GDT: Game 42: Red Wings vs kings 7:00 pm et 1/13/24 (ESPN+, BSD)

[Winger98]

I agree that this is part of it. But there's a wide spectrum available here. It's not as if the only options in the third period are, "step on their necks and bury them" and, "I'm scared of the puck".

Every one of these players has gone through multiple tiers of hockey, with multiple coaching styles. It's not a foreign language to them, adapting strategy to the situation at hand. And the one thing that confuses me the most is Lalonde - he came from Tampa, whose ENTIRE STYLE was predicated on the perfect balance of solid defense and dangerous counter punching when the opponent made a mistake. That's not at all the same as completely turtling up when you have a lead, so where's that element now that he's in Detroit? I understand the personnel isn't the same, but if the guys here are good enough to get a 5-1 lead, then they're certainly good enough to execute a better system of closing out a game than what we've seen.

Even if confidence could use a boost, it's mind boggling that all these professional players and staff seem to have zero nuance. Hire a damn consultant if need be, but this "light switch hockey" is a horrible way to approach defending a lead.

I'm with @JediOrderPizza on this in thinking the coaches aren't telling these guys to sit back. I remember Blashill talked about it, too. He talked about telling them to keep pushing but they would just tighten up and get more conservative.

A little before my post @Pavels Dog asks if we blame the other team for sitting back when the Wings push hard late in a game and...yeah, we probably should. At least a bit. I'd be willing to bet that if we visited the GDTs of a lot of teams they would have similar complaints about their teams in similar situations I doubt that many coaches are pulling in the reins, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of it is on the players just being human.

Now, I think it's fair to knock a coach for not getting guys to buy in, to a degree. But to really get buy in, I think the players have to experience success with it. But to be successful, they have to buy in. So it is a bit of a catch-22. And even Bowman had issues with it. We saw guys like Ciccarelli and Burr moved out largely because they wouldn't or couldn't buy in.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'm with @JediOrderPizza on this in thinking the coaches aren't telling these guys to sit back. I remember Blashill talked about it, too. He talked about telling them to keep pushing but they would just tighten up and get more conservative.

A little before my post @Pavels Dog asks if we blame the other team for sitting back when the Wings push hard late in a game and...yeah, we probably should. At least a bit. I'd be willing to bet that if we visited the GDTs of a lot of teams they would have similar complaints about their teams in similar situations I doubt that many coaches are pulling in the reins, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of it is on the players just being human.

Now, I think it's fair to knock a coach for not getting guys to buy in, to a degree. But to really get buy in, I think the players have to experience success with it. But to be successful, they have to buy in. So it is a bit of a catch-22. And even Bowman had issues with it. We saw guys like Ciccarelli and Burr moved out largely because they wouldn't or couldn't buy in.

The big thing I noticed is that they stopped trying to make plays and handled the puck like a grenade. Seider throwing a blind backhand pass up the boards in the defensive zone to try and clear it when he could've carried the puck into the corner, which is the way he was headed.

Obviously there's times where just getting the puck out of the zone ASAP is the right move but it shouldn't be the first option every single play.

 

[Sadekuuro]

I think coaching has to be at least a part of it -- and I'm far from one of those guys who looks to place blame there (in general the impact of coaching is overstated). It's not just that they become more conservative (every team does that) but the entire game plan changes. They fire the puck up the boards or off the glass every time instead of trying to pass it, they rarely try to carry the puck, and they dump it into the offensive zone with little to no attempt to chase it and get it back -- one forechecker just getting up to the blue line doesn't put any meaningful heat on the opposing D, so they get another easy out and are back to attacking again. These are lousy tactics even if you don't completely suck at "half court" defense.

 

[norrisnick]

Coaching is a huge part of it. Last season in a game against Boston, that we won, he was complaining in the post-game about trying to score when we were up 4-1 instead of "playing to the score".

 

[jkutswings]

I'm with @JediOrderPizza on this in thinking the coaches aren't telling these guys to sit back. I remember Blashill talked about it, too. He talked about telling them to keep pushing but they would just tighten up and get more conservative.

A little before my post @Pavels Dog asks if we blame the other team for sitting back when the Wings push hard late in a game and...yeah, we probably should. At least a bit. I'd be willing to bet that if we visited the GDTs of a lot of teams they would have similar complaints about their teams in similar situations I doubt that many coaches are pulling in the reins, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of it is on the players just being human.

Now, I think it's fair to knock a coach for not getting guys to buy in, to a degree. But to really get buy in, I think the players have to experience success with it. But to be successful, they have to buy in. So it is a bit of a catch-22. And even Bowman had issues with it. We saw guys like Ciccarelli and Burr moved out largely because they wouldn't or couldn't buy in.

I don't disagree with anything you're saying per se. I just mean that it's not like the players have never encountered the need to defend a lead - it's a routine situation at every level of hockey. Yes, the other guy is bigger and faster than previous levels of opposition, but it should be far from a foreign concept.

 

[RRhoads]

I think it is a lot on the players. Those power plays we have when we have big leads are terrible. It is like they are not even trying.

 

[Oddbob]

You think the other team is not trying?

And you blame the other team when the Wings are dominating late in the game when trying to come back?

The other team trying doesn't mean you stop playing.