FirstRowUpperDeck
Registered User
Looking for ideas to improve Stars behind the basics (injuries, etc.) of what went wrong. Here are my two cents:
As the season went on, Stars PP slipped from a puck moving team to one that stands around, as highlighted by the nice looking power plays of BOS and PIT in late games. Probably not coincidentally, their numbers started slipping. And it seems like every year for the last ten, the same thing has happened under different coaches, no? Why is it they forget to move the puck on the PP?
Clearing the zone...okay, that is a basic, but see below.
Slow to do something with the puck (no rule says you have to read the label before shooting it or passing it, is there?) Benn scored last night by shooting it in one motion. Most of the missed ops were them taking too long to decide to shoot. They have been a tick slow for a good while now, and shooting lanes close, goalies get in position. Seguin said something about Hitch preaching puck possession and thinking before passing, and wondering if that is the root cause of the indecision? Combine no movement on the PP with slow to shoot, and you can see why we are ineffective. Same indecision is leading to problems clearing the puck.
Some talk about bad luck late in periods, but have seen this show before. In the third period, good teams turn it on, Stars can't match. Have seen this in the NHL over the 25 years the Stars have been here. No third gear on this team. Sure, they play with emotion early, but get one goal (see PP above) rather than the 2-3 they probably deserved last night. It is just the sign of a bad team.
Ditto on "doing a lot of good things, unraveled by one bad play". This was a problem last year, when they were said to be mentally fragile, but it sure lurked close to the surface again this year. Sign of a bad, or poorly coached team. If this was football, there would be a holding penalty every time they started moving the ball. In the NHL, 59 minutes of hard play doesn't cut it. If it isn't Kari, its the D (Patyrn letting Granlund skate right by last night, or any number of FW not burying what should have been 90% scoring chances.
The last one might be the scariest of all. Has the long time losing culture just cemented itself in the Stars? Yes, some optimism in Ruff and Nill's first season, soon wiped out. And, some optimism in Hitch's first season, wiped out even sooner.
Just random, frustrating thoughts. Feel free to pile on...either me or the Stars.
As the season went on, Stars PP slipped from a puck moving team to one that stands around, as highlighted by the nice looking power plays of BOS and PIT in late games. Probably not coincidentally, their numbers started slipping. And it seems like every year for the last ten, the same thing has happened under different coaches, no? Why is it they forget to move the puck on the PP?
Clearing the zone...okay, that is a basic, but see below.
Slow to do something with the puck (no rule says you have to read the label before shooting it or passing it, is there?) Benn scored last night by shooting it in one motion. Most of the missed ops were them taking too long to decide to shoot. They have been a tick slow for a good while now, and shooting lanes close, goalies get in position. Seguin said something about Hitch preaching puck possession and thinking before passing, and wondering if that is the root cause of the indecision? Combine no movement on the PP with slow to shoot, and you can see why we are ineffective. Same indecision is leading to problems clearing the puck.
Some talk about bad luck late in periods, but have seen this show before. In the third period, good teams turn it on, Stars can't match. Have seen this in the NHL over the 25 years the Stars have been here. No third gear on this team. Sure, they play with emotion early, but get one goal (see PP above) rather than the 2-3 they probably deserved last night. It is just the sign of a bad team.
Ditto on "doing a lot of good things, unraveled by one bad play". This was a problem last year, when they were said to be mentally fragile, but it sure lurked close to the surface again this year. Sign of a bad, or poorly coached team. If this was football, there would be a holding penalty every time they started moving the ball. In the NHL, 59 minutes of hard play doesn't cut it. If it isn't Kari, its the D (Patyrn letting Granlund skate right by last night, or any number of FW not burying what should have been 90% scoring chances.
The last one might be the scariest of all. Has the long time losing culture just cemented itself in the Stars? Yes, some optimism in Ruff and Nill's first season, soon wiped out. And, some optimism in Hitch's first season, wiped out even sooner.
Just random, frustrating thoughts. Feel free to pile on...either me or the Stars.