Live blogging: good news, bad news; plus reader feedback

Published 4:12 pm Thursday, October 15, 2009

Everett’s next away game is Saturday at Kelowna, and I’d experimented with live blogging during the Tips’ last away game at Vancouver, so it’s time to give an update on the situation.

First the bad news. The paper hasn’t signed off on purchasing the video feeds from the away games, so I will not be able to watch the away games. That makes live blogging a little difficult.

However, that doesn’t mean there can’t be a live blog, it just means I won’t be able to contribute much. So I’m going to remain in the experimental stage and give it another go Saturday, but without the video, and we’ll see how it goes. I know there were others watching the video feed during the previous live blog, so you all will have to be the blog’s eyes.

Anyway, onto item two. I received an e-mail from Michael Sheehan with several questions. I’ll deal with those one at a time:

1) Michael: I was wondering how soon you get the forward lines and D-pairings on game day. I am always interested in order to do homework for the visiting team.

Nick: Usually I get the lines somewhere between a half hour and an hour before the opening faceoff. As I’m sure many of you have noticed, I’ve begun posting those before the game starts. They’re up as soon as I get them, so I’m afraid there’s no getting them to you any earlier.

2) Michael: Something I was curious about on Sunday was Abney playing on the 4th line, and got limited ice time (at least in the first two periods). I wonder if it is a dog-house situation.

Nick: The fact Cameron Abney lined up with Shane Harper and Chris Langkow on Wednesday night pretty much answers that question. Even in earlier games Abney would begin the game on the fourth line, but as often as not would finish it on a higher line. So I don’t think he’s been in the doghouse.

3) Michael: I wonder, too, if Hartburg has finally learned to keep the kid line together!

Nick: It certainly worked Wednesday. If Kellan Tochkin Byron Froese and Tyler Maxwell continue to play the way they did in the first period against Prince Albert, I’m sure they’ll remain together. But I get the feeling Craig Hartsburg has a quicker trigger finger when it comes to changing lines than his predecessors.

4) Michael: I see some problems with the way Gudas plays … no, not the way he hits. Love him. I think he often gets so focused on the hit, that he takes himself SO far out of position that on several occasions he has been top of the circle or even outside the blue line (!) when the puck is loose in front of his own net. Check out film of the home Vancouver game and the Giants’ tying goal. See the film on the two Portland games. I wonder if he just needs to be reminded. He is a stud if he just learns to pick his spots.

Nick: Radko Gudas is definitely an aggressive player, and that’s one of the consequences for his aggressive play. It’s not an uncommon phenomenon — I remember Mitch Love on occasion being guilty of putting himself out of position to make a hit, too. It’s a delicate line to walk because you don’t want to discourage a player from being aggressive, but you want them to be smart, too. But so far the trade off has worked in Everett’s favor as Gudas is a plus-12 in six games, which isn’t too shabby.