umdieecke*
Guest
As most of you know the Avs are the only team in the NHL that run a man to man defense. For this reason, the traditional roles don't necessarily best apply to the Avs. I think most of us recognize that a typical Avs defensemen should have a requisite defensive awareness, skating ability, and make good decisions under pressure. These seem to be the three skills that are most paramount for an Avs defenseman.
But in various discussion I see Avs fans trying to slot defensemen according to more traditional roles. Is that really appropriate?
When you're the only team that has a certain style, its easy for the minds eye to want to see the Avs the same way we see the others. I think we can all agree the Avs defense is a work in progress.
The Avs made it work with a defensive group that were largely seen as AHL players. But they're AHL players according to more traditional defensive roles. Because the Avs defensive system emphasizes certain attributes differently, it can find someone like Holden who has more value to the Avs than he does to other NHL teams. It's only to the lesser extent that Holden "finally got a chance to show what he can do" but to a larger extent it was more about, "he finally found a team where his strengths meant more and his weaknesses meant less."
So, Roy has only been in Colorado for one year. He's had almost no time to fill out the defense with the players that are best suited for the system he runs. So my question is, what do you see being the ultimate set up for the Avs defense? Will it still be tethered to more traditional roles or will it look different because of the skillsets that are most important to make it work?
But in various discussion I see Avs fans trying to slot defensemen according to more traditional roles. Is that really appropriate?
When you're the only team that has a certain style, its easy for the minds eye to want to see the Avs the same way we see the others. I think we can all agree the Avs defense is a work in progress.
The Avs made it work with a defensive group that were largely seen as AHL players. But they're AHL players according to more traditional defensive roles. Because the Avs defensive system emphasizes certain attributes differently, it can find someone like Holden who has more value to the Avs than he does to other NHL teams. It's only to the lesser extent that Holden "finally got a chance to show what he can do" but to a larger extent it was more about, "he finally found a team where his strengths meant more and his weaknesses meant less."
So, Roy has only been in Colorado for one year. He's had almost no time to fill out the defense with the players that are best suited for the system he runs. So my question is, what do you see being the ultimate set up for the Avs defense? Will it still be tethered to more traditional roles or will it look different because of the skillsets that are most important to make it work?
