- I know that the reasonable thing to want as a Canadiens fan is for the Leafs to stay in the playoff chase as long as possible, to prolong their agony, and depress their standing in the June draft. Best case scenario would be for them to draft 14th overall. Even knowing that, I was cheering for them to lose, badly, in another dispiriting fashion. I want Mark Masters to, blessedly, shut the heck up about his Leafs. He can jabber on about the Jays and Argos, I don't care, just hush on Dion Phaneuf's leadership and Jay McClement's case for the Selke Trophy.
- That makes sense right? Whether the Bruins win or lose at this point is immaterial, as revolting as the thought of being neutral about Boston is. They've clinched 1st in the division, they're in, win or lose.
- How do I cheer for the Leafs to lose though? How exactly can I go about that, in this specific game? Without accidentally sending positive vibes to the other side. Maybe for Patrice Bergeron to get all their goals, unassisted?
- I love how the Leafs used to have Mark Fraser, Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren among others, to crosscheck Brian Gionta in the mouth and play keepaway with Brendan Gallagher's head, but now that they're facing the big bad Bruins, they ice a milquetoast roster, and meekly allow Milan Lucic to stand wherever he wants on the ice, blue paint or not.
- Sean Thornton snow showers James Reimer? No problem sir, take your time leaving our goalie's crease, we'll reconvene in the faceoff circle whenever you're ready.
- Colon Campbell's favourite son cross-checking you in the back Nazem? You don't feel like acting like a tough guy in this particular instance? No problem, don't face up against him and stand up for yourself, wait until a little while later and give a half-hearted, underhanded, dirty, dirty, dirty driveby dirty elbow on a Bruins defenceman who doesn't see you coming and had nothing to do with the previous altercation.
- Gotta hand it to Paul Ranger, he showed tonnes of dedication and perseverance in pushing/punching Patrice Bergeron on top of Jonathan Bernier, ending the latter's night. I'm not sure where the sportsmanship aspect fits in tough.
- When I watch any game featuring any Canadian team on TSN, I actually make a point of watching the panel between periods. They tend to be entertaining and informative. Anyway, you usually get half the time allotted to the featured game, and the other half to other Canadian teams, analysis of their situation or prospects, or any big news of interest in hockey or the NHL. Well tonight, it was all Leafs, all the time. Not one peep about anything else but the valiant struggle of the hard-bitten Leafs. Is it just me, am I just paranoid, or is TSN not really a national broadcaster, but a Toronto station that fills occasional dead air with content from other Canadian markets?
- The fact that Zdeno Chara now plays forward on the powerplay, and that the previously moribund Bruins PP is now one of the best in the league as a result, is further proof that the Bruin Morlock is not a good defenceman, despite all the slurping he receives from the complicit media. The guy can't skate anymore, he's a liability on the ice, and he can't play the point on the powerplay. Aside from Rod Langway and maybe Scott Stevens, any All-Star defenceman plays the first wave of his team's powerplay, that's a given. That Zdeno Chara can't, that he acted as a drag on his special teams for years, shows that he's only valuable because of his freakish size, and the lax enforcement of the rules he's supposed to play under. If the NHL was a skill/hockey league, and not a toughness/violence league, he'd barely be a #6 defenceman, he'd be Hal Gill.
- The Leafs eventually win in overtime, and watch their odds of making the playoffs increase by a few points, to nearly 10%. Great job, stupid Bruins. Tie it up, grab a loser point, and then leave the Leafs some life. The only silver lining, most of the points came at the expense of the Flyers, who are still not in mathematically. If the Flyers could stumble out of the playoffs, that would be nice too.
Thursday, 3 April 2014
Musings on a shameful affair
A few thoughts on the Bruins-Leafs game, before I go for an hour-long Silkwood shower.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Oklahoma City Barons 5 (SO)
I watched the game on a jumpy stream, with an Oklahoma City play-by-play team calling the action, and I caught up to it a little into the second period, but here are some observations.
1) Nathan Beaulieu has another gear compared to everyone else, his skating is as smooth and effortless as ever. Early in the second, skating in on a three-on-one, he makes a good pass to Gabriel Dumont for a clean shot on goal, and then gets back on defence and breaks up a two-on-one going the other way.
2) Louis Leblanc's skating has a dog-in-the-bowling-alley quality, like Dale Weise or Michaël Bournival. It's not always focused or instantly productive, but it pressures defenders into rushing their plays.
3) Robert Mayer was in nets, the OKC play-by-play man spoke of the Bulldogs' strength in nets, with Devan Dubnyk and AHL All-Star Dustin Tokarski. He mentions that Head Coach Stéphane Lefebvre is playing it as a 'win and stay in' situation for his goalies until the end of the season.
In the third, Mr. Mayer made a boneheaded clearing pass that almost ended up in his own net, he had to scramble back in his crease and sprawl to make the save. Then he did it again. He's creative in how he creates business for himself, I've got to give him that.
4) Speaking of coaching, apparently the Bulldogs received two too-many men penalties during the game. I've mentioned before I thought that maybe the relatively young staff needed an experienced assistant coach to help out.
5) Brady Vail served the second too-many men penalty, which was odd since he's being groomed as a checking specialist, but I guess it makes sense to not use him to kill penalties on his first AHL game.
6) Brady Vail, Connor Crisp and Nick Tarnarsky were playing together on the fourth line in the second period. In the third, Louis Leblanc played on right wing with the two rookies. It was nice to see them skating together.
7) Morgan Ellis and Drew Schiestel, both right-handed defencemen, were playing together on the same pairing. With Dalton Thrower, another rightie, joining the team next season, we'll have a glut of righties, and may have this odd situation of righties playing on the left occur even more often.
Meanwhile, Davis Drewiske and Nathan, two lefties, are on another pairing.
8) Sven Andrighetto ties it up at 3-3 early in the third, on a wrist shot off the rush, assisted by Greg Pateryn. Red #27 was darting all over the ice the whole game.
9) Gabriel Dumont scores to make it 4-3, he created the goal off the rush, then converted on the goalmouth scramble. Earlier in the game, he stood up to Ben Eager after a whistle, wanting to get even for a hit he didn't like. We need to perform a sack-ectomy on him and graft it on René Bourque.
10) Greg Pateryn and Joël Bouchard bungle a two-on-two and it ends up in their net, 4-4. The game goes into overtime.
11) Davis Drewiske is not as good as you might expect, seeing as he's spent a few seasons in the NHL. You'd want him to stand out a little more.
12) Andrighetto and Holland look good during four-on-four play, they can really use the open ice.
13) The Barons win in seven rounds in the shootout, 2-1. Andrighetto scores, Gabriel Dumont, Patrick Holland, Nathan Beaulieu, Mike Blunden, Martin St. Pierre and Christian Thomas miss.
Robert Mayer did his job in the shootout, the shooters didn't for the Bulldogs.
1) Nathan Beaulieu has another gear compared to everyone else, his skating is as smooth and effortless as ever. Early in the second, skating in on a three-on-one, he makes a good pass to Gabriel Dumont for a clean shot on goal, and then gets back on defence and breaks up a two-on-one going the other way.
2) Louis Leblanc's skating has a dog-in-the-bowling-alley quality, like Dale Weise or Michaël Bournival. It's not always focused or instantly productive, but it pressures defenders into rushing their plays.
3) Robert Mayer was in nets, the OKC play-by-play man spoke of the Bulldogs' strength in nets, with Devan Dubnyk and AHL All-Star Dustin Tokarski. He mentions that Head Coach Stéphane Lefebvre is playing it as a 'win and stay in' situation for his goalies until the end of the season.
In the third, Mr. Mayer made a boneheaded clearing pass that almost ended up in his own net, he had to scramble back in his crease and sprawl to make the save. Then he did it again. He's creative in how he creates business for himself, I've got to give him that.
4) Speaking of coaching, apparently the Bulldogs received two too-many men penalties during the game. I've mentioned before I thought that maybe the relatively young staff needed an experienced assistant coach to help out.
5) Brady Vail served the second too-many men penalty, which was odd since he's being groomed as a checking specialist, but I guess it makes sense to not use him to kill penalties on his first AHL game.
6) Brady Vail, Connor Crisp and Nick Tarnarsky were playing together on the fourth line in the second period. In the third, Louis Leblanc played on right wing with the two rookies. It was nice to see them skating together.
7) Morgan Ellis and Drew Schiestel, both right-handed defencemen, were playing together on the same pairing. With Dalton Thrower, another rightie, joining the team next season, we'll have a glut of righties, and may have this odd situation of righties playing on the left occur even more often.
Meanwhile, Davis Drewiske and Nathan, two lefties, are on another pairing.
8) Sven Andrighetto ties it up at 3-3 early in the third, on a wrist shot off the rush, assisted by Greg Pateryn. Red #27 was darting all over the ice the whole game.
9) Gabriel Dumont scores to make it 4-3, he created the goal off the rush, then converted on the goalmouth scramble. Earlier in the game, he stood up to Ben Eager after a whistle, wanting to get even for a hit he didn't like. We need to perform a sack-ectomy on him and graft it on René Bourque.
10) Greg Pateryn and Joël Bouchard bungle a two-on-two and it ends up in their net, 4-4. The game goes into overtime.
11) Davis Drewiske is not as good as you might expect, seeing as he's spent a few seasons in the NHL. You'd want him to stand out a little more.
12) Andrighetto and Holland look good during four-on-four play, they can really use the open ice.
13) The Barons win in seven rounds in the shootout, 2-1. Andrighetto scores, Gabriel Dumont, Patrick Holland, Nathan Beaulieu, Mike Blunden, Martin St. Pierre and Christian Thomas miss.
Robert Mayer did his job in the shootout, the shooters didn't for the Bulldogs.
Connor Crisp, Brady Vail sign Professional Try-Out contracts with the Hamilton Bulldogs
There has been a bit of discussion on why Connor Crisp and Brady Vail both signed PTO contracts with the Bulldogs to finish out the season, rather than Entry Level deals with the Canadiens.
My educated guess is that the Canadiens:
1) don’t have any contract slots available, what with the contracts signed by Jack Nevins and others. This summer, a group of players whose contracts expire will not be renewed, and these players and others can be signed to NHL deals.
2) don’t want their Entry Level deals to ‘kick in’, and lose one year of control over these prospects, in return for an eight-game tryout. So we use the PTO method to get these guys some AHL experience without wasting a contract year.
My educated guess is that the Canadiens:
1) don’t have any contract slots available, what with the contracts signed by Jack Nevins and others. This summer, a group of players whose contracts expire will not be renewed, and these players and others can be signed to NHL deals.
2) don’t want their Entry Level deals to ‘kick in’, and lose one year of control over these prospects, in return for an eight-game tryout. So we use the PTO method to get these guys some AHL experience without wasting a contract year.
Louis Leblanc, Nathan Beaulieu must report to training camp in shape next season
Two players who have fallen out of the good graces of the management team, according to what we can deduce based on their use and ‘treatment’, are Louis Leblanc and Nathan Beaulieu. Both of these players have not met the team’s expectations relative to physical conditioning coming into training camps, and have been sent down and not called up when it might have seemed appropriate.
Louis Leblanc’s travails have been well documented, in that he has suffered injuries which prevented him from doing much resistance work, especially in his upper body. Yet he seemingly hasn’t when he had a chance last summer, for example, wowed the team with his dedication in the gym, and his size and strength has disappointed.
Nathan apparently has been successful relying on his ‘natural’ ability, playing himself into shape as the season progresses, as he has done both years in Hamilton.
Both of these young men can help their case immensely by availing themselves of the services of Pierre Allard over the summer, and showing up to camp next season in great shape, with a little more meat on their bones.
That’s if Louis Leblanc is offered a new contract. He’ll be eligible for waivers next fall, so he’s going to be in a precarious position. If he doesn’t make the team, he might get claimed when he gets sent down after camp. The team may decide not to spend one of the 50 contract slots on him, as we’re going to be close to the limit next season, as usual.
David Desharnais needs to produce a point per game until the end of the season.
With a loss for the Canadiens last night, the David Desharnais detractors timidly came out of hiding and reiterated the same issues he brings to the lineup: hogging the best scoring wingers, hogging all the offensive zone starts, the powerplay time, being unsuitable for use in defensive situations, ...
I've thought of the same issues for a while. I think of David Desharnais as a small, scrappy scrum half who's not fast or able to advance the ball, but is superb in how he plays with his forwards and distributes the ball. Or a pure cover corner who doesn't play the run very well or tackle much, but can blanket the opposition #1 receiver and effectively take him out of the game, neutralize that threat.
Hockey players need to be generalists to a greater degree than my two examples above, but you can have room on your team for a specialist if what he does is head and shoulders above everybody else. Offhand I can think of Adam Oates and Craig Janney, who could pass the puck and set up their teammates like nobody's business, but were pretty one-dimensional.
With Thomas Vanek on his line, it's not enough for David to produce at a 60-65 points a year pace, he has to be at least a point-a-game player, at least, to offset the cascade of roster choices he creates by being on it (Tomas Plekanec as the checker, Lars Eller on the third line, Alex Galchenyuk being eased in on the wing, Max grafted onto his hip,...)
So while as a fan I appreciate how he plays, and enjoy watching him more than any other centreman on the team, and I make allowances for the stupidity of how the NHL is run and how much more he could produce if the refereeing was managed toward rather against his style of play, David needs to kick it into an even higher gear the rest of the season. With these two wingers, games like yesterday won't be acceptable. He needs to get results. His line has to give our team the lead and constantly keep the other on their heels, their head spinning. Anything less, and David's contribution to the team is almost a net negative.
I've thought of the same issues for a while. I think of David Desharnais as a small, scrappy scrum half who's not fast or able to advance the ball, but is superb in how he plays with his forwards and distributes the ball. Or a pure cover corner who doesn't play the run very well or tackle much, but can blanket the opposition #1 receiver and effectively take him out of the game, neutralize that threat.
Hockey players need to be generalists to a greater degree than my two examples above, but you can have room on your team for a specialist if what he does is head and shoulders above everybody else. Offhand I can think of Adam Oates and Craig Janney, who could pass the puck and set up their teammates like nobody's business, but were pretty one-dimensional.
With Thomas Vanek on his line, it's not enough for David to produce at a 60-65 points a year pace, he has to be at least a point-a-game player, at least, to offset the cascade of roster choices he creates by being on it (Tomas Plekanec as the checker, Lars Eller on the third line, Alex Galchenyuk being eased in on the wing, Max grafted onto his hip,...)
So while as a fan I appreciate how he plays, and enjoy watching him more than any other centreman on the team, and I make allowances for the stupidity of how the NHL is run and how much more he could produce if the refereeing was managed toward rather against his style of play, David needs to kick it into an even higher gear the rest of the season. With these two wingers, games like yesterday won't be acceptable. He needs to get results. His line has to give our team the lead and constantly keep the other on their heels, their head spinning. Anything less, and David's contribution to the team is almost a net negative.
Game 77: Canadiens 1, Lightning 3
Not much to say about this game, we had it circled on the calendar for a while now, and went in kind of flat and lost 3-1, but only because Carey Price kept it respectable. It could have been much worse than a 2-1 defeat with an empty-net goal tacked on.
We punched our ticket to the playoffs even with this loss, but it's a drag to let Tampa Bay pull even with us with a game in hand. Obviously, it would have been much better to take that four point lead that was there for the taking.
Thoughts:
1) Carey is ready for the playoffs, the injury, whatever it was, that kept him out of action after the Olympics no longer a factor.
2) I think we match up well with the Lightning generally, in that we can skate with them, and won't get pushed around by them, an eventuality we obsess over when we play the Leafs, Sens and obviously the Bruins.
3) To have a chance though, we'll need to approach the 'three scoring lines' identity we sought at the beginning of the season. If the Desharnais line shoots blanks like it did tonight, the other lines will have to contribute. And that's difficult when Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk, René Bourque, Tomas Plekanec, among others, are slumping or flat-lining.
4) Our number 1 line seemed to play it too cute again, with pretty, unnecessary passes to each other that went nowhere. I was happy to see David deke his way through the defence and take a good shot on net at one point though. His game is to pass first, opponents know that and expect it, so if he pulls this move a little more often he'll catch the opposition napping.
5) The Douglas Murray elbow on Mike Kostka will draw a big suspension. I was surprised that the TSN panel was guessing three or four games, whereas RDS was thinking the rest of the season and possibly into the playoffs. The RDS guys were judging based on the reprehensibility of the act, whereas the TSN boys went with prior history, showing other mondo elbows that only netted the assailant three or four games.
The NHL is bush league.
6) Thinking back to Mike Kostka's oeuvre last season, when he doled out crosschecks to the chin of various Canadiens forwards and slashed liberally, emboldened by the presence of various goons on his team, I couldn't help but think of the incident as guy-who-shouldn't-be-in-the-league on guy-who-shouldn't-be-in-the-league violence. If the NHL was about hockey and skill, and not size and toughness and restraint of trade, so to speak, neither Douglas or Mr. Kostka would have a job.
7) All those observers who are so much more insightful than Michel Therrien and Jean-Jacques Daigneault will get their wish, and see much more of Jarred Tinordi. I hope he does well down the stretch and solidifies his standing in the roster. The kid has way more upside than Douglas Murray, obviously, we just don't want to burn him out by throwing him out there before he's ready.
The Leafs, for one team, seem to every couple of years have this miraculous rookie defenceman who shows so much promise so early in his career, and who the coaching staff puts on the first pairing and squeezes a lot out of, until he collapses onto himself and white-dwarfs his career (and hello to you, Carlo Colaiacovo).
8) What's with Ryan White's hair? Big change for my boy, he looks like he's headed out to audition for a boy band with that coiffe.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Brooks Orpik's hit on Jonathan Toews isn't illegal or suspendable. But it should be.
I have to admit I'm confused by what is or isn't charging or boarding in the NHL, since what is in the rulebook isn't what directs on-ice officials in their decision-making based on what we see on the ice when we're watching games. TV analysts also do a poor job of explaining rules and referring to the rulebook themselves, think about all the natter about 'distinct kicking motion', or in football 'the empty hand' when trying to decide if a quarterback fumbled or made an incomplete pass. No one ever stops and says "Here is what the rule says, here are two clips that show a fumble, and an incompletion, you'll note that the quarterbarck's hand is 'empty' when..."
I'll just make the general point that if the Brooks Orpik hit on Jonathan Toews is not against the rules and isn't 'suspendable', then it darn well should be. If there is a play or a rule that tilts the ice towards the less-talented player, and makes star players more vulnerable to injury, shouldn't you change that rule, or the way it's enforced, right quick?
The NFL passed the Brady rule a few seasons back, after Tom Brady's knee was blown out on the first series of the first game of the year. A defensive player who had been blocked came in low at Tom Brady, and partly in a desperation do-anything-to-sack-the QB mindset, but with a healthy dose of make-the-quarterback-pay, make-sure-he's-not-too-comfortable-back-there, let-him-know-we're-coming philosophy, dived into his knee, rupturing his ACL and putting him out for the year.
The NFL reacted instantly, forbidding low tackles, or tackles around the knees when the quarterback is in the pocket, based on a simple fact: the NFL is better off with Tom Brady on the field playing, on your TV screens, than it is with him gone for a whole season, and returning with possibly diminished skills due to lengthy recovery periods. It's obviously better for the league, for everyone involved, that the stars of the game, the Bradys and Mannings and Rodgers, be allowed to play and entertain and wow us. And that includes the defensive players and the old-timers who whine that "you can't touch a quarterback anymore, why, back in the day, we would..." Even those guys are making money, and will make more, if the NFL is successful and draws eyeballs and the ratings go up. If Matt Cassel and Cade McNown and Luke McCown are on the field, the NFL is worse off than if those guys are holding clipboards and the #1's are on the field flinging the pigskin.
And the Brady rule is just one thing the NFL did to protect its stars. You also can't hit a quarterback on the helmet, with any force at all. You were just trying to bat down a pass, and your arm grazed Ben Roethlisberger's helmet as you whizzed by? Tough noogies, you're not allowed to touch him there. Hit the quarterback a half-second after he's passed the ball? You kind of held up anyway, since you sensed you might get there late? Not an excuse, that's a fifteen yard penalty, explain it to your coach.
There used to be situations that would make old-timers gleeful, like how on an interception, the offensive team now is playing defence, and is trying to tackle the ballcarrier, so the defence can now block the offence to improve the return yards. Well, what that used to mean was 'open-season' on the quarterback, he was now a target for every defensive player to make a huge block on, and knock him into next week. Defensive tackles and linebackers would converge on the quarterback, no matter where the return was headed, and try to put as big a lick on him as they could, to knock him out of the game.
Quite reasonably, and to protect its stars and its investment, the NFL legislated that you can't block the quarterback anymore, unless he's actively engaged in trying to make a tackle. And of course, coaches are telling their QB's to walk over to the sideline when they make an interception, not to worry about tackling, save yourself for the next series.
Gary Bettman and his nincompoops in New York don't get that. You would think that the Commissioner, who comes from a basketball background with the NBA, would understand the merit of trying to showcase your stars, of giving your league the best chance of being spectacular and successful. Instead, he makes ice in L.A. and is looking to putting on games in Europe, but doesn't worry about the quality of the product. He's the restaurant owner who only cares about sales and seatings, but not the quality of the food or the reviews and feedback. If patrons come and don't enjoy the food, we'll take care of that by doing more marketing and getting other patrons, he thinks, not by making sure every meal is superb and grow the business organically, by word of mouth, through customer loyalty. As if there's an infinite pool of patrons that are lining up to your restaurant that doesn't care about its food quality.
Whether that's stupidity or willful blindness, or something more pernicious is open to question. I can't shake the memory of the horrible series of commercials the NHL used to re-launch the league after its suicidal lockout of 2004-05. That the league chose to use actors and generic 'warriors', faceless nobodies to showcase itself is instructive.
The Lightning and Flames had played in the Stanley Cup final the last time it was awarded, with moderately exotic, immensely photogenic and likeable stars Vincent Lecavalier and Jarome Iginla as their respective captains. The champion Lightning also had Brad Richards on its roster for the teeny-boppers to swoon over.
The league was full of bankable stars. Towering defencemen Zdeno Chara and Chris Pronger were certainly worthy of attention. Classy, superb scorers Markus Naslund and Ilya Kovalchuk had been featured in a memorable Nike ad that displayed their personality and sense of humour. Even voluble goofball Georges Laraque, larger than life, could have been harnessed to win over casual fans.
Instead, the NHL went with nameless actors, caricatures, to showcase itself. It's bizarre, baffling, but only so if you don't take into account the meanness, the adversarial stance the league has taken toward its players. The NBA embraces Michael Jordan, knowing full well what it's doing. The NHL locks out its stars, eyes replacement players, believes that fans will watch whoever as long as they're garbed in the right branded jersey.
So when it comes to the play on the ice, the NHL runs commercials with words like 'battle' and 'warriors', and revels in bloodied faces as proof that the players care and the games mean something. And it gets sucked into that motif, and circles closer and closer to the drain. Instead of caring about the show, and ensuring that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are featured and at their best, they propound the meatgrinder aspect of its game as somehow noble, not self-defeating.
If the NHL had any sense, the hit on Jonathan Toews would be seen as a problem, and would rule it as such, either by drawing up new rules, or more simply by interpreting its current rules strictly. It should very simply announce to the world, and directly to its teams, players, GM's, coaches, and fans, that the National Hockey League is a skill league, a talent league, and that the talent is cherished, valuable, and worth protecting. Things that take away from talent, like hooking and slashing and boarding and kneeing, they'll all be punished harshly, and not judged based on severity, but objectively, absolutely. There will be no kneeing, no slashing, no headhunting.
The Brooks Orpik hit on Jonathan Toews was against the NHL's own rules, in that he wasn't carrying or handling the puck at the time. It was also high-sticking, in that Mr. Orpik lost control of his stick and swung it wildly in the air as he made contact. The play-by-play guys can dissemble all they want, inured as they are by the routine thuggery and lawlessness in the NHL, it still doesn't change the fact that the NHL is refusing to enforce its own rulebook.
Curmudgeons will attack this view and state that they think the game is fine and don't want to watch hockey refereed any other way. These same curmudgeons also attack the NFL when it takes steps to protect its stars, its quarterbacks, its defenseless players. They prophesy that the game is being debased, is being 'pansified', will be killed with too much kindness. Yet the League grows in leaps and bounds, by every measure, everyone involved getting richer. While the NHL stagnates by comparison.
I'll just make the general point that if the Brooks Orpik hit on Jonathan Toews is not against the rules and isn't 'suspendable', then it darn well should be. If there is a play or a rule that tilts the ice towards the less-talented player, and makes star players more vulnerable to injury, shouldn't you change that rule, or the way it's enforced, right quick?
The NFL passed the Brady rule a few seasons back, after Tom Brady's knee was blown out on the first series of the first game of the year. A defensive player who had been blocked came in low at Tom Brady, and partly in a desperation do-anything-to-sack-the QB mindset, but with a healthy dose of make-the-quarterback-pay, make-sure-he's-not-too-comfortable-back-there, let-him-know-we're-coming philosophy, dived into his knee, rupturing his ACL and putting him out for the year.
The NFL reacted instantly, forbidding low tackles, or tackles around the knees when the quarterback is in the pocket, based on a simple fact: the NFL is better off with Tom Brady on the field playing, on your TV screens, than it is with him gone for a whole season, and returning with possibly diminished skills due to lengthy recovery periods. It's obviously better for the league, for everyone involved, that the stars of the game, the Bradys and Mannings and Rodgers, be allowed to play and entertain and wow us. And that includes the defensive players and the old-timers who whine that "you can't touch a quarterback anymore, why, back in the day, we would..." Even those guys are making money, and will make more, if the NFL is successful and draws eyeballs and the ratings go up. If Matt Cassel and Cade McNown and Luke McCown are on the field, the NFL is worse off than if those guys are holding clipboards and the #1's are on the field flinging the pigskin.
And the Brady rule is just one thing the NFL did to protect its stars. You also can't hit a quarterback on the helmet, with any force at all. You were just trying to bat down a pass, and your arm grazed Ben Roethlisberger's helmet as you whizzed by? Tough noogies, you're not allowed to touch him there. Hit the quarterback a half-second after he's passed the ball? You kind of held up anyway, since you sensed you might get there late? Not an excuse, that's a fifteen yard penalty, explain it to your coach.
There used to be situations that would make old-timers gleeful, like how on an interception, the offensive team now is playing defence, and is trying to tackle the ballcarrier, so the defence can now block the offence to improve the return yards. Well, what that used to mean was 'open-season' on the quarterback, he was now a target for every defensive player to make a huge block on, and knock him into next week. Defensive tackles and linebackers would converge on the quarterback, no matter where the return was headed, and try to put as big a lick on him as they could, to knock him out of the game.
Quite reasonably, and to protect its stars and its investment, the NFL legislated that you can't block the quarterback anymore, unless he's actively engaged in trying to make a tackle. And of course, coaches are telling their QB's to walk over to the sideline when they make an interception, not to worry about tackling, save yourself for the next series.
Gary Bettman and his nincompoops in New York don't get that. You would think that the Commissioner, who comes from a basketball background with the NBA, would understand the merit of trying to showcase your stars, of giving your league the best chance of being spectacular and successful. Instead, he makes ice in L.A. and is looking to putting on games in Europe, but doesn't worry about the quality of the product. He's the restaurant owner who only cares about sales and seatings, but not the quality of the food or the reviews and feedback. If patrons come and don't enjoy the food, we'll take care of that by doing more marketing and getting other patrons, he thinks, not by making sure every meal is superb and grow the business organically, by word of mouth, through customer loyalty. As if there's an infinite pool of patrons that are lining up to your restaurant that doesn't care about its food quality.
Whether that's stupidity or willful blindness, or something more pernicious is open to question. I can't shake the memory of the horrible series of commercials the NHL used to re-launch the league after its suicidal lockout of 2004-05. That the league chose to use actors and generic 'warriors', faceless nobodies to showcase itself is instructive.
The Lightning and Flames had played in the Stanley Cup final the last time it was awarded, with moderately exotic, immensely photogenic and likeable stars Vincent Lecavalier and Jarome Iginla as their respective captains. The champion Lightning also had Brad Richards on its roster for the teeny-boppers to swoon over.
The league was full of bankable stars. Towering defencemen Zdeno Chara and Chris Pronger were certainly worthy of attention. Classy, superb scorers Markus Naslund and Ilya Kovalchuk had been featured in a memorable Nike ad that displayed their personality and sense of humour. Even voluble goofball Georges Laraque, larger than life, could have been harnessed to win over casual fans.
Instead, the NHL went with nameless actors, caricatures, to showcase itself. It's bizarre, baffling, but only so if you don't take into account the meanness, the adversarial stance the league has taken toward its players. The NBA embraces Michael Jordan, knowing full well what it's doing. The NHL locks out its stars, eyes replacement players, believes that fans will watch whoever as long as they're garbed in the right branded jersey.
So when it comes to the play on the ice, the NHL runs commercials with words like 'battle' and 'warriors', and revels in bloodied faces as proof that the players care and the games mean something. And it gets sucked into that motif, and circles closer and closer to the drain. Instead of caring about the show, and ensuring that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are featured and at their best, they propound the meatgrinder aspect of its game as somehow noble, not self-defeating.
If the NHL had any sense, the hit on Jonathan Toews would be seen as a problem, and would rule it as such, either by drawing up new rules, or more simply by interpreting its current rules strictly. It should very simply announce to the world, and directly to its teams, players, GM's, coaches, and fans, that the National Hockey League is a skill league, a talent league, and that the talent is cherished, valuable, and worth protecting. Things that take away from talent, like hooking and slashing and boarding and kneeing, they'll all be punished harshly, and not judged based on severity, but objectively, absolutely. There will be no kneeing, no slashing, no headhunting.
The Brooks Orpik hit on Jonathan Toews was against the NHL's own rules, in that he wasn't carrying or handling the puck at the time. It was also high-sticking, in that Mr. Orpik lost control of his stick and swung it wildly in the air as he made contact. The play-by-play guys can dissemble all they want, inured as they are by the routine thuggery and lawlessness in the NHL, it still doesn't change the fact that the NHL is refusing to enforce its own rulebook.
Curmudgeons will attack this view and state that they think the game is fine and don't want to watch hockey refereed any other way. These same curmudgeons also attack the NFL when it takes steps to protect its stars, its quarterbacks, its defenseless players. They prophesy that the game is being debased, is being 'pansified', will be killed with too much kindness. Yet the League grows in leaps and bounds, by every measure, everyone involved getting richer. While the NHL stagnates by comparison.
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Game 76: Canadiens 4, Panthers 1
Like the 2-0 win against the Sabres recently, this 4-1 win against the Panthers seemed pre-ordained, according to what the standings and common sense told us, but it wasn't easy, and didn't quite feel in the bag until David Desharnais' empty-net goal late in the third, which sealed it. The Canadiens passed the puck at will and seemed to spend the first period in the Panthers' zone, and came off the ice with a 2-0 lead.
In the second though, they seemed to take the foot off the gas and rely on Harlem Globetrotter moves to add to their lead. Like in the recent 2-0 win in Buffalo, there wasn't this apparent desperation to win, as we saw in Boston, the boys seemed to want to coast to the end, without having to sacrifice too much. Their shot totals went from 11 in the first to 5 to only 3 in the third period, whereas the Panthers increased their intensity and fired more shots from one period to the next, and eventually tallied 37 against Carey Price.
While I watched and cringed, I was reminded of the classic horror movie trope, where near the end the hero puts the monster/Jason/rabid bear/mean-girl-with-a-crush out of commission, and all the tension drains as he checks on the heroine, who was about to be dispatched but was saved in extremis. Except that's the wrong move, as attractive and disrobed as the heroine is. Instead he should grab the rail gun/kitchen knife/shot gun/skillet and put a lasting end to the danger. Not brush hair out of the heroine eyes and whisper sweet nothings. He should finish the job. But he doesn't. And inevitably, accompanied by a sudden salvo of music, the antagonist rises, revived, angrier, meaner, for another five minutes of mayhem before the kill shot. Because the hero didn't, in the first place, finish the job.
Which the Canadiens didn't/couldn't/weren't prepared to do. They missed passes and flubbed clearances and were unable to deal with the size of some of the Panthers' forward, guys like 6'6", 220 lbs Jimmy Hayes and 6'6", 215 lbs Nick Bjugstad, who took up residence near Carey's crease and refused invitations to depart.
Carey was cool and calm throughout, didn't go all Hasek and flip out on his teammates, he made 36 saves and cooled things off repeatedly. The only goal he allowed was tucked in as tight as possible top corner, in essence a perfect shot. I took comfort in the fact that while it was glove side, he wasn't down on his knees in the butterfly already, he stayed in his crouch when the shot came. He seems ready to go, getting stronger game by game.
One allowance I'll make for the Canadiens is how they are down to their last reserves at forward, due to Tomas Plekanec's absence for family reasons, which piled on top of injuries to Brandon Prust, Travis Moen and Dale Weise, meant that George Parros drew in the lineup. George is a sympathetic figure, but has a deleterious effect on our team at this point, being unable to contribute in terms of hockey, and preventing Ryan White and Michaël Bournival from being effective.
Further, he was invited to a dance by Krys Barch and accepted, and wrestled him to a draw, as I cringed some more, hoping that the Panthers enforcer wouldn't be able to get a clean shot off. As they skated off the ice, Mr. Barch was given an earful by the Canadiens bench, who according to RDS' Marc Denis thought he should have held off the unnecessary staged fight, in light of George's concussion woes recently. Which effectively shows that George isn't trusted to contribute in that area either.
So our depth is being tested, and our resolve as well as the march to the playoffs continues. The boys will need to focus not only on the 'big' games, like the tilt against the Lightning coming up, a classic four-pointer. The gimmes against the Sens and the Islanders coming up are also going to count in the standings.
The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek line piled up seven points, and our expectations are already rising. I want more. Especially during power plays against the worst penalty kill in the league, I want results. I want to ride that Vanek pony as hard and as long as I can while we have him. Max scored twice, once on a beautiful pass by Thomas Vanek, to bring his season total to 35. He also smartly and unselfishly passed to David Desharnais with the Panthers net empty so that the latter could put the game away, while the inclination might have been to shoot himself and complete the hat trick. Max has a realistic shot at fourty goals this season, with the way his line is going.
The kid line, which we anticipated so much from based on previous success, had much more muted results. Gaston Therrien on l'Antichambre pointed out that all three right now are struggling to a degree, so putting them together isn't necessarily a recipe for success. In any case, it's not like the coaching staff had many options. A game against the Panthers was as good an opportunity as any to try something with the kids.
Until Josh Gorges returns, we're getting yeoman work out of Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and Francis Bouillon. Francis had a tough game in Detroit along with his partner P.K., but all three of our veteran defencemen are hard workers, they don't shrink from contact, and can hold down the fort while the kids learn their craft in Hamilton. They're a bit of a motley crew, none of them is unblemished or strong in all areas, but they're getting results, and putting all-out effort on the ice, which is all we can ask for.
Let's hope that all goes well for Tomas Plekanec, and that he can rejoin the team for the showdown in Tampa on Tuesday.
In the second though, they seemed to take the foot off the gas and rely on Harlem Globetrotter moves to add to their lead. Like in the recent 2-0 win in Buffalo, there wasn't this apparent desperation to win, as we saw in Boston, the boys seemed to want to coast to the end, without having to sacrifice too much. Their shot totals went from 11 in the first to 5 to only 3 in the third period, whereas the Panthers increased their intensity and fired more shots from one period to the next, and eventually tallied 37 against Carey Price.
While I watched and cringed, I was reminded of the classic horror movie trope, where near the end the hero puts the monster/Jason/rabid bear/mean-girl-with-a-crush out of commission, and all the tension drains as he checks on the heroine, who was about to be dispatched but was saved in extremis. Except that's the wrong move, as attractive and disrobed as the heroine is. Instead he should grab the rail gun/kitchen knife/shot gun/skillet and put a lasting end to the danger. Not brush hair out of the heroine eyes and whisper sweet nothings. He should finish the job. But he doesn't. And inevitably, accompanied by a sudden salvo of music, the antagonist rises, revived, angrier, meaner, for another five minutes of mayhem before the kill shot. Because the hero didn't, in the first place, finish the job.
Which the Canadiens didn't/couldn't/weren't prepared to do. They missed passes and flubbed clearances and were unable to deal with the size of some of the Panthers' forward, guys like 6'6", 220 lbs Jimmy Hayes and 6'6", 215 lbs Nick Bjugstad, who took up residence near Carey's crease and refused invitations to depart.
Carey was cool and calm throughout, didn't go all Hasek and flip out on his teammates, he made 36 saves and cooled things off repeatedly. The only goal he allowed was tucked in as tight as possible top corner, in essence a perfect shot. I took comfort in the fact that while it was glove side, he wasn't down on his knees in the butterfly already, he stayed in his crouch when the shot came. He seems ready to go, getting stronger game by game.
One allowance I'll make for the Canadiens is how they are down to their last reserves at forward, due to Tomas Plekanec's absence for family reasons, which piled on top of injuries to Brandon Prust, Travis Moen and Dale Weise, meant that George Parros drew in the lineup. George is a sympathetic figure, but has a deleterious effect on our team at this point, being unable to contribute in terms of hockey, and preventing Ryan White and Michaël Bournival from being effective.
Further, he was invited to a dance by Krys Barch and accepted, and wrestled him to a draw, as I cringed some more, hoping that the Panthers enforcer wouldn't be able to get a clean shot off. As they skated off the ice, Mr. Barch was given an earful by the Canadiens bench, who according to RDS' Marc Denis thought he should have held off the unnecessary staged fight, in light of George's concussion woes recently. Which effectively shows that George isn't trusted to contribute in that area either.
So our depth is being tested, and our resolve as well as the march to the playoffs continues. The boys will need to focus not only on the 'big' games, like the tilt against the Lightning coming up, a classic four-pointer. The gimmes against the Sens and the Islanders coming up are also going to count in the standings.
The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek line piled up seven points, and our expectations are already rising. I want more. Especially during power plays against the worst penalty kill in the league, I want results. I want to ride that Vanek pony as hard and as long as I can while we have him. Max scored twice, once on a beautiful pass by Thomas Vanek, to bring his season total to 35. He also smartly and unselfishly passed to David Desharnais with the Panthers net empty so that the latter could put the game away, while the inclination might have been to shoot himself and complete the hat trick. Max has a realistic shot at fourty goals this season, with the way his line is going.
The kid line, which we anticipated so much from based on previous success, had much more muted results. Gaston Therrien on l'Antichambre pointed out that all three right now are struggling to a degree, so putting them together isn't necessarily a recipe for success. In any case, it's not like the coaching staff had many options. A game against the Panthers was as good an opportunity as any to try something with the kids.
Until Josh Gorges returns, we're getting yeoman work out of Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and Francis Bouillon. Francis had a tough game in Detroit along with his partner P.K., but all three of our veteran defencemen are hard workers, they don't shrink from contact, and can hold down the fort while the kids learn their craft in Hamilton. They're a bit of a motley crew, none of them is unblemished or strong in all areas, but they're getting results, and putting all-out effort on the ice, which is all we can ask for.
Let's hope that all goes well for Tomas Plekanec, and that he can rejoin the team for the showdown in Tampa on Tuesday.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Ben Scrivens says the Oilers' jersey is sacred. He should have acted like it is.
Just to get this off my chest about the jersey thrown on the ice in Edmonton, I appreciated what Ben Scrivens had to say in response, much more than Dallas Eakins' pompous, fabricated reaction the first time, but Ben kind of flubbed it with what he did with the jersey. Instead of picking it up with his hockey stick, like a teammate's dirty underwear on the floor of the dressing room, and flinging it over the boards like dog poop into the neighbour's yard, he should have acted like the jersey was indeed sacred. He should have taken it off the ice, brushed it off, folded it, and maybe handed it to a youngster sitting near the boards, not disposed of it like a hornet's nest.
Game 75: Canadiens 5, Red Wings 4
Purists will decry the win last night as a sloppy and poorly played game defensively, but I enjoy a 5-4 game much more than a 2-1 slashfest, in which the goals are all ping-ponged in during a cluster in front of the net.
One big takeaway for me was the camera shot from inside the dressing room during the intro to the RDS broadcast of the game. As the camera panned and showed us various Wings, then Canadiens gearing up before the game, we saw Alexei Emelin about to pull on his hockey sock. Directly on his thigh, worn under his sock, was a honking huge hinged rigid knee brace, the type that football offensive linemen wear after a knee injury.
We all understand that Alexei is coming back from injury, that ACL reconstructions are difficult to rehab from and can take a long time to be back to 100%, Adrian Peterson-type miracles aside. But knowing this intellectually and showing tolerance and patience when Alexei looks less than agile on a goal against are two different things. We've gnashed our teeth at some plays where he and Andrei boot around the puck, or where a sprightly forward skates circles around them, and despaired that our Top 4 defencemen are anything but.
Seeing the brace brought me back to reality. It illustrates, it emphasizes that he's still not completely 'over' the injury. Whether he's wearing it because he still feels minor discomfort or pain during sudden or awkward moves, or because he's being ordered to by team doctors and physio staff, the result is that he physically is diminished, and/or psychologically so.
There is no universal standard as to which patient wears what brace under what circumstances, when it comes to knee injuries. The most common practice, in football anyway, for the heavy guys along the line, is that they wear the brace for a set period of time after surgery, even if they experience no pain or looseness, for precautionary reasons. Some coaching and medical staffs insist that the player wear the brace permanently, to guard against future re-injury. Some colleges or pro teams even mandate that all their linemen wear a brace on both legs as a precautionary measure, to prevent injury from happening in the first place, in games and practices.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. While the brace is generally accepted to be effective at protecting the knee from bending the wrong way, it is cumbersome and limits mobility in the athlete. It is also heavy, and acts as a drag on speed and explosiveness compared to if the athlete doesn't wear one. It also is a constant reminder to the player that he's injured, recovered or not. Some players report hating wearing it, while others find it a comfort and derive confidence from having it on.
Generally, football players who play skill positions, who need speed and agility to be successful, like running backs or defensive backs for example, tend to want to ditch the brace as soon as they can, while the big boys in the trenches, who need to show stoutness and anchor in their position, aren't as opposed to wearing the brace as a rule.
So Alexei may have to wear the brace until the end of the season, or for a full calendar year after returning to the ice, or to game action. He may be advised to wear the brace for the rest of his career. In any case, this requires an adjustment period of him, and his performance will be affected still, as he acclimates to the brace and the way it impairs his movement and agility, and as his knee starts to feel 101% as opposed to 98%.
Of course, recovery is not the same for every athlete. We saw Josh Gorges come back from ACL reconstruction two years ago and barely skip a beat, compared to Andrei Markov more ponderous return to the ice, marked by setbacks. Josh stopped wearing a brace early on, and hasn't suffered any relapses.
Even Steve Quailer, the former Canadiens prospect who was dealt to the Kings this season, can be used as an example. He suffered an ACL injury while playing at Northeastern University and missed an entire season. When he returned he was made to wear a brace, and didn't like how it felt and limited him, so he stopped wearing it, and promptly re-injured his knee. He was candid later on that this was a mistake, and he'd never take the brace off as long as he played.
So Alexei isn't 'healed' yet, and it's unrealistic to expect him to be right back to the playing level he showed before blowing out his knee. We need to show, yes, patience, and appreciate the slow progress in his play as he adapts and gets closer to full mobility and strength.
The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek line is another facet of the Canadiens that is showing progress, and not the slow kind either. They didn't take to each other right away, as far as the tangible results showed, but they've been finding their stride, and yesterday were dominant, against an admittedly depleted Wings roster. Coach Therrien felt compelled to double-shift his first line in the third period, which is a pleasant development. For years, we've had a 'balanced attack', meaning we've rolled three or four lines and hoped that one or two would click that night. We didn't really have a line with a Toews or a Kovalchuk on it that was felt to be so superior it should get more than its fair share of minutes, strictly due to its offensive ability. The Canadiens, in fact, usually ride a defensive line hard, so that Doug Jarvis' or Guy Carbonneau's line gets more minutes thwarting the opposite #1 line than our putative first line.
It's easy to be optimistic on a night when all three linemates got a goal, and everyone is all smiles, but it bodes well for the team as it approaches the playoffs with a line that is near-lethal, and appears to still be improving. They are finding each other with their passes more often, but the obvious instances when they'd make one pass too many are decreasing. The play where Thomas Vanek outraced Niklas Kronwall to a loose puck, and knocked him on his keister for good measure, before feeding it to David Desharnais for the Canadiens' third goal, was refreshing. Thomas Vanek is turning out to be what the Canadiens needed, a big winger who can play when it's physical, and can score.
And of course, on a night when I had to sit Tomas Plekanec on my fantasy team, due to my having too many forwards playing games on the same night, and due to his long unproductive streak, he went off for two goals, and hopefully finally broke out of his slump for good. The experiment with the kids is not a success yet, but we can see progress, and we can afford to be patient during this streak of wins and with our relatively comfortable position in the standings.
What is there to say about P.K. that hasn't been said, either last night by the talking heads, or during his entire career? On a night when he played on a national stage, in front of Team Canada coach Mike Babcock, and had an opportunity to make a statement, he started off spectacularly, assisting on both Tomas Plekanec goals in the first period. He then, inexplicably, had a meltdown, and was on the ice for four Red Wing goals, one of which was directly caused by a mistake a Pee Wee player wouldn't make.
Note that this isn't a mistake in the sense of Jarred Tinordi misplaying a bobbling puck near his net, or Tomas Vanek failing to convert a scoring chance by stuffing a puck into the goalie's pad. This wasn't an error of execution, like a defencemen flubbing a pass that is intercepted by a forechecking opposition forward. This was a mental mistake, and even goes even further than that. It's not like he had two options to make a pass, and he chose the wrong one. It wasn't a 'bad decision'.
Instead, P.K. went against years of coaching, entire seasons of experience and instruction, and insisted on passing a puck through the middle of his defensive zone. The pass was intercepted and ended up in his own net. P.K. could have banged the puck up the boards, off the glass, where Tomas Plekanec was waiting. He could have made the safe play, as coaches have been inculcating in him for years. As Hal Gill and Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov have repeated to him again and again. As Don Cherry roars from his pulpit every Saturday night. As the dressing room chatter before games and between periods always insists, every single time: "Don't get fancy boys, just make the safe play, don't try to do too much, ..."
It's not like P.K. isn't smart enough. It's painfully obvious to anyone that he's a really bright boy. He should get this, maybe he understands this intellectually, but he obviously doesn't have this instinct ingrained in him, it's not reflex response from him. That he's unconventional in his decisions and actions often pays off, as we saw last night when he executed the give and go with Tomas Plekanec on a three-on-two, or during the comeback win against the Senators when he passed to David Desharnais instead of shooting, with a second left in the game.
I was again reminded of Magic Johnson's line about Vlade Divac, that the latter was "a quick learner, but a quick forgetter also". We keep reminding each other that P.K. is young, but he's not, really. He's twenty-four, in his fourth full NHL season. He's been playing high-level competitive hockey his entire life. He shouldn't be making blunders like this, that beer-league players wouldn't make. P.K. had a chance to prove something to Mike Babcock, the battle was already won. He had two assists in the bag and the game was well in hand. And he then went ahead and proved something to Mike Babcock all right. He proved that Mike Babcock was right.
One big takeaway for me was the camera shot from inside the dressing room during the intro to the RDS broadcast of the game. As the camera panned and showed us various Wings, then Canadiens gearing up before the game, we saw Alexei Emelin about to pull on his hockey sock. Directly on his thigh, worn under his sock, was a honking huge hinged rigid knee brace, the type that football offensive linemen wear after a knee injury.
We all understand that Alexei is coming back from injury, that ACL reconstructions are difficult to rehab from and can take a long time to be back to 100%, Adrian Peterson-type miracles aside. But knowing this intellectually and showing tolerance and patience when Alexei looks less than agile on a goal against are two different things. We've gnashed our teeth at some plays where he and Andrei boot around the puck, or where a sprightly forward skates circles around them, and despaired that our Top 4 defencemen are anything but.
Seeing the brace brought me back to reality. It illustrates, it emphasizes that he's still not completely 'over' the injury. Whether he's wearing it because he still feels minor discomfort or pain during sudden or awkward moves, or because he's being ordered to by team doctors and physio staff, the result is that he physically is diminished, and/or psychologically so.
There is no universal standard as to which patient wears what brace under what circumstances, when it comes to knee injuries. The most common practice, in football anyway, for the heavy guys along the line, is that they wear the brace for a set period of time after surgery, even if they experience no pain or looseness, for precautionary reasons. Some coaching and medical staffs insist that the player wear the brace permanently, to guard against future re-injury. Some colleges or pro teams even mandate that all their linemen wear a brace on both legs as a precautionary measure, to prevent injury from happening in the first place, in games and practices.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. While the brace is generally accepted to be effective at protecting the knee from bending the wrong way, it is cumbersome and limits mobility in the athlete. It is also heavy, and acts as a drag on speed and explosiveness compared to if the athlete doesn't wear one. It also is a constant reminder to the player that he's injured, recovered or not. Some players report hating wearing it, while others find it a comfort and derive confidence from having it on.
Generally, football players who play skill positions, who need speed and agility to be successful, like running backs or defensive backs for example, tend to want to ditch the brace as soon as they can, while the big boys in the trenches, who need to show stoutness and anchor in their position, aren't as opposed to wearing the brace as a rule.
So Alexei may have to wear the brace until the end of the season, or for a full calendar year after returning to the ice, or to game action. He may be advised to wear the brace for the rest of his career. In any case, this requires an adjustment period of him, and his performance will be affected still, as he acclimates to the brace and the way it impairs his movement and agility, and as his knee starts to feel 101% as opposed to 98%.
Of course, recovery is not the same for every athlete. We saw Josh Gorges come back from ACL reconstruction two years ago and barely skip a beat, compared to Andrei Markov more ponderous return to the ice, marked by setbacks. Josh stopped wearing a brace early on, and hasn't suffered any relapses.
Even Steve Quailer, the former Canadiens prospect who was dealt to the Kings this season, can be used as an example. He suffered an ACL injury while playing at Northeastern University and missed an entire season. When he returned he was made to wear a brace, and didn't like how it felt and limited him, so he stopped wearing it, and promptly re-injured his knee. He was candid later on that this was a mistake, and he'd never take the brace off as long as he played.
So Alexei isn't 'healed' yet, and it's unrealistic to expect him to be right back to the playing level he showed before blowing out his knee. We need to show, yes, patience, and appreciate the slow progress in his play as he adapts and gets closer to full mobility and strength.
The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek line is another facet of the Canadiens that is showing progress, and not the slow kind either. They didn't take to each other right away, as far as the tangible results showed, but they've been finding their stride, and yesterday were dominant, against an admittedly depleted Wings roster. Coach Therrien felt compelled to double-shift his first line in the third period, which is a pleasant development. For years, we've had a 'balanced attack', meaning we've rolled three or four lines and hoped that one or two would click that night. We didn't really have a line with a Toews or a Kovalchuk on it that was felt to be so superior it should get more than its fair share of minutes, strictly due to its offensive ability. The Canadiens, in fact, usually ride a defensive line hard, so that Doug Jarvis' or Guy Carbonneau's line gets more minutes thwarting the opposite #1 line than our putative first line.
It's easy to be optimistic on a night when all three linemates got a goal, and everyone is all smiles, but it bodes well for the team as it approaches the playoffs with a line that is near-lethal, and appears to still be improving. They are finding each other with their passes more often, but the obvious instances when they'd make one pass too many are decreasing. The play where Thomas Vanek outraced Niklas Kronwall to a loose puck, and knocked him on his keister for good measure, before feeding it to David Desharnais for the Canadiens' third goal, was refreshing. Thomas Vanek is turning out to be what the Canadiens needed, a big winger who can play when it's physical, and can score.
And of course, on a night when I had to sit Tomas Plekanec on my fantasy team, due to my having too many forwards playing games on the same night, and due to his long unproductive streak, he went off for two goals, and hopefully finally broke out of his slump for good. The experiment with the kids is not a success yet, but we can see progress, and we can afford to be patient during this streak of wins and with our relatively comfortable position in the standings.
What is there to say about P.K. that hasn't been said, either last night by the talking heads, or during his entire career? On a night when he played on a national stage, in front of Team Canada coach Mike Babcock, and had an opportunity to make a statement, he started off spectacularly, assisting on both Tomas Plekanec goals in the first period. He then, inexplicably, had a meltdown, and was on the ice for four Red Wing goals, one of which was directly caused by a mistake a Pee Wee player wouldn't make.
Note that this isn't a mistake in the sense of Jarred Tinordi misplaying a bobbling puck near his net, or Tomas Vanek failing to convert a scoring chance by stuffing a puck into the goalie's pad. This wasn't an error of execution, like a defencemen flubbing a pass that is intercepted by a forechecking opposition forward. This was a mental mistake, and even goes even further than that. It's not like he had two options to make a pass, and he chose the wrong one. It wasn't a 'bad decision'.
Instead, P.K. went against years of coaching, entire seasons of experience and instruction, and insisted on passing a puck through the middle of his defensive zone. The pass was intercepted and ended up in his own net. P.K. could have banged the puck up the boards, off the glass, where Tomas Plekanec was waiting. He could have made the safe play, as coaches have been inculcating in him for years. As Hal Gill and Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov have repeated to him again and again. As Don Cherry roars from his pulpit every Saturday night. As the dressing room chatter before games and between periods always insists, every single time: "Don't get fancy boys, just make the safe play, don't try to do too much, ..."
It's not like P.K. isn't smart enough. It's painfully obvious to anyone that he's a really bright boy. He should get this, maybe he understands this intellectually, but he obviously doesn't have this instinct ingrained in him, it's not reflex response from him. That he's unconventional in his decisions and actions often pays off, as we saw last night when he executed the give and go with Tomas Plekanec on a three-on-two, or during the comeback win against the Senators when he passed to David Desharnais instead of shooting, with a second left in the game.
I was again reminded of Magic Johnson's line about Vlade Divac, that the latter was "a quick learner, but a quick forgetter also". We keep reminding each other that P.K. is young, but he's not, really. He's twenty-four, in his fourth full NHL season. He's been playing high-level competitive hockey his entire life. He shouldn't be making blunders like this, that beer-league players wouldn't make. P.K. had a chance to prove something to Mike Babcock, the battle was already won. He had two assists in the bag and the game was well in hand. And he then went ahead and proved something to Mike Babcock all right. He proved that Mike Babcock was right.
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