Pierre McQuire is absolutely furious "go with 6 dmen and go with it!"

[CREW99AW]

I watched that draft I don't rememmber hearing anything about that. I could be wrong but I don't rememmber.

I only watched until the Taylor Pyatt pick(8th or 9th overall).I'd like to know where the quote orginated from.A nyi fan on the isles hockeynation board says it was McGuire's.

 

[Aarex]

my only thing is, what the hell is with this man to man crap? These guys have been playing zone defence their entire career and now they switch to man to man? give me a break

 

[kolanos]

my only thing is, what the hell is with this man to man crap? These guys have been playing zone defence their entire career and now they switch to man to man? give me a break

That's all Habsheid. They don't have a system and frankly, everyone looks lost out there except maybe Thornton and Nash -- who just plow their way to the net with wreckless abandon. Gagne on that line, even he looks lost half the time.

 

[kolanos]

How can people blame the defense? The defense is the most in need of a system for any team and Habscheid has implementing nothing of the kind.

What we're seeing is mostly coaching. This defensive corps under a competent coach could be the best in the world -- young, strong, mobile, offensive, physical. Plenty of experience there, even for a relatively young group. This is the FUTURE of Canada's defense, the Niedermayers, Blakes and Prongers are at the end of their careers -- these are the guys that still be representing us for 10+ years.

Even Jovanovski can be effective with the right coach. But this team is playing at the whim of momentum -- no method, just madness. They play lost, confused, disorganized hockey for a couple periods, then a couple guys start to find eachother (usually involving Nash) and in the third they put together some offense. So basically what we have is 40 minutes of a game the team is just trying to figure out what kind of game they're supposed to be playing. It is *not* the players' responsibility to come up with a system on their own, and that's what's happening. Not trying to make Habscheid into a scapegoat, but the buck stops with him and he's done nothing.

 

[loadie]

Habscheid is a great junior coach.

Yep, and there lies one of the biggest problems. Sometimes I feel like he's overwhelmed or he's trying to get everyone some icetime. If he needs to sit someone who isn't performing, time to sit them. It's no time to be worried about hurting someone's feelings, they're all big boys.

 

[HF2002]

Ahhh, never a dull moment on HF Boards! I just popped in to let you know that TSN did not televise the draft in 1999.

Hey, it beats some broken glass. Now why wasn't that a lead story?

 

[Macman]

Canada have two straight golds with "slow" D's. Don't think the D is the biggest problem. They are just forced to spend to much time in their own end...
(

I don't consider Scott Niedermayer and Jay Bouwmeester to be slow. They can singlehandedly break the trap. Canada could sure use them now.

 

[SwisshockeyAcademy]

How can people blame the defense? The defense is the most in need of a system for any team and Habscheid has implementing nothing of the kind.

What we're seeing is mostly coaching. This defensive corps under a competent coach could be the best in the world -- young, strong, mobile, offensive, physical. Plenty of experience there, even for a relatively young group. This is the FUTURE of Canada's defense, the Niedermayers, Blakes and Prongers are at the end of their careers -- these are the guys that still be representing us for 10+ years.

Even Jovanovski can be effective with the right coach. But this team is playing at the whim of momentum -- no method, just madness. They play lost, confused, disorganized hockey for a couple periods, then a couple guys start to find eachother (usually involving Nash) and in the third they put together some offense. So basically what we have is 40 minutes of a game the team is just trying to figure out what kind of game they're supposed to be playing. It is *not* the players' responsibility to come up with a system on their own, and that's what's happening. Not trying to make Habscheid into a scapegoat, but the buck stops with him and he's done nothing.

I have to disagree, i am not saying Habscheid is working wonders because he is not, roles not clearly defined etc but i am watching some D men behaving badly especially Jovanovski. He has made key mistakes in each and every game. Souray has handled the puck like a grenade, Regehr has not been physically dominant, even Hannan has not been able contain his man as well in the D -zone perhaps the big corners are causing some problems. These guys should be able to hit and pin their men and perhaps the low forward coming in to scoop up the puck. I would say perhaps a double down defense could be instituted by habscheid, it will work as long as you pick your spots and players rotate properly. The 1-4 trap at the blueline is a european big ice problem. Even Paul Coffey would struggle here because it is not like you are breaking a deep trap it is the shallowest trap you can play. You are essentially force to dump the puck , Canada must do it and must have their attack options ready when they retrieve it. I would hope they will step up their game tomorrow but i'm not super confident they will limit their mistakes. Lets hope Stana or Lasak get lit up.