Before RK was fired, there were plenty of people on here saying something to the effect of "what's the point of firing RK if you're just going to slap an interim tag on Granato or Ellis and they'll run the exact same system?"
I said, and you can look it up if you want, that no coach in his right mind is going to come in and run the same system and do all the same things that got the last coach fired, no way. Did I say I predicted certain line combos? No, now your just putting words on my mouth.
I believe you.
But player usage, line combos, ice time, etc are all part of the equation when we talk about a new coach and his system. A coach could have a better systemic approach than Krueger and still not have great player usage or a willingness to take a chance with a lot of youngsters. Which would impact how successful they would be.
Playing in more open system where the players shouldn’t be scared about possessing the puck is only part of whats going on with Granato. He is also trusting a lot of youngsters in key minutes as well as throwing Sam into a top 6 center role. He is willing to absorb the lumps that come with and they are not punished when they mess up. Granato’s thinking is the good outweighs the bad , especially in the long run as they adjust, so its worth it.
Thats more than anti-Krueger, Thats anti-NHL coaching norms. Which is why I don’t think any of the vets coaches mentioned would be doing this.
All I'm saying is I'm not surprised the team is playing so well, that's all. I'm sure Granato had a lot to do with it.
The point I’m getting at is everyone, including yourself, should be surprised they’re playing this well because on who is leading the charge.
Players we would not have expected two months ago to be leading the charge for this strong team play; Mitts, Asplund, Tage, Joker, Bryson. Dahlin and Cozens are less surprising but even they have taken enormous leaps forward. Throw in Sam at center and we have a successful mix no one could have seen coming.
When posters were talking about a coach coming in and getting more out this roster. It certain wasn’t with those youngsters in mind. It was about getting Hall, Staal, Jack, Olofsson and Skinner on track 5v5, getting away from being super conservative and maybe freeing up Dahlin.