Thought this might merit a different thread rather than burying it elsewhere in one of the others. Anyway, I have a couple of questions -one tactical, one rules based.
Recently I have been standing on the other side of the rink that I had previously stood, and have therefore been opposite the benches rather than above them. This has led to me paying loads more attention to line-changes than I have before, and I'm quite interested in the tactics behind it all. Now obviously, you have your first line, second line etc, which may or may not feature the same players every night (HC Csikszereda, who I've been following in this way, seem to swap one or two out of the first line and into the second from night to night. There are basically 3 permanent members of the first line.*)
So, what are the tactics and other considerations behind line-changing? Sometimes a line is only on the ice for about 30 seconds before getting switched, other times it is more like a minute and a half. Is the thinking that everyone on the bench needs to be getting on the ice very regularly so they don't stiffen up, or is it that a minute (on average) is about as much action as one player can take at any one time? (It doesn't seem that much, to be honest)
Plus, how often do coaches switch things around, or play games with the line-changing. On Saturday, HC seemed to make a determined effort to play line 1 against SC's line 2 (and obviously vice versa). Do coaches play with this at all - leaving some lines on for longer periods, changing line compositions during the match, etc etc? (Apologies if these are stupid questions)
On the rules, how many players can be suited up in one match? It seems like there are 3 lines that play here, but there is a 4th which get ice time when the game is pretty much over. What's the number of players you can play in a match?
Thanks all
(*Partly this is also related to league rules which state that no more than 5 foreigners (non-Romanians) can be on the bench in any one match - so on any given game two of the 7 they have on the books sit it out)
Recently I have been standing on the other side of the rink that I had previously stood, and have therefore been opposite the benches rather than above them. This has led to me paying loads more attention to line-changes than I have before, and I'm quite interested in the tactics behind it all. Now obviously, you have your first line, second line etc, which may or may not feature the same players every night (HC Csikszereda, who I've been following in this way, seem to swap one or two out of the first line and into the second from night to night. There are basically 3 permanent members of the first line.*)
So, what are the tactics and other considerations behind line-changing? Sometimes a line is only on the ice for about 30 seconds before getting switched, other times it is more like a minute and a half. Is the thinking that everyone on the bench needs to be getting on the ice very regularly so they don't stiffen up, or is it that a minute (on average) is about as much action as one player can take at any one time? (It doesn't seem that much, to be honest)
Plus, how often do coaches switch things around, or play games with the line-changing. On Saturday, HC seemed to make a determined effort to play line 1 against SC's line 2 (and obviously vice versa). Do coaches play with this at all - leaving some lines on for longer periods, changing line compositions during the match, etc etc? (Apologies if these are stupid questions)
On the rules, how many players can be suited up in one match? It seems like there are 3 lines that play here, but there is a 4th which get ice time when the game is pretty much over. What's the number of players you can play in a match?
Thanks all
(*Partly this is also related to league rules which state that no more than 5 foreigners (non-Romanians) can be on the bench in any one match - so on any given game two of the 7 they have on the books sit it out)
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