> JoeL wrote,
> > Denver's coach George Gwozdeki (sp) made an interesting point in one of the
> > west regional games saying that the coaches seem to prefer the NHL sheet as
> > it lends itself to more of an offensive game as opposed to the defensive
> > minded game you play on the international sheet.
> ...
> > Can anyone out there voice credence to Coach G's remarks?
 
No, this is NOT what I heard George say. He said the Olympic sheet lends
itself to more of a defensive game. Period, end of comment, not that the NHL
sheet is more offensive. The point is the the larger olympic sheet means you
get out of position easier, the speedier teams have more room to work with,
and so the response is for teams to be more defensive to overcome these
liabilities. They are more cautious to minimize being out of position (and by
larger distnaces on the larger sheet) and they pack in and keep a tighter
formation to minimize the room others have to skate in.
 
However I think the important point lies somewhere else. It is not if the
average is higher or lower but who benefits the most from the olympic or nhl
size rinks. The weaker, slower teams are going to become more defensive on an
olympic sheet. The faster teams are going to use the sheet of ice to their
best advantage. The weak (i.e. slow) teams get weaker and the strong teams
(i.e. faster) get stronger if there are MORE olympic sheets. What may make
George right is that there may be few strong, fast teams and many weak, slow
teams so that on average you get a more defensive game. If ALL sheets are
olympic, then will the weak-slow teams change their makeup and become faster
or will the fast teams mug it up and become slower?
 
Nathan Hampton
 
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