Ha ha ha ha ha, that is classic, now can we try another one, lets use MPS - Gagner- Yakupov. We replace Hemsky with MPS for the same reasons you want to replace Whitney, his particular skillset just doesnt fit system requirements right now.
J. Schultz makes a hard pass to MPS at the blueline, Magnus puts his head down and easily transitions through the neutral zone using his size and speed , hwo feet before he exits the Neutral zone on the far left side before he makes contact with the d-man but has drawn him over he makes a short safe pass to Gagner who is charging down the middle as usual and then breaks into the o-zone for the give and go pass, Gagner uses MPS as a distraction to force the d-man in the middle to pause and use his stick to cover the passing lane back to MPS who is being tightly covered by his d-man already, the d-mens support seeing the middle being collapsed comes over from the right side to close out Gagner who is still in the middle pressuring the left side using MPS, as soon as the right D slides over towards the middle to nullify Gagner, Sam slips the puck against the grain to Yakupov who has immediatly recognised the hole developing and has taken up shop on the perimeter of the faceoff circle, as Sams pass slides past the right d-support man who is now twisting his body to reach back and cover the passing lane against the grain of the play to Yakupov the d-man falls drawing the goaltenders attention for a split second, there is a loud clang heard throughout the arena from the ice surface and everyone looks towards the goaltender who is now looking behind him at the sopt Yakupovs onetimer left smoking on its way off the top post into the net. Yakupov looks over at Sam for a sign of what to do and Gagner leaps in the air and gives Yak the go-ahead to start his own celebration, MPS skates over to Yakupov and Gagner and shakes his head smiling at Yaksters incredibly fast shot that no one really even saw coming.
This is fun, for once I get to see what might happen if the 2nd line can gain the o-zone without Hemmer catalysing the play action. Hemmer is highly consistant at gianing the o-zone but isnt really a transitional player who passes his way into zones, he just takes them at will. This means everything works off of him, but Yak is not a one dimensional shooter, he needs the puck on his stick late in the neutral zone or early in the o-zone with good defensive support from his linemates so he can create space and holes in the defense to maximise his skillset. He is not a pure triggerman yet, soon but not yet.
The one move coaches wouldnt do last year when we began to fritter away our awsome start to the season was move Whitney and leave Potter as our long pass man who can also initiate mobile transitions and the long first pass, he wins out over Whitney because of his mobility and I dont mean just ability to skate I mean ability to catalyse different looks as zone transitions are started from our end, mixing up so to speak.
The one move Ralph Krueger has refused to make is to replace Hemmer with MPS on the 2nd line, he has danced arouind it all year as we have frittered away games again , it has been unreasonable and has been done for several reasons all related to Ralphs system perspective, Ralph is trying to establish dynamic control of his players and system using his deep communication and dynamic relationship skills. And he is stubborn.
Keeping Hemmer on the 2nd line prevents us from seeing Gagners evolution, it suppresses Yakupovs ability to use his possesion game to create shooting opportunitys and forces him to be a triggerman instead of an assasin like he is naturally.Hemmer will provide goals and offense from anywhere we put him at about the same %, but others need a more creative working environment to be at their most effective. Hemmer is overkill on the second line and he prevents the line from spreading the puck around not just from lack of passing but from the ways he threatens the opposition d-men and enters the zones, Hemmer is the key to our 3rd line scoring which needs to be based off of a fastbreak game supported by Ryan Whitney used in the right spots at the right times, we NEED the ability to use more than one system of offense so we can win playoff rounds, one single system focus from all 4 lines is not effective enough unless all 4 lines are offensively or defensively catalysed, you cannot have your cake and eat it to, Ralph wants to see consistancy of system core value execution from everyone, and is looking at all lines meeting him in the middle here. I believe we need to form our tactics around our players not our players around our tactics, the NewAge Hockey System which I am a big fan of preaches this dynamic approach, you asess each players strengths and abilitys and then you provide them with a flexible system that allows them to all maximise their individual skillsets within system parameters. The NHS doesnt ask players to play their skillsets down to a system platform to execute set plays, it asks them to play their games up to a system platform that asks them to score goals using their individual strengths and skillsets catalysed from their creativity , not set plays. The only way to remove the reliance on set plays is to remove the defensive shackles, and the only way to do that and win is to use overwhelming offense, one dimensional overwhelming offense. Not run and gun, but run and score and then repeat. Set play systems like the adjusted hybrid Krueger is using create run and gun because of their need to surrender the puck or turn it over to reinitiate another offensive thrust, the NHS is always locked and loaded in all 3 zones so the transition to offense is instantaneous and fully supported in all areas of the ice , the only turnovers the NHS creates are the type the opposition fishes out of the back of their nets.
We need to keep the excellent zone transitions we have been making and not go towards a tighter defense and more contact, we have had the transition game dialed in a few times this year already. our real issue has been a lack of a Tactical Shooting Program that is flexible enought to support our excellent consistant transition game, we have mastered the hardest part of an offensive system, we can dominate zone entrys and transitions for 60 mins, we just cant manage them, as a result of this managment shortfall we are screwing with everything else looking for answers to our lack of goal scoring.
We need to keep the transition game we are experimenting with, we need to keep shooting the puck, but we need to better manage our transitions into the n-zone and into the o-zone so we have incoming support for the first shot, we are getting everything right execpt for our timing of rebound support Ive seen the team play the perfect games and then watched the coaching staff keep making changes in the wrong places screwing up our transition consistancy without addressing the real issueof there being a huge hole in our tactical operational capability at the NHL level, we need the NewAge Hockey Systems Tactical Shooting Program and we need it fast. Before we start making to many of the wrong small adjustments in the wrong places. All we need to do is choose our shots based on a program not on our individual though processes, we need the system to tell players when to initiate shots because then we will have the secondary support we need without screwing with our defensive zone exits and excellent transitional capability. We are expecting the players to make veteran tactical shooting and timing decisions,but they arent veterans, this is a system issue, Ralph has picked an adjusted hybrid and it is always best manned by veterans for this exact reason, not to pick on Ralph but this was the worst choice possible systemwise for his roster.
