Mike writes:
>This is one of those rules that either doesn't make sense or which I
>can't get through my thick skull.
>
>Everybody is supposed to wait until at least Oct 1 to practice
>officially, and everybody is supposed to take at least two weeks off
>at some point during the season.  But I would bet that every team's
>captains conduct at least one and probably many such captain's
>practices during these hands-off time periods.  So what is the point?
>
>Similarly, even though the practice of a coach skating his team after
>a poor game has been outlawed, I don't see what prevents this from
>happening if the captains run it, since apparently you can practice at
>other times that would be illegal if not for it being run by captains.
>
>I'm not criticizing this, just trying to see what the rules actually
>provide for and if their spirit is being violated by these methods.
 
I don't know about violating the "spirit" of the rules, but I believe this
whole captain's practice idea came as an outgrowth of the protesting that
started when the NC$$ implemented the restricted practice rules some years
ago. (Three?  Four?)  In addition to the two weeks off, practices were
restricted to a total of 20 hours per week, and as I recall, coaches and
athletes in certain sports began complaining that that amount of practice
time was not nearly enough.  I remember swimmers and their coaches hollering
the loudest; in fact, soon after the rules were implemented, several top-
notch college swimmers, Janet Evans among them, left school for Olympic
training centers (no, it was not an Olympic year -- I think it was 1990).  I
believe the NC$$'s response to this was to allow "voluntary, unsupervised"
practices beyond the standard 20 hours per week, and this was extended to
other sports as well.
 
If there were proof that a coach was structuring these "voluntary" prac-
tices, i.e. consistently telling captains what drills to run and so forth, I
suspect the NC$$ would consider that a rules violation.  Beyond that, it
seems to me to be a gray area.  If players are impatient to get back on the
ice, and they want to get together before October 1 or during the off-weeks,
skate around, stretch, and do what-not, I don't think the NC$$ should be
discouraging that.  Let 'em take the initiative and/or have some fun if they
want to.  On the other hand, if the coach is not at practice but is dropping
hints to the captains, like "Hope you guys are working on the power play",
then I think you have a violation in spirit, though maybe not a "real"
violation.
 
It's kind of a confusing rule.  Gee, when was the last time we saw that from
the NC$$?
--
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and '94.5               |  [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"Cozza, there's a train leaving at 4:00.  Be under it."
-- from a letter that Yale football coach Carm Cozza is supposed to have
   gotten when he lost his coaching debut in 1965