Lineup card issues common, calling teams out for them rare

Errors like the ones that happened Sunday night against Peoria are pretty common among all organizations, according to my sources. When you think about it, how many times does the coach actually write out "Scott McCulloch" during the course of the week? Most of the time, the names are abbreviated or nicknames are used when the coach is writing lineups on the whiteboard. (Scott McCulloch is Smoochie, for example, but I didn't tell you that...)

The point is that this kind of thing happens a lot. The Rivermen, who lost a heartbreaker the night before by allowing 4 goals in 7:34, were just looking for any advantage that they could find over a team that had won five in a row. I do find it interesting that of all the mistakes on the card, they chose to get up in arms about Luke Gazdic. If I were the Rivermen's coach, I would have taken a long look at that card and seen that our top defenseman Maxime Fortunus was spelled Fortunas and made him inelgible. With no disrespect to Gazdic, losing a top-flight defenseman would have had a much more significant effect on the game.

Think of it like the old stick curve issue. Coaches know there are probably players with illegal curves out there, but no one challenges it until the playoffs. It's one of those things that everyone knows is done by every team, but it is rarely called out by the opposing team.

You can bet that GAZDIC will be spelled right on this Friday and Saturday's lineup card, and he will make his presence felt to compensate for Sunday's disqualification. At least, I hope so!

Comments

  1. Tee hee, they really ARE afraid of Gazdic! I bet that makes Luke proud. Speaking of afraid...I don't think I'd go anywhere near McCulloch for a while, Stephen ;)

    All that being said...I bet the coach writes their names more often than I do, and even I would have gotten them right. The guys probably don't care (unless it gets caught, I'm sure Gazdic was pretty pissed to miss a game) but to me it seems...disrespectful.

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  2. And it is nothing but motivation for the Stars EVERY TIME they play Peoria from here on out.

    I can't wait to see how this season series turns out.

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  3. I am so excited for both games this weekend!!! I can't wait to see the Rivermen get whats comin' to 'em.

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