The Daily Scrum: Front and Center

Not exactly a links roundup. Not exactly a column. Not exactly about the Wild. A semi-regular update on what’s happening around the league.

Centers of Attention

Most teams haven’t even hit their second preseason game and we’re seeing some pretty serious injuries around the league. Particularly, there have been a number of injuries to centers in the Eastern Conference over the last week. Sidney Crosby was out of training camp on the first day and so was Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is back at practice now, but neither are going to be a part of Pittsburgh’s lineup when they face off against the Wild tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Derek Stepan is out 4-6 weeks after breaking his leg at the Rangers’ practice this morning. In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk will be missing 4-5 weeks with a separated shoulder. Jordan Staal hasn’t been given a timetable yet, but will be out for a while after he also broke his leg in the Hurricane’s preseason opener.

Outside of it hurting these teams to start the season without a star center, it may not have a big impact on the league. If we were a few weeks into the season with this many injured centers, it’d be reasonable to see the value of depth centers increase and maybe get a little speculation on some early season trades. But the injuries are short-term enough and it’s early enough in the season (still three weeks until opening night) that no one is panicking and making moves.

Kickpunchers

"“My punches were only as strong as my punches and then things changed.” – Kickpuncher"

I think I spend every summer thinking that the days of the enforcer role are at their end. There’s a need for physical players and size, sure, but players whose main role is to “patrol the ice” ought to be phased out.

Why? Because patrolling the ice is a ridiculous job. In fact it’s not a job. It’s as much a job as Santa Claus is a job. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Why? (I imagine you ask “Why?” a lot.) Because it’s a job that doesn’t actually exist. Like a mall santa, enforcers are barely employable and working a job that is, at its heart, imaginary.

6-foot-8 forward (and former member of the Minnesota Wild) John Scott recently told the press that he patrols the ice following a San Jose Sharks scrimmage. He also said, “If someone goes out there and they know I’m on the other bench, I think they’re going to think twice about running around that game.” This is wildly easy to disprove. Just look for any instance of a star player getting hurt due to a cheap shot and look and see who was on the bench. You’ll probably find a player like Mike Rupp or Shawn Thornton sitting on the bench.

There’s a Fear the Fin article I linked to back there, but I’m going to highlight this paragraph that lays out the tip of the iceberg on why the enforcer role — rather, the enforcer who lacks the ability to contribute to his team in other ways — is going to disappear sooner rather than later.

"Despite the constant assertion that an enforcer’s presence deters opposing teams from taking liberties, teams with an enforcer in the lineup are actually slightly more likely to have one of their players injured on a play that earns its perpetrator supplemental discipline from the NHL than teams without an enforcer in the lineup. Similarly, there is a slight positive correlation between a team’s number of fighting majors accrued and its man games lost to injury. And as for the notion that enforcers at the very least keep players honest and mitigate nasty stick and skate fouls, there exists zero correlation between the number of fighting majors a team is assessed and the number of non-obstruction penalties (boarding, kneeing, slashing, spearing, etc.) they draw."

This is worth highlighting now before the season starts because there are battles on many teams where a player like John Scott or a player like Stu Bickel is battling for a fourth line or third pairing defensive position where another player with considerably more skill could be picked. Unfortunately, coaches continue to push the enforcer role and say things like “[Stu Bickel is] making a statement and saying, ‘I want to be here.’ … He was good tonight.” Bickel made his statement with his fists that night.

Coaches seem to see statements made with fists and not statements made by a Corsi For % in the 30s.

Bad Form

The Vancouver Sun screwed up. They wrote an inappropriate photo caption about Vancouver Canucks prospect Jordan Subban. I don’t want to dwell on it, but it’s good to remind ourselves that everyone has agreed to be better this season, right? Right. Let’s try to avoid any overt racism this season.

Same goes for sexism.

Oh, you heard us Philadelphia Flyers? That’s fantastic! No more “ice girls.” That’s really great. You guys sure are swell. Oh, what? You have ice boys now? And you’re only hiring men? You know, women are capable of wearing shirts and pants and skates too. Just a thought.

Also, fans who booed: hockey arenas are for watching hockey, not for satisfying your need to watch a scantily-clad woman skate at a distance of 300 yards. If the absence of “ice girls” impairs your ability to enjoy a hockey game, you don’t really like hockey that much. (And really, that’s the least of the reasons why “ice girls” are problematic and it’s an other article entirely….) If you have any straw man arguments about people “choosing their jobs” or whatever other non-sense you’ve got, I’ll be accepting those arguments on Google. Just head over to Google.com and type your thoughts into the search bar. I’ll definitely find them and get back to you.

Heavy Trash – “(Sometimes You Gotta Be) Gentle”