Coach like bruins or avalanche

[bearit]

The avalanche's start to the season is nothing but impressive and if i was a fan i would be very excited. It just seems to me that they may be playing with playoff intensity which is fine for awhile but at some point i think they should just go threw the motions "alla julien" It's a long season and at the end of the day nobody cares about your regular season stats.

Watching my bruins drag there feet and play just good enough to win for long stretches of the season kills me, but when i see 2 stanley cup finals and a cup in a 3 year span i get over it.

Yes i do realize its early in the season and racking up wins is very important. My concern if i was an AVS fan would be if the ever intense Roy will ever let up and give them a break before it really counts.

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[bruinsfan001]

I have to disagree you should play every game to win. Take a team like the Blackhawks last year. They won the Presidents trophy and still dominated teams in the playoffs and never seemed to run out of gas. I think that just goes to show you that the harder you play in the regular season the better conditioned you'll be for the playoffs. Not to mention it shows your team how to win in any situation and that builds confidence going in. Also it sends a message to other teams that you may end up facing in the playoffs that you don't mess around. The Bruins had an ok regular season last year but they lost some what I would call key regular season games or team building games. Than you look at the first round and they barley escaped it, coincidence? It wasn't until they started playing harder when they started to dominate themselves. Ultimately thats why wins are important anytime of the year.

 

[TCL40]

I don't know that winning the President's Trophy in a short season means a lot-at least compared to playing balls to the wall for 82 then having to find more of it for the playoffs-where there are no loser points, shoot outs and everyone is playing the same schedule (eg nobody plays back to backs against a fresh team or similar).

I think playing all out from day 1 can burn you but that doesn't mean you don't play to win.

I think there are ways to win and conserve energy-eg I like the fact that Julien splits the time for his shut down pair and gives them fewer regular season minutes-especially since both are getting older. I think rolling 4 lines proportionately helps conserve energy. Julien structures his game plan to avoid riding a few star players and I am fine with that.

I am positive that Julien doesn't tell the team during the regular season to go out and mail it in for 20 minutes and play hard the next 40 (that is just bad habits among the players).

 

[almostawake]

The Avs are best off playing the way they're playing right now and the Bruins are probably best off playing the way they are right now too.

The Avs are a team full of young players who have done nothing but lose at the NHL level. It is critical that this season they experience winning, even if it breaks them down the stretch. Next season they'll understand how to win and also how to better pace themselves, and be a more serious contender for it.

The Bruins are at the complete other end of the spectrum. They already know what is necessary to have success at the NHL level. Naturally they need to be careful about taking it too easy and not being able to peak in the playoffs, but they don't need to kill themselves early in the regular season because it won't help them grow much as a team.

 

[JAD]

The Bruins are not built for the regular season they are built for the playoffs. Regular season games may seem boring because of the style they play, but most of the time when they do lose it is by a goal (or two if an empty net). But a seven games series in the playoffs figuring player match ups and tendencies combined with the system they play Boston usually holds an edge.

 

[bruinsfan001]

Don't get the wrong idea I'm not saying they need to kill themselves before playoffs. However there are certain games during the year that I would describe as team building games. Games against teams like Detroit, Chicago, hot teams like the Avs and yes even the Leafs. Those are games that should be treated as if they were indeed playoff games. The team should do everything in its power to win those types of games. Points aside those wins make the team stronger mentally going forward and plants a seed of doubt in their opponent.

 

[Terrier]

Don't get the wrong idea I'm not saying they need to kill themselves before playoffs. However there are certain games during the year that I would describe as team building games. Games against teams like Detroit, Chicago, hot teams like the Avs and yes even the Leafs. Those are games that should be treated as if they were indeed playoff games. The team should do everything in its power to win those types of games. Points aside those wins make the team stronger mentally going forward and plants a seed of doubt in their opponent.

You'll get all that and more this Sat. night when the Leafs visit.

 

[11MilesPerJohan]

I don't like seeing the Bruins coast during the regular season, but they are already established in the league, and they themselves know how they have to play in order to be successful. I would like to see them play like that more often, but they seem to be able to draw it out of themselves when need be. At the end of the regular season, I feel confident they will have enough points to qualify for the playoffs, and then we will see if they can find the level of play they need to be successful.

The Avs, on the other hand, have not established themselves in the league, and they themselves do not yet know what level they need to play at in order to beat good teams in big games. I think Roy is right to try and establish that level early, and then when the inevitable slide happens, you can at least draw on your earlier success to get back to the intensity required to win.

I think the Avs are going to have a tough time keeping this up all year, and I still think they will be in a fight for a playoff spot by year's end. I think the Bruins will ultimately go further. That is no commentary on either coach, though. It has more to do with the talent and experience of each team.

I think each coach is doing the right thing for his team.

But I'm sure Claude would like his team to find that level sooner and be a bit more consistent...he does pace things, but that doesn't mean he wants them playing mediocre hockey in the meantime.

 

[Fossy21]

I have to disagree you should play every game to win. Take a team like the Blackhawks last year. They won the Presidents trophy and still dominated teams in the playoffs and never seemed to run out of gas. I think that just goes to show you that the harder you play in the regular season the better conditioned you'll be for the playoffs. Not to mention it shows your team how to win in any situation and that builds confidence going in. Also it sends a message to other teams that you may end up facing in the playoffs that you don't mess around. The Bruins had an ok regular season last year but they lost some what I would call key regular season games or team building games. Than you look at the first round and they barley escaped it, coincidence? It wasn't until they started playing harder when they started to dominate themselves. Ultimately thats why wins are important anytime of the year.

Yeah, they really dominated that Red Wings series, right? Never ran out of gas at all.
(then again, much of that was probably Toews and Kane being neutralised by those two European guys, what's their names again...)

I don't necessarily disagree with you, though. If they can time their slumps so that they still peak (again) for the playoffs, especially with goaltending, that's great for them. I'd still put more money on a... say 4th/5th seeded (in the east) B's team over a President's trophy-winning Avs team for the playoffs simply because we have so many guys whom we know what we can expect from in those times, and we seem quite proficient at stepping up.

 

[TCL40]

The other thing about playing all out every game at the beginning-there always is a fade in an 82 game season.

I remember for several season the leafs would get off to a roaring start as well as the Oulers but both faded mid season and did not make the playoffs (full seasons).

I think the Leafs may have figured out how to pace themselves and the Oilers look awful right now.
The Avs do have goaltending in their favor at the moment-and it will be interesting to see how they work out with the new format.

Either way-I think in an 82 game season playing consistently and learning how to play a full 60 without wearing down is a key.

 

[PlayMakers]

I don't understand the premise.

No coach wants his players to go through the motions. But players are only human, they get excited and bored just like the rest of us. The players in Colorado are young, many of them have never seen a winning season let alone a playoff game, so to them, every game right now is like their Game 7, they're playing to keep the dream of a winning season alive. Roy's not going to tell them to save it or back off, nor would Julien or any other coach.

 

[rkwittem]

The avalanche's start to the season is nothing but impressive and if i was a fan i would be very excited. It just seems to me that they may be playing with playoff intensity which is fine for awhile but at some point i think they should just go threw the motions "alla julien" It's a long season and at the end of the day nobody cares about your regular season stats.

Watching my bruins drag there feet and play just good enough to win for long stretches of the season kills me, but when i see 2 stanley cup finals and a cup in a 3 year span i get over it.

Yes i do realize its early in the season and racking up wins is very important. My concern if i was an AVS fan would be if the ever intense Roy will ever let up and give them a break before it really counts.

It depends on what kind of team you are. I'm not talking strategy here. I think younger teams with a lot to prove and a nothing to lose, like the Avs (who I think had lowish expectations heading into this season) should play as hard as they can. They need to play that way to win and they can use the youth and its advantages to get wins while building chemistry and an identity.

Older, more veteran teams like Boston, Detroit, the Kings don't need to play as hard early because they know how to win and can flip the switch so to speak. They'll get wins because they're talented, but they'd rather save their legs.

The answer, as is so often in life (and hockey), lies somewhere in the gray area between 2 extremes.