Hockey pic of the day

IMG_7501, a photo by paolobarzman on Flickr.

Not much info accompanies this photo on Flickr, but I think it may be a Montreal Canadiens' practice session. Whatever it is, it's a cool shot.

--S.H.

I'm famous!

Photo by Julie Sheer.

The Domesticated Partner has authored an exceptionally well-written post in a local newspaper on where to see wildflowers in the Santa Ynez Valley and requested that I help stir up some hits. Plus, she captured a very un-hockey like photo of me taking pictures of poppies on Figueroa Mountain.

And, you know, there's nothing like having my photo in the newspaper that called me on a Sunday afternoon in 2009 and requested that I stay on vacation until the End of Days. Poopheads!

Oh well. Life gets tricky sometimes.

--S.H.

Did that Kings game really happen last night?

A few thoughts on last night's epic 6 to 5 collapse by the Kings in game three of their playoff series against the Sharks:

•I was sitting in the Kings attack twice end of the ice. And guess what? All six San Jose goal were scored in front of me -- five in the second period and the final one in overtime.

•The 4 - 0 Kings lead was a bit of a deception. The Kings picked up a couple of cheap goals early and San Jose's defense and goalie looked very s-h-a-k-y before settling down.

•A four goal lead in hockey is nothing like a four touchdown lead in football. Football possessions generally take time and smart teams with leads know how to employ the running game to take a lot of time off the clock. In hockey, it can take five seconds for a team to regain possession of the puck and score.

•A lot of people in my section were beyond disgust with the play of winger Dustin Penner, who they accused of tepid effort and poor puck management skills. That didn't show up so much in the media coverage.

•That was the loudest and most crowded Kings game I've seen in my three years of going to games. That said, I'm inclined to agree with Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy that Staples Center is generally a pretty quiet place for hockey games. A lot of the noise at Kings games, including last night, comes from music and videos cranked up to rock concert levels. I have no idea who the Kings are marketing to -- seemingly 16 year old boys. It's funny, because I don't see a lot of 16 year old boys in the stands. Mostly I see adult guys, including some who managed to find dates.

As I've said before, at some point the Kings organization will realize that the most exciting thing about a hockey game is...a hockey game and all that other crap is just nonsense.

--S.H.

Average shift times in the NHL -- should this apply to the beer leagues?

Click above to see larger image.

One of the recurring points of discussion on my beer league team is shift times: many of us (including me) are pushing for shorter, more energetic shifts while some players prefer longer shifts, which they view as a way to get more playing time.

That's totally understandable. Who doesn't like to play? That said, if you watch a lot of hockey games with a critical eye, it's easy to see that players who are going all out get tired quickly. After all, there are numerous studies pointing to the fact that humans can only go all-out for a minute or so.

Here's an excerpt from the book "Exercise and Sport Science:"

Long shifts of high intensity result in accumulation of muscle lactate and a rapid reduction in myscle glycogen, particularly from the fast-twitch fibers. If high concentrations of lactic acid are produced, the muscle acidity caused metabolic and contractile disturbancees that result in decreased work performance." 

Check out these statistics from this past NHL regular season: they show average ice time per shift per player. The guy with the longest shifts in the NHL is Washington defenseman Mike Green, who averages 62 seconds per shift with about 24 shifts per game. (Click on the link to see the full list; that's a screen shot above).

In other words, NHL players are taking a lot of shorter and more explosive shifts. Obviously, things are a little different in beer league hockey, which often uses running time -- i.e. the clock continues to run even when play stops for a face-off or goal.

Hockey pic of the day

Big Save, a photo by _becaro_ on Flickr.

Nice save by the Slovakian goalie against the Swedes in the IIHF Women's World Championships being held this week. The Swedes won 3 to 0.

The IIHF website, btw, has this great headline about the Swiss women's team: "Swiss Misses Advance to Playoffs." Nice!

--S.H.

Timeline for construction of new Pasadena ice rink

This clever little timeline was linked to by the Pasadena Ice Skating Center's website. I put it here as a reference in case there should be delays to the new NHL-sized rink -- you know, just in case five months isn't enough time.

The good news is that the tent pavilion now has construction fencing around it. But it's hard to tell what, if anything, is actually happening. I walked past last night and construction of said fence seems to be the major achievement so far.

Stay tuned.

--S.H.

Outside the rink: Central Coast getaway

No game this weekend, so I spent the weekend in Santa Barbara County. A few non-hockey pics:

Sunset at Arroyo Burro State Beach in Santa Barbara on Saturday night.

Moonrise at Arroyo Burro, shortly after the above sunset.

Poppies and lupines growing near the top of Figueroa Mountain in the Los Padres National Forest.

A seagull at Butterfly beach in Montecito. Not a great image, but didn't entirely screw it up.

You can check out some of my other amateurish photography and spend gobs of money on my pics at my SmugMug page.
 

--S.H.

A few hockey notes

•My team had a game on Wednesday night -- which ended about 10:30 with a GLORIOUS 3-2 win in OT after we tied it with 90 seconds left in regulation. It took about 70 minutes to play the game; a few of us stood around talking about on the sidewalk outside the rink until 1 a.m. or so.

Time to Play Game: 70 minutes. Time to Talk About Game: 150 minutes.

After arriving home shortly after 1 a.m., I then stayed up until 2:30 watching a recording of the Ducks game.

•We were on a power play when one of our opponents tried to clear the puck and instead whipped it over the glass. Unfortunately, no delay of game penalty in our beer league -- I was told it's not part of USA Hockey's rules. It is, as you know, in the NHL rulebook. It would have given us our first 5-on-3 opportunity. Bummer. 

•Speaking of the Ducks -- and the Kings -- it would be nice if one of those teams could get to the second round of the playoffs. After one game in each series, please ignore my speculation about what it would take for both teams to play eachother in the second round.

Hey Kyle Clifford -- courtesy of the Ducks, your face looks like a watermelon after it has been stepped on by an elephant. Maybe you should work on your hockey skills and stop the fighting silliness. 

•In my never-ending quest for the perfect post-hockey beer, I recommend Stone Pale Ale. Not the best, but a good one. I don't think it has a great finish, however. More about my great taste in beer in future posts.

--S.H.

Hockey pic of the day

Pond Hockey at the Fairmont Banff Springs, a photo by Banff Lake Louise on Flickr.

This one was taken in Banff at the Fairmont Hotel. It's the only hotel I've ever heard about that offers hockey facilities for guests. Sounds smart.

--S.H.

Hockey pic of the day

Everyone always looks so serious playing. It's understandable. Hockey is a damn hard sport. Here's a nice reminder how much fun it is, too.

photo by sparky675, via SmugMug

--S.H.