Jack Blatherwick
Integrate, don’t always isolate skills and athleticism
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 17 January 2013 17:52
By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Michael Jordan was (arguably) the best basketball player ever, but he was not the greatest shooter of all time, not the best ball handler or passer, even though he was great at each of these. He did not have the highest vertical jump, wasn’t the fastest or most agile, not the strongest, nor did he have the greatest endurance (measured in laboratory tests of aerobic capacity).
He was the best player, because he combined skills and athleticism into one package more effectively than anyone ever has. The same might be said of Wayne Gretzky, in the opinion of Russian coach, Anatoli Tarasov.
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Why do we send millions to USA Hockey?
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 10 January 2013 18:22
By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
In four decades, USA Hockey (formerly AHAUS) has exploded in size from two paid employees in a one-room office to an ominous, giant bureaucracy with so many employees they’ve outgrown two huge, expensive buildings in Colorado Springs. They point to “growing the sport” as a major contribution, but of course, ‘growing’ means more revenue, not more quality.
Why is USA Hockey necessary? That is the question everyone should ask if they love this sport, because in Herb Brooks’ words, “Quasi-governmental monopolies are best at legislating mediocrity.”
The ugly growth of dump & chase
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 20 December 2012 19:30
By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
The common neutral zone advice from coaches at every level is, “As you cross the red line, if you don’t see a play, get it deep.” Instead of teaching players to create a play when the defense looks solid, we reward them for “dumping, chasing, avoiding turnovers, getting it deep and forechecking hard to make the opponents cough it up.”
That’s college hockey’s game plan to a T. “Nothing fancy. Don’t take chances.”
But ‘fancy’ is the fun of the game.
The greatest play at the biggest moment in Wild history
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- Last Updated on Friday, 04 January 2013 17:49
By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
“Nothing fancy in overtime, boys. No Turnovers. Get it deep.” That was the standard advice by the Minnesota Wild TV commentator after a turnover in a pivotal playoff game against the Colorado Avalanche (2003). This is standard punditry when a play doesn’t work. Second-guessing after mistakes is the contribution to sports broadcasting that allows anyone to earn a second career after a first one as a player, coach or a blonde model with the capacity to memorize statistics.
We’ll hear it a dozen times in the football playoffs when a quarterback gets intercepted: “No. No. No. You can’t throw into a crowd.” Of course, when the QB throws into a crowd, and his receiver catches it for a touchdown, the pundits say, “He really threaded the needle. That’s why he’s great.”
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A word to the PPA’s and MBO’s: Get serious!
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 06 December 2012 18:45
By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
For the life of me, I can’t understand how a lockout goes deep into the winter months, when both sides claim to love hockey. Where I come from, the real hockey lovers wouldn’t pass up a cold day in December to extend a childish argument that’s been going on for months. Hey, there’s ice on the pond. Get serious. You’ve both presented your arguments, and you know this will end in a compromise some day. So … compromise.
But, what do I know? Maybe it’s not a childish argument. Maybe this is about real important money, the kind we all worry about – like, food on the table. Since it’s not an argument about physiology or a frozen puck sliding across the ice, and it’s about free market capitalism, I decided to call in Ayn Rand, the expert on such matters. So the rest of this piece is hers. I’m going out to look for a frozen pond.
