Silver Seven Senators Long-Term Outlook: Defense

[Sweatred]

I think it's pretty clear that the general rule of thumb is that lefties play left, righties play right. That's clear

I think it's also clear that there are pros and cons to playing your off side

It's also clear that while most guys prefer their strong side, some guys prefer there offside

Hopefully that settles it

I agree with that ... the motivation behind those guys who like their off side is usually offensively focused and the reason most coaches play dman on their strong side is defensively focused. Players get paid for points and coaches get paid for wins.

 

[JD1]

And defending the puck carrier on a rush.

Yes, it's different

I have to play another yard or so to the middle, which on the one hand opens up the rusher going wide, but on the other hand that's where my stick is. It's an adjustment. It takes getting used to. And some don't like it at all.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Yes, it's different

I have to play another yard or so to the middle, which on the one hand opens up the rusher going wide, but on the other hand that's where my stick is. It's an adjustment. It takes getting used to. And some don't like it at all.

that distance from the boards change, forcing and playing guys wide is different on how you have to close.. it takes getting used to like you say.;. and to me anyway that would be even more difficult with a more limited reach

 

[JD1]

that distance from the boards change, forcing and playing guys wide is different on how you have to close.. it takes getting used to like you say.;. and to me anyway that would be even more difficult with a more limited reach

What screws me up is playing 3D in beer league which happens more than it should. I'm always the guy that plays RD with the LD and then play LD with the other RD on the ice. Switch every shift. I can get burned not being more inside on the rush.

 

[Sweatred]

What screws me up is playing 3D in beer league which happens more than it should. I'm always the guy that plays RD with the LD and then play LD with the other RD on the ice. Switch every shift. I can get burned not being more inside on the rush.

You will get burned anyway if players are equally skilled - there is no easy answer to offside defending, everything is just limiting exposure. Stick and pivots are difficult - any smart forward attacks your weakness. If you over compensate you are leaving something else open. You survive if you are the Ray Bouque of your league.

It just gets worse behind the goal line play.

 

[JD1]

You will get burned anyway if players are equally skilled - there is no easy answer to offside defending, everything is just limiting exposure. Stick and pivots are difficult - any smart forward attacks your weakness. If you over compensate you are leaving something else open. You survive if you are the Ray Bouque of your league.

It just gets worse behind the goal line play.

You don't seem to want to accept that there are no set in stone rules. You seem to want to argue what you want to argue with anyone that will argue

Simply put there are no universal rules to this. Period. It's an issue of preference. If you want to argue that most prefer their "strong" side you are correct. But that doesn't mean all.

Forwards attack your weakness. Bullshit. Apart from obvious situations like Karlsson returning from ankle surgery and having an obvious weakness pivoting known across the league, you're crediting forwards too much. On any particular rush, there may be a situational weakness i.e. a bit out of position and the forward goes after that. Apart from that forwards are attacking you with their strength.

And I'm a fool for wading back into this with you.

 

[Sweatred]

If you want to argue that most prefer their "strong" side you are correct. But that doesn't mean all.

Forwards attack your weakness. Bullshit.

What on earth do you think I’m suggesting ? I’ve been staring exactly that “most” (coach and players) prefer dman on their the strong side. Nothing more, nothing less.

And sorry, forwards attack dman weakness all the time. They dump to a soft spot in coverage, they isolate a bad pivot, attack poor stick position, or any other weakness. What do you think they do? Skate into a strong stick or strong coverage ?

You and mick are so trigger happy to argue any post I present. 20 posts later your agreeing with my main point.

 

[Cosmix]

Brannstrom can play on the right.

Yes, but he has some deficiencies.

 

[Sweatred]

Yes, but he has some deficiencies.

Agreed , he may get 2-5 extra even strength points a year but he probably gives up 2-3X that in his own end.

 

[Samsquanch]

Im super gun shy with putting faith in any Sens D prospects. But I like our chances now more than ever.

Having said that, at different points in time Ive been very high (like sure that they were top 4 dmen) on all of Lee, Rundblad, Cowen, Ceci, Weircoich. Even Jaros, Lajoie and Wideman to a lesser extent. Wasnt overly high on Karlsson or Chabot at first either..

So my track record speaks for itself....

Moral of the story - playing D is friggin hard. Even today we see many great/elite caliber players around the league being somewhat inconsistent from year to year.

An elite team is usually a part of any scenario that features a Dman playing elite defensively for long, uninterrupted stretches of time.

 

[Sensinitis]

Chabot/Sanderson/Brannstrom will be a three-headed monster better than what the Preds have/had with Josi/Ekholm/Ellis

Our outlook on D looks great with those 3 and a bunch of others with decent potential like Wolanin/JBD/Kleven/Zub/Jaros/Thomson/Lajoie/etc