Get off the ice when the other team has an odd man advantage so that your sub gets the -1 point differential if they score!

I'm sure you know when the opposition has breakaway, 2 on 1 , or 3 on1 etc. when they have a good chance of scoring.

a fat f--k when he keeps you seated during line changes".

determined as well. For instance if you are throwing an extra skater out when your goalie comes off during a delayed penalty most of the time the extra skater is just the next center up. End of game situations may be the same thing and the coach may communicate the time on the clock the goalie will be pulled for an extra attacker. It isn't always the next center up in those situations, although it could be.

usually two fixed units on PP and on PK but if a guy on a PK unit is in the box staff changes that up at the stoppage and communicates it. On the delayed, some coaches just yell out the specific guy they want out there. The G knows the second the arm's in the air to bolt for the bench.

1.) you develop an internal clock. 30-45 seconds and you know it's up. At younger levels though I remember going 1 min to 1:30 for shifts.

2.) Situational awareness. Don't change in your own zone. Don't change while backchecking. This gets tricky in 2nd period when you're further from your bench.

3.) when on the ice, you'd be surprised how easy it is to hear someone yelling from the bench. The boards and glass trap a lot of the sound in, unlike football or basketball.

who pretty much forbid players changing without the staff signalling it. Of course, how would I know - it's easy watching from the blue paint where the only change is always called by the staff and involves a baseball cap.

A shift is often a full sprint while on ice. A player's body communicates to him or her pretty clearly, it's time to get off. Sometimes things get in the way. Defense coverage, an icing call that disallows a switch, some other things. But for the most part it's just a skill one builds. You skate your shift, you get off, you rest three shifts, you skate your shift, you get off.

For those who don't know, Mike Keenan got pissed that Kovalev was stretching his shifts too long...so he gave him what he wanted. He made Kovalev stay on the ice the final 5+ minutes of the period. It backfired though, as he drew 2 penalties and scored a goal.

usually involved hanging out in the right face off circle in the O Zone, regardless of where the puck was. I watched him one night (I think he was on Ottawa at the time) where there was zero chance he needed a shower.

On paper, in terms of career G/A/Pts he is very close to his contemporary and HOFer, Sergei Fedorov. Yet for some reason I always remember him as an underachiever; he could either be the best on the ice, or invisible. Maybe one of the most talented but most inconsistent?

But he made up for it occasionally with plays like this:

he was one of the guys who made some people develop reservations about the attitude/dressing room effect of "Russians". For part of the Great 8's career I heard him referred to as "Kovalev with a Better Shot". (To give Ovie his due he worked and became a solid two-way player after Boudreau got fired.) IMHO Federeov was a better player (on and off the ice) and IIRC had more big years for G and P. As you suggest, the indelible impression Kovie left was "this guy should be better". I have trouble seeing Kovalev lasting with Scotty Bowman the way Federov did and he seemed to always have "issues" in NY, Mtl, Pittsburgh, and Ottawa.

doesn't want it. I recall being near the bench at a game when two guys were coming off on their own and I heard "what the f do you f'g think you're doing?" It's really up to the staff, especially when the bench is shortened or there's a matching contest going on. Scotty Bowman would occasionally mix up lines/pairings so that the guys on the other side couldn't make decisions on their own. And some coaches are control freaks about changes.

It's probably 80/20. 80% of the time El K won't ever see anything overt driving subbing.

lines and pairings are usually set before game/period and the coach calls them out/taps. (UNH's former coach Dick Umile used to whistle - annoying). Often one AC handles the F and one the D. If adjustments are made, that generally gets communicated by the coach. And then there are partials - where a change is called for and the guys on the bench know who (by position) they switch for, even if one or more can't get off the ice because of where the puck is (usually guys on the ice know to signal they're coming off).