bohlmeister
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- May 18, 2007
- 17,854
- 456
The problem with both is they'd rather just take the puck themselves and start the rush instead of passing it. They are both pretty good about gaining the zone, but our F do nothing on the breakout right now. It's killing me.
We've always known that none of Stuart, Hejda, or Guenin can make a breakout pass to save their respective lives. I swear, everytime Stuart gets the puck in his own zone with strong-side wing support, he manages to somehow put the puck on edge and just slings it off the boards for a routine icing. It happens every single game. Beyond Barrie and sometimes EJ, our D are idiots when it comes to natural hockey sense and participating in re-group/breakout transition plays.
Yeah both those guys rush it more than move it. A big problem this season is that when the d-men get the puck they hold back and set up(well EJ does this). It just gives the opposition time to set up in the neutral zone. Then they try and force passes.
Barrie is at his best when he is pushing the pace of the game with the puck on his stick. Playing with Guenin (who has been good for a long time now) should free him up more to do that. There were numerous times last season when the Avs would get outworked in their own zone and finally Barrie would just grab the puck and skate it out of the zone rather than trying to chip it up the boards. He needs to be more aggressive than what he has been the last few weeks.
Also with Hejda, Guenin, Stuart not only do they not pass well, but they read the play slowly. So they pass it 3 seconds after the time they actually should have passed it. So our forwards have already left the zone and opposition is getting in the lanes.