Players coasting/conserving energy during multiple Cup runs

[ImporterExporter]

This season really got me thinking about this notion in a historical light. I've watched (estimated) about 90% of Crosby's career live on TV or in person, and this was the first season I can openly say 87 definitely took his foot off the gas multiple times during the regular season. It's nothing egregious mind you, but he absolutely picked his spots to play a shift or stretches at 3/4 speed.

I'm wondering, for those who are old enough to have seen the Edmonton/Islander/Habs etc dynasties, was it common to see guys taking shifts/games "off"?

Pittsburgh has played a massive amount of games the past 2+ years, with the World Cup thrown into the mix as well. Crosby's 30 now and obviously is a step slower than he was at 20 and has a lot of wear and tear on his body from the past 13 years.

Is his conserving of energy a common theme? Especially from guys that endured 3, 4, 5 consectuve Cup runs and the rigors that go with it.

Click to read more...

 

[GlitchMarner]

I don't know... The Hawks won the Cup in 2013, lost in seven games in the WCF in 2014 and won the Cup again in 2015. Kane had the best season of his career in 2016.

Lemieux won two Conn Smythes in '91 and '92 and was arguably at his best in 1992-1993.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Fedorov very obviously coasted in the regular season after 1995-96, bascially every year until he left Detroit.

I wouldn't say Scott Stevens ever coasted, but there's a reason his big memorable hits were bascially all in the playoffs.

 

[Thenameless]

Montreal used to shut down Larry Robinson late in the season. Would send him to Florida to catch some rays - recharge before the real season started.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Montreal used to shut down Larry Robinson late in the season. Would send him to Florida to catch some rays - recharge before the real season started.

Wow! Pretty interesting. They actually sent him on a vacation?

 

[Thenameless]

Wow! Pretty interesting. They actually sent him on a vacation?

Yes, that's what I remember reading. Apparently, it happened in a few seasons later in his career.

Really, if you're the Habs, what do a few late regular season games mean?

 

[ImporterExporter]

Yes, that's what I remember reading. Apparently, it happened in a few seasons later in his career.

Really, if you're the Habs, what do a few late regular season games mean?

Yeah, especially during the 70's when they were so far out in front of everyone anyway. Pretty neat to hear players got to take an actual vacation during the season. Guessing it didn't bother the locker room considering how the playoffs generally turned out then.

 

[Canadiens1958]

This season really got me thinking about this notion in a historical light. I've watched (estimated) about 90% of Crosby's career live on TV or in person, and this was the first season I can openly say 87 definitely took his foot off the gas multiple times during the regular season. It's nothing egregious mind you, but he absolutely picked his spots to play a shift or stretches at 3/4 speed.

I'm wondering, for those who are old enough to have seen the Edmonton/Islander/Habs etc dynasties, was it common to see guys taking shifts/games "off"?

Pittsburgh has played a massive amount of games the past 2+ years, with the World Cup thrown into the mix as well. Crosby's 30 now and obviously is a step slower than he was at 20 and has a lot of wear and tear on his body from the past 13 years.

Is his conserving of energy a common theme? Especially from guys that endured 3, 4, 5 consectuve Cup runs and the rigors that go with it.

One of the reasons Toe Blake preferred rolling four lines. Avoid playing top players in blowouts during the RS. 3rd and 4th lines would get experience playing against top players, in various situations, PP, replacing a Beliveau or Henri Richard with better wingers, etc. This also forced the depth players to play consciencous defensive hockey.

Bowman, less so but he would experiment with line combos as well as allowing dept defencemen playing time paired with one of the Big 3.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yes, that's what I remember reading. Apparently, it happened in a few seasons later in his career.

Really, if you're the Habs, what do a few late regular season games mean?

and yet they were so mad when vlad malakhov went skiing....

 

[Thenameless]

and yet they were so mad when vlad malakhov went skiing....

Maybe, it was because Malakhov hadn't done quite as much as Robinson yet for the team. Close, but not quite there.

 

[billybudd]

Maybe my memory's playing tricks on me, but wasn't Malakhov supposed to be rehabbing a knee injury when he went skiing? Even if he wasn't, skiing seems a lot more high risk in terms of potentially disrupting NHL availability than sleeping on a beach.

 

[Dissonance Jr]

Maybe my memory's playing tricks on me, but wasn't Malakhov supposed to be rehabbing a knee injury when he went skiing? Even if he wasn't, skiing seems a lot more high risk in terms of potentially disrupting NHL availability than sleeping on a beach.

Yeah, was just reading recently that the Sedins were forbidden by their NHL contracts from ever going skiing. Would assume that's pretty common nowadays.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Fedorov very obviously coasted in the regular season after 1995-96, bascially every year until he left Detroit.

I wouldn't say Scott Stevens ever coasted, but there's a reason his big memorable hits were bascially all in the playoffs.

Later in a series. Lindros was in game 7. Time required to read the nuances of a player and time the hit.

 

[Canadiens1958]

and yet they were so mad when vlad malakhov went skiing....

Complete story from 2000.

Canadiens' Malakhov skis his way into a suspension

Malakhov went skiing, in February, while injured - torn knee ligament, having missed the complete season to that point.

 

[blood gin]

Montreal used to shut down Larry Robinson late in the season. Would send him to Florida to catch some rays - recharge before the real season started.

Wouldn't he play polo there?

 

[JackSlater]

Didn't Potvin allude to this during the Islanders dynasty? At the very least he focused less on offence once the team (and its offence) became much stronger.

Regarding Robinson and other Canadiens of the time, Dryden cited Lafleur and Gainey as the two main guys on the team who brought it all the time, regardless of the opposition or the time of year. Obviously that's not a common trait.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Didn't Potvin allude to this during the Islanders dynasty? At the very least he focused less on offence once the team (and its offence) became much stronger.

i guess those two are not necessarily the same thing, and they probably both are true to some degree, but it's interesting to run the numbers.

in the four years before the dynasty, potvin's regular season stats are 373 points/311 games or a 96 points pace over an 80 game season.

in the playoffs in those same years, he puts up 48 points/49 games or a 78 point pace. a fairly normal dip from regular season to playoff production.

in the four dynasty years, potvin's regular season stats are 244/234 or an 83 point pace.

in the playoffs he's 85/78 or an 87 point pace. so, totally anomalously, an improvement over his regular season production, and also better than his pre-dynasty scoring rate.

given that the dynasty was in the second half of his 20s while his regular season offensive peak was during the first half, it sure does look like he was saving it for the playoffs.

 

[Canadiens1958]

i guess those two are not necessarily the same thing, and they probably both are true to some degree, but it's interesting to run the numbers.

in the four years before the dynasty, potvin's regular season stats are 373 points/311 games or a 96 points pace over an 80 game season.

in the playoffs in those same years, he puts up 48 points/49 games or a 78 point pace. a fairly normal dip from regular season to playoff production.

in the four dynasty years, potvin's regular season stats are 244/234 or an 83 point pace.

in the playoffs he's 85/78 or an 87 point pace. so, totally anomalously, an improvement over his regular season production, and also better than his pre-dynasty scoring rate.

given that the dynasty was in the second half of his 20s while his regular season offensive peak was during the first half, it sure does look like he was saving it for the playoffs.

Should consider the playoff opposition during the first half of his career, SC champion Canadiens twice,Flyers once. Bruins.

 

[c9777666]

I wouldn't say Scott Stevens ever coasted, but there's a reason his big memorable hits were bascially all in the playoffs.

Interestingly, it wasn't like he took games off- in the 5 conference final runs/Cup Final runs he had with NJD (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003), he missed a combined 7 games

 

[Big Phil]

Fedorov was the first name that came to mind with me. The problem is, he probably coasted a little TOO much in the regular season for my liking. That being said, no one questioned him in the playoffs, so it was worth it.

Gretzky in 1987 comes to mind. After the debacle of 1986 the Oilers ensured they finished 1st overall and even in the last 6 games of the season Gretzky had two points. He finishes with 183. So with 6 games remaining he had 179. 21 points in 6 games for 200? No problem, Gretzky would have had tons of stretches in his career where he had that, but instead had just 4 points in those games. He leads the NHL in goals but scored just two in his final 10 games. Can we admit that Gretzky probably was coasting a bit? And can we blame him?

It worked though. First round vs. L.A. he had 15 points in 5 games. They lost Game 1 and then Gretzky had a 7 point game in Game 2. Probably beats a 200 point season huh?

 

[Big Phil]

With the stuff we are seeing now, I think it is obvious Crosby still can win a scoring title, because look at the tear he is on in the playoffs so far. It is working.

Also, I don't know about Billy Smith or Grant Fuhr, but these guys each won a Vezina and never did it again, but in my opinion could have. You look at their work when the game is on the line and you figure they could have done more in the regular season, but maybe they were saving themselves, or at least the coaches were.

 

[The Panther]

I think Grant Fuhr was simply in better game-shape as the season wore on. He always came to camp fat and out-of-shape, and then slimmed down as the year went on. The Oilers would start to try playing defense for the first time in the playoffs, and not suprisingly Fuhr's GAA would dramatically drop, sometimes by 1.00 goal/game or more.

I think most great players with longevity, though, do conserve themselves more as their careers progress. It's only natural. After you've won a bunch of playoff game-7's and whatnot, a regular season game in Miami on Sunday afternoon in front of 6000 fans just isn't worth sacrificing the body for.

 

[Eisen]

This season really got me thinking about this notion in a historical light. I've watched (estimated) about 90% of Crosby's career live on TV or in person, and this was the first season I can openly say 87 definitely took his foot off the gas multiple times during the regular season. It's nothing egregious mind you, but he absolutely picked his spots to play a shift or stretches at 3/4 speed.

I'm wondering, for those who are old enough to have seen the Edmonton/Islander/Habs etc dynasties, was it common to see guys taking shifts/games "off"?

Pittsburgh has played a massive amount of games the past 2+ years, with the World Cup thrown into the mix as well. Crosby's 30 now and obviously is a step slower than he was at 20 and has a lot of wear and tear on his body from the past 13 years.

Is his conserving of energy a common theme? Especially from guys that endured 3, 4, 5 consectuve Cup runs and the rigors that go with it.

You always had the impression that Fedorov paced himself.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Don't have any name to add to the excellent answers in the thread.

I think it's the reasonable thing to do after age 28, especially on a dynasty.It's dumb if you burn yourself out in the RS and then underperform in the playoffs.

Crosby is doing the right thing.He still got his 80+ points.Good enough for making the post-season.I predict another 80+ points season next year, but not 90+.Truth is, Pittsburgh have a real shot at winning four in a row.Sure, they must win the 3rd first, but checking the lineups around the league, they're still the top contender next year IMO.

 

[ImporterExporter]

With the stuff we are seeing now, I think it is obvious Crosby still can win a scoring title, because look at the tear he is on in the playoffs so far. It is working.

Also, I don't know about Billy Smith or Grant Fuhr, but these guys each won a Vezina and never did it again, but in my opinion could have. You look at their work when the game is on the line and you figure they could have done more in the regular season, but maybe they were saving themselves, or at least the coaches were.

Just steer clear of the main boards with such logic.

Sid understands the grind. He's only 30 and yet is still in his 13th season. Between the volume and injury past he knows that going balls to the wall every night over 82 games isn't conducive to being fresh come the postseason or your health, long term at this point of his career. And frankly scoring titles simply don't matter to him. I believe it when he says all that extra crap really isn't important to him. He just wants to play for Cups.