Our defense this season is nowhere near what it was last season...or the prior two seasons under Martin.
We now often see two Habs players attacking the puck carrier. Martin never advocated that. He preferred the sagging and collapsing defense where Price had 5 Habs in front of the crease.
That more aggressive defense now allows a quicker and more successful transition out of our D zone.........something that we never saw with Martin. Our D getting hemmed in our zone occurred far too often.
Martin may have preached defense. Theriens execution of an effective defense is a vast improvement over the words of Martin.
As Therrien has said, this is a more demanding system on the players. One is REQUIRED to always pressure the puck carrier.
So, for example, if the puck comes out of the opposing zone on their RW, and it is a three on three or two on three, the forward is required to come over and pressure the puck carrier, even if he is the winger from the other side (our RW). The winger is not allowed to just coast back into his zone in a straight line covering space but no player.
Same thing in the defensive zone. Whoever is closest to the puck has to jump on the carrier, even if he is "out of position". So if the C is late coming back, a winger comes and helps down low. The team is ALWAYS pressuring the puck. I call it a "swarm" and this style is what makes me nervous that a guy like Ryder will have to really change his mentality to adjust. But I am willing to see if the coaching staff, with their apparently good communication skills, can get through to him before declaring it a lost cause.
At any rate, yes it is a more suitable style to play when you have team speed than the more passive style.