Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 3.3

www.afootinthecrease.com

Five preseason games down, still three to go, the start of the regular season still a week away. Every year it seems the preseason takes less and less time to become monotonous as fans all over North America fain enthusiasm during exhibition “friendlys” while they desperately count down the days until meaningful hockey. Playing eight or nine preseason games is simply unnecessary. All it does is give owners a license to print money, as most teams force their season ticket holders to purchase the preseason package by including those games in the overall price.

In the first half of the preseason, the majority of veteran roster players are used sparingly as teams dress what will in a few weeks resemble a predominantly AHL lineup. When established players do get in the lineup, their pace and interest is hardly at the level expected of them during the regular season but honestly, how can you blame them? What is the purpose of going all out in exhibition game one taking risks that could lead to a prolonged injury, all the while having to watch out for some hot shot youngster looking to get noticed by taking a run at you. The quality of play in these games suffers accordingly.

Cutting the number of meaningless games down to, say five, would still give coaching staffs three games to get a look at young players and to fine tune their lineup in the final two contests. Veteran players, if they show up to camp in shape, should not need more than two or three games to get back in their groove. Also spending a few extra days at the beginning of camp practicing and getting back to NHL speed and used to the day to day wear and tear on the body would likely help to mitigate injuries that we see so frequently during the preseason. Why do you think so many players have groin injuries? Too many games too fast. October 3rd can’t come soon enough! But hey, all that was just rigamarole.