I'm genuinely curious, since I didn't get to watch most of this season (~15 games give or take), but what changed from last year's success to this year's failure in terms of systems?
I don't like to make excuses, but I do like to analyze the variables as objectively as possible. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances and aspects of this year that are unusual to the hockey season. The only thing I'm trying to manage is tempering my expectations and judgement and reserving them for the end of next year.
We played most of the previous year in a more aggressive forechecking style system, which allowed for posession and creativity, with intermittent usage of strech passes. In the playoffs, and for most of this season, we stuck with a more agressive stretch pass/counter attack schema that was easily countered by putting emphasis on the area between our face off circle and the red line, where our forwards were hanging out. We were basically concedind a third of the ice closest to our own net.
To be clear -- the goalies needed to play better and so did the d. The whole team did, honestly. But i dont know what you can realistically expect from a team of finesse, posession oriented forwards to do in a system which asks them to willingly yield possession whenever they get the puck. The only reason we 'looked good' last playoffs is because Hart was playing Vezina caliber goaltending. And i mean like.. no doubts about it hed have easily been the conn Smythe winner had we wont he cup.
