Winning in overtime is so much sweeter, or the what I wish my fellow hockey fans knew edition

Michigan had an outstanding overtime victory tonight over Notre Dame in their first game of the CCHA playoffs.   I could have watched all night,   And for awhile there, I almost thought I would until the tie was snapped a few minutes into the second over time to give Michigan a 2-1 victory.

That was a heck of a hockey game.  And a heck of a long hockey game at that.  CCHA playoff overtimes are sudden death (of course), but they go 20 minutes at a time with 15 minute intermissions.  Which gave me a little extra time to listen and to ponder the comments about the game made from the folks sitting behind me.   And made me want to offer a few suggestions.   I wish I could claim they were my own ideas, but most of them came from listening and learning from other, more experienced hockey fans and players.

To my fellow hockey fans:

The next time you yell at a defender to shoot from the blue line, take a close look at the path between that player and the goal.  If there is no clear path, it could be a disastrous play for that defender to shoot the puck (indeed, the worst play in hockey).  If the puck bounces off the opposing team back toward our goal, the other team may very well have a breakaway.

Likewise, the next time you yell at a defender who failed to pinch in at the blue line while we are in the opponent's zone, consider what would happen if that defender pinched, and the puck popped out behind him, giving our opponent a breakaway.  To pinch or not to pinch is always a judgement call, but I will rarely fault the defender who makes the safe play (which is not to pinch) to prevent a defensive disaster.

In CCHA college hockey, icing is when the puck is cleared from the zone before the red line and the team clearing the puck is not on the penalty kill and does not reach the red dot prior to an opposing team member.

If most of the players are one side of the ice battling for the puck, it is because nothing else matters until we gain possession of the puck. It may be good strategy to have one  more player in the scrum for the puck than the other team.  As long as one player remains more center to clear, we should be in good shape.

If a player fails to stay on his skates, that doesn't necessarily mean a penalty has occurred.

And probably most importantly,  in the fifth period of hockey (after four intense 20 minutes periods), please do not yell at the players if they don't make a perfect move in front of the goalie before shooting.

 Now get back out there and cheer again on Saturday!  And let's get the job down in three stanzas this time.  Go Blue!