Sloppy passing, poor execution, cement hands....whatever anyone wants to call it, has been a peeve of mine with this core for years. They are unable to do the basics well on a consistent basis. It kills this team in so many aspects of the game, be it breakouts, power plays, cycling in the offensive zone. Low skill level. It's an old story.
This is all a natural result of a system that emphasizes chess-like defense above all else. There's no such thing as players "getting into the zone" or "playing by instinct" it's all orchestrated and telegraphed. This is the hockey equivalent of Brad Gilbert's "winning ugly" when it comes to the offensive side of the game. Heavy forecheck. Smash the other player. See if he can cough up the puck and ram the puck into the opponent's goal. Other than that, everything else is focused on defense. So using your talents and offensive abilities was/is never practiced under Lambert or Trotz. It's all about defensive play. Structure. Discipline. Being in formation.
Anyone who has played any sports knows you need to be "in the zone" and at times "playing by instinct" with feel, being loose and relaxed if you are going to pull off good passing, good execution, having more than just cement hands and most importantly
NOT making mistakes that you normally would not make. When you play too tight, too self conscious, you are going to make mistakes and cough up the puck. "Creating" offense (there's a word we having heard in a long time.)
YES there needs to be some structure but this system that Lambert and Trotz deployed on this franchise stifled any of the natural offensive abilities of our talented players. They don't want our players doing any of this stuff. So when one of our more talented speed skaters Engvall makes a rare for himself, but egregious mistake in our defensive zone Lambert inexplicably benches the guy ignoring all the good things this player has done for the team the other 10 games entering the season. It's so head scratching he would bench such a player when there are many others not playing well at all. But this is Lambert, so am I surprised? He is completely out of touch when it comes to group dynamics and tearing apart this team's offensive core starting last season with the exiling of Josh Bailey which I'm sure is having a negative effect on his friend and same aged Anders Lee who looks lost this season.
Lambert and his system destroys the confidence of any of our offensively gifted players starting most notably with Barzal. Barzal is THE engine behind this team's offense. We've been lucky to see some of that brilliance he displayed his rookie year this past couple of games or so but he has been shown that brilliance because under Trotz and Lambert I am almost positive they told him not to do this stuff. What made him decide to start playing with god given talents these past couple of games I don't know (I would like to think that he read a few of my posts recently but probably not), but I'm glad to see it. It is clear to me he still has it but the team clearly needs a new coach who knows how to use his natural talents correctly. And for all those who don't see Barzal as one of the leagues top offensive players please watch something else because you don't know what you are talking about. The problem was never Barzal, it's the system that was forced down his throat that's keeping him in a straight jacket but what we've seen the past few games clearly shows what he's still capable of. I'd like to think that he's completely tuned out Lambert and is going to do what he wants to do (which he should) so that Lambert predictably benches him for it and get's himself fired in the process.
So in a nutshell if you want to see solid offense from this team, a better and looser more effective power play from this team you got to shelf the current system which means you need to shelf Lambert. As I've said many posts this season, let the players be athletes. They are not pawns on a chessboard. The head coach job is to guide not control the players. Let them practice and utilize their god-given talents. Right now they are so off their game it's a terrible thing to watch. This team looks like it has completely lost its identity because the players are not sure what to do. They want to play loose in a system and coach that puts them in a chokehold if they don't play by the rules. My god get off their backs and let them play their game.
