[GDT] Flames vs. Red Wings, 7 pm, SN1

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by heep223

Every hockey player that I know who shoots right is also right handed, including myself.

I'm not sure handedness is related to how a player shoots, though I've never really thought about it. Interesting topic.

The weirdest thing to me is when a player plays hockey left and plays golf right. I know several guys where this is the case. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

I'm that way. I shoot left, play gold right. Throw left handed and bat right handed but I can also throw with my right and bat left handed. I bowl with my right hand and tennis with my right. My left hand is my stranger punching hand.

[northcrunk]

What's weird to me is all those people who skateboard 'mongo'

[Hack&Lube]

Think about holding a rifle as a right handed shooter. That's the same feeling that makes it feel more natural to shoot left as a righty for me.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

I'm that way. I shoot left, play gold right. Throw left handed and bat right handed but I can also throw with my right and bat left handed. I bowl with my right hand and tennis with my right. My left hand is my stranger punching hand.

You sir, are a specimen.

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

You've really got to can it with this stuff. Like him or hate him, Jonas Hiller is part of the Calgary Flames. I don't know why you would have a derogatory nickname for a player who is actively trying to help your team win. It's incredibly disrespectful to call him something like that when he's done nothing but give his all to the team. That's all you can ask for from a player, so unless he has personally insulted you, try and fake some enthusiasm for him.

When I read some of the things that people say about professional athletes, I would never, ever want my son to be one of them.

Professional athletes? Do you not play sports? Those names are common for teammates to call each other. Sensitive much???

I've been called all those names and so many more. The ribbing is one of the fun parts of hockey.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by theslymonkey

Professional athletes? Do you not play sports? Those names are common for teammates to call each other. Sensitive much???

I've been called all those names and so many more. The ribbing is one of the fun parts of hockey.

But we aren't professional athletes, and we don't play for this team. So nicknames like that presented here are nothing but derogatory.

[8sPOT]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

I'm that way. I shoot left, play gold right. Throw left handed and bat right handed but I can also throw with my right and bat left handed. I bowl with my right hand and tennis with my right. My left hand is my stranger punching hand.

I enjoy punching strangers also.

[theslymonkey]

Originally Posted by Toonage

But we aren't professional athletes, and we don't play for this team. So nicknames like that presented here are nothing but derogatory.

That's the point of it.

Heck, currently my names are:
Scrivens - when I play net, mainly because I suck.
Wrists - when I play out, because I don't have any hands.

And that's coming from close friends and teammates.

[MBates]

Interesting article on the handedness issue:

http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/...-ambidexterity

I was just last week considering whether to buy my son the opposite hand stick and see how he handles it. He's essentially ambidextrous so it was actually somewhat of a difficult decision for us. I never had any information on the issue and ultimately went with what seems to be most natural for him.

In the end, I suspect it matters way less than all of the analysis suggests. Practice makes perfect and a player's commitment to training or lack thereof is likely to trump any difference that would be made by which hand is where on the stick.

[heep223]

EDIT: Sorry for the O/T, I'm drunk. GFG I'm guaranteeing a win tonight

Interesting. I don't know if I agree re: the article in terms of the dominant hand being most effective on top. You stick handle and shoot primarily with your bottom hand, the top hand is more of a guide.

But the advent of curved blades in the ’60s not only spelled the end of the classic backhand shot, it also meant that manufacturers had to label sticks L and R, and inventory personnel had to ship more left-handed sticks (with the blade curving to the right) to Canada and more right-handed ones to the United States.
“I have no idea why this is so,” said Mike Mountain, who is in charge of hockey sticks for Easton, a sporting goods manufacturer based in Van Nuys, Calif. “But it has been true for years, and it doesn’t change; it stays consistent over time.”

The difference even trickles over into golf, where the swing is not unlike that of a slap shot. According to the Professional Golfers Association, 7 percent of Canadian golfers play left-handed, which is proportionally more than any other nationality. The reason is probably that Canadians pick up a hockey stick first and are therefore imprinted by the time they take up golf. Especially if they are from Quebec, where hockey players are even more left-handed than players in the rest of Canada.

“The top hand on a hockey stick has to be able to handle the torques of a stick while the bottom hand just has to handle the weight with no torques,” he wrote. He theorized that American children, who tend to take up hockey when they are older and bigger, can afford to put the stronger hand, generally the right, on the lower part of the shaft for more precision.

A lot of experts would argue, however, that having the dominant hand on top makes for better control and stick-handling.

A 2006 study found that 60 percent of all National Hockey League forwards were left-handed, as were 70 percent of all N.H.L. defensemen, but those statistics were not sorted by nationality.
Three players with Team U.S.A. said they had not noticed the discrepancy until it was brought to their attention Monday.
“I noticed a lot of righties when I was growing up, but now I see a lot of lefties,” said Ryan Suter, who plays for the Nashville Predators and shoots left-handed.

There are oddities, too. For example, all the regulars on the New Jersey Devils’ defense corps — three Americans, four Canadians and a Finn — shoot left-handed. For every left-handed-shooting Wayne Gretzky, there is a right-handed-shooting Mario Lemieux. The career top-scoring American, Mike Modano, shoots left. His predecessor as the Americans’ top career scorer, Joe Mullen, shot right.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sp...s/16lefty.html

Also interesting, it seems like of course Canadians have it right over Americans when it comes to hockey, and right handed people should shoot left.

This is probably why I'm playing beer league and not in the NHL.

Handedness and NHL success
As a whole, about 64 percent of NHL players shoot left and 36 percent shoot right -- and both groups are creepily identical: They are 6-foot-1, 196 pounds. They are drafted, on averaged, 127th overall. And their statistical performance is nearly identical as well.


Except there's just one difference: how quickly they reach the NHL.
Left shots reach the NHL a tad bit quicker than right shots. It's not by much -- left shots make it to the league in about 2.4 years, while right shots get there in 2.6 years. But in every other category, the two sides are identical. So why is there a disparity in development time?


Well, first we have to remember that 89 percent of the world is right-handed, and the ratio is probably similar among hockey players. If that's the case, 89 percent of them should be shooting left to optimize their skill development. But that's not the case. Only 64 percent of them shoot left. This means the majority of right shots are actually right-handed. And as Christiansen pointed out, there is a disadvantage to shooting with your strong hand because you don't develop as complete of a game. So shooting the "wrong way" -- with your dominant hand on the bottom of the stick -- seems to slow development time, although it seems right-handers shooting right are talented enough to get to the NHL and be just as good as the players who shoot with their weak hand.

insider.espn.go.com/blog/nhl-draft/insider/post?id=143

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by heep223

This is probably why I'm playing beer league and not in the NHL.

You could have been the next (or original?) Datsyuk...

[Fighting Banana Slug]

I am guessing that we wouldn't be talking about "handedness" if the Flames weren't 1-5.

[kingkahuna]

I'm predicting 3 goals from lefties and 1 from a righty for a 4-0 win.

[TomLeeMC]

Originally Posted by kingkahuna

I'm predicting 3 goals from lefties and 1 from a righty for a 4-0 win.

Dougie being the righty, naturally. GFG!

[Kswiss]

Feeling a Flames win.

Johnny with 3 points. Smid best Dman on the Flames. With Hiller making 21 saves with his right hand in the first 2 periods, then 9 saves with his left in the 3rd.

[Benched]

the real question is do you use your left hand or your right hand to transport the beer to your mouth?

[Flamenfame]

4-2 Wings nothing this team has done this season is giving me optimisim yet.

[kingkahuna]

Originally Posted by Benched

the real question is do you use your left hand or your right hand to transport the beer to your mouth?

Depends which one of my beers I'm drinking.

[ScorchyScorch]

So they're looking to snap a 4 game skid..

And a cold Smid is in over promoted Nakladal
a struggling Hiller is in over a motivated Ortio
and Wideman is playing on the top pairing.

Oh yeah Harts, that ought to do the trick...

Let's hope they pull a rabbit out of a hat tonight, cause that's pretty much what they're going to have to do.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Benched

the real question is do you use your left hand or your right hand to transport the beer to your mouth?

Well, are you a member of the Buffalo Club?