DeBoers system

[RickyHP]

Why does it seem like teams are having trouble matching/figuring out his system? Nashville was close.

Do you think a team like chicago could have had their way with us? How about a speedy team like the penguins?

Im bored and have been doing a lot of reading on prior cup champions and their system strategy. Looking for an interesting discussion to read.

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[spintheblackcircle]

Go through our forwards. Is there a single one where you say, "he's not good defensively"? And on defense, while we give Dillon/Polak a hard time, that's a REALLY good 3rd pairing. They're just deep and the forwards can play multiple styles.

 

[RickyHP]

Go through our forwards. Is there a single one where you say, "he's not good defensively"? And on defense, while we give Dillon/Polak a hard time, that's a REALLY good 3rd pairing. They're just deep and the forwards can play multiple styles.

our board game also reminds me of chicago in 2010 when we played them. Couldnt for the life of us get to the middle, always on the outside

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Go through our forwards. Is there a single one where you say, "he's not good defensively"? And on defense, while we give Dillon/Polak a hard time, that's a REALLY good 3rd pairing. They're just deep and the forwards can play multiple styles.

Unlike us most teams do not roll 4 lines. Or play their 3rd pairings as much. Earlier in the playoffs other teams were able to take advantage of the matchups against our bottom-6 F and bottom D pairing. However, as the playoffs have progressed other teams have definitely slowed down. That has helped Dillon/Polak not get as exposed as they were earlier in the playoffs.

Also, they seem to be finally getting some chemistry together. Easy to forget but Polak was a TDL acquisition.

 

[Barrie22]

Unlike us most teams do not roll 4 lines. Or play their 3rd pairings as much. Earlier in the playoffs other teams were able to take advantage of the matchups against our bottom-6 F and bottom D pairing. However, as the playoffs have progressed other teams have definitely slowed down. That has helped Dillon/Polak not get as exposed as they were earlier in the playoffs.

Also, they seem to be finally getting some chemistry together. Easy to forget but Polak was a TDL acquisition.

And dillon was just coming back from a lengthy injury.

 

[do0glas]

Certainly something to be said for our system. We play defense like a five man pk. Lots of reads, filling gaps, and our manning the puck carrier when necessary.

But in combination with that is deboers ability to play any of our lines against anyone else. His system allows for that but Mike briwn, Adam burish, and guys like that probably couldn't execute defensively. So when you have a system with players that can execute no matter which line, opposing coaches have no mismatches to exploit.

I honestly can say that the difference defensively from the jumbo line to the zubrus line is negligible.

Any system can be beaten, but I don't think Nashville beat our system. It was their crowd, us getting emotional and letting up in our zone. Jones had his worst series as well.

 

[chris39bong]

Why does it seem like teams are having trouble matching/figuring out his system? Nashville was close.

Do you think a team like chicago could have had their way with us? How about a speedy team like the penguins?

Im bored and have been doing a lot of reading on prior cup champions and their system strategy. Looking for an interesting discussion to read.

I think the system DeBoer installed isn't all that different from McLellan. The forwards are a tad more aggressive forechecking at times. However, that forecheck is reliant on the skaters having energy. There are two things that I believe the Sharks do extremely well:

1. The Sharks defense is aggressive holding the puck in the zone, often stepping up along the boards to block a clearing attempt because they know the forwards have their back if the puck sneaks by. This system was intalled by McLellan. The Sharks D has been doing this effectively for a number of years. Combine that with a deep group of forwards that have the hockey IQ and speed to forecheck aggressively, and you end up forcing the other team into turnovers and creating scoring chances. This also allows the Sharks to save energy and not have to play a 200 ft game. However, if the opposing team has a talented D corps that is able to skate or pass the puck out of danger and beat the forecheck, then the Sharks skaters can get worn out and not forecheck as aggressively as the game wears on. Having a puckhandling goalie like Rinne or Smith also hurts the Sharks forecheck and eliminates their possession advantage.

2. As good as the Sharks are maintaining offensive zone time, they're also above average exiting their own zone. The top-4 are very efficient and effective not only defending, but transitioning back to offense. This is an area that has grown increasingly important in today's NHL. While Dillon and Polak are solid defensively, they still struggle at times (Polak esp) exiting the zone with possession of the puck. And the Shark teams as a whole for the past decade haven't been overly effective either. Hannan, Wallin, Murray, Stuart, Irwin, and now Polak are a handful of guys that struggled with outlet passes and/or turned the puck over under pressure. Instead of a controlled breakout, too often those players were responsible for getting hemmed in or clearing the puck but giving possession right back to the other team. That eventually will lead to goals against. Even if no goals are given up, it still forces the forwards to expend energy in their zone instead of on the attack. This year's defensive unit is probably the best since 2010 at controlled zone exits. I'm going by the eyeball test, haven't bothered to look up any stats to validate.

Now, the Sharks being good in area #1 above is especially effective against a heavy, north/south team like the Kings and Blues. Especially against the Kings who had a few pylons on defense this year. Being good in area #2, also helps eliminate the primary strength of the same Kings and Blues teams. In addition to the style of play DeBoer coaches, the Sharks also have the horses to implement it. Burns and Martin helped the defense greatly. The depth from players like Ward, Donskoi, Tierney, and even Spaling and Karlsson enables the forwards to be more aggressive and sustain their energy for a full game rather than just in spurts.

However, the Predators gave the Sharks fits because outside of their bottom pairing which played limited minutes, the top-4 defenders and Rinne eliminated the Sharks ability to effectively forecheck, cycle, and possess the puck. For large stretches of that series, the Predators defense carried the play from one end of the ice to the other. That 200 ft game tired many SJ skaters and as a result, the Predators looked a step quicker at times and used that edge to maintain offensive zone pressure. Additionally, whether it was purely team speed and the ability of a rare talent like Josi, or just flat out the result of tiring the Sharks, the Predators were able to break down the Sharks structured defense. There were multiple times that Josi, Ellis, Ekholm would beat their defender and force the next closest Shark player to break from their man and cover. This left guys wide open, and although mostly kept out of high danger areas, the Preds superior skating ability enabled them to keep possession in the Sharks zone. Even if the Sharks stole the puck and exiting the zone with possession, half the skaters were too tired to counterattack and instead went off for a change.

Watching this playoffs makes me think SJ got extremely lucky to draw LA and STL. The Ducks play a similar style but have better puckhandlers on the backend. The would have been a much stiffer competition than LA or STL, I think. The Sharks are only up 2-1, but it looks like Hitch is switching goalies. Allen plays the puck better than Elliot so I'm curious if the main reason for the switch was to try to contain the Sharks forecheck. Game 4 will be very interesting to watch and see how much of an impact that has on the possession battle. The Sharks kept saying after the losses in the Predators series that they needed to do a better jump dumping the puck into areas Rinne couldn't play it. Hopefully that lesson was learned and will be implemented tomorrow.

 

[Led Zappa]

The single biggest change is DeBoer rolling a four lines. You can say that we have the depth to do it, but DeBoer kept doing it even when it led to losses. He stuck with it. It's paying off. It clearly payed off in the Pred's series. DeBoer wasn't worried losing game 6 and it paid of in Game 7. The Pred's top players were so tired they could barely get their shots on net and they're passing was way off.

I saw the same thing last night. The Blues may have more left in the tank, but so did the Pred's in game six, but they blew they're reserves and over this series I expect the same. Even if we lose tomorrow.