GDT: Four Nations Face-Off

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I may speak only for myself but I don't really understand how baseball (of any kind) has any relation to stick handedness... People throw the baseball on their dominant hand, right? And you want the dominant hand control the stick in hockey, not being the "shooting hand"...

People tend to swing a baseball bat with their dominant hand being the one closer to the middle of the bat (the non-dominant hand at the fulcrum).

I started with hockey first so I shoot left and bat left, but most Americans go the other way.
 
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In America most people who are right handed swing baseball bats and golf clubs with their non dominant hand at the end of the bat or the club. Then they pick up a hockey stick and do the same thing. In hockey you want your dominant hand at the end of the stick. A hockey shot is sort of like a tennis backhand. But to most Americans, it is more like a tennis forehand. I raised my kids the right way. Their dominant hand is always on the stick. It meant my kids (especially the one who really took to hockey) struggled with shooting at first compared to their peers (because everyone had played tee ball) but they were much better defenders with the stick.

I would hesitate to say one handedness is the only correct way to go - a disproportionate number of the best shooters are RH shooters.

Though if I had to pick one it would be right hand on top. The analogy I make for using a hockey stick is as a screwdriver - the twisting motion is the basis of proper stickhandling. All of that twisting comes from the top hand, while the bottom hand should be loose and able to move up and down freely.

Have you tried the toilet paper roll trick for stickhandling training? It gets kids to stop gripping and lugging with the bottom hand and starting twisting from the top.

Edit: I will add that I don't think tennis backhand is the right analogy - in hockey when a LH shooter is shooting the puck, their top hand is acting as more of the fulcrum while the lower hand does the sweep. It's closer to the tennis forehand. But the hand placement isn't primarily about shooting, it's more about handling the puck.
 
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I love (and have missed) seeing the big boys play in international competition. After one period last night, I thought that game was going to be a snoozer, but it turned out to be quite fun. And I haven't had an excuse to wear a Team USA hockey jersey on a gameday for a long time.
 
In America most people who are right handed swing baseball bats and golf clubs with their non dominant hand at the end of the bat or the club. Then they pick up a hockey stick and do the same thing. In hockey you want your dominant hand at the end of the stick. A hockey shot is sort of like a tennis backhand. But to most Americans, it is more like a tennis forehand. I raised my kids the right way. Their dominant hand is always on the stick. It meant my kids (especially the one who really took to hockey) struggled with shooting at first compared to their peers (because everyone had played tee ball) but they were much better defenders with the stick.

I've been a hockey fan since 2000, played for a number of years there in the middle (nothing serious, adult beer league stuff), and I had no idea. :laugh:
 
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Aaaah swinging the bat. Yeah in Finland it's the same, the dominant hand is closer to the middle of the bat. Okay that makes some sense now. Yeah swinging the bat and some basic local baseball is practiced at every school here unless things have changed in recent years.

Looking forward to the game. Normally I'd just hope we don't get dominated completely, but heck, we got some players here too. Not sure if our defense is up to snuff, but offense should be fun. Hope it's a good game like the first one!
 
I started with hockey first so I shoot left and bat left, but most Americans go the other way.

Aaaah swinging the bat. Yeah in Finland it's the same, the dominant hand is closer to the middle of the bat. Okay that makes some sense now. Yeah swinging the bat and some basic local baseball is practiced at every school here unless things have changed in recent years.

Canada has produced a couple of great left-handed batting baseball players who threw right — Larry Walker and Joey Votto. I always wondered if they started in hockey.
 
Werenski with a good diffusing of the Rantanen steal there. Quiet and effective on the national team too.

Not as explosive of a game as the Canada-Sweden game but still fairly good and tight. Goalies have stepped up.
 
Don't miss that. Along with camping on that wing on the power play. Everyone knows what is coming. I've said it many times before. If I can guarantee any player that will never win a Stanley Cup, it is Laine.
He might not even be in the NHL after he turns 30 or so.

He's a one trick pony whose trick isn't so tricky anymore.
 
Laine had two terrible turnovers on a 4 on 3 advantage:laugh:
Two mistakes in the whole game, he played very well and made some very good defensive saves, played pretty good forechecking.
And stop saying that he is a one trick pony. He played 5v5 for us. But you happily mention his every mistake, while you have overlooked others' mistakes many times. Say outright that you hate him and always have hated him, it will at least be sincere.

But I feel like Rantanen without MacKinnon is a completely different player.
 
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Werenski is playing very well. It's not just about assists and offensive play, but notice how many great defensive saves he made.

2 even strength goals in 28 games. He's a one dimensional player. But he's a multi dimensional head case.
We're talking about a player who hasn't played in a very long time, was severely depressed, didn't have quality preseason preparation (specifically skating), and injured his knee early in the season, so it didn't take much for him to not play at all.

But somehow you forgot about his play in Columbus. Btw, he was already having mental problems at that time. And I guarantee ever psychiatrist and neurologist would tell you a lot of things about that, especially if mental illness directly impairs the brain.
 


Pretty cool version since Team USA got boos in Montreal when our National Anthem was played. Team USA!!

 
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Werenski, who has received a ton of criticism here over the years as the pp qb, was a better pp qb for the USA team than Fox.

Assist #3


If I recall correctly, that criticism was often specifically predicated on CBJ's nominal primary weapon on the PP being a certain right-shot Finnish winger in the left face-off circle.
 
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