2017-2018 NHL Thread

[herman]

Your bottom hand is only your guide in hockey. You actually shouldn't even grip the stick with that hand. Not tightly anyways until you're going to shoot or pass. It only makes sense that the top hand is your dominant hand. It does all the work. It's why i've always been confused that so many people golf right handed, or swing a baseball bat right handed when their dominant hand is the right.

I don't get that at all. On a slap shot it's your bottom hand(and the arm it attaches to) that winds up and follows through. All the power is coming from that motion. Same with a golf swing/baseball swing. The power is coming from the torque you can generate with the larger range of motion you have with the arm that corresponds to your back foot.

That might be more applicable in the wooden stick era for hockey purposes. And philosophy of mechanics vs genetics.

With the composite flex, the lower hand is only used as a pivot for the flex.

 

[Kin]

That might be more applicable in the wooden stick era for hockey purposes. And philosophy of mechanics vs genetics.

With the composite flex, the lower hand is only used as a pivot for the flex.

Admittedly it's not my strongest subject but just from how I understand physics/the human body I'm still pretty sure that regardless of what instrument you're swinging the widest range of motion(and, specifically, foreward motion) is still going to generate the most power.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Your bottom hand is only your guide in hockey. You actually shouldn't even grip the stick with that hand. Not tightly anyways until you're going to shoot or pass. It only makes sense that the top hand is your dominant hand. It does all the work. It's why i've always been confused that so many people golf right handed, or swing a baseball bat right handed when their dominant hand is the right.

I don't get that at all. On a slap shot it's your bottom hand(and the arm it attaches to) that winds up and follows through. All the power is coming from that motion. Same with a golf swing/baseball swing. The power is coming from the torque you can generate with the larger range of motion you have with the arm that corresponds to your back foot.

I can see where you're coming from but in a slapshot motion, your weight(leaning on bottom hand) + your top hand(pulling against your weight) is what creates the flex in the stick which in turn creates your power.

In regards to stick handling(and it's in this instance that I refer to the bottom hand as a "guide") take a look here. It explains this tool pretty well and why it's used.

https://www.hockeyshot.ca/Danglator-Stickhandling-Aid-p/stickhandling-aid-032.htm

 

[herman]

That might be more applicable in the wooden stick era for hockey purposes. And philosophy of mechanics vs genetics.

With the composite flex, the lower hand is only used as a pivot for the flex.

Admittedly it's not my strongest subject but just from how I understand physics/the human body I'm still pretty sure that regardless of what instrument you're swinging the widest range of motion(and, specifically, foreward motion) is still going to generate the most power.

Yeah that?s generally right (distance travelled = velocity = power). Pulling is also generally stronger than pushing, right?

With the composite sticks it?s more about release speed leveraging the flex, so players are taught to drive power downward.

 

[Kin]

Yeah that?s generally right (distance travelled = velocity = power). Pulling is also generally stronger than pushing, right?

With the composite sticks it?s more about release speed leveraging the flex, so players are taught to drive power downward.

But isn't that where we get to the idea of composites sacrificing power for control? Shea Weber, shooting right while being righthanded and using a fairly rigid stick, is still shooting it harder than anyone else.

 

[Bullfrog]

Yeah that?s generally right (distance travelled = velocity = power). Pulling is also generally stronger than pushing, right?

None of that makes any sense. Velocity is a vector and is described by speed and bearing (or direction). The greater the moment (or torque) the greater will be the speed of the blade at point of contact. This is why Chara has a massive advantage in puck speed.

 

[Bates]

Golf has all the power from hand on top, other hand is only to determine direction.

Your bottom hand is only your guide in hockey. You actually shouldn't even grip the stick with that hand. Not tightly anyways until you're going to shoot or pass. It only makes sense that the top hand is your dominant hand. It does all the work. It's why i've always been confused that so many people golf right handed, or swing a baseball bat right handed when their dominant hand is the right.

I don't get that at all. On a slap shot it's your bottom hand(and the arm it attaches to) that winds up and follows through. All the power is coming from that motion. Same with a golf swing/baseball swing. The power is coming from the torque you can generate with the larger range of motion you have with the arm that corresponds to your back foot.

 

[herman]

Yeah that?s generally right (distance travelled = velocity = power). Pulling is also generally stronger than pushing, right?

None of that makes any sense. Velocity is a vector and is described by speed and bearing (or direction). The greater the moment (or torque) the greater will be the speed of the blade at point of contact. This is why Chara has a massive advantage in puck speed.

I think you?re explaining better what I was scribbling down quickly earlier. I?m referring to exit velocity (probably should?ve just said speed) of the projectile due to the distance travelled by the stick blade, which I really didn?t explain. I.e. a slap shot wound from 12 to 6 would shoot the puck faster than a slap shot wound from 4 to 6. Chara?s advantage is from stick length (and his strength) adding more to that torque equation.

So if slapshot power is the name of the game, then a dominant hand on the bottom would be advantageous for that (also for the traditional wrist shot that sweeps the puck forward from behind the feet).

With more flexible sticks, you can get almost as powerful shots from snappers or off-leg wristers off much more quickly by driving your force down to flex the stick against the ice to let the blade kick the puck when the stick snaps back to straight. So now the bottom hand doesn?t really need strength because it?s the new pivot point and is more for control by pushing towards the shot direction, while the top hand is used to pull the top of the stick back hard.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Paul Fenton has been named GM of the Wild. Fenton's been with the Predators for 12 years now and I think has been considered a front runner for any open GM position around the league for about 10 of those years.

 

[herman]

Paul Fenton has been named GM of the Wild. Fenton's been with the Predators for 12 years now and I think has been considered a front runner for any open GM position around the league for about 10 of those years.

Up until they acquired Johansen and Subban, I've always had Nashville and Minnesota paired up in my mind: defensively-sound offense-by-committee teams. Nashville is much better at drafting though.

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/357115/2018/05/18/dellow-how-canadas-teams-look-on-strong-side-vs-weak-side-faceoffs-and-how-matthews-is-better-than-mcdavid/

Matthews saw a leap in improvement on draws on his weak side, and faceoffs overall.

The article is a follow up to: https://theathletic.com/40116/2017/02/23/tyler-dellow-why-faceoffs-on-the-right-side-are-kryptonite-for-auston-matthews-nazem-kadri/

about LH faceoff splits. Here's the explainer on why LH faceoffs see deeper splits than RH.

Left-handed centres take about twice as many faceoffs where they are on their weak side versus an opponent on his strong side or vice versa as right-handed centres. Right-handed centres take about twice as many faceoffs on their strong side against an opponent on his strong side (or weak side vs. weak side) as left-handed centres.

This difference is due to the weird split in handedness amongst NHL forwards. If your opponent on a faceoff shoots the same way as you, one of you will be on your strong side and one on your weak side. If he shoots the opposite hand, you?ll either both be on your strong side or both be on your weak side. Left-handed players take about 65 per cent of faceoffs in the NHL. As a result, they?re far more likely to run up against an opponent who shoots the same way.

Since 2010-11, lefties have seen a left-handed opponent on the draw about 63 per cent of the time. For righties, that number rises to 69 per cent. The nice thing about that is that they aren?t exposed to a lot of instances where they?re on the wrong end of a strong/weak faceoff. The down side for them is that they don?t get corresponding strong/weak faceoffs either.

The net effect of this is that lefties have a platoon split depending on whether the faceoff is on their strong or weak side. They tend to be markedly better on their strong side. Platoon split is a baseball term referring to the difference in stats batters have against pitchers depending on their handedness. Righties don?t really have one. In other words, the real advantage of being on your strong side comes from having an opponent on his weak side. That happens a lot more for lefties than for righties because of the NHL?s handedness split. It shows up in the rates at which they win faceoffs on their strong and weak sides.

I add this here mostly because we've been talking handedness lately, and I wonder if there is a benefit to players who use their dominant hands on the bottom. The backhand shot is one of those shots that really benefits from a strong(er) bottom hand, and holds true for strong-side faceoffs as well. One of the better backhand shooters in recent memory is Mats Sundin, who is a right-handed right shot centre.

If I had the shooting data, I'd probably code a table just out of curiousity. Hard to find what hand the player considers their dominant though.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/999266156065316866

Ah, the cycle continues.

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/999266156065316866

Ah, the cycle continues.

So now the Kessel is a bad locker room guy stories emerge.  Sheesh, you think after back to back Cups they would cut him some slack.  I've lived my entire life waiting for a Leafs Cup, if I could get back to back champions and then find out that everyone hates Nylander or Marner I wouldn't care.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So now the Kessel is a bad locker room guy stories emerge.  Sheesh, you think after back to back Cups they would cut him some slack.  I've lived my entire life waiting for a Leafs Cup, if I could get back to back champions and then find out that everyone hates Nylander or Marner I wouldn't care.

Not even just winning back-to-back Cups, but being one of Pittsburgh's best players in both of those runs.

 

[herman]

Can we trade for Phil Kessel, with Pittsburgh retaining 3M?

 

[Guilt Trip]

Can we trade for Phil Kessel, with Pittsburgh retaining 3M?

lol...wouldn't that be funny

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/ikhurshudyan/status/999313066943766530

He can really motor.

 

[Guilt Trip]

That's awesome...Way to keep it loose. And for a big boy, he can move pretty good.

 

[herman]

That's awesome...Way to keep it loose. And for a big boy, he can move pretty good.

Yeah, there was definitely good zip around the corners.

Details on the 'hot lap' tradition:
https://www.nhl.com/news/barry-trotz-opens-up-morning-skate-with-a-hot-lap/c-298756654

 

[herman]

Guess what?s picking up steam?

https://twitter.com/kuklaskorner/status/999983175118942208