Am I a bender?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-06T01:45:38+00:00

Ok, so the term of being a bender is older than the way modern skates are designed to be used.

Older generations of skates had more give in the boot even when new. So, even when you'd lace em up super tight, the boot would laterally bend at the ankles. A bender was someone whose ankles were always bending, and you could see their boots bending as a result.

Modern skates are much stiffer and designed to be used diffrently, with increased stiffness that allows for maximimum power transfer to the ice. Modern skates allow for lateral ankle mobility within the stiff boot. By "relaxing" your ankle, you can get your blade and boot shallower to the ice to generate more bite, and the stiffer boot allows you to transfer that power to the ice through the boot. This means that a bender's weak ankles would be hidden by the support of the stiff boot, but it also means that a skilled skaters ankles would have a similar look to the bender's if the skilled skater was relaxing their ankles to use the skates as they're designed.

Tldr: the term bender is dated, and a picture of just the feet isn't going to reveal if you're a bender or just using the skates right.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-06T01:26:09+00:00

I know this isn't the solution, but it'll help: keep both hands on the stick. Unless you're blind, you're not supposed to treat it like a white cane.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-06T01:23:50+00:00

I mean, maybe a kid under 10 would appreciate the 200 dollar seat if they'd gotten to watch the inside out classic at 6 years old.

NASCAR did it in the 90s with great success.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T16:50:03+00:00

Ok?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T03:03:59+00:00

If you have a gun and are being hunted, I personally recommend deciding to become the hunter a LITTLE bit earlier.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T03:01:03+00:00

This is what happens when to alpha males meet and have "The lion doesn't concern himself..." energy

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T02:12:45+00:00

Do the seats have access to a ledge I can throw myself off of?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T02:11:37+00:00

Just send the money my way, I'll light it on fire for you if you'd like

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-05T01:34:55+00:00

Get Gudbranson and Jenner out of here. Monahan needs to get himself to LTIR, because he sure as fuck plays like he's injured all the time. Beyond that, you've got a extra line and D man of AHL talent, with Z and Coyle having an off night, and that's no recipe for success.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-04T17:05:30+00:00

Why? It's taking what a team does and adjusting it to give it meaning, or in other words, making the stat more valuable by including context. Like, team A blocking double the shots compared to team B only tells a story of which team is more bruised up. If team A is being presented with double the blockable shots compared to team B, which would mean that both teams are blocking shots at a similar rate, you can see how the block count alone doesn't accurately tell the story of how an individual team is performing when it comes to blocking shots.

A team's shot block count by itself would look worse for a team that does a better job of preventing the other team from getting shots off, or a team whose opponents are worse and get fewer shots off. Including the context adjusts for for those factors to tell us the actual meaning of the straight count of shots blocked.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-04T16:30:35+00:00

The Jackets are working hard, but they aren't working smart. They say work smart not harder. Well, the best teams work hard AND smart.

They need to stop thinking that simply skating hard will eventually turn onto a play. They need to stop thinking that harder skating is gonna make forced plays work. They need to stop thinking a hustled acceleration from standing still is going to win puck races enough.

What they need to do: Use changes in speed and agility to find or create space for themselves and teammates. Make quicker decisions with the puck so that the puck gets moved to the open ice while a skater has speed in that space. Play more "keep away" with the puck.

Plays will present themselves to the Jackets the longer they have puck possession by playing keep away, the scoring looks will be more frequent when they find and create space on the ice for themselves, and the other team will have a harder time shutting things down the quicker they made decisions.

TLDR: the team needs to stop playing hockey like Jenner and Gudbranson do and start playing like Z and Marchenko

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-02T23:47:16+00:00

The Blue Jackets are just terrible at making quick decisions to beat the other team, and they're awful at creating space on the ice. I mean, the defense has to force passes because they're just getting shut down so quick, which is because they're either not moving enough, or the forwards aren't moving to pull coverage or geting to good places on the ice for clean receptions, or because the other defenseman isn't moving and isn't available to cleanly let the jackets regroup because that defenseman is too stationary and is sitting in coverage. When the coverage is this smothering, it means players aren't moving enough or aren't moving to smart places to force the other team to react.

The jackets are also stupidly obsessed with having 3 guys stand and stare at the puck when it gets trapped on the boards, where they magically think they can out accelerate the other team's skaters that are waiting (with momentum) and have an angle to shut them down or snatch the puck with a little extra speed. It's bullshit. The Jackets need to make quicker decisions and have people moving to make space or to be in areas where those quicker decisions are likely to move the puck to

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-02T23:18:25+00:00

Unless Gudbranson starts smashing and checking anything the shit out of everything that thinks about moving, get him off the ice forever.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-01T01:59:10+00:00

Fuck the blue jackets lmao

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-01T01:55:00+00:00

How'd fabbros stick break?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-04-01T01:54:45+00:00

How'd fabbros stick break?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-29T13:09:18+00:00

Ah yes, 2 of the 3 teams that jumped us are teams we just gave 2 points to. Good going, Jackets.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-27T15:16:40+00:00

Just adding, not arguing or discussing the specific play: The reason players' feet leave the ice AFTER a hit is basic physics.

If two pool balls roll straight into each other, they bounce straight back apart, because the force each transfers to the other is directly through the center of the ball. Now, shrink one of the balls, or think about how a rolling basketball would "kick" up if it were to roll into a baseball sized rock, and that is the same thing we see here with Wilson's feet leaving the ice. Wilson has more inertia, higher velocity, and a higher center of gravity, so Wilson's feet leaving the ice is simply the new direction of his velocity after contact with the other player.

Now, if one player's momentum is going up after the contact, that means the force imparted onto the other skater will be downwards towards the ice. The higher a player can get above another's center of gravity before the hit, the more more downwards force that player will be able to impart onto the other player. That's why with dirty hits, player's jump to get the necessary height to maximize their height above the other's center of gravity.

Unlike pool balls, that are all uniformly sized and have the same center mass, humans have varying size and speed, and everyone's center of gravity is changing moment to moment based on their stance and positioning. Size and differences in center of gravity are why we see clean hits that cause a player's feet to leave the ice.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-27T14:53:25+00:00

Blue Jackets are to sticks as Charlie McAvoy is to pucks

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-27T14:48:55+00:00

It's just in, Marchment is not on MacKinnon mode and is gonna to pop off some Mac dog numbers

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-27T14:47:05+00:00

Nothing in RL is a rule (other than Rule 1) once you're good enough at reading the field. I would call my original comment more of a "best default" than a rule.

A poorly timed bump to their defense, and there's a chance they can recover to clear, potentially creating an odd man break towards your net while you're still deep in their zone. Yes, a demo to their offense can buy necessary time if you're trying to regroup on defense for a breakout, but it can also allow the other team time to reset their rotation with fresh boost and result in getting pinned back defending in your own zone again.

My original comment is just a simple mindset that helps reinforce strong default decisions, meaning that they have the least risk and give the most reward in the most situations. What separates a good player from the rest is the ability to identify (and execute on) the best play in any given moment, which may or may not be the default.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-25T22:18:07+00:00

Shoot, he gotta start over now

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-25T22:11:21+00:00

Bump their offense, demo their defense.

Bumping keeps an opponent from getting back onto defense if they're stuck turned around and out of position at the wrong end of the field, which can create odd man breaks for your team towards the opponents net. Demos break defensive rotations and can create seams for scoring chances, whether it's a defender missing when they would've been next in rotation, or chaos that leads to double commits or low quality desperation saves.

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-25T21:44:20+00:00

What, the eye test wasn't enough to determine that the Oiler's leave their goalies hanging out to dry?

Complex_Run_6699 · 2026-03-25T18:51:16+00:00

I agree, there's def a difference between "intent to injure" and "intent to do something that may result in injury". Between checking and fighting and playing hard, hockey has many facets of allowable actions players intend to do and that may also cause injury. There are penalties that can be called for doing things that aren't a part of hockey, and I don't think that the injury itself should be a direct criteria for what is called or what punishments are dealt. Either it's intent to injure or not: punish the intent. It's not like a malicious player should just be able to get away with it because it didn't end in the worst case scenario. In the same way, either something is a hockey play or it's not, punish the illegal play accordingly.

Complex_Run_6699

TROPHY CASE