, with GMs fleeing the room with the same shouted “I have a plane to catch,” and only a very few staying to talk. It was apparent in what they said and did not say that clarity is still some time off.

Wisely, it appears the panel recommended to the GMs that the words blind side no longer pertain – as precise direction is sometimes even difficult to determine with a Tom Tom.

Take blind side out, broaden the scope of hits to the head – yet stick, as Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke put it, “with that basic understanding that this is a full-contact sport.”

“There’s grey area in all that,” Nieuwendyk added, “because we have a physical sport.”

As for banning all hits to the head, as other sports have and as science and society is increasingly calling on the NHL to do and as other hockey levels have already done, it just isn’t on – at least not yet.

“We’re trying to get to the same place,” Shanahan insisted.

Agreed, it’s just that no one has yet found the GPS that can take everyone there.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Campbell: NHL GMs have no appetite to eliminate head shots

Ken Campbell / The Hockey News / 2011-06-08

BOSTON – Nobody is really sure exactly what the GMs spent five hours discussing Wednesday afternoon when it comes to head shots, largely because they were being deliberately vague, but we know two things emerged from their meeting.

First, despite its claims that player safety is paramount, the NHL is perfectly fine with the prospect of players still being carted off the ice on stretchers. Second, if Aaron Rome drills a player in the head the way he did to Nathan Horton in Game 3, he won’t be suspended provided the victim is carrying the puck or less time has lapsed between his pass and Rome lowering the boom.

The NHL continues to tweak its head shot rule, all the while claiming it’s making the game safer for its players. Apparently it considers this tiptoeing and lack of willingness to ban head shots outright as a form of progress.

“If you took that (Rome hit) back, put the puck on his stick, that hit is there,” said director of hockey operations, Rob Blake, who was part of the league’s “blue-ribbon panel” along with Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman and Joe Nieuwendyk to guide the league on head shots. “That’s where we talk about the legal contact to the head. There are situations where there are big hits in the game and by no means do we want to take those out. Those are the ones that are full, clear body-contact hits. The ones where the head is targeted, those are going to be looked at.”

Until they run their recommendation past the competition committee next Monday, all parties involved were short on specifics. But there is the notion that Rule 48 was broadened. It appears now the north-south aspect of the rule will be abolished if the head is targeted and is the principal point of contact.

“Blind-side has been taken out as far as terminology,” said Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray. “And there will be more focus on hits to the head that will be penalized more.”

Which means when it comes to head shots, the league still can’t get beyond the notion that if it bans all hits to the head the way the Ontario League has done, it will reduce the league to four-on-four ringette.

“Why should we (have an outright ban on head shots),” said Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. “If you have an otherwise legal hit that results in contact to the head, that’s part of the game and always has been. If you go to that rule, you’re going to take hitting right out of the game.”

Burke said he has monitored the OHL, which banned all head shots this season, and isn’t satisfied it hasn’t reduced hitting significantly. Those who run major junior franchises would argue otherwise and as Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller once said, nobody wants to take hitting out of the game, they just want to take stupid hits out of the game.

“This wouldn’t be like the OHL rule and some of the international rules,” Shanahan said. “This wouldn’t just be a blanket rule where any contact to the head is illegal. It’s not quite that far, but at the same time it’s more than what we have right now.”

In its first season of implementation, there were eight suspensions for hits that fell under the purview of Rule 48 and two of them were rescinded. GMs and league officials weren’t forthcoming when asked which hits from this season would have been deemed illegal under the new rule. Burke said his interpretation of the proposed new rule would not have penalized Raffi Torres for his hit on Brent Seabrook in the first round because it was a north-south hit.

All of which makes all of this just as confusing as ever. For years, the powers that be in hockey haven’t been able to even come up with a consensus on what actually should be deemed a head shot. Any hit to the head might be a good place to start. But it appears the men who hold the most power in the league to make change, and they all think they’re doing the best thing for the game, are unwilling to do anything drastic…ever.

Consider that Shanahan, Blake, Yzerman and Nieuwendyk are considered the brightest, most progressive young minds in the game. If they’re not willing to do what it takes to seriously curb head shots, there’s really no hope anyone will.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

FRASER: HOW TO HANDLE A SERIES WHERE THERE IS BAD BLOOD

KERRY FRASER TSN Blog 6/8/2011

Hey Kerry,

After what happened in Game 3 (with hit, the jawing and taunting after the whistles and all the players being tossed near the end), how would you approach the players and coaches before Game 4?

Gregg Ellis, Halifax

Hi Gregg:

This series has certainly heated up. Historically, I found that the Cup Final usually does as either the series protracts or when some incident might occur that creates bad blood.

It only took two periods into the series for Alexandre Burrows to leave his teeth marks as an imprint on what would follow. In Game 2, Maxim Lapierre's finger taunting infuriated the Bruins as much, if not more, than the lack of a suspension to Burrows or for his tremendous three-point performance that stole the game for the Canucks. Down two games to none, the "B's" returned home like angry hunters loaded for bear.

Early in Game 3 they watched in sickening horror as their popular teammate Nathan Horton was immobilized, placed on a back board and carted off to Mass General after suffering the consequences of a devastating late, high hit from Aaron Rome. The crushing check would ultimately end the season for both players but not before the Bruins extracted their own measure of revenge; first on the scoreboard and then through their own taunting and the physical punishment they administered.

Every game has a unique heartbeat. It changes with the pace and what the game presents. There are times when hostilities escalate and the referees have to know when and how to appropriately slow the pulse of the game without it going into cardiac arrest.

Gregg, I'll tell you how I would approach Game 4 but first let me share with you what I would have done in Game 3. Everyone knew going into the last game that Lapierre's finger pointing threw gasoline on the fire. Claude Julien made his feelings known on the subject and said that his players would not participate in classless acts such as this.

As a referee going into that game, you know where the hot spots (and hot buttons) are. The appropriate penalty was assessed to Aaron Rome but that hit would only intensify the animosity between the two teams and the potential for retribution. The score of the game can often dictate if and when a team might blow a gasket and decide it's time to pay back a debt owed.

Prior to that happening there were a few times that we saw Boston players stick their gloves and fingers in the pursed lips of Burrows and Lapierre without getting so much as nibble. Given the history of what had taken place in the previous games I would have immediately approached both coaches after the very first time a taunt of this nature occurred and laid down the law. Vigneault and Julien would have been advised that the very next player from either team (regardless of who he was) that stuck his finger in the face of an opponent would receive a 10-minute misconduct for inciting. I would tell them we wouldn't drop the puck until they informed all their players (including the ones on the ice at that time) of the consequences of this unacceptable taunt just to be sure the message was delivered. I am positive both coaches would have taken control of this situation immediately and it would not have continued to become part of a sideshow as it did.

There are times when drastic situations call for drastic measures. There certainly were occasions that I removed a player from the game that was only going to cause us grief based on the score of the game and the time remaining. With about 12 minutes in Game 3 remaining, Shawn Thornton was sent to the showers in a game management decision by the referee.

At the time I didn't think it wise to send this Boston policeman to the showers. Hostilities actually increased once Thornton was gone and the fear of the 500-pound gorilla being let out of his cage no longer existed. Shawn knows his role but is also an honourable guy that will work with the officials. Once again it's about feeling the pulse of the game and keeping the temperature around 98.7. Shawn Thornton would have been an asset that I would have utilized to the advantage of the game and solicited his cooperation if possible. In the end he might have gotten to the shower first but not with 12 minutes remaining.

For Game 4 Hockey Ops has already taken control. The series suspension to Aaron Rome should be a huge deterrent to every player to control their methods of hitting, with an eye to the consequence of their actions. Both teams have been served notice that the circus atmosphere will no longer be tolerated. (In post game interviews Claude Julien said he would not tolerate it from his players and Milan Lucic confirmed the scolding he received from his coach.) The finger pointing should, therefore, be a dead issue. If it does become a hangnail it must be clipped by the referees immediately as I suggested above. I believe both teams have already been advised that a penalty will result for any of this type of behavior without warning by the referee. If they haven't they would hear it from me early; maybe even before I dropped the puck.

The puck should now rest firmly on the sticks of the players. I would trust that both coaches prepared their respective teams to compete hard and not to veer from the game plan to seek retribution or put their teammates at a disadvantage. That is how I believe the game will be approached by both teams.

The two referees need to enter the game in a state of emotional calm but with a readiness to bring the temperature down and slow the pulse only when the game calls for that to be done. They need to drop the puck and turn the game over to the players and then react to what is presented.

This has been a hard-hitting series. I would not take that away from the players. The stupid stuff after the whistle and scrums would not be tolerated and be taken care of immediately with one penalty being assessed wherever possible. The officials' best friend is a moving puck so I would attempt to keep the play moving whenever possible.

If the referees enter the game too tight and caught up in the hype of what might happen they could very easily overreact on the first couple of calls in the game. All that would accomplish would be to destroy the heartbeat of the game. I don't believe that will happen. I believe the crew will be well prepared for the challenge and in the end it will be the players themselves that dictate how the officials will respond. The best case scenario for them is to drop the puck and tell the players to bring it back when they are done. "Just play boys and we'll stay out of your way."

The circus should be over.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Honestly speaking

Like them or not Alex Burrows and Maxim Lapierre haven’t figured out how to play an honest game.

Mark Spector Sportsnet.ca June 12, 2011

BOSTON — It really isn’t about whether or not you like the Vancouver Canucks, abhor them, or whether they qualify as Canada’s Team, a term we’ve never cared for.

Beauty, alas, is in the eye of the beholder.

In Maxim Lapierre, the Canucks fan sees a toothy grin and a game-winning goal, while others temper that snapshot with the embarrassing bit of play acting he plied in the first period of Game 5. Zdeno Chara’s stick touched Lapierre’s torso, and Lapierre acted like he’d been run through by a jousting lance.

A Canucks fan wonders how that cross check by Dennis Seidenberg could possibly not be called. The guy in Ottawa sees No. 14’s head snap back roughly four times a game, and wonders how on earth a referee could tell when he’s watching the gritty Alex Burrows, or his alter ego, spring-boarder Alexandre Despatie?

But here’s the problem for Vancouver: referees aren’t Canucks fans. They aren’t Boston Bruins fans, or fans of any team in the National Hockey League.

They are, like us sports writers, observers whose job it is to separate fiction from reality. And deep down, they are hockey men, just like players, coaches, and managers.

There is a term that is exclusive to hockey, one you seldom hear in a football locker room or baseball clubhouse. When an NHLer gains the permanent respect in hockey circles, he is known by his peers simply as an honest player.

It is faint praise — unless you know the culture. Then, it is the ultimate compliment.

So, by their hockey DNA, officials are less trustful of any foul that involves a player not thought to be an honest player.

Burrows is a very good player but you can’t dupe officials as often as he has over the years, and be known as an honest player.

Lapierre has dug his hole even deeper over the years. In NHL circles, his reputation is likely irretrievable.

That’s not simply my opinion, or some fan’s view, and nor does it mean that he can’t help your team win. Clearly he can.

Two skilled players like these, however, have become a metaphor for the Canucks. They don’t need to dive to be impactful, useful players. Nor do the Canucks need those forged elements to win the Stanley Cup.

The team would be fine — perhaps even further ahead — without those elements.

"They have so much speed and skill on that side," Bruins Brad Marchand said. "We have to play physical to try and slow them down. If we’re worried about guys falling down and stuff like that, that’s what the refs are there for is to make judgment calls and they’ll do that."

And there is the rub, folks.

We’ve had the conversation enough times, with enough NHL referees. Like just over a year ago, after that incident between referee Stephane Auger and Burrows.

You’ll recall Burrows’ claim that Auger had threatened to pay him back for some fakery in a game Auger had refereed earlier that season. Then Auger called two late penalties on Burrows, as if on cue.

What Auger had done wrong, a few fellow officials told me the next day, was follow Burrows around during the warmup, conducting a conversation heard by only between the two of them. He left the interpretation of that chat open to a he-said she-said scenario that followed that night in Vancouver.

If an NHL official were allowed to speak publicly to this, here is what he would say:

"I go to the bench to talk to the coach, I stand in front of the player, and I make sure his teammates can hear me. I tell the coach, ‘Look, I don’t know what is a penalty and what isn’t a penalty with this guy. So I’m just not going to call anything with him, because then none of us look bad.’"

At that moment, the player’s coach and teammates all realize the same thing: This player has turned the officials against them, to some small extent. And they know the opponent, as the Bruins did in Game 5, will take advantage of that impunity whenever possible.

So even if it is only by a small increment, the actions of Lapierre and Burrows make it harder to win. The calls that aren’t made, the Lucic powerplay evened out by Burrows’ perceived dive — how could the ref possibly tell? — they are going to cost you.

The goal of the referee is that the player’s own teammates and coaches cure him. Why that has not happened in Vancouver, under a solid man like Alain Vigneault, we just don’t know.

Via twitter, Canucks fans have asked, "Why don’t referees call each incident separately from the other ones. Why does one call affect the next?"

The answer: Human nature, and tradition.

Human nature penned the old standard, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

For the rest of this Stanley Cup final, it will be shame on Burrows, and shame on Lapierre.

That’s the way it works, and that’s the way it always has worked in hockey.

And it won’t change for a couple of guys who, like them or not, have never figured out how to play an honest game.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

The Stanley Cup has lived a life of its own since the early 1890s

Canadian Press June 12, 2011

VANCOUVER – It has cradled newborn babies and bid farewell to the dying, stood tall in the middle of a war zone and gazed down upon Paris from the heights of the Eiffel Tower.

Since its birth close to 120 years ago, the Stanley Cup has travelled more kilometres than a diplomat, wandering the world as professional hockey's most-famous ambassador, greeting heads of state and commoners, amassing tales — perhaps, even a few secrets along the way.

"If it could talk, I mean, you'd be better off interviewing it than us because it's like an inanimate object that is almost human in a way," said Phil Pritchard, the cup's keeper, in a phone interview from Toronto's Hockey Hall of Fame.

"It's so revered and so respected and people are such in awe with it. It's amazing, and I don't think Lord Stanley back in the 1890s ever imagined or ever knew what would happen not only with the game of hockey but his own trophy."

Sometime, in the next week, the cup will travel in a non-descript but very secure case to the hometown of the 2011 Stanley Cup champions — either Boston or Vancouver.

From there, it will begin the next chapter of its storied life, a life Pritchard has seen up close during the past two decades.

He travels around the world with the cup, purchased from a London, England silversmith in 1893 and awarded to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association later that year by Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Canada's governor general at the time.

While on Pritchard' watch, the cup has travelled to some remote locations, like Kandahar, Afghanistan and Yekaterinburg, Russia, the latter being about 1,667 kilometres northeast of Moscow and hometown to Pavel Datsyuk, a member of the Detroit Red Wings' 2007-2008 championship team.

Despite its remoteness, he said, Yekaterinburg's residents were not unfamiliar with the cup.

"We could have been in Northern Ontario; we could have been in Minnesota," said Pritchard. "I mean, people had Red Wings' shirts on. They had pucks, you know, they had mini sticks to get signed. Other than the language, you wouldn't know where you were."

Two years later, in August 2010, the cup travelled to Paris, France, thanks to Cristobal Huet, a member of the Chicago Blackhawks' winning team.

According to the Hockey Hall of Fame's website, the Eiffel Tower opened early so Huet, a native of Grenoble, France, could make the trip to the top.

When Huet emerged below at the tower's base, said Pritchard, a crowd of fans wanted photos with him and the cup.

Back across the Atlantic, the cup has also travelled to some impressive heights.

Andrew Ladd, who played for Chicago in 2010, rode a helicopter with the cup to the top of Crown Mountain, north of Vancouver, just to watch the sunrise.

To the east in Toronto, the cup has even welcomed royalty.

Pritchard's not sure whether or not Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, has actually seen the cup up close, but Sweden's king and queen, Carl Gustav and Silvia, have during a 2006 visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"They are big hockey fans in Sweden. Their national team is very close to the hearts of everyone in Sweden including the king and queen," said Pritchard.

Some visits add a touch of seriousness and urgency, though, like trips to children's hospitals and hospices, where it can bring smiles to the face of the sick and dying.

"When you go to a place like that…it helps everyone just a little bit," said Pritchard.

The cup has also greeted newcomers to this world. Brent Seabrook, who was also on Chicago's 2010 winning team, took a photo of the cup, which held a newborn baby, in Delta Hospital.

When asked about the interesting food and drink it has held, Pritchard said he's seen people eat traditional Slovakian soup, perogies, breakfast cereal, and even baby lobster from the bowl.

After such occasions, he's used mild detergent and warm water to clean the cup.

Not always is the cup so easy to clean or even fix, especially when it goes missing as airline baggage or is dropped accidentally and damaged, Pritchard said.

Asked to comment on a unique Stanley Cup fact most may not know about, Pritchard paused for a second, before talking about people's reaction to seeing the cup for the first time, the engraved names of its winners, its history and grandeur.

"It's revered and held in awe and in a special place in everybody's heart…especially those two teams that are playing right now."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Vancouver brothers sculpted game of hockey 100 years before Canucks vied for cup

The Canadian Press 2011-06-13 The Hockey News

VANCOUVER – When Roberto Luongo drops to his knees to make a game-changing save, overjoyed Vancouver Canucks fans erupt with wild gratitude for the swift move.

What many don't appreciate is that dynamic manoeuvre was invented by a pair of hockey-head brothers 100 years before the superstar goaltender was to compete for the Stanley Cup in the same city where the brothers laced up the new rule.

In fact, the exuberant crowds wouldn't be watching playoffs at all if not for the Vancouver-based Patrick brothers.

"They really were innovations, stuff that wasn't tried anywhere before in the game," said Jason Beck, curator for the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, of the lengthy list of ingenuities introduced by the brothers.

"(They) literally changed the game to what we're seeing today in the Vancouver-Boston series. I mean, there is a direct connection between what happened in 1911 to 2011."

Lester and Frank Patrick are credited with making vital contributions to Canada's favourite sport, earning them and their offspring the moniker of "hockey's royal family."

They invented the playoff series as it now stands, put numbers on jerseys, created the blueline, tightened the number of players teams were allowed to have on the ice and permitted goalies to develop the butterfly stance.

The duo was born in Drummondville, Que. to a wealthy lumber baron who moved his operations and sons to Nelson, B.C. in the early 20th century. They were both skilled professional hockey players who won the Stanley Cup, convincing their father to sell off his land in the Southern Interior to start their own three-team league further West.

It was a huge risk, considering Vancouver rarely got cold enough for local ponds to freeze into ice. Sometimes, the hockey season lasted only a few days.

But with a half-million dollars, the family built artificial ice arenas in Vancouver and in Victoria, creating the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

"They were really smart businessmen, and they had to be, because it wasn't a money-making operation, especially at first," Beck said, adding that in the beginning, the Patricks made more cold, hard cash selling ice for iceboxes from the refrigeration plant than from the sports sales.

Within their league they played, coached, managed and owned the teams and held the role of commissioner, allowing them to adjust the rules and move players around as they liked, just to keep play exciting. Between 1911 and 1926, they implemented nearly two dozen additions and changes that remain with the game today:

Playoff format: Other than baseball's World Series, neither hockey nor other professional sports featured a "second season" to determine the best of the best. The team that won in its division was simply crowned king. The Patricks wanted to reward teams that played well but might have been lower in the standings. They created a best-of-three or best-of-five series instead of the traditional two-games, total-goals series. Ticket sales shot up.

Jersey numbers: Prior to helmets, players were identified from the head up. By pinning a number on the backs of hockey sweaters, the Patricks surmised they could sell programs listing player names alongside their number.

Blueline: The red centreline was once the only one. Wanting to invigorate the game and add more offence, the Patricks installed blue lines. Unrestricted passing was allowed in the neutral zone, the central zone, which led to the acceptance of forward passing.

Player structure: Hockey was originally played by seven people—three forwards, two defencemen, a goalie, and a rover who could skate all over the ice. The brothers eliminated that final position.

Goaltending: Prior to the Patricks' league, goalies were only permitted to stand to make a save.

Other innovations included introducing the penalty shot, legalizing the kicking of the puck in play, allowing substitution of players during play, having two referees on the ice and tracking assists, as opposed to just goals. The brothers also coined the term "superstar," which they applied to players such as Cyclone Taylor.

Beck said Frank Patrick was the dreamer and the thinker, while his older brother Lester was the promoter and showman. Together they had the insider knowledge of players, as well as the resources to ensure their rule changes would stick.

Most significantly, they were able to cut through the "old, stodgy" rules that prevailed in the East, Beck said.

"The West was uncharted territory for hockey, a blank canvas. I don't think there's any possible way they could have implemented so many of these changes in such a dramatic way in the East because everything was so entrenched there," he said.

"These were crazy, revolutionary things at the time but they're still here with us."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

FRASER: THE ONE REGRET IN ADDRESSING A PLAYER'S WHINING

Kerry Fraser's Blog TSN June 12, 2011

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry Fraser wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca!

Hi Kerry,

Kudos to you and/or TSN management for coming up with the idea for your Q&A column. I think it gives some great insight.

My question is: How much of a difference do you see between now and when your career first started in regards to whining players? HBO's Winter Classic 4-part series really opened my eyes up in regards to how much players whine and complain (especially Crosby).

Do you find today's younger players are worse than those from years past? I can't help but watch a game and sometimes think "Suck it up princess…quit your whining!"

Was there ever occasion where you said something you regret to a complaining/whining player after getting fed up with constantly hearing him?

Thx!

Todd
Burk's Falls, ON

Todd:

TSN management and I thank you for the kudos.

We are pleased that you, along with so many other readers, have expressed an appreciation for the unique insight that has become the trademark of this column in just a short time. With the Stanley Cup presentation a game or two away I will be wrapping things up very shortly.

I appreciate the opportunity that TSN and particularly the executive masterminds behind "C'mon Ref," (Mark Milliere & Steve Dryden) afforded me to share my perspective on officiating and the in-game segments with Steve Kouleas on That's Hockey 2Nite, throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs with James Duthie and the NHL panel and with the initiation of this column on the web site. My work with TSN has been a most rewarding experience as I continue to transition and attempt to find my way after 30 seasons on NHL ice.

The direct answer to your question is that players 'whined and complained' in my NHL rookie season in 1980 (probably for good reason) and continued right through to my final one in 2009-10. The game is emotional and highly competitive with much at stake. Player—referee relationships can quickly turn adversarial in nature with just one decision made by either side (good call-bad call, bad play, bad penalty, just to name a few).

Players and officials bring a certain set of learned skills (and deficiencies) when they arrive in the NHL. No matter how skilled that first round pick or franchise player is, there is a growth process that must take place. Experience can sometimes be the best teacher. I often learned more quickly from bad experiences or poor decisions that I had rendered. The same can be true for players. One of the intangibles in our development is maturity.

Wayne Gretzky did not enter the NHL and become a phenom, he arrived fully formed. In many ways he was mature well beyond his years, but at times he was still just a kid, not unlike those who followed him – including Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and others. All needed to scale a learning curve and endure some growing pains. Some completed the process more quickly than others. In the early stages of their careers they could all be accused of whining as well!

Officials also endure growing pains and learning curves in their development as well. I was a long way from possessing the maturity I now know is required to handle the pressure and abuse that often came my way. Unfortunately, when I was challenged on the ice, I did not always respond appropriately. I too had a lot to learn. The fact of the matter is that many young players whine. Grumpy veteran players can complain vehemently as well. Many nights Bill Guerin, when he was frustrated playing on some pretty bad NY Islander teams and Bernie Federko fell into that grumpy veteran category.

Heck, I had back-to-back games on consecutive nights with the St. Louis Blues when Federko was a star player for them. Bernie cursed at me going off the ice in St. Louis after the first game. He was the starting centre in Chicago the next night. After the anthem we assumed our position at centre ice and Bernie started cussing me out before I dropped the puck to start the game. I said, "Bernie, can you at least wait for me to drop the puck before you start whining?" Bernie, who now provides excellent insight as a television analyst with the Blues responded with, "Fraser why don't you just @#&*-off and drop the puck!" We were off to a great start that night at The Madhouse on Madison, much to the amusement of the Chicago starting centre.

Ray Whitney was always a fiery little guy and had a habit of flying off the handle quickly with me when things didn't go his way. That is until one night I got him laughing before the anthem was even sung. In a game a couple of nights earlier Ray gave it to me pretty good. I never knew whether to take him seriously or not because he was such a cute little twerp: you know, the kind you might place in your garden as a lawn ornament.

Well this particular night, I thought I'd get to him before he had the chance to give it to me. When the Hurricanes came onto the ice I blasted up to him and unloaded on him.

I said, "Whitney, you little @#&*#^&$$###@ twerp!" With a confused look on his face Whitney was taken aback and said, "Kerry, what's up with that?"

I replied, "After the last game, I just wanted to get you first." Whitney broke into a laugh. From that point forward it was a race to see who could dump on the other guy first whenever I worked one of his games. Whitney is an excellent player, a great goal scorer and really a good guy. I miss our unique interaction and when he officially retires I might try and get a life size statue of him for my garden.

Confrontations between players and officials can go astray but usually are forgotten. Todd, you asked if there was one time I regret saying something to a player that complained or whined to me. That player was Super Mario.
He was the savior of the franchise when Pittsburgh drafted him first overall in 1984. He was under a lot of pressure to lead his team out of the wilderness. The team put added pressure on him by naming him captain just two years later.

As an extremely skilled player, Mario was way ahead of the curve. He didn't have much patience for the clutch-and-grab style that prevailed at that time. And why should he? People pay money to see skill and grace, especially the type that Mario—and few other players of the time—possessed. Lemieux was a primary target of every restraining tactic utilized at the time and it caused Mario such frustration that he and I locked horn one night in his second year as captain.

Throughout the game, whenever he felt he was illegally handcuffed Mario gave me an earful. Finally he'd had enough and took matter into his own hands, delivering a two-handed slash to an opponent's leg. On the way to the penalty box, Mario chastised me for not calling the original penalty and stared daggers at me from the box. A power-play goal was scored and instead of skating to the Penguins bench, Mario headed directly to centre ice to confront me prior to the face-off. He tapped his stick on the ice at my feet in a mocking gesture and said, "Nice call."

At this point I'd had enough of Mario as well, and I unloaded on him verbally. I questioned his ability to be the captain of his team and that his teammates didn't even follow him. I pointed to Paul Coffey standing on the blue line and said, "If you want to know how to be a leader, take a look at that guy." Mario dropped his head and I dropped the puck. Who was I to question Lemieux and whether his teammates followed him as their leader?

Well it only took a couple of days later in a Pens game I had on Long Island for Mario to provide me with the answer. At the end of the first period, a scrum gathered. I blew my whistle loudly and instructed the players to break it up and go to their dressing rooms. They didn't respond, so I blew the whistle a second time, louder, and told them more intensely to break it up and get off the ice. They still weren't budging.

At this point, Mario skated in, looked down at me, and told his teammates, "C'mon, boys, let's go." They immediately obeyed the captain's command. As I stood there, I brushed away a feather from the side of my mouth from the crow I had just been fed by the captain of the Penguins.

In that moment, Mario was clearly in charge of his team, but more importantly, he let me know it. Mario was an incredible player. He saved that franchise on three occasions. Even as a second-year captain Lemieux deserved my utmost respect and an appropriate response to his complaining that night, neither of which I provided.

That, Todd, is why I deeply regret what I had to say to Mario Lemieux that night in the Igloo.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

FRASER: GAME 7 MEANS PRESSURE ON OFFICIALS AS WELL

Kerry Fraser's Blog TSN 6/15/2011

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry Fraser wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca!

As both teams approach Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, a number of cliches can be used to describe the importance of this game, including, "There's no tomorrow; It's Do or Die; This game is for all the marbles…" The real heart of the matter, in my opinion, is the team that hoists the Cup tonight will ultimately be the group that collectively demonstrates the most heart (in addition to the odd break, lucky bounce or even a power play here or there.)

The events of this series have been more bizarre than any that I have witnessed during my 30 years as an NHL referee. I can't ever remember this kind of drama since I watched every Stanley Cup series as a fan from the time I was allowed to stay up past my normal bedtime either (Prior to that, I snuck my transistor radio with ear piece into bed to catch the end of the game).

Both teams are banged up and their rosters depleted through serious injuries and suspensions; perhaps the Canucks more than the Bruins. All things not being equal, this is when drastic times call for drastic measures. It will take heroic efforts from one or all to have their names etched forever on this Challis.

The kind of heroic feet (no pun intended) I'm talking about is the “heart” exhibited by Bobby Baun in the 1964 Stanley Cup Final. Baun blocked a Gordie Howe shot with 10 minutes remaining in game 6 and was carried off the ice on a stretcher. Refusing medical treatment he had the ankle frozen, taped and returned to score the game winner on a broken ankle in overtime to force Game 7. Bob Baun's heroism didn't just end with that victory. His job wasn't done and he refused to have the ankle x-rayed until after helping the Leafs win Game 7 and the Stanley Cup by a score of 4-0. Bob Baun didn't miss a shift in that final game. That's the kind of heart I'm talking about that will be required tonight. Whoever can dig the deepest and overcome this reservoir of pain will taste from the Cup. It's the Stanley Cup stuff heroes and legends are made of.

There will be a third team on the ice as well. Their deep desire is to avoid becoming (or perceived as) a negative factor in the outcome of this game. Added pressure will certainly be on them to achieve this objective given the events to this point in the series. How they prepare themselves (& are prepared by Officiating/Hockey Ops) will go a long way to achieving a successful result in their performance. I say with the utmost confidence that all of us hope the officials will be a non factor in this final game. Let me share some thoughts on my preparation and occasional obstacles to overcome in memorable game 7's that I worked.

Dealing with pressure is unique to every player and official; individual coping skills are developed along the way. Experience is often the best teacher when dealing with the internal combustion associated with the pressure of a Game 7. Sometimes you even have to incubate yourself from everything just so you don't crawl out of your skin prior to the game.

The first time that I was thrust into a Game 7 pressure cooker was in the Battle of Quebec in 1985. This was only the third time I had been assigned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the first time I had been chosen to work Game Seven of a divisional final series. Needless to say I was pretty raw in terms of experience. I arrived in Montreal in the morning the day before the game and well in advance of my 10:00 P.M. curfew. There was nothing that matched the intense rivalry between these two franchises and their fans. I wanted to be well prepared!

As soon as I landed in Montreal and collected luggage, I noticed how intently I was being stared at by arriving passengers and airport workers. As I passed a skycap, I was greeted with a nod of the head along with “Bonne chance.” Once I hit the line for the taxis, it seemed that everyone I met, from the man who loaded my bags, to the cab driver, to the doorman at the hotel, to the front desk staff wanted to talk to me about the “big game”; even asking who I thought would win!

By the time that linesmen, John D'Amico and Ray Scapinello arrived that evening I had locked myself in my room and ordered room service. I couldn't even turn the television on without something popping up about the game. I told Scampy I'd see him for breakfast – I was in for the night.

I woke early with the sensation that something was crawling all over my body. Upon inspection, I discovered I was covered head to toe in big, red, itchy welts. At least they weren't on my face. I thought, What the hell is this? I was too embarrassed to mention it to anybody – let alone Referee in Chief, John McCauley. He might have thought he made the wrong choice in assigning this young referee to such a huge game. Instead I stayed covered up neck to toe and privately consulted the advice of a pharmacist after my lunch with the officiating crew. Eliminating a series of diagnostic questions he finally asked if I was nervous or anxious about anything. My Hell Yes I'm nervous, caused him to recommend an antihistamine for the serious case of hives that I had. I met up with the other guys and told them I would meet them at the Forum that night using the excuse that I had to get there early for some equipment repair. The truth is I didn't want to have to change in front of them. By the time Scamp and D'Amico arrived in the room, the red welts were totally concealed by my long underwear.

I attempted to calm my mind and focus in the room on what I had ahead of me in the game. As soon as I stepped on the ice, all was forgotten, other than the energy inside the Forum. It was an unbelievable, end-to-end game. Both teams came to play, and there was none of the rough stuff that we might have anticipated. At the end of regulation time, it was all tied up.

Once I dropped the puck it didn't take long for Peter Stastny to score on Steve Penney to give the Nordiques the series win in OT. Back in the dressing room I cautiously removed my long underwear, this time in front of my colleagues. To my pleasant surprise, the only thing I saw was my lily white skin. The pressure was off.

The experience I gained in this Game 7 assignment helped me through countless pivotal games and other Game 7s throughout the balance of my career.
I worked game seven in the 2001 Final between the New Jersey Devils and the Colorado Avalanche and I must tell you the city of Denver was electrified from the moment the sun came up that morning. The only minute of calm I found that day was at 8 a.m., when I went down to the Pepsi Center for a skate before the teams arrived. Most of the energy was created in anticipation of Raymond Bourque winning his first and only Stanley Cup.

My final Game 7 was the 2004 Tampa victory over Calgary that I wrote about the other day and touched on the bizarre circumstances that occurred behind the scenes in that one.

In spite of the pressure and energy that was created in Denver and Tampa, quite similar to that which I experienced in Montreal, my coping skills and approach to dealing with it had vastly improved. There were no red welts on my body beyond that May night in 1985. Instead of hiding in my room I went to morning mass before getting to the rink early for a skate; whether alone or with any of the officiating crew that wanted to join me. I looked for peaceful environments on the day of the game. I also drew on my internal engine to control my energy level, emotions and positive thoughts. The distractions must be blocked out for the players and the officials to embrace this moment in hockey history with excitement, all the while retaining a calm resolve and focus to achieve their maximum potential on the ice in this final game.

And in Vancouver, whether any of the officiating crew has red welts on their body or not, it is my hope that when the puck drops, any nervousness is forgotten and they simply react to what the players dictate by applying a consistent and acceptable standard from start to finish.

One way or the other, history will be made…

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Stats interesting! Flames add research whiz

By Wes Gilbertson, QMI Agency, June 18 2011

Snow knows sports.

A former hockey and baseball reporter and now the Calgary Flames’ first-ever director of video and statistical analysis, Chris Snow just can’t tell you exactly how he develops all that knowledge.

Think of it as a form of sports espionage.

“I spent a lot of the year looking for a fit for myself with a team and probably came across a few teams that I sensed were doing some of this work,” Snow said. “But I think the teams that are making advancements in those areas are keeping it pretty quiet, because they view it as a potential advantage that they don’t want to advertise to other teams.”

At the Saddledome, the secret is out.

The 29-year-old research whiz was officially added to the Flames’ staff Friday morning, scoring a full-time gig after consulting for the team for about two months. According to Friday’s media release, Snow will be “responsible for the complete and comprehensive planning, implementation and oversight of the club’s video and statistical data-mining programs, including designing, developing and implementing a proprietary database of hockey information for use by the club.”

Snow spent four seasons as the Minnesota Wild’s director of hockey operations, but his fascination with stats can be traced to his days covering the Flames’ Northwest Division rivals for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. That only increased during his stint as a beat writer for the Boston Globe, where Snow reported on Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox.

At that time, he got a sneak-peek of the cutting-edge research techniques BoSox GM Theo Epstein, former assistant and current San Diego Padres GM Jed Hoyer and others were using at Fenway Park.

“(The Red Sox) were really implementing a pretty impressive process in the way they went about things — gathering information, utilizing video, just putting as much in front of them in the decision-making process as possible, while having a terrific group of scouts,” Snow said. “I was just intrigued by that, and I think, over time, as I got closer to watching it, I really had a desire to participate in something like that.

“I think the Red Sox have every component of a strong organization that you could want — excellent scouting, excellent player development, and they devote a lot of resources to data and video. In fact, I think they have probably the largest library of data and video, and they have it going back so many years and more years than any other team.

“It’s valuable because some of their players are really oriented to that type of stuff, and it’s valuable because they have members of the coaching staff and front office that want that. It can get overwhelming, but I think they utilize it well because they really know what they’re looking for.”

With that in mind, it will be up to Flames GM Jay Feaster, head coach Brent Sutter and other brass at the Saddledome to tell Snow the type of numbers and video analysis they’re interested in.

“My belief is the more information that you put into your decision-making process and your game-planning process — assuming that it’s gathered accurately, it’s organized well and it’s presented in a concise manner to a decision-maker like Jay or Brent — hopefully, they’ll be better-equipped to do their jobs,” Snow said. “But the value will only be as great as their desire to have it and their participation in shaping it. A lot of my role will be listening to Jay and listening to Brent and all of the people across the hockey operations process, and listening for gaps in the process and places I can help, and then going and finding something and bringing it back to them.”
—–

http://www.fan960.com/ondemand/media.jsp?content=20110617_182936_13332

I just read Scorecasting and have read Money Ball. I bet more teams will add this kind of analysis. When Tom Renney was with the Rangers, he told me they were working on a secret method to help improve their draft choices. It was based on statistics. It would be interesting to know if they are still using this technique and then see how they have fared with their picks.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

I know this is a hockey site, but I believe the hockey model in Canada could use some improvements. Soccer is the #1 sport in our country and growing much more rapidly. Hockey has plateaued and registration numbers are down. Wake up hockey!

—–

In a hockey city, soccer scores

In our hockey-obsessed nation, soccer has quietly become the most played sport in the country. In Calgary, soccer participation has been growing so quickly that it's becoming a victim of its own success.

By Sean Myers, Calgary Herald June 19, 2011

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/hockey+city+soccer+scores/4971134/story.html#ixzz1Pk3KCaCm

When Lia Lousier and husband Michael Hicks decided to start their two boys Torin, 6, and Rylan, 4, in organized sports, they considered hockey, but hesitated.

Torin is autistic and Rylan is still young. And they worried hockey might be too expensive and time consuming. Both parents played soccer as kids, and thought it might be a good first exposure to team sports.

Nobody batted an eye at signing both boys up. Today, Torin is playing alongside his brother on the roster of the under-six Orange Tigers in the community league run by McKnight Sport Council.

"The coaches have been great with him, running up and down the field with him," she said of Torin. And for Rylan? "He really enjoys it and I think for him it's something he'll carry through for a number of years."

The couple is among the growing number of Calgarians becoming deeply involved in soccer. In a nation obsessed with hockey -enough to spark a riot in Vancouver -soccer has quietly become the most played sport in Canada. Fuelled by its accessibility, low cost and universality, and given new dimensions by multicultural immigration from soccer-loving nations, Canada has become a participatory soccer nation.

In Calgary, the pace of soccer's growth over the past decade has been breakneck and, despite some growing pains, the sport's popularity will likely keep climbing.

Nationwide, soccer now far surpasses hockey or any other sport for participation. Last summer, 847,616 soccer players of all ages and abilities registered to play in a league, according to the Canadian Soccer Association, compared to 572,411 Canadians registered to play hockey in the 2010-11 season, from the youngest tykes through minor associations, postsecondary and senior and recreation leagues.

During the recent boom in Calgary, soccer registration increased by as much as 20 per cent annually. Now it's going up at about the same rate as population growth.

Today, about 15,000 kids are signed up for minor soccer and another 15,000 in community soccer leagues. In total, an estimated 109,000 Calgarians take part in soccer as players, coaches and referees, including house leagues, high school teams and various independent organizations such as the city's Chinese Soccer Association.

At the same time, minor hockey registration has plateaued at about 13,000 over the past four years, according to Hockey Canada.

Part of that growth has come from new Canadians, who bring with them a love of soccer from all over the world.

Organizers with the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, however, are still reaching out to new immigrants and Muslims who are underepresented in Calgary's soccer leagues.

One of those initiatives is enlisting a multilingual Muslim family in Taravista to help break down barriers

"Overall in the minorities, soccer is loved. Regardless of where they come from, they truly do love the sport," said Khalil Karbani, vice-president of the Genesis Centre, an athletic facility currently under construction in the northeast.

"They play soccer on the street and on any bit of green space they can find up here."

But he and his wife Noshy, and their four soccer-playing children, said families have shied away from registering their kids to play community and minor league soccer, especially the girls. They attribute that reluctance to an incident in 2007 at the Calgary Soccer Centre involving a girl who was told by a referee she couldn't play unless she took off her hijab head covering. She refused and the aftermath gained widespread media attention.

The Alberta Soccer Association later ruled that girls could wear sport hijabs as long as they could come off easily for safety reasons.

FIFA rules also allow long pants and long sleeve tops to be worn for religious reasons, but the Karbanis say that isn't widely known in the immigrant and Muslim communities.

The Karbani family plans to visit schools to spread the word through the communities in the northeast encouraging kids to sign up for teams and soccer clinics.

"We're trying to gradually get them to get back into it and say, 'yes you can wear a hijab,' " said Karbani. "You can wear your lose clothes and still be able to play football, get healthy, get fit and enjoy yourself."

Daryl Leinweber, executive director of the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, said he actively sought help to reach out to families of visible minorities who aren't signing up to play.

"If you can find people that speak the language and that can identify with the culture to become a support of your sport, that's key," said Leinweber. "We found that with this family. They're terrific ambassadors for us.

"Our objective is to find ways for kids to be able to play not find ways to stop them. So we make every effort we can to be inclusive to find a way so every child can play."

Soccer in the city has also become a victim of its own success. A lack of playing fields is limiting growth.

"Soccer has participation well beyond any other sport," said Leinweber. "If we had the facilities we'd see even more of this growth within the sport."

In 2008, Sport Calgary (formerly the Calgary Sport Council) put out a 10-year strategic plan for developing new athletic facilities. It identified a serious deficit in the number of facilities compared to participants.

Since then, $300 million in provincial funding has poured into the city, largely for hockey arena projects. The money also supported two outdoor artificial turfs at Shouldice Park, and about $70 million is going toward the Genesis Centre which will include three new indoor fields and two outdoor soccer pitches.

The city lost three indoor fields when the bubble collapsed at the Calgary Soccer Centre last year, but those are to be replaced under a new permanent structure to be built at the site.

"We're making some strides to catch up," said Tim Bjornson, executive director of Sport Calgary. "When you look at the top 13 sport activities, the majority are summer activities.

"Things are happening but our investment in sport and recreation infrastructure has to be on a continual basis or we'll never catch up."

A major difference between the demographics of soccer and hockey also has an impact on facilities, said Bjornson.

There are far more adults playing hockey who require higher quality facilities, while 80 per cent of soccer players are youth and the majority of those are under 14, he said.

"They don't need as high-level facilities," said Bjornson. "A lot of the growth in soccer has been in that community soccer range with under-eight, under-six and under-four. They just need a field that is safe to play on, they don't need artificial turf. You have to ask what level of facility do you really need to participate.

"But soccer has been growing, there's no doubt about that, and there are demands there."

Calgary Minor Soccer has placed an emphasis on improving coaching at the earliest ages to improve the skill level of young players. Better skilled players stay in the game longer said Leinweber, meaning better facilities are going to be needed in the short and long term.

For parents, the biggest and most obvious advantage soccer has over hockey is financial. It can cost a minimum of $1,000 for a set of hockey equipment that will have to be replaced several times as the player grows.

Soccer requires a pair of shin pads and cleats.

"We don't consider hockey for the cost," said Kristen Dawson, who has a seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son playing on the same under-six team in the McKnight community league.

"It's too expensive -the equipment, ice time, and then there's all the volunteer time, it's so involved.

"This is something you can pick up. It's within the community, we enjoy it. They do it twice a week, they get to run, it's great."

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/hockey+city+soccer+scores/4971134/story.html#ixzz1Pk2lMM8Z

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Bodychecking earlier shows no safety benefit

CBC News June 20, 2011

Learning to bodycheck at a younger age doesn't seem to reduce concussion and other injury rates, Canadian researchers say.

There is a controversial school of thought that kids will be less likely to get injured when they start checking at age 11 or peewee compared with age 13 or bantam.

Previously, Dr. Carolyn Emery of the University of Calgary faculty of kinesiology and her colleagues found a three-fold increase in risk of injury in Alberta, where bodychecking is allowed in peewee leagues, and a four-fold increased risk of concussion, compared with bantam players in Quebec.

"When we did that study, we repeatedly heard from advocates for bodychecking in peewee that the injury rate in bantam would be much higher for players without peewee bodychecking experience," said Emery.

"What we found is that the overall injury and concussion risk did not differ between bantam leagues."

In Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Emery and her co-authors compared injury rates for 995 players in Alberta with two years of bodychecking experience and 976 novice bodycheckers in Quebec.

There were 272 injuries, including 51 concussions in Alberta and 244 injuries including 49 concussions in Quebec. Physiotherapists and athletic therapists assessed the injuries.

Concussion risk

Emery said that this could be related to skills learned in a peewee bodychecking league, or could simply be that the Alberta League has more players who didn't drop out of hockey after bodychecking was introduced in peewee hockey.

The latest findings also suggested the risk of injury resulting in more than seven days before return to play was reduced by 0.67 times among bantam players who had two years of bodychecking experience compared with bantam players who were first introduced to it at age 13.

The finding needs to be interpreted in light of the higher risk of concussion and all injury among players who are 11 to 12 when bodychecking is first allowed, the researchers said.

"Consideration should be given also to the age at which a player is able to make an informed decision about playing under these conditions of increased risk, perhaps after they have finished a critical physical growth period that could be focused on skill development," the study's authors suggested.

Researchers from Laval University, the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University and the Alberta Children's Hospital also took part in the study.

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.110634v1
—–

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/02/17/f-concussions-what-they-are-faq.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/02/16/f-g-force-concussions.html

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Author]

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