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The jury is out on TV timeouts

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 03/09/17, 5:45PM CST

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Love them or hate them, it all depends on perspective

One of the biggest adjustments for the teams in the state tournament are the extra delays in a game brought about by television time outs.

Some coaches love them. Others aren’t so sure.

Count Lakeville South coach A.J. Bucchino among the former. With the Cougars and St. Thomas Academy knotted up 1-1 at about the 5 minute mark of the second period, Bucchino used a TV timeout to draw up a play for the ensuing faceoff. It worked when Jack Olsen scored off the draw, flicking a shot through a tangle of legs that St. Thomas Academy goalie Atticus Kelly never saw.

“I love it,” Bucchino said of having time outs for television purposes. “I truly believe that you can talk  before a game, but I’ve learned with kids, in the moment when their mood is there, when their energy is there, they take in more.”

Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner, a veteran state tournament coach, see things a little differently.

“I know we have to have them. I get it,” he said. “But you get flow and line changes, it’s a detriment sometimes. Put it this way: If we win, we love them. If we don’t, not so much.”

Hill-Murray defenseman Derick Breezee agreed.

"It's rough sometimes because you're flowing and then you have to stop to take a timeout," he said. "But then, it helps sometimes to come together and regroup. It's something I've never done before."