Pop Quiz Hotshot: your stick breaks in the D-zone...what do you do!?!?!

[foshizzle11]

I think they should have switched off, Lucic down lower and Dube up high, but Dube backed up too far and was rendered useless at that point. He could have been tighter and did a better job of blocking the shot instead of turning away. He needed to front the shooter and possibly dove/slide to prevent the shot. I get he didn't want to get walked around, but if Lucic is behind him, then it is less of an issue IMO. But instead he goes behind, can't prevent the pass down low and isn't in a good spot to block the shot.

If it isn't a long change, I am a big fan of getting to the bench for a stick or a new player, that wasn't the case here. Dube just looks to be lost on where to be.

[EVERLAST]

Yeah. Pull a Tkachuk and head straight to the bench with opposing players twig laughing all the way. Make sure its Perry's stick so he comes to the bench swinging and receiving an offset penalty....its what he's good at .

But in all seriousness.....if you have the skill of shot blocking God #Yelle you stay out block every shot you can if in position to do so and if not skate to bench for new weapon.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

As an aside what about when a goalie’s stick breaks, should a skater hand over their stick? I’d say no. Better to fully defend and ice the puck.

While you probably don't want your goalie reaching for the puck with his blocker hand, he should theoretically be more agile to smother a loose puck w/o stick. Defenders can just look for an icing.

Whatever approach is taken, seeking a whistle of almost any kind should be a priority. Ice it, play puck with a high stick, challenge a guy to a fight, etc.

If the guy nearby has any history of fisticuffs, it might be worth dropping the gloves and just starting to throw. Worst case is probably a 2 min roughing and/or instigator if he turtles, best case is 5 mins each if the opponents instincts kick on and no official sees how it started.

[shogged]

If you’re on the short change, get a stick from the bench. Long change, take a defencemen out of the play

[GS Skier]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I actually love this idea and it never dawned on me. I doubt there is any NHL rule against wood sticks.

Well-made wood sticks still have flex and the "snap" that gets quick releases and hard wristers. They aren't the bulky ass heavy things the Rocket used to use.

They are quite light, although admittedly not as light as composites these days. In the dying minutes of the game though, as a player or coach, I'd rather have a wood stick to protect the lead.

That'd be a shocker for most of todays young players. How long since Cory Sarich played 8-10 years??? Hes the last NHLer I know for sure still played with a wood stick. Could have been others.

[GS Skier]

Originally Posted by shogged

If you’re on the short change, get a stick from the bench. Long change, take a defencemen out of the play

So like 1st and 3rd period IF there is clearly a scrum like, tie up in the corner maybe you risk it? I suppose if the winger is also the winger who's naturally closest to the bench too. Still unless the play is clearly in battle mode for 2-3 seconds you gotta stick with the point. The video is another problem where Dube is the 1 defender back first and passes it on and then leaves a player open to do just that.. Now what? Whos open if you dash to the point while the center or a late defenseman is still coming back to do his job?

[N-E-B]

Skate to the bench to change or get a stick and hope your team can kill a penalty for 10 seconds.

I will never understand why that isn’t the go-to move.

[powderjunkie]

Bizarre play in the BOS-CAR game (a little over 6 mins into 3rd period): McAvoy did his best Bobby Orr imitation leaping through Reimer's crease on a scoring chance, breaking his stick in the process. Seconds later, the puck got flipped out of the zone right to the BOS bench - McAvoy was the first guy back (but had no idea who was behind him) and tried to make a silly hand pass back to the goalie (which failed miserably, but the next guy back was another Bruin who touched it and the play got blown down).

No Bruins looked particularly ready to hop the boards (though one had a stick held out that he could have easily grabbed - the puck was so close that too many men might have been risky, but McAvoy could have been off the ice in half a second.

3.5 mins later he destroyed J Staal with the best hip check I've seen in years...so who am I to question his hockey IQ?


Has anyone come across a stat for average number of broken sticks per game? Seems like it's usually at least 5; odd that teams don't seem to prepare very well for something that happens so often.

[Itse]

I'm firmly of the opinion that unless there's an obviously useful thing to do (push the puck to the board with a skate for example), you should immediately skate to the bench. Don't think, just go.

It will probably take a couple of seconds for all the opposing players to realize what happened and another couple of seconds at least for them to figure out how to take advantage of the situation. Don't waste these seconds by considering your options, just go. I believe odds are on your side if you do that, and as others have mentioned you'll likely take an opposing defenseman out of the zone with you, as they'll want to cover the guy coming to replace you.

Stickless players can also easily do more harm than good by being around. Having a stickless player on your side creates confusion, because he can kind of do something but then again not really. With Dube being stickless, you could see other Flames players being unsure how they should react. Stickless players can screen the goalie, but they can't deny the shot.

There's also the issue that if you stay around without a stick, your team probably can't go on the offensive, but they'll just dump the puck. Thus one guy losing his stick and hanging around in his zone can easily create a good 45 second stretch where the opposing team first plays a semi-PP and then gets the puck back for free after that.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by GS Skier

That'd be a shocker for most of todays young players. How long since Cory Sarich played 8-10 years??? Hes the last NHLer I know for sure still played with a wood stick. Could have been others.

There were a few dmen using wood sticks exclusively on the PK not too long ago, of course eveytime I say that these days it turns out it was 10+ yrs ago . Everyone has gone to the composite now, half these guys have probably never even touched a wood stick.

[powderjunkie]

This is a few days late, but interesting play that ended the last Philly/NYI game.

https://youtu.be/qjwTPLGg9b0?t=493 (embed not working?)


NYI defender is half pregnant trying to get a stick from the bench and it's just a mess.

At the worst, if he changed (and a replacement was coached to be ready the moment he saw the stick break), they might have given up a bit of a 2 on 1 rush, but there were 3 other Islanders back and it probably would have been okay.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

This is a few days late, but interesting play that ended the last Philly/NYI game.

https://youtu.be/qjwTPLGg9b0?t=493 (embed not working?)


NYI defender is half pregnant trying to get a stick from the bench and it's just a mess.

At the worst, if he changed (and a replacement was coached to be ready the moment he saw the stick break), they might have given up a bit of a 2 on 1 rush, but there were 3 other Islanders back and it probably would have been okay.

Yup. That's why I believe you should just skate to the bench, as there's always guys ready to jump on the ice. New sticks are not ready as fast.

[powderjunkie]

Obviously just one minor detail from tonight's game, but these details are a gear-grinder for me.

Andersson was on the ice from around 2:20 left. At 1:36 timeout called. He lost his stick at about 0:33. Gets up, glides for 2 seconds looking around for no apparent reason (maybe looking for his stick I guess) and then strides to the bench (not particularly hard) for a new stick.

He crossed the O-zone blue line at 22.3 seconds, which as we saw was about 2 seconds too late too make a controlled play.

Even with his slower than necessary progress to the bench, a replacement player could have been on the ice and across the red line by the 27 second mark, which would have almost certainly meant we got possession out of that clearing attempt (though no guarantee we'd hold the zone depending on player positioning).


Lots of variables, but in this particularly case where he'd been on for over a minute, my flow-chart would have had 1 question: Am I Cale Makar or a Norris-trophy winner? If the answer is no, I should be skating as fast as possible to the bench...but of course this all needs to be an established system where coaches are yelling to get off and have a replacement tapped and ready the moment a stick breaks or flies away.

[Philly06Cup]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Great thread btw. So rare we can talk strategy where basically everyone has a valid opinion without getting ruined by the “eye test” or advanced stats, there’s varied opinions, it can’t be ruined by advance stats, the “you’ve obviously never played” jerks and the “coaches know better than you or it’d already have changed” can’t use those excuses and it’s not so complex that discussion is useless without a whiteboard. Just pure hockey talk. And best of all, no advanced stats.

Cool, a long post hating on advanced stats. Let me try to rebut.

Stats are great. "Advanced stats" are simply more stats. More stats are better than less stats.

Consider goalies. There are 32 teams who each play 82 games. No human can watch all of the games to use the eye test to compare goalies. Good thing we keep a record of stats.

In the beginning, we kept track of a goalie's goals against average. This gives us a tool to compare different goalies. Neat.

But wait. NHL data became more sophisticated and they started tracking shots on goal. Now we have more data, so we can calculate more advanced stats. Now, we can see which goalies save a higher percentage of shots faced, along with their goals against. Incredible! Save percentage is more advanced than pure GAA -- maybe advanced stats aren't that scary after all.

Most recently, the NHL has implemented puck tracking. With this, stat nerds are trying to quantify how tough of saves a goalie makes. Some fans want to make use of this new data and discuss it with others.

Yes, we know that the new stats are not perfect. Just looking at GAA will not tell you which goalie is better. SVP is an improvement. Now fans are looking at goals saved above average (GSAA). Having more stats will only help paint a clearer picture of the game we are watching.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Pop quiz, goalie loses their stick.

Don’t give the goalie your stick!!! Skaters are completely useless without one. Goalie aren’t. That’s the entire list of what to do.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

Cool, a long post hating on advanced stats. Let me try to rebut.

Stats are great. "Advanced stats" are simply more stats. More stats are better than less stats.

Consider goalies. There are 32 teams who each play 82 games. No human can watch all of the games to use the eye test to compare goalies. Good thing we keep a record of stats.

In the beginning, we kept track of a goalie's goals against average. This gives us a tool to compare different goalies. Neat.

But wait. NHL data became more sophisticated and they started tracking shots on goal. Now we have more data, so we can calculate more advanced stats. Now, we can see which goalies save a higher percentage of shots faced, along with their goals against. Incredible! Save percentage is more advanced than pure GAA -- maybe advanced stats aren't that scary after all.

Most recently, the NHL has implemented puck tracking. With this, stat nerds are trying to quantify how tough of saves a goalie makes. Some fans want to make use of this new data and discuss it with others.

Yes, we know that the new stats are not perfect. Just looking at GAA will not tell you which goalie is better. SVP is an improvement. Now fans are looking at goals saved above average (GSAA). Having more stats will only help paint a clearer picture of the game we are watching.

You wasted a lot of words misunderstanding that post.

I’m not against advanced stats. I just think posting a wall of advanced stats instead of an actual opinion make for boring forum convos.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Pop quiz, goalie loses their stick.

Don’t give the goalie your stick!!! Skaters are completely useless without one. Goalie aren’t. That’s the entire list of what to do.

I’m of this thought as well. Giving your stick to a d-man is acceptable though in most circumstances.

Since we are here, my theory is that you should ice the puck every single chance you get in an empty net opportunity. At worst, it’s a face off. And while the play is in your zone 6-5, you’d happily have your goalie freeze the puck for a faceoff. So why not fire everything down range and see what happens.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I’m of this thought as well. Giving your stick to a d-man is acceptable though in most circumstances.

Since we are here, my theory is that you should ice the puck every single chance you get in an empty net opportunity. At worst, it’s a face off. And while the play is in your zone 6-5, you’d happily have your goalie freeze the puck for a faceoff. So why not fire everything down range and see what happens.

Line change rule killed this. Because, absolutely in any other league. Also this debate give me Pierre McGuire ptsd.

[powderjunkie]

I don't have a strong opinion on the EN-icing, but it definitely isn't the cardinal sin it's made out to be on most broadcasts. If you're likely to make the red-line of course you should generally try to...Benn's attempt last night made sense because Hintz was in position to beat an icing (but he didn't really try) - Benn could have made the red line but would have had a tougher and more contested shot at that point.

Time difference between an icing and full zone rush is probably 4-10 seconds. I think your odds of defending a rush/dump are only slightly better than a d-zone faceoff.

[Goriders]

Pray there’s a quick turnover and your team mates get the puck out of the zone so you could get a change.

Until then run as much interference as possible.