Take Your Eye Off the Puck Quotes

“There is no position in sport as noble as goaltending.” —Vladislav Tretiak, goaltender “The only job worse is a javelin catcher at a track-and-field meet.” —Lorne “Gump” Worsley, goaltender”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“As for those forwards who remain on the ice for too long, we’ll pass the mic to venerable blogger Tyler Dellow: “Being on the ice after a minute is sort of like being in a bar after 1:00 am—there’s no guarantee that something bad will happen, it’s possible that something good will happen, but the odds are slanted heavily in favor of something bad.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“A coach will set up the next three lines after the one that’s on the ice. But then, seeing what the other team puts out on the fly, he’ll tell players at the very last second that it’s their turn to hit the ice, even if they’re not the next line in the rotation. That’s because the opposing coach has done something—put out his top line, put out his bruising fourth line—to influence the line match. For some coaches, this is the perfect system through which to defeat an opponent. For most observers, it’s a handy way to unbalance your players’ ice time to their detriment.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“The Fourth Line—Your home for muckers, meatheads, and misanthropes. This is the “energy line” that features checking pests and brawlers, whose task is to cry havoc, let slip the dogs of war, and collect penalty minutes. But for all the circus music they can orchestrate, a strong fourth line can frequently be an X-factor in a given playoff series. (6-11 minutes of ice time)”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“The aforementioned “active stick”—besides being an essential achievement in the Eddie Olczyk NBC broadcaster drinking game—describes what the defenseman needs to do with his twig when taking on an attacker. It should always be on the ice, always in motion, always seeking to be as close to the shooter’s blade as possible.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“The essential task for a defenseman in his own end is to not allow an offensive player room to create, and to force that player into doing things he doesn’t want to do with the puck.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“Defensive coverage is about anticipation, and offensive effectiveness is essentially the art of surprise.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“Two keys to offensive play: creating chaos and executing on chances.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“The power play is as methodical as even strength is designed to be chaotic.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“And yet the passive scheme he had his team play frustrated opponents so much, the Philadelphia Flyers actually just held the puck and stopped skating in a 2011 game, which the Wall Street Journal called “the worst hockey game ever.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“For years, I’ve proffered the theory that there aren’t “people who don’t like hockey,” but rather people who have yet to let the light of hockey into their hearts. And the best way to bring these heathens to our religion of choice is to get them to one of our frozen temples and watch a game live. But”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“that there aren’t “people who don’t like hockey,” but rather people who have yet to let the light of hockey into their hearts.”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look

“For years, I’ve proffered the theory that there aren’t “people who don’t like hockey,” but rather people who have yet to let the light of hockey into their hearts. And the best way to bring these heathens to our religion of choice is to get them to one of our”
― Greg Wyshynski, Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look