Archive for the ‘Insight’ Category

What a hockey dressing room is like post-playoff elimination

Posted by Justin Bourne under Insight on May 22, 2013

Rangers room

This post was originally written for Hockey Primetime.com. With the Rangers and Senators’ backs against the wall, it seemed timely.

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Quiet surrounds you as you walk from the ice to the dressing room after your season has ended.

The only sounds you hear are the player’s sticks, clanking one by one as they drop onto their respective stick rack for the last time.

There’s a low murmur from the medical room, where a doctor is checking out a player who needs some serious tending to. But on the whole, it’s quiet.

Slumped deep in their stalls, the players think. Or at least, they look like they’re thinking. They’re not sure what to think yet. It’s a jumble you can understand – imagine that in an instant, you lost your job, friends, and had to move cities in the next few days. Read the rest of this entry »

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On Jonathan Toews and the concept of “squeezing your stick too tight”

Posted by Justin Bourne under Insight, Opinion on May 21, 2013

Chicago Blackhawks v Detroit Red Wings - Game Three

The six pictures that make up the top row of Jonathan Toews’ Getty Image page all show something similar to what you see above. Jonathan Toews with a facial expression that implies something like “F^&% F$%$ STUPID PUCK WHY DON’T YOU JUST GO IN THE STUPID NET YOU F&*%ING F*^&.”

Now, you can generally find Toews with some sort of contorted look while playing, but it’s getting pretty extreme. He pretty obviously wants to score, and win, bad.

For those who haven’t noticed – and it’s pretty clear he’s not one of those people – he’s yet to contribute a tally in the post-season. His zero goals sit beside a total of three assists, which after eight games, doesn’t quite match-up with his 48 points in 47 regular season games.

There’s a number of excuses to be made for him, as their is for most top-tier players: it’s playoffs, and he’s one of the players other teams are going to key on to shut down (Jonathan Ericsson, in particular, is making him insane). It’s playoffs, so he’s going to be paying extra-special attention to defense. And it’s playoffs, so everybody’s time and space is shrunk by the general ramped-up intensity of the game.

There’s also a number of reasons to say he’s actually playing extremely well despite not putting up the standard boxcar stats. He’s averaging 3.5 shots per game, a pace only eclipsed in the regular season by a handful of players. His advanced stats are downright gaudy, as he’s leading the way for the Blackhawks possession-wise, while suffering a 970 PDO (he’s been somewhat unlucky). And he’s certainly not shying away from “the dirty areas,” which is generally a problem for skilled players going through slumps. He’s getting chances. Read the rest of this entry »

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Late game gong shows, Montreal/Ottawa, and why things get ugly in a blowout

Posted by Justin Bourne under Insight on May 06, 2013

(Image via Deadspin.)

(Image via Deadspin.)

I think the general assumption of fans watching the third period of a lopsided victory spiral into violent thuggery is “frustration.” The players are frustrated, and they’re taking our their frustrations.

The players on the losing team are frustrated – quite, in fact – but it’s more than that. There’s a few reasons teams don’t choose to quietly run the clock out, tuck their tails between their legs and retire to the dressing room. This is not a defense of what they do as much as it is an explanation of what you’re seeing.

So, your team is down five goals with half a period to play. Here’s what the guys on the bench are dealing with.

Coach pressure

When the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting wholly routed by the Boston Bruins in Game 1 (not so much on the scoreboard as overall), you’ll note that Colton Orr ended up playing over eight minutes, roughly two minutes more than he’d normally average. You’d expect him to get less time in a playoff game, but with the game out of reach, coaches start looking for players who aren’t rolling over, for those who “want it.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Eric Gryba stepping up to hit Lars Eller was not just the right play, it was a great play

Posted by Justin Bourne under Insight, One Man's Opinion on May 03, 2013

gryba eller

I didn’t come across too many people saying it last night, but there were definitely those that were sharing their thought that Eric Gryba should’ve recognized a vulnerable Lars Eller and let up. I’m not exactly sure what “let up” means, but assume it means something along the lines of “sidestep a player and let him start an odd-man rush.” Maybe it means wrap him up with a bear hug and take a penalty. …You can probably guess the stance I’m going to take here. Read the rest of this entry »

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Erik Karlsson’s recovery, suspicious fans, and hockey as the last bastion of Honest Athletes

Posted by Justin Bourne under Commentary, Insight, Opinion on Apr 26, 2013

Ottawa Senators v Washington Capitals

Not that long ago, the editor of Grantland.com, Bill Simmons, wrote about the disconnect between how sports (and athletes) are generally talked about, and how they’re covered. When you and your buddy Jimmy are watching sports in a basement with pennants on the wall you’re never going to think “boy, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ray Lewis did steroids, but I don’t want to falsely accuse him, so I’ll sit on this thought.”

And so it goes:

“That dude definitely did steroids.”

“Oh, no doubt about it.”

That’s something that’s always going to be there. The media have sources to protect, they have to avoid dangerous speculation, and they have standards to adhere to. Even when they think X is happening it, they have to print Y until they can prove X. The rest of the sports world does not.

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10 weeks ago Erik Karlsson had his achilles tendon sliced 70% of the way through, and we were told he was out indefinitely. It was assumed his season was over and the Sens would have to make do without him. In an interview in March Karlsson himself gave this quote:

Last night, he played over 27 minutes (more than any other Ottawa Senator), fired eight shots on net (more than any player in the NHL last night), tallied two assists, and was +16 in Corsi terms. I believe in football terms that’s described as “Beast Mode. Also: day-um.

Generally, I’d write about the phenomenon that is Erik Karlsson and how miraculous and cool what he just did was, because HOLY BANANAS AND APPLESAUCE, did you read the above paragraph? Heavens to Murgatroyd. Only a premier defender can do things like that (in his first game back after 10 weeks, no less), only a special human is built to do such things, holy smokes is he logic defying.

But here’s where we come to the disconnect between what people write and what people say. I’d happily write about the show he put on last night. But judging from my Twitter feed, email inbox and personal interactions, plenty of people think he did performance enhancing drugs or took human growth hormone to get back so quickly. They really do. Too much too soon, too unbelievable. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sidney Crosby could be “ready” in time for playoffs, but it’s not going to be that easy

Posted by Justin Bourne under Insight, Opinion on Apr 25, 2013

New York Islanders v Pittsburgh Penguins

Today the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story about Sidney Crosby’s possible return to the Penguins line-up in time for playoffs, which is pretty crazy considering what happened to him. Of course, his return is not guaranteed. I’ve been through what he’s going through (a bit worse, actually), so I thought I’d shed some light on what he (and the fans) can expect in his attempted return to his usual on-ice form.

Let’s take a walk through that post:

Crosby, who has not played since his jaw was fractured by a deflected shot March 30, is expected to seek medical clearance today or Friday to resume playing.

If that’s given, he would not return to the lineup for the Penguins’ game at New Jersey tonight or the regular-season finale Saturday against Carolina at Consol Energy Center, but dressing for Game 1 of the playoffs is not out of the question at this point.

I realize that both Crosby and the Penguins would like to get him back in the lineup as soon as possible, but I don’t love the timing. There’s something about having your best player out of the lineup that makes the rest of the team go “Okay, [STAR] isn’t here to do this for us, so it’s on us.” It makes them drivers, not passengers.

Obviously in the big picture you want your best players playing, it’s just that timing. Right before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs I don’t want any of my guys to exhale and think “Phew, our guy” is back, even one tiny iota. Also, you’re rushing a guy back from an injury that could very well be re-injured if he gets bumped in the jaw with any force again, and with your sights set on the Cup – not a round one victory – you’d think that’d matter. PLUS, you’ve got the sideshow of Sidney Crosby coming back and all the national media annoyance that garners. PLUS you’ve got a guy coming back out of game shape, so you’re trying to give him minimal minutes so as not to kill him (10 mins at most I’m guessing), so you’re shuffling lines and messing with people’s comfort and routines.

I feel like you’re best served giving the team a few games to see how things are going, and you reassess after that. Even waiting an additional 2-3 games gives your captain an extra week-plus of valuable healing time. Read the rest of this entry »

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On the value of character (and chemistry) in a hockey dressing room

Posted by Justin Bourne under Inside the Dressing Room, Insight on Apr 09, 2013

I'm not exactly sure why, but a pic of Craig Conroy playing the Avs seems like a fit for this post.

I’m not exactly sure why, but a pic of Craig Conroy playing the Avs seems like a fit for this post.

My morning post on J.S. Giguere’s comments about his team (something along the lines of “guys have mailed it in and that’s frustrating”) took me to Twitter, where I found myself in a few discussions about the concept of character in a dressing room, if it matters, what affect it has, and so on.

I don’t have a black-and-white answer here, and neither do you, but hopefully I can shed some light on the subject by sharing one of the first things I ever wrote, a post called Chemistry Experiment #39, about a teammate of mine when I was with the Utah Grizzlies, Travis Rycroft (brother or Mark, the ex-Avs player who now does commentary for the team).

The post was written on January 22nd, 2009 about a month after I broke my jaw playing for the Idaho Steelheads, so I was holed up in my apartment in Boise in wires. Read the rest of this entry »

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