Faceoff Factor

Because You Asked - 8/7/08

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Aug 7, 09:16 AM | Hype this story!

Mike Adams is away for the week, neglecting his duties as moderator of this forum…oh wait, he hates that saying. Anyway, I’ve volunteer to round up the troops for this week’s edition of “Because You Asked.”

Mike will be back next week with his humorous take on things, so be sure to submit your questions by Monday night by
clicking here.

And now on to this week’s questions…

A couple of years ago, the league made a big push to try and open up the ice. They started calling the hooking and other obstruction penalties more often. Do you see this becoming a target again this year due to the complaints about it in the 2008 playoffs or do you see the league putting the emphasis on any other specific area? — Matt aka THEONEANDONLYSURGE, Altoona, PA

Justin Maffei: At the beginning of the year, it seems that the referees are more concentrated on enforcing the rules. However, as the year progresses, they seem to let more and more go. They may address it this year, but I would see that as no more than smoke and mirrors. In other words, outwardly they would portray that there are going to be changes, but I do not believe that we will see any serious changes being transferred to ice level. Diving may be another story. With the amount of complaints around players diving in the playoffs, do not be surprised if there is a more concerted effort to end this.

Michael Farkas: Well, I think like every year, the league will look at certain things in officiating and discuss them thoroughly. It’s a very fluid thing and it changes all the time, so there’s always something that one could look at and go, “well, look at this…this won’t do.” However, I don’t feel that anything regarding officiating will be priority number one. Maybe we’ll see a few less hooking penalties this year, because a lot of “taps” last year were called. However, as for any sort of significant changes – I don’t see it happening.

Ashley Gallant: Matt/Surge, I know what you’re talking about. The NHL is against obstruction, but sometimes I wonder whether the officials received that memo. One day you’ll see a player sit on a goalie’s head while his teammate scores a ‘good’ goal. The next day, the refs will say that Tomas Holmstrom’s rear end is so big that it interfered with the goalie’s ability to do his job (even though that same rear end was outside the crease).

I don’t disagree with the crackdown on obstruction, and I doubt that many people do. What we all want is a little consistency and a little sanity on the ice. I haven’t heard of any referee meetings this summer to discuss this very issue, but I would hope there would be a little discussion after what we saw in the playoffs. Maybe everyone just needs to go to ‘Referee Summer School’ to learn the proper definition of a penalty.

If I was in charge, I would want to re-establish the ‘crackdown on obstruction’ this season to (1) save face and (2) make sure that we don’t see a re-emergence of pre-lockout hockey. It is one of those things that the NHL needs to be vigilant about if they want the game to move forward.

I know it’s only the first week of August, but it’s never too early to start thinking training camp. When does training camp officially start? What impact do you think a deep playoff run will have on this team? — Groove, Wheeling, WV

Matt Bodenschatz: Groove, we’ll start out with the factual information. Players report to camp for physicals and other off-ice workouts and meetings September 16 and on-ice practices begin September 17. At this point, I don’t have a schedule of public practices, but Faceoff Factor will provide a training camp calendar in the coming weeks.

Now to the opinion part. Personally, I think it will have a positive effect. Some may say that the short offseason will lead the players to be more worn out than usual and, potentially, to be more lethargic than usual, wishing they had a bit more free time before getting back on the ice.

But, with a primarily young team, the first problem shouldn’t even be mentioned, let alone discussed at length. These are professional athletes in the lower- to mid-twenties. They should be more than fine to play a month after the season, let alone nearly four months afterward.

They could be a bit disconnected mentally, though, at first. This has been a difficult few months for the team. They lost the Stanley Cup Finals, which surely was emotionally draining. Then they saw numerous players migrate to new teams. It can’t be easy seeing two players who were a big part of the team’s playoff success openly choose other teams. And I suspect, early on, some players may very well seem a bit disinterested – that is, until Michel Therrien notices.

Now, all of that is a bit hypothetical. What I truly believe will happen is that this team – led by an extremely-motivated captain – will come out swinging. They have a lot to prove in the sense that they lost several significant players, yet are still considered the top team in the Eastern Conference.

I also think a long playoff run will do two things for the team. First, it will serve as motivation. They came within two games of winning the most difficult championship to earn in professional sports. They could taste victory, and they let it slip away. Needless to say, they want to make it back to the big dance as quickly as possible.

Second, it will serve as an experience that makes the team better, both on an individual basis and as a collective unit. Two years ago, Evgeni Malkin struggles to make it through the regular season. Last year he struggled as the playoffs extended into the Finals. Next year? Well, I think he’ll be 100 percent prepared to go as far as needed. With a team this young, so few players have had a chance to experience what they experienced last season. No doubt, they’ve learned a lot from it and will apply what they have learned to games throughout the season and playoffs.

Great question, Groove, and thanks for the submission.

Mike Wilson: Groove, I agree it is never too soon to start thinking about training camp. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to it ever since the end of last season because it helped ease the agonizing pain of second place.

In regards to question number two, I’m going to assume you’re referring to the effect of last season’s long schedule (due to that deep playoff run) on the players’ physical and mental condition this training camp. If I am incorrect in my assumption, shame on me for six weeks.

I think the long season will have a positive effect on the players at training camp. It’s like a cyclist riding a bike, a fisherman casting a line, or even a birthday clown creeping out little children; it’s just something you don’t forget how to do. Though they’re bodies may have had less time to get some well-deserved R&R, I feel that most Penguin players will be ready to get back to the daily grind. In a way, short off-seasons make veterans like Petr Sykora and Sergei Gonchar who they are today and will help make youngsters like Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot veterans in the world of tomorrow.

In that same state of mind, the quick off-season should also be a reminder of how close they came to Lord Stanley’s brandy last season and serve as a good motivator. This will be a good time to look back on that and build upon it, revamping the grey areas that cost them the Cup. Another positive to look for this training camp, though it hasn’t anything to do with last season’s deep run, is a chance for the Penguin players to develop good chemistry with each other before the trade deadline. This was something they weren’t able to do last season because the deadline had brought in key pieces to their roster, now they have all season to make Crosby, Satan, and Pesonen (if that all works out) run like a well-oiled machine.

Nonetheless, this is one of the most important types of training camps a team will ever endure, the one after they lose the Stanley Cup. Hopefully the Penguins will take a different route than that of the Ottawa Senators last training camp. This camp, the coaches will need to utilize those things I mentioned and prove to this team that they had the power, and now they have the experience to win a Stanley Cup.