Post by dogcatcher on Feb 22, 2008 7:43:37 GMT -4
Dogs coaches worry about playing time
Hockey Team has decisions to make as the playoffs loom around corner
Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday February 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page B12
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs coaching staff face a tough decision with 11 games left in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season.
The Sea Dogs play the 60th game of the season tonight in Bathurst against the Titan at 7:30 p.m.
With the playoffs looming for the first time in team history and in the middle of a battle for first-place in the Eastern Division, the coaching staff has to decide whether to pull back on ice time for the top players or continue to play its stars for big minutes.
It's a concern head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu has had from the start of the season.
"It's something as a group we have to sit down and make a decision on," he said. "Are we going to run with the horses we have or try to get more people involved."
The players who routinely log major minutes are defencemen Alex Grant and Yann Sauve along with forwards Ryan Sparling and Chris Di Domenico. Part of the reason for the high ice-time is that all four play in every situation for Saint John. Grant, Sparling and Di Domenico are all part of the top power-play unit while Sauve is on the second unit. All four take a shifts when Saint John kills penalties.
The coaches monitor players ice time closely and have a computer program that records the time on ice for each player shift by shift.
At the halfway mark of the season, Beaulieu said the team would develop a few different players to take on penalty killing roles.
The team did just that in the second half with players like Mike Thomas, Michael Kirkpatrick and Payton Liske seeing the ice when down a man.
While you'll never hear a player complain about getting too much playing time, Beaulieu said it's a grind and wears on player, especially late in the regular season.
"We do play some kids more than others and it wears on the body and mentally it's tough on the kids," he said.
In an effort to cut down the top players minutes, the coaching staff have tried a variety of things including adding more players to the penalty killing units and rolling four lines at times during a game.
"We're trying to do other things to bring the ice time down and we have in the past few games, but we haven't been as successful," the bench boss said.
The Sea Dogs are 4-4-2-2 over the last 10 games, with the most recent game being a 2-1 overtime loss to the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday.
Second-year defenceman Sauve said no matter the reason for the recent slump, the players are the ones who can turn it around.
"We've been struggling for a few games, but we just have to get our focus back and play hard," Sasuve said. "We can't be stressed about things, just go out and play hockey."
The Sea Dogs will be in tough tonight against the Titan, one of the hottest teams in the league. Acadie-Bathurst had won five-straight games, including a 6-4 road win over Saint John on Sunday and a 2-1 shootout win over the St. John's Fog Devils Thursday.
Hockey Team has decisions to make as the playoffs loom around corner
Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday February 22nd, 2008
Appeared on page B12
SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs coaching staff face a tough decision with 11 games left in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League regular season.
The Sea Dogs play the 60th game of the season tonight in Bathurst against the Titan at 7:30 p.m.
With the playoffs looming for the first time in team history and in the middle of a battle for first-place in the Eastern Division, the coaching staff has to decide whether to pull back on ice time for the top players or continue to play its stars for big minutes.
It's a concern head coach and general manager Jacques Beaulieu has had from the start of the season.
"It's something as a group we have to sit down and make a decision on," he said. "Are we going to run with the horses we have or try to get more people involved."
The players who routinely log major minutes are defencemen Alex Grant and Yann Sauve along with forwards Ryan Sparling and Chris Di Domenico. Part of the reason for the high ice-time is that all four play in every situation for Saint John. Grant, Sparling and Di Domenico are all part of the top power-play unit while Sauve is on the second unit. All four take a shifts when Saint John kills penalties.
The coaches monitor players ice time closely and have a computer program that records the time on ice for each player shift by shift.
At the halfway mark of the season, Beaulieu said the team would develop a few different players to take on penalty killing roles.
The team did just that in the second half with players like Mike Thomas, Michael Kirkpatrick and Payton Liske seeing the ice when down a man.
While you'll never hear a player complain about getting too much playing time, Beaulieu said it's a grind and wears on player, especially late in the regular season.
"We do play some kids more than others and it wears on the body and mentally it's tough on the kids," he said.
In an effort to cut down the top players minutes, the coaching staff have tried a variety of things including adding more players to the penalty killing units and rolling four lines at times during a game.
"We're trying to do other things to bring the ice time down and we have in the past few games, but we haven't been as successful," the bench boss said.
The Sea Dogs are 4-4-2-2 over the last 10 games, with the most recent game being a 2-1 overtime loss to the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday.
Second-year defenceman Sauve said no matter the reason for the recent slump, the players are the ones who can turn it around.
"We've been struggling for a few games, but we just have to get our focus back and play hard," Sasuve said. "We can't be stressed about things, just go out and play hockey."
The Sea Dogs will be in tough tonight against the Titan, one of the hottest teams in the league. Acadie-Bathurst had won five-straight games, including a 6-4 road win over Saint John on Sunday and a 2-1 shootout win over the St. John's Fog Devils Thursday.
...I thought things looked "wonky" the last couple of games....people with different linemates, and people in different situations...especially after the last game. Hopefully that explains some of the chemestry problems and guys will get used to the new roles. I guess it's better to tinker now and know what you have and what you don't when it comes time that you need to do some juggling ....if we happen to go deep in the playoffs we will want the "horses" to have some legs.