Unique Team Traits: Montreal Canadiens

[JohnLennon]

A great series by Justin Bourne and Thomas Drance from theScore, they observe what sets Montreal apart from the heard: their penalty kill.

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/588022

The Montreal Canadiens excelled short-handed, which was rooted in three areas: the neutral zone, the crease, and an attitude on loose pucks

The Calgary Flames of 2013-14 had an underrated penalty kill, which saw success thanks to an interesting neutral zone strategy. Unfortunately, they were submarined by terrible goaltending.

Well, the 2013-14 Montreal Canadiens used that same neutral zone system, combined it with uber-aggressive play on loose pucks in the defensive zone and terrific goaltending, and finished with one of hockey’s highest success rates on the PK.

A very informing article, and series, on strategies that a casual fan won't always recognize or appreciate. Really explains well the excellent penalty kill we had, and even the value of Tomas Plekanec.

Click to read more...

 

[PricePkPatch*]

What a great read.

Love these intelligent analysis.

Clearly, Therrien is a moron, because all a coach does is pick up lines.

 

[Uber Coca]

Great read, thanks for sharing.

Clearly, Therrien is a moron, because all a coach does is pick up lines.

Shhhh, don't you know 99% of this board would be a better coach?

 

[JohnLennon]

What a great read.

Love these intelligent analysis.

Clearly, Therrien is a moron, because all a coach does is pick up lines.

Agreed. I was really hoping they would do one for the Habs. So glad they did. People don't realize there's more than just line-up changes that goes into on-ice success. There are different systems for different game situations. Wasn't a fan of dump-and-chase, but the penalty kill success speaks for itself.

On that note, I recommend the Backhand Shelf podcast if you like these guys!

 

[hototogisu]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[TheGoalJudge]

Well when Therrien took over we were ****. And now we're good. Just using that reasoning you can guess that he's not the worst coach in the NHL.

 

[Jigger77]

Good stuff.

 

[Uber Coca]

Well when Therrien took over we were ****. And now we're good. Just using that reasoning you can guess that he's not the worst coach in the NHL.

Winning the division in 2013 or making the ECF in 2014 somehow doesn't do it.

 

[Hackett]

Well when Therrien took over we were ****. And now we're good. Just using that reasoning you can guess that he's not the worst coach in the NHL.

One thing that wasn't broken when MT got here was the pk. I think it finished the season in 2nd place in terms of kill percentage.

 

[Jigger77]

Well when Therrien took over we were ****. And now we're good. Just using that reasoning you can guess that he's not the worst coach in the NHL.

Pretty sure he's regarded as a good coach around the league. A lot of people said he should have been nominated for the Jack Adams his first year back. Taking a bottom ranked team and bringing it to the top in 1 season at the NHL level is a pretty significant achievement.

 

[JohnLennon]

Pretty sure he's regarded as a good coach around the league. A lot of people said he should have been nominated for the Jack Adams his first year back. Taking a bottom ranked team and bringing it to the top in 1 season at the NHL level is a pretty significant achievement.

That was a fantastic season and Therrien coached them really well. I still don't understand why some people give him absolutely zero credit for bringing a bottom three team in the league to back-to-back playoff appearances, one of which went all the way to the ECF, and thanks in large part to his coaching in the playoffs.

 

[sharks9]

Good to see that it also mentions how Pacioretty's turning into a solid PKer as well! I still want Plekanec on the team for a few more years, but we need guys like Pacioretty to start learning how to play solid defense for when Pleky's eventually gone.

 

[Skip Bayless]

That's a great read, thanks.

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

I especially like the insight into our neutral zone game, it's something more people should credit Therrien for - we didn't have this in his first season and it was terribad.

 

[Scriptor]

Love the freeze frame explanations followed by the real time example. You clearly know what to look for in real time once you,ve read the earlier explanation.

Hands on, straight-forward analysis. great job as it is accessible to most fans….