Timelord
Stanley Cup polisher
- Dec 18, 2011
- 391
- 98
The Montreal Canadiens have a great team and have a great won/lost record to show for it.
Yet, somewhat bizarrely, the Habs have been mediocre statistically, as is obvious by now, losing a few in embarrassing blowouts and winning many by 1 goal margins or in shoot-outs . On the surface, it seems like an anomaly of chance events, specifically, the Habs are in a sense "lucky" and not wasting any goals or good defensive performances in their losses, but are scoring at just the right moments (by chance) to eke out wins.
There is another aberration, the fact that they rarely score first and many of their wins are desperate comebacks.
But these two, strange yet consistent patterns that are emerging over a long stretch of time make it less likely it is merely a chance distribution of goals.
I think it boils down to coaching and a system which is not working -- at all.
The pattern for a win is to fall behind when the players are fresh and presumably more able to adhere to assignments. After falling behind, they go into scramble mode, the players knowing that, at least, Therrien is going to be more forgiving in allowing them to take risks or play more "creatively," and essentially abandoning the rigid defensive system and game plan which theoretically should have included taking the initial lead at some point.
I'm not a hockey expert, but I can observe the obvious:
- Price has stolen some games, or at least provides the backbone of the defense in wins. This is fine as a goalie is just as much a part of the team as any other player. But Therrien does not coach goaltenders.
- Therrien does not utilize the individual strengths of each player well, rather, he seems to wants all his players to play all the same way, especially the younger players, or else he gives less ice time or outright benches them (Subban, Galchenyuk, Beaulieu.) Subban is the poster boy for this as he seems to have had his wings clipped as of late, rarely leading or helping the rush anymore into the opponents end at even strength.
- His over-reliance on veterans is well-known, having high tolerance for vets' mistakes and almost zero tolerance for rookie errors. This is a toxic atmosphere for rookies trying to gain confidence in their game, while badly needing the experience. Conversely, older players are overused and much more likely to tire over the course of the season (Markov.)
- More generally, his inefficient system seems to require energy levels too high to sustain over many games in a tight schedule. This may be a fault of the system itself or it could be the increased tempo of desperation hockey as a result of the system's failure. This is another possible contributing factor for the blowouts.
All this means, from that the fact that they scramble for wins and still occasionally get totally dissected, is that they win in spite of the coach, not because of him. At best, Therrien has blundered into having a “system†and “game plan†that almost guarantees falling behind in the first period, thus allowing/necessitating that the team scramble brilliantly for the second and third periods to win.
Yet, somewhat bizarrely, the Habs have been mediocre statistically, as is obvious by now, losing a few in embarrassing blowouts and winning many by 1 goal margins or in shoot-outs . On the surface, it seems like an anomaly of chance events, specifically, the Habs are in a sense "lucky" and not wasting any goals or good defensive performances in their losses, but are scoring at just the right moments (by chance) to eke out wins.
There is another aberration, the fact that they rarely score first and many of their wins are desperate comebacks.
But these two, strange yet consistent patterns that are emerging over a long stretch of time make it less likely it is merely a chance distribution of goals.
I think it boils down to coaching and a system which is not working -- at all.
The pattern for a win is to fall behind when the players are fresh and presumably more able to adhere to assignments. After falling behind, they go into scramble mode, the players knowing that, at least, Therrien is going to be more forgiving in allowing them to take risks or play more "creatively," and essentially abandoning the rigid defensive system and game plan which theoretically should have included taking the initial lead at some point.
I'm not a hockey expert, but I can observe the obvious:
- Price has stolen some games, or at least provides the backbone of the defense in wins. This is fine as a goalie is just as much a part of the team as any other player. But Therrien does not coach goaltenders.
- Therrien does not utilize the individual strengths of each player well, rather, he seems to wants all his players to play all the same way, especially the younger players, or else he gives less ice time or outright benches them (Subban, Galchenyuk, Beaulieu.) Subban is the poster boy for this as he seems to have had his wings clipped as of late, rarely leading or helping the rush anymore into the opponents end at even strength.
- His over-reliance on veterans is well-known, having high tolerance for vets' mistakes and almost zero tolerance for rookie errors. This is a toxic atmosphere for rookies trying to gain confidence in their game, while badly needing the experience. Conversely, older players are overused and much more likely to tire over the course of the season (Markov.)
- More generally, his inefficient system seems to require energy levels too high to sustain over many games in a tight schedule. This may be a fault of the system itself or it could be the increased tempo of desperation hockey as a result of the system's failure. This is another possible contributing factor for the blowouts.
All this means, from that the fact that they scramble for wins and still occasionally get totally dissected, is that they win in spite of the coach, not because of him. At best, Therrien has blundered into having a “system†and “game plan†that almost guarantees falling behind in the first period, thus allowing/necessitating that the team scramble brilliantly for the second and third periods to win.
