Men Overboard
In ice hockey — where breathers are few and whistles are fewer — the critical seconds between line changes can make all the difference.
by Brad Wheeler
November 17, 2005
It’s the only sport where coaches are not certain when the next whistle will come to get a chance to substitute players. In hockey, games can go minutes or even a third of a period without a whistle.
“Changing on the fly” means exactly that. You must make substitutes while the game is being played. For the most part, line changes are so smooth people don’t even notice it happening.
Other times, it looks like nothing could go right for a team while trying to change on the fly.
Sometimes a team may only have four players on the ice by accident. Confusion strikes as one player who was supposed to go onto the ice didn’t see his man come off the ice. Players must pay attention and know who they’re going out for.
Even during a loud game fans can hear the commotion created by a team if they notice its opponent has too many men on the ice.
Coaches and players will try to get the referees attention before that player can escape to the bench. On the other side, you can hear panic with just as much commotion trying to get the player back onto the bench before the referees spot an extra attacker.
It happened to the Minnesota State men’s hockey team twice this weekend and Denver, was also caught once with too many men on the ice. As MSU forward Ryan Carter pointed out, when you play a team like Denver matching up lines is key. As the home team, during a whistle you can change after you see what line the other team sends out.
“It can get confusing when it becomes a last minute decision on who’s going,” Carter said. “Sometimes you happen to have two guys go at the same time.”
The typical shift for a player is anywhere from 45 seconds to 1:30. Players learn at a young age to work hard in a game, to be constantly moving all the time and then get off the ice just to get a breather and get ready to go again.
If a team’s offensive attackers can work to control the puck for a long period of time in the opponent’s zone, it will force the other team to tire much faster.
During a two-minute power play, MSU plays two different groups of players, each group usually playing half the power play.
Players on the bench are divided into forwards and defensemen and sit or stand in their respective spots. Forwards are closer to the offensive zone and defensemen are closer to MSU’s end.
The second period can create insanity when it comes to line changes because both team’s benches are furthest away from the goal they’re trying to defend.
The second period is a lot tougher on defensemen. They have to be sure when changing that the puck is deep in the offensive zone to not give up any odd man rushes.
Sometimes only one defenseman will come off at a time to make sure that there isn’t a mishap.
“We call it the long change,” Carter said. “You have to make sure you make smart changes because it’s a situation where their forwards can sneak behind your defensemen.”