GDT: Game 64: Anaheim Ducks vs New York Islanders - 5pm PT, BSSC

[anezthes]

This team still plays like boneheads...

The number of goals against due to no one covering the slot is... concerning. This group is incapable of playing man-to-man defense; they're too slow and get confused too easily, which is quite sad, honestly.

Circle the defensive zone 1-2 times, it breaks down, we lose coverage, resulting in another goal against.

The fact that they've failed to address this issue speaks volumes about our coaching staff. Either that, or nobody on the roster belongs in the NHL.

 

[KelVarnsen]

The number of goals against due to no one covering the slot is... concerning. This group is incapable of playing man-to-man defense; they're too slow and get confused too easily, which is quite sad, honestly.

Circle the defensive zone 1-2 times, it breaks down, we lose coverage, resulting in another goal against.

The fact that they've failed to address this issue speaks volumes about our coaching staff. Either that, or nobody on the roster belongs in the NHL.

Agreed. I am not sure why they keep playing man to man. It is pretty obvious the players either are not capable or the coaching staff cant teach it correctly. Either scenario is like you said, concerning.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

The number of goals against due to no one covering the slot is... concerning. This group is incapable of playing man-to-man defense; they're too slow and get confused too easily, which is quite sad, honestly.

Circle the defensive zone 1-2 times, it breaks down, we lose coverage, resulting in another goal against.

The fact that they've failed to address this issue speaks volumes about our coaching staff. Either that, or nobody on the roster belongs in the NHL.

Yup this is the elephant in the room.. Nobody is talking about it.. The man to man has been shredded to nothing with teams that just cycle around

 

[Ducks DVM]

I don’t think you can play man to man if your lines change every 2-3 games. You have to have faith that you know what your linemates are going to do.

That doesn’t mean that these guys CAN play man to man, I just don’t think there’s any hope of it working with all the roster blendering that’s occurred this year with all the injuries.

 

[McDonald19]

So, when Max Jones started that scrum Mason ended up getting abused a bit. Meanwhile, Beavis and Lindstrom stood their watching so the faceoff wouldn’t leave the offensive zone. At some point isn’t it more important to come to the aid of your young star teammate, rather than ensuring one faceoff in a meaningless game isn’t moved to the neutral zone?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

This is where I am at. Eakins was a joke but this guy hasn't really improved the team IMO even though he has had a better roster. I know injuries are a thing but in reality, Eakins' teams played a clueless brand of hockey but they played harder on most nights. This team still plays like boneheads and seem to put in a lot of listless efforts in games.

I typically stay out of the Eakins v Cronin debate, but maybe it’s just the players (veterans? Supporting coach staff?) are the issue, or maybe it’s the head coach that is just being terrible

 

[Kalv]

eakins's teams played harder and came into games more prepared pre-TDL the last few seasons. outside of the first few weeks, this ducks team has looked completely lifeless all season and it'll only get worse now post TDL after losing guys

Not to my memory. I have pretty much the exact opposote view on this. With Eakins it felt way more doom and gloom to me

 

[McDonald19]

I typically stay out of the Eakins v Cronin debate, but maybe it’s just the players (veterans? Supporting coach staff?) are the issue, or maybe it’s the head coach that is just being terrible

I think it’s the holdover veteran core. One down (Henrique), three to go (Silfver, Fowler, Gibson). Beyond that, we need our young talent to be healthy and continue to develop.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

So, when Max Jones started that scrum Mason ended up getting abused a bit. Meanwhile, Beavis and Lindstrom stood their watching so the faceoff wouldn’t leave the offensive zone. At some point isn’t it more important to come to the aid of your young star teammate, rather than ensuring one faceoff in a meaningless game isn’t moved to the neutral zone?

Yeah if it comes down to one or the other, much rather have them sticking up for each other (especially for the top young guns) than worrying about being smart to protect faceoff placement.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I don’t think you can play man to man if your lines change every 2-3 games. You have to have faith that you know what your linemates are going to do.

That doesn’t mean that these guys CAN play man to man, I just don’t think there’s any hope of it working with all the roster blendering that’s occurred this year with all the injuries.

You do have a point about chemistry and trust components, but if Cronin is teaching a system, then it should be plug and play within that system. It's okay to make mistakes, but not be a sieve. We do have rookies in Carlsson, Minty, LaCombe, and Zell. Rookies will make mistakes. Mac hasn't been great after his injury. Can playing through injury (or being worn down) be affecting some of our players from reaching their landmarks?

Last year's TDL, we lost Klingberg and Kulikov. What most don't recall is that we lost Rico just before the TDL (Feb 21) and didn't return until April 5th, missing a total of 19 games. We looked bad missing those three players to conclude the season.

Maybe we are lacking talent on the ice to adhere to the system?

 

[Ducks DVM]

He's been playing a ton, even before Cam got hurt he's been north of 21 minutes most nights since about mid January. It doesn't suit him.

I agree with that, but he played the one game of 28:14 and has been bad since. It’s not like he’s starting games ok and wearing out, he’s just slow and misjudging plays and hits pretty consistently for entire games.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I agree with that, but he played the one game of 28:14 and has been bad since. It’s not like he’s starting games ok and wearing out, he’s just slow and misjudging plays and hits pretty consistently for entire games.

Load Mismanagement.

 

[KelVarnsen]

Load Mismanagement.

Seems to be going around this year.....

 

[JonathnTaylorTavares]

My wife said her work friend got Clutterbucked in Newport over the weekend

 

[duckaroosky]

My wife said her work friend got Clutterbucked in Newport over the weekend

Say more words

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I'm not thrilled with Cronin but I've started to wonder just how much authority he really has. We know his assistants were picked for him. We know PV thinks he's good with developing kids. But PV seems to like to have his nose in everything and I really wonder how much of the coaching and style of play is dictated by PV and merely implemented by Cronin?

Given how little PV seems to care about winning so far, I wouldn't find it surprising at all if he wanted "his" team to learn to play man to man and Cronin is stuck trying to make the best of it. It's madness watching them fail at the same things over and over again.

 

[JonathnTaylorTavares]

Say more words

She got taken into the boards in the D-zone by Cal

 

[duckaroosky]

She got taken into the boards in the D-zone

I regret asking

 

[la patineuse]

I give all of you guys who watched the game through the end credit. I gave up after the fourth goal.

I did see Cronin's post game conference and I agree with him so much about turnovers in the DZ when the Ducks have full control. How many times have we seen this this year and the Ducks either get scored on or they get hemmed in the DZ and then can't generate any offense because they're too tired defending and all they can do is dump the puck into the OZ so they can make a line change. Are these players too stupid or so bad at hockey to stop repeating their same mistakes over and over again? Although, as coach, isn't it sort of Cronin's responsibility to figure this out or get his players to correct what they're doing?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I'm not thrilled with Cronin but I've started to wonder just how much authority he really has. We know his assistants were picked for him. We know PV thinks he's good with developing kids. But PV seems to like to have his nose in everything and I really wonder how much of the coaching and style of play is dictated by PV and merely implemented by Cronin?

Given how little PV seems to care about winning so far, I wouldn't find it surprising at all if he wanted "his" team to learn to play man to man and Cronin is stuck trying to make the best of it. It's madness watching them fail at the same things over and over again.

I don’t necessarily think that Verbeek has full authority of what goes on, but it’s starting to dawn on me that the message of ‘hard work and work ethic’ is starting to trump over skill level. Do I really think Mysak and Meyers are in it for the long haul? Are we supposed to hope that magically these fringe players can help with supplemental scoring? I don’t get it.

I just hate being pessimistic about this team and constantly negative here, but it’s as bad (if not worse) than last year. That’s why I’ve been constantly saying they should have done a Chicago style rebuild, tear it down completely and bring in a completely different dynamic

Are these players too stupid or so bad at hockey to stop repeating their same mistakes over and over again? Although, as coach, isn't it sort of Cronin's responsibility to figure this out or get his players to correct what they're doing?

I think it’s both ways. First, the way the team is constructed (which is on Verbeek) is awful, and second if Cronin isn’t even getting his ideas/tactics across in 60+ games, what makes anyone think that it will get better from here on out?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I give all of you guys who watched the game through the end credit. I gave up after the fourth goal.

I did see Cronin's post game conference and I agree with him so much about turnovers in the DZ when the Ducks have full control. How many times have we seen this this year and the Ducks either get scored on or they get hemmed in the DZ and then can't generate any offense because they're too tired defending and all they can do is dump the puck into the OZ so they can make a line change. Are these players too stupid or so bad at hockey to stop repeating their same mistakes over and over again? Although, as coach, isn't it sort of Cronin's responsibility to figure this out or get his players to correct what they're doing?

I read or saw a breakdown where if we're playing man defense and we're either trying to stretch the ice if we win it in our d-zone or we're playing dump & chase, then we're always going 100% all the time on the ice. That means we're wearing out our guys faster.

A counter to that would be to have shorter shifts, which the NYI do as it was shared on the telecast last night. Last year, we carried the puck over more often with our skilled lines. That's when we were seeing Zegras shine with his fancy stuff. Now, we can reflect that he was slowing the game down for our guys with being able to carry the puck into the OZone. Another counter would be to have more talented players that can win puck battles early so we aren't hemmed in.

Cronin's frustration is our players aren't buying into his scheme, recognitions, and attention to detail. Maybe Cronin needs to change something on his end than to do the same thing and expecting a different result.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

She got taken into the boards in the D-zone byCal

That’s a two minute penalty for roughing

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Cronin's frustration is our players aren't buying into his scheme, recognitions, and attention to detail. Maybe Cronin needs to change something on his end than to do the same thing and expecting a different result.

This is the thing. If they're not getting it, or not doing it, you can't stand around and yell what you want even louder, like a tourist in Paris. You have to figure it out. You're the COACH. This was Eakins's major failing, too. This guy is supposed to be Motivator Man! Accountability Firehose! Or whatever. And after the games he's like I dunno, someone's gotta take responsibility, just completely missing the irony there.

I'm trying very hard not to make up my mind on him until the full season has passed but I don't think he's having a good first season as coach. He didn't build this gobshite roster, so I would never lay the wins and losses at his feet. And I like what I've seen of the system, when they play it. But we have a lot of injuries and a lot of inconsistent rookies and you have to adjust!