RiverBlades captain Eric Long answers YOUR questions!

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR

ASK ERIC 10/29/02
Question: Why do we always trade guys that just fight? Don't get me wrong, Scott and the K guy are cool, but why trade guys who were made to roll? (Ian)

Answer: This is a great question, and a hard question to answer. First I'd like to clarify the role a "fighter" has on a hockey team. Contrary to popular belief, a tough guy is not on a team to just step out on the ice and fight every shift. His job is to intimidate and be a physical presence. An effective tough guy is able to do that with his gloves on or off.

That said, there are few players that "just fight" in this league. Everyone on our team has the skill and ability to be a "player". And if they don't possess both the skill to play AND be tough, then they won't make it in the ECHL.

Another huge consideration is that there are only twenty roster spots, OR a 10,000/week salary cap--whichever criteria is met first. So most coaches will not use a valuable roster spot on a player who can only fight, and do nothing else. Although fighting is an essential, and necessary aspect of hockey, the main objective of any coach and is to WIN hockey games on the scoreboard, not the fight card!

Question: Just wanted to say that this is one of the best things on this site...simple clear explanations...keep it up! (Ray)

Answer: Thanks a lot. Keep the great questions coming, I have been very impressed with the quality of everyone's questions.

ASK ERIC 10/28/02
Question: What is "Intentional Offsides" and why would anyone, knowing it is an infraction, ever be offsides intentionally? (Coop)

Answer: Excellent question. Intentional offsides is a discretionary call made by the linesman when he determines there has been no effort made to stay on sides.

Usually it occurs when you are feeling pressure from the other team, and you don't have many options. You would rather take the whistle for intentional offsides then the chance of getting the puck stolen and the other team going on an odd man rush. Usually it happens when you are flat-footed or in a bad position.

An example of this would be if you recognize that there are three guys in the zone and if you lose the puck, you'll be the fourth, so if you lose the puck, the other team will have a 3 on 1 or 2 on 1 back on your end. In a nutshell, intentional offsides is the lesser of two bad options.

ASK ERIC 10/27/02
Question: How big was the Friday night win over Pensacola for the team, since ECHL.com chose Pensacola to be on top this season? (Cindy)

Answer: It was a big win for us!! Pensacola has some very skilled players and was a great measuring stick for us! We play them today and hopefully will win again!!

Question: Hi Eric, I am a new fan to hockey and was wanting to know what the "A" stands for on some of the players' jerseys. (Reba)

Answer: The "A" on two of the jersey's means those players are the assistant captains!! They are just a couple of the leaders on the team. There are many leaders on the team who do not wear a letter, but who are looked up to for leadership. The assistant captains are also able to talk to the referee.

ASK ERIC 10/22/02
Question: I'm still a little confused about the icing call. Is that at the ref's discretion or is it a set rule every time when the pucks dumped in. (Ted)

Answer: Ted, Good question! The icing call is almost always a set rule. The rule being, if a player shoots the puck before the center ice red line and it crosses the goal line it is an icing. A few exceptions are: if the puck goes through the goalie crease or the goalie leaves his crease to play the puck, then icing is waived off.

There are two times when the referee's discretion is used. The first is if the ref thinks the puck could have been played by a player. The second is when a defender steps up on the intended player who was supposed to receive a pass and causes them to miss it.

Question: Eric, Why is the team record 1-1-1 if 1 loss & the win are both after a shootout? (Vickie)

Answer: Everytime a game is tied after 60 minutes both teams get one point automatically. Basically, the 4 vs 4 overtime and/or the shootout are to determine who will get that "extra" point and a win in the win column. Since we lost our first shootout to the Icegators they got the win and we got the tie. In Pensacola, we won the shootout so we were rewarded with two points and the win and Pensacola got one point and the tie.
Come playoff time the there is no 4 on 4 or a shootout. It is sudden death overtime with first team to score being the winner. In recent NHL playoff games there have been games that have lasted up to 6 or 7 periods of hockey!! Two entire games in one night!!!

Keep the GREAT questions coming!!

ASK ERIC 10/15/02
Question: Do ECHL arenas have to have the netting at both ends of the ice, like the NHL does this year? Our Phoenix Coyotes arena got it up in time for regular season. (Duane Harris)

Answer: Yes, the netting is required behind both ends of the arena in the ECHL. Personally, I am glad to see it! Good question!

ASK ERIC 10/14/02
Question: Hi Eric! Do you think that the ECHL, or any other league for that matter, would consider using a different color puck other than black - like maybe a bright red or pink? Is there a reason that the pucks are only black (are they easier to see on the ice?). Don't you think having different colors would be cool? (DD Diner)

Answer: Funny you should ask DD! Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to this question. This is beyond my realm of expertise, but personally, I think that black pucks are cool. Red pucks are not. Thank you for asking!

ASK ERIC 10/13/02
Question: What are the reasons a center gets taken out of a face-off? (Valerie)

Answer: The center can get kicked out for a few reasons. The main infraction usually involves the centerman not lining up properly. Lining up properly means both centermen have to be square with their sticks on the ice, and the Visiting centerman's stick has to go on the ice first. When centermen "cheat", they position themselves at an angle, or try to anticipate the drop of the puck, which causes a false start, and will get them kicked out.

Another reason would be players around the circle, primarily the wings, trying to anticipate the drop of the puck so that they can get to their defensive assignment as soon as possible. This results in false starts, and then the centerman gets booted.

At certain times in the game, usually near the end, it can be a big deal, because draws are important, obviously. If your number-one faceoff man gets kicked out of an important, timely draw, teams typically make sure they have two centermen on the ice, but mostly in those specific situations.

Question: Are shootouts considered a tie? Thanks. (Reba)

Answer: When the game goes to a shootout the winner of the shootout gets two points (and a win in the standings) and the loser of the shootout gets one point and a tie is recorded in the standings.

Question: If it is ever announced, what will the affiliation do for the team? (Nick)

Answer: Although the Riverblades affiliation proposal fell through this season, there are both positives and negatives to having any affiliation with the AHL.

If the Riverblades had an affiliation, with for example, San Antonio of the AHL, that would mean that players on an AHL contract with San Antonio who could use more ice time to develop their skills and hockey sense, would get sent here, where they would see more ice time then they would in San Antonio.

There can be many benefits to being affiliated. The most obvious is that players sent here, in theory, are future NHL'ers, or at least NHL prospects, so they should have an immediate impact upon joining the ECHL club. Also, it helps the ECHL team, because an affiliated player's salary is counted less on the salary cap, because the parent club is paying, leaving room for the ECHL team to pay other ECHL players. Fans get to watch the development of possible NHL players, which of course is exciting.

However, there are negatives to having an affiliation as well. The AHL team sends the ECHL who they want, and the ECHL team has to accept them, no matter what, and play them, no matter what, even if they are not going to help the team. That could force out some good ECHL players, just based on numbers. Another drawback is that if the affiliated players do well at this level, then it is only a matter of time before they are called up, leaving a hole in our roster.

In sum, it just depends on your particular affiliation. Last year Columbus had an affiliation with Edmonton/Hamilton (AHL) and they were the worst team in the league. In 2000-2001 South Carolina had an affiliation with Buffalo/Rochester(AHL) and the players that were sent down really made an impact on the team, and they won the Kelly Cup. Every affiliation situation is different, and the point is there is no way to predict what kind of impact an affiliation would have had on our team this year.

Hopefully, that makes sense, even though I feel like it is a non-answer. Great question!!

ASK ERIC 10/12/02
Question: Eric, would the new NHL rules regarding obstruction and the "hurry up" face off be beneficial to the ECHL? (Susie Charette, Alexander, AR)

Answer: It is funny you should ask!! The ECHL is using the hurry up face off and says it is going to enforce the obstruction rules that are already in place. The hurry up facing can be a bit confusing, but I will try to explain it the best I can.

Players coming onto the ice must proceed directly to the face-off location. The visiting team has 5 seconds to complete its line change. The referee then raises his arm signaling no more changes for the visitors and the home team now has 8 seconds to complete its line change. Once the referee lowers his arm, the linesmen conducting the face-off will blow his whistle, and all players must be present within 5 seconds for the commencement of the face-off. If the centerman has been removed from the face-off, it is considered the first violation. Two violations will result in a delay of game penalty.

As for the obstruction, forecheckers can't be held up with sticks or pushed into the boards. These rules are already in the books, it is just a matter of enforcing them. The obstruction rule should help teams get a better forecheck. Unfortunately for defensemen it will open them up to big hits and make it that much harder to make a good first pass. But, it will help increase scoring.

It will be interesting to see what the actual result of these rule changes brings to the game tonight!!

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR