We All Need the Occasional Break

I spend a lot of my life around hockey.

My day job is in hockey, my portfolio-building media work is primarily in hockey, I volunteer with special hockey (although not nearly as often as I'd like), and I periodically bemoan the fact that I need to start working games as an on-ice official more regularly.  You could say I don't get out much.

As a result, I try to make a point of doing *something* non-hockey every once in a while to give my mind a break.  Well, I intend to.  It doesn't always happen as often as I'd like.  But after Friday night's game, I stopped at the theater next to Verizon Center and saw The Hunger Games.  I don't expect the film will win an Oscar, but it was definitely worth my $12 for the mental vacation.

Attempting to Catch Up On Life (AHL, ECHL, Personal)

Every so often, I start losing time in my life.  It drives me nuts.

Drop a week here, skip a day there - it always adds up faster than it should.  It's something I've struggled with since my second & third concussions, and it gets worse when I work a 7-day schedule.  Then, the days really blur together.  14 days without a breather of any kind didn't do great things to my sanity, I'll admit that.  A lot has gone on in the 6 weeks since I've poked my head out of the sand here on RTC, and most of it has been good.

I'm well aware that I've missed my shot at going into detail regarding many of the events in the recent period, so instead I'll sum things up below the jump.  Contemporary thoughts will be forthcoming separately.

A Few Much Less Serious Thoughts

To balance out my somewhat wandering ramble about rule standardization, discretionary enforcement, and the drawbacks of a volunteer organization, I present a brief roundup of my last few weeks.  Relevant publication links included.

A Thought on the Minnesota Rule Changes

In fallout to the injuries suffered by Jack Jablonski, the MSHSL (the league governing the game where the incident occurred) made several rule changes - minors have become mandatory majors for boarding, checking from behind, and head contact.  Along with the changes, several parties involved with the change have called out USA Hockey and suggested the changes should be implemented on a national level.

Note: After more research than I'd honestly intended to put into an off-the-cuff thoughts post, I still am unable to determine whether MSHSL hockey games are run via the USA Hockey rulebook or have a completely separate set of legislation (or USA Hockey + Supplement, which is how many leagues handle these things).  Given the enforcement standards cited in news articles relating to the rule change, the implication is that they operate independently of USA Hockey while many of their players maintain dual-affiliation.  Under USA Hockey's current rulebook, Checking from Behind is EITHER a 2 & 10 (minor plus misconduct) or a 5 & Game (major + game misconduct).  A Match Penalty can also be assessed.  It is not "only" a 2 & 10.

The intention behind the changes is good, and it's exactly the kind of reactionary legislation one might expect in the current situation.  "Someone got hurt because we left this on the table as an optional minor, or we had a gap in our rules, so let's make it clear to coaches and players that the act isn't worth the risk.  If we change the cost/benefit ratio, players will stop doing it."

The problem is that it's not going to work, at least not the way it's intended to, and those making noises in USA Hockey's direction seem to be missing the point that the USA Hockey system is designed to allow referees discretionary authority while still building in the stronger punishments.

I Feel Like We've Had This Discussion Before...

One of the biggest problems I run into with self-motivated online publication is juggling a few too many balls, because the minute that something I owe someone else comes due, my own for-fun projects go out the window.  While RTC isn't exactly for fun, it's also not published on a deadline for the people who provide my credentials (or related to my paycheck), so it drops down the list like a stone.

I apologize for that - not for the priority allocation, but for having been naive enough to try to set timetables when I was still unsure how many things I was juggling in my life.  That's calmed down, and I know what the next year and change is likely to bring, so I'm in a much better place to address it now.

Monthly Link Dump: Up & At 'Em in Hershey

For the record, home renovation kills way more of your life than you ever think it will.  I cannot put into words how happy I am to have a working washroom again.

In more interesting news, I just concluded my first month of minors coverage with Capitals Outsider.  For geographical reasons, that means I'm spending quite a bit of time up in Hershey (and following the Stingrays at a distance).

Obligatory Monthly Link-dump:

Getting Into the Spirit

Happy Hockey Season, Folks!  It's been (almost exactly) a month since my last post over here.

It's a really good thing that a solid portion of the content over here to date is just me thinking aloud and/or posting data for my own edification, or I might worry about my pageviews.  That will be changing a bit with this fall, regular posts and less abstract rambling, but I'll save the off-the-wall flash for Caps Outsider.