Cloned
Begging for Bega
- Aug 25, 2003
- 78,959
- 64,167
Credit where credit is due. The coaches said they were going to implement more aggressive puck retrieval checking systems this year, and so far, it has paid off. Took the team the first 3-4 games to really get used to it, but right now, this is the best that I remember the Oilers forecheck looking in forever. The amount of havoc they create with their sticks and positioning makes this team play a lot faster than the individual sum of its parts.
Similarly, in the defensive zone, this is as aggressive as I've seen the Oilers get after the puck carrier AND come away with the puck more often than not. It's like the Eakins' swarm, only it actually works this time. The stick work is impressive.
It'll be interesting to see what the coaches will do once other teams adapt to it, but right now it looks really good. They force a lot of turnovers so that their offense doesn't have to come off the rush all the time - which is probably a good thing because strictly in terms of skill, this roster wouldn't be able to go toe to toe in a rush game. So the coaches identified the best way to maximize the assets of the roster - and that's something that is objectively a hallmark of good coaching.
Now if they could only get the damn PP right...
Similarly, in the defensive zone, this is as aggressive as I've seen the Oilers get after the puck carrier AND come away with the puck more often than not. It's like the Eakins' swarm, only it actually works this time. The stick work is impressive.
It'll be interesting to see what the coaches will do once other teams adapt to it, but right now it looks really good. They force a lot of turnovers so that their offense doesn't have to come off the rush all the time - which is probably a good thing because strictly in terms of skill, this roster wouldn't be able to go toe to toe in a rush game. So the coaches identified the best way to maximize the assets of the roster - and that's something that is objectively a hallmark of good coaching.
Now if they could only get the damn PP right...