dogwatcher
New member
Re: RIT vs MIDD Norwich vs GA
I would agree that the teams are higher end, but not because of the players. While there is some advantage talent wise to the east teams depth mostly. I think you can see the west gets out coached quite often. We can see examples of this every year. When you look at stats and see video or go to games and look at critical points in the game and what coaches do there is where the big difference is. Look at who they put in goal for a big game who's on the power play what they do when up by one and down by one. If you dig in further look at adjustments they make during the game how does the team act when they are down or up. Do they play their offensive players when behind or defensive players when up. Do they reward players for great shifts or cut them back for bad ones. Your best player is not always your best player sometimes it is not their night. I have seen several teams from the west plod a kid out there that is clearly the reason the team is in trouble just because they did it last week,month or year. I have seen players continue to get shifts after turning over the puck 20 times in 25 posessions. I have seen a player take and important face off after losing 20 in a row. Nobody goes 0 for 20 on face offs on a well coached team then takes one on a PK in their own end. Hockey like anything in life is about details and the coaches in the west have just not caught up to the coaches in the east. The games are fun and exciting to watch and everbody has a focus on the great save or the awesome passing play that resulted in a goal. The fact is those will win you one maybe two games a season but to win on a regular basis and compete for a title smart play and hard work are what makes a team consistant. Nobody watches the little plays because a player knows where to be and just changes a game with a simple poke check. Or a player just closes a passing lane with good position. Many of these coaches played at a high level and some were good players that does not mean thay understand the game. For that matter they sometimes do not understand their players also. If you watch close you can see that for sure. A perfect example would be River Falls last year and the year before I saw them play Adrian they where outmatched everywhere getting skated off the ice every shift but they protected their own end and waited for their chance. They bent but did not break and when the chances came they took advantage of them. I think in those two years talent wise they were probably the 4th or 5th best team in the west. This year they brought in some freshmen that were fast and skilled and gave the team a whole new look. They make a mistake against Adrian and the whole season ends for them. So when watching a game to see why a team wins or loses watch the little things. It;s just like life if your house burned down everybody would help but if your dishwasher breaks no one is stepping up to help. The little things happen more often and have a biiger effect on the outcome of a game,but who watches for them.
I would agree that the teams are higher end, but not because of the players. While there is some advantage talent wise to the east teams depth mostly. I think you can see the west gets out coached quite often. We can see examples of this every year. When you look at stats and see video or go to games and look at critical points in the game and what coaches do there is where the big difference is. Look at who they put in goal for a big game who's on the power play what they do when up by one and down by one. If you dig in further look at adjustments they make during the game how does the team act when they are down or up. Do they play their offensive players when behind or defensive players when up. Do they reward players for great shifts or cut them back for bad ones. Your best player is not always your best player sometimes it is not their night. I have seen several teams from the west plod a kid out there that is clearly the reason the team is in trouble just because they did it last week,month or year. I have seen players continue to get shifts after turning over the puck 20 times in 25 posessions. I have seen a player take and important face off after losing 20 in a row. Nobody goes 0 for 20 on face offs on a well coached team then takes one on a PK in their own end. Hockey like anything in life is about details and the coaches in the west have just not caught up to the coaches in the east. The games are fun and exciting to watch and everbody has a focus on the great save or the awesome passing play that resulted in a goal. The fact is those will win you one maybe two games a season but to win on a regular basis and compete for a title smart play and hard work are what makes a team consistant. Nobody watches the little plays because a player knows where to be and just changes a game with a simple poke check. Or a player just closes a passing lane with good position. Many of these coaches played at a high level and some were good players that does not mean thay understand the game. For that matter they sometimes do not understand their players also. If you watch close you can see that for sure. A perfect example would be River Falls last year and the year before I saw them play Adrian they where outmatched everywhere getting skated off the ice every shift but they protected their own end and waited for their chance. They bent but did not break and when the chances came they took advantage of them. I think in those two years talent wise they were probably the 4th or 5th best team in the west. This year they brought in some freshmen that were fast and skilled and gave the team a whole new look. They make a mistake against Adrian and the whole season ends for them. So when watching a game to see why a team wins or loses watch the little things. It;s just like life if your house burned down everybody would help but if your dishwasher breaks no one is stepping up to help. The little things happen more often and have a biiger effect on the outcome of a game,but who watches for them.