UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

[chickod]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Northeastern also up 2-0 at BU in the first period. Road teams seem to have come to play tonight ...

Another reason why I disdain the bye. BIG disadvantage for the teams that have been off for two weeks.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Northeastern also up 2-0 at BU in the first period. Road teams seem to have come to play tonight ...

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Fair question - I would surmise that he 10x-plus rate of participation in soccer vs. hockey at the youth levels probably makes it more accessible. Broadly speaking, I think there's a generation or two of Americans who are now more able to appreciate the beauty of soccer, even when it's happening in the middle third.

Either way - trim the pads, for god's sake.

Agree entirely. Oh, and 2-0 UNH, with Grasso scoring the second for the 'Cats.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Eiserman!! First night back!! 1-0 'Cats!

[LTI Alum]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

So how do you explain the popularity of soccer? Forget actual goals scored...how often does a team even get the ball into the scoring area? At least in hockey you can get up and down the ice in a few seconds. In soccer it takes forever (especially that insane "offside" rule which penalizes a team for getting its attackers behind the defense - imagine if in hockey a guy is cherry picking and sneaks in alone and then they blow the whistle because there was no "defender" between him and the goal?). I mean, I tend to agree with you, but soccer seems to be a game where the "more scoring" trend is completely irrelevant.

Worldwide, no argument, but I think the jury is still out in North America. I've tried and still don't get it and never will.

[wildcatdc]

So how do you explain the popularity of soccer? Forget actual goals scored...how often does a team even get the ball into the scoring area? At least in hockey you can get up and down the ice in a few seconds. In soccer it takes forever (especially that insane "offside" rule which penalizes a team for getting its attackers behind the defense - imagine if in hockey a guy is cherry picking and sneaks in alone and then they blow the whistle because there was no "defender" between him and the goal?). I mean, I tend to agree with you, but soccer seems to be a game where the "more scoring" trend is completely irrelevant.

Fair question - I would surmise that he 10x-plus rate of participation in soccer vs. hockey at the youth levels probably makes it more accessible. Broadly speaking, I think there's a generation or two of Americans who are now more able to appreciate the beauty of soccer, even when it's happening in the middle third.

Either way - trim the pads, for god's sake.

[chickod]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

... but can we slow the players down in some way?

No. Then we go back to "smashmouth" hockey. I want to see speed and skill. What separates these guys from normal people like us is that they can do what they do at 3x the speed that we can. That's what makes them "elite."

Kind of like saying let's make the golf ball travel less far, because the courses are becoming outdated due to the improved equipment. I would actually like that, but you know that you can never take something away once people get used to it - for better or for worse. People would rather see Dustin Johnson hit a 378 yard drive and a 200 yard 9-iron into a 578 yard Par 5, even though it makes a travesty of the game.

And unfortunately, you're right about "retrofitting" the arenas, which is why I said it would never happen. But it's fun to dream!

[chickod]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

These concerns were raised back in the late 90's when goal production had gone from a peak of 8.5/g in 1990 to 6.7/g less than a decade later. Now we sit at around 5.4/g. I'm personally less inclined to worry about it because I think a 1-0 final can point to an absolutely edge-of-your-seat game. But I agree with the notion that the Stay-Puff phenomenon appears to have gone too far. And when you consider the Nintendo culture, I wonder how many would buy into the beauty of a 1-0 result, and whether that has caused the "casual" younger fan to seek higher-return outlets.

So how do you explain the popularity of soccer? Forget actual goals scored...how often does a team even get the ball into the scoring area? At least in hockey you can get up and down the ice in a few seconds. In soccer it takes forever (especially that insane "offside" rule which penalizes a team for getting its attackers behind the defense - imagine if in hockey a guy is cherry picking and sneaks in alone and then they blow the whistle because there was no "defender" between him and the goal?). I mean, I tend to agree with you, but soccer seems to be a game where the "more scoring" trend is completely irrelevant.

[wildcatdc]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

These concerns were raised back in the late 90's when goal production had gone from a peak of 8.5/g in 1990 to 6.7/g less than a decade later. Now we sit at around 5.4/g. I'm personally less inclined to worry about it because I think a 1-0 final can point to an absolutely edge-of-your-seat game. But I agree with the notion that the Stay-Puff phenomenon appears to have gone too far. And when you consider the Nintendo culture, I wonder how many would buy into the beauty of a 1-0 result, and whether that has caused the "casual" younger fan to seek higher-return outlets.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Fascinating discussion. I agree with everything except "eliminate any restrictions on blade curvature." I don't see why...the shooters shoot sufficiently hard enough and making the shots more "unpredictable" could lead to more injuries. Making the goal larger (which I agree should be done because there's almost nothing to shoot at now) would give them an even greater advantage. Another thing that SHOULD be done (as it should in basketball) is increase the size of the playing surface; in hockey, that translates to the "big sheet" (like in Lake Whitt). Don't the Olympic (and even World Junior) games seem to be MUCH more exciting and competitive? If they're going to emphasize "speed and skill" as they purport to do, then the big ice will take all the goonery out of the game, because you won't have as many (bigger and stronger) athletes crowded into the same space. You can't hit what you can't catch. Of course, they'll never do it for reasons that have been discussed previously (namely $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$). But I would love to see it.

If we trim back the goalie's excess *protection*, then the unlimited blade curvature can go away.

I'd love to see the enlarged surface solution ... but there have been too many new facilities built in the last generation alone using the old NHL standard dimensions. The Olympic sized sheet just never caught on, and retrofitting these facilities now would be prohibitively costly.

I know this is gonna sound nuts ... but can we slow the players down in some way? Do something with the design of the skates, maybe? If we're going to be talking about "safety" ... isn't one of the big issues the increased size/speed of the players crashing into each other? If we can at least contain the speed a little ... the reduced force might also cut into the severity of injuries - especially those to the upper body?? Plus the game fits better in the current footprint.



Yeah - OK. That's just plain whacko. But if by chance it isn't ... there's a fortune to be made with those tweaks.

[chickod]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

If goalies want to keep their "Michelin Man" excess baggage, then raise the crossbar and eliminate any restrictions on blade curvature. The fans behind the goals are all protected these days, ditto the goalies. Put shields/cages on all players, and test it a year in the AHL or ECHL.

Fascinating discussion. I agree with everything except "eliminate any restrictions on blade curvature." I don't see why...the shooters shoot sufficiently hard enough and making the shots more "unpredictable" could lead to more injuries. Making the goal larger (which I agree should be done because there's almost nothing to shoot at now) would give them an even greater advantage. Another thing that SHOULD be done (as it should in basketball) is increase the size of the playing surface; in hockey, that translates to the "big sheet" (like in Lake Whitt). Don't the Olympic (and even World Junior) games seem to be MUCH more exciting and competitive? If they're going to emphasize "speed and skill" as they purport to do, then the big ice will take all the goonery out of the game, because you won't have as many (bigger and stronger) athletes crowded into the same space. You can't hit what you can't catch. Of course, they'll never do it for reasons that have been discussed previously (namely $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$). But I would love to see it.

[Chuck Murray]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Chuck, I'm right there with you on your main point about goalie equipment being out of control at this point. But I've seen you make a point similar to the quoted a couple of times now and I have to say that's just not true. Guys today shoot the puck MUCH harder today than anyone did back in ye olden days. It's just a simple matter of physics and engineering. The only similarity between a hockey stick from the 60s and 70s and a hockey stick today is the name. The flex, where the flex is specifically in the shaft, the techniques to use that flex, it's completely night and day from wooden sticks.

It's as if MLB decided to allow aluminum bats and someone still said "well no one hits the ball any harder than Mickey Mantle did." It's not even an apples to apples comparisons because of the materials and engineering involved. Same with saying the guys today don't drive a golf ball any harder with the composite clubs than Jack Nickalus did with his old hickory, or whatever actual wood it was, driver.

I understand the science, EJ. I can't find the original article either, but in 1968 apparently Bobby Hull's slapshot was clocked at 118.3 MPH. You can argue with the methodology if you choose - as does this author - or you can say, take 10% off that figure, and it's right there with the best of the modern era. And I'm guessing in 1968, he wasn't using the banana-blade stick that terrorized the league at the start of his career a decade earlier anymore.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/6...tory-of-hockey

The truth of the matter is also that the slapshot is more prevalent in today's hockey. You grew up around here, so you no doubt had the pleasure of listening to former B's color analyst Johnny Pierson lecturing the masses for decades about his disdain for the slapshot, in large part because it was new and outside of his experience as a player. Now almost everyone uses the slapshot, so yeah, just the fact there are more players who use it, they will have better technique and better speed now even if it was with the same technology. But it doesn't mean there might not have been a statistical outlier or anomaly with Hull's speed. The guy was an incredible physical specimen in his prime, and this was a prominent, independent publication who came up with the measurement. So it's a little more credible than pure legend IMO.

For the record ... I'm fine with the new sticks, 'cuz as far as I'm concerned, the goalies got to keep up with lighter equipment, which allows them to be quicker and more mobile ... if they choose to be. The excess padding is pure overkill, and discourages the added athleticism.

If goalies want to keep their "Michelin Man" excess baggage, then raise the crossbar and eliminate any restrictions on blade curvature. The fans behind the goals are all protected these days, ditto the goalies. Put shields/cages on all players, and test it a year in the AHL or ECHL.

[HockeyRef]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

Umile just said him and Vela will be back

Vela too!!! Awesome...hey we need all the help we can get but outside of that...glad the two can play!!!

[E.J. Smith]

Re: UNH Wildcats 2016-17 Vol II -- We Do Have a Hockey Season Here!?!

No one is shooting the puck any faster today than Bobby Hull or Bobby Orr was shooting it a half century ago. And Hull was doing it with a grossly curved stick that would make today's composite materials blush. Until then, sticks were virtually flat, and goalies were mask-less.

Chuck, I'm right there with you on your main point about goalie equipment being out of control at this point. But I've seen you make a point similar to the quoted a couple of times now and I have to say that's just not true. Guys today shoot the puck MUCH harder today than anyone did back in ye olden days. It's just a simple matter of physics and engineering. The only similarity between a hockey stick from the 60s and 70s and a hockey stick today is the name. The flex, where the flex is specifically in the shaft, the techniques to use that flex, it's completely night and day from wooden sticks.

It's as if MLB decided to allow aluminum bats and someone still said "well no one hits the ball any harder than Mickey Mantle did." It's not even an apples to apples comparisons because of the materials and engineering involved. Same with saying the guys today don't drive a golf ball any harder with the composite clubs than Jack Nickalus did with his old hickory, or whatever actual wood it was, driver.

[Nifty16]

Saw on social media that we will have Shane Eiserman back in the line up this weekend...

Umile just said him and Vela will be back