nivek_wahs
09-12-2008, 07:11 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=884b1210-4c58-49d0-84ff-9f645249a641
Players are expected to know systems
Greg Harder
Leader-Post
Friday, September 12, 2008
Regina Pats head coach Dale Derkatch is preaching what he practices.
With the opening night of the WHL regular season only a week away, Derkatch wants his players to show "a little more structure" in their game during this weekend's home-and-home exhibition set against the Saskatoon Blades.
"Obviously we've had time to work on things so there aren't as many outs for guys to say they don't know what's going on," said Derkatch, whose team meets the Blades tonight at the Brandt Centre and Saturday at Credit Union Centre. "We've worked on every zone (including special teams) ... so guys should know what to do. If they don't, they should ask. You don't want to wait until the game and then find out you don't know what's going on."
The learning curve will be steep as Regina prepares to deploy its youngest lineup of the preseason. The Pats are expected to be without five of their best players due to NHL training camps: Defencemen Colten Teubert (L.A. Kings) and Matt Delahey (New Jersey Devils), forwards Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers) and Brett Leffler (Washington Capitals) and goalie Linden Rowat (Kings).
"That'll give all the guys an opportunity to really show (what they can do)," said Derkatch. "They'll probably be under the gun somewhat with all those guys gone. Now they won't have (as many) guys to help them in certain situations, so we'll see who can handle it."
With NHL camps starting about a week later this year, the Pats don't expect to have all their players back in time for next Friday's regular-season opener in Brandon. Given the importance of a strong start, the potential absence of those veteran players is an obvious concern.
"You want to win every game and we'll probably be starting the regular season without two or three guys," predicted Derkatch. "That will obviously make it a little bit more difficult on us but I think probably every team is in the same boat. You play the cards you're dealt. There's not much else you can do."
The absence of five NHL draftees shrinks the Pats' roster to 22 players, three of them goalies. That leaves only one extra skater in the event of injury, which doesn't provide much room for error.
With a skeleton roster, the team's final cuts have been put on hold, thus giving a handful of players an opportunity for an extended audition.
"They've got all the opportunity ahead of them," said Derkatch. "Generally everybody is going to get to play the next two games. They might even get into some regular-season games so you've gotta show us what you've got."
Derkatch and assistant coach Terry Perkins scouted the Blades last weekend at the Icebreaker tournament in Saskatoon. The trip gave Regina's coaches an idea of what to expect from their opponent, although Derkatch is quick to point out that you can only tell so much from a preseason game.
At this point, he's more concerned about his own group.
"I feel pretty good about the guys," Derkatch added. "I feel they come to practice, they work hard, they have jump. Injury wise we don't really have anything to speak of that is going to hurt us. We should be ready to go."
- - -
The Canadian Hockey League, in conjunction with the WHL, announced two minor rule changes for the 2008-09 season on Thursday.
After a penalty call, the ensuing faceoff will take place in the zone of the offending team. There are four exceptions to this rule, as detailed in a CHL media release: 1. When a penalty is assessed after a goal (centre-ice faceoff); 2. When a penalty is assessed at the end or start of a period (centre faceoff); 3. When the defending team is about to be penalized and the attacking players enter the attacking zone beyond the outer edge of the end zone faceoff circle (faceoff in the neutral zone); 4. When the team not being penalized ices the puck, in which case the faceoff goes outside the blueline of the team that iced it.
The second rule states that when a puck hits the goal frame -- a goal post or crossbar -- and goes out of play, the ensuing faceoff will take place in the end zone where the puck went out of play regardless of which team shot it.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Players are expected to know systems
Greg Harder
Leader-Post
Friday, September 12, 2008
Regina Pats head coach Dale Derkatch is preaching what he practices.
With the opening night of the WHL regular season only a week away, Derkatch wants his players to show "a little more structure" in their game during this weekend's home-and-home exhibition set against the Saskatoon Blades.
"Obviously we've had time to work on things so there aren't as many outs for guys to say they don't know what's going on," said Derkatch, whose team meets the Blades tonight at the Brandt Centre and Saturday at Credit Union Centre. "We've worked on every zone (including special teams) ... so guys should know what to do. If they don't, they should ask. You don't want to wait until the game and then find out you don't know what's going on."
The learning curve will be steep as Regina prepares to deploy its youngest lineup of the preseason. The Pats are expected to be without five of their best players due to NHL training camps: Defencemen Colten Teubert (L.A. Kings) and Matt Delahey (New Jersey Devils), forwards Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers) and Brett Leffler (Washington Capitals) and goalie Linden Rowat (Kings).
"That'll give all the guys an opportunity to really show (what they can do)," said Derkatch. "They'll probably be under the gun somewhat with all those guys gone. Now they won't have (as many) guys to help them in certain situations, so we'll see who can handle it."
With NHL camps starting about a week later this year, the Pats don't expect to have all their players back in time for next Friday's regular-season opener in Brandon. Given the importance of a strong start, the potential absence of those veteran players is an obvious concern.
"You want to win every game and we'll probably be starting the regular season without two or three guys," predicted Derkatch. "That will obviously make it a little bit more difficult on us but I think probably every team is in the same boat. You play the cards you're dealt. There's not much else you can do."
The absence of five NHL draftees shrinks the Pats' roster to 22 players, three of them goalies. That leaves only one extra skater in the event of injury, which doesn't provide much room for error.
With a skeleton roster, the team's final cuts have been put on hold, thus giving a handful of players an opportunity for an extended audition.
"They've got all the opportunity ahead of them," said Derkatch. "Generally everybody is going to get to play the next two games. They might even get into some regular-season games so you've gotta show us what you've got."
Derkatch and assistant coach Terry Perkins scouted the Blades last weekend at the Icebreaker tournament in Saskatoon. The trip gave Regina's coaches an idea of what to expect from their opponent, although Derkatch is quick to point out that you can only tell so much from a preseason game.
At this point, he's more concerned about his own group.
"I feel pretty good about the guys," Derkatch added. "I feel they come to practice, they work hard, they have jump. Injury wise we don't really have anything to speak of that is going to hurt us. We should be ready to go."
- - -
The Canadian Hockey League, in conjunction with the WHL, announced two minor rule changes for the 2008-09 season on Thursday.
After a penalty call, the ensuing faceoff will take place in the zone of the offending team. There are four exceptions to this rule, as detailed in a CHL media release: 1. When a penalty is assessed after a goal (centre-ice faceoff); 2. When a penalty is assessed at the end or start of a period (centre faceoff); 3. When the defending team is about to be penalized and the attacking players enter the attacking zone beyond the outer edge of the end zone faceoff circle (faceoff in the neutral zone); 4. When the team not being penalized ices the puck, in which case the faceoff goes outside the blueline of the team that iced it.
The second rule states that when a puck hits the goal frame -- a goal post or crossbar -- and goes out of play, the ensuing faceoff will take place in the end zone where the puck went out of play regardless of which team shot it.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008