Quote:
Originally Posted by hurtin_albertan
I've seen Glencross taking heat for that play a few times today, and while I understand the sentiment that he could have done more, his responsibility as a winger and the fourth guy into the play is definitely up high as opposed to down low. The way I saw it Stajan was there to cover up down low so Glencross tapped his stick on the ice to try to fool the Stars player into making an errant drop pass, and then curls out to the boards as he's anticipating Stajan getting to the puck and needing immediate help getting rid of it. In hindsight Stajan really should have been focused on tying up the forward who recieved the pass rather than trying to intercept it, as he didn't get enough of it and poked the puck right onto the Stars player's stick.
The alternative here is that Glencross comes right in on the forward along with Stajan which probably would have prevented that scoring chance, but then his point man is WIDE open should the puck make it back there. You often hear analysts talk about teams running around in their own zone becoming "puck focused", which is exactly what ensues most of the time when a winger goes this route - you've got both defensemen, the center, and a winger down low or in front of the net, and coverages become completely lost. If the point man becomes wide open and puts a shot in through the massive screen in front we would be blasting Glencross for abandoning his assignment.
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Glencross and Stajan enter the zone at the same time, but Glencross enters on the strong side. In that case, he should be the one helping down low as he is closer to the play while Stajan maintains high for the trailer. Either way, it's a play that requires communication between Stajan/Glencross that clearly doesn't happen. And neither guy puts in a decent backcheck - Glencross is terrible, but Stajan isn't moving his legs either.
Even if Glencross isn't at fault like you claim and shouldn't have to cover the low man, he doesn't maintain his position high in the zone to cover a trailer. He lazily peels off the other direction hoping that someone can chip the puck the other way for a counter-attack. He doesn't do anything right on the play at all.