The thing is playing a fast game is nice, but we could have all the speed in the world and if the players are making poor reads on ice or getting uncomfortable with what to do, then the speed that we have won't matter as much.
I think that is what people may forget with our previous regime - the style may not have been pleasant, but we started to see the team be more competitive and be more present in games as they get used to what they need to do every shift. It takes time to be comfortable with making the right plays and reads and then executing them.
Yeah, that's pretty evident. During the 1st half of the last season where we had some limited success, it was because we had at least one player on each line that could bring the puck up the ice competently, and distribute with some creativity. Guys like Vrbata, Ribeiro, Vermette, Boedker, (that's before Rib went off the rails), even with a bunch of scrubs surrounding them like Klink, Korpi, Moss, Chip, etc. Tippet's system was restrictive, but it did allow organized breakouts and allowed some creativity by the offensive D in the system. He was just so averse to any risk, and playing young, unestablished players, that causes long term shortage of talent on the top lines/pairings.
