Quoting: Dahlin_On_Me
I don’t want to get into a thing, maybe some players struggle on the opposite side and that’s fine no judgement but other players do and actually prefer it.
If you seen the TV interview with Don G last night he almost said verbatim what I was explaining with LH/RH D. Not saying Granato is the world’s greatest hockey expert but he has spent a lifetime playing and learning hockey and is a Professional. I think he knows what he’s talking about.
anyone who has ever played hockey at any organizational level can tell you playing your side matters. Everything I have stated above is true.
Most people who play their off hands don't even play a legit defensive position. They play center field.
They do this to make their passes shorter both receiving and sending, as it's hard to backhand pass all over the ice, especially across the whole blueline when defenders want to jump the pass.
Mark Streit is a perfect example of that. A lefty that played RD. But it was never really RD it was center field.
Center field sucks for the offense big time, as it cuts your ice in half.
So I don't really care what some TV host says. I can tell you from playing at an organizational level of hockey, it matters.
It's much harder to backhand things across the ice, or get a pass on the back of your stick. It also sucks playing with a straight as possible blade to decrease the bow on the outside of the stick.
Which is why almost every player you see today has a curve in their blade on any level of hockey.
You either have to switch your stick and grip, which means you're playing on your weak grip, or play with a stick facing the wall.
While people do that in organizations where they don't have the bodies to find people, in more complex levels of hockey they don't have that issue.