It starts from the feet
A professional soccer player uses how many pairs of shoes in a season? Does he pay for his shoes? My boy is in AA and soon AAA, at $350 a pair…
–Gerald Blouin
Response from Katherine Harvey-Pinard:
According to what CF Montreal tells me, players use an average of twenty pairs of shoes per season. However, the number varies from one player to another, in particular because some players have agreements with equipment manufacturers (Adidas, Nike, etc.). “They have a lot of shoes and they have to wear the brand’s latest,” explains CFM’s media relations manager, Arcadio Marcuzzi. It is often part of the contracts. A player like Victor Wanyama can have four different pairs of shoes for soft, hard, wet surfaces and all that. They have two pairs of each kind per match that they can use. »
In the case of players who do not have an agreement – often the youngest, those who have just arrived from the Academy or have been drafted – they must buy their shoes at their own expense. “They have fewer restrictions on what they have to use than those who have brand contracts, but they have to pay,” adds Marcuzzi. Afterwards, the quantity depends on their use. Some prefer to keep them longer, a question of comfort. He points out that players generally find an agreement with a brand after having spent a season or two with the pros.
What color ?
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
In the NHL, since September 2003, teams wear the dark jersey at home and the light jersey away.
Who decides the color of the uniform that the players will wear during a hockey match?
–Serge de Merlis
Response from Katherine Harvey-Pinard:
All teams wear the dark jersey at home and the light jersey away. This rule has been in effect since September 2003.
The changes of trios
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The home team has the privilege or advantage to make the last substitution, except after an icing is denied.
I would like to know how the rule of the last line change works according to the team playing at home in the NHL.
–Jacob Cossette
Response from Simon Drouin:
The answer is somewhat in the question. The home team has the privilege or advantage of making the last substitution. After a stoppage in play, the referee raises his arm to authorize substitutions. The visiting club must comply first, and afterwards the head coach of the home team can adjust as needed. Obviously, this advantage disappears after a disallowed clearance when the offending team must keep the same number on the ice. The head coach of the visiting team must also submit his starting line-up first to allow his opponent to choose his own.
Review the point system in hockey
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, of the Carolina Hurricanes, gives the victory to his team in the shootout on March 7 at the Bell Centre.
Is the NHL considering allowing three points for a gain in regulation time instead of two? It seems to me that the spectacle would be more intense. In addition, there would really be a difference between victories on a regular basis and those acquired in overtime or in a shootout.
– Daniel Racicot
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
Let me tell you from the outset that we are in complete agreement. If defeats are more valuable in the standings when they are suffered in more than 60 minutes, why not devalue the victories acquired in the same way and reward teams capable of closing the books in three periods? However, we do not feel a great appetite on the part of the League on this subject. In an article he wrote last year in The Athletic, Pierre LeBrun recalled that the last real substantive discussion that took place on this subject between the general managers dates back more than 15 years. The idea had been raised before the 2004-2005 lockout and was buried for good in 2007. Argument mentioned by Brian Burke at the time: the gap would widen between the teams and the portrait of the playoffs would be known at Christmas. It’s a good guess. We did the exercise with the overall NHL standings as of December 25, 2022. Under the current system, 36 points already separated the best team from the worst. With a 0-1-2-3 system, this gap increases to 53 points. The standings, however, remain much the same, with 28 of the 32 teams gaining or losing two spots or less. It is therefore fair to believe that the system in place maintains a relatively tight race for longer. Still, as of December 25, 14 of the 16 teams in the playoff roster were the same as March 24. For the “race”, we will go back.
The detail, of kessé?
PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau during the victory of the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final on April 20, 1956
I noted, in several journalists of The Press, frequent use of the expression “do/not do the detail”, or simply “detail”. If I understand the meaning of it (to qualify for the playoffs or not), I am puzzled by its origin and the relevance of its use. No matter how much I consult the dictionaries, nothing points to a coherent explanation. Would you be kind enough to shed some light on my passion for hockey… and the French language?
–Claude Bruneau
Response from Alexander Pratt:
The expression dates from the beginning of the XXe century. In 2014, Ronald King appealed to everyone in The Press, to discover the origin of the term. A reader found this answer, in the Glossary of the French language in French Canada, published in 1930. “Detailing: throwing the dice again when you are goal to goal, when you have brought the same number of points. Play again when you’re goal to goal, set to set. Etymology: in English, to make a tie, it is to be sleeve to sleeve. Then you have to break the tie. Of-tie-er. »