Hey everyone!
It's been a while since Ice In Maryland posted anything (probably because no one likes the blog name), so I recommend checking out http://jumpingtheglass.blogspot.com/ for my new blog. It deals with the Caps, the Gnu, coaching and a ton of other stories/useful information.
Have fun!
-Kevin
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Starting Off On The Wrong Foot
For a few years now, we've been witness to Alex Ovechkin, all 6'2" and 212 lbs of him, zipping down the left wing and firing wrist shots past some of the best goalies in the world. The thing that makes him nearly impossible to stop is the way he shoots off the wrong foot. The picture on the right shows it perfectly: Ovie, on his right foot, driving through a shot. He drives his left leg back to create the same weight transfer as a correct-footed shot. Goalies hate this because it's unpredictable. Now take Ovechkin's teammate, Alexander Semin. Semin is quite a bit smaller than Ovechkin, at 6', 180lbs. He's a different player (Ovie has 210 hits to Semin's 17), but he has something in common with his Russian friend: he possesses an amazingly hard wrist shot. How? It's that whole 'wrong foot' thing again, but I'd never noticed the extent of wrong-footedness until just recently.
As Semin starts his shot, he torques his body in such a way that while his torso is facing the net, his feet are aiming to the left. When he uncoils, his weight shift is incredibly pronounced. 
His legs are still pointed off to the left, forcing his torso and arms to accelerate to catch up. This also causes him to be off balance, resulting in a high left leg kick that acts as a counter balance. By using this technique, Semin is able to get more weight on his stick even though his wind up is shorter than a traditional wrist shot. This shot allows him to fire the puck in tight spaces and just after his famous toe-drag.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Caps' Needs
So, it's NHL trade deadline time. There are tons of rumors flying around involving multiple teams and players, some of which will probably prove to be true.
I've heard Niklas Backstrom (the Minnesota goalie, not the Caps center) and Chris Pronger are on the Caps' list, while Michael Nylander, Karl Alzner and other Caps are on other teams' radars.
I watch a team like Philadelphia beat up the Caps almost every time we play them. I also watch a low-level West-coast team like LA come in and beat the Caps to every loose puck. It seems that, outside Ovechkin and Bradley, the Caps are missing a strong physical aspect to their game. But it also seems, based on the lazy penalties and losing races to pucks, that the Caps also lack speed depth (again, line 1 is OK).
So I'll ask this: What do the Caps need, who do the Caps need, who should go, and who is untouchable?
I've heard Niklas Backstrom (the Minnesota goalie, not the Caps center) and Chris Pronger are on the Caps' list, while Michael Nylander, Karl Alzner and other Caps are on other teams' radars.
I watch a team like Philadelphia beat up the Caps almost every time we play them. I also watch a low-level West-coast team like LA come in and beat the Caps to every loose puck. It seems that, outside Ovechkin and Bradley, the Caps are missing a strong physical aspect to their game. But it also seems, based on the lazy penalties and losing races to pucks, that the Caps also lack speed depth (again, line 1 is OK).
So I'll ask this: What do the Caps need, who do the Caps need, who should go, and who is untouchable?
Bad Semin, No Biscuit?
Just about every time I watch a Caps game or read a Caps blog, I tend to hear about how the Caps are undisciplined. They are currently 3rd in the league in minor penalties taken, most of which are obstruction penalties (hooking, tripping, holding, interference). Of all the Caps players, one player in particular usually gets the most criticism for ‘taking bad penalties’: Alexander Semin. Let's look at the stats.
In 45 games this season, Semin has taken 22 minor penalties, not including any coincidental penalties that didn’t lead to a power play situation (or 5 minute bongo-playing sessions). Most of Semin’s penalties are hooking (10) or tripping (7) infractions that result from attempting to take the puck from an opposing player. Of those penalties, 7 resulted in the other team scoring a power play goal and only 1 resulted in a game winning power play goal against.
Looking at particular situations, Semin has taken a penalty while on the power play 3 times, negating the man advantage for the Caps. While on the penalty kill, Semin has taken 4 penalties while a man down, resulting in a 5-on-3 situation against the Caps. The opposing team has only scored during 1 of these 5-on-3 situations.
Lastly, when Semin takes a non-coincidental minor penalty in a game, the Caps’ record is 14-3-2. When Semin scores a goal, the Caps are 15-4-1.
Clearly, Alexander Semin is far more important to the Caps when he’s on the ice than in the penalty box. But I don't think his penalties hurt the Caps as much as they're just frustrating to see.
In 45 games this season, Semin has taken 22 minor penalties, not including any coincidental penalties that didn’t lead to a power play situation (or 5 minute bongo-playing sessions). Most of Semin’s penalties are hooking (10) or tripping (7) infractions that result from attempting to take the puck from an opposing player. Of those penalties, 7 resulted in the other team scoring a power play goal and only 1 resulted in a game winning power play goal against.
Looking at particular situations, Semin has taken a penalty while on the power play 3 times, negating the man advantage for the Caps. While on the penalty kill, Semin has taken 4 penalties while a man down, resulting in a 5-on-3 situation against the Caps. The opposing team has only scored during 1 of these 5-on-3 situations.
Lastly, when Semin takes a non-coincidental minor penalty in a game, the Caps’ record is 14-3-2. When Semin scores a goal, the Caps are 15-4-1.
Clearly, Alexander Semin is far more important to the Caps when he’s on the ice than in the penalty box. But I don't think his penalties hurt the Caps as much as they're just frustrating to see.
NHL
With the NHL trade deadline arriving in a few days, I've decided I'm going to talk about the big leagues for a while. Pardon my infatuation with all things Washington Capitals for a few days.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles to living organisms.
I consider myself a bit of a geek when it comes to mechanical systems. I love figuring out how things work and why and I tend to apply that inquisitive part of me in analyzing all things sports related. I try to break down simple motions into even simpler motions to answer questions about the motion.
In hockey, I'm constantly deconstructing the strides, shots, turns and passes of myself and others in order to correct flaws or simply get better. As I haven't been able to shoot a puck over 100 mph, clearly I have some more work to do.
I recently read an article about a baseball pitcher, 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. Lincecum, you see is only 5'10" tall and weighs only 175 pounds, but is somehow able to throw a baseball 97 mph. It's not a fluke though. Lincecum has a unique delivery; he drives hard off his back leg and severely torques his body, allowing him to accelerate his arm without putting stress on his shoulder.
The article gets pretty deep into the study of sports biomechanics and, while it deals entirely with baseball pitchers, much of the science can be directly related to hockey. It's a fascinating read...I highly recommend it.
Then again, I geek out over this stuff.
Snapper
I pulled the following description from Wikipedia:
I tend to agree with everything about that statement, except the bold portion. In recent years, the term “half slap shot” has referred to a shot that resembles a slap shot, but with only half the wind-up (or the knee-high wind-up).
A snap shot is a far different animal. I like to use a face off dot as the representation of my wind-up space. With the puck in the center of the dot, my stick blade will stay within the diameter of the face-off dot and will get no higher than 4 or 5 inches from the ice.
You may be asking yourself “how do you generate any speed with that small a wind-up?” The answer is simpler than it sounds. 1) Speed is generated through the hips and lower torso. My weight is transferred from my back leg, driving my hip forward. Essentially, my lower body is rotating while my upper body is still. This generated torque between my lower body and torso. My upper body wants to rotate to catch up to my lower body, and accelerates to do so. With very little input (so far!) from my arms, my hands are already moving quickly. 2) I lower my shoulder and drive the toe of the stick into the ice. As stiff as they seem, all components of a stick flex when weight is applied. The stick blade flexes and flattens out for a split-second when it makes contact with the ice. The shaft of the stick also flexes, albeit not as severely as a slap shot will. The shaft and blade quickly snap back into position and helps accelerate the puck even more. The snap shot finishes with the same motion of a wrist shot; a snap of the wrists and a hard pull with the top hand, which turns the stick blade over.
A good, hard snap shot is a very hard shot for a goalie to pick up. It has no wind up, like with a wrist shot or slap shot, and it is as accurate as a wrist shot while being only slightly slower than a slap shot.
The snap shot is accomplished with a quick snap of the wrists while the puck rests in place. The difference between a snap shot and a wrist shot is that the hockey blade is accelerated towards the puck from a small distance behind it. This allows the player to flex the shaft on the ice and strike the puck at speed -- although not to the degree of a full slap shot…The stick is usually not lifted higher than the knee during the shot.
I tend to agree with everything about that statement, except the bold portion. In recent years, the term “half slap shot” has referred to a shot that resembles a slap shot, but with only half the wind-up (or the knee-high wind-up).
A snap shot is a far different animal. I like to use a face off dot as the representation of my wind-up space. With the puck in the center of the dot, my stick blade will stay within the diameter of the face-off dot and will get no higher than 4 or 5 inches from the ice.
You may be asking yourself “how do you generate any speed with that small a wind-up?” The answer is simpler than it sounds. 1) Speed is generated through the hips and lower torso. My weight is transferred from my back leg, driving my hip forward. Essentially, my lower body is rotating while my upper body is still. This generated torque between my lower body and torso. My upper body wants to rotate to catch up to my lower body, and accelerates to do so. With very little input (so far!) from my arms, my hands are already moving quickly. 2) I lower my shoulder and drive the toe of the stick into the ice. As stiff as they seem, all components of a stick flex when weight is applied. The stick blade flexes and flattens out for a split-second when it makes contact with the ice. The shaft of the stick also flexes, albeit not as severely as a slap shot will. The shaft and blade quickly snap back into position and helps accelerate the puck even more. The snap shot finishes with the same motion of a wrist shot; a snap of the wrists and a hard pull with the top hand, which turns the stick blade over.
A good, hard snap shot is a very hard shot for a goalie to pick up. It has no wind up, like with a wrist shot or slap shot, and it is as accurate as a wrist shot while being only slightly slower than a slap shot.
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