Good stuff, Garth. I had made a mental note at the time to go back to my PVR recording of that game just to watch The Shift, but it turned out to just another good idea that didn’t get followed up. ‘Til now. Well worth a second look at a shift that was literally 5 times as long as the standard 45 seconds.
The fact it was the second period and the long change was a huge factor. I remember writing on the game day thread about how the Oil couldn’t get over centre, which was what prompted me to check the TOI charts. I exaggerated with my Eddie Shore reference, but I’ll bet you’d be hard-pressed to find another shift as long anywhere in the NHL this year. Maybe a shutdown D playing the last 4:00 of a one-goal lead, if and only if there were a couple stoppages. But 225 continuous seconds is absolutely brutal.
Thanks for the comment and for alerting me to this situation, Bruce. You’re right about the second period long shift. That’s something I should have mentioned. Even with that factored in though it’s still, as you say, “absolutely brutal.”
After The Shift was over I was only half watching, but figured that they must have been out there quite a while, so I started skipping back on the PRV in 10 second increments.
“Holy cow, 80 seconds”
“Wow, a full two minutes”
“TWO MINUTES 30 SECONDS?!?”
“WHAT IS GOING ON!?”
“THREE MINUTES!??!”
“HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?!”
One other point about the long change is that for the pressing team it is a Short change, where the forward only has to go to the offensive blueline to get in the gate and his replacement is already flooding the zone, while the D can change on the attacking side of centre. So it’s kind of a double-edged sword in a situation like this, with upshot that the Detroit bench was closer to the action throughout. Thus that rather amazing cycle through the entire line-up! Essentially, Strudwick and Chorney got backgammoned.
Good stuff, Garth. I had made a mental note at the time to go back to my PVR recording of that game just to watch The Shift, but it turned out to just another good idea that didn’t get followed up. ‘Til now. Well worth a second look at a shift that was literally 5 times as long as the standard 45 seconds.
The fact it was the second period and the long change was a huge factor. I remember writing on the game day thread about how the Oil couldn’t get over centre, which was what prompted me to check the TOI charts. I exaggerated with my Eddie Shore reference, but I’ll bet you’d be hard-pressed to find another shift as long anywhere in the NHL this year. Maybe a shutdown D playing the last 4:00 of a one-goal lead, if and only if there were a couple stoppages. But 225 continuous seconds is absolutely brutal.
Thanks for the comment and for alerting me to this situation, Bruce. You’re right about the second period long shift. That’s something I should have mentioned. Even with that factored in though it’s still, as you say, “absolutely brutal.”
After The Shift was over I was only half watching, but figured that they must have been out there quite a while, so I started skipping back on the PRV in 10 second increments.
“Holy cow, 80 seconds”
“Wow, a full two minutes”
“TWO MINUTES 30 SECONDS?!?”
“WHAT IS GOING ON!?”
“THREE MINUTES!??!”
“HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?!”
One other point about the long change is that for the pressing team it is a Short change, where the forward only has to go to the offensive blueline to get in the gate and his replacement is already flooding the zone, while the D can change on the attacking side of centre. So it’s kind of a double-edged sword in a situation like this, with upshot that the Detroit bench was closer to the action throughout. Thus that rather amazing cycle through the entire line-up! Essentially, Strudwick and Chorney got backgammoned.