I don't understand how anlytics are going to gel with a management that is icing Dan Cleary.
His intangibles are so off the charts that they're tangible.They have an analytical measurement of leadership, where Cleary scores a maximum 100/100.
"It's true that he called and asked if I was interested in taking one of the spots as an assistant coach for the upcoming season. I was very proud of the offer, it was really flattering," says Lidstrom.
But...?
"We're doing well here in Sweden after the move, and the children are thriving in school, so it never occurred to me to move back now. We moved home the last year for the children to go to school here."
We'll see what kind of analytics Jim Hiller introduces in player evaluation. If its good, I like that he's in charge of the offense. Shot prevention has never been a problem, even when Lidstrom left (miraculously). Offense and shot generation have been an issue for the Wings the last two seasons.
Shot prevention probably isn't a problem because of the two-way game the Red Wings try to help their players develop. The offensive side comes secondary to management, I guess. That's why guys like Glendening, Andersson, etc. have some value to the Wings.
It'll definitely be interesting to see what Hiller can bring to the team- I hope he can help convince Babs that Abdelkader/Cleary really shouldn't probably play with Zetterberg or Datsyuk very often...
Hiller has implemented new schemes. His two points of emphasis are getting more bodies to the net and retrieving pucks quicker.
"We want to be aggressive at their net-front," Hiller said. "When the puck gets to their net we want to have more players than they do. We've created a lot of chances (in preseason), haven't scored enough, but to create more chances you have to get the puck back once you're there."
"So it's out-numbering at the net for your goal-scoring chances, out-numbering so we can get it back and start all over again."
"Last year I think we had all kinds of trouble," Kronwall said. "There were times when the entries didn't work. Other times the entries worked but we couldn't get a lot of motion, couldn't get pucks to the net. It was too stationary. So far, getting into the zone and creating some zone time and creating some chances has all been there."
"The ability to shift from low to high, from one side to the other, ability to have people at the net is better than it was," coach Mike Babcock said. "I like some of the new ideas. That's why you have new people."
Hiller believes they have the pieces for a successful power play – puck transporters in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, shooters in Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist and net-front men in Johan Franzen and Riley Sheahan.
One area they're lacking is point men. The only established one is Kronwall. Last season they tried Danny DeKeyser and Jakub Kindl. Babcock said he might give Brendan Smith a shot this season.
"I think a lot of times you really have a top-heavy power play group and then the second group isn't so heavy," Hiller said. "I think the strength of this team is we're going to have two strong groups. I think we have lots of depth of scoring up front."
"Babcock said he MIGHT give Brendan Smith a shot [on the powerplay] this season."
He might.
Good article on the new PP, implemented by Hiller.
I haven't seen Smith on the PP in the games I've watched.
One game that be played the point units were Sproul/Ouellet and Weiss/Jensen, and tonight the unit was Kronwall and Weiss/Dekeyser.
So for all of this talk about Smith getting a chance, they sure haven't shown it lately.
"Babcock said he MIGHT give Brendan Smith a shot [on the powerplay] this season."
He might.
Those 6 forwards are exactly who I would want on the power play. Interesting that Weiss was not listed though, I wonder if that means he's going to be an option on point.
Also thought it was interesting that Hiller would prefer not to stack the top unit, I take that as meaning that Dats and Z would have their own unit.
Based on what he said, I envision
Franzen-Z-Nyquist
And
Tatar-Datsyuk-Sheahan
Seems like the guys on the point are TBD. Really hope Smith is one of them. I am thinking they are debating Kronwall, Weiss, Dekeyser, Smith, or Kindl????
"Last season they tried Danny DeKeyser and Jakub Kindl. Babcock said he might give Brendan Smith a shot this season."
Of course Hiller says they have the personnel to execute an effective PP - it wouldn't be PC for him to say otherwise. But I love how the article says "Hiller thinks they have the personnel to do it" and then goes on to say "one area where they are really lacking is point men - they only have Kronwall," as though point men are some supplementary piece to the puzzle and not arguably the most important part of the powerplay.
Honestly, this has worried me since the start of last season. If the Wings do miss the playoffs, its going to be their major lack of puck-movement out of the back-end that kills them. And given that strong puck-movers are typically the same guys who are strong point men, this is a huge concern.