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Panthers v Phoenix - The GM's view

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Phoenix General Manager Andy Costigan reflects after the Nottingham v Manchester game on 16th September 2006.

No doubt after Saturday night all the talk is about zero tolerance and the way the officials are calling it.
 
Without a doubt, we deserved some of the penalties we took against the Panthers but, in my opinion, there were also some - shall we say - debatable decisions.
Inevitably, in a high-paced, contact sport such as ours, there will be decisions that we question, don't like, and maybe even argue over - talking points is what you could politely call them and I have to be careful of what I say as it is still early in the season and everyone is still trying to come to terms with ZT.
 
Before the season started, the officials and team coaches met to discuss the way the games would now be called and with everyone accepting that it may take some time for the players and officials to make the adjustment, a further meeting is planned to review the early weeks. Having talked with several others clubs, that follow-up meeting probably can't come soon enough as some of the penalty counts have been higher than expected.
 
From the stands ZT, at first sight, doesn't appear quite as appealing as the ZT we may have seen in the NHL last season - and it was novel to hear Panthers fans booing some of the calls against us last Saturday as obviously they too wanted to see some more 5 on 5 hockey as against the seemingly non-stop powerplay/penalty kill special teams. And a consequence of the increased need for special teams could have a detrimental effect on ice time for the younger, less expereinced but keen-as-mustard players as coaches inevitably call upon their more experienced players for such situations.
 
On a positive note, because we need to try and balance the reflections, I thought our team worked extremely hard on Saturday and demonstrated extra-ordinary powers of concentration in so many short-handed situations and this bodes well for the rest of the season. Because of the way the game went, we probably didn't see as much of our offensive capabilites as we'd all have liked but, having said that, on the defensive play alone, I felt we deserved a point from the game and judging from the reactions of many of the Panthers fans in the vicinity of our bench, so did an awful lot of them. Nottingham gave us a tremendous welcome and reception, and that was a classy act on their behalf.
 
Next weekend, it's a back-to-back, away and home series against the Steelers, and once again, your support for the team in both games can play a massive part in what promises to be a great weekend.
 
Enjoy the week and see you all in Sheffield next Saturday and especially in Deeside next Sunday.
 
Andy C.