and have for as long as I can remember between periods. Even during pivotal game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals! Don’t they have strategy to discuss, legs to rest, cuts to bandage, etc.? I’ve always found it a little odd, but it makes the XFL’s claims about access seem not so hot (well, surprise…)
Really, why can hockey players spend a minute or two during the only time the whole team can get together, but you never see it in football, baseball or basketball?
What? Could you please rephrase that so as to contain a coherent question? Else I shall be forced to try to discern meaning through repeated runs through babelfish.
Why do hockey players appear to have time to chew the
fat between periods, when that’s the only time they can
easily be all addressed at once (by, say, the coach)?
Former hockey player here. Well, in between periods they make the ice so that takes time. Some of the time there isn’t a lot of talking, sometimes there is. I don’t know where you got the idea that they’re just sitting around doing nothing. There is plenty of talking that goes on on the bench between the players and coaches.
After I decided to respond to this question, I realize that this seems kinda stupid, please do rephrase if I didn’t answer your question.
I’ll fill in the nonexistant blanks, though two of three got it…
Why can hockey players spend a minute or two being interviewed during the only time the whole team can get together and discuss strategy, evaluate other team’s offensive and defensive adjustments, etc., but you never see it in football, baseball or basketball other than a cliched statement or two as they’re jogging into the lockerroom?
One, the intermission interview has more or less become tradition.
Two, in my experience the time spent talking about strategy or adjustments during intermission is usually only a few minutes. Not much you can do in 15 minutes if you are really getting your butt whipped. Conversely if it’s a close game, the adjustments are usually minor and are things that have been practiced. It is pretty rare for a coach to invent new strategy during intermission.
Three, It might be hockey’s way of trying to expand it’s appeal. Football and basketball have much larger viewership than hockey.
I think it’s more tradition than anything else. Certainly basketball and football coaches are interviewed during halftime, if not the players themselves. Baseball seems to be the one exception in that you generally won’t interview a player between innings.
Also, unlike other, say, football, the coach in hockey is standing directly behind the bench throughout the game with almost all his players are in front of him. Hockey players only play on the ice in short 2-3 minute bursts called shifts. Most of the players are on the bench while five skaters are on the ice, and even those guys come back to the bench pretty soon. This means that the coach is making adjustments throughout the game.
Example: in Game 6 of this year’s Stanley Cup finals, Jason Arnott of the New Jersey Devils returned to the ice after missing two games with an injury. At the start of the game, he was playing center between Sergei Nemchinov and Bob Corkum, but then was moved to his regular group, centering Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias.
The only guy that the coach really doesn’t have access to during the ebb and flow of the game is the goalie, and coaches tend to leave those guys alone. I.E., either leave the goalie in or pull him, but there isn’t much “coaching”, per se, of the goalie.
HTH
lines usually last somewhere between 30-50 seconds
Well, baseball players never leave the field/dugout during the game. Hence, reporters never have a chance to interview them during the game.
“Hey, goalie, don’t let 'em score any goals, OK? Block stuff with your face if necessary.”
Yes, I’m a goalie, have been for about ten years. There is a bit of coaching that the coach can do. My coach has an unusually strong voice, so it is possible to hear him from the net. It’s usually stuff like slow the game down by holding onto the puck, play the puck more, that sort of thing. Also, he would send defence out to relay messages if he needed to say something privately (like if I was about to be pulled).