[koop]

I think we need to be a lot more organized. When the puck is passed up to a forward it seems like either it is carried in by that forward or dumped, and as a defenseman it's easier when I only have to focus on one forward bringing it in. That's what makes 3 CPU forwards so annoying to defend, they pass to each other right before and/or right after they gain the zone.

It would also be to our advantage to have a couple set plays for both the breakout and gaining the zone. For example if the winger is leading the rush through the neutral zone we could have a play where that winger cut back towards the centre of the ice right before the blueline, and as they do that the centre who is following up cuts to the side that winger was on (behind the winger), then the winger does a drop pass to the centre creating easy entry to the zone (as the defenseman would be tracking the winger as they cut to the centre of the ice). It's the kind of thing that we could use every once and awhile when we can't carry it in. It may not work, but if we can find little set plays like that to gain the zone it would provide a huge advantage IMO.

Another thing would be to not chase a player through the neutral zone trying to steal the puck back(I'm guilty of this too). It may work against bad teams, but good teams will take advantage when all 3 forwards are on one side of the ice in the neutral zone.

Basically we are like the Keenan coached Flames right now, we need more structure.