Reckless vs Buy in

[CoMoBlues]

Everyone knows how this is going to play out, right?

Do well all season playing "reckless" and have success. Playoffs come, opponent realizes common patterns and counters them. This continues for 4-6 games and the Blues lose without making a single adjustment, as obvious as it may seem.

Right on. More like feckless

 

[Spear]

Reckless = We're doing some additional due diligence and peeling back the onion on this thing; going forward, we're going to address our internal synergies and basically put lipstick on this pig. Deal with it.

Sincerely,
Blues Management



I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

[Mzeppelin1]

we will do what yoda says

 

[EastonBlues22]

Now we're half-assing Yoda's grammar idiosyncrasies.

Some things should be sacred.

 

[StLAvsFan]

1- If you guys haven't noticed the shifts in our style of play since Hitch took over then you aren't paying attention.
Hitch's 1st year we were all about the forecheck and hard work. We weren't endlessly cycling the puck, we were "funneling the puck towards the net", getting bodies in the crease and hoping for bounces.

Every year we have trended more towards puck possession and conserving energy. It culminated in this year where our players weren't even trying to get the puck on goal at times and practically refused to go to the front of the net.

2- "Reckless" doesn't just mean throwing the body around. I know that's the image everybody gets, but it doesn't stop there. It also means taking hits to make a play. It also means blindly firing the puck on goal instead of resetting the cycle. It also means trying to split the D with puck skills. It also means trusting players to win 1 on 1 battles along the boards while others start the breakout. It also means pinching in on D at the risk of an odd-man break the other way. It also means making high risks outlet passes.

This team has progressively gotten away from a lot of those things under Hitch.
There are a ton of ways this team can be more "reckless" without even changing players. Put a foot in Oshie's butt and tell him to start hitting people again. Drop a bit of the cycling and start funneling pucks again. Have players step up to 1 on 1 challenges instead of waiting for support before engaging.

Last year Hitch catered to the players and let them play a more "skill" game. The result was a team that wanted to play catch with the puck instead of making high risk plays. When a player did make a high risk play, it stood out so much that it changed our view of the player. Tarasenko broke the Rag's D and was an instant superstar overnight. Lehtera feathered some passes and people started to think he could be a top line center. Lindbohm and Bortuzzo leveled some guys at the blueline and they became better options than Jax, Gunnar and Michalek. Shattenkirk timed some pinches right and became an Elite offensive D man. Schwartz won some board battles and became a future star/Captain in the making.

There are ways to get more players to play like that and not completely lose defensive focus. If there is any coach who can design that kind of balanced system, it's Hitch. There isn't a better tactical coach in the League. Getting the buy in is on the players and their leadership group.

Ken Hitchcock preaching reckless, run & gun hockey does NOT compute.

 

[Mzeppelin1]

Now we're half-assing Yoda's grammar idiosyncrasies.

Some things should be sacred.

what yoda says, we will do

 

[TK 421]

what yoda says, we will do

Reckless hmmm..implement it we will.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

 

[Ranksu]

Good lyrics btw.

 

[skilles]

Reckless is such an ambiguous term that it can almost be interpreted to mean almost anything.

Does that mean the Blues need to play more physically?
Play more aggressive within the system?
Play a more aggressive system? If yes: With or without the puck? In what zone(s)/sitution(s)?

Is it a psychological commentary that implies that the Blues have been playing scared?

It seems like a nice word to get people excited, but ****ed if I know what they believe is really the problem.

Hopefully it is literal to the word which means take action without thinking or caring about the consequences and he means more reckless not completely reckless.

Either way it should have never taken this long to figure that out. Every year the Blues start that way then fall apart down the stretch as the "buy in" occurs and nobody noticed until now?

 

[Multimoodia]

It occurs to me that perhaps we're translating this wrong.
Hitch didn't write this, only communicated orally...

He could've meant wreck-less, as in hoping the Blues would remain in good health throughout the season
(I have about a half-dozen drunk Cardinal jokes but fortunately for Easton I'm going to let them all slide...)

 

[Vladdy the Impaler]

Is this what "RECKLESS" looks like?? SMH.

 

[Cotton McKnight]

Is this what "RECKLESS" looks like?? SMH.

Yes, Hitch is being reckless with retaining a paycheck......

 

[HappyGilmore]

Hitch has the most roundabout and circuitious way of explaining his ideas and perspectives. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a rather significant communication obstacle between him and the players. He needs to just be straight forward. And its interesting how he defines reckless as defensemen being able to move the puck up the ice quickly when that was the same exact area of focus the season before, which was why Army went out and traded for Gunnarrsson in the first place. Same story every year.

 

[Vladdy the Impaler]

Is this what "RECKLESS" looks like?? SMH.

Yes, this is what reckless looks like.


Props to the coaching staff for making some significant adjustments to our system in the pre-season. I'm loving this "reckless" style of play that's gotten us to the western conference finals (still can't believe we did it)

 

[KingBran]

Not a Hitch fan.

Heck I wasn't a LaRussa fan in 2006 or 2011 either and look what happened.

His style is very frustrating and it holds players back from their potential. But I will give him credit and respect when its due. And it's due and the players are getting it done. So props!

 

[Celtic Note]

Not a Hitch fan.

Heck I wasn't a LaRussa fan in 2006 or 2011 either and look what happened.

His style is very frustrating and it holds players back from their potential. But I will give him credit and respect when its due. And it's due and the players are getting it done. So props!

I have harped on Hitch a lot the past few years, but he has changed his approach quite a bit over the course of the year...something that he has acknowledged. I still would like to see him implement more changes/ sticking with things that work.

 

[trevorftw]

Hitchcock is an incredible hockey mind and seems to be adjusting very well in game now in the playoffs.

The reckless buzzword is pretty dumb though. It has a connotation that is not at all how the team actually plays. I haven't heard hitch use it in a while though, so hopefully we can all move on.