The Hockey News: Ryan Kennedy's blog: THN.com Blog: Big bodies finding new home on power play

THN.com Blog: Big bodies finding new home on power play

When he's not throwing punches with players like Nashville's Triston Grant, Oilers big man Zack Stortini can be found in front of the net on the Edmonton power play. (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)

Ryan Kennedy
2009-10-14 11:50:00

You know you’ve defined a niche when people start to think of you when that position is mentioned. And while Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom probably isn’t looking for those type of accolades, there’s no doubt the strategy of parking a big dude in front of the net on the power play can be referred to as the Homer Effect in his honor.

The biggest beneficiary of this trend has been Chicago’s Dustin Byfuglien, who became a household name (albeit one mangled by most people) during the Stanley Cup playoffs last year when he became Roberto Luongo’s least favorite Hawk.

Now let the record show Byfuglien scored just three goals in those 17 post-season games, but he wreaked enough havoc in front of the net to distract the Flames and Canucks from offensive guns such as Patrick Kane, Martin Havlat and Jonathan Toews.

This season, the Homer Effect is spreading even wider. In a 5-1 romp over Nashville Monday, Edmonton planted 6-foot-3, 228-pound enforcer Zack Stortini in front of Pekka Rinne on an early power play and Stortini buried one. Nary a Preds defender was near him. Did they not want to get punched in the head, or did they just assume Stortini had hands of stone? Big Zack had the answer later in the game when he scored his second of the contest on a swooping rush.

St. Louis has also experimented with a big man in front, using fourth-liner Brad Winchester on the power play. Winchester stands 6-foot-5 and had five goals on the man advantage last year, so obviously there’s something there. Buffalo even deposited giant 6-foot-8 rookie D-man Tyler Myers in front of Detroit’s net Tuesday night.

So the next time your team trots out an unorthodox fifth on the power play, take note of where he goes – chances are it’s right in front, where all the action is.

TURF WAR
I was talking to a friend at a party on the weekend about NHL geography and we came across a good challenge for you, the avid reader.

Where, precisely, are the borders between different fan bases? Here in southern Ontario, the influence of the Toronto Maple Leafs generally snakes around Lake Ontario until you hit St. Catharines; then the populace switches allegiance to the Buffalo Sabres (it’s not iron-clad, but I think you see where I’m going with this). If you go southwest, Leafs Nation ends around Chatham, Ont., then the area goes more for the Detroit Red Wings.

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Similarly, we all know that Manhattan is Rangers turf, while Long Island belongs to the John Tavares Crew.

But what about other locales? Red Deer, Alta., is halfway between Edmonton and Calgary, so who do the locals cheer for besides the hometown junior Rebels? How does a denizen of Harrisburg, Pa., swing? Flyers or Penguins?

There are a lot of concentrated fan bases in the NHL, especially in the northeast, but I never thought of where the lines are crossed before. If you’ve got knowledge of where the NHL’s psycho-geographical borders lie for any particular teams, hit the comment section below.

Ryan Kennedy is a writer and copy editor for The Hockey News magazine, the co-author of the book Hockey's Young Guns and a regular contributor to THN.com. His blog will appear regularly throughout the off-season, his column - The Straight Edge - on Fridays, and his prospect feature - The Hot List - on Tuesdays.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

COMMENTS (9)

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therevbw Posted
(2009-10-17 15:38:39)

I've noticed that stores in Red Deer carry a 50/50 mix of Flames and Oilers gear, same goes for the Stampeders and Eskimos. So, I'm guessing Red Deer is pretty evenely split. Or another way to look at it is the smart ones cheer for the Flames and Stamps, and the...um...less smart ones cheer for the Oilers and Eskimos.

krokus Posted
(2009-10-16 19:26:44)

I grew up in between Buffalo and Rochester and that part of NY was ovbiously Sabre country. I always assumed that the parts of Ontario south of Saint Catherines were loyal to Toronto first and Sabres second. The NY part seems to extend out towards Syracuse, and all parts south towards Jamestown but not sure beyond that. I was always curious as to who the people in Erie PA were fans of, and that part of Northwestern PA. My guess is Pittsburgh, but it's still close to Buffalo.

landersm2 Posted
(2009-10-16 09:50:21)

I am also a native from Binghamton and have to agree with slowdraw, partially. I believe there is a larger number of Sabres fans in the area. My premise for the argument is the fact that no matter what is scheduled on MSG or MSG Plus, the Sabres game will trump it and be on T.V. So when it comes to the Bingo area 1-Sabres, 2-Rangers, 3-Senators(Ottawa), and then a few Islander fans(Like my self) and some bandwagoners with the penguins. Very few Devil fans, dont understand why but it is certainly a rarity.

slowdraw Posted
(2009-10-14 19:18:44)

I'm from the Binghamton area of Upstate New York, which is actually an interesting microcosm of hockey fandom. There are a large number of Rangers fans, which makes sense as we used to have the Binghamton Rangers before they moved to Hartford. There are also some Buffalo fans, the farther west and north you go, the more Sabre's fans. And recently there have been a very small number of Senator fans stemming from the arrival of the Binghamton Senators (or b-sens as they are lovingly known).

waltersobchak Posted
(2009-10-14 19:04:05)

Here in Connecticut, we are famous for our New York/Boston split. While it is more noted for the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, the Rangers/Bruins split roughly follows it, and New Haven is pretty much the dividing point between the two fanbases. The Whalers managed to carve out a niche around Hartford and Springfield, Mass, and the Islanders have a few fans down in Fairfield County (their farm club is in Bridgeport) but it's pretty much all Rangers/Bruins.

hockeybarn Posted
(2009-10-14 15:12:12)

Interesting question Ryan. I live about 60 miles from Harrisburg, Pa. Harrisburg is probably the dividing line. East of the burg more Flyers fans, west more Pens fans. I would have to say the ratio in Harrisburg itself slightly leans Pittsburgh, but not by much. Penn State is crazy when there is a Flyers/Pens playoff series. When Philly scores, half the town comes out to shout down the Pens fans, and vice versa. Great rivalry and five more exciting games shaping up for this season.

dk7937 Posted
(2009-10-14 13:57:42)

Heres how it goes NY as far as sports go.There are two groups of sports fans in the Long island ,NYC area..Mets, Jets and Islanders all have the same fans., with the other group being Yankees, Giants, and Rangers. Location doesnt really matter as much.

ibleedblue Posted
(2009-10-14 13:56:58)

I'm from the St. Catherines area(Welland) and I can tell you there aren't many Sabres fans this side of the border. Don't get me wrong, we like Buffalo but that is because we've had the majority of our NHL experiences there(I paid $800 for 2 Leafs tickets last year). Many people are like me, who put Buffalo in that number 2 spot behind the Leafs or Montreal(Welland is considered bilingual).

thebutcher40 Posted
(2009-10-14 13:23:53)

Whoa! Ryan, being from Windsor, I can tell you we're 40% Toronto, 40% Detroit and 20% Hab, not all Detroit or Majority Detroit. There's three types of people in Windsor, people who don't like hockey, people who like the Red Wings, and people who hate them with an undying passion. Seeing as I'm the latter, It's a little hurtful to paint us all with the stinking red and white of "Hockeytown". For Shame!