Remedial Math

[Tipped Off]

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071121/BLOG12/71121010

Too many men, not enough sense


Posted at 3:56 pm by Nick Patterson


The Tips threw me a curveball Tuesday night.

I was all set to write a feature for Friday about Everett having the top-ranked penalty kill in the league, then the Tips gave up four power-play goals to Kamloops. So much for that idea.

However, the Tips unwittingly gave me an alternative subject when they got whistled for three -- that's right, THREE -- too-many-men penalties. I personally have never seen one team whistled for too many men three times in one game, and I have yet to encounter anyone else who has.

And it wasn't just last night. Over the last week Everett's gotten tagged for too many men in just about every game. These have come at the most inopportune times, too. Twice the Tips have been called for too many men with less than two minutes remaining in a one-goal game. Aganist Vancouver it forced Everett to fend off a six-on-four to hang on for the win, against Kamloops it prevented the Tips the opportunity to pull their goaltender for an extra attacker.

So who's to blame for the problem? Is it the coaches for calling out confusing line changes or trying to get new players on the ice a step early? Is it the players for misunderstanding the coaches or being overeager in hurdling the boards? Did the personnel changes resulting from injuries and last week's trade put everyone out of whack? I don't know, but it looks disorganized and doesn't reflect particularly well on anyone.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.

[Tipped Off]

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071123/SPORTS/711230106/1003/SPORTS08

Remedial math: Tips learning how to count

Too many men on ice penalties annoy Becanic

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- The Everett Silvertips coaching staff has been grilling the team's players on basic math skills. But the players are still earning failing grades.

During the past week, Everett's had a serious issue with the simple task of putting the right number of players out on the ice. That inability to master basic counting has led to frequent penalties for too many men on the ice, and those penalties have proved costly.

And head coach John Becanic is fed up with the unnecessary mistakes.

"To be blunt, it's stupidity on our players' part," Becanic said. "They know that when they're coming on the ice they can't touch the puck until the other player has gone off.

"It's frustrating," Becanic added. "It's not like the players aren't educated on how to do a line change. We pride ourselves on working every detail, but this has been happening the last few games."

Everett's been dinged for having too many men on the ice six times in the past four games. That's included instances at the most inopportune times. Twice Everett has been called for too many men in the final two minutes of one-goal games. In Saturday's 2-1 victory over Vancouver, the Tips had to fend off a lengthy six-on-four power play as the Giants pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Then in Tuesday's 6-4 loss to Kamloops a late too-many-men penalty prevented the Tips from pulling their own goaltender for an extra attacker when they were just one goal down.

The problem really came to a head at Kamloops when the Tips were called three times for too many men. The Blazers scored twice on the resulting power plays, rallying from a two-goal deficit.

"It would be different if we thought they were questionable calls, but they made the right call all three times," Becanic said. "The frustrating part was when we were ahead 4-2, we were in complete control and Kamloops was kind of dead in the water. Then we shot ourselves in the foot."

Becanic said he's not sure why the Tips have suddenly been afflicted by a disease that seems easily preventable.

"It's certainly not from a lack of awareness," Becanic said. "I don't know if guys are going on the ice and are so focused on what they're trying to do that they don't think about the line change. We've tried to fix the problem, but there's no button you can push to prevent a player from touching the puck.

"We're going to have to find a punishment suitable for taking stupid penalties."