For the last five years, Minnesota State has been the WCHA champions — when it comes to penalty minutes.
Not exactly something to be proud of.
Last season, the Mavericks spent almost three more minutes per game in the penalty box than any other team in the conference.
But Mavs head coach Troy Jutting has a plan he hopes will cut down on his team’s penchant for taking bad penalties.
Numerous times over the years, Jutting has said he doesn’t mind penalties that happen when a guy is trying.
It’s the penalties that come at critical times of games — infractions that tend to cost the Mavericks a chance to win games.
“In a couple instances they’ve been selfish,” Jutting said. “ In a couple instances, they’ve been stupid.”
That’s why Jutting has devised a plan he hopes will deter the Mavericks from taking untimely penalties.
Commit them, and find yourself watching the next game from the stands.
It’s why Nick Canzanello was held out of the line-up Saturday at Michigan Tech. It’s why Blake Friesen and Matt Tyree will watch Friday’s game against Anchorage.
Senior captain Joel Hanson thinks the policy will help.
“I think we need to learn early,” Hanson said. “In the past we have had a lot of problems taking penalties. It really kills you, especially in this league. There are so many talented players and great power plays.
“I think it’s good we’re learning early so it doesn’t hurt us later on.”
Integrating the policy now, Hanson said, will help the Mavericks’ younger players get in the habit right away as opposed to the middle or end of the season. It will also help foster a difference attitude as those players move through their careers at MSU.
“A lot of these guys are still young and still learning,” Hanson said. “I think if they learn it early, it will be more effective later on.”
Less time in the box also means the Mavericks will spend less time killing penalties — a weakness of the team last season. MSU finished ninth in the WCHA in 2006-07 in penalty kill percentage (81.5 percent). Only St. Cloud State was worse.
Results from the policy may come slow, even Hanson admits it will take some time.
“Guys will play how they’re going to play. They’re going to read and react,” Hanson said.
Enforcing the new rule may prove difficult at times, (Friesen and Tyree — both upperclassmen — will be replaced by a pair of freshmen on Friday) but if it can help reverse his team’s hacking history, Jutting says it needs to be done.
“We need to do a much better job of staying out of the box,” Jutting said.
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11 comments:
Last year's penalty minutes were inflated though. We all remember the brawl with Duluth in which the Mavericks tallied 69 minutes. That vaulted the Mavs to first in the conference for penalty minutes
Friesen is a junior, not a senior.
Perhaps Jutting should show discipline to himself also. He's a complete embarassment to MSUM and the program with the way he carries on during games.
agree
Dan...do you think this is a good idea. I mean what happens if they are playing the Gophers (a team the Mavs usually bring their A team too) and they have 3 starting players on the bench? I like the idea but I mean is this a good thing to do...I really don't know. Is it more beneficial or harmful to the team...probably more beneficial in the long run I guess but maybe more harmful in specific games. I don't know...maybe I am way out of line but those are my thoughts for now I guess.
Thanks for reading, as well as pointing out my error on Friesen... I meant to say upperclassmen and I forgot to edit my stuff. My bad!
As far as this being a good idea, I guess only time will tell. Shane Frederick and I were discussing the merits of this at the arena the other day. For example — Jon Kalinski takes a bad penalty during a critical time of the Friday Gopher game. Do you bench your best offensive player on Saturday? I guess we'll see how serious Jutting is about the policy.
My gut tells me he will stick to it. He has mentioned staying out of the box numerous times over the last couple years, but has never gone to such measures to try and prove a point. I guess we'll see when he is faced with a major contributor is the one in the box...
I think Jutting is an idiot for having this penalty minute rule. These guys are in college and shouldn't have to be benched for getting a penalty it is a part of the game. I hope this benching thing eats Jutting in the ass when he has all his good players on the bench!
Wow...I don't feel like you are a very loyal Maverick fan. The team needs something like this or they will continue making dumb penalties in important games and that is just foolish.
I like Jutting's idea and I like this blog by the way..my first time being on it! I am glad to see this being done I just hope he can stick with it. I have been a Maverick fan for years and I remember games like the one with Duluth where the Maverics were on a penalty kill more often than not. And that kind of hockey gets boring to watch. It's not very exciting always watching your team trying to kill penalties, so hopefully this will knock some sense into the guys heads and they won't take those cheap penalties at costly moments!
agree
Mankato in a brawl, lets not forget the Sioux and Kato game in Grand Forks. I agree Kato got hosed by the refs last year. Lets also not forget the debacle against the Gophers...
I like this idea for now. Nothing else seems to be working. Dicipline is needed early in the season to help set a tone for the younger players. They need to know what's expected of them from game one. This teams not deep enough to continue to play shorthanded. They obviously got the message this weekend, taking 3 of 4 points from Anchorage. Good job Mavs.
I like it for now too! I hope it pays off, because like Joe said nothing has really worked in the past and they aren't deep enough to play short-handed all the time. I do think this is a huge benefit from the team and hope to see them succed this year!!!
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