Tmac vs Hitch (what is Hitch doing different than Tmac)

[Soul8]

Some of you likely have a great eye for spotting subtle changes that Hitch is making that Tmac did not.

I realize it is early and Hitch hasn't had a single practice with the team to this point, but what are you seeing?

Click to read more...

 

[McDNicks17]

He's putting players in a role that suits them instead of arranging his lineup by salary and draft position.

He also actually coaches his players differently. He isn't telling Lucic to go out there and try to play like he's told McDavid how to play.

 

[djdub]

First thing I noticed was Lucic on the fourth line. Todd was so thick headed he didn't even try this once. Wow.

 

[Joey Moss]

He doesn't roll lines like it's div 4 men's league.

 

[slaman]

I liked his in-game coaching... He managed to get McDavid out against the Sharks' non shutdown pairing.

Lucic outside of the Top 6 was key.

 

[Tw0Shoes]

Lucic wasn't really on the 4th line. They moved Brodziak up. Brodziak played 14 minutes last night, which is definitely not 4th line minutes. Also the most he has played all year.

 

[MaxR11]

Although i think Hitch is a very good tactician, i think it stems moreso on consistent effort level, and doing the right things (players know what the right things are) consistently, and play as a team together and not as individuals. He brings up the level of standards and ok is not good enough. I've posted on another thread what i think he's going to bring to the team and what was missing from the past.....

Even if we don't make the playoffs, I'm glad Hitch is here. This team has needed to know how to play the right way for a long time now (all the way back to the hall/ebs era). Hitch is here to purge all the lazy fly-bys, irresponsible play, lack of FULL effort on defence, backcheck, forecheck, and puck battles etc. he will instill consistent effort and attention to details and will let you know if you even slip up once. He'll bring that higher standard and ok is not good enough.

I will preface this by saying Connor is amazing and he will always be a massive net positive for any team but too long now the golden boys of this team (hall, ebs, even connor and drai) have gotten a bit of a free pass in terms of cheating for offence and at times a bit of slack on defensive side of things etc etc (especially someone like hall). It started in the hall days when coaches gave him a longer leash and basically allowed him to cheat for offence, coast, fly by and play irresponsibly because he was our "star" player and collected a lot of points. He was not held to the same standard the coach wanted for other players in terms of responsible play and that trickle down and hurts the entire roster. And that mindset lingered in Todd's tenure. Hitch will not play favorites like that. If you don't play the right way he will let you know immediately.

Hitch is the kind of coach that, even if Connor got three points last night and was great and vital to the win, will not hesitate to point out the two bad fly bys Connor made in the game and the missed coverage on one of the goals and get him to correct it.

Details and habits matter if you want to be a winning team. Consistently winning. You have to play the right way as much as possible and it's not good enough to pop 2-3 points. the details matter for the FULL 60 minutes. I love Hitch's high standards. Even some of the posters here have gotten too soft on the golden boys at times. Saying things like "well hall was the only one scoring and creating chances so he's allowed to do fly bys and be a poor defensive player". NO, if you want to be a good consistent winning team EVERYONE needs to be held to the high standards of playing the right way all the time.

As great as Connor is, Hitch will hopefully make him better. I have a feeling Drai will become a dam good winning player under Hitch's tutelage.

The only wild card is how long the players will buy in for and how long they can stand Hitch and his high high standards because it is tough sledding to play hitch's way.

 

[The Nuge]

The forwards are definitely more aggressive all over the ice.

The defense is already much more active. Instead of cheating for defense, they’re battling to keep the puck in the other teams zone. There were numerous times last game where we maintained possession in a situation we typically wouldn’t have.

 

[Bangers]

Coaching. That's what he's doing that's different.

 

[FlameChampion]

I think even though his reputation is that he is more demanding and has higher expectations to me, he seems much more positive than McLellan was. McLellan was always grumpy and moody behind the bench. I think he created a nervous energy behind the bench rather than an engaged and calming presence. I honestly just think that Hitchcock is smarter, understands human psychology better and knows how to push players better. I also think his communication is probably better, he seems more direct. I dont think Mclellan did a good job of putting players in positions, finding roles (for depth players) and was poor at in game management.

 

[ZJuice]

He had the players taking shorter shifts, while also changing lines immediately after face offs in order to get his desired matchup

 

[Ritchie Valens]

For me, Hitch has that 'cerebral assassin' mentality, something Todd doesn't have. That opening statement of "I know what the problems are and I can fix them" speaks volumes of his ability to identify and correct. Again, something Todd either refused to address or didn't notice himself. I think Todd constantly tried to smash a square peg into a round hole figuring one day it's going to fit. Hitchcock right away noticed these are two different shapes. Let's find the round peg.

Hitch can readily adapt and was cognizant enough to realise in the second the Oilers weren't going to get a powerplay last night so he adjusted by double shifting McDavid. This eventually wore down DeBoer's top pairing and in turn created a 5 on 5 man advantage as McDavid's motor was still in high gear and their d was wearing down, slowing them.

He's putting guys in positions to succeed based on talent, not on paycheque. That third line hemmed SJ in their zone so many times it made me giggle.

He is just so damn confident and charismatic.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In game adjustmests are now a thing, even more unheard of is the team being proactive with them.

Lucic wasn't really on the 4th line. They moved Brodziak up. Brodziak played 14 minutes last night, which is definitely not 4th line minutes. Also the most he has played all year.

I think this might become a trend. Brodziak played on a heavy line under Hitch in St. Louis. With the top 6 as talented as it is, it seems like an obvious idea.

I'm warming up to the idea of...

Caggiula-McDavid-Draisaitl
Spooner-RNH-Rattie
Lucic-Brodziak-Chiasson
Rieder-Khaira-Kassian

Reverse Brodziak and Khaira as you see fit, but it still gives you a two clear attack and grind lines.

 

[rickysusedsht]

i liked his praise for players in the post game interview. t mac had good things to say sometimes but i thought hitch had more detail to his comments ,if that makes sence. thought he managed the bench well and the players responded to it.

 

[Tw0Shoes]

In game adjustmests are now a thing, even more unheard of is the team being proactive with them.



I think this might become a trend. Brodziak played on a heavy line under Hitch in St. Louis. With the top 6 as talented as it is, it seems like an obvious idea.

I'm warming up to the idea of...

Caggiula-McDavid-Draisaitl
Spooner-RNH-Rattie
Lucic-Brodziak-Chiasson
Rieder-Khaira-Kassian

Reverse Brodziak and Khaira as you see fit, but it still gives you a two clear attack and grind lines.

Cycle Nuge & McDavid through that 4th line as a center, and it kind of creates that 3rd scoring line too. This is one of the first games in a while that I thought Lucic was going to score. That line was close, if they keep doing that, they'll definitely get some.

 

[Mr Sakich]

I posted this link on the other Hitch thread. If you want to know what Hitch is going to do, here is a real good explanation of his system. Jonathan Willis found the article and posted it on twitter last night

NHL WHITEBOARD.: Systems Theory: Ken Hitchcock and the Nonstop Blues

to be honest, I am pretty excited if he does bring this system to Edmonton as we have the size and skill to be a better team than STL ever was. They were pretty darned good under Hitch

 

[Del Preston]

Hitchcock actually gave McDavid shifts while SJ's shutdown pairing was on the bench. Just under five minutes.

Last night was McDavid's second lowest percentage of 5-on-5 play in his career against Vlasic in San Jose. He scored his goal against Ryan-Burns.

12/13/16: 88% vs Vlasic
1/26/17: 70%
4/6/17: 82%
4/16/17: 83%
4/18/17: 87%
4/22/17: 79%
2/10/18: 83%
2/27/18: 90%
Last night: 77%

"Line matchups don't matter" or whatever the quote was.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

What I know is Hitchcock is physically not McLellan, so there's that difference. The rest is clearly to be determined. I have mild concerns about how Hitchcock relates to the current game, but again, that will be determined.

 

[McBeastMode]

Winning..........

 

[dss97]

Defence seems to be more involved in the offensive zone.

The forwards are trying to use the centre of the ice more.

 

[ZJuice]

McLellan is an egomaniacal person with a thick skull.
He would rather blame others than accept that maybe he is doing something wrong.

You have to wonder if he ever spoke his mind directly to a player one on one, or if he just whined to the media about it.

Standing behind the bench while chomping on gum instead of involving himself in the game was and is a huge pet peeve of mine.


I don’t know a lot about Hitchcock, but I know how frustrating playing against his teams were over the past ~15 years of watching hockey. His team never looked unprepared or like they needed naps

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Mclellan had them playing scared like a bunch of cucks. Scared to engage, retreating in their own zone constantly, dump and chase with only the purpose to clear the zone and get a line change. No proper forecheck and minimal puck support. One guy would chase in the corner and 2 players would be nowhere to be found for help.

Mismanaged lines where slow players would play with fast players with no difference in play style. Line one would play exactly like line four.

Line one your up, tag your it line 2, line 3 next, line 4. Well we just played line 4 now we have to be completely predictable and send out the fourth line because 4 3 2 1 is the correct math sequence and we cant alternate, that would be madness!

Line one just scored! better through our slower bad defensive players from the fourth line against their top line. Uh oh lead gone after 30 seconds? better try the same thing again the next period.

We need a win! Quick throw Brodziak and Kassian out there for 4 out of the next 8 minutes cause we really need momentum.

Oh damn our player who scored twice in 60 games is struggling. Better throw him out there with our best offensive line, powerplay, extra attacker and get him going! uh oh hes not going, that's it, 12 or 13 more games and you are demoted.

Deep thoughts by Mclellan.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Can't wait to revisit this thread when we're ranting that the game has passed Hitch by...

 

[ohheyhemsky]

It's the first game after a big change up. I'll reserve any thoughts on Hitch's coaching style until at least game 5.

I will say though, I loved how Lucic immediately woke up.

 

[smokersarejokers]

What I know is Hitchcock is physically not McLellan, so there's that difference. The rest is clearly to be determined. I have mild concerns about how Hitchcock relates to the current game, but again, that will be determined.

Well, he's only been out of the league for like 7 months.

I understand what you're saying though. He's certainly old school, but I remember reading an article about him when he was in Columbus and he talked about how he had to change his coaching style to be more of a teacher and less of a drill sergeant. It was so long ago and I wish I could find it, but I remember it being a really impressive article.

I'm not too worried about him not being current since he had great records in St Louis only a couple of seasons ago. 2 wins from making it to the finals in 2016.