Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Pointing
In football, whether American or Canadian and even university, we always see the center player and sometimes the quarterback pointing at someone. Why ? And who is it for? Are we targeting a specific player?
Gilles Guèvremont
Response from Nicholas Richard:
When the quarterback and center player point to an opponent, it is simply to alert their teammates to watch or counter that player. For example, it often happens that the quarterback points to an opposing linebacker or cornerback to tell his teammates that according to the defensive scheme, this player should either come in to put pressure or step back to block the pass or the run. . Ultimately, this is just a warning signal. That’s why quarterbacks like Tom Brady were against revamping the numbers rule. Previously in the NFL, each position had assigned numbers. For example, linebackers had to wear a number between 40 and 59 and between 90 and 99, so they could be identified by opposing teams. However, according to the new regulations, they can wear all numbers, except those between 60 and 89.
Does it count?
PHOTO DANNY WILD, USA TODAY SPORTS
Nikita Kucherov congratulates Steven Stamkos who just scored a power play goal against the New York Rangers on October 11.
When the teams exchange minor penalties, it happens that one of them benefits from barely a few seconds on the power play. Unless I am mistaken, these few moments will be counted as a power play and the team may be credited with a 0 for 1 if they do not score. Isn’t that statistically unfair?
John Dufresne
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
You raise an excellent point. In an official game summary, the performance of special teams does not include time spent on the power play. This is why it may be more interesting, and above all more precise, to look at the actual offensive production of a team with the man advantage, expressed in goals scored per 60 minutes of play. On a small sample , the difference can be considerable. However, over a long season of 82 games, during which each team will play 200 to 300 times on the power play, the statistical anomalies will eventually cancel out — all teams, in short, will benefit from both long and short advantages. digital. This is why we can continue to rely on the percentage of success. The proof: in 2021-2022, the nine best teams were the same for the percentage as well as for the goals scored. Offensive production, however, broke a tie between the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers, who both finished the campaign at 24.4%. The Preds posted a very slight advantage offensively — 9.29 goals per 60 minutes versus the Panthers’ 9.16.
The ceiling
Hello, what are the penalties for teams that exceed the salary cap?
Francois Racine and Martin Pineault
Response from Guillaume Lefrancois:
We have grouped your two questions here, which revolved around the same theme. First, there are two legal ways to exceed the cap: the use of the long-term injured list and the deferral of performance bonuses for one year. This season, the Canadian is spending $1.132 million in bonuses achieved last year, when the team was stuck under the ceiling.
Besides, it is technically impossible to exceed the salary cap once the season begins. There is indeed an office in the NHL called the Central Registry (central registrar, for lack of a better word), which is responsible for validating transactions, players subject to waivers and new contracts signed. So if one of these personnel moves put a team above the salary cap, the central registrar would simply reject the trade and ask the team to submit a lineup that meets the rules.
Uniforms in the NFL
PHOTO RICH STORRY, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Game of October 16 in Miami between the Dolphins and the Minnesota Vikings
Has the NFL changed its uniform policy? Let me explain. The Miami Dolphins were visiting the Jets in New York, and it was the Jets who played white. The Buffalo Bills visited the Dolphins, but it was Miami that was in white (you know the part where Tua had a bad back…). I thought the home team was dressed in their dark uniform and the visiting team was dressed in their predominantly white uniform.
Denis Arbor
Response from Miguel Bujold:
Some teams usually play white at home, unlike the vast majority of teams. This is particularly the case for the Dallas Cowboys and the Dolphins. In the case of the Dolphins, this is especially true in September and due to the weather. Because it’s still a beating summer sun, they prefer to play in white and force their opponents to wear their colored uniform. This is even more true when teams that play in black are passing through Miami, for example the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Las Vegas Raiders. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers often use the same strategy as the Dolphins. In short, visiting teams almost always wear their white jersey, but there are exceptions.
A bit of technology
I would like to know if the NHL plans to integrate certain technologies into the equipment in order to be able to know the speed reached by a player as well as the distance traveled by the latter during a game. Integrating the pucks with a chip indicating the maximum speed and the distance traveled during a match would also be interesting.
Jean-Francois Galarneau
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
It’s already in place! After a bitter failure at the start of the 2020-2021 season – the experiment lasted only six days, because the pucks did not slide well – the technological integration was successful last year. Arenas are now equipped with infrared cameras that receive data from sensors in players’ pucks and jerseys. This allows television networks in particular to produce infographics quickly and easily. This data has also been used by the ESPN network in the development of its faceoff winner predictor. My personal wish is that this data will soon be used to provide some detailed statistics which are, for now, accounted for “by hand”. I also dream that we do without the endless video replays to determine if the puck has crossed the goal line.