Canada v USA

[CFH]

Was it just me or were the defense men utterly incapable of passing the puck for the first period or two, they kept on just throwing it at Colorado players.

The defense has been a problem this year. They're always injured (not just a problem this year), but offensively they're ok. I didn't see enough of the first two periods to have an opinion on the defensive play, but it has been suspect lately. They're missing Willie Mitchell who is the best defensive defenseman and the guy who plays the most minutes on the back end when he is healthy. Kevin Bieksa, a guy who also plays 20+ minutes a night and is known for having a decent first pass, is also injured, though he should be back soon. I do not like Bieksa though and IMO his absence has been one of the reasons for the season turning around. He's overpayed, overrated, and Alain Vingeault (the coach) has some sort of mental deficiency that blinds him to Bieksa's glaring weaknesses and which compels him to play him 20+ minutes a night.

[OumaFan]

I have a fabulous stream tonight and I still have a hard time following the puck. Well really just on shots. For the most part I don't know its a goal till the horn sounds, they say it is, team celebrates, etc. And I don't know half of the time when a puck was saved by a goalie or if just went wide. I'm not sure hockey's a great stream sport.

If that Willie Mitchell guy is the best defensive defender then he needs to get healthy. That's my expert commentary for tonight. Fucking seemingly more Vancouver fans there than Phoenix fans. Which of course brings up the point that why the fuck is there a hockey team in Phoenix? Or Nashville? Etc. I know there are bigger markets in the US but it seems like five or six Canadian teams is a bit low. Are there any big Canadian markets without a team? And when did Nashville become a big market? Columbus I guess could draw fans from around Ohio but I suspect the only hockey fans in Tennessee for the most part are in Nashville.

[OumaFan]

That's another reason, albeit a secondary one, why I have chosen Vancouver. There's something to be said for atmosphere. I don't want to be a fan of a team that plays its game in a funeral home, half full, no noise, etc. I assumed Vancouver, being a Canadian team, and the best Canadian team, would have good crowds.

[OumaFan]

I have two more questions. One I haven't quite figured out the structure, i.e. do centers generally try to stick to a certain area of the ice or is it more everyone just roams. Are centers generally your top assist men and have more assists than goals or is that just Vancouver where H. Sedin and Kesler both have more assists. It seems that the wingers, Burrows and Sammuelson for example, are more kind of goal poachers to use a soccer term.

And two what is the offside trap? I finally have figured out the offside rule pretty comprehensively but am still not sure about the trap.

[OumaFan]

goal Vancouver. This Samuelson guy is hot. Don't worry about answering the other questions now.

[CFH]

I have two more questions. One I haven't quite figured out the structure, i.e. do centers generally try to stick to a certain area of the ice or is it more everyone just roams. Are centers generally your top assist men and have more assists than goals or is that just Vancouver where H. Sedin and Kesler both have more assists. It seems that the wingers, Burrows and Sammuelson for example, are more kind of goal poachers to use a soccer term.

Centers generally have more assists than do the wingers. They're usually the set-up men. Their role is also a lot more defensive than the other forwards. They have to come back and provide more coverage in deep in the defensive zone. Kesler is regarded as one of the best defensive forwards in the game. He's outstanding in his own zone.

And two what is the offside trap? I finally have figured out the offside rule pretty comprehensively but am still not sure about the trap.

Do you mean the neutral zone trap? As far as I know there is no such thing as the offside trap. Sometimes a commentator will say a player is trapped offside, but aside from that I have no idea. The neutral zone trap is a defensive (and yawn-inducing) style of play where only one (or no) fore-checkers are sent into the opponents zone when the other team has the puck. Instead, all the players clog up the neutral zone and tend to line up on their own blue-line in an attempt to prevent the other team from gaining the zone or generating any offense. It's obscene and I loathe any team that uses it regularly. It's usually used by teams without enough talent to win in any other fashion (see the 2007/2008 Vancouver Canucks or the Minnesota Wild under Jacques Lemaire (or any other Lemaire-coached teams like the 1990s New Jersey Devils - the team that almost single-handedly killed hockey in what is now known as the "Duck Puck Era")

[OumaFan]

yeah neutral zone trap

I don't know what to make of this Don Cherry guy. Does he take himself seriously or is it just all an act?

[CFH]

yeah neutral zone trap

I don't know what to make of this Don Cherry guy. Does he take himself seriously or is it just all an act?

This vid half-assed explains the trap, or at least its most common incarnation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq4Q6XKZx_w

[CFH]

I have a fabulous stream tonight and I still have a hard time following the puck. Well really just on shots. For the most part I don't know its a goal till the horn sounds, they say it is, team celebrates, etc. And I don't know half of the time when a puck was saved by a goalie or if just went wide. I'm not sure hockey's a great stream sport.

If that Willie Mitchell guy is the best defensive defender then he needs to get healthy. That's my expert commentary for tonight. Fucking seemingly more Vancouver fans there than Phoenix fans. Which of course brings up the point that why the fuck is there a hockey team in Phoenix? Or Nashville? Etc. I know there are bigger markets in the US but it seems like five or six Canadian teams is a bit low. Are there any big Canadian markets without a team? And when did Nashville become a big market? Columbus I guess could draw fans from around Ohio but I suspect the only hockey fans in Tennessee for the most part are in Nashville.

Hockey is a hard sport to watch on a stream, but you get used to it. Higher quality like the ADTHE (sp?) streams are the best.

As for the teams in the southern U.S., that was part of Gary "Please Fire Me Now" Bettman's scheme of force-feeding American's a game that they had no history with. Unsurprisingly, it failed miserably. Phoenix is bound for southern Ontario next year and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Predators, Panthers, Lightning, or Thrashers relocate soon. Again unsurprisingly, Bettman desperately wants to put teams in Los Vegas and Kansas City (yes, Kansas City). Vegas might work, but Kansas City is doomed to failure. Some Canadians will tell you that, in addition to another team in south Ontario, that both Winnipeg and Quebec City, two places that once had teams, can support an NHL team better than many of the southern markets, but whether or not that is true remains to be seen.

Contraction by 3 or 4 teams and relocation of one or two others would be best for the league, both in terms of markets and the quality of the game, but it will never happen under Bettman's watch.