The Weekly Faceoff is a regular column talking about all things Tongues, in and around the AIHL.
What happens when a team determined to win meets a team lacking chemistry? Find out more below.
Period 1: Blue Tongues Tear Knights
After 2 shaky performances against the North Stars, and a 2 losses on the road in Adelaide (1 in a shootout), the Blue Tongues were home last weekend to host the visiting Canberra Knights, captained by former Blue Tongue and always fan-favorite, Mark “Rummo” Rummokainen. The Blue Tongues were hungry for a win and determined to send a clear and defined message to the rest of the league; we may have 1 point in 4 games, but watch the @$#@ out. And that they did. A 6-3 victory on Saturday saw a very motivated Blue Tongues out-play the Knights in almost all areas of the ice. The Knights, who looked shaky most of the game looked to be lacking team chemistry, but the Tongues know better than to underestimate the boys from Canberra. Sunday saw an even more motivated Blue Tongues simply destroy the Knights 8-1. Even the consistently (bad) reffing from “he who must not be named” was not enough to put a dampener on this Tongues performance, although there were times when we wondered if he did in fact have an eye on the ice. Mike McRae picked up the hatric in the demoralizing game for the Knights. This weekend the Tongues travel to Sydney to play the Ice Dogs and Bears.
Period 2: Contoversy, Blogs and Opinions
As many of you know, I am not exactly the most tactful person on the Interwebs; in fact, i’m often quite the opposite. But even I was more than a little shocked at how a personal blog post on AusPuck turned into a major issue to the extent that an apology was demanded of the author. If you’ve not yet read the whole thing, you can read the post and the comments here: http://www.auspuck.com.au/2011/05/aps-corner-the-aihl-is-asleep-at-the-helm/ . Now, last time i looked, AusPuck, much like LizardInsider is a personal blog dedicated to Australian Ice Hockey. It is not affiliated with, or run by a team or the league. What is said on personal blogs is simply a matter of opinion. Anybody who reads personal NHL blogs would know this. Criticism sucks, but it is ALWAYS going to be there, regardless of how much people try and control it. So to me, to have anybody demand an apology from AusPuck for posting an opinion (that was based upon fact) is simply bullshit. We often have the same issue on the Hockeypulse Forum, where opinions are hosed down if they are considered too extreme. Hockeypulse, much like AusPuck is unaffiliated with the league or any of its teams.
Period 3: Trew Vs Riesen
Those at the Blue Tongues games over the weekend would have seen Blue Tongues local Cam Trew pretty much make Alain Riesen of the Knights his b… well, you get what i’m saying. in a game that was pretty heated already, things got rough when Cam and Alain dropped the gloves… followed soon after by Riesen hitting the ice. The most shocking part of the whole incident was not the fight, but the participant. Many fans were shocked, and then in a state of respectful awe when they heard it was none other than Cam who won the fight. Way to go Cam for defending your goalie, a big LizardInsider Kudos to you.
Overtime: Geric & Johnson Injured
The games in Adelaide really hit the Tongues hard. Adam Geric left the ice in the first period of Saturdays game and did not return all weekend. The team announced early last week that both Geric and Matt Johnson would miss between 4 and 8 weeks each due to injuries. Both these players had a big impact on the Blue Tongues lineup against the North Stars, so losing them to injury could have potentially left a whole in the teams offense. Based upon what we saw vs the Knights last weekend, we might not need be so worried.
In ice hockey there is a wonderful play which is “crashing the net”. For those who don’t know what crashing the net is, its when 3-4 of the skaters rush towards the offensive goal in the hope that if the shot on goal misses, one of the others can get the rebound. It can also be known as “picking up the trash”.
Now while this may sound like an awesome play to make, like any set play it has its risks. If the skaters don’t get the rebound, more than likely those 3-4 skaters will be trapped behind the net and the opposition will have the advantage with only one defenseman left to defend the neutral and defensive zone.
So, the question is, to crash the net or not to crash the net? Does the possible outcome outweigh the risk? This depends on which lines of the team do this and how much faith you have in your D core and, of course, your goaltender.
Perhaps it would be easier to send in one player to crash the net than the whole team. While in the offensive zone and passing the puck between the players, having 3 players on the blue line makes no sense at all, especially when the team on the offense is on the powerplay. It makes more sense to have a trashman (a power forward) set up in front of the goaltender and guarding the crease in this situation, not only to hopefully get a juicy rebound (“pick up the trash”), but also in the hopes of redirecting a shot on goal from the point.
Can a team crash the net in a 5 on 5 situation? Yes. Is it a wise move? That would certainly depend on the skaters. Ideally, the crashing players would need to be bigger than the opposition but also fast skaters to get back into position in the event of a turnover. The risk level is high, especially if there is a question mark over the stay at home player or the goaltender.
Can a team crash the net on a powerplay? Yes. Of course this would make much more sense as there is less risk and the offensive team can crash with 3 or 4 players with an advantage, giving more flexibility. If they crash with 3, then 2 defensemen would stay back, however this is probably more likely in a 5-on-3 powerplay rather than a 5-on-4 situation.
Should a team crash the net? Well, this is obviously not a question that can be answered with a blanket yes or no. Every situation is different in the game but one thing is for sure, crashing the net should always be an option.
Over the last month there have been in incredibly exciting improvements to the Powerplay Manager online game.
October 2, 2009: The improvements began with the introduction of trophies for all tournament, league and competition winners, so you can now not only brag about your win, but show it off with a shiney new trophy! Also implemented during this update was the “online users” page, which is a great way to track down who’s online, see who has pro-pack and much more. The PPM team also introduced the PPM Facebook Page and Group.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2345238254
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PowerPlay-Manager/40840299922
October 12, 2009: Press Releases have been incredibly popular features of other manager games, and PPM has now implemented their own. You can now post press releases about your team, players, etc to share with the wider community. These are a spectacular way to help spread the word, brag about wins, inform about changes or simply act like a real hockey team and post regular updates. This update also introduced the PPM Twitter page. If you are a twitter user, be sure to follow PPM!
http://twitter.com/hockeymanager
October 15, 2009: This was a major update for fans of the propogation of the game, as PPM how reward those who help spread the word with a fantastic credit referral system. This is also a fantastic way for Support Team Captains to measure their marketing efforts and track new members.
