Please tell me what our defense is doing

[Fritobandito3]

Hockey fan my whole life. Played some adult hockey. Know some hockey.

1. What exactly is the new defensive system Lightning are using? It sucks.

2. Why can’t we easily break out of d-zone like other teams?

3. Stick checking and not taking the body drives me crazy

4. Why do our forwards collapse so far on defense, leaving other teams point men wide open? Essentially like giving them a man advantage on every play because we have forwards floating in no man’s land.

5. It’s on the coach to change things up. Other teams have our number for the style we play.

Click to read more...

 

[bigdaddio]

Never played hockey so I don't really know except my eye test and agree. Our defenders are just too far away from the puck carrier, except when it goes behind the net, then we jump on it creating huge gaps if we don't get the puck.

 

[Sky04]

You run league minimum players what do you expect? CDH, Raddysh, Fleury are bottom of the barrel, Myers would be too but our GM gave him 1.4m.

People wonder why Cole keeps getting paid for a bottom pairing defenseman, it's because he's a stable defenseman who can eat minutes, the difference between him and CDH is huge.

Oh and we traded Bogo for nothing.

 

[LightningStrikes]

TBF #3 has been the case in forever but #4 is new and terrible, I agree.

 

[Todd1a]

The forwards have to cover the points because Vasy can’t track pucks there and they have to be on the boards for the break out also . The center and the 1 defenseman have to take the man in front of the net.

I don’t know why cooper has our forwards playing so low it’s stupid

 

[Stammertime91]

"We don't know"

- Coaching staff

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

 

[Hoek]

You run league minimum players what do you expect? CDH, Raddysh, Fleury are bottom of the barrel, Myers would be too but our GM gave him 1.4m.

People wonder why Cole keeps getting paid for a bottom pairing defenseman, it's because he's a stable defenseman who can eat minutes, the difference between him and CDH is huge.

Oh and we traded Bogo for nothing.

It's our highly paid players doing that too though.

 

[Rschmitz]

2. Why can’t we easily break out of d-zone like other teams?

Because our defensemen are awful and incapable of making a smart transition pass

3. Stick checking and not taking the body drives me crazy

I think you're giving them too much credit, if they knew how to stick check we would see some kind of gap control out on the ice.

4. Why do our forwards collapse so far on defense, leaving other teams point men wide open? Essentially like giving them a man advantage on every play because we have forwards floating in no man’s land.

What a mess. The only explanation for that is confusion

 

[Todd1a]

You run league minimum players what do you expect? CDH, Raddysh, Fleury are bottom of the barrel, Myers would be too but our GM gave him 1.4m.

People wonder why Cole keeps getting paid for a bottom pairing defenseman, it's because he's a stable defenseman who can eat minutes, the difference between him and CDH is huge.

Oh and we traded Bogo for nothing.

There’s is a reason CDH, raddysh and fleury are making less then 1 million per year in the nhl it’s because there not good players.

Yes I agree Ian cole is better then all 3 of them

 

[Felonious Python]

Box+1 is a time tested defense that's been around for decades, and was used by the Vegas Golden Knights en route to their cup win. Giveaways are not part of the structure.

box+1 explanation:


this is what we're pretty much looking for


Shots from the point are, statistically, very low percentage. 1-3%. They also don't create as many rebounds as maybe you'd think.

That's not to say they aren't valuable, or that they shouldn't be part of the tool box. They just shouldn't be the first choice for creating offense. At high levels of play, offense seems to be more about getting the goalie to move. We all know that a shot and a scoring chance aren't the same thing.

Now, if the other team is really locking everything down below the circles, then point shots paradoxically start to make more sense. Use the traffic in front of the net to your advantage and cause some chaos. Understanding exactly what everyone needs to do when the puck is inside the house is another hurdle.

 

[The Gongshow]

"What is our defense doing?"

Their best!

 

[Stammertime91]

I'm not sure we should use a defense that forces point shots then. Lol. That's exactly what Vasy doesn't need.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Everyone looks lost, no one knows what they are doing. Maybe a long break and homework will help people understand. I doubt it, but one can hope.

 

[OffBy1]

"What is our defense doing?"

Failing.

 

[Master P]

I'm not sure we should use a defense that forces point shots then. Lol. That's exactly what Vasy doesn't need.

The issue is that those shooting lanes should be taken away and when they're not, the shots should be blocked.

The shots aren't being blocked and guys are standing in the way creating extra screens.

 

[JTBF81]

Vasy getting screened more and the team not blocking as many shots as they were during the Cup winning years is certainly a factor(as is the overall horrendous defensive play from the team), but there's no doubt that for the better part if two seasons now, Vasy hasn't been tracking shots from distance well at all. There have been more than a few where he wasn't screened that have beat him, and in some cases its clear he doesn't know where the puck is even when the shot is clearly wide. I'm not sure if it's always been a weakness that was more masked because of the defense, or if it's something that's more recently come about due to injury or mechanics, but the weakness is there and getting exploited more and more it seems.

 

[BoltSTH]

Easy answer: They let in too many goals

 

[Sky04]

You can't block every single point shot, there's a reason why teams allow them - it's supposed to be low percentage. Our offense generates a ton of shots from the point also, our dmen just can't hit the net and other teams goalies don't let in softies at the same rate we do.

 

[Bozo Nicholson]

When Lalonde spilled the beans on national tv last year like a weasel, he indicated that the former system was set up to limit long range shots.

This new system seems to do the opposite, feeding into Vasy’s weaknesses. There are constantly dudes just floating wide open and teeing off.

 

[These Are The Days]

Box+1 is a time tested defense that's been around for decades, and was used by the Vegas Golden Knights en route to their cup win. Giveaways are not part of the structure.

box+1 explanation:


this is what we're pretty much looking for


Shots from the point are, statistically, very low percentage. 1-3%. They also don't create as many rebounds as maybe you'd think.

That's not to say they aren't valuable, or that they shouldn't be part of the tool box. They just shouldn't be the first choice for creating offense. At high levels of play, offense seems to be more about getting the goalie to move. We all know that a shot and a scoring chance aren't the same thing.

Now, if the other team is really locking everything down below the circles, then point shots paradoxically start to make more sense. Use the traffic in front of the net to your advantage and cause some chaos. Understanding exactly what everyone needs to do when the puck is inside the house is another hurdle.

I mean yeah that's what you're supposed to do. We don't do that. We literally just freaking stand there and go "Oh wow" when Vasy either lets it in or there's a terrible rebound

 

[Silver Tuna]

We look half as fast and aggressive in our zone as other teams look in theirs is a start.