Recently, Flyers coach John Tortorella made it known that he had instituted a ban on iPads on the bench. The devices were removed. This brought about a lot of chuckles and theories,….and of course many people saying toward Torts is so old school, etc.

I was kind of surprised by the reaction out there, because yes, of course technology is something that has helped the game and the teaching of the game, and there is a place for them…However, I also strongly do get the point that iPads bring players out of the moment. Especially when they just come off their own shift and are handed one each time…

And I heard one of my favorite analyst/people Dave Poulin discussing this on XM today. Dave reiterated that he had heard the same from many others coaches. They were probably applauding Torts for brewing the first to just come right out publicly and said it.

According to Poulin, when a player immediately watches his last shift he has given the ability to say “see I didn’t do anything wrong on that shift and not be held accountable for what happened on that shift essentially.” This takes him mentally out of the game and more importantly he isn’t talking to his teammates about what they could’ve done differently as a group.

I can see using an iPad if something glaring continues to happen. Perhaps the opposing team isn’t covering the right side well or some player keeps picking up his wrong assignment. But the simply relive your shift to justify the outcome? It’s a big team divider.

Things are going well no one player should EVER say, “well it wasn’t my fault at least.”

You you win as a team and you lose as a team.. It’s that simple. Ninety nine percent of the time you’ll be better off watching what other players are doing wrong or right following your shift, or talking to the guy next to you, then you are just re-living your own shift…..unless something absolutely specific is being noticed by the coaches that they think you might be missing.

Back with the rumors, but what say you?

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