Why I Love Hockey: NHL Rule 46.13

This is another reason why I love hockey!

Apparently in game 4 of the playoff series between the Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, Paul “BizNasty” Bissonnette got thrown out of a game for not properly tying down his jersey. It all happened in a fight. Video below:

Apparently in the NHL Rulebook, rule 46.13 states, ” A player who engages in a fight and whose jersey is not properly “tied-down” (jersey properly fastened to pants), and who loses his jersey (completely off his torso) in that altercation, shall receive a game misconduct penalty. If the player  loses his jersey despite the tie down remaining intact and attached to the pants, the game misconduct is not applicable, however this must be reported to the League office so that the jersey and the tie down can be examined.” 

Most (if not all of the) other sports have only one rule about fighting (the one where it’s not allowed). Hockey has sub rules about fighting. This means that you may not necessarily get kicked out of a game for fighting, but you get thrown out of a game for not strapping your jersey in.

How awesome is that?

Very VERY AWESOME!

Video: NHL Playoff Edition: The One Where Shea Weber Can Stuff a Single Leg Takedown

As a brief backgrounder, at the end of game 1 of the playoff game between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators, Preds captain Shea Weber slammed Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the boards in a move that most of the blogosphere calls a WWE move ( and it was). The incident (which I will not speculate whether intentional) did NOT look at all like an accident. Zetterberg, fortunately, wasn’t hurt and Weber wasn’t suspended.

So what happened in Game 2?

As the code of conduct in hockey suggests, Weber must pay for his sins on the ice (which in my opinion would not matter whether Weber was suspended or not cos Weber still has to answer the call). The man to make Shea pay? Todd Bertuzzi.

Now, I don’t post fights often but I feel like I had to do this because at one point in the fight, Bertuzzi attempted (be it inadvertently or not) a single leg takedown and as a practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and former student of wrestling, that tugged on my heartstrings. So there! Very awesome!

Something from the 1st Episode of HBO 24/7 Flyers- Rangers

I have a quote that I like to throw around. It goes like this:

“Stereotypes exist for a reason!”

I don’t think I have to explain the quote any further. However, I will explain how the quote applies to hockey. Today (in the US) is the debut of HBO 24/7 Flyers-Rangers Road to the Winter Classic. Now for those who didn’t see last year’s version between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, it is an all-access, uncensored look into the lives of the hockey players of the two team who are participating in this season’s Winter Classic leading up to the big day (for those who do not know, the Winter Classic  marks the midway point of the season. It’s held on New Year’s Day and what makes it special is that it is the only NHL game of the season that is played outdoors… in the cold! This year, the game will be in Citizens Bank Field in Philadelphia and features the Flyers hosting the New York Rangers).

So what does this have to do with the quote above?

Well, there’s this stereotype going around, not only in hockey, but in all other sports that have goalies, that goalies are a little bit different. In fact, goalies are known to be a tad quirky (some more than others). As a goalie myself, I consider myself quirky (and some people think I’m full-on nuts but that’s another story).  This is the stereotype. This means goalies don’t necessarily have to be “different” or quirky.

Then there’s Ilya Bryzgalov!

I haven’t seen the whole episode yet (waiting for someone to upload it to YouTube) but this excerpt got many people talking. Bryz is a bit out there. It makes me feel relatively sane… which makes me feel a tad inadequate!

Video: Alternative Training Methods Volume 3.1: Drilling and drilling and drilling!

As my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teammates (and other Jiu-Jitsu people as well) used to (and probably still do) say, “drillers make killers“. It’s an adage in Jiu-Jitsu that rings true for everything in this world!

Just as my last post regarding this states, being a roller hockey goalie puts greater emphasis on skating, positioning, and recovery. That being said, the previous post’s video showed me taking shots from my wife. This video shows some basic drills that one needs to master in order to be a serviceable goaltender. I’m not completely used to being a roller hockey goalie yet and this is why I am still a bit slow. That being said, I will track my progress in my road to improvement as a roller hockey goaltender.

Plus all this will translate to on-ice success as well!

Wish me luck!

Is Alexander Ovechkin in Steroids?

John Steigerwald thinks so!

Did I mention that Steigerwald is a columnist for the Washington Observer-Reporter? And not to confuse you, it’s not Washington DC, it’s Washington, Pennsylvania (deep in Penguins and/or Flyer country, but for the sake of this argument, I’ll say Pittsburgh). Also, Steigerwald’s brother is considered by most as the most homer-y of homer TV announcers in all of hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins TV guy, Paul Steigerwald.

Well, it would make sense that Ovechkin’s production decline because he’s no longer on the juice. This is irresponsible reporting by Steigerwald. It is also completely baseless.

Someone should put him in his place!

Jordin Tootoo runs Ryan Miller, gets 2-game suspension

This happened the other day. Check the video below:

What we see is Nashville Predator winger, Jordin Tootoo rush the puck hard to the Buffalo Sabres net and unavoidably rammed Ryan Miller in his crease.

For this, Tootoo got a minor and a misconduct. But just as we write this, NHL VP for Players’ Safety and wielder of the Shanahammer, Brendan Shanahan announced that Tootoo was given a 2-game suspension by the league.

Is it fair?

My opinion is that the minor penalty and game misconduct was. The suspension? Not so much. Why? First of all, and I believe it is extremeyly difficult to argue intent, it was Tootoo’s intent to score a goal and not run Ryan Miller. The rule states that it is the forward’s responsibility to get out of the way of the goaltender in the case of plays like this, meaning when the goalie is in the crease making saves. That being said, Tootoo was also being blocked out by Sabres’ d-man Christian Ehrhoff, which made avoiding Ryan Miller pretty much unavoidable. That said, you can’t fault Jordin Tootoo 100% on this, so give the man his minor and misconduct for charging, no more, no less!

Inevitably (I guess because it happened to Ryan Miller in his first game back) there will be comparisons to the Milan Lucic hit on Miller that put Miller on the shelf for a few games previous to this.

Well, the comparisons are utter BS!

It isn’t the same thing!

Firstly, Ryan Miller was in his crease attempting to stop an opponents’ scoring opportunity. This is the one and only place that goaltenders should be protected. The Milan Lucic hit happened in the area of the faceoff circles, meaning Ryan Miller was too far away from where he’s supposed to be. Once again, to re-state the rule regarding goaltender contact, it is the skater’s responsibility to avoid contact with a goaltender in the crease. When a goaltender wanders away from their crease he should be just as responsible for avoiding contact as the skater, which makes the Lucic hit perfectly legal. This means, goalies who are out of their crease are fair game and the same rules regarding skater-to-skater contact will apply to them.

Just as inevitable as the Lucic comparison is the argument of whether there should be new rules instituted to further protect goaltenders.

Also utter BS!

Goalies are protected enough. As I mentioned above, goalies in their crease are protected but goalies not in their crease should protect themselves. Having the league mandate new rules to protect goalies who wander is very much like getting picked on in school then running to your mommy instead of handling that stuff on your own which is not cool! This is hockey, a game that prides itself on honor, toughness, and handling this kind of thing on their own. Being protected by the league (or mommy) would make goalies lesser hockey players than skaters, and that doesn’t sit well with me personally.  Remember, I am a hockey player, but also, I’m a goalie and I will not take crap from anyone. I refuse to be protected by mommy because I’m a full-grown man/goalie!

That being said, kudos to Ryan Miller for defending himself and going after Jordin Tootoo (who is one of the toughest dudes in the NHL) after being wronged. Cos heaven knows that the rest of his team won’t stand up for him!

Video: Alternate Training Methods Volume 3: This one’s pretty obvious!

“The best way to get better at something is to do it over and over and over, as often as possible.”

–I have no clue who said this, or if anyone actually ever did.

I think the title says it all.

While I still say that I do NOT want to be an inline hockey goalie, this does help me because the end game is to be a better ice hockey goalie right? And this is why this is done.

 It’s benefits are very simple and as follows:

You get to keep playing in net even if ice time is very limited – I don’t think the explanation for this is really necessary don’t you?

There is a greater emphasis on skating – because this is isn’t ice and that hard ground has more friction, an inline goalie cannot do butterfly shuffles or things of that nature to get from one side to the other. This is probably why inline hockey is higher scoring in inline hockey than ice hockey. So in order to get from one side to the other you need to do t-pushes and such which leads me to mention that…

There is greater emphasis on recovery and getting up – it is hard to skate from side to side if you’re on your knees (FACT!) and since skating is the only real way to get from side to side, there is a related and added emphasis on quick recoveries from one’s butterfly position (which I personally consider a weakness of mine).

So there it is. An obvious no-brainer way to become a better hockey goalie despite lack of ice time. If the other strange methods don’t work (they will work), this one definitely will because you’re playing the game and doing the movements that will make you better.

I’ve said before (and I firmly believe this)that roller hockey is the best supplemental training for ice hockey players because for one thing, it’s the same game, and secondly, roller hockey emphasizes the use of proper technique whether it’s skating or being a goaltender because on the ice you can get away with less than perfect technique but on the hard ground, not so much.

Without adding more to that, I will say that roller hockey will help you improve as an ice hockey player. Who would’ve thought that the best way to be better at hockey was to actually play the game? I’m sure somebody did.

And with that, I urge you to try roller hockey as a supplemental form of training for ice hockey.

Before I wrap this up, I’d like to add that everything you read above is appropriate for goaltenders only. I never got the chance to mention the benefits that skaters can get from playing roller hockey. I honestly don’t think I need to because it’s pretty obvious. But for those who don’t see it, perhaps you should watch this video that I posted before but will post again.

Enjoy!

And you’re welcome!

Video: Alternate Training Methods Volume 2 – King of the Dancefloor

Ok! I know what you’re thinking. So I’ll start off with a little backgrounder.

I just recently got married (which explains the lack of posting and podcasting). So along with the many preparations for the wedding one of them is learning to dance so my wife and I do not tank our first dance as a married couple. Luckily because of my connections, I was able to get some really awesome ballroom dancing lessons from professional ballroom dancers at Resorts World Manila. Our first rehearsal and lesson happened last Saturday, October 8th (the video you see is from our second rehearsal so if we’re doing it wrong, BITE ME!). Oh and by the way, our first dance came out perfectly. We totally killed it!

I must admit. I underestimated the whole dancing being difficult thing and boy was I wrong. I also underestimated the fact that dancing can be fun (but very dizzying) and a good workout. Wrong again!

My wife also mentioned that ballroom dancing would be a good cross training exercise for my hockey. I agreed. So there. Besides, during the last month before the big day, I would not have too much time to do all sorts of cross training and keeping my insane workout schedule. So any chance I get to break a sweat, I’ll take (it just so happens that there are benefits to this exercise).

What are the benefits of ballroom dancing?

Well for one, QUICK FEET. No one can deny that having quick feet is important. There is not a single sport in the world where a person engaging in it cannot benefit from quick feet (and golf is a game, not a sport). Another benefit here is that it makes you more agile and like quick feet, agility is also very important in almost ALL sports.

Another thing, I got to do was do some lifting as well which is good for strength.

All in all dancing is a great exercise for athletes. There is no way in hell, I will say anything bad about ballroom dancers EVER!

Bruce Boudreau Update: Caps are 0-2 under Dale Hunter and Bruce Boudreau is the Ducks head coach!

So I mentioned in my previous post that the Caps have fired Bruce Boudreau and have replaced him with Caps great, Dale Hunter. I thought that this was utter BS because Boudreau is a great coach and it was really the players’ fault that they weren’t buying into Boudreau’s system.

I have nothing against Dale Hunter who I think may not be that different from Boudreau. I certainly know (and from all I know of Dale Hunter) that Hunter is a tough guy and can kick some asses to get these dudes going. But the fact of the matter is, Hunter’s system is not that different from Boudreau’s (which failed given the personnel he inherited). The fact of the matter is that since Dale Hunter is and will always be “family” for the Caps organization, the organization would have more patience with him (before Hunter will inevitably take the blame and be fired for the shortcomings of his players because they’re indifferent). And rightfully so, in Hunter’s coaching debut with the Caps, they lose to the streaking St. Louis Blues 2-1. Many said that the Caps are improving and Ovi started showing up for his new coach. This is, after all, be most perfect time for Ovi to show up because the next game is at home against…

… THIS guy!

Well Ovi didn’t do anything statistically in this game. Then again, neither did Sid but at least the Pens came away with a 2-1 win.

Vindication?

Possibly!

So what’s Bruce Boudreau been up to?

Well since he got fired, Boudreau was snapped up by the Anaheim Ducks, who had just fired Randy Carlyle as their head coach. In Carlyle, the Ducks had their most successful coach in franchise history and has led them to their one and only Stanley Cup title in 2007. But this year, after playing above their heads last year, the Ducks have been uterly atrocious. They managed to lose 7 games in a row and lost 11 of 13 games in the month of November.

Orange looks nice on Bruce!

The vindication is in Bruce’s first game which is a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers. A game which the Ducks were firmly in control and leading 3-0. Alas it was not meant to be as somewhat miraculously, the Flyers overcame the 3-goal deficit and beat the Ducks in OT by a score of 4-3. Well, at least they go a point out of it (which I don’t really agree with).

Personally, I hope the Ducks show up for Coach Boudreau and I hope they do awesome (and play the way they’re capable of playing) for him. Good luck to Bruce Boudreau!

Caps fire Bruce Boudreau which is utter BS!

Bruce loves him some BBQ sauce!

In a day that featured the firing of Carolina Hurricanes coach, Paul Maurice (which I believe actually happened after this), the Washington Capitals have fired their coach Bruce Boudreau!

This is complete and utter bullshit!

This is Bruce Boudreau, the likeable rotund jolly fat dude with the salty vocabulary who led the Washington Capitals to their best regular season record in franchise history, who was the fastest coach to 200 wins in NHL history, who have won the Southeast Division 4 times as the coach of the Capitals, who wouldn’t take any crap from his superstar players, and most importantly, a member of the Hyannisport Presidents (wearing jersey number 7) in the greatest sports movie ever made, Slap Shot.

Bruce Boudreau way back when...

Seriously, all that is wrong with the Caps this season (who are 12-9-1 with 25 points, in 2nd place in the Southeast division, and 8th overall in the Eastern Conference), NOT Boudreau’s fault!

Whose fault is it?

Alexander Ovechkin – Coming off the worst statistical year of his career where he scored a paltry (by his standards) 85 points (32 goals, 53 assists) in 79 games, Ovechkin continues that level of performance well into this year having scored 17 points in 22 games this year. 1.34 points per game (0.68 goals per game) in his career prior to the start of  last season before the drop-off began.  Ovechkin just isn’t as automatic as he used to be (it got so bad that Boudreau sat Ovi down in a situation where the Caps needed to score a last-minute goal). Many attribute this drop-off to being named team captain, but we all know that the league passed him by and have figured out how to keep him off the scoresheet. Despite all that, Ovechkin’s perennial underachieving this season is inexcusable. What do you call when a scorer can’t score? The same thing you call a guy who can’t do the things he’s supposed to do, “utterly useless”.

Alexander Semin – We can insert all the immature “semin” jokes about this guy, but there’s absolutely nothing funny about this dude. We have a guy who is also coming off his worst statistical season of his career last year. Semin is a guy that’s blessed with an amazing wrist shot and great hands, but sadly he didn’t care enough to show up for games. The kind of guy would not like anywhenre near your team despite his natural talent. To simplify, Semin just doesn’t care!

Whoever is in goal – As a goaltender, I believe that goaltending is just as much about the defense in front of you as it is your individual skills. Supposedly, coming into this season, the Caps were a solid to great goaltender away from being Stanley Cup champions so they signed Tomas Vokoun for a bargain basement deal 1-year $1.5 million contract. Vokoun is a great goaltender that is able to thrive despite lacking any semblance of defense in front of him. Well, he’s not having a great season. Maybe it’s the Caps defense that’s making Vokoun look bad as opposed to Vokoun making the Caps defense look good (the way it’s supposed to be). Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out and who do the Caps have to cover for Vokoun? Michal Neuvirth, a young up and coming goaltender who was brilliant at times but was disappointing more often than not.

George McPhee – The Caps general manager should really be blamed for this because it is his job to put this team together, to know whether his guys, despite their natural talents (Ovechkin, Semin, and Backstrom), have the proper character, a winning character. To put together a team full of players that could play Boudreau’s system (perhaps a team that could play defense). I mean, here’s a guy who put this team together, a team whose best defenseman didn’t make team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics because he was, ironically, a defensive liability, a defenseman that’s making a lot of money but is injured way too often. Boudreau had the right idea in terms of his system, McPhee supplied him with the wrong players.

What totally sucks the most is that Boudreau is an awesome coach! He coaches with great conviction. Despite having the best players in the world and hockey’s biggest stars, he doesn’t act like some enabling “yes man” who bows down to every whim of his superstars. He’d sit you down if you did wrong and will only give you what you deserve. That is very commendable. That’s true conviction! Bruce Boudreau has it and I hope that he gets a new job in the NHL.