Systems & Coaching Changes

[Bank Shot]

Fans see the same thing the coaches do... It's not like it's some secret technique that only the trained can see.

Your average joe might not have a clue, and just yell shoot all the time, but most people who go so far as to sign up for a forum like this, are a bit more into it than your average fan.

You didn't mention anything systems related though.

What were they playing in the D-zone? Man on man? Zone? Box+1?

What was their typical forecheck?

What kinds of breakouts were they using at 5 on 5 and on the PP?

What was the name of the PK formation they were using?

I can't answer all these questions and apparently neither can you.

It doesn't seem to stop anyone from criticizing the systems play though.

If you don't really know much about the systems then how can you differentiate when its a systems problem vs a player problem?

I mean being too passive on the PK isn't the root cause of the problem. When a PK gets passive its usually a result of a breakdown in another area. A missed assignment or a failure to hold the blueline or something else that results in good puck control for the offensive team and a tired defending team.

Fixing a PK isn't as easy as just saying "be more aggressive". You get aggressive at the wrong times and you'll get burnt.

A lot of the time its obvious when players make mistakes. Other times it is more subtle, or perhaps the player isn't making mistakes but just isn't that good so they lack the ability to make plays that a better player can make.

I think its pretty easy to blame the systems or the coach. I'm not sure that criticism is always directed in the right direction.

 

[dustrock]

They were using what, the diamond formation instead of the standard rectangle?

I thought there was a point where they were leading the league in SHG because it was a higher risk system where it was easier to spring the point man like McDavid for a breakaway.

Problem is they were giving up a poop-toj of shots and were particularly vulnerable to cross-ice passes.

McLellan had been using Jim Johnson to run the PK but he eventually took it over himself and went back to the standard rectangle.

Honestly dumping Letestu helped as well, as good as he was 2 years ago, he was horrid on the PK last season.

 

[Hopelesslucicfan]

You didn't mention anything systems related though.

What were they playing in the D-zone? Man on man? Zone? Box+1?

What was their typical forecheck?

What kinds of breakouts were they using at 5 on 5 and on the PP?

What was the name of the PK formation they were using?

I can't answer all these questions and apparently neither can you.

It doesn't seem to stop anyone from criticizing the systems play though.

If you don't really know much about the systems then how can you differentiate when its a systems problem vs a player problem?

I mean being too passive on the PK isn't the root cause of the problem. When a PK gets passive its usually a result of a breakdown in another area. A missed assignment or a failure to hold the blueline or something else that results in good puck control for the offensive team and a tired defending team.

Fixing a PK isn't as easy as just saying "be more aggressive". You get aggressive at the wrong times and you'll get burnt.

A lot of the time its obvious when players make mistakes. Other times it is more subtle, or perhaps the player isn't making mistakes but just isn't that good so they lack the ability to make plays that a better player can make.

I think its pretty easy to blame the systems or the coach. I'm not sure that criticism is always directed in the right direction.

Like I said, we can see the issue lies in multiple things, but especially the personel on the ice in the case of the pp. That's 100% a coaching issue. I may not know systems or formations, but I know what they were doing wasn't working, and even the fans could see why.

It doesn't matter if Todd deploys the flying v, what matters is that when is isn't working, he continues for 40 games until we're god awful and pissed away the season. I'm convinced that if letestu was still here they'd be putting him in that one timer spot.

 

[Lord Quas]

Was the pp unit playing 1-3-1 on the Lucic goal?

Lucic
RNH-McD-Drai
Klef

 

[oobga]

Oesterle threw a bit of shade our way in a recent theathletic article.

This particular system’s emphasis was a big part of why he set his sights on Chicago as a free agent last summer, hitting the market as a Group 6 UFA after failing to skate out in 80 NHL games for the Edmonton Oilers in his first three pro seasons.

“They’re a team where the coaches really encourage the D-men jumping into the play and joining the rush,” he said. “When I was in Edmonton, I was kind of stuck in a model of … they wanted more defensive defensemen.”

His reflection of the systems he’s played in is a quiet but harsh indictment of the way the Oilers have deployed their blue line. It wasn’t, in essence, the kind of defensive corps that move the puck up the ice, but rather wait for the puck to come to them in order to stop it.

Chicago was much more his speed. And luckily, that’s exactly what he’s found in Arizona as well.

 

[Bank Shot]

I guess we will see about Osterle. He kind of strikes me as an offensive defenseman that is never going to put up much offense.

I suspect if Chicago really liked what he was doing they wouldn't have gave him up in the Hossa deal.