Teach me about hockey.

[BigDaddyFin]

Ok there's two things that bother me about the playoff hockey I watch. 

1.  What's with the wrap around pass?  What happens is the guy knocks it against the board, it takes half an hour to get to the other side (but it looks cool) and then the guy he was supposedly passing it to spends the next 5 minutes in a shin kicking competiton with at least 1 member of the other team.

2.  Shots from the blue line.  Some of this I understand for example we're making a line change we need to stall for time or there's ten of us in front of the net, go ahead shoot it and we can pick off the rebound giving us a higher percentage chance of beating the goalie.  But some guys it almost seems like they do it just to do it.   What's up with that?

[Pappy13]

Ok there's two things that bother me about the playoff hockey I watch. 

1.  What's with the wrap around pass?  What happens is the guy knocks it against the board, it takes half an hour to get to the other side (but it looks cool) and then the guy he was supposedly passing it to spends the next 5 minutes in a shin kicking competiton with at least 1 member of the other team.

2.  Shots from the blue line.  Some of this I understand for example we're making a line change we need to stall for time or there's ten of us in front of the net, go ahead shoot it and we can pick off the rebound giving us a higher percentage chance of beating the goalie.  But some guys it almost seems like they do it just to do it.   What's up with that?

For #1 I'm assuming that you're talking about when players just dump the puck from outside the zone? There's 2 reasons for it. Most teams try to prevent you from getting into the zone cleanly, in other words they'll check you at the blue line making it hard to set something up. Dumping it in forces the defense to collapse to the puck allowing you to get into the zone. What happens from there however is the issue.

The other reason is to allow for a line change which happens alot.

For #2, the thing that most people are looking for there is a tipped shot. If you can deflect the shot right in front of the goalie there's no way for him to react to it. That generates either a good chance at a goal or a puck that bounces off the goalie and good chance for a put back like you mentioned.

Sometimes players just feel like the goalie hasn't been tested in a while and will throw one on goal hoping it will take the goalie by surprise or something. It sounds like that's what your complaining about. Usually this only happens when the player gets into the zone clean but can't really take it to the goal and there's no one to pass to, they'll just rip a shot and hope something good happens.

[Brian Fein]

for 1 - often this is to try to shift the defense to the other side of the ice.  Or just because they have you trapped and there's nothing else you can do.  The offense has guys over there, so try to get it to a more-open player

2 - its never a bad thing to put shots on the net.  Shots from the blue line are usually slapshots, which are faster and harder to stop without a rebound.  That rebound is what sets up goals.  You have forwards crash the net to grab a rebound and put it back.  Often times goalies can't block a slapshot AND then follow the rebound.  In some cases, there are forwards camped in front of the net to (a) block the goalie's vision and (b) possibly deflect the puck at the last moment so he misses it and it goes in.

[BigDaddyFin]

I'm not so much complaining about the act as my own ignorance of the above.  Like I said if there's a line change or they're doing a power play and trying to kill clock, it's perfectly understandable but I had no idea the other reasons you would do it..  Otherwise I love watching hockey.

[Sunstroke]

Tampa Bay Lightning SWEEP the Washington Capitols... Bye-bye, Ovechkin!

Lightning in the East Finals...looks like Boston will be their opponent (they're up 3-0 in their semi matchup)

Tampa has just been playing amazing hockey this postseason, which comes as a surprise, given how non-spectacular they looked the second half of the season. Still, once you get to the playoffs, it's a clean slate, and Tampa is making the most of it.



(edited for cross sport confusion)

[Phishfan]

Tampa Bay Rays SWEEP the Washington Capitols

Depending on which sport we are talking about, that could be an amazing feat. I agree the lightning have been tearing it up. They are proving to be one of the hottest teams on the ice right now.

[Sunstroke]

Fixed that...I always have baseball on my mind, even when talking hockey.

[Brian Fein]

I am shocked that the Lightning swept the Caps.  But I am also happy.  Anytime Altanta, Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Dallas, Phoenix, etc have success, its another dagger in the "hockey shouldn't be played in warm climates" people.

[Tenshot13]

I am shocked that the Lightning swept the Caps.  But I am also happy.  Anytime Altanta, Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Dallas, Phoenix, etc have success, its another dagger in the "hockey shouldn't be played in warm climates" people.

+1

[BigDaddyFin]

Thanks to Don Cherry and Wikipedia, I know now what the hell Icing and the two line pass are.  I also know better about offsides.

THANKS DON!!!

[Brian Fein]

the nhl doesn't call 2-line passes anymore. 

[Phishfan]

the nhl doesn't call 2-line passes anymore. 

That was a great decision. It really opened up the ice.

[wyvernmcd]

That was a great decision. It really opened up the ice.

Yeah, but it gave birth to the effective use of a 1-3-1 defensive core. That and the adjustment of the blue line a couple of feet back so there is more offensive zone area. Next year, every coach in the league will start tampering with their own 1-3-1 version and I see another "dead-puck" era on the horizon

[BigDaddyFin]

^^^^ good to know, but at least now I know what the hell they were talking about because we got into an argument about it at dinner with some other members of the family.  None of us are much more than casual hockey fans and while I do understand a bit about the game, I'd be lying if I said I didn't come across shit that either threw me off or couldn't figure out without a rules explanation.

[Pats2006]

I cant believe that the B's are this close to the Stanley Cup!! All the games have been exciting to watch..