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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I already know the very talented Ty Anderson posted a Festivus blog earlier today. To that I say great minds think alike. If you have not read his blog, please do so here.
It’s December 23rd and while the majority of the population is focused on Christmas, Hanukah, and perhaps Kwanza there is a very minute fraction of people across the county (mainly just one household in Queens) who celebrates the beautiful holiday of Festivus.
So dust off your unadorned aluminum pole and take a seat at the dinner table because it is time for the airing of grievances.
Petty Print Media vs. Bloggers Feud
Ever since the arrival of blogging, there have been at times an overall snobbish and defensive demeanor that has come from some (definitely not all) folks in the classic print media. Bloggers are sometimes looked at like second class citizens in the field of sports reporting and opinion. I don’t know whether some of that snobbery is because print media is dying a slow death or what, but I fail to see why information should be scorned just because of the medium that it comes from.
Here is a prime example of what I am talking about:
The blogosphere: journalism with replacement reporters/writers.
— Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) September 26, 2012Good information is good information, it doesn’t matter if the genesis of that information came from a press box or if it came from a “parent’s basement…. People are smart enough these days to know what they want and what they like from a writer. When I am reading content I never give a second thought to whether it is a blog or from a printed publication.
The only thing that matters is if the information is good, presented in a quality format, and if I respect the person writing it. If you have all three of those things covered does it really matter where that person writes from?
The Hockey News’ Adam Proteau sums up my thoughts perfectly on this topic:
I see the writer/blogger debate as I do music: I don't care if it's made in a Bon-Iverian log cabin or a studio. Just give me good music.
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) October 29, 2013CHL Transfer Agreement
This transfer agreement is nonsense. The CHL does not need to be artificially propped up so that it does not lose players to the next level.
Player development should be about what is best for the individual player, not what is best for the league.
Every year there are really good/great players who fall into an area where they are way too good for junior hockey but not ready for NHL action. Some recent examples include Jonathan Drouin, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorv, Scott Laughton, Griffin Reinhart, and Bo Horvat amongst others.
All of those previously mentioned players have nothing to gain from playing another year of junior hockey.
If only there was a professional level of hockey that provided a buffer in-between the NHL and junior hockey that could help with player development…
What makes the transfer agreement even more laughable is the fact that the CHL on one hand wants to prevent players from leaving their league, but on the other hand has started to create rules that prohibits players from joining their league based on where they are from. The CHL will no longer allow European goalies to be drafted into the CHL. The CHL wants to groom Canadian goaltenders instead.
The CHL wants to have its cake and eat it too. I hope the NHL does not renew this transfer agreement and starts to allow its franchises to develop their players the best way they see fit. The way it should be. Punish The Act Not The Result
This is something I have touched on frequently in the past two weeks but it is still bothersome to me. For the life of me I can’t understand why the NHL continues to take injury into consideration when they are suspending players. There are so many variables that come into play when a player gets hurt. Why incorporate any of those variables into your disciplinary process?
The only thing that needs to be addressed is the actual hit itself. Sometimes really awful hits do not lead to an injury, sometimes people get paralyzed. The fact of the matter is that hit should be punished the same exact way regardless of the outcome.
If players know that injury is a huge component of the disciplinary system, they will continue to deliver risky hits on the chance that the player being hit will not be hurt. If the players knew that they would be punished regardless of injury on the play, you would see the amount of risky hits being reduced.
It’s a simple concept but not one the NHL is currently willing to follow.
The Booing of Jaromir Jagr in Pittsburgh
Yup, I’ve complained about this in the past but I’m bringing it up again. It’s idiotic, it’s stupid, it shows no appreciation for greatness, and the people that do it come off as spoiled little brats. You know how many other teams in the league would have killed for 11 years of Jaromir Jagr in his prime? That is a rhetorical question.
I get it, he isn’t a Penguin anymore, so don’t cheer him. But to actively boo one of the franchise’s most important and greatest players is asinine and will continue to be asinine. Save me the “dying alive in Pittsburgh excuse… for booing him, it’s lame and overblown. Anybody who was paying attention at the time knows just how bad things were financially for the Penguins. Everybody was dying alive in Pittsburgh; Jagr was just the only one willing to say it.
If Matt Cooke can get a standing ovation, then Jaromir Jagr can get through a game in Pittsburgh without being treated like some kind of traitor to the Penguins.
Reffing the Score
Whether or not the referees are actively choosing to do this or not, we have all scratched our heads on what is called and what is not called based on the score and game situation. I have never been a fan of the changing standard throughout the game.
A hooking penalty should be the same in a 10-0 blowout as it is in a 2-1 game late in the third period.
Why should a skilled team be at a disadvantage late in the game because the other team is allowed to slow the game down with the whistle being put away?
To the folks who say they don't want the refs to decide the game, they aren't, the players are the ones choosing their actions that lead to the penalties.
Systems Systems Systems
Systems hockey has a place in the NHL, it has a place in collegiate hockey, it has a place in junior hockey, and it has a place in high school hockey. It does not have a place in youth hockey. A big pet peeve of mine is seeing the fun sucked out of young aspiring hockey players because the sport becomes more like a classroom than a place to have fun and get exercise.
The early stages of hockey development should be focused on skills and having fun. Ice time costs a ton of money and the skills that you need to learn on the ice cannot be replicated at home on the driveway or in the street.
More and more I see ice time thrown away during youth practices where the coach is on his dry erase board for minutes on end explaining things instead of properly utilizing that ice time for player development.
I am not saying that coaches shouldn’t teach their players where to go for each position, what I am saying is that a group of 10 year olds shouldn’t be running a left wing lock.
Hockey systems aren’t hard to learn, hockey is a pretty basic game in that regard. What isn’t easy to learn are the nuances of how to move around in time and space and how to move without the puck to get open. These are all skills that are not developed unless you play, and play without limitations.
More skill development and fun, less x’s and o’s at the youth level please. Hard Shelled Equipment
Are we protecting ourselves from a body check or a stray bullet that is coming from the stands? Can somebody tell me why hockey companies are still producing elbow and shoulder pads which have materials that could stop a bullet?
The education process at the youth level has done a much better job with teaching players how to avoid head contact, but accidents will still happen on the ice considering how fast the game moves.
It’s time to ditch these hard shelled pads and go back to a softer shelled source of protection. The point of equipment is to help absorb some of the contact, not make you invincible. You should still feel it when you deliver a check. With the hard shelled equipment you don’t even feel anything when delivering a hit.
Perhaps if the feeling of invincibility is lost the rate of recklessness we see with some of the checks thrown would go down in number.
Philosophy That NHL Needs More Goals
You always hear somebody trying to come up with a way to get more goals in the game of hockey. The game of hockey does not need more goals. The amount of goals scored in a game has nothing to do with the entertainment value of the game. Scoring chances is all that matters. A great save is just as exciting as a goal scored. As long as each game is still capable of generating a decent amount of scoring chances the amount of goals is a non issue.
One of the ideas to increase goals that bothers me the most is making the nets bigger. It does nothing to address the more important variable of scoring chances. Making the nets bigger would also cost rinks around North America a TON of money to change their infrastructure (buying new nets).
Well those are my 2013 grievances, what are yours?
I hope everybody has a very Happy Festivus and enjoys their holiday season.
Thanks for reading!
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